Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 371 Get your wish
Wei Zhongxian was originally from the market, and he was very good at cockfighting and dog racing. As his power grew, Wei Zhongxian also had his own way of employing people. No matter whether the other party was a gentleman or a villain, and no matter how capable he was, the key was to have him obey.

If a dog is not obedient, Wei Zhongxian will not use him even if he is very capable. This is also another reason why he tested Yuan Chonghuan. To raise a good dog, you need to feed it and train it severely. If you don't train it well, the dog will not stop eating shit. If it remembers to be beaten but not to eat, it is not a good dog.

In this way, Wei Zhongxian directly threw Yuan Chonghuan's memorial aside and never paid any attention to Yuan Chonghuan again. As time went on, Yuan Chonghuan in Ningyuan was initially too angry to fill out the memorial, but a few days after the memorial was sent out, Yuan Chonghuan's mind gradually calmed down and he began to feel a little uneasy.

A few days later, this anxiety became a source of worry for Yuan Chonghuan. Every day he was looking forward to news from the capital, but was also afraid that it would be bad news.

Over the years, he worked very hard in Liaodong and finally climbed up from a sixth-rank official to a fourth-rank official. All this was hard-earned.

Yuan Chonghuan's desire for power is unimaginable to ordinary people, and the same is true for his enthusiasm for official positions. But once the court really agreed to what he said in his memorial and agreed to his resignation and return home, all his years of struggle would have gone down the drain, and the power in his hands and the official hat on his head would have vanished overnight.

Yuan Chonghuan could not accept such a result. He regretted what he had done. If there was a regret medicine to sell, he would buy it even if he lost everything. Unfortunately, there is no regret medicine in the world. Can the water that has been poured out be taken back?
After slapping himself hard several times, Yuan Chonghuan cursed himself for being so confused at the time. How could he have done such a stupid thing in such a hot-headed state?
He hoped that the court would issue a document rejecting his decision, but he was also afraid that the document would be an approval of his resignation. As the days passed, Yuan Chonghuan was almost driven crazy by this waiting, which was even more painful than being sentenced to death. He lost weight at a visible speed due to poor eating and sleeping. He was so anxious that a big blister appeared on his mouth, and it hurt so much that he couldn't even drink water.

Yuan Chonghuan, who was getting anxious, felt that he could not wait any longer and he had to make up for it immediately to remedy his previous mistakes.

Now there is only one person who can save him, and that person is Eunuch Wei Zhongxian. As long as Eunuch Wei gives him a hand, he will be able to start a new life. Once Eunuch Wei gives up on him, all his efforts will be completely gone.

In order to make up for his mistake, Yuan Chonghuan quickly did two things. The first thing was to write a letter to Wei Zhongxian, in which Yuan Chonghuan scolded himself and said that he had done something wrong in his previous impulsiveness and betrayed the trust of the emperor and eunuch Wei. He hoped that eunuch Wei would lend him a hand because of his loyalty and past contributions.

The second thing was that Yuan Chonghuan, as the commander-in-chief of Ningyuan, jointly wrote a memorial with other defenders of Ningyuan. This memorial was a post-war summary of the previous victory of Ningyuan, and also listed the real reasons for the victory of Ningyuan.

Yuan Chonghuan did not brag too much about his own achievements in this memorial, but rather low-key placed his own achievements in a secondary position, and gave the primary credit to the emperor and eunuch Wei Zhongxian.

Yuan Chonghuan said in his memorial that the Ningyuan victory was entirely due to the wise guidance of the emperor, and that the pre-war preparations and arrangements of Wei Zhongxian played a great role. In a war, the commander is certainly important, but what is really important is the war planner and the logistical support of the army.

Just like during the time of Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, although Han Xin was brave and good at fighting, without Liu Bang's overall layout and Xiao He's assistance, even if Han Xin was a good fighter, he would not be able to achieve great success.

The same is true for the founding of the Ming Dynasty. The first among the founding heroes is Li Shanchang. Although Li Shanchang was not a military general, he was not as good as Xu Da, Chang Yuchun and others in leading troops. Even as a literati, Li Shanchang was weak, not to mention fighting in battle, he couldn't even use a knife to fight the enemy.

But later, when reviewing the merits, Taizu put Li Shanchang in the first place, and none of the generals disagreed. The reason is simple, Li Shanchang was the steward of the Ming army. The reason why the Ming Dynasty could conquer the world would not be possible without Li Shanchang's well-organized logistical support in the rear. It was also because of this that the Ming army was able to defeat the Yuan army and occupy the world, which led to the founding of the Ming Dynasty.

Judging from the above examples, the same is true for the Ningyuan victory today. Yuan Chonghuan and the Ningyuan generals were just executors, and the real credit should go to Emperor Tianqi and Eunuch Wei Zhongxian.

Emperor Tianqi is just like Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, and Emperor Taizu of Ming, Zhu Yuanzhang. The role of Eunuch Wei Zhongxian is no different from that of Xiao He and Li Shanchang. Compared with the contributions of Emperor Tianqi and Eunuch Wei, his own little contribution is simply insignificant.

In this way, Yuan Chonghuan suggested that the court should give the emperor and Eunuch Wei the first merits, and they were only the second merits. Of course, the emperor himself could not value this merit, because the emperor was already the emperor, and it was useless to ask for this merit. As for Eunuch Wei Zhongxian, as a loyal servant beside Emperor Tianqi, actual glory and wealth were meaningless, and Eunuch Wei himself did not need any official position. Who in the world does not know that Eunuch Wei regarded official positions as dung, and only had the Ming Dynasty and the emperor in his heart? Apart from other things, Eunuch Wei, as the first person in the inner court, was not the head of the Silijian, and took the initiative to give the seal to others. From this point of view alone, it can be seen that Eunuch Wei was noble. However, Yuan Chonghuan felt that Eunuch Wei must not be wronged. Although Eunuch Wei did not care about worldly fame and fortune, the people of the Ming Dynasty, including him, Yuan Chonghuan, must remember Eunuch Wei's merits and everything he did for the Ming Dynasty.

Moreover, in recent years, Eunuch Wei has assisted the emperor in managing state affairs and has done many practical things for the people, especially the local tax reduction policy last year, which has benefited the people of the world. This time, the Ningyuan victory saved the Liaodong army and civilians from dire straits. Millions of Liaodong soldiers and civilians are grateful to Eunuch Wei. Yuan Chonghuan suggested that, following the example of Jiangnan, a shrine be built for Eunuch Wei in Liaodong to thank him for his great kindness.

As a genuine Jinshi, Yuan Chonghuan had no problem writing articles. This memorial is thousands of words long and contains solid and meaningful citations and arguments. It is truly a great article!
Soon, the letters to Wei Zhongxian, including this memorial, were sent to the capital, and reached Wei Zhongxian's hands within a few days.

After reading the letter and then Yuan Chonghuan's memorial, Wei Zhongxian was in a very good mood and burst into laughter.

Yuan Chonghuan was still very smart. Wei Zhongxian liked smart people because smart people knew what they needed and understood what they should do.

As a human being, everyone makes mistakes. Yuan Chonghuan is still a young man. We should give young people some chances, right?
More importantly, the contents of Yuan Chonghuan's letters and memorials hit the nail on the head for Wei Zhongxian, especially the comparison between Wei Zhongxian and Xiao He and Li Shanchang in the memorials, which made Wei Zhongxian extremely proud. This was indeed the case. Since Wei Zhongxian's rise, the money, food, military equipment and other things needed for the Liaodong war were all obtained by Wei Zhongxian by racking his brains from all over the place.

If it only relied on the pitiful taxes of the Ming Dynasty, how could Liaodong have achieved the Ningyuan victory? These merits are just like what Yuan Chonghuan said. Although they were generals fighting on the front line, it was Wei Zhongxian who laid the foundation! Without Wei Zhongxian, Liaodong would not be able to fight against the Later Jin, and even the army would not be able to eat enough, let alone pay the military salaries.

In his joy, Wei Zhongxian chose a time to meet Emperor Tianqi and said a few good words for Yuan Chonghuan in front of him.

The Tianqi Emperor, who had originally had a slightly changed opinion of Yuan Chonghuan because of the victory in Ningyuan, was in high spirits. Now with Wei Zhongxian's suggestion, the Tianqi Emperor felt that it was indeed a bit low to give Yuan Chonghuan only an additional title given such a great contribution in Ningyuan. This was really unfair to the hero, so he immediately asked Wei Zhongxian how to remedy the situation.

Wei Zhongxian had already made a plan. He said that the position of Governor of Liaodong was vacant, so why not let Yuan Chonghuan take up the post?
The Emperor Tianqi thought about it and thought this suggestion was good, so he nodded and agreed, and let Wei Zhongxian make the arrangements himself. In this way, with the Emperor Tianqi's permission, Wei Zhongxian had someone draft an imperial edict to promote Yuan Chonghuan to the position of Liaodong Governor, and then stamped it and handed it over to the cabinet.

The chief minister of the cabinet, Gu Bingqian, was originally Wei Zhongxian's man, so naturally he would not have any objection. The cabinet agreed on the spot, and then asked the Ministry of Personnel to write a document. In just one day, the decree appointing Yuan Chonghuan as the governor of Liaodong was freshly released and sent to Ningyuan to convey the order.

A few days later, after waiting for a long time, Yuan Chonghuan finally received the imperial edict from the capital. He accepted the edict with trepidation. After hearing the content of the edict, Yuan Chonghuan, who was worried the moment before, suddenly became energetic the next moment, like a completely different person.

It was not easy, but the post of Liaodong governor finally fell on his head, and Yuan Chonghuan got the position he had dreamed of. From then on, he truly stepped into the position of a frontier official, a step he had waited for a long time.

Thinking back to his previous impulse, Yuan Chonghuan was even more grateful to Wei Zhongxian. If it weren't for Wei Zhongxian's generosity, his life would have been ruined. My parents gave me life, and Eunuch Wei made me who I am! If he wasn't in the capital, he would have even wanted to call Eunuch Wei his godfather to show his loyalty and sincerity.

On the second day after being promoted to the governor of Liaodong, the first thing Yuan Chonghuan did was to build a shrine for Wei Zhongxian in Ningyuan with great fanfare. This was no small matter. If he had not been quick-witted and suddenly thought of such a move, Wei Zhongxian would probably not have forgiven him, and the position of the governor of Liaodong would not have fallen into his hands.

Since he had received the benefit, he must fulfill his promise. Wei Zhongxian had the ability to promote him, but he also had the ability to pull him down from the post of Liaodong governor. Yuan Chonghuan learned a lesson from his mistakes and understood this truth. If he wanted to make further progress, he had to hold on to Wei Gonggong's thighs. Only in this way could he sit firmly on the post of Liaodong governor, and even replace Gao Di as Liaodong governor, and even Sun Chengzong's post of Ji Liao commander was possible.

(End of this chapter)