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

Chapter 545 Worry
"Sir, the Dengzhou Prefecture is just ahead."

A centurion pointed to the distance and said that the young official riding a horse next to him was Xu Xiancheng.

Xu Xiancheng covered his forehead with one hand, stood in the stirrup and looked out. He could vaguely see the city wall of Dengzhou Prefecture.

"Hurry up and get into the city before noon!"

"Yes!" the captain responded, and everyone's speed increased immediately. More than a dozen riders galloped towards Dengzhou Prefecture.

Although Xu Xiancheng was a Jinshi, he was also good at martial arts, and so was Li Xin, who was traveling with him. The two of them rode together and were no slower than the guards. They arrived at Dengzhou City in just half an hour.

After arriving at Dengzhou City and entering the city smoothly, Xu Xiancheng and his party went directly to the Governor's Office located in the north of Dengzhou City.

Since the Tianqi period, in order to fight the Liaodong war, Emperor Tianqi divided the Shandong Governor into two, thus separating the Dengzhou and Laizhou prefectures from the jurisdiction of the Shandong Governor. After the establishment of the Denglai Governor, the Shandong Governor was responsible for the governments of the two prefectures moving inland, and the two prefectures were under the governance of the Denglai Governor.

The current governor of Denglai is none other than Xu Xiancheng’s good friend Sun Yuanhua.

Sun Yuanhua was transferred from the capital to Liaodong because of Yuan Chonghuan. After Yuan Chonghuan was imprisoned, Emperor Chongzhen did not implicate others. Moreover, Sun Yuanhua was a civil servant and did a good job in Liaodong. For this reason, Sun Chengzong recommended Sun Yuanhua to the court after he was reinstated and once again served as the governor of Ji-Liao. Emperor Chongzhen also had a good impression of Sun Yuanhua. He still remembered the past when Yuan Chonghuan asked him for Sun Yuanhua. He knew that Sun Yuanhua had made great achievements in firearms and was familiar with Liaodong's military affairs. So he transferred Sun Yuanhua to Liaodong and appointed him as the governor of Denglai.

Although the Denglai Governor was separated from the original Shandong Governor, and the area under his jurisdiction was not large, only Dengzhou and Laizhou. However, the power of the Denglai Governor was not small. Not only did he control the military and political power of Denglai, but he was also nominally the direct superior of Dongjiang Town.

The reason why Yuan Chonghuan was able to cut off Mao Wenlong's food and supplies, force Mao Wenlong to surrender and finally set a trap and kill Mao Wenlong was because Denglai was in Yuan Chonghuan's hands at that time.

In order to achieve the goal of controlling Dongjiang Town, Yuan Chonghuan wrote to Emperor Chongzhen on the pretext of rectifying Liaodong military affairs, asking Emperor Chongzhen to temporarily not set up the post of governor in Liaodong and Denglai, thus achieving the level of monopolizing power. This was also the main reason why he was able to finally control Mao Wenlong.

After the execution of Yuan Chonghuan, Emperor Chongzhen suddenly realized that he had been deceived by Yuan Chonghuan, so he re-established the post of governor in Liaodong and Denglai. In this way, Sun Yuanhua became the governor of Denglai, and took office from Liaodong to Dengzhou.

When the group arrived at the governor's office, they saw more than a dozen horsemen riding fast, including some from the Embroidered Uniform Guard. The people from the governor's office hurriedly stepped forward to inquire about their origins. When they learned that these people came from the capital and that they were led by Right Censor-in-Chief and Doctor of the Ministry of War, Lord Xu Xiancheng, they quickly welcomed the group in and quickly reported to Sun Yuanhua.

After entering the second hall, Xu Xiancheng and Li Jin looked around and sat down directly. The servants brought tea and asked the two adults to wait. After a while, they heard hurried footsteps. When they looked up, they saw Sun Yuanhua coming in a hurry.

"Brother Chuyang! Long time no see." Xu Xiancheng and Li Jin stood up and greeted Sun Yuanhua with a smile.

Sun Yuanhua was extremely surprised. He didn't even bother to return the greeting. He walked a few quick steps forward, grabbed Xu Xiancheng's arm with both hands, and looked him up and down: "I just heard that someone from the capital has come. It's Lord Xu. I didn't expect it to be you, my brother! And brother Li, why are you here together?"

"Hahaha! I missed you so much in the capital that I came to see you specially." Xu Xiancheng joked with him with a smile. Li Xin beside him also smiled. The three of them were good friends when they were in the capital. It has been almost two years since Sun Yuanhua went to Liaodong. It is naturally a happy event to see old friends again.

After a few pleasantries, they sat down separately. Sun Yuanhua once again asked about their purpose. Xu Xiancheng did not hide the fact and told Sun Yuanhua that he was sent by the court to inspect Denglai. Since the Jisi Incident, the court had changed a lot. Emperor Chongzhen dismissed a number of officials, imprisoned some, and even replaced the cabinet. At the same time, he promoted a large number of officials.

Because Xu Xiancheng was well-known and had previously represented the court to visit the troops during the siege of the capital, and because Emperor Chongzhen felt that the people in the court were not worthy of being used and intended to reform, he wanted to achieve the goal of rectifying the government by replacing officials. As a result, Xu Xiancheng was transferred from the Ministry of Works to the Ministry of War, and was also given the title of Right Censor-in-Chief. Although he was still a doctor, because of the additional title of Right Censor-in-Chief, Xu Xiancheng's official position had now reached the fourth rank.

In fact, Emperor Chongzhen had planned to send Xu Xiancheng to serve as a governor, but because officials in the court changed frequently and Xu Xiancheng's ability was there, he stayed in the court for the time being. However, according to Emperor Chongzhen's character and temper, Xu Xiancheng's promotion this time was clearly a sign of future reuse. Maybe one day Xu Xiancheng could be transferred from the central government to the local government, and at least be a governor. His future was limitless.

As for Li Xin, he was transferred from the Ministry of Works to the Ministry of War and was given a position as a director. However, his position was different from other directors. He was mainly an advisor under Xu Xiancheng, or in other words, Xu Xiancheng's assistant. After all, Li Xin was only a juren, not a jinshi. He was able to reach this level only because of Xu Xiancheng's support.

For Li Xin, he didn't care whether he was an official or not. He stayed in the capital with Xu Xiancheng just to serve the court and do something. Now he is the head of the Ministry of War as a juren, which is a pleasant surprise for him. What's more important is that he can continue to work with Xu Xiancheng, which is the most important thing.

After hearing Xu Xiancheng's answer, Sun Yuanhua quickly stood up and said, "So, you two brothers have come here as angels. Let me set up the incense table to receive the imperial decree..." "Hahaha, brother Chuyang, there is no need to be like this. Although we are inspecting on behalf of the court, we are not angels. We are just walking around and taking a look. How can there be any imperial decree?" Xu Xiancheng quickly dissuaded them, smiling and shaking his head. Li Xin on the side helped to explain a few words, and Sun Yuanhua finally understood their purpose.

As Xu Xiancheng said, they were just inspecting this time, representing the Ministry of War on one hand, and the Censorate on the other, and they were just taking a look around in the name of the court. After all, the war in Liaodong was not optimistic, and Sun Chengzong had just resigned. The governor of Leiden was in charge of an important position, and the court was a little worried, so they asked them to come down and check the situation.

Hearing this, Sun Yuanhua felt relieved. They were all friends, so they would not lie to him. He also knew the situation in Liaodong, so it was normal for the court to send people to inspect at this time.

"My two dear brothers, you have come at the right time. Please stay here for a while and let me entertain you."

"Of course. Even if you didn't say it, we would have the same idea. It's been nearly two years since we last met. Now Brother Chuyang is a governor of a certain territory. We poor officials from the capital have come to your territory, so we must take advantage of you. Otherwise, how can we justify the few meals we had in the capital?"

"Hahaha!" The three of them clapped their hands and laughed at the same time, and the atmosphere was harmonious.

When old friends meet, they naturally have a lot to talk about. After chatting for a while, they still talked about the current situation.

After all, Xu Xiancheng and his men had the emperor's order, and they came down to inspect in order to understand the specific situation. Sun Yuanhua is now the governor of Denglai, so he naturally knows the situation in Denglai best, so there are some things he needs to inquire about carefully.

As Xu Xiancheng asked, Sun Yuanhua did not hide anything from his friend and told him the situation in Denglai in detail. He told Xu Xiancheng that he had not been in office for long, only a few months, and the situation in Denglai was not very optimistic. Because the situation in Liaodong had deteriorated, many Liao people had fled from Liaodong to Shandong. In just these few days, Denglai and Lai Prefectures had accepted nearly 100,000 Liao people who had fled.

When these Liao people arrived in Denglai, Sun Yuanhua, as the governor of Denglai, resettled them. Sun Yuanhua, who had been an official in Liaodong, knew very well that these Liao people would never abandon their homes and come here if they could survive. If the imperial court had not been defeated again and again and beaten back by the Jiannu, these Liao people would not have ended up like this.

Although Sun Yuanhua now holds a high position in the government, he is still a man of temperament. Compared with other officials, he loves the people more and has more good intentions.

In his opinion, the court had let down the Liao people because of what they were like. As a local official in charge of Denglai, he would help if he could. What's more, resettling these Liao people would be beneficial to Denglai. The war in Liaodong was still going on, and Denglai was not strong enough. If the Liao people could be resettled, it would mean having tens of thousands more people under the rule, which would bring income from both land reclamation and farming. He could also select young and strong people from them to serve as soldiers, thus enhancing Denglai's military strength.

It was precisely because of this idea that while resettling the Liao people, Sun Yuanhua also kindly accepted several of Mao Wenlong's subordinates.

After Mao Wenlong was killed by Yuan Chonghuan, the situation in Dongjiang Town worsened. Not long ago, Huang Long's corruption led to a mutiny. Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming, Li Jiuchen and others were worried that Huang Long would take revenge on them later, so they left Pi Island and went to Denglai. Sun Yuanhua was already dissatisfied with Yuan Chonghuan's killing of Mao Wenlong, and felt that it was pitiful that these people were desperate. Considering that they were colleagues in the Ming army and had some friendship with them when they were in Liaodong before, Sun Yuanhua generously took them in and entrusted them with important tasks.

"Brother Chuyang, you actually accepted the rebel general of Pi Island? Can this matter be reported to the court?" Li Xin asked with a frown.

"Haha, this matter has naturally been reported to the court."

"What does the court say?"

"The court is simply asking whether these people are reliable."

"How do you answer?"

"Do I need to answer this? These were all General Mao's subordinates back then, and they were all brave generals. How could they have ended up like this if they hadn't been forced into this situation? It would be fine if they had no ability, but now that I am in charge of Denglai, I need people. Since they have come to surrender, it means they trust me. As the saying goes, if you give me a peach, I will give you a jade in return."

Looking at Sun Yuanhua's smiling expression and his matter-of-fact answer, Li Xin and Xu Xiancheng couldn't help but exchange glances, and saw a hint of worry in each of their eyes.

(End of this chapter)