Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 684: Lord of Tongchuan
Today, Tongchuan Prefecture has sixteen military prefectures under its jurisdiction, and its prefecture seat is located in Tongchuan.

At that time, Tongchuan was the second largest town in Sichuan, second only to Chengdu.

Early in the morning, officers and soldiers began to set up colorful tents and arrange incense tables at Shili Pavilion outside the city.

One after another, nobles on horseback or in sedan chairs began to rush here.

People say the road to Shu is difficult, but the official road is wide and flat, saving the nobles from the pain of a bumpy ride.

This official road was built only a few years ago.

The imperial court made a series of efforts to strengthen its control over Sichuan.

In addition to controlling the army, other measures were taken, such as repairing the official road leading to Sichuan and setting up a postal system.

The grand ceremony at Shili Pavilion today is to welcome the new governor and pacification envoy of Tongchuan Road, Yang Yuan.

Of course all the prominent officials and gentry of Tongchuan came.

However, the officials in the three welcoming formations in the front are the most important.

The officials in these three phalanxes were the staff officers and officials of the various departments of the Jinglüe Anfusi Yamen; the staff officers and officials of the various departments of the Tongchuan Prefecture Yamen; and the generals of the various imperial armies in Tongchuan Prefecture.

Yang Yuan was the governor and pacifier of Tongchuan Prefecture and the governor of Tongchuan Prefecture.

In other words, he was not only the top military, political and civil leader of the sixteen prefectures in Tongchuan Prefecture, but he was also the direct governor of the provincial capital of Tongchuan.

Therefore, the three groups standing in the front and center are all his direct subordinates.

Such a grand ceremony was almost the same as if the emperor had come in person, except that there were no extravagant ceremonies and rituals.

But in fact, although the Song Dynasty learned the lesson of the separatist rule of the Tang Dynasty, it tried its best to restrain and delegate power to these provincial governors.

But a general and pacification envoy was actually just a smaller-scale military governor of a vassal state.

The General Manager and Pacifier leads his subordinates, hears their cases, issues prohibitions, determines rewards and punishments, checks their money and grain, and registers the payment and receipt of armor and weapons and enforces the law. Isn't this the local emperor in the area under his jurisdiction?
There were seats in the Shili Pavilion, and senior officials from Tongchuan Prefecture were sitting in the pavilion drinking tea.

We know that Yang Anfu will arrive today, but we don't know exactly when. We can't all just stand there and wait foolishly. High-ranking generals will be treated differently.

Xu Ziwei, the Tongpan of Tongchuan Prefecture, drank a sip of tea and said with a smile: "It is said that our new governor is young, handsome and suave.

He redressed Yue Fei's injustice, changed the strategy against Jin, persuaded the Three Kingdoms to surrender, and won the victory at Lingbi. I have long admired him, and I never thought I would have the honor to work with him today."

He was the Tongpan, the only Tongpan in Tongchuan Prefecture.

However, because the prefect was also the governor and pacification commissioner, it was impossible for him to always take care of the affairs of Tongchuan Prefecture, so he was the de facto prefect of Tongchuan.

He was very welcome to Yang Yuan's arrival.

The more capable and powerful Yang Yuan, the leader, is, the easier it would be for him, the second prefect of Tongchuan, who has the title of second in command but does the work of the boss, to do anything.

Chen Lijia, the magistrate of the Pacification Commission, frowned slightly and said, "Have you heard about what happened to our Pacification Commissioner Yang when he was in Pengzhou?"

Xu Ziwei said calmly, "Why, do you think someone is deliberately embarrassing Governor Yang?"

He was from the prefectural office, and Yang Yuan was going to be the prefect of Tongchuan, so he addressed him by the elegant title of the highest official in the office.

A military officer next to him frowned and said in a deep voice: "Wasn't the bandit who committed the crime captured the next day? What's the point of involving him now?"

This is Zhou Cheng, the commander of Tongchuan’s top general.

This general represents an army. The strength of an army ranges from 3,000 to 10,000 soldiers, depending on the importance of the area the general is guarding.

There are nine generals in Tongchuan Prefecture. The first general of Tongchuan is stationed in Tongchuan Prefecture with about 5,000 men.

Xu Ziwei, the Tongpan of Tongchuan Prefecture, said, "That's right. They publicly executed dozens of people on the crossroads. Even if they wanted to fake it, they couldn't find so many people to kill in one night, right?"

Chen Tuiguan said angrily: "I am just worried that someone wants to make trouble for us, not..."

“Woo~ woo~~”

Before he could finish his words, a horn sounded, and Xu Tongpan was refreshed and said, "The governor is here."

Zhou Cheng stood up suddenly, adjusted his armor, and strode out of the pavilion.

The officials and gentry from all sides quickly returned to their teams, and the sound of drums and horns only stopped when the group of people and horses in the distance got closer.

Then, the officials of the Tongchuan Jinglüe Anfusi in the center stepped forward under the leadership of Chen Tui Guan.

The Tongchuan Prefecture Yamen Team and the Tongchuan First General Team on the left and right lagged behind slightly and slowly caught up.

Yang Yuan had already sent people to escort Liu Yanran and Duozi's carriage and took a detour into the city first.

At this time he was sitting alone in a car, and the curtains had been rolled up long ago.

As soon as he saw the officials and gentry from Tongchuan coming forward to pay their respects, Yang Yuan stopped the carriage.

Da Zhuang was smart this time. He got off the bike and put the footrest in place for him.

Yang Yuan slowly got out of the car and stood in front of it.

At this time, Yang Yuan was wearing court robes, a crown and a purple shirt. He had an upright posture and a handsome look.

The officials and gentry from Tongchuan who came to greet him were all curious about him. Now that they saw him in person, they suddenly felt...

This is how he should be in my imagination.

Only a person like this could accomplish so many great things that shocked the world. After just one encounter, the civil and military officials and local gentry of Tongchuan made a preliminary judgment about Yang Yuan:

This superior is not someone who can be easily fooled.

All the officials and gentry from Tongchuan came to greet him, but the first thing they did was to verify their identities.

Otherwise, if you meet a liar, so many prestigious people will come to pay you a solemn visit, even if you are exposed later, you will already lose face.

Yang Yuan has five hundred imperial guards guarding him. Just based on this fact, it is impossible that he is a liar. Which liar can be so generous?

However, the necessary process still needs to be followed.

Representatives from the Pacification Commission, the prefectural government, and military generals accompanied Yang Yuan into the Shili Pavilion.

The tea and snacks at Shiliting had already been cleared away, and a piece of red satin was spread out.

Yang Yuan then put his imperial edict and certificate of appointment on it.

An imperial edict is a letter of appointment issued by the Ministry of Personnel, stamped with the seal of the Ministry of Personnel.

Gaoshen is an identity card that records the official's name, place of origin, age, special physical features and other detailed information.

Yang Yuan is now a high-ranking official in a purple robe. His certificate of official position is made by the Ministry of Personnel and is made of silk and satin, which is very exquisite.

The official representatives of the three parties verified everything one by one, returned the certificate of official position, filed the imperial edict, and then retreated outside the pavilion, loudly announced their official positions to Yang Yuan, and bowed deeply to the ground.

The civil and military officials and Tongchuan gentry followed suit and saluted.

Yang Yuan proudly accepted the greetings from everyone, then invited Xu Tongpan, Chen Tuiguan and Zhou Tongzhi to come forward again, asked them to introduce themselves again, and then introduced him to the important people who came to greet him today.

As for those officials and gentry who were listed as "etc.", they did not need to come and pay their respects one by one.

Yang Yuan clasped his fists and bowed, and that was enough to get the point across.

Then, Yang Yuan, surrounded by the civil and military officials of Tongchuan, entered the city of Tongchuan and took up residence in the Office of the Governor-General and Pacificator.

After checking into the mansion, Yang Yuan changed out of his court robes and put on the casual clothes of the pacification envoy, then rushed to the festival hall.

Officials from the Pacification Commissioner's Office, officials from the Tongchuan government office, and the nine generals came forward one by one to report the situation of their departments to Yang Yuan.

"The fourth general of Longqing Prefecture has 8,619 soldiers stationed in forts, border walls, pavilions, beacons, etc. There are 2,005 soldiers stationed at Jianmen Pass, all of them are infantry..."

The fourth general's commander was reporting to Yang Yuan on the number of troops, force composition, garrison locations, important defense matters under his jurisdiction, etc.

Yang Yuan sat at the top, listening to their reports one by one and observing them at the same time.

Although we cannot rely solely on the report to judge whether he is a capable official or a mediocre person, we can still see some confidence in him.

When one of the officials stood solemnly to report, the other civil and military officials sat on both sides, sitting upright and not looking away.

He has both civil and military officials under his command. If any of them were sent out, they would be important officials. Yang Yuan then began to look like a frontier official.

However, although Yang Yuan has officially taken office as the new owner of the highest power center of Tongchuan Road.

However, power is not something that can be naturally possessed by simply obtaining an imperial edict of appointment.

Your power can only be realized if you either have absolute strength or can gain the obedience of the majority of your subordinates.

After the three dignitaries finished their reports, Yang Yuan said with a smile: "I have just arrived at the post. Today's small meeting is just a formality. You don't have to be restrained.

We all rushed to Shili Pavilion early in the morning and then came back all the way. What you are all thinking about now is this welcoming banquet given by this governor, right?"

As soon as these words were uttered, there was a burst of laughter in the classroom, and the originally solemn atmosphere was relaxed.

Yang Yuan said: "To be honest, I am also waiting for this dinner, so let's make it short."

The hall immediately became solemn. All the civil and military officials looked over and pricked up their ears.

Yang Yuan flexibly turned a warrant with his slender fingers and said slowly: "The court's next foreign military strategy is to confront head-on and break through the flanks.

Therefore, the four routes of Sichuan and Xia will be the focus of the court's next military deployment.

Among the four routes in Sichuan and Xia, the battle is mainly fought on Lizhou Road. Chengdufu Road and my Tongchuanfu Road must serve as a solid backing for Lizhou Road.

How to provide a good backup? That is food, weapons, horses, and medicinal materials!
As long as these matters are involved, the Engineering Department and the Household Department of the Pacification Office should make a quick count and draw up a regulation. The Pacification Office will be responsible for overall planning and management in the future.

Military personnel is not just about recruiting soldiers, but also about daily training and selection.

If there is selection, there will be elimination. I believe you have heard that the court is eliminating redundancies and reforming the military system.

That’s right, now that I’m here, the government has instructed that we can start making some changes in Tongchuan.

In addition, the Ordnance Bureau, the Iron Foundry Bureau, the Woodworking Bureau, the Crossbow Bureau, the Mining and Metallurgy Bureau, and other government offices must provide detailed statistics on their affiliations, scale, output, etc., and submit them to the governor within three days.

By the way, remember to use the tabular decimal method. This method has been implemented by the imperial court for several years. All government offices should be able to use it, right?

If you don’t know how to use it, you can come and ask me for advice, because I figured out this method.”

The civil and military officials looked at their noses with their eyes and their hearts with their noses, listening with bated breath, but in their hearts they were sneering.

Come on, why are you pretending? It was you who proposed to cut down on redundancies and reform the military system, and you act like everyone knows it.

Why don't you brag about this? You know it offends people!
(End of this chapter)