I was compiling the daily records during the Wanli reign

On the morning of June 10th, Shen Nian and his party left Ningyuan City.

When leaving the city.

Thousands of people in the city spontaneously came to see them off, and many shed tears.

Without Shen Nian, many people would still be serving forced labor, being bullied by officers like mules and horses, or being falsely accused and imprisoned.

Shen Nian not only saved their lives, but also gave them a new life.

Shen Nian tried to persuade them to return to the city, but many people still followed them from a distance, for more than three miles.

Shen Nian asked Qi Hu to find out the reason, and only then did he learn that these people were refugees and deserters whom Shen Nian had promised to take to a new place to settle down.

Although Shen Nian had told them that he would send someone to take them there once the location was confirmed, these people were afraid that Shen Nian was lying to them, so they wanted to stay with Shen Nian.

They were so afraid of being abandoned!
Shen Nian looked helpless and immediately returned to them, solemnly promising them that someone would definitely lead them to the place he had planned for them to settle down within three to six months. If they did not receive any news within six months, they could go to Liaodong City to question him.

Upon receiving this affirmative answer, the people knelt down before Shen Nian before turning back to the city.

……

Two days later, Shen Nian and his party arrived in Guangning City.

Shen Nian got to know the military officers in the city, inspected their discipline and appearance, checked the warehouse records, and then stayed for three days before continuing on his journey.

Within Liaodong, Li Chengliang had a complete system for managing the army, and Shen Nian generally wouldn't interfere unless things were as bad as Ningyuan City.

……

On June 20th, in the afternoon, Shen Nian and his party arrived at Haizhou Weicheng.

He stayed there for three days before heading to his final destination, Liaoyang City, the seat of Liaodong Garrison.

……

June 24th, near noon.

Liaoyang City, in front of Andingmen Gate.

Zhang Xueyan, the governor of Liaodong, Li Chengliang, the general of Liaodong, and more than thirty officials and generals under their command were all dressed in official or military uniforms, waiting for Shen Nian to arrive.

Before long, Shen Nian and his party appeared before Zhang Xueyan and Li Chengliang. Shen Nian did not ride in a carriage, but rode a horse at the front.

"Let's go and welcome Minister Shen!" Li Chengliang waved his hand, and a group of generals followed him on horseback at full gallop.

Governor Zhang Xueyan greeted Shen Nian at the city gate.

In terms of official rank and assignment, Li Chengliang was the chief official of Liaodong City, while Shen Nian and Zhang Xueyan were supervisors sent by the imperial court.

After a while.

When Li Chengliang and his men were still more than a hundred paces away from Shen Nian, they dismounted.

"General Li Chengliang of Liaodong pays his respects to Minister Shen!" Li Chengliang bowed and clasped his hands in greeting.

The generals behind him knelt on one knee and shouted, "Greetings, Minister Shen!"

After riding his horse for a few dozen steps, Shen Nian dismounted and quickly walked up to Li Chengliang, smiling as he said, "Lord Ningyuan, this is too much of a gift!"

Shen Nian took Li Chengliang's hand and then said to the generals behind him, "Everyone, please get up and let's enter the city together!"

Then, Shen Nian and Li Chengliang rode at the forefront, followed by a group of soldiers, heading towards the city gate.

Immediately afterwards, Shen Nian exchanged a few pleasantries with Zhang Xueyan, the governor of Liaodong, and the three of them entered the city side by side.

Liaoyang City, as the political and military center of the entire Liaodong region, was much more prosperous than Ningyuan City, Guangning City, and Haizhou City.

Shops lined both sides of the main street, and soldiers in military uniforms occasionally walked by.

Shen Nian and his party entered through the South Gate, passed the Liaodong Commander's Office, went around the Drum Tower, and arrived at a three-courtyard house next to the Liaodong Censorate.

This residence was specially arranged for Shen Nian.

As for how to settle the group of Imperial Guards, Li Chengliang's subordinates would naturally discuss it with Qi Hu, the captain of the guard team.

After exchanging a few pleasantries with Zhang Xueyan and Li Chengliang and getting to know more than ten new generals, Shen Nian first ordered Qi Hu to hand over the lightning musket that had been sent to Liaodong, and then Shen Nian chose to rest.

Shen Nian had instructed Zhang Xueyan in advance that there would be no banquet that day, but that the soldiers could simply gather for a meal at noon the next day.

Knowing that Shen Nian and the others were tired from their journey, Zhang Xueyan naturally did as instructed.

……

Afterwards, Shen Nian rested in her new home. After a short rest, she toured the new home with Gu Yue'er, Shen Yanche, and Shen Zhiyi.

They may live here for the next two or three years.

Meanwhile, Mr. and Mrs. Shen sent word a few days ago that they would probably arrive in Liaoyang City in early July.

……

The following morning, Shen Nian summoned Zhang Xueyan and Li Chengliang to the Liaodong Commandery for a short meeting.

Shen Nian was the first to express her opinion.

He would not interfere too much with military training in Liaodong unless the Liaodong army's discipline and appearance were so poor that their actions were outrageous.

His main tasks were to develop trade in Liaodong and to resolve the ongoing conflicts in Liaodong.

Shen Nian didn't go into details. He needed to reach a consensus with these two first, and then at lunchtime, he would reach a consensus with the soldiers in Liaodong, letting them know what he was there to do.

After that, Shen Nian would hold meetings repeatedly to gradually explain what he needed to do and how to do it.

At noon, Shen Nian's welcoming luncheon was held in the front hall of the Liaodong Regional Military Commission, and all officials and generals of the city who were not on duty and had a thousand-household commandership or above were present.

After Shen Nian finished explaining his mission in Liaodong, he ate, drank, and chatted with the generals.

The generals toasted Shen Nian one after another, and Shen Nian accepted them all. After getting to know everyone and becoming slightly tipsy, he returned to his residence to rest.

……

The next few days were the time for Shen Nian to have small meetings with Zhang Xueyan and Li Chengliang.

Just as he had told Shen Maoxue, Shen Nian produced a large number of diagrams, maps, and documents, informing the two that he planned to build a large seaside city capable of accommodating 100,000 people on Jurchen territory.

Both of them found it unbelievable after hearing it, feeling that Shen Nian was too daring to think.

They never dreamed they could build a massive city belonging to the Ming Dynasty right in the Jurchens' homeland.

But after hearing Shen Nian's detailed explanation, the two felt that it was not impossible to accomplish.

Now, the young Wanli Emperor's idea is: for the next three years, the court will not contribute any funds, nor will it ask the Jiliao region for funds, but it will provide military expenses on time. Shen Nian, the governor of Jiliao, can do whatever he wants, as long as he reports on time.

This is tantamount to giving Shen Nian absolute autonomy in Jiliao.

The two also hoped that Liaodong Town would become prosperous, that there would be no more war on the border, and that they could do something to make the people at the bottom of society happy. They immediately promised to fully cooperate with Shen Nian.

In his spare time, Shen Nian asked Li Chengliang what Nurhaci was doing at the moment.

Li Chengliang was quite surprised that Shen Nian cared about a minor leader of a Jurchen tribe, but he still told Shen Nian the details.

At the beginning of the year, Liaodong soldiers mistakenly killed Nurhaci's father and grandfather. The court then handed over the land and people of his clan to Nurhaci and allowed him to inherit the title of commander-in-chief. Nurhaci had once been a servant of Li Chengliang, but now he had risen to become the tribal leader and had incorporated several tribes.

At this time, Nurhaci both needed to rely on the Ming Dynasty and harbored hatred towards it.

After learning of these circumstances, Shen Nian did not order Li Chengliang or his Jinyiwei to assassinate Nurhaci.

He knew that if he killed Nurhaci now, another Jurchen leader would surely emerge.

It would be better to keep an eye on Nurhaci, let the Jurchen people continue to fight amongst themselves, and then eliminate him when he has some power but has not yet become too powerful.

At present, we can only weaken the Jurchens and determine who are friends and who are enemies of the Ming Dynasty through the construction of the Eastern Port (Vladivostok).

……

On June 29th, while Shen Nian was busy preparing for the construction of the new city.

A uniquely Ming Dynasty event—the court flogging—was taking place in front of the Meridian Gate in the capital.

Six officials from the Censorate were stripped of their pants, pinned to the ground, and then beaten mercilessly by Imperial Guards wielding court rods.

Zhang Jing, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, stood to the side with an icy expression and said sternly, "This is the price for disobeying His Majesty!"

Of the six officials in charge of censorship, some screamed in agony, some gritted their teeth, and some had already fainted.

They were flogged in court for opposing Emperor Wanli's plan to levy 300,000 taels of silver each from the Ministry of Revenue and the Court of Imperial Stud to build a mausoleum.

After Shen Nian left the capital, the young Wanli Emperor completely let himself go.

He first overstepped the bounds of propriety and spent a fortune on the wedding of the Prince of Lu, leaving the capital's jewels depleted.

Even the students of Jingwu Academy became ceremonial soldiers for Prince Lu's wedding.

Later, the young Wanli Emperor overturned Zhang Juzheng's plan to build a mausoleum for his father's death and ordered the Ministry of Works to redesign it, intending to build an imperial mausoleum that surpassed the specifications of the Jiajing Emperor's (Yongling) mausoleum.

His reasoning was that the late emperor had died suddenly and his mausoleum was inadequate, so his own mausoleum should not be inferior to the late emperor's.

The three Grand Secretaries Shen Shixing, Wang Xijue, and Yu Youding also submitted memorials to refute the proposal, but all of them were rejected by Emperor Wanli on the grounds that "matters of the royal family are decided by me."

At this moment, some officials who disliked Shen Nian were already beginning to regret their decision.

If Shen Nian were in the cabinet, the young Wanli Emperor would never have done such an extravagant thing.

Wang Xijue, a cabinet minister and Minister of Revenue, could not tolerate the enormous spending of the young Wanli Emperor. After his remonstrances were ignored, he offered to resign several times, but Shen Shixing stopped him each time.

Shen Shixing said: The extravagance of the young Wanli Emperor is not his true nature, but only to consolidate his imperial power. Once he can "make decisions on the world and manipulate it at will," he will return to normal. Now he is simply testing the loyalty of his officials.

Wang Xijue didn't want to abandon his responsibilities and leave behind a mess, so he could only continue to endure it and wait for the young Wanli Emperor to return to the state of Zhang Juzheng.

……

July 1st, afternoon, inside the Wenhua Hall.

The young Wanli Emperor was leisurely writing large characters with a wolf-hair brush in hand.

Zhang Juzheng once used Li Yu and Zhao Ji as counterexamples to oppose his obsession with calligraphy.

But the more Zhang Juzheng opposed it, the more he wanted to do it.

Now that Zhang Juzheng is gone, the young Wanli Emperor writes two or three pieces of calligraphy every afternoon.

If Shen Nian were to see the young Wanli Emperor at this moment, she would surely be astonished and wide-eyed.

At this time, the young Wanli Emperor had gained at least fifteen pounds compared to when Shen Nian left the capital.

After the young Wanli Emperor assumed power and regained his freedom, he indulged in eating, drinking, and women, and his body swelled up at a visible rate.

Empress Dowager Li was preoccupied with taking care of her grandson, Emperor Wanli, and rarely disciplined him. Moreover, when she did try to discipline him, he did not listen. Empress Dowager Li was also no longer able to punish Emperor Wanli by making him kneel after he assumed power.

After finishing a piece of calligraphy, the young Wanli Emperor turned to Zhang Cheng, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, and said, “Zhang Cheng! What I hate most now is the daily lectures on the classics. Since I ascended the throne, except when I am sick during holidays, I have to listen to those officials’ ramblings every day. Now that I am ruling in my own right, how can I have so much time to listen to lectures? If I were to abruptly stop the daily lectures on the classics, would the reaction from the court be very strong?”

Zhang Cheng's eyes darted around.

"Your Majesty, you are busy with state affairs every day. After assuming personal rule, you naturally prioritize national affairs, while the daily lectures at the Imperial Academy are secondary. If we issue an edict to abolish the daily lectures at the Imperial Academy directly, I'm afraid the officials will cause trouble again. I suggest we proceed slowly."

"Explain in detail!"

"Your Majesty can suspend the daily lectures for the sake of busy government affairs and hot weather, and resume them in September. In September, Your Majesty can change the daily lectures to summoning lecturers to the Wenhua Hall to lecture on politics. At that time, Your Majesty can decide when to summon lecturers and whether to summon them at all. This has the same effect as suspending the daily lectures of the Imperial Academy, and it will be difficult for officials of the previous dynasty to object."

"Great idea! Let's do it this way! You're so resourceful!" Little Wanli said excitedly.

……

The following day, the young Wanli Emperor issued a handwritten edict to the cabinet, stating that due to the recent hot weather and busy political affairs, the daily lectures and seminars would be suspended and resumed in the autumn.

When the three Grand Secretaries Shen Shixing, Wang Xijue, and Yu Youding heard this reason, their first reaction was that the young Wanli Emperor was trying to slack off.

How could they not know how busy the young Wanli Emperor was with his political affairs?

The current Wanli Emperor does not raise any objections to the cabinet's draft proposals.

Many draft proposals were even transferred directly from the Cabinet to the Directorate of Ceremonial, stamped and implemented, without the young Wanli Emperor even glancing at them.

This move appears to be a sign of the monarch's trust in his advisors.

However, if this continues, the monarch will become completely ignorant of the customs and sentiments of the people, and how will he be able to govern the country well?

Shen Shixing and the other two felt that the young Wanli was becoming more and more like the late emperor, and was completely trying to be a hands-off ruler.

Dissatisfied, Shen Shixing and the other three cabinet ministers wanted to meet with the young Wanli Emperor to explain, but they were stopped at the door by Zhang Cheng, who said: "The suspension of the daily lectures was an imperial decree, not a matter to be discussed with the cabinet. There is no need to discuss this matter further."

The three Grand Secretaries were quite helpless, but had no other options.

However, the young Wanli Emperor did not feel that he was in a bad state.

He felt that he currently controlled the inner court and the outer court with absolute power, and everything was in good order. If there were any problems with the government, it would be because some official had not done his job properly, and he would only need to replace the official.

His idea of ​​the art of being an emperor was the art of employing people.

That is, the monarch supervises, the ministers do the work, and if the ministers do not do a good job, they are replaced with more capable ministers.

……

July 5th, afternoon.

Shen's parents and Shen Nian's father-in-law, Gu Dongxing, finally arrived in Liaoyang City.

The three were overjoyed to see Shen Yanche and Shen Zhiyi, and brought them many clothes, books and toys.

at the same time.

Shen Yaoshan and Gu Dongxing both contacted their business friends in Jiangnan.

These people all have plans to expand their business to Liaodong. As long as Shen Nian can provide sufficient goods and make a profit for them, they can spontaneously create a sea route from Jiangnan to Jibei Port and then to Liaoyang.

They have the ability to help Shen Nian establish an even larger Yaodong Trading Company at sea.

Shen Nian was overjoyed!
In terms of city planning and layout, Shen Nian is undoubtedly more capable; but when it comes to business, his father and father-in-law are miles ahead of him. (End of Chapter)