Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 121 Exemption of Shaanxi Money and Food
After confirming the changes to the civil servant Dingyou system, the first thing Zhu Youjian had to do was to fix the changes with examples and ordered:
"Zhu Tongmeng, governor of Yansui, also has the responsibility of advocating and managing military affairs. Ding You is not allowed to serve as a civil servant and military official."

"Zhu Xieyuan, the governor of Sichuan and Guizhou, Fu Zonglong, the admiral of Sichuan and Guizhou, and the Qiu official of Tianjian, authorized to change the year by month."

"The two have been in office for three months and will resume their duties immediately."

"There is no need to write the word "love" in the decree of reviving the two. It will be treated as normal after Ding You completes the mission."

The cabinet formulated a decree according to the emperor's wishes, explaining the changes in Dingyou's system. The ministers were also happy that the three of them took the lead and were attacked by others.

Especially Zhu Tongmeng, the governor of Yansui, the precedent of not allowing Ding You to hold civil and military positions started with him. One can imagine how many attacks this person will suffer in the future.

However, the emperor kept him, and even ignored the memorials attacking him for being robbed of his love by the eunuchs. Zhu Tong deserved to be attacked a little. If he cannot bear it, the fifth degree of rebellion will fall on him. The end then would be even worse than now.

With his precedent, in the future, there will be governors of military affairs, admirals of military affairs, and governors who approve military affairs responsibilities. They will have precedents to follow when the emperor decrees that Ding You will not be used. Even if others want to scold, they must scold Zhu Tongmeng first.

As for Zhu Xieyuan and Fu Zonglong, who were given the title of Qin Tianjian and changed the month and year, they received less criticism from the parliament. After all, there is an old rule in the Qintian Prison. If you want to overturn this, you need to change the Dingyou time in the Qintian Prison first.

Moreover, given the intensity of the war in the southwest, if the two men could be resurrected, officials from the southwest would applaud and would never attack at will.

At this point, the changes in the civil servant Dingyou system are basically completed. Zhu Youjian achieved his goal at this regular meeting.

Things in the southwest have been agreed upon, and we have a reliable person in charge. Zhu Youjian turned his attention to the northwest, the place he cared about most:
"Shaanxi has suffered from disasters for many years, and the people's savings have been exhausted."

"I heard that there are civil unrest in various parts of Shaanxi, and it is very likely that something like this will happen in the second year of Tianqi."

"What's even more troublesome is that the Shaanxi frontier army has the worst pay arrears, even reaching 27 months."

"Once civil unrest breaks out, the imperial court will not be able to suppress it."

"Tell me, who can solve the problem in Shaanxi?"

Knowing that the emperor had always been unusually concerned about Shaanxi, the ministers knew more or less something about Shaanxi. Just a little bit of the truth gathered together made them tremble with fear. Knowing that the emperor's concern for Shaanxi is not unfounded.

Yuan Keli checked the records of the Ministry of War these days and said:

"In the forty-seventh year of Wanli, the Shaanxi soldiers were defeated in Liaodong and returned to the west. Zhang Wo, then governor of Henan, intercepted Mengjin and beheaded more than thirty people."

"The rest of the defeated troops did not dare to return westward and made a living by looting on the borders of Shanxi and Shaanxi. After that, reinforcements continued to be mobilized, and the number of fleeing troops became more frequent. The border soldiers became thieves, and this is how it started."

Speaking of the differences between thieves in Shaanxi, Yuan Keli also believed that the court should eliminate these thieves who were turned from border troops as soon as possible:

"When the number of these thieves was small, it was not a serious problem, but since Wanli and Tianqi, disasters have occurred frequently in Shaanxi."

"In the first year of Tianqi, there was a drought in Yan'an, Qingyang, and Pingliang, and there was a severe famine at the end of the year. Because the war in Liaodong was urgent, the imperial court imposed additional taxes on Liao, which actually increased taxes."

"Farmers couldn't provide it, and people starved to death everywhere on the road. Some people gathered together to take food from rich households, but they were worried about being arrested by the court, so they became thieves. This is how hungry people become thieves."

"With the refugee ants attached and the border troops as the backbone, thieves have become a climate in Shaanxi. If they are not exterminated now, there will be a slight incitement in the future, which will lead to a big chaos that will affect the entire Shaanxi."

"Moreover, Shaanxi thieves are different from Shandong. They have border troops as their backbone, and their use of troops is more organized. If they are not eradicated before they start, it will be more difficult to eradicate them in the future."

He agreed very much with Yuan Keli's views, and Zhu Youjian even wanted to send him to Shaanxi to supervise the division. It's just that he doesn't know much about the military affairs of the Ming Dynasty, and needs the assistance of ministers like Yuan Keli who are proficient in military affairs. In addition, the restructuring of the Sanfa Division also requires Yuan Keli's efforts.

So Zhu Youjian could only sigh that there was only one Yuan Keli in the court, put aside the idea of ​​sending him to Shaanxi, and asked: "Yuan Qing, how do you think Shaanxi should be governed and the Shaanxi thieves should be wiped out?"

Yuan Keli said:

"First reissue border wages in Shaanxi, and then deploy elite troops to exterminate the thieves."

"At the same time, reduce taxes to prevent hungry people from becoming thieves."

This was similar to Zhu Youjian's idea, so he immediately said:

"I have tried my best to reissue the border wages."

"In order to reduce taxes, I can also use Dengji's grace to exempt Shaanxi from taxes for one year and completely exempt them from taxes next year."

"Who can take the responsibility for elite soldiers to catch thieves?"

Surprised by the emperor's determination, Yuan Keli felt the emperor's attention even more.

After the officials heard that the emperor wanted to exempt Shaanxi from money and food for a year, they also felt that although the emperor was a little greedy for money, he was not as ignorant as Emperor Wanli - he only knew how to fish the money into the inner treasury, but was reluctant to use it.

The exemption of money and food is of great importance, because the money and food that the court lacks must be made up from other places. But this is the responsibility of the Minister of Household Affairs. Yuan Keli will not worry about this matter and recommended:

"Yang Zhaoji, the commander-in-chief of Yansui, had made great achievements in annihilating the White Lotus Sect in the second year of Tianqi. He was the governor of Jin Dynasty and the right governor."

"After being transferred to Shaanxi Province, because of his meritorious service in the recovery of Lanzhou, he was appointed as the governor of the left, and added the prince's young master and Yin Yizi to guard thousands of households."

"This person is brave and resourceful, and has experience in suppressing thieves. He is enough to shoulder the heavy responsibility."

Zhu Youjian was overjoyed when he heard this. He also learned that Yang Zhaoji was born in the Yang family of Yizhou and was a hereditary military officer. He immediately ordered:
"Promoted to Prince Yang Zhaoji as Taibao, Admiral to oversee the military affairs of the three provinces of Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Henan. He is responsible for suppressing bandits."

"The governors of the three sides, the governors of Shaanxi, Yansui, Gansu, Ningxia, Shanxi, Datong, and Henan must fully cooperate and manage food and wages to eliminate the thieves as soon as possible."

The admiral was in charge of the military affairs of the three provinces, but there was no governor above him. Civil servants generally felt that it was inappropriate.

Even Yuan Keli, the person who recommended Yang Zhaoji, also advised at this time:
"There may be some pushback in the local area. It would be better to have a civil governor."

"We cannot delay the suppression of bandits!"

With the current climate of the Ming Dynasty, military generals often call themselves "the subordinates of their subordinates" or even "the lackeys of their subordinates" when facing civil servants. Without a civil servant as the governor-general, Yang Zhaoji would not be able to get cooperation at the local level, and most of the civil servants would simply ignore his requests.

This kind of atmosphere cannot be changed in a short time. After Zhu Youjian understood it, he had no choice but to set up a civil servant to assist the admiral in his work.

After thinking about it, Zhu Youjian said:
"The power of the governor-general in the three provinces is too heavy, and it has not reached that point yet."

"For the time being, we will set up a military guard who will be responsible for food and wages and dealing with local civil servants."

"The Guards are responsible for protecting and supervising the army and managing the internal affairs of the army."

"The command of training in the military is still decided by the admiral."

(End of this chapter)