Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 182 Naval Yamen
Feeling that Sun Chengzong, the leader of the Donglin Party, was causing trouble, Zhu Youjian deliberately asked him to go to Liaodong to take office as soon as possible, so as not to affect his ability to seize power during this period.

But before taking office, Zhu Youjian needs to arrange things in Liaodong, especially the navy.

This was the last link in the siege of Hou Jin, and it was also the greatest advantage of the imperial court. Zhu Youjian believed that this was the breaking point.

As the governor of Liaodong, Sun Chengzong was responsible for all aspects of the strategy for the Later Jin Dynasty. Of course you have to tell him about such an important matter.

Only with his cooperation can the navy's attack on Houjin go more smoothly. The standing meeting held today is also for this purpose.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian pretended not to care about what happened before and continued to arrange the navy:
"Admiral of the Navy, establish a direct naval division in the station of Port Arthur."

"And has jurisdiction over the Liaodong Navy, Denglai Navy, and Dongjiang Navy."

Just when he mentioned this, Sun Chengzong expressed his objection and said:
"Ningyuan City and Juehua Island are each other's horns and support each other."

"If the Liaodong Navy is transferred to the Navy, how will Juehua Island be defended?"

Zhu Youjian got angry when he mentioned Juehua Island and asked Sun Chengzong:
"Did Juehua Island be defended during the Battle of Ningyuan?"

"Since Liaodong does not attach importance to Hua Island, then it will be placed under the Navy, and the Navy will pay more attention to it."

This question made Sun Chengzong stunned. Because Wang Zaijin proposed in the Jin Dynasty that Juehua Island is twenty miles away from Ningyuan City, and "when it is frozen, walking on the sea is like flat ground", which poses a defensive risk.

The Battle of Ningyuan in the sixth year of Tianqi also proved this point. Ningyuan City was defended by Hou Jin's attack, but Juehua Island was not. The Hou Jin army took advantage of the ice on the sea and dispatched troops to capture it.

Seven to eight thousand generals and seven to eight thousand merchants and civilians were killed on the island. More than 80,000 stones of grain, more than 2,000 ships, and barracks and houses were burned. The losses were very heavy.

It's just that the Battle of Ningyuan was a hard-fought victory for the Ming Dynasty, so the court did not publicize the defeat of Juehua Island and did not link the two battles together.

If we really talk about it, the Battle of Ningyuan and the Battle of Juehua Island were actually one battle, and the Ming Dynasty could be called a tragic victory at most:

After defeating Hou Jin's plot, he successfully defended Ningyuan City, but was defeated on Juehua Island.

However, Juehua Island was at sea and Hou Jin could not occupy it for a long time, and it was later recovered.

Now that Zhu Youjian mentioned this matter, Sun Chengzong was immediately confused. Although the battle in Ningyuan had nothing to do with him, the root cause was him. The soldiers and horses of Liaodong defended completely according to his strategy, but there were major mistakes in the execution. Wang Zaijin reminded him——

How did Sun Chengzong answer this? Could it be that his strategy was wrong?

Of course he did not admit his mistake and argued:
"The defeat of Juehua Island was caused by Gao Di's support of troops and his refusal to save the island. He only allowed Juehua Island to defend itself."

"If I were in Liaodong, I would definitely not let Juehua Island fall."

This kind of forced justification certainly cannot convince Zhu Youjian. Because the defensive loopholes in Juehua Island are real and are not a problem of any one person.

Moreover, the rescue mentioned by Sun Chengzong made Zhu Youjian even more angry. Hou Jin could mobilize tens of thousands of soldiers and horses to launch an attack. If it attacked a certain city, Ming Dynasty would have to mobilize its entire army to rescue it?
This is what Zhu Youjian strongly opposes, and it is also the reason why he previously abolished the article "the general will not stick to it". He didn't want Ming Dynasty to be manipulated by Hou Jin and let the war in one place affect the entire situation.

Therefore, Sun Chengzong's statement made Zhu Youjian furious and asked:
"Can Governor Sun guarantee that Juehua Island will not be lost in your hands?"

"If you can issue a military order, the Liaodong Navy will still be under your jurisdiction."

Of course, Sun Chengzong did not dare to issue a military order. Juehua Island's defense loopholes were real, and it might be captured by Houjin after it froze in winter. If he issued a military order but failed to keep it, he might really be killed——

The Ming Dynasty never paid attention to merits and demerits. As long as you dared to make mistakes, someone would dare to kill you. Especially for Kedao officials, this is their job.

Seeing his old friend in embarrassment, Yuan Keri came out to smooth things over and said:
"Juehua Island and Ningyuan City are not only at the horns of each other, but also an important place for grain harvesting."

"Transporting grain to Liaodong by sea also requires the efforts of the Liaodong Navy."

"I believe that since the Admiral of the Navy will participate in the Hou Jin campaign, he should be under the jurisdiction of the Liaodong Governor."

"The Liaodong Navy is placed under the jurisdiction of the Navy Admiral and is still under the jurisdiction of the Liaodong Commander."

This was a step for Sun Chengzong, and Zhu Youjian did not object. Because Yu Zigao, the naval admiral, was placed in Lushun by him, he originally planned to let Sun Chengzong take charge. As usual, the Liaodong Governor was responsible for all strategies against Hou Jin.

Zhu Youjian agreed with this before and did not want to worry about Liaodong affairs. But now that he discovered that Sun Chengzong had selfish motives and was closely related to the Donglin Party, he decided to put more thought into and pay more attention to Liaodong affairs.

So he ordered:
"The Navy Admiral and the Navy Guard Envoy, like the Governor of Tianjin, the Governor of Denglai, the Liaonan Guard Envoy, and the Liaonan Admiral, accept the orders of the Liaodong Governor when they attack Houjin."

"But on other matters, I will directly obey the orders of the court."

"The naval yamen is located in Tianjin and is run by the naval escort envoy to coordinate the relationship between the navy and the coastal provinces."

"The Tianjin Naval Academy was established to teach professional courses such as navigation, weapons, communications, surveying and mapping, and shipbuilding, specifically to cultivate naval talents."

"What happened on Juehua Island can't happen again in the future. The navy was defeated by a landlubber who couldn't swim. It sounds like a joke."

This command sounds no different from before. All strategies for Hou Jin are still in charge of the Liaodong Governor.

However, it was clarified that the authority of the Liaodong Governor was limited to Hou Jin. The navy and Liaonan can completely ignore other orders that have nothing to do with Hou Jin. The imperial court could also directly intervene in the affairs of the navy and southern Liaoning without worrying about the feelings of the governor of Liaodong.

It can be said that the authority of Sun Chengzong, the governor of Liaodong, has been greatly reduced. Official positions such as Navy Admiral and Liaonan Admiral have greatly enhanced their independence.

This result was something that no one expected, especially Sun Chengzong. He didn't expect that his mere excuse for the matter on Juehua Island would trigger such a big reaction from the emperor.

If he had known this, he would not have made any excuses. Directly let the Navy Admiral take charge of the Liaodong Navy, and take charge of the Navy Admiral himself. It's a pity that when the words came out of the emperor's mouth, the matter of the navy and Liaonan was basically settled. These two aspects of power have been lost from his hands.

After all, apart from fighting Hou Jin on the battlefield, who can tell whether the Navy Admiral and Liaonan Admiral are targeting Hou Jin in peacetime? If it was not a matter concerning Hou Jin, he, the governor of Liaodong, would naturally not be able to interfere.

He was very dissatisfied with this result, but Sun Chengzong couldn't express his pain and couldn't argue at all.

Yuan Keli also thought of this and sighed for his old friend. Because he also knew that this matter could not be argued.

The establishment of the Liaodong Governor was originally to deal with Hou Jin. When Sun Chengzong was the governor of Liaodong, he also focused on this matter and never interfered in other affairs of Tianjin and Denglai. Even on matters concerning Houjin, they were very polite during discussions.

But because of his status as a bachelor's governor in Liaodong, the governors of Tianjin and Denglai naturally took his orders very seriously. In many matters, he will act according to his instructions.

It can be said that Sun Chengzong, the governor of Liaodong, was the superior of the governor of Tianjin and the governor of Denglai. Mao Wenlong, the commander-in-chief of Dongjiang Town under the control of Governor Denglai, was not even qualified to discuss with Sun Chengzong.

After being promoted to admiral of Liaonan, Mao Wenlong finally came to the fore. But like the Liaodong Admiral, he is a subordinate of the Liaodong Governor. This is what the emperor made clear when he dismissed the governor of Liaodong and appointed the admiral and military envoy of Liaodong -

Admirals and military guards are subordinates of the supervisors and governors.

Therefore, Yuan Keli and others had no objection to Mao Wenlong's promotion to admiral. They only thought that the emperor wanted to appease him and promoted his rank.

Only now did they understand that the emperor's ambush was here. Except for matters related to Hou Jin, the Admiral of Liaonan was different from the Admiral of Liaodong and was not a subordinate of the Liaodong Governor.

It can be said that the emperor's words ostensibly clarified the authority of the Liaodong Governor, but actually cut off a large part of the Liaodong Governor's power.

Except for commanding the battle against Hou Jin on the battlefield, the Liaonan Admiral and the Navy Admiral could ignore any other orders from the Liaodong Governor. If the question is serious, they can still report it to the court and let the court make a decision——

They were not subordinates of the Governor of Liaodong, but were controlled by the Governor of Liaodong on matters concerning Hou Jin.

This result made Liaonan Admiral Mao Wenlong and Navy Admiral Yu Zigao feel happy. If it weren't for Sun Chengzong who was in charge of the overall situation, the two of them might have started laughing if they still expected to make great achievements under his arrangement.

They now belong directly to the imperial court and are not subordinate to the Liaodong Governor. They will cooperate with the Liaodong Governor's orders regarding Hou Jin. As for other orders, they will go back to where they came from.

It can be said that the two people benefited the most from the emperor's order. This made them truly feel that the emperor was improving the status of military commanders, and that military commanders were not entirely subordinate to civilian officials.

Yu Zigao was inspired and thought of what happened in Fujian and asked the emperor:
"Admiral of the Navy, are you only in charge of the navy on the northern sea, or all the navy on the sea?"

"Does the Navy Admiral want to take care of matters in the southern sea?"

The purpose of establishing the Navy Yamen was to rectify the national navy. Zhu Youjian certainly wanted the Navy Admiral and the Navy Guard Envoy to take charge. Later, the Navy Yamen would be transferred to the imperial court and the Ministry of War would actually become the Ministry of War.

So he didn't care whether Yu Zigao had selfish motives and asked him:

"The Navy Yamen is in Tianjin. Can it take care of the affairs in the South China Sea?"

When Yu Zigao heard that there was hope, he immediately reported:

"It took me less than a month to travel from Fujian to Tianjin."

"If we can clean up the reefs, build lighthouses, and improve the routes, the speed will be even faster."

"Things in the Southern Sea can also be handled in Tianjin."

Zhu Youjian was overjoyed and immediately ordered:
"Establish a Navigation Department in the Navy Yamen to be responsible for navigation security and route order."

"We must determine the north-south route, clean up the rocks along the way, and build navigation lighthouses."

"We must focus on this matter, and we must connect the north and the south through the sea."

Yu Zigao was even more happy when he heard this, knowing that he could control all the naval forces on the Ming Dynasty. Thinking of the health center where he was born, Yu Zigao said:
"Coastal guard stations mostly have coastal defense responsibilities. They have people and ships that can improve routes."

"I think these guard posts should also be under the control of the navy."

This matter was relatively involved, so Zhu Youjian did not agree directly, but looked at Yuan Keli.

Yuan Keli poured cold water and said:
"The imperial court is short of money and food, and the nine sides still have unpaid wages. It is not appropriate to spend too much on the sea."

"There are coastal defense roads, sea patrol roads, coastal defense generals, and deputy generals guarding coastal defense."

"Does the Navy Yamen want to take control of it?"

Zhu Youjian knew that sea trade was very profitable and that tariffs could be collected a lot, but he never knew how to raise it.

After hearing Yuan Keli's words, he looked at Yu Zigao expectantly and said with a pleasant expression:

"Admiral Yu, can the Navy Yamen take care of all this?"

"If we can collect taxes from the sea to support the coastal guards and officers and soldiers, I will assign them to the Navy Yamen."

"You, the admiral of the navy, want to take control of the Ming Dynasty's maritime territories!"

(End of this chapter)