Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Sun Chuanting was a native of Daizhou, Shanxi, and had a hereditary Zhenwuwei family.

Like many hereditary military officers, his ancestors had long encouraged their descendants to study essays and participate in the imperial examination to become civil servants. Four generations of Sun Chuanting's ancestors had all passed the imperial examination and served as state and county officials.

In Sun Chuanting's generation, the Sun family finally produced a Jinshi. In the forty-seventh year of Wanli, Sun Chuanting, who was only 27 years old, passed the provincial examination and became a Jinshi in one go. He was granted the same background as a Jinshi.

With the status of Jinshi, Sun Chuanting's official position is naturally better than that of his father. First he served as county magistrate in Yongcheng and Shangqiu. Later, because of his merit in preventing the Bailian Rebellion in Shandong Province, he was transferred to the imperial court and served as the head of the Department of Certification and Certification of the Ministry of Personnel.

The person in charge can be held by a new Jinshi. This position is obviously just a transitional position for Sun Chuanting. It didn't take long for him to be promoted to the rank of doctor in the Ministry of Civil Affairs, becoming a fifth-rank official with considerable power in the court.

At this time, Sun Chuanting was only thirty-three years old. As long as he was promoted step by step, it was entirely possible for him to serve as a minister and become a high-ranking official in the imperial court when he was about forty years old.

However, at this time, the eunuchs were rampant in the court and Wei Zhongxian was in dictatorship. Sun Chuanting was quite dissatisfied with this and did not want to join the others. He found an excuse to take leave and return to his hometown to serve his mother at home.

Zhu Youjian knew his name, and soon after he ascended to power, he tried to revive him. First, he appointed the supervisory censor to patrol Shaanxi and added the title of third-level political participation. Then, after Shanxi governor Hu Tingyan was dismissed for building a temple, Sun Chuanting was appointed acting governor of Shaanxi. I hope this capable minister can stabilize the situation in Shaanxi.

At this time, it had been more than four months since Sun Chuanting had returned to power. Sun Chuanting had been in Shaanxi for nearly three months.

"Master, do you want to go somewhere else to see it?"

"You are already the governor now, and you should not patrol privately incognito."

"If something happens, where will the court's face be?"

As Sun Chuanting stayed in Shaanxi for three months, his servant Sun Fu couldn't bear it anymore and persuaded him again.

The situation in Shaanxi is really chaotic, there are bandits everywhere, and they are in danger several times along the way. If the Sun family hadn't come from a guardhouse and had elite servants following them, they might have been killed.

Therefore, these people have long been unwilling to transfer, and have repeatedly persuaded Sun Chuanting to show his banner and go to Xi'an to take office, but he cannot continue like this.

However, Sun Chuanting was stubborn and refused to listen to their advice at all. On the grounds that the emperor had previously ordered him to patrol Shaanxi secretly, he took them around Shaanxi. Not only were there areas under the jurisdiction of the governor of Shaanxi, he also visited the areas under the jurisdiction of the three governors of Yansui, Ningxia and Gansu.

After nearly three months, Sun Chuanting knew the situation in Shaanxi not only in detail, but also in his heart. I have a clear understanding of the situation I am facing:

"Your Majesty asked me to come to Shaanxi to cure the situation in Shaanxi!"

"If the governance is not good, it will end up here!"

Quite puzzled by his sudden rise, Sun Chuanting thought about the emperor's intentions after accepting the appointment.

He has no understanding of the current emperor, and does not feel that he has any friendship with the emperor. After much deliberation, I can only attribute the reason for my recovery to my defense against the White Lotus Sect.

After arriving in Shaanxi, he saw the bandits along the way, which confirmed his thoughts. He knew that the most important thing in Shaanxi now was to put down the bandits.

In order to confirm his thoughts, Sun Chuanting followed the imperial court lightly and secretly visited Shaanxi, but he still did not give up his attention to the imperial court.

After reading from the Congdi newspaper, the imperial court appointed Yang Zhaoji, the commander-in-chief of Yansui, as the admiral of the three provinces to suppress bandits, and Yang He as the military envoy to suppress bandits in the three provinces. It also sent Yuan Shu, the son of the current Minister of War, Yuan Keli, to serve as the envoy of Northwest Town. He was completely certain of his thoughts and believed that the emperor sent him here to prepare for the annihilation of the Shaanxi bandits.

The encounters along the way made Sun Chuanting think this was correct. The bandits in Shaanxi have reached a point where they have to be suppressed. If left unchecked, a great chaos would occur just like the White Lotus Rebellion in the second year of Tianqi. The most important thing in Shaanxi at present is to suppress bandits and prevent them from spreading.

If hungry people kill the magistrate of Chengcheng again like in March, the situation in Shaanxi may become uncontrollable and chaos will break out everywhere.

Sun Chuanting has written a memorial about these situations, and plans to report the situation after inspecting the entire Shaanxi Province.

What he didn't expect was that when he visited Lintao Mansion, news came from the court that he was appointed acting governor of Shaanxi. Xi'an Prefecture, the most elite place in Shaanxi, was handed over to him for management.

Now his traces could no longer be concealed. Many officials in Shaanxi knew that the new governor Sun Chuanting had been sent by the court to conduct a secret investigation, and he might have seen their behavior somewhere.

This made many officials nervous, worried that what Sun Chuanting saw would be detrimental to them.

Sun Chuanting has noticed changes these days, and finds that the resistance to his secret investigation is getting stronger and stronger. If he continues like this, he will no longer be able to investigate the truth, but will put pressure on the local government.

There might even be people who take desperate risks and collude with bandits to murder themselves.

Therefore, facing Sun Fu and others’ persuasion again, Sun Chuanting said:

"Let's go, ahead is Fengxiang Mansion. After Fengxiang is Xi'an, go there and raise the flag."

Starting from his hometown of Daizhou and passing through Yansui, Ningxia, Guyuan, and Lintao, Sun Chuanting originally planned to go west to the governors of Ganzhou. After receiving the order to be promoted to governor of Shaanxi, he could not go to the jurisdiction of the governor of Gansu, so he turned to East, planning to transfer the jurisdiction of the governor of Shaanxi.

What he didn't expect was that the news of his secret visit spread so quickly, and many local officials got the news. It was no longer feasible to go to Hanzhong Mansion from Gongchang, so he planned to go to Fengxiang, and then go straight to Xi'an Mansion——

Officials in Xi'an must pay more attention to his news than other places. In order to prevent these officials from disturbing the place, he decided to show his banner and prevent them from disturbing the people.

However, what he didn't expect was that Fengxiang officials also paid attention to his news. Not long after arriving at Fengxiang Mansion, his identity was discovered and confirmed by local officials.

"These are the people who just asked me about the situation of Shen Gongqu."

"He also said that the canal was well built and asked me who Mr. Shen was."

An old man pointed at Sun Chuanting and said to a guard.

Obviously, people here have been told to pay attention to abnormal people. Sun Chuanting was exposed after asking him about the situation.

When the officer heard the report from his father-in-law, he immediately stepped forward cautiously and asked about the identities of Sun Chuanting and his party.

Sun Chuanting had no intention of hiding anything anymore. Seeing this, he nodded and Sun Fu said loudly:

"My father's surname is Sun, and it is forbidden to be passed down to the court. He is currently the censor of the inspection and acting governor of Shaanxi."

"Find someone who can make the decision to receive my master!"

He had long known about the new governor Sun Chuanting's secret visit to Shaanxi, and was even sent out by county officials to pay attention to the matter. This officer had no idea that Sun Chuanting would appear here.

He was shocked when he heard Sun Fu's name. After hurriedly bowing down and saluting, he asked his father-in-law and others to entertain Sun Chuanting well, and he informed the county of the news. After the officer left, Sun Chuanting came to his father-in-law, helped him up, who also bowed down, and said with a pleasant expression:
"Old man, you didn't want to say it just now, should you say it now?"

Only then did my father-in-law know the purpose of the county officials in ordering to pay attention to abnormal people. Seeing Sun Chuanting being so kind, he didn't know that this was a private visit by the legendary Master Qingtian in disguise, and that the corrupt officials in the county were deliberately obstructing it.

So I patted my thigh and regretted:
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"If you had told me why I would tell Officer Wang, I would have told you about Shen Gongqu."

"This Shen Gong Canal was built in the forty-sixth year of Wanli by the prefect Shen himself."

“Thanks to this Shenggong Canal, we have been able to harvest food during droughts in recent years.”

"Mr. Shen is such a good official. He even asked the government servants to sell salt, and the officials took over the duties of the people."

"I heard that when Feng Xiang visited him in the capital, he saw that his home was very simple and he had almost nothing."

"There aren't many officials like this anymore."

"Master Qingtian paid a private visit incognito, he must be such a good official!"

Sun Chuanting felt a little ashamed after hearing the rambling words. Although he could not be called a corrupt official, his family was quite prosperous. After returning to his hometown, he managed his house, opened a garden, and wrote poems and laughed with his guests. Unlike the prefect Shen, who was an official in the capital and had nothing at all, and even started cooking only after a business official came to visit.

"I should recommend officials like this to the imperial court!" 』

Asking Magistrate Shen's name, Sun Chuanting learned that it was Shen Zizhang. He immediately had an impression and remembered a piece of news he had read in the Di newspaper a few days ago:
"The Prime Minister of Guanglu Temple, Shen Zizhang, was transferred to the position of doctor in the literary selection department. 』

"His Majesty has already placed him in high regard, so there is no need for me to recommend him!" 』

Sun Chuanting, who once served as Ji Xunlang of the Ministry of Personnel, still paid some attention to the officials of the Ministry of Personnel. Especially the doctor in the Literary Selection Department, any official would be very concerned about it.

Now, he finally knew that the Magistrate Shen mentioned by his father-in-law was none other than Shen Zizhang, the new director of the Selected Literature Department.

"Your Majesty appoints such a capable minister as the doctor of literary selection. This is a blessing to the world!" 』

"I hope Dr. Shen will select more capable ministers and officials like him to govern the world well!" 』

After traveling so many places, he saw one of the best sights he had ever seen. This made him have a good impression of Shen Zizhang, and he believed that the emperor who promoted him to be the doctor of literary selection department was also a wise king.

Especially when I think about the fact that since the emperor ascended the throne, he has not only stabilized the border areas, but also cleared up the evil atmosphere in the court. This made him recognize the emperor more and be willing to contribute to the emperor's governance of the world.

After carefully asking Shen Zizhang what he was doing in Fengxiang Mansion, Sun Chuanting quite recognized his actions. I think Shen Zizhang is indispensable for Fengxiang's current situation.

After the county officials arrived, he even consulted the records of Shen Zizhang's governance of Fengxiang Mansion, asked about the effects of various policies, and had an idea of ​​how to govern Shaanxi.

For this matter, Sun Chuanting stayed in Fengxiang Mansion for several days before heading east to Xi'an Mansion under the escort of the county officials.

At this time, Xi'an officials had already heard the news, and many people went to greet him.

With these people around, Sun Chuanting obviously could not continue his inspection. He could only go directly to Xi'an City according to the arrangements of these officials.

Xi'an is the former capital of the Han and Tang Dynasties and was also highly valued in the Ming Dynasty. Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang once planned to move the capital to Xi'an, and even sent Prince Zhu Biao to check it out. Later, because Zhu Biao fell ill and died after returning, the matter of moving the capital was dropped. Xi'an missed the opportunity to become the capital of the Ming Dynasty.

However, as one of the candidates for the capital and where the Qin Palace is located, the construction of Xi'an City is still very good.

After Sun Chuanting arrived, he nodded secretly, thinking that as long as there was an elite army, Xi'an City would not be lost. With this city as his support, he could suppress the bandits without hesitation.

As the governor of Shaanxi, Sun Chuanting had great power. According to the imperial system, the governor was a representative sent by the imperial court to the local area. His official position was the imperial censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the minister of the Ministry of War. He had the power to supervise and control the three local departments.

Xi'an serves as the residence of the Shaanxi Chengxuan Administrative Envoys Department, the Shaanxi Provincial Envoys Department, and the Shaanxi Dual Command Envoys Department. The officials of these three departments are all under the control of Sun Chuanting.

Even the vassal king, King Qin, could hardly influence Sun Chuanting.

Only the trilateral governors, who have military affairs powers as governors of Shaanxi, Gansu, Yansui, and Ningxia, can restrain the governor of Shaanxi. However, the governors of the three sides were stationed in Guyuan, and Fangqiu was stationed in Huamachi. The governor of Shaanxi is based in Xi'an, and Fangqiu is stationed in Guyuan.

The two are not in the same place at all, and there are many places to cooperate. Therefore, the governors of the three sides did not have much restraint on the governor of Shaanxi. Sun Chuanting had great power in the city of Xi'an.

Such great power also means great responsibility. In particular, the governor Sun Chuanting was directly appointed by the emperor and was not recommended by the court. If he does not do well and cannot be replaced, it will also damage the emperor's prestige. Then it will be difficult for him to be reused in the future.

Therefore, after Sun Chuanting took over the job, he quickly started working.

While he was writing the memorial and thinking about how to open up the situation, Yuan Shu, the governor of Northwest Town, took the initiative to come over.

He is also responsible for the task of suppressing bandits, and before setting off, his father Yuan Keli asked him to coordinate the suppression of bandits with the army and local officials.

In addition, the emperor also showed that he valued Sun Chuanting. Yuan Shu took the initiative to find Sun Chuanting after he arrived in Xi'an:
"Governor Sun, Your Majesty has asked me to serve as the governor of the northwest town to assist in the coordination between the army and the local area."

"If Governor Sun needs anything, please feel free to arrange it."

Sun Chuanting was very happy about this, and he knew that the emperor valued him. Although he was extremely confused about this, he didn't know what the emperor liked about him, so he kept getting promoted and made these arrangements.

But at this time, it is obviously not suitable to investigate the reasons. Thinking that he had heard that Jin Yiwei was also investigating during his investigation, Sun Chuanting asked Yuan Shu to bring the information about Jin Yiwei's investigation for his own reference. He wanted to compare Jin Yiwei's information with his own inspections to find out the situation in Shaanxi.

Jin Yiwei has three teams investigating the situation in Shaanxi, and Yuan Shu knows about this. It is even known that because Jin Yiwei was too high-profile and had a poor reputation during the investigation, he lost quite a lot of manpower. As a result, the emperor's requirements have not yet been met to conduct a clear investigation of refugees, thieves, money, food, population and other data.

Now that Sun Chuanting asked for these information, Yuan Shu would of course have to cooperate. All the information delivered to Xi'an was sent to Sun Chuanting.

Looking at these scattered information, Sun Chuanting knew the reason why Jin Yiwei had not completed the investigation so far. These erroneous information are obviously not suitable for transmission to the imperial court. Even for him, it doesn't have much effect.

Fortunately, he investigated the situation in Shaanxi very clearly and only used Jin Yiwei's information to prove it. He quickly selected useful information based on what he saw and heard, completed the memorial, and sent it out immediately using Jin Yiwei's channels. (End of chapter)