Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chen Qiuyu was extremely delighted as he was promoted by the emperor right after returning to the capital.

Although the acting position as Minister of the Imperial Household and Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War was only temporary, Qin Shiwen would return to it after he recovered from his illness.

But with this experience, he will be able to serve as a minor official or even an assistant minister of one of the six ministries in the future, and there is no doubt that he will be able to serve as a governor in a local area.

Even more, because Qin Shiwen was promoted to the position of Minister of State, he might be transferred to another position. He, the acting Minister of the Temple, might be transferred to the actual position.

It seems that Yang Jingchen is currently serving as the acting Minister of Personnel, so it is almost certain that he will be transferred to a full-time position.

So he immediately kowtowed to express his gratitude for the emperor's appointment.

He also reported in detail what he had seen and heard along the way.

Hearing that the drought in Yansui was severe and the harvest was certain to be lost, and that although Guanzhong had made great efforts to provide disaster relief, most of the land might still be lost, Zhu Youjian was extremely worried.

As someone who has studied this history, he knows clearly who is the gravedigger of the Ming Dynasty.

If he could not keep Shaanxi stable, even if he pacified the Jianlu, the Ming Dynasty would still be doomed.

Therefore, after he ascended the throne, he paid the most attention to the affairs of Shaanxi. He hoped that Sun Chuanting and other capable ministers would help him stabilize Shaanxi.

Now Sun Chuanting has proposed a solution, but the pressure is on him whether he dares to use it:
"The Shaanxi Protectorate's proposal is a big problem!"

Knowing clearly how great the risks were, Zhu Youjian did not doubt Sun Chuanting's loyalty, but was worried that with more troops in Shaanxi, Sun Chuanting would be "robed" by his subordinates.

After all, no matter how badly the disaster hit Shaanxi, there are still more than 10 million people. The number of households is nearly 400,000, with more than 4.5 million people.

With so many people all incorporated into the garrisons, whoever controls this force may become ambitious.

So Zhu Youjian did not make any comment on this matter for the time being and planned to think about it carefully.

He highly appreciated Sun Chuanting's request to move the King of Qin to a fiefdom and use the money and grain of the Qin fiefdom to provide relief to the victims.

Summoning Zhang Wenyu, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, Zhu Youjian asked:
"How are the construction of the princes' palaces going?"

“How many people can we accommodate this year?”

Zhang Wenyu has been focusing all his energy on this in the past few months. Being good at garden construction, he designed a garden-style mansion along the Kunming Lake and Yuquan Mountain named by the emperor.

Hearing the emperor's question, Zhang Wenyu replied:

“Land acquisition has been completed.”

"As Your Majesty has said, I have used the money and grain from the Imperial Household Department and wasteland in Tianjin and other places to purchase and exchange about 30,000 acres."

"The land has been planned and the kings have been allocated land for their residences."

"Currently, the palaces of Prince Han, Prince Qin, and Prince Jingjiang have already started construction. The palaces of the barons who donated money to Fujian are also being built."

“We will be able to start moving in by the end of the year.”

Upon hearing that the construction of the Prince of Qin's Palace had begun, Zhu Youjian asked:
"How is the Qin Palace built? Can it accommodate all the people of the Qin Clan?"

Zhang Wenyu said:

"The Prince of Qin is most concerned about the Qin Palace and seems to be planning to stay in the capital for a long time."

"But the residence of the prince of Qin Fan has not yet been built."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Youjian ordered:

"The King of Qin is the leader of all the kings and should be given special treatment."

"Send an order to summon the King of Qin to the capital for an audience. Also grant the King of Qin 500 acres of residential land, and let him buy it with his own money, and build it according to the specifications of a fiefdom mansion."

"There is also the residence of the Qin Fanjun Prince, which must be built as soon as possible. The money and grain required will be advanced by the Imperial Household Supervisor and collected from them in Shaanxi."

It was impossible to directly seize the Qin clan's wealth, but it was only natural to collect a sum from them by building a mansion.

Let these people take out loans in the capital and repay the loans with grain in Shaanxi, thus avoiding long-distance transportation.

Zhu Youjian then thought of the ordinary clan members of the Qin clan. When they migrated, they needed to have a place to stay in the capital first, and asked:
"Have the mansions around the princes' palaces started to be built now?"

"Do you have the design drawings for the standard apartment I asked you to design?"

Zhang Wenyu said:

"We have already tried to build several rows of houses in the townhouses that Your Majesty had mentioned."

"It's just running water and heating, and we're still testing and perfecting it."

He took out a prepared drawing and presented it to the emperor.

Zhu Youjian looked at the drawing and asked carefully. He was very satisfied that Zhang Wenyu could draw the design according to his intention.

The so-called townhouse is a concept he proposed by combining the townhouses and courtyard villas of later generations. It is mainly to build a row of two- or three-story buildings connected together and let these houses share walls.

Then a yard was built in the front to build kitchens, bathrooms, stables, toilets, etc. This simpler three-in-one courtyard replaced the traditional four-in-one courtyard.

This type of townhouse is naturally cheaper than a quadrangle. Moreover, sewers, tap water, and heating pipes were planned during the design, making it convenient to use water for heating.

More importantly, it was designed by Zhu Youjian for the permanent property owners in the Ming Dynasty, and it can easily accommodate carriages and horses.

This is a house specially designed by Zhu Youjian to be suitable for horse-drawn carriages.

From the design of the gate and threshold to the width of the streets, everything must be suitable for the passage of horse-drawn carriages.

In the future, the streets and lanes in the capital that are not convenient for carriages to pass through will also be renovated according to this standard, so that more people can buy the horses obtained from the grassland trade and the four-wheeled carriages that the Imperial Household Department is currently exploring and manufacturing.

Now, Zhu Youjian planned to arrange for the royal families of Han and Qin to live there first, so that they would have a place to stay before moving overseas.

Regarding the problems with tap water and heating, Zhu Youjian instructed:
“If you can’t provide water and heating to an entire neighborhood, then start by dividing it into more small blocks.”

"For example, we could build a water tower and boiler room for these eight rows of courtyards to supply water and heating to the surrounding courtyards."

"Let the residents of the courtyard share the cost."

Use these yards as experiments to promote the improvement of running water and heating.

Zhang Wenyu felt relieved after receiving this order. With the emperor's instructions, he didn't have to worry about being scolded if something went wrong, and he could experiment with confidence.

Thinking of this, he, who was also the Shaoqing of Shaofu Temple, requested:

"In addition to wood ash cement, Shaofu Temple also produced limestone cement."

“Can this cement be used in house construction?”

Cement was a new thing, and no one had any idea about it before they knew about it. But after successfully firing wood ash cement, the people in Shaofu Temple quickly used limestone, clay, gypsum, slag, iron ore, coal and other raw materials proposed by the emperor to fire cement with a wider source of raw materials and better use. There are many types of cement, suitable for different scenarios.

This made Zhu Youjian very happy, and he said with a smile:
"Now the health team doesn't have to collect wood ash every day."

"They have been very busy these days."

Due to the need for raw materials for wood ash cement, the medical team of the Beijing Weiwei Office has been collecting wood ash in the city these days.

Even the Shaofu Temple felt that it was not enough, so they asked them to collect from other cities and the countryside.

Now that they have limestone cement, the medical team can finally take a break.

As he spoke, he also said to Chen Qiyu:

"Mr. Chen is going to be the Minister of the Imperial Household Department. You should pay more attention to the cement used on the Beijing-Tianjin Highway."

"In the future, cement will also be used in the construction of Yancang Highway, Longhai Highway and other highways."

"We need to summarize the advantages and disadvantages of cement in road construction as soon as possible, and let Shaofu Temple conduct targeted research and development to develop better cement."

I also explained to the two the concepts of concrete and prefabricated panels, and asked them to use steel bars and bamboo bars as the skeleton, supplemented with cement, sand and gravel, to try to make concrete.

If the cement pavement is upgraded to cement concrete pavement, it can be used longer and the maintenance cost will be lower.

Chen Qiuyu had just returned to Beijing when the emperor assigned him so many tasks. He finally understood why his boss was so exhausted.

The current emperor is generous in rewards, and is not stingy in granting hereditary officials, nobles and fiefdoms.

But if you want to get it, you have to risk your life. It is impossible to gain merits like Wei Zhongxian did when he was in power.

The official titles that Wei Zhongxian had abused to inherit had long been eliminated by the emperor.

Although Chen Qiyu lamented the difficulty of being an official under the current emperor, he was not afraid of the difficulty at all. At the age of 39, he had already stepped half a foot into the ranks of high-ranking officials, and it was not time for him to retire. He had enough energy and ambition to build his own career.

The same was true for Zhang Wenyu. When he was demoted by the emperor as a member of the eunuch party years ago, he thought his life was over and he might be impeached soon. The emperor only kept him in his position temporarily because he was a Jinshi in the second year of Tianqi.

Unexpectedly, his luck turned this year. The emperor took a fancy to his ability in construction and asked him to plan the princes' palaces and build a new garden-style city.

This caused a raging ambition to burst out in his heart——

The construction of a new city would definitely go down in history. It was even possible to become a wise official in the Purple Pavilion.

After more than two months of busy work, Zhang Wenyu's mind has been completely focused on construction.

What he wanted to do now was not only to build the palaces of the kings, but also to build the university hall that the emperor had mentioned, leaving his mark in this place where many students would gather in the future.

He even set his sights on the Mingtang that Lu Xiang was planning to build, intending to leave his own name on it just like he did when he built the three main halls.

It can be said that after nearly a year of adjustments, most officials in the court have found their own positions. The initiative of officials who are willing to make contributions has been mobilized.

But Zhu Youjian still felt that he did not have enough talent. The assistant minister he wanted to recruit some time ago had not been appointed yet.

Not to mention that the Shaanxi Protectorate that Sun Chuanting planned to establish required a large number of capable and loyal talents.

This made him sigh:
“Talent is hard to come by!”

"Loyal ministers are even more difficult to come by!"

"Sun Chuanting is not afraid of difficulties and is willing to risk his life to do this."

"Why should I be suspicious? Just give him the power."

I have already decided in my heart to give him greater power according to Sun Chuanting's idea.

However, there must be checks and balances. Zhu Youjian's plan was to set up several Dusi under the Shaanxi Protectorate, and to set up relatively independent Dusi to manage the areas under the jurisdiction of the Yansui Governor, Gansu Governor, and Ningxia Governor.

At the same time, a counter-insurgency and disaster relief committee should be established in Shaanxi. On the basis of affirming Sun Chuanting's decision-making power, more people should be appointed to collectively manage the situation.

With this decision, Zhu Youjian began to push in the court to implement martial law in Shaanxi.

In fact, this matter had already been promoted after Chen Qiuyu sent someone to deliver the memorials from Yansui officials such as Zhu Tongmeng.

Many ministers in the court knew that there was a severe drought in Shaanxi.

They didn't say anything on the surface, but they believed the emperor's statement in their hearts. They changed from thinking that the emperor was playing tricks to being half-believing and half-doubting about the fact that he could communicate with Taizu and Chengzu.

The attitude of many people is the Confucian tradition of "respecting ghosts and gods but keeping a distance from them". They neither publicize the matter nor directly deny it.

When the emperor told them that there would be a severe drought in Shaanxi this year and there would be drought in the next ten years or so, they all tacitly accepted it and treated it as a fact.

But even so, they did not expect the drought in Shaanxi to be so severe. Sun Chuanting, who was actually the governor of Shaanxi and the acting governor-general of the three borders, actually believed that only by turning the entire Shaanxi into a garrison could the situation be stabilized.

How could the civil servants who prided themselves on being good at local governance accept this? Most of them believed that Sun Chuanting was taking a step backwards and regressing to the early years of the country.

At the beginning of the country, there was no other choice but to let military generals govern the people. Now that there are so many civil officials, why should we give up the power of governance?

So many people began to impeach Sun Chuanting, and some even believed that he had evil intentions and wanted to establish himself in Shaanxi.

Zhu Youjian, who had already made up his mind, naturally ignored these remarks.

He handed over the matter of martial law in Shaanxi to the Minister of War Yuan Keli.

The meeting was chaired by the Minister of War and held in the Central Military Governor's Office.

Yuan Keli knew that this was another test for him.

If he cannot make decisions that are beneficial to the court according to the actual situation, his status as the Minister of War, who is regarded as the prime minister, will undoubtedly be reduced in the emperor's heart.

Even if the Privy Council is established in the future, he will not be able to become the Privy Councilor or the Privy Minister.

Therefore, he attached great importance to this matter and communicated with many ministers who were qualified to participate in court discussions to find out their attitudes.

After learning that many people were not opposed to the Shaanxi martial law, but Sun Chuanting's proposal to turn the Dusi into a military base, he said to these people:
"Even if Shaanxi is under martial law, Your Majesty will not make decisions entirely on Shaanxi's affairs."

"Liaodong and Guizhou are both under martial law. Has Your Majesty ignored the opinions of the ministers because of the martial law order?"

The ministers were positive about this matter. Although the current emperor had some power, he was more willing to give it up.

Apart from overseas affairs, the emperor mostly left decisions in the two martial law areas of Liaodong and Guizhou to the ministers on the front line.

After Yuan Keli's repeated persuasion, many ministers, although they had doubts, still approved the Shaanxi martial law proposal.

After all, this was proposed by the emperor a long time ago, and the emperor had predicted the severity of the drought in Shaanxi a long time ago, and even predicted that drought would occur in the next ten years.

Unable to deny the incident, they had no choice but to agree to martial law to prevent unrest in Shaanxi.

After Yuan Keli got the result, he immediately reported it to the emperor.

Zhu Youjian was very happy because it meant that he had gained full authority to handle Shaanxi affairs. In the future, how Shaanxi was governed and how Shaanxi officials were appointed would be entirely up to him.

After hearing Yuan Keli's request on behalf of the ministers that the entire Shaanxi Province should not be turned into a garrison as Sun Chuanting intended, and that the three Shaanxi garrisons should be retained, Zhu Youjian combined the ministers' opinions with his own previous ideas, scribbled on the Shaanxi map, and decided:

"The three Shaanxi divisions will be retained, but the Shaanxi Xingdu Division in Gansu will be renamed Gansu Dusi in the future."

"The Gansu General will be in charge of the Gansu Military Guards, the Gansu Governor will be renamed the Guards Envoy, and a Guards Office will be established to govern the country."

"It's the same in Ningxia. The Ningxia general is responsible for military orders, and the Ningxia military governor is responsible for political orders."

These two places were originally garrisons, and now their powers and responsibilities are further clarified, with the general handling military affairs and the military guard handling government affairs.

Since the Military Guard was at the same level as the Admiral and slightly higher than the General, the Military Guard actually had more power, which matched the change of this position from Governor-General.

Therefore, this change did not change the status of the governor and the general. The difference was that after the governor was changed to the military governor, he could set up a military governor's office. Under the military governor's office, there could be government offices, court officials, and military officials, making governance more professional.

Moreover, the Military Guard was nominated by the Ministry of War and recommended by the Nine Ministers, which increased the power of the Ministry of War.

Yuan Keli naturally had no objection to this kind of increase in his authority. He pointed at Yan Sui and asked:

"Yansui suffered the most serious disaster. Should all of them be converted into garrisons?"

Zhu Youjian nodded and said:
"The population in this area is small, so it is more suitable to be governed by a garrison."

"I intend to change the counties of Yan'an Prefecture and Qingyang Prefecture into military and civil guards, and then decide whether to establish a military and civil government based on needs."

"If the Yansui General and the Guard General are capable of governing the various guards, there is no need to set up a prefecture."

Zhu Youjian had long been dissatisfied with the fact that a governor of Shaanxi was in charge of several prefectures and guards. Now he simply abolished the prefecture level and let the Hujun Mansion directly manage it.

Then there is the most important Guanzhong Plain area. Zhu Youjian's plan is to set up Longxi Dusi to the west of Gongchang Prefecture, change the original Lintao General to Longxi General, and set up Longxi Guard to be responsible for governing this area.

The remaining Fengxiang Prefecture, Xi'an Prefecture, and Hanzhong Prefecture were left to the jurisdiction of the Three Departments of Shaanxi, and were still under the jurisdiction of the Shaanxi Governor. This is the best place in Shaanxi and the essence of it. If any place will eventually become a garrison, it must be here.

Pingliang Prefecture, the seat of the Governor-General of the Three Borders, was changed to Pingliang Military and Civilian Prefecture together with the Jinglu Guard, which was directly governed by the Governor-General of the Three Borders and the Shaanxi General.

However, Sun Chuanting, the governor of the three borders, has a more important task of disaster relief. Therefore, he is unlikely to stay in Guyuan permanently, but in Xi'an and other places.

Zhu Youjian assigned Sun Chuanting and Yang Zhaoji and Yang He who were responsible for suppressing bandits in three provinces, as well as Zhu Tongmeng, the governor of Yansui who was renamed the military protector and the future governor of Shaanxi, and other officials to the Shaanxi Counter-Rebellion and Disaster Relief Committee to coordinate disaster relief in Shaanxi.

Yuan Keli looked at the emperor's division and nodded secretly. Although he did not transform the entire Shaanxi into a garrison as Sun Chuanting intended, he still established most of it.

In particular, the various Dusi and Hujunfu were set up separately to prevent the emergence of uncontrollable large vassal states in Shaanxi.

But what he was most satisfied with was that the emperor retained the three Shaanxi offices, so that the officials in Shaanxi would not be laid off, which would reduce the opposition from the civil servants.

After all, the reason why most civil servants were dissatisfied with the Wei Suo system was that there were no official positions for them in the Wei Suo.

Now that the emperor has established the Hujun Mansion, which is headed by civil officials and civilian officers, and has retained the Three Departments of Shaanxi, he can minimize their dissatisfaction.

Moreover, the existence of the Three Departments in Shaanxi retained the possibility of converting the Wei Suo into prefectures and counties, which meant that Shaanxi would not always be governed by the Wei Suo.

This allowed him to better explain himself to the civil servants who supported him. (End of this chapter)