First Minister of Ming Dynasty

However, the roads in the Northern Song Dynasty were not completely the same as those in later generations. For example, in Hebei, Hebei East Road and Hebei West Road were established.

And Hebei is the main battlefield against Khitan, and the division of the two routes is not conducive to defending against the enemy.Therefore, the Northern Song Dynasty will set up a capital transfer envoy to lead the East and West Roads in Hebei.

In other words, the roads of the Song Dynasty were not complete administrative units, and had a lot of randomness.

In addition, the Song Dynasty also had the habit of letting the prime minister out. Once a famous official came out of Beijing to serve as a transit envoy in charge of money, or as a pacifier in charge of the army, he would become a super boss.Staring at the local area, he returned to the capital at any time to seek the position of prime minister of the two governments.

Famous Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi, Ouyang Xiu, and Wen Yanbo all had similar experiences.

Therefore, the local officials of the Song Dynasty can be regarded as the temporary losers of the court struggle.

They accumulate strength in the local area, and when the time is right, they return to Beijing and kill the Quartet.

Under such circumstances, those local officials didn't have much thought to fiddle with local government affairs. In addition to the complicated and bald official system of the Song Dynasty, the local government was completely handed over to the rich and powerful.

Yang Xian proposed to emulate the Song Dynasty, and as expected, he also proposed that he could send important officials to temporarily go down to supervise government affairs and take charge of local affairs.

Just as he finished speaking, Zhang Ximeng spoke suddenly.

"President Yang, originally it was just a re-division of provinces. I shouldn't have said this... But you mentioned it, so I couldn't help but say it. I objected to the appointment of civil servants to go to the local area."

Yang Xian was taken aback, but his heart was also bitter. He didn't have the guts to challenge Zhang Ximeng, so he could only say: "Mr. Zhang must have had far-reaching considerations when he said this. I don't think well, so please ask Mr. Zhang for advice."

"There is nothing to point out... I think that in the future, military commanders must be the main ones... If it is a war to destroy the country, the prince can supervise the troops, or the emperor can personally conquer. In peacetime, or ordinary battles, you must respect the military commander's right to lead the army. In a war that spreads across several provinces, it is also possible to set up a commander-in-chief to lead the army to defend against the enemy. When encountering matters such as raising food and grass, recruiting civilians, etc., you can only arrange civilian officials to serve as assistants."

"It is absolutely not allowed to arrange highly respected ministers in the local area to usurp the power of military leaders in the event of war. I am afraid that I don't need to say more about how those famous civil servants in the Song Dynasty fought!"

Zhang Ximeng said coldly, the officials were astonished.

Because in this discussion circle, no military generals participated, or the big guys didn't think that military generals were necessary and qualified to participate.

It seems that you can take advantage of the warriors.

But it is a pity that although Zhang Ximeng is a civil servant, he will not stand on the side of the civil servant. On the contrary, he is very wary of the civil servant's expansion of power.

The current situation is good to say, if Xu Da, Chang Yuchun and others lead the army, apart from Zhang Ximeng, probably no civil servant would dare to supervise the division.

But if it is a general of the next level?

Take Feng Guosheng, for example, who was in charge of conquest of Hexi... At this time, the imperial court dispatched an important minister with the title of participating in politics to be in charge of the military affairs in Shaanxi, Gansu and other places.

At this point, who is in charge?

According to the experience of the Song Dynasty, the civil officials must have the final say. During the battle with Li Yuanhao, it was these civil servants who desperately sent him away.

Of course, the Ming Dynasty is not much better...

At the beginning, the commander-in-chief was the commander-in-chief, who was in charge of military commanders.

But the painting style of the Ming Dynasty changed very quickly... The chief soldier became a permanent general. Although he was of high rank, he had already lost the qualification to command the overall situation and became an ordinary general.

Then, on the head of the warriors, a civilian governor was established.

The governor was not satisfied, so he set up a strategy, and the supervisor... step by step, the status of the general was trampled into the dirt.

Then there was the spectacle of a second-rank civil servant beheaded first and then a first-rank general.

So here, Zhang Ximeng felt that it was necessary to bring up the matter of the general.

Things that need to be dealt with by several provinces, such as wars, flood control, dredging of canals, etc... These things are specially dispatched to important officials, and special personnel are assigned to deal with them immediately. Especially for wars, generals must be responsible, and civil officials can only assist. , and it is not allowed to infringe on the authority of generals.

Military and national affairs should not be sloppy.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded quickly, "Mr. Zhang's suggestion is very reasonable. Let's make it clear here. We will re-demarcate the provinces and govern the local people with the chief envoy and the inspector. In the future, the prime minister will be appointed as an official, and he will not be transferred outside, only allowed to return to his hometown for the elderly. .”

Lao Zhu's words are tantamount to cutting off the chance for senior officials to do whatever they want in the local area.

When an official reaches the level of Shangshu and Prime Minister, basically there is only one way to return to his hometown, and everyone has nothing to say, so they can only endure in silence.

Yang Xian's painstakingly planned plan fell to pieces after it started.

However, the plan he proposed provided a reference for the following discussions.

Hu Weiyong stood up, and his suggestion was to change the road to a province. However, considering the complicated government affairs and the different customs in different places, Hu Weiyong felt that Yanshan Province, Datong Province, and Shandong Province could be added on the basis of Hebei East Road and Hebei West Road. Huaixi Haozhou was taken out, and Zhongdu was established separately, and then Huaidong and other places were divided into three provinces...

When he proposed this set of ideas, Wang Guangyang quit before Zhang Ximeng could speak.

"Hu Shangshu, how can you carry the heavy burden of the court if you divide the province like this, and the place is broken and fragmented, like a plate of loose sand and mud? You are taking state affairs as a child's play!"

Hu Weiyong laughed and said: "Wang Shangshu said it well. If the local provinces can bear the heavy burden of the court, what do you need the court to do? It's better to just stand on your own!"

"You are talking nonsense!" Wang Guangyang refuted eagerly.

But on the other side, Zhou Zhen from the Ministry of Punishment and Shan Anren from the Ministry of Industry actually stood up and agreed with Hu Weiyong's views, and Shan Anren said maliciously: "Wang Tianguan started from the Central Plains, so he doesn't want to carve up Henan and Jiangbei provinces, so he can keep it for himself. Is there no way out?"

Wang Guangyang's expression changed instantly. He naturally had this idea. Now in Jiangbei Province of Henan Province, he has many former students and old officials.

In addition, he is also in charge of the Ministry of Officials, and has recently placed many people.

Once Henan Jiangbei Province is split up, his power will be broken up.Originally, Wang Guangyang also intended to replace Li Shanchang, but he lost control of the Central Plains, and he was left with the title of a heavenly official in the Ministry of Officials, so there is no advantage.

But Wang Guangyang also ignored the conspicuousness and hatred of his position. After Yang Xian's proposal failed, he turned around and attacked Wang Guangyang, which made him quickly fall into siege from all sides, making it difficult to parry.

Soon Wang Guangyang was defeated, and the trend of dividing the provinces was unstoppable!

Wang Guangyang was not an idiot either, Zhang Ximeng didn't say a word when he was besieged, and neither Luo Furen nor Mao Gui spoke.Moreover, Song Lian, Liu Ji, Yao Guangxiao, these provincial officials didn't say anything to help him, don't you understand what's going on?

Wang Guangyang could only settle for the next best thing, and hurriedly said: "Even if you want to divide the provinces, you can't be unscrupulous, and the division is so fine! Otherwise, it will be useless to set up a chief envoy. It would be more convenient to let the magistrate do things!"

His counterattack is still useful, Zhu Sheng suddenly said, as the third veteran with a seat, his opinion is still very important.

"Your Majesty, the province should not be too big or too small. I think Yingtian should take it out separately. The provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang can be separated into two provinces!"

Zhu Sheng's words are equivalent to directly skipping the debate and entering the stage of specific content.

After a brief silence, everyone made suggestions one after another.

Obviously, from the boundary of Dayuling to the restoration of Guangdong province, if there is Guangdong, there is Guangxi.

After this cut, Jiangxi suffered heavy losses, so it simply separated a part from the original Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, and allocated the east of Poyang Lake, including Jingdezhen, to Jiangxi.

The purpose of cutting this knife is also very obvious. After all, the entire golden waterway from the Pearl River to the Ganjiang River is all pinched in Jiangxi Province. It is really inappropriate and must be divided into two.

But the next question is a bit troublesome. The original Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces still have Huizhou, Chizhou, Taiping, Ningguo and other places, including the four prefectures of Susongchang Town.

These places are lined up in Jiangnan, like a jade belt, all of which are the most affluent places in the world.

Someone suggested that the four prefectures of Susongchang Town have rich taxation, and a separate province can be established.Some people think that these places can all be attributed to Yingtian and called Nanzhili.

In the midst of the quarrel, Zhang Ximeng said slowly: "Maybe we can establish Huaixi and Huaidong provinces, let these two provinces straddle the Yangtze River, take care of both the north and the south, so that we can exchange what we need and help the rich and the poor!"

Chapter 627 Another Big Case

Zhang Ximeng threw out his own suggestion. Dividing provinces is indeed not a simple matter. In addition to what these people are arguing about, it is also necessary to balance financial resources so that each province has relatively abundant financial resources.

Especially the rich areas, it is impossible to allocate them all to one province and allow one family to specialize in beauty.

At the same time, regional barriers must be broken. Even within the province, exchanges between different cultural regions can be formed to avoid the formation of groups that are not easy to manipulate.

The Ming Dynasty had just been established, so whether it was the Red Scarf Army or the Yuan Court, there were issues of local separatist regimes, and this must also be taken into consideration.

Zhang Ximeng proposed the establishment of Huaixi Province and Huaidong Province, and let the two provinces straddle the Yangtze River to help the north and the south. Many people immediately agreed, and the most satisfied one was Zhu Yuanzhang!

That's right, Lao Zhu is from Haozhou, and his loyal brothers are all from Huaixi.

Although he is the master of the world now, he always thinks about his fellow countrymen.

Moreover, in the past two years, Huaixi has experienced floods and droughts. Last year, [-]% of the land in Huaiyuan County, the granary, had no harvest.

The reason for this is still a problem of river governance.

Although Lao Zhu has spared no effort, since the Northern Song Dynasty, the floods that have lasted for hundreds of years cannot be solved in a few years.

Encountered a bad year, there are still repeated.

If you want to completely solve the flood problem, it is almost an inevitable choice to continue to increase investment.

This investment requires both imperial appropriation and local financing.

It is definitely a very good idea to combine the rich areas in the south of the Yangtze River with the flood-stricken lands in the Huaihe River and Huaihe River, so as to help the rich and the poor.

So just after Zhang Ximeng made a suggestion, Zhu Yuanzhang went off in person.

Lao Zhu put Anqing, Luzhou, Suzhou, and Sizhou into Huaixi Province, and at the same time joined Chizhou, Huizhou, Wuhu, and Taiping in the south of the Yangtze River... Basically Anqing and Huizhou were put together, a new province, Ready to come out.

It's just that at this moment, it can't be considered a success.

Because in the east of Huaixi Province, there is also Huaidong Province.

This Huaidong Province includes Taizhou, Gaoyou, Xinghua, Huai'an, Yancheng in the north of the Jiangbei, and Susongchang Town in the south of the Yangtze River. It was basically Zhang Shicheng's territory at the time.

Although the area is small, the economic potential of this area is endless. Silk from Suzhou, cotton cloth from Songjiang, shipbuilding from Liujiagang, salt from Jiangbei, and a canal running through it... Not to mention the right time and place, God is holding a rice spoon , chasing after feeding.

It doesn't matter if you don't want to develop.

Faced with this situation, even Zhu Yuanzhang scratched his head.

What to do!

If you continue to split it, it will be broken into pieces. If you don't split it, what should you do?

After thinking about it for a long time, there are only two areas left to make a fuss about.

One is Xuzhou and the other is Yangzhou.

Yangzhou in the early Ming Dynasty was not ordinary, because it was the first big city Lao Zhu seized, with a population of 80... Zhang Ximeng spent a lot of effort planning Yangzhou.

At present, Yangzhou has a huge military workshop and a large number of iron smelting workshops. Half of the firearms in the Ming Dynasty are all from Yangzhou.

If Yangzhou is merged into Huaidong, then the province will take off in place, and it will have whatever it wants.

After thinking about it, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhang Ximeng again, and said, "Let's do this, with the canal as the boundary, Yangzhou prefecture is located west of the canal, and it will be incorporated into Huaixi Province, and Xuzhou will be included in Huaidong Province."

Zhang Ximeng pondered for a while, but he could only agree, although it was slightly different from later generations, it was still acceptable.

After all, a huge Nanzhili had disappeared ahead of schedule.

Zhang Ximeng also proposed to merge Zhenzhou in the north of the Yangtze River, as well as Lishui, Liyang, and Jurong into Yingtian Mansion, so that Yingtian would add two more prefectures and two counties in addition to Shangyuan and Jiangning counties. scribe.

In addition, Haozhou will be upgraded to Fengyang Mansion.After all, it is the land of Longxing, and the specifications are higher.

Old Zhu adopted all these suggestions one by one, and Zhu Yuanzhang was also in a good mood.

"Huaixi, Huaidong, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangxi... These key provinces have been divided, and there are Shandong, Henan and other places, you all go back and think about how to divide them, you must We must have a common heart, for the long-term consideration of Ming Dynasty, and for the peace of the world, use more snacks."

After Lao Zhu confessed, he let the officials disperse.

It turns out that this discussion has taken almost a day.

Zhang Ximeng was also talking dryly. He returned to the mansion, ate some food, and then went to see his son. Zhang Shuning was practicing calligraphy, writing stroke by stroke very seriously.

Zhang Ximeng didn't have much to say, his handwriting was still not good, he could only speak well-behaved, and there was nothing he could teach his children. He just watched in silence for a while, and then told his son to go to bed early.

Then Zhang Ximeng went to the study room again. Naturally, the division of provinces was not simply done on the map. There would be complicated handovers and even long-term adjustments.

Zhang Ximeng rummaged through some files, wanting to study this issue carefully.

But when he was about to get busy, the people below suddenly reported that Xu Da had come.

Zhang Ximeng was taken aback and hurriedly asked Xu Da to come in.

After taking his seat, Zhang Ximeng smiled and said, "As expected of General Xu, he is so well informed."

Xu Da hurriedly said: "Thank you Zhang Xiang Gaoyi, if Zhang Xiang didn't speak for us today, I don't know how I would be bullied!"

Zhang Ximeng said with a smile: "You've just said that. May I ask which civil servant has the guts to bully you, the founding heroes? They don't want to live anymore? Not to mention you, even the lord will not agree. In the end, it's for the future Get ready, let's set the rules so that future generations will have less trouble."

After a pause, Zhang Ximeng said again: "Of course, if future generations don't live up to it and insist on corrupting the national code, we will all stretch our legs and stare at that time, and there is nothing we can do about it."

Xu Da couldn't help laughing, "Ms. Zhang is too polite. I plan to let the prince enter martial arts, and there are so many young talents in it. When they grow up in the future, no matter whether it is in the palace or in the court, there will be someone to replace them." It's not that easy to bully a warrior when he speaks."

Zhang Ximeng nodded with a smile, Xu Da really understood the intention of these arrangements.

"You came here in such a hurry at night, I'm afraid it's not so simple to thank me? Is there any problem?" Zhang Ximeng said with a smile: "It has something to do with the division of provinces this time?"

Xu Da was stunned, and suddenly said: "Master Zhang, it is indeed related. I can't say whether there is a problem now, but I think Mr. Zhang had better prepare in advance so as not to be in a hurry."

Zhang Ximeng raised his brows to make Xu Da really serious, so he came to remind him that it must not be a small matter.He pondered for a while, and suddenly realized something.

"You're worried about Yangzhou?"

"Correct!"

Xu Da nodded quickly, "Master Zhang is wise... At the time when the superior crossed the river to occupy Jinling, the troops left behind in Jiangbei were mainly Young Marshal Peng and Daheng Miao. They were stationed between Sizhou and Yangzhou. Among them, Young Marshal Peng was mainly in charge of defending the Yuan Dynasty. Miao Daheng has been sitting in Yangzhou for a long time, in charge of military affairs, producing weapons and military supplies, he has also received awards from the superiors many times, and he is a capable official."

Zhang Ximeng nodded, "That's true, but three years ago, Daheng Miao died of illness suddenly. Otherwise, he would have been awarded the title in terms of rewards for his meritorious deeds. This man has some skills in managing both the army and the people!"