ATPnovel Chapter 081 Taking Office
Chapter 081 Taking Office
Xi'an, Shaanxi Province.
Xi'an, also known as Chang'an, is the ancient capital of thirteen dynasties.
After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, although Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang established the capital in Nanjing, he always had the intention of moving the capital.
In the twenty-fourth year of the Hongwu reign, Zhu Yuanzhang sent his crown prince Zhu Biao to inspect Shaanxi. This inspection was actually intended to assess whether Xi'an was suitable as the new capital.
Unfortunately, this matter was put on hold after Crown Prince Zhu Biao died of illness in the 25th year of the Hongwu reign, shortly after returning to Nanjing from Shaanxi.
After that, Zhu Yunwen, the crown prince, ascended the throne. In order to consolidate his position as heir apparent, Zhu Yuanzhang launched the "Lan Yu Case," and the matter of moving the capital was never mentioned again.
Later, Zhu Yuanzhang died, and Zhu Yunwen ascended the throne, changing the era name to Jianwen.
This was followed by the reduction of the power of the princes. Zhu Di, the Prince of Yan, launched the Jingnan Campaign and eventually seized the throne as a prince. During the Yongle era, he moved the capital to Yanjing.
It wasn't until the sixth year of the Zhengtong reign of Emperor Yingzong of Ming that the imperial court officially designated Yanjing as the capital and renamed it Beijing, which is the present-day capital.
It is easy to see from these past events that Xi'an held an extremely important position in the Ming Dynasty, and it almost became the capital of the Ming Dynasty.
Moreover, during the Hongwu era, the two most powerful princes enfeoffed by Zhu Yuanzhang were the Prince of Qin and the Prince of Jin. The Prince of Qin's fief was located in Xi'an. The Prince of Qin's lineage was originally Zhu Yuanzhang's eldest son, a full brother of the Crown Prince Zhu Biao. If it weren't for the early death of Crown Prince Zhu Biao, and the fact that the Princes of Qin and Jin also died shortly after Zhu Biao's death, greatly weakening the two princes, how could the Prince of Yan have had the opportunity to rise to prominence?
Yang He had just arrived in Xi'an three days ago.
This veteran official from the Wanli era held a high position in the court. In his early years, when he served as an imperial censor, he was a lecturer in the Crown Prince's Eastern Palace. Later, he was transferred to manage the salt administration in Lianghuai and then served as an imperial inspector in Guizhou.
Shortly after returning to the capital from his local post, Yang He suffered a major defeat at the Battle of Sarhu. He submitted a memorial to the Wanli Emperor, analyzing the reasons for the defeat in Liaodong and recommending Xiong Tingbi, Zhang Heming, Li Changgeng, Xue Guoyong, Yuan Yingtai, and others. Judging from his assessment of the situation in Liaodong and the people he recommended, Yang He was quite capable and had a keen eye for talent.
Unfortunately, not long after, Yang He offended many officials in the court because of his straightforward personality. In addition, his father passed away, so Yang He returned home to observe the mourning period.
Until the early years of the Tianqi reign, the court appointed Yang He as Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and later promoted him to Right Vice Censor-in-Chief, sending him to inspect and govern Nan'an and Ganzhou.
Before Yang He could take office, his mother passed away. The battle of Guangning also ended in defeat, and Wei Zhongxian took the opportunity to remove Yang He from office because Yang He had once protected Xiong Tingbi.
After many years of ups and downs, Yang He's fame has not faded despite the rise and fall; on the contrary, it has grown stronger.
After Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne, he recalled Yang He once again, first appointing him as Left Vice Censor-in-Chief, and then promoting him to Left Deputy Censor-in-Chief, relying on him as a key minister. Upon returning to court, Yang He offered Chongzhen many reasonable suggestions, especially pointing out the current problems of the Ming Dynasty and the inappropriateness of increasing taxes and provisions due to years of war. He advised Emperor Chongzhen that "the key to achieving great order in the world lies in cultivating vitality."
Although Emperor Chongzhen deeply agreed with Yang He's suggestion, he was ultimately unable to adopt it due to the constraints of the situation.
At this very moment, rebel armies emerged one after another throughout Shaanxi. As time went on, the various rebel forces grew increasingly violent, with more than a dozen large and small groups rampaging through Shaanxi, attacking cities and seizing territory, killing officials and distributing grain, causing shockwaves throughout the court and the public. Faced with this situation, the three provincial governments of Shaanxi repeatedly petitioned the imperial court, requesting its assistance in suppressing the rebels.
The matter caused a great deal of debate in the court, but no conclusion was reached. Just then, news arrived that Wu Zhiwang, the Governor-General of Shaanxi, had passed away, and a successor had to be appointed. However, due to the current chaos in Shaanxi, no one in the court was willing to take on the role of Governor-General.
Finally, for reasons unknown, the Donglin Party members strongly recommended Yang He. They told the emperor: "Yang He is extremely capable, knowledgeable in military affairs, and skilled at employing people. He is the perfect candidate to be the governor."
To put it bluntly, these people are just taking advantage of the fact that Yang He isn't one of their own, and coupled with his loose tongue, he's offended quite a few people by saying whatever comes to mind.
Yang He is in the court, constantly finding fault with them and picking on their shortcomings. It would be better to take this opportunity to send him far away. Besides, didn't Yang He criticize the Donglin Party and the court's policies regarding the Shaanxi matter? Since that's the case, isn't it only natural to send you there now that something has happened? You, Yang He, are capable and competent, so this governorship will be given to you, saving you from staying in the capital and causing trouble for everyone every day.
Thus, Emperor Chongzhen was persuaded. Considering Yang He's insights on military affairs and his views on local governance over the years, which were indeed commendable, he appointed Yang He as the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, replacing Wu Zhiwang, and made him the Governor-General of the military affairs of the three border regions of Shaanxi, with full authority to suppress the rebel army and stabilize the local area.
Upon receiving the imperial decree and being given this assignment, Yang He secretly groaned inwardly.
Only the family knows its own affairs.
Although Yang He possessed considerable military and political insight, he was well aware that while he was adept at analysis and making overall judgments, he struggled with handling specific tasks. To put it bluntly, Yang He was merely a civil official, a scholar by training, and had never dealt with military affairs before. He had always served as an imperial censor, an inspector of local areas, or managed government affairs.
Now that the position of Governor-General of the Three Border Regions has suddenly been handed over to him, and he is to be fully in charge of the military operations to suppress the rebel army, Yang He has no confidence at all.
But now, he was powerless to do anything. The imperial decree had been issued, and Emperor Chongzhen had personally summoned him, holding his hand and instructing him: "The affairs of Shaanxi are entrusted to you. After you go to Shaanxi, organize the army as soon as possible, quell the rebellion, and stabilize the region."
Under such circumstances, how could Yang He refuse? Besides, those Donglin Party members who outwardly recommended him but secretly hoped he would be humiliated and suffer misfortune were watching the show from the sidelines. If Yang He expressed his incompetence and unwillingness to serve as governor, it would be an extremely heavy blow to his reputation, which was something he could not accept.
What's worse, the court appointed Yang He as the Governor-General of the Three Border Regions, giving him only a title without any real support, which meant that he was sent to take up the post alone and complete the task assigned by the court.
Yang He had no idea what to do and could only try his best to plead with Emperor Chongzhen for more support. After all, if he was to be appointed as the Governor-General of the Three Border Regions to suppress the rebels, he would have to be provided with troops and supplies, right? He couldn't be sent to Shaanxi empty-handed.
The problem was that Emperor Chongzhen was not a generous man to begin with, and the situation in Liaodong was tense, with Yuan Chonghuan constantly urging the court for funds and supplies. When Emperor Chongzhen appointed Yuan Chonghuan as the military governor of Jiliao, he had agreed to all of his demands. Now, the court simply couldn't come up with any extra money or supplies; most of it had been given to Liaodong, so where would there be any left for Yang He?
But what Yang He said was also the actual situation.
After much deliberation, Emperor Chongzhen finally managed to scrape together three thousand taels of silver for military expenses for Yang He, and also allocated one thousand men from the Beijing garrison to him, ordering him to lead these men to Shaanxi. As for how to specifically suppress the bandits in Shaanxi, Emperor Chongzhen granted Yang He the authority to "act as he sees fit," and that was all.
And so, Yang He led a thousand men from the Beijing garrison, along with the three thousand taels of military funds and provisions he had managed to obtain from Emperor Chongzhen, and several subordinate officials, from the capital to Shaanxi to assume his new post.
The weather was freezing cold, and the journey from the capital to Xi'an was extremely difficult. Moreover, these thousand soldiers of the Beijing Garrison were mostly spoiled young masters and pampered sons, who looked impressive but were actually very weak in combat. The Beijing Garrison of today is no longer the Beijing Garrison of the past; it's just an empty shell.
Along the way, military reports from Shaanxi kept pouring in. Looking at the reports in his hand, Yang He, who was already not very confident, became even more worried.
The situation in Shaanxi was worse than he had imagined.
More than a dozen rebel armies, large and small, have turned half of Shaanxi upside down. Among them, the two most powerful are: one led by Wang Jiayin, who calls himself "King of the Horizontal One-Character Form".
Wang Jiayin marched from north to south with unstoppable momentum, his forces were extremely powerful, and his army was said to number 50,000, or some say 100,000. He was the so-called "leader" of the rebel army.
Aside from Wang Jiayin's forces, there was Gao Yingxiang, known as the "Rebel King." Although Gao Yingxiang's forces were not as powerful as Wang Jiayin's, they were not to be underestimated. They now occupied northeastern Shaanxi and were quite formidable.
In addition, various other rebel groups emerged in different regions, ranging from several hundred to several thousand men, taking advantage of the influence of Wang Jiayin, Gao Yingxiang, and others to cause chaos in the areas. Half of Shaanxi was turned upside down by them, and the situation was extremely serious.
Faced with this situation, Yang He was deeply worried and ordered all units to speed up their journey to Xi'an. His original plan was to ascertain the actual situation upon arrival in Xi'an before strategically deploying troops to suppress the rebel army. However, no sooner had he entered Xi'an than he received shockingly bad news.
Mai Danian and Lu Jinchun's troops in Fugu were ambushed at Gaohanling, and both units were completely wiped out. Except for a few who managed to escape, the rest were all killed by Gao Yingxiang.
After the defeats of Mai Danian and Lu Jinchun, northeastern Shaanxi was effectively out of control, with no more government troops capable of resisting the rebels. Following his great victory at Gao Hanling, Gao Yingxiang marched north, directly occupying Fugu and also controlling the surrounding areas.