Chapter 408 Officials from various government offices arrive

As the end of the year approached, officials at all levels appointed by the court took office one after another.

First, the former governor of Chongshan Town, Lu Chongde, was transferred from Chongshan Town to the post of governor of Liaoyuan. This was considered a demotion. Although the governor of Chongshan Town and the governor of Liaoyuan were both of the second rank, in terms of power, the governor of Chongshan Town was undoubtedly one level higher.

Lu Chongde has been the governor of Chongshan Town for ten years. If it weren't for Ji Feiyu's rebellion, he would probably have been able to go to Beijing soon and be promoted to the Minister of Six Ministries, and might even have had a chance to enter the cabinet in the future.

Unfortunately, the rebellion in Chongshan Town had a great impact on him, and he almost lost the opportunity to join the cabinet.

After Lu Chongde went to Liaodong, Pang Tang's position as the governor of Chongshan Town was secured.

Immediately afterwards, the new commander-in-chief, provincial governor, provincial prosecutor and eunuch garrisoning Chongshan Town arrived one after another.

The new commander-in-chief, Ning Qinghe, was originally the deputy commander-in-chief of Beiyuan Town and had served as the lieutenant general of Shimawei in Shangbei Road of Beiyuan Town.

Being transferred from a lieutenant general to a commander-in-chief was actually a promotion in name only and a demotion in reality.

Although the rank of the commander-in-chief was high, he actually had no military power. The Dusi Yamen in the border town was more like an administrative office, similar to the provincial governor.

However, Ning Qinghe was not demoted because he made a mistake, but because he was old.

Ning Qinghe is already over sixty years old, and the decline in strength and energy does not allow him to charge into battle. Promoting him to the commander-in-chief of Chongshan Town is almost like retiring to the second line.

This situation is very common in the border town of Dayong. Some old veterans who can no longer go to the battlefield will retreat to the second line, or be promoted to commander-in-chief, or take up an idle position to retire.

The new governor Song Ying and the new censor Zhang Cong, both of whom were promoted from Liaoyuan Province, were candidates recommended by Pang Tang.

Yang Zhengshan didn't pay much attention to this. Since Pang Tang came to Chongshan Town, he naturally had to bring a few subordinates with him. This was a normal operation and had nothing to do with Yang Zhengshan.

The person who had the greatest influence on Yang Zhengshan was the new eunuch in charge.

The garrison eunuch Lu Hua disappeared when Yang Zhengshan entered Beijing, and the new garrison eunuch Zhang Mingzhong was appointed.

When Yang Zhengshan learned that the new eunuch in charge was Zhang Mingzhong, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Because he knew this eunuch Zhang.

Zhang Mingzhong was originally the eunuch of the fifth rank who was in charge of hearing cases in the imperial city. Yang Zhengshan had dealt with him once before. When Yang Zhengshan was promoted to the commander of the Tenglong Guard, it was this eunuch Zhang who conveyed the order to Anyuan City.

Over the years, Yang Zhengshan has kept in touch with eunuch Zhang. He would arrange for someone to send him a gift during every festival. Although the gift is not much, it is a token of his thoughtfulness.

The eighteenth day of the twelfth lunar month.

When Zhang Mingzhong arrived in Chongshan Town, Yang Zhengshan and Pang Tang personally went out of the city to greet him.

Although the garrison eunuch is just a eunuch, there is nothing he can do about it because he represents the emperor here.

If the eunuchs guarding Chongshan Town cause trouble, Yang Zhengshan and Pang Tang will definitely have a hard time in the future.

Zhang Mingzhong is not Chen Zuchang. Chen Zuchang was arranged by the deposed prince. Pang Tang could risk offending the deposed prince and drive Chen Zuchang away.

And Zhang Mingzhong was arranged by the emperor. Could Pang Tang possibly offend the emperor?

Therefore, Yang Zhengshan and Pang Tang were extremely cautious when dealing with Zhang Mingzhong.

A long team of horses arrived at the gate of Chongshan Pass, and Zhang Mingzhong got off the carriage wrapped in a fur coat.

"Oh, it's really embarrassing for us to ask Lord Yang and Lord Pang to come out of the city to welcome us!"

As soon as he got off the carriage, Zhang Mingzhong said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Yang Zhengshan also smiled in a friendly manner, "Haha, Eunuch Zhang, I have been waiting for a long time. The wine in the General's Mansion is already prepared. It's freezing cold this day, Eunuch Zhang, you have to accompany me for a few more drinks!"

"I'm sorry to trouble you, Lord Marquis!" Zhang Mingzhong was very tactful and humble, without any arrogance.

Afterwards, the three of them went into the city, talking and laughing, and went to the general's mansion.

Yang Zhengshan did not lie, he really had people prepare drinks, not only drinks but also delicious food.

The three of them sat together and clinked glasses. After three rounds of drinks, Yang Zhengshan also figured out Zhang Mingzhong's attitude.

It was obvious that Zhang Mingzhong was specially arranged by Emperor Chengping. Perhaps Emperor Chengping had already made instructions, or perhaps other people had made instructions. In any case, Zhang Mingzhong was very humble towards Yang Zhengshan and Pang Tang.

The power of the garrison eunuch can be big or small. If it is small, he can be just a decoration. If it is big, he can interfere in the garrison camp or even command the garrison camp.

"Don't worry, Lord Marquis. Since we have come to Chongshan Town, we will definitely contribute to the military affairs of Chongshan Town. If you need us in the future, we are willing to obey your orders!"

Yang Zhengshan felt a little embarrassed after hearing this.

However, it can also be seen from these words that Zhang Mingzhong is not the kind of person who likes to stir up trouble.

Think about the eunuchs who have guarded Chongshan Town. When Yang Zhengshan first came to Chongshan Town, the eunuch who guarded Chongshan Town was Zhang Yude, who was an insatiable man. Not only was he greedy, but he also brought a group of younger generations from the clan to Chongshan Pass, making Chongshan Pass a chaotic place.

After Zhang Yude's downfall, Lu Hua took over. Lu Hua was like a decoration and didn't care about the military and political affairs of Chongshan Town at all. He focused all his attention on the Secret Guard.

Next was Chen Zuchang. This guy started to grab money before he even arrived at Chongshan Town. If Pang Tang hadn't been tough enough to drive this guy away immediately, who knows how much trouble he would have caused.

Now Zhang Mingzhong seems to be doing well, and Yang Zhengshan doesn't have very high requirements for him. As long as he doesn't cause any trouble, it's fine. If he just wants some money, Yang Zhengshan doesn't mind turning a blind eye.

But it was clear that Yang Zhengshan's worries were unnecessary. Zhang Mingzhong was more conscientious than he had expected, and he had no intention of asking for money.

In fact, this is also reasonable.

Zhang Mingzhong was not an ordinary eunuch. He was the eunuch in the imperial court of Emperor Chengping. He usually served Emperor Chengping closely. Naturally, he was not as superficial as other eunuchs.

In the following days, Zhang Mingzhong often visited various government offices in Chongshan Pass to learn about the military and political affairs of Chongshan Town and inspect various aspects of the situation.

Although his actions put some pressure on all the major government offices, he did not do anything excessive. He even rejected sternly the money someone gave him.

Seeing that Zhang Mingzhong seemed to be really determined to do something, Yang Zhengshan finally felt completely relieved.

The New Year is approaching, and Yang Zhengshan is busy with family and work matters, so he has no energy to keep staring at Zhang Mingzhong.

With Yu Qingyi and Yang Mingcheng in charge of household affairs, Yang Zhengshan doesn't have to worry too much, but he does have to put some thought into official business.

Chongshan Town is not like Tenglongwei. Although Tenglongwei has more than 20,000 military households, its internal situation is actually relatively simple. As long as the Weisi Yamen is under control, it can be sorted out quickly.

Chongshan Town has a border wall of more than 800 miles, more than 1,300 beacon towers, nearly 200 forts, and more than 20 large and small cities.

There were 150,000 military households and 80,000 ordinary civilian households, with a total population of over one million, not much smaller than the size of a province.

Today, the territory of Chongshan Town is very vast. It is connected to Beiyuan Town in the west, faces Liaohai Sea in the east, is adjacent to Liaodong and Liaoxi in the south, and all the way to the snowfield in the north is considered the territory of Chongshan Town.

It is more than 800 miles long from east to west and nearly 1,500 miles long from north to south.

In terms of area, Chongshan Town is now larger than Liaodong and Liaoxi combined.

However, the area actually controlled by Chongshan Town is only 300 miles around the original Chongshan Town and Fuzhou City, and almost half of the territory is out of control.

Since returning from Kyoto, Yang Zhengshan has been planning for the future development of Chongshan Town.

Although he had thought about a lot before, many details still needed to be carefully considered.

Governing a big country is like cooking a small fish!
The boat is small enough to turn around.

In the past, Yang Zhengshan managed fewer military households, so the policies he formulated were naturally much easier to implement. Even if there were problems with the policies, they could be amended.

But now it’s different. Any policy issued by the General’s Office will affect hundreds of thousands of people, or even millions of people.

Therefore, Yang Zhengshan must be cautious in the management of Chongshan Town to avoid irreparable consequences.

However, in terms of policy, it is still the same as what Yang Zhengshan did before.

Training troops, alleviating poverty, developing the economy, adding another line to Chongshan Town and opening up the north.

Military training is the easiest thing to organize. We can start with the five battalions of the town flag, and then let the various reinforcement battalions come to Chongshan Town in batches for training. As for ordinary soldiers, the local garrisons will be responsible for their training.

Now Yang Zhengshan certainly cannot provide spiritual spring water for every soldier and soldier in Chongshan Town. He has decided that the next training will focus on the five battalions of the town’s flag, and the various reinforcement battalions only need to train for two to three months.

There was no other way. According to his plan, the Five Battalions of Zhenbiao would have to have 30,000 soldiers, and it would take two to three years to train the Five Battalions of Zhenbiao. Although the various reinforcement battalions could be trained at the same time, they certainly could not stay in Chongshan Pass for a long time.

Compared with military training, poverty alleviation and economic development are much more difficult.

It took Tenglongwei five years of development to achieve its current prosperity, and it will probably take Chongshan Town another five years to solve the problem of food and clothing for its one million people.

However, Chongshan Town is not without advantages nowadays. First of all, Chongshan Town is not short of money. Yang Zhengshan intercepted the gold and silver properties looted by the Wuliang army.

After deducting the money distributed to the imperial guards and used to reward the soldiers, there were still more than 1.3 million taels left.

These more than 1.3 million taels are now lying in the treasury of the general's mansion.

Of course, this was entered into the public account. Yang Zhengshan had already reported it to the Central Military Governor's Office and the Ministry of War, and had also told Emperor Chengping about it.

The ownership of the silver had already been determined in Kyoto.

Among them, 800,000 taels were left in Chongshan Town as funds for rebuilding the town’s flag camp and reinforcement camp, and the remaining 500,000 taels were returned to Liaoxi.

After all, all this silver and money were looted from Liaoxi by the Wuliang army, and now Liaoxi is in a miserable state, with many civilians killed and wounded, and government offices at all levels are short of money and food.

It is estimated that it will be difficult for western Liaoning to recover every five or six years.

The affairs of western Liaoning had nothing to do with Yang Zhengshan. It was already very good that he could leave 800,000 taels of silver for Chongshan Town.

With these 800,000 taels of silver, he can do a lot of things.

In addition to silver and money, Chongshan Town also has the great treasure of the North Land. If the North Land can be developed, it will be easy to feed a population of three million.

Therefore, Yang Zhengshan’s development plan for Chongshan Town is focused on opening up to the north.

For several days, Yang Zhengshan discussed the future development plan of Chongshan Town with officials from the General's Mansion and other government offices.

Especially Pang Tang, he must reach an agreement with Pang Tang, otherwise he will get half the result with twice the effort.

Fortunately, Pang Tang was not a bureaucrat who just sat there doing nothing and he agreed with Yang Zhengshan's proposal.

(End of this chapter)