My father is Jiajing

Chapter 414: Hu Zongxian, Governor of Zhejiang Province

"Brother Qi, this journey is very dangerous, I hope you can take good care of yourself!"

Three years ago, Qi Jiguang, who was recommended by Gao Gong to become the deputy commander-in-chief, in charge of 25 garrisons in Dengzhou, Wendeng and Jimo, to defend against Japanese pirates along the Shandong coast, received another transfer order from the court.

During these three years, Qi Jiguang's colleagues in Shandong also witnessed his abilities and admired him very much.

The Japanese invasion in the southeast is now rampant, and the imperial court is at a critical juncture where it is short of men and generals.

So at the instruction of Zhu Zaigui, Gao Gong once again recommended Qi Jiguang, the flag officer whom he met during the defense of the capital.

Qi Jiguang did not succeed in passing the military examination and obtaining the title of military scholar in the military examination held after the defense of the capital in the 29th year of Jiajing.

So he returned to his hometown, inherited his ancestor's position, and served as the deputy commander of Dengzhou Guard, responsible for managing the military farming affairs of Dengzhou Guard.

In the following years, the frequent appearance of Japanese pirates gave Qi Jiguang new ideals and ambitions, and he wrote the poem "I have no desire to be a marquis, I just hope the sea waves will be calm" to express his aspirations.

Later, as his abilities gradually became apparent, he met Gao Gong, who helped him during the defense of the capital.

In the 32nd year of the Jiajing reign, Qi Jiguang was appointed as the deputy commander-in-chief, responsible for 25 garrisons in three camps of Dengzhou, Wendeng and Jimo, to defend against Japanese pirates along the Shandong coast.

In recent years, Qi Jiguang's tactical command ability has also been confirmed.

The court is now facing a crisis in the southeast and is in need of talented people.

So at this time Qi Jiguang was entrusted with an important task again. He was appointed as the assistant of Zhejiang Dusi and served as the lieutenant general to defend the three prefectures of Ningbo, Shaoxing and Taizhou.

Colleagues in Shandong knew how brutal the Japanese pirates were and were also aware of the dangers in Zhejiang, so before Qi Jiguang left, they all came to see him off and told him to be careful of danger.

Qi Jiguang felt reluctant to leave his colleagues and comrades-in-arms, with whom he had worked for many years.

But a real man should make achievements thousands of miles away. How can he always live in a comfortable place?
Moreover, in the letter Gao Gong wrote to him, it was also pointed out that His Royal Highness Prince Yu had a special regard for him.

Faced with such a great favor, Qi Jiguang must have been even more excited and willing to go to Zhejiang to make more achievements and drive the Japanese pirates in Zhejiang out to sea!
Qi Jiguang looked at his colleagues who were seeing him off, and bowed to them, "Please stay, everyone. I am going to Zhejiang to kill the Japanese and save the people. As a soldier, I have already put life and death aside, so why would I be afraid of danger?"

After bidding farewell to everyone with an extremely firm belief, Qi Jiguang mounted his horse and headed south to Zhejiang to take up his post with his servants.

While far away in the capital, Zhu Zaigui also read Hu Zongxian's letter of self-recommendation and asked someone to call him to his house.

Hu Zongxian was excited and mixed when he arrived at Prince Yu's Mansion.

Because Hu Zongxian knew that Prince Yu had also met several officials who recommended themselves before him.

Therefore, at this time, Hu Zongxian was actually worried whether he could be valued by Prince Yu and be recommended as the Governor-General of Zhejiang.

You have to know that the position of governor is a triple jump for Hu Zongxian at the moment.

If he could successfully serve as the Governor-General of Zhejiang, it would not be long before the imperial court would give him the title of "Minister of War". With the title of Minister of War, he would be a real second-rank official.

If things go well in Zhejiang by then, maybe in a few years he will be able to fill the vacant position of Minister of War and officially become a core senior official of the imperial court.

When I retire and return home in the future, the court will grant me an honorary official position such as the Prince's Junior Tutor or the Prince's Junior Protector, and my life will be perfect.

Therefore, for the sake of his reputation before and after his death, and for his own honor and ideals, Hu Zongxian made sufficient preparations and waited for Prince Yu to question him.

When he was brought to Zhu Zaigui's study and met Prince Yu who was waiting for him, Hu Zongxian immediately saluted and said, "Your Majesty, I am Hu Zongxian, the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, and I pay my respects to the prince." Zhu Zaigui felt great when he looked at Hu Zongxian, a man with thick eyebrows, big eyes and a square figure.

It was not the first time he met Hu Zongxian, so when Zhu Zaigui spoke to Hu Zongxian, he did not exchange pleasantries.

Zhu Zaigui said: "If I recommend you as the Governor-General of Zhejiang and Zhili to be in charge of the military and political affairs of the southeast, how can you be confident that you can defeat the Japanese pirates?"

Hu Zongxian replied: "If I am favored by the prince and appointed as the governor of Zhejiang, I will not return to Beijing until I capture Wang Zhi and Xu Hai and stabilize the southeast!"

When Zhu Zaigui heard Hu Zongxian's oath, he immediately laughed.

Zhu Zaigui said, "You are very courageous. I admire talents like you. After reading your self-recommendation letter and Zhao Zhenji's reply, I have already decided on you. Now that you can still firmly swear such an oath in front of me, I am very pleased!"

"I hope that after you arrive in Zhejiang, you can use your own methods to eliminate the Japanese threat in the southeast as soon as possible. This will not let down my trust in you."

Hu Zongxian never expected it to be so simple.

He had originally thought of a series of speeches on how Prince Yu would govern the southeast.

Unexpectedly, he didn't use a single word, but just made an impassioned oath, and was noticed by Prince Yu.

From this, it can be seen that he may have been noticed by Prince Yu a long time ago.

So at this moment, Hu Zongxian also bowed excitedly and said: "I will live up to your expectations, Your Majesty, and will definitely wipe out the troubles in the southeast and wipe out the Japanese pirates as soon as possible!"

Zhu Zaiqi hummed, "Very good, I have another letter here. When you are really appointed by the court and go to Zhejiang, you can open it and read it."

Zhu Zaigui picked up a sealed letter from the desk and handed it to him. Meng Chong next to him respectfully took the letter and handed it to Hu Zongxian.

When Hu Zongxian received the letter, Zhu Zaigui said, "If the court does not appoint you as the governor of Zhejiang, you should burn this letter, because it is useless for you to read it."

Hu Zongxian tightly grasped Zhu Zaigui's secret letter and bowed again, saying, "I obey your command!"

After Hu Zongxian finished his worship, Zhu Zaigui let him go.

At the same time, Zhu Zaigui also asked Meng Chong to take the memorial he wrote recommending Hu Zongxian as the Governor-General of Zhejiang to Xiyuan.

Emperor Jiajing looked at the recommendation letter sent by Zhu Zaigui and saw Hu Zongxian's name.

The corners of Emperor Jiajing's mouth could not help but reveal a hint of a smile, "This San'er is quite good at selecting people. This Hu Zongxian can be used."

Emperor Jiajing put Zhu Zaigui's recommendation aside and said to Huang Jin, "Let the Imperial Household Department draft an edict and inform the cabinet to promote Hu Zongxian to the position of Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War and Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, and to Governor-General of Zhejiang, South Zhili, Fujian and other places. Let the cabinet complete the appointment as soon as possible and let Hu Zongxian leave as soon as possible."

After hearing the order from Emperor Jiajing, Huang Jin immediately replied "Yes, Your Majesty!" and then drafted an order to be sent to the cabinet, asking Yan Song, Xu Jie and others to complete the personnel appointment process for Hu Zongxian as soon as possible.

In this way, the selection of the Governor-General of Zhejiang, which had been delayed for a while, was finally settled, and it was Hu Zongxian.

When Hu Zongxian received the imperial edict, he was extremely excited. He never expected that Emperor Jiajing would give him so many promotions and powers, allowing him to have the power to dispatch heavy troops to Jiangnan, Jiangbei, Zhejiang and other places.

This is more power than that of an ordinary provincial governor!
Therefore, when Hu Zongxian received the imperial edict and expressed his gratitude, he was also deeply moved and thanked Zhu Zaigui for his recommendation.

--------

Please vote for me~~~
(End of this chapter)