Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

“Sacred edict, since taking office, Xuanda Governor Lu Xiangsheng has been courageous and alert, and has maintained strict military discipline, which has won the hearts of the army and the people.

Your Majesty has issued an edict to promote Lu Xiangsheng, the Governor of Xuanda, to the Grand Commander of the Huben Army.

From then on, the Grand Commander of the Huben Army was responsible for the peace of the entire border of the Ming Dynasty and controlled all the military garrisons of the Ming Dynasty.

The Governor's Office will be located in Xuanfu Town and will be directly responsible to Your Majesty and me.

The governor of Shaanxi, Sun Chuanting, the governor of the four southwestern provinces, Qin Liangyu, and the military commander of Guanningjin, Wu Sangui, are the governors-general. "Zhang Shikang took out another wooden box and said.

Naturally, there was an imperial edict in the wooden box, but Zhang Shikang was too lazy to read it, so he roughly explained the meaning of the edict and threw the wooden box to Lu Xiangsheng.

The appointment of Lu Xiangsheng to head the Governor's Office was something Zhang Shikang had discussed with Emperor Chongzhen before he set out on his border patrol.

Although Emperor Chongzhen handed over the court's military affairs to Zhang Shikang, Zhang Shikang still believed that as the Son of Heaven, he should know the situation of the world's military.

Therefore, whenever there was an important appointment, Zhang Shikang would tell his brother Chongzhen and explain why such an arrangement was made.

Lu Xiangsheng's military ability was outstanding among the many famous generals in the late Ming Dynasty, and no one would be dissatisfied with his appointment as the Grand Commander.

Sun Chuanting was actually a talented general with comprehensive abilities and a plug-and-play type of talent in the late Ming Dynasty, but Sun Chuanting had a small shortcoming, which was that he was too obedient.

Sun Chuanting died in the Battle of Tongguan. Before the expedition, his army was not only short of food and fodder, but also had incomplete weapons, firearms and ammunition, and many of the recruited soldiers were not well trained.

But as soon as Brother Chongzhen gave the order, he still resolutely went to die, even though he knew he could not win.

Zhang Shikang felt that there was nothing wrong with the army commander being loyal to the court and the emperor, but he should still be flexible, so he only gave him the position of second in command of the Governor's Office.

Needless to say, Qin Liangyu, as the governor-general of Yunnan, Guizhou and other four provinces, was responsible for the peace of the entire southwest border, including Mu Tianbo, the Duke of Qian.

The reason why he promoted Wu Sangui, the newly promoted military commander of Guanningjin, was because Guanningjin's position was too important. It was the absolute front line in direct confrontation with the Jianlu.

Putting aside the fact that Wu Sangui later surrendered to the enemy, this guy's military talent was much stronger than that of his uncle Zu Dashou. In view of Guan Ningjin's special strategic position, Wu Sangui was also given the title of governor-general.

According to Zhang Shikang's idea, the Governor's Office should be a wartime organization. On normal days, military generals at all levels would be responsible for their respective war zones. Once war breaks out, they would obey the orders of the Grand Governor of the Tiger Guards Army and command the battle in a unified manner.

Although the Five Military Commission of the Ming Dynasty had its advantages, Zhang Shikang still disagreed with the separation of the power to command troops and the power to mobilize troops. If the generals did not know their soldiers and the soldiers did not know their generals, the combat effectiveness would be greatly weakened.

So he simply divided the Ming Dynasty's military forces into three major groups, each responsible for different responsibilities.

The powers of the Ministry of War were basically reduced by two-thirds, leaving only the Yongning Army.

The Huben Army and the Imperial Guards were directly responsible to the emperor and him, the Grand Marshal, and were no longer constrained by the Ministry of War. Food, fodder, and military equipment were of course provided by the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Works, and the General Administration of Manufacturing.

The reason why the Governor's Office was set up in Xuanfu Town was, of course, because the main enemy of the Ming Dynasty was currently in the north.

Zhang Shikang did not intend to build the Governor's Office with great fuss. He believed that as the enemy continued to change in the future, the defense focus of the Huben Army would change accordingly.

It may be in the north now, and it may be in the west later. As the highest wartime staff agency, the Governor's Office certainly cannot leave the war zone too far.

"General Lu, there is no need to refuse. This is an imperial decree and a military order." Lu Xiangsheng just raised his beard and was about to speak when he was blocked by Zhang Shikang.

Lu Xiangsheng and Sun Chuanting had no choice but to accept the order.

"From now on, the Tiger Guards must unite as one and face the difficulties together. When we go north to fight, I'm counting on you." Zhang Shikang said to everyone.

All the generals responded in unison.

On the same day, the commanders of each military town rushed to their respective military towns with their new appointments.

Zhang Shikang was full of confidence about the future Northern Expedition, and was planning to pay for a meal out of his own pocket that night for Lu Xiangsheng and Sun Chuanting.

However, Sun Chuanting came uninvited with concerns, so Zhang Shikang asked:

"Governor Sun, why are you so worried?"

Sun Chuanting saw that there was no one in the room except Lu Xiangsheng, so he said cautiously:

"General, I just received news that there is a plague in Xi'an Prefecture under your jurisdiction."

Zhang Shikang frowned immediately upon hearing this. He seemed to have remembered something and asked speculatively:

"plague?"

If it was just a minor plague, Sun Chuanting would not have been so cautious.

The great epidemic at the end of the Ming Dynasty was the plague. Before Zhang Shikang came here, many places in the north of the Ming Dynasty had been infected.

Even in many places in the capital, nine out of ten houses are empty.

Although it has calmed down a lot in recent years, the plague has never disappeared from the Ming Dynasty.

In the past two years, the plague has not spread widely, and Zhang Shikang has been busy with various wars and did not take it too seriously.

"The person who came said that it was a disease that developed very quickly. Often people were fine in the morning, but suddenly died at night, bleeding from all seven orifices. The blood was black, and the death was very scary."

After all, Sun Chuanting was just a military commander and could not diagnose the disease, he just reported it truthfully.

But Zhang Shikang frowned even deeper when he heard this. Isn’t this disease a typical symptom of the Black Death?

This news immediately ruined Zhang Shikang's good mood.

Now that the Tiger Guards have just been reorganized, the northern provinces have just gotten back on track, the canal digging campaign has just begun, and spring is about to arrive, so farming will begin in all places.

But at this critical juncture, the Black Death suddenly appeared!

Zhang Shikang wanted to point his finger at the sky and curse. He suspected that God was deliberately making things difficult for him.

He paced around the living room a little anxiously, and said to Sun Chuanting:

"You are the governor of Shaanxi, so you will be in charge of this matter."

As the governor of Shaanxi, Sun Chuanting possessed the highest power. However, it would have been impossible to deal with such a highly contagious epidemic in those days without strong intervention from the army.

Once the people in the epidemic area are allowed to run around, we will be doomed.

"Marshal, I...I don't know how to treat the epidemic!" Sun Chuanting said with some embarrassment.

"Would I? I wouldn't either.

The Lord of Heaven will, but will he help us honestly? "

Zhang Shikang seemed to be venting his anger. After venting his anger, he gradually calmed down and said to Sun Chuanting again:

"There are three points you need to remember."

Upon hearing this, Sun Chuanting immediately bowed seriously.

“First, use military force to prevent the spread.

Second, attention must be paid to hygiene in the epidemic area. The dead must be burned and buried, and masks must be worn when entering and leaving the epidemic area. Yes, isolation areas must also be set up to centrally manage people who are already sick.

Third, find someone named Wu Youke."

……