Chapter 1576: The Andong Governor-General's Office

In June of the thirteenth year of Kaibao, at the midpoint of the annual review period, the Great Han had also entered a state of busyness unlike previous years—a season of many affairs. One by one, decisions concerning the stability of the Great Han moved into the stages of finalization, implementation, and discussion. From the opening of the northeast to the assimilation of frontier barbarians, this had been the court's primary direction of work in recent years.

Regarding the governance policies for the "assimilated" Hu tribesmen of the northern frontier, Emperor Liu's instructions were quickly formed into written edicts, transmitted to all frontiers, and made clear to the court as well.

Although some of the opinions contained therein were overly forceful and overly pointed, placing too much pressure on the officials in charge and demanding too much, they fully embodied Emperor Liu's attitude and will—and no one dared to raise any objection.

The court's ministers, whether old officials who had served Emperor Liu for many years or newcomers who had just ascended to high positions, dared not interject a word, only dutifully implementing matters according to Emperor Liu's wishes. In this regard, Zhao Pu, as Chief Chancellor, had too much experience.

And the target was not only Shanyang and Monan—including the Northern Yan Mountains Circuit, Yulin, Hexi, Guannei, and Shannan circuits as well, all were treated the same. This was an overarching guiding opinion, a policy for governing the Hu.

Meanwhile, in late June, under the leadership of Crown Prince Liu Yang, with the assistance of Chancellor Zhao Pu, Commissioner of Military Affairs Cao Bin, and other ministers, a plan for the establishment and creation of the Great Han's Andong Governor-General's Office was finally produced.

This was the first time the Great Han had established a formal, special governing institution for remote regions—the very name "Governor-General's Office" indicated its special nature.

Its organizational structure, official appointments, and military functions were clearly modeled on the Tang dynasty's Andong Protectorate. However, the territory under its jurisdiction was considerably smaller, bounded basically by Huanglong Prefecture and the Changbai Mountain range—areas within belonging to the Liaodong Circuit, areas beyond belonging to the Andong Governor-General's Office. Its governance focus was clearly to be shifted northward. This was perhaps also a manifestation of the Central Plains empires' centuries-long process of opening up the northeast, just somewhat slow and not so obvious.

Additionally, some innovations lay in the establishment of certain positions, such as Commander, Patrol Inspector, Provisions Commissioner, Surveillance Commissioner, and Fortress Commissioner, among others. Of course, these were only differences in name and authority; the specific functions differed little, all being subordinate officials under the Governor-General's Office.

The army under the Governor-General's Office was fixed at seventeen thousand five hundred men, including five thousand cavalry, divided into four armies—Jingyuan, Suiyuan, Huaiyuan, and Fuyuan—for garrison duty. Personnel were drawn from the Liaodong garrison forces and auxiliary tribal troops. This military strength was already considerable, deployed along several major rivers such as the Yazi River, Na River, and Hei River, as well as cities including Suihua, Tieli, and Jingyuan, thereby controlling the northeastern region.

As for the seat of the Andong Governor-General's Office, it was set at Suihua City. Of course, as of June of the thirteenth year of Kaibao, it still existed only on maps, a newly marked location awaiting construction.

This location lay south of the Yazi River, close to Huanglong Prefecture, allowing for timely support from Liaodong. More notably, this city would be built on the territory of the Wanyan tribe, and the Wanyan tribesmen would become the first governed people under the Andong Governor-General's Office.

After all these years of turmoil, the Wanyan Jurchen could not even expand—Huanglong Prefecture was not theirs, the Tieli region was gained and lost again, their tribe suffered heavy casualties, their strength severely withered, and in the end even their ancestral lands were encroached upon. Following this trend, under the very nose of the Andong Governor-General's Office, the Wanyan Jurchen clearly could not see a future. The key point was that they had no strength to resist either, unless they risked the destruction of their tribe and violently rebelled against the court.

In terms of power, compared to the Tang dynasty's Andong Protectorate, the Great Han's Andong Governor-General had far less authority and faced more restrictions, operating under the court's supervision.

Liu Yang's initial draft had the Andong Governor-General's Office managing both military and civil affairs in total, which was also for convenience of operation and required a certain degree of autonomy. But when it was reported to Emperor Liu, it immediately made him frown deeply. He deemed it improper, feeling that concentrating both military and civil power in one person was a system that invited chaos.

With Emperor Liu's attitude as it was, Liu Yang and the others had no choice but to make changes accordingly. After a new round of discussions, it was decided to follow the model of interior prefecture-circuit arrangements and establish an Andong Chief Military Command to command all the armies of Andong. However, this too was rejected by Emperor Liu, on the grounds that Andong differed from the interior and lacked the conditions for direct governance, requiring differentiation.

After another round of discussion, the final decision was that the Deputy Governor-General of Andong would command those four armies, directly responsible to the Bureau of Military Affairs. The Deputy Governor-General was also subordinate to the Andong Governor-General's Office, bearing the duties of maintaining public order and campaigning against the disobedient, yet not under the Governor-General's jurisdiction—somewhat irregular and awkward.

Moreover, all military supplies were to be coordinated and provided from the Liaodong and Yan Mountains circuits. In the final analysis, while Emperor Liu granted the Andong region a certain degree of autonomy, he still kept a tight grip on the reins, unwilling to open any gap that might allow the concentration of military, civil, and financial power locally—even in the remote Andong region.

With the garrison forces handled in this manner, the arrangements for financial power were hardly surprising. Although the court did not intend to extract much tax revenue from that remote corner of Andong, it still required clear taxation and payment to the court according to regulations—only the amount was adjusted to half.

And because the northeast needed funds and materials for development and for maintaining the operation of the Governor-General's Office and its subordinate prefectures, counties, towns, and cities, this tax revenue would still be returned to Andong.

This provision was not Emperor Liu's own contrivance, but was proposed by Finance Commissioner Wang Zhe. Although it was somewhat like taking off one's pants to fart, in his words, this was the system. Emperor Liu also agreed wholeheartedly with this point—he was most fond of rules and regulations.

Of course, the final result was that Andong's tax revenue did not actually need to be remitted to the central government; it only needed clear accounts, subject to the court's inspection and audit at any time.

At the same time, according to Emperor Liu's instruction, the court was to allocate one million strings of cash annually for the Andong Governor-General's Office's governance and development of its territory.

It could be said that although the court had imposed numerous restrictions, including special attention to military and financial powers, once the Andong Governor-General's Office was established, it was still the most autonomous among the Great Han's many local governments—except for the two powers of military and finance, it could intervene in everything else.

In Emperor Liu's words, for the entire Andong region's development and growth, as long as it did not violate Han orthodoxy or go against the court's will, even establishing some local regulations and policies—as long as they benefited the opening and development of the northeast—could be done freely as one saw fit.

As for the selection of the first Andong Governor-General, there was not much controversy—Prince of Qin Liu Xu was chosen. On this point, under Emperor Liu's preference, no one raised any objection.

As for the more critical Deputy Governor-General in charge of the military, after careful selection, Emperor Liu chose An Shouzhong, Prince of Xiangyang. Generals including Tian Qincuo, Hou Renju, and Ma Huaiyu served as his subordinates. It could be said that this first set of military and civil leadership for the Andong Governor-General's Office was of sufficiently high caliber and sufficiently luxurious.

As for Ma Renyu, who had held command in the northeast for many years, he was finally able to be transferred away, entering the capital and being promoted to Deputy Chief Commander of the Imperial Guard Command—temporarily shelved, so to speak. In fact, after so many years of development, the actual power held by the chief and deputy commanders of the imperial army's Three Bureaus had become very small; they merely occupied a nominal command authority, with core power gradually devolved to the Chief Commanders of the various subordinate armies.

Ma Renyu being placed in the position of Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guard was not for retirement, but as a transitional phase. As for how long the transition would last, that depended on circumstances.

Of course, Emperor Liu would not mistreat such a meritorious general. Mindful of his arduous service and great achievements, Emperor Liu specially promoted Ma Renyu's title to Marquis of Leling.

Accompanying the finalized regulations of the Andong Governor-General's Office sent to Liaodong was a personal letter from Emperor Liu. The contents of the letter were far more genuine than the cold edicts. Emperor Liu greatly encouraged Liu Xu, telling him to act boldly and boldly carve out a new northeast for the Great Han.