It is the Yangtze River Delta Federation in later generations.
Its total economic output accounted for 30% of the Ming Dynasty.
Such a huge first-level administrative region, if it were not under the control of the Nanjing Six Ministries, it would have rebelled long ago.
If the centrifugal force within the Ming Dynasty was the strongest, it was in Nanzhili.
For a moment, Zhu Yixi's mind flashed to Catalonia in Spain, California in the United States, and Scotland in the United Kingdom.
"What your Majesty said is true. The veteran is in the cabinet. He not only has to deal with the affairs of the world, but also has to deal with the miscellaneous affairs of the prefectures and counties in Southern Zhili. It can be said to be miserable."
Zhao Shu was from Shanxi, so he naturally had no feelings for Southern Zhili. He was full of approval, but he was slightly worried and said: "I'm afraid it's hard for officials from Southern Zhili to accept it."
"This is an inevitable result, no matter how hard it is to accept, you have to accept it."
Zhu Yixi said without comment.
At this time, Zhao Shu wanted to be more direct. If Nanzhili was divided, the six departments of Nanjing in the future would only be able to manage Yingtian Mansion. This was very beneficial to the centralization of power.
Similarly, after being divided into two provinces, there will naturally be two sets of provincial political teams, which can arrange a lot of people.
The position in the officialdom is like a carrot or a pit, but the cabinet can better control the position.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt that the advantages outweighed the disadvantages. Zhao Shu mused: "The key now is how to divide it."
"It's not difficult to divide--"
The emperor waved his hand casually, and Tian Ren understood the idea and hurriedly sent the map.
On the map of Southern Zhili, the emperor took out his finger and raised his sword:
"With Nanjing as the center, on its left, Fengyang, Chuzhou, Luzhou, Hezhou, Chizhou, Taipingfu, Ningguo, Huizhou and Guangde form one province."
"And on the right side, Xuzhou, Huai'an, Yangzhou, Zhenjiang, Changzhou, Suzhou, Songjiang and other places form one province."
After saying that, the emperor finally pointed to Nanjing and said: "As for Yingtian Mansion, it is still under the direct jurisdiction of the imperial court."
At this time, Zhao Shu didn't care about the names of the two provinces, but was rather concerned about the Sixth Department of Nanjing: "What about the Sixth Department of Nanjing?"
"Let them act as agents of Ying Tianfu!"
Hearing this, Zhao Shu felt quite regretful.
The emperor was very interested and still fell into the pleasure of drawing maps.
It feels so good to change the fate of tens of millions of people with just one finger.
"As for the name, Anqing Prefecture and Huizhou Prefecture are on the left. They have the most money and food, so they are named Anhui Province."
"The province on the right, let's call it Jiangsu Province!"
Since he really couldn't think of an excuse, the emperor could only lie about it and say it directly.
Historically, Jiangsu Province was named after the first characters of Jiangning and Suzhou. Now, without Jiangning Prefecture, it is impossible to match them.
In the eyes of obsessive-compulsive disorder, it must be called Jiangsu.
Of course, the name of the province is just a side detail. What Zhao Shu is most concerned about is the provincial capital.
"Anqing is important but to the west, Huizhou is rich but mountainous to the south, Fengyang is to the north, and Luzhou in the center is neither big nor small, which is just right."
Pointing at Luzhou, Zhu Yixi said seriously.
But why does the Anhui map at this time look so awkward?
Luzhou swallowed up Lu'an in later generations, and Fengyang was so big that it included the entire Huaibei, Fuyang, Bozhou, and Huaibei.
And Jiangsu is even stranger. There are only seven prefectures in this huge territory, and the prefectures get smaller as you go south.
Shanghai in later generations was no different from Songjiang Prefecture today.
"In Anhui Province, Fengyang Prefecture is divided into three parts. To the west of Shouxian County is Fuyang, which governs Yingzhou; to the north of Guzhen is Huaibei, which governs Suzhou; and the rest is Fengyang Prefecture."
"Luzhou is divided into two, with Lu'an Prefecture to the west of Shucheng and Luzhou Prefecture to the east."
Huai'an Prefecture and Fengyang share Huaibei, which is really too big.
"As for Jiangsu Province, Huai'an Prefecture is divided into three. To the west of Shuyang and north of Taoyuan is Suqian Prefecture, which governs Suqian; to the east of Shuyang and north of Huiyang is Haizhou Prefecture, which governs Haizhou."
"The rest are Huai'an Prefecture."
Relying on his impressions, Zhu Yixi divided the state capitals that he considered to be standard.
In this way, the approximate scope is almost the same as that of later generations of maps.
Finally satisfied.
Zhu Yixi couldn't wait to lie down and admire her masterpiece.
Unfortunately, Zhao Shu broke his idea.
"Your Majesty, where is the capital of Jiangsu?"
"Ah?"
Zhu Yixi was stunned for a moment. He stared at the map carefully and was a little dazed for a moment.
Without Nanjing, which place in Jiangsu Province is suitable to be the capital? It is impossible to let Nanjing take charge of it!
Thinking of the loose Thirteen Taibao in later generations, he instantly felt that he had shouldered an important mission.
His eyes lingered on the map for a long time, and his eyes were fixed on Yangzhou.
If Luzhou is elected because of its excellent central location, then the same is true for Yangzhou.
Yangzhou is also located in the center of Jiangsu Province.
More importantly, it is the terminal station of the canal and controls the geographical location.
"Yangzhou——"
The emperor shouted: "There is no capital more suitable than Yangzhou."
"Your Majesty is Holy Ming."
Zhao Shu breathed a sigh of relief and immediately praised him.
"However, Yangzhou is too big."
At this time, the emperor touched his chin again and thought.
Considering the aspect of checks and balances, the capital cannot be too strong. For example, Luzhou Prefecture was separated from Lu'an before, and Yangzhou Prefecture now includes Taizhou, Tongzhou and other places, which is really a vast area.
"Taizhou is the boundary, and its east is Tongzhou Prefecture."
In this way, Anhui Province has twelve prefectures, while Jiangsu Province has ten prefectures, which is roughly balanced.
"The cabinet will draft a statement!"
The emperor said solemnly: "The division must be completed before the end of the year."
"As you command——"
Zhao Shu opened his mouth and agreed, then left in a furious manner.
By the time he arrived at the cabinet and finished drafting it and handed it to the emperor, it was already completely dark.
In the early morning of the next day, the Manchu Dynasty was ignorant of civil and military affairs, and the partition of Southern Zhili was officially decided.
The subsequent partition of Huguang was passed as a matter of course.
Compared with Southern Zhili, the partition of Huguang did not cause any waves.
On the contrary, it means complying with public opinion.
Huguang is too big. Nowadays, as the population is growing, management has become more difficult. Splitting it into two is what everyone is looking forward to.
As for the division of families in Southern Zhili, after the morning dynasty ended, many people were still in a state of confusion and disbelief.
After all, in one morning's work, the entire Ming Dynasty had three more provinces, especially the behemoth Nanzhili, which was divided in the blink of an eye.
There was a lot of discussion in the Hanlin Academy, and Zheng Sen and Huang Zongxi also talked about this matter with great interest.
After the joint examination, although they were low-ranking, after entering the palace examination, the two of them worked hard and climbed directly to the second class and were admitted to the Hanlin Academy.
It was mainly the topic of the emperor's policy that gave them an advantage: On the Slavery Rebellion.
Zheng Sen was a pirate, and he directly wrote about the benefits of Liaodong, including ginseng, furs, and iron ore, which led to the rise of slave-building.
Huang Zongxi directly claimed Liaodong to be Shandong. He mismanaged the cross-sea area and the court did not pay enough attention, which led to catastrophe.
They all mean what they say and thus climb up.
"Southern Zhili has been divided. It seems that His Majesty is very determined to move the capital."