As for the arrangements for his wife, children, and father, Xiao Ruxun had a detailed discussion with his family. His wife and children would follow his father-in-law south to Nanjing and be protected within his father-in-law's sphere of influence, while his father would return to his hometown in Yan 'an with his eldest brother and second brother. Under the protection of his eldest brother and second brother, he could enjoy his old age in Yan' an. Moreover, not far away, there was Datong's Ma Gui who could help.
Far away from the political whirlpool of Beijing, Xiao Ruxun could use his means without worry. As for the local area, the saying that the sky was high and the emperor was far away was not for nothing. Staying in the capital and staying in the local area were two completely different concepts. Some people could influence the world if they stayed in the capital, but they could only die of old age if they stayed in the local area, such as Wang Shouren. If Yang Tinghe had not kept Wang Shouren in the local area and prevented him from entering the capital, the current Daming would be in a different situation.
Therefore, the concept of being in the capital and not in the capital was different. The symbolic significance of the capital was far greater than any other city in the Daming Dynasty. As long as the ruler held the capital, in this era without the existence of warlords and generals, it was tantamount to owning the world and having a righteous name.
However, being in the local area also had its advantages. Just like working in a company, going on a business trip was completely different from working under the supervision of the boss of the company. Apart from the same mission, the degree of freedom was very different. To put it bluntly, the local officials were like people from the central government who were sent to the local area on a business trip. Not to mention all kinds of benefits and subsidies, they also had all kinds of freedom and power.
The Daming Dynasty was a highly centralized dynasty. The central government had strong control over the local area, but even the strongest central government had places beyond its reach. Limited by the conditions of transportation and information transmission, the further away from the capital, the weaker its control. In ancient times, from the perspective of governance, the enfeoffment system appeared and came into being. The end of the enfeoffment system was actually the product of the improvement of transportation conditions.
Daming was even smarter. There was Beijing in the north and Nanjing in the south. He stationed a large number of troops in each of the two cities and created two sets of political teams. This was so that if any one of them went wrong, the other could still control the situation. Therefore, decades after the death of Emperor Chongzhen, the Nanming government in Jiangnan was still able to struggle at death's door. This was all thanks to the political team in Nanjing.
Daming's central control over local areas radiated outward from Beijing and Nanjing. Beijing radiated to the north, while Nanjing radiated to the south. Their control over the entire eastern part of China was unprecedentedly strong, second only to the Manchurian Qing after the establishment of the Baojia system. However, all of this changed after Lingnan. From ancient times until the 19th century, Lingnan was synonymous with wilderness in China. The current Daming was no exception.
The Barbarian Land not only meant poverty and barbarism, it also meant that the control of the imperial court was weak. Other than the bases and border towns, most of the places that the government could control were only a county town. Other than the county town, the rest of the places were autonomous. The taxes were honest, but other than that, they did not care about you.
This was what Xiao Ruxun noticed. At present, the only places in Daming that had not been infiltrated by the civil officials were Yunnan and Guangxi in the southwest. Because these two places were bordering the south, the environment was poor, the economy was backward, and the transportation was inconvenient. First of all, they were not valued. Moreover, there were also the scourge of war. Why would the civil officials be interested in these two places?
Only those with a one-track mind would be interested in such a place. Therefore, many places in Yunnan and Guangxi were under the jurisdiction of the military instead of the civil officials. The system of military officers in charge of military affairs and civil affairs was implemented instead of the state and county system. It could be said that it was the only military paradise in the Daming dynasty that generally suppressed military officers. However, the environment was so bad that it could not be considered a paradise.
However, this was what Xiao Ruxun needed. He wanted to expand beyond the border. Would the imperial court pay attention to the new territory in the hot and humid wilderness? Ishikami, located in Japan, was still under standard military control. The officials sent by the Ministry of Revenue were only in charge of the mountains of gold and silver. They did not care about anything else. The daily financial affairs of the civil affairs, military affairs, and government were all handled by Wu Weizhong alone. One could imagine what kind of situation it was in Yunnan and Guangxi.
The civil officials did not have strong control over the army. Most of the places had to rely on military officers. Because few civil officials were county magistrates, even their trusted subordinates were military officers instead of civil officials.
This meant that Yunnan and Guangxi had become a natural barrier, isolating Xiao Ruxun from the civil officials. The Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and Shiwan Mountain isolated the influence of the civil officials to the north of Yunnan. In the south, this golden treasure land that had not been properly developed was still a wild and unimportant place.
Xiao Ruxun had thought about it. He planned to learn from Li Chengliang, or even the Mu Palace in Yunnan. He wanted to build Myanmar into his own semi-kingdom, or even a de facto kingdom. He would have the final say in this place, and no one else would. He would control the military, government, civil affairs, and finance alone. Then, he would try his best to advance to Nanyang and build a powerful naval force like the Zheng family later on to dominate Nanyang.
Only at that point would Xiao Ruxun dare to turn around and exert his influence on the Central Plains. He would build a powerful firearms unit that would use the world's most advanced weapons and tactical methods to equip a powerful unit that would not lose to the firearms units of any country. Only then would he have the confidence to turn around and sweep his gaze across the body of that staggering giant who appeared strong on the outside but was actually weak on the inside.
He had money, guns, and even talents. At that time, Xiao Ruxun would have the confidence to face everything.
Therefore, Xiao Ruxun came up with the idea of leaving Song Yingchang in the Beijing officialdom. He wanted him to keep a low profile and bide his time, so that when needed, he could stand up and wave the flag for him. Xiao Ruxun would stay in Myanmar to guard Myanmar, and find ways to bring his family members from the Ningxia Firearms Battalion here to start building this golden treasure land.
Defeating the Dongyu Dynasty in Myanmar was the first step, which was not difficult. What he needed to pursue was to keep the fruits of his victory after the war and to win on other battlefields.
Xiao Ruxun began to make a long-term and effective plan for himself. Then, he soon found that his plan lacked an important link, which was talents.
Yes, talents who were willing to follow him south to Myanmar and settle there to develop their forces. In other words, they needed scholars who had the talent to govern.
Xiao Ruxun began to have a headache.
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