governor
Three Eastern Provinces
The governor of the three eastern provinces, the ninth governor established by the Manchu Qing Dynasty, was also the last high-level feudal official in the history of the feudal dynasty.
Although the Governor of the Three Eastern Provinces lasted only five years, from the day of his birth, his power overrode the other eight Governors. Even the directly subordinate governors, who are known as the "heads of the frontier ministers", are difficult to compare with their authority, and the governors of the three eastern provinces are the real heads of the frontier ministers in power.
▲ Li Hongzhang, directly subordinate to the governor and viceroy of Liangjiang
The three eastern provinces were the land of Longxing in the Manchu Qing Dynasty and the hometown of the Qing rulers.
Throughout the Qing Dynasty, the Central Plains Han Chinese were always restricted from exiting customs and entering the northeast region, so it was sparsely populated.
Previously, the Qing court set up three garrison generals here: General Shengjing, General Jilin and General Heilongjiang. These three generals were all high-ranking officials from Yipin, higher than the governor rank from Erpin.
Among them, the general Shengjing was also the general with the largest number of troops among the 14 garrison generals of the Manchu Qing Dynasty.
▲Shengjing General's Mansion
In the last years of the Qing Dynasty, due to many factors such as war, flood disasters, and uneven economic development, a large number of Han Chinese invaded the Kwantung and poured into the three eastern provinces. Coupled with the invasion of Japan, Russia and other powers, the situation in this Manchu Qing longxing land became complicated.
Garrison generals, who value military power, cannot effectively meet the complex geopolitical and economic situation. Therefore, in 1907, the Qing court abolished the general system and changed it to the governor system.
▲Fengtian Provincial Office
The reason why the governors of the three eastern provinces can overpower the other eight governors in terms of power, in addition to being the hometown of the Manchu Qing Dynasty and the special geographical location, there is also an essential reason.
Governors in other regions were quite restrictive, and the one they resisted the most was the governor.
The governor and the governor were both feudal officials of the Qing Dynasty, and the difference was in the difference in the scope of jurisdiction.
The Governor-General has jurisdiction over the civil administration, military, and economics of a province to several provinces, while the Governor's jurisdiction is limited to one province.
▲The Qing Dynasty Governor's Office published a map
The governor was directly subordinate to the emperor and was not in a superior-subordinate relationship with the governor. The governor is only subject to the governor's moderation (meaning "guidance"), and in the face of a strong governor, moderation is an annoying joke.
Therefore, the overseers often rub against each other fiercely.
It was also through this method that the Qing court gave way to a high-powered governor to avoid becoming the king of the domain and repeating the mistakes of the "San Francisco Rebellion".
▲ The change of governors of the three eastern provinces after the three years of reunification
However, the governors of the three eastern provinces were different, in charge of the military and civilian affairs of the three provinces of Fengtian, Jilin and Heilongjiang, and although there were initially inspectors in each province, the governors of the three eastern provinces were clear subordinates of the governors, rather than a temperate relationship.
This is a privilege comparable to that of the emissary of the lord of the realm and the king of the domain!
Neither the most powerful governor directly under the authority before nor the richest governor of Liangjiang could get this benefit.
▲The Governor's Palace of the Three Eastern Provinces
It is precisely because of this that the governors of the three eastern provinces are all capable and deeply trusted by the Qing court.
Before the transformation of the three eastern provinces into governors, Xu Shichang was secretly ordered by the imperial court to conduct many investigations, and later appointed the governor of the three eastern provinces, becoming the first "King of the Northeast".
At the same time, Tang Shaoyi was appointed Inspector of Fengtian, Zhu Jiabao was acting as Inspector of Jilin, and Duan Zhigui was acting as Inspector of Heilongjiang.
In the later history of the Republic of China, they also became pivotal figures.
▲Xu Shichang
The governor of the three eastern provinces was located in Fengtian and initially worked in the same city as the Fengtian Inspector.
Unlike other regions that oversee the same city office, they often play in the ring to compete in martial arts. In order to make the governor of the three eastern provinces more comfortable in his work, the Qing court directly revoked Cheng Dequan, the inspector of Fengtian, and replaced him with the governor of Jiangsu.
▲ Xu Shichang is like Renshou Tongdeng Silver Medal
From the establishment of the three eastern provinces to the fall of the Qing Dynasty, there were three governors in total, all of whom were dragons and phoenixes among people.
Xu Shichang, the first governor of the three eastern provinces, was highly valued by the Qing court and regarded him as a major minister of Li Hongzhang's rank. However, due to the general trend of history, the Qing Dynasty had not yet had time to witness Xu Shichang becoming another Zhongtang and perished.
After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, Xu Shichang became the second in command of Yuan Shikai's clique, suppressing Wang Shizhen, Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang of the "Three Masters of Beiyang".
In the seventh year of the Republic of China, Xu Shichang was elected by the National Assembly as the president of the Republic of China and was known as the "President of Wenzhi".
▲Governor's Note by Dokryo (Partial)
The second governor of the three eastern provinces, Xi Liang, during his tenure as governor, also concurrently served as the governor of Rehe.
This was an important post responsible for protecting the emperor's safety, and it was also a key post to contain the governor directly under him. He had also served as a vassal for many years.
▲ Zhao Erxun
The third governor of the three eastern provinces, Zhao Erxun, was also the last.
He was the editor-in-chief of the Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, one of the "Twenty-Six Histories", and an old leader of Zhang Zuolin. Zhang Zuolin, the "King of the Northeast", has been respectful to Zhao Ersun all his life.
Leng Han
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