In the Qing Dynasty, before Guangxu, there were a total of eighteen provinces in the country. The highest administrators of the eighteen provinces are the Governor and the Governor. However, the situation in each province is different, so there are also differences in the imperial court when establishing governors and inspectors, usually before the end of the Qing Dynasty, there were eight governors and sixteen governors.
It should be noted that some provinces only have governors and no inspectors, such as the three provinces of Zhili, Sichuan, and Gansu (Fujian has changed a lot), all of which are governors and inspectors. However, the three provinces of Shanxi, Shandong, and Henan only have inspectors and no governors.
There are no inspectors in Zhili, Sichuan, Gansu, etc., in order to strengthen the authority of the governor. Directly subordinate to the head of the frontier subjects, Gongwei Gyeonggi had a heavy responsibility, so since Yongzheng, there were no inspectors to strengthen the power of the directly subordinate governor. Sichuan and Gansu are located in frontier areas or ethnic minority areas, and they are given the heavy responsibility of guarding the land and security people, with the title of governor and inspector, also in order to strengthen their power and not be constrained by patrols.
So why don't the three provinces of Shanxi, Shandong, and Henan have governors but only inspectors?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" > is geographical limitation</h1>
Shanxi's geographical location before the Ming Dynasty was very important because it bordered Mongolia to the north, and the relationship between Mongolia and the Central Plains before the Ming Dynasty was good and bad, and there were many wars on the border. However, the Qing Dynasty regarded Mongolia as a family, and could even be understood as a strategic alliance, and the threat from the north naturally ceased to exist, so Shanxi became an inland province during the Qing Dynasty.
The west of Shanxi is Shaanxi, and the two provinces of Shaanxi and Gansu have the viceroy of Shaanxi and Gansu; the eastern part of Shanxi is directly subordinate, and here there is a viceroy directly subordinate, and Henan in the south is the hinterland of the Central Plains, so it is reasonable that Shanxi does not have a governor.
The same is true of Shandong, which faces the sea in the east; to the north and northwest there are two important military towns, Fengtian and Zhili, and to the south is Jiangsu, which is under the jurisdiction of the Viceroy of Liangjiang. Therefore, from a geographical point of view, Shandong really does not need to set up a governor.
The three directions of henan to the west, south and east are respectively the jurisdiction of the viceroy of Shaanxi and Gansu, the viceroy of Huguang, and the viceroy of Liangjiang, and it is not far from the capital, so it is reasonable that Henan does not have a governor.
Shanxi, Shandong, and Henan all bordered directly under the governor, although the administrative power of the directly subordinate governor was limited to one province, but in special periods, such as military incidents or emergencies, the tentacles of the directly subordinate governor could extend to these three provinces, and the imperial court gave the direct governor overall planning power, especially in Shanxi and Shandong provinces.
The three provinces of Shanxi, Shandong, and Henan do not have governors, and the fundamental reason is that they are located in the hinterland of the Central Plains and are relatively close to the Beijing Division, and there are two governors directly under the jurisdiction and Shaanxi and Gansu on the side, so in terms of military considerations, there is no need to set up full-time inspectors.
Of course, there are also differences in the situation at different times, such as the governor of Henan in the fourth year of Yongzheng, and Tian Wenjing briefly served as the governor of Henan, but this is not the norm.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="27" > the status of the governors of the three provinces is slightly higher than that of the general inspectors</h1>
The original product of the inspector is from the second product, and the person who adds the rank of soldier to the rank of waiter is the main two product. In fact, since Qianlong, the Inspector of the Qing Dynasty has been adding the rank of Imperial Envoy of the Military Department and the Right Deputy Capital of the Metropolitan Inspection Bureau, and the actual grades are all Zheng erpin .
Inspector fu is abbreviated, in the official system of the Qing Dynasty, the official name of the inspector of each province is different, for example, the full title of the inspector of Jiangsu is "inspector of Jiangsu and other places, the inspector of military affairs and grain pay"; the full title of the inspector of Anhui is "patrolling Anhui and other places, the governor of the military affairs to control the towns, and also manage the grain"; the full title of the zhejiang inspector is "patrolling Zhejiang and other places, supervising military affairs, controlling water and land towns, and also managing grain and pay".
The full title of the Inspector of Shanxi is "Patrol shanxi and other places, admiral of military affairs, concurrently manage grain and pay, and adjutant of Yanmen and other passes"; the full title of inspector of Shandong is "patrolling Shandong and other places, supervising military affairs, grain and salary, and also managing camp fields"; the full title of Inspector of Henan is "patrolling Henan and other places, supervising military affairs, grain and pay, and also managing rivers and tuntian".
Judging from the full titles of the inspectors of the provinces, it seems that there is no difference between the inspectors of Shanxi, Shandong, and Henan. In fact, the inspectors of these three provinces also have an important part-time position, that is, the title of viceroy, the governor of Shanxi was added to the title of governor in the twelfth year of Yongzheng; the governor of Shandong was added to the title of governor in the eighth year of Qianlong; and the governor of Henan was added to the title of governor in the fifth year of Qianlong. This is also the most essential difference from other inspectors.
If the inspector concurrently holds the title of viceroy, then the rank will naturally become the same level as the governor from the first product, which is one level higher than that of other inspectors. But we cannot say that the governors and governors of the three provinces are equal.
Because the Qing Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty were also heavy on literature and light on military force, although the provincial governors were from Yipin, after all, they were military posts, and their actual power was far inferior to that of the inspectors and governors, even the envoys and envoys.
The governors of Shanxi, Shandong, and Henan provinces all added the title of governor from Yipin, but at the legal level, they did not stipulate that their rank was from Yipin, but their status was slightly higher than that of other provinces, so strictly speaking, the inspectors of these three provinces were only half a level higher than the governors of other provinces, and lower than the status of the governor.
In addition, since there are no governors in these three provinces, the governors' relevant positions such as "salt administration and river channel" also have inspectors at the same time, such as Shanxi governor and Shanxi salt administration, Henan inspector to also manage the river channel, and so on. Therefore, in terms of authority, the inspectors of these three provinces are heavier than those of other provinces.
In the election of feudal governors, the governors of Shanxi, Shandong, and Henan provinces were also the most important to the emperor. Under normal circumstances, they are transferred from inspectors from other provinces, and few are directly promoted from the post of envoys. Relatively speaking, the governors of these three provinces also have a greater chance of promoting the governor.