Chapter 318: Suppressing Bandits
Banditry?
Zhu Houzhao received not only the case of Fang Chang Ding, in which low-level officials of the imperial court were killed by bandits, but also incidents from other regions about low-level officials being killed by bandits or being killed bizarrely.
This gave Zhu Houzhao reason to suspect that these incidents were definitely not simple accidents, but a series of social security incidents caused by the mining tax collection incident.
The grassroots backbone composed of veterans and Zhongjun Society students was the foundation for Zhu Houzhao and the Ming Dynasty to implement the political reforms. After all, relying solely on the civil servants and gentry, it was difficult for the New Deal to be completely implemented, and it might even be violated.
But now, it is obvious that there are local forces destroying the foundation of the Ming Dynasty.
"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Punishment has now strictly ordered the provincial prosecutors to investigate in detail a series of murders of officials below the county level. However, in my opinion, these incidents are still related to the imposition of heavy mining taxes. I am afraid that the imposition of heavy mining taxes will not end. In this way, There will be more killings," Wang Jun, the Minister of Punishment, said when reporting such cases.
After hearing this, Zhu Houzhao looked at Wang Shouren: "What do you think?"
"Reporting to your majesty, what Da Sikong said is certainly correct, but I believe that no matter whether the government is lenient or strict, the laws cannot be abolished. Local banditry arises because the people ignore the laws, or there are local forces behind it. I'm afraid There are also gangsters and gangsters In conclusion, if the government abandons the mining tax policy due to serious local banditry at this time, it will only appear that the court is cowardly, and these local forces and local bandits will be more emboldened. If the court wants to reform in the future, it will be even more difficult. "
"Now that there is another conflict between the imperial court and local forces, we might as well make another effort to suppress these bandits, clarify the laws, punish the evildoers, and eradicate the evil. Not to mention the officials who are killed, even if they are civilians, whether they are bandits or officials, once they are implicated, Anyone involved in a case must be dealt with strictly!”
Wang Shouren expressed his opinion at this time. He hoped to launch a direct campaign to suppress bandits. He also guessed that these bandits were committing crimes frequently at this time, which was obviously supported by local forces secretly.
Therefore, he believed that the imperial court should take this opportunity to wipe out all the bandits, or even execute them severely, to make the people aware of the serious consequences of being bandits, and to make local forces lose the ability to secretly resist the imperial policies.
Zhu Houzhao agreed with Wang Shouren's proposal. He also knew that the source of bandits was the people. Even in many cases, bandits were the people and the people were bandits. When the years were good, the benefits of agricultural production were greater than those of being bandits, and the bandits would go down the mountain and become bandits. However, in disaster years, the benefits of agricultural production are smaller than those of bandits, and the people will become bandits.
In barren mountainous areas where agricultural production is underdeveloped, the number of bandits is naturally higher, and many of them will even collude with local powerful squires. Among them, the ones who benefit the most are undoubtedly the squires.
These gentry and landlords colluded with the government when they needed to fight against bandits; they colluded with the government or bandits when they needed to embezzle people's property; they turned to bandits to protect their interests when they were oppressed by the government; and they turned to the government when they were oppressed by bandits.
"Regardless of whether these local forces colluded with bandits to kill people, the bandits in various places will naturally be suppressed. Since today's Ming Dynasty is a prosperous age unprecedented in history, then there should be no so-called bandits! The existence of bandits is a shame for the court!"< br>
Zhu Houzhao said this directly at this time, and added: "First of all, suppress the bandits, comprehensively suppress the bandits, use the army to suppress the bandits! We will never stop suppressing the bandits until the last bandit of the Ming Dynasty disappears!"
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Zhu Houzhao remembered that the first thing he did after the founding of New China was to suppress bandits, and he also established a special public security system.
Zhu Houzhao decided to do the same now and ordered: "Wang Shouren listened to the decree and established the police department. You will serve as minister in person and implement the police department system in the southern Zhili area to all provinces in the Ming Dynasty. You will establish a police force and recruit a group of guards and soldiers." Retired officers and soldiers from the border army were appointed to specialize in suppressing bandits! Gui Yong was appointed as the left minister of the police department, and Qi Jingtong was appointed as the right minister of the police department!
I ask you to wipe out all the bandits of the Ming Dynasty within three years, and I don’t like another bandit to appear before thirty years of Zhengde! ”
Wang Shouren accepted the order: "I obey the order, please rest assured, Your Majesty, I will do my best to wipe out the bandits in the world!"
Zhu Houzhao nodded and ordered: "I will immediately establish regulations on punishing bandits related to the suppression of bandits. Anyone who kills officials will be punished!"
After hearing this, Wang Jun, the Minister of Punishment, couldn't help but persuade him: "Your Majesty, the punishment of beating is the punishment of cutting off the flesh and separating the bones. Isn't it too harsh?"
"The basic officials who were killed were veterans and outstanding students of our Ming Dynasty Guards and Border Army. These people were either loyal and brave men who had protected the border for the country, or they were the pillars of the country's prosperous times. Now they are being abused for their official duties. How can we respect the heroes and protect the future of the empire if we do not severely punish the bandits?”
Zhu Houzhao slapped the table as he spoke: "This matter does not need to be discussed further. Those who are extremely evil can be reported to the police and then severely punished!"
At this time, Qi Jingtong, the new left governor of Jinyiwei, stood up: "Your Majesty, our Jinyiwei people have solved the murder of Fujian's house chief Ding and the IRS. There is definite evidence that it was Qian Zhai, the supervisor. This is Qian Zhai." The confession of Zhai’s nephew Qian Jianshu is one of the pieces of evidence. Your Majesty, please take a look.”
Zhu Houzhao looked at it and couldn't help but slap the table: "Humph! Go to Fujian yourself. Since this Qian Zhai dares to burn the head of a veteran of the Ming Guards, he will be burned to death in a copper bull. , all the Jianning officials and gentry watched the execution, listened to his miserable screams, and understood the consequences of harming our Guardsmen! "
"I obey the decree!"
Qi Jingtong knew what the torture of the bronze bull was. The torture of the bronze bull was a kind of torture mentioned by Leonardo da Vinci when he recounted Western history after coming to the Ming Dynasty. It was more shocking than Ling Chi, mainly because it could magnify the pain of the tortured person. The huge roar of the bull made the spectators feel the deepest emotion.
As a member of the Guards, Qi Jingtong saw that his retired brother from the Guards had his head chopped off and burned directly by the local supervisor, so naturally he wanted to punish Supervisor Qian in this way.
Within a month, Qi Jingtong was working hard day and night to find Jianning, naturally in order to prevent the perpetrators from going unpunished.
Qian Jiansheng colluded with the bandits in Wuyi Mountain to kill the house chief Ding and the officers and soldiers of the State Administration of Taxation, so that his mines could still continue to be mined and he could still receive countless copper ores from mining. Moreover, because of the coastal areas of Fujian, he mined Copper mines are specially smuggled overseas and sold to Westerners, which is very profitable.
On this day, Qian Jiansheng was counting money when he heard his butler running in hurriedly: "Master, the Jin Yiwei is here!"
Jinyiwei?
Qian Jiansheng stood up. He didn't expect that one day he would be visited by Jin Yiwei. But at this time, he could guess why he was approached by Jin Yiwei. He was a little scared for a while, but he didn't understand. The strange thing is, why can Jin Yiwei notice something as far away as Jianning County, Fujian Province, in the mountains and old forests.
Qi Jingtong walked in directly and ordered the Jinyi guards to surround Qian Jiansheng, and then asked: "Qian Jiansheng, you don't need to say anything, you should understand why I came to you. Since you have done it, you have to bear it." Price! ”
Qi Jingtong said with a wave of his hand: "Get him!"
Qian Jiansheng suddenly yelled: "You Jin Yiwei are disturbing the law! Although Qian is not an official, he is still a citizen of the Ming Dynasty. Even if you are Jin Yiwei, you cannot arrest them at will! If you don't suppress the bandits in Wuyi Mountain, , but you are here to frame a loyal person! You are causing trouble to the government!”
"I am the Commander-in-Chief of the Left, Jinyiwei, and now I am the Right Assistant Minister of the newly established Police Department. This is the arrest warrant from the Police Department. This is the prosecution order established by the Metropolitan Procuratorate based on the evidence provided by me, Jinyiwei. This is the judgment and execution order issued by the Ministry of Punishment. Everything All according to the imperial court Here comes the law! Qian Jiansheng, I and the court have always followed the law, but you scholars follow the law in everything, but you don't follow the law!" Qi Jingtong ordered Jin Yiwei to arrest Qian Jiansheng on the spot and take him directly to Jianning County. .
Then, Qi Jingtong asked Chief Qiu of the Jianning County Legal Bureau: "Mr. Qiu, have you finished building the copper bull?"
Chief Qiu replied tremblingly: "Reporting to Governor Qi, the bronze bull has been made. Please take a look."
Qi Jingtong was led by Chief Qiu to the high platform near the Jianning County Government Prison, and saw a hollow brass buffalo statue that had been placed lifelike on the high platform.
Qi Jingtong asked again: "Are all the prominent people in Jianning County here?"
"Go back to the governor, everyone is here."
Chief Qiu replied.
Qi Jingtong nodded again and ordered: "Then bring Jiansheng Qian up and let him be tortured!"
then.
Qian Jiansheng was brought up and imprisoned in the copper bull.
At first, Qian Jiansheng didn't know what punishment he would face, so he just banged on the copper wall: "Let me out! Let me out! Mr. Qi, Qian is guilty and guilty, isn't it enough!"
Qi Jingtong and the Jin Yiwei behind him only wanted to avenge their brother Chang Ding, the guard brother, and naturally they did not choose to be tolerant because of Qian Jiansheng's begging for mercy.
At that time, charcoal fire began to burn below the Tongniu's belly. The billowing fire made the Tongniu hotter and hotter. Qian Jiansheng, who was inside the Tongniu, finally couldn't bear it anymore and had to extend his mouth from the mouth to the belly of the Tongniu. The tube was used to breathe air, and at the same time, because of the high temperature, his screams came out of the tube and turned into the wail of a cow.
The representatives of the local forces in Jianning County who were present were naturally extremely shocked after hearing this, and had to be even more afraid of the Jinyi Guards. Of course, these people could not help but secretly rejoice. Fortunately, they did not choose to assassinate the grassroots officials, and they did not expect that the imperial court would protect the Guards in this way. veterans and members of Zhongjun Club!
Dealing with extremely vicious local evil forces is one aspect of Zhu Houzhao's task of asking Wang Shouren and others to attack local forces. In addition, the top priority is to suppress bandits and make sure that there are no more bandits in the Ming Dynasty.
Why in later history, before the middle of the 20th century, China has always had bandit forces, whether in times of rule or trouble, they have never been eradicated. As a time traveler, Zhu Houzhao doesn't really understand the truth behind this, but what he can be sure of is that according to the According to the model of later generations, bandits can still be banned.
As long as bandits can be banned, social security will undoubtedly be greatly improved, and it will also help promote commercial prosperity and allow people to produce with peace of mind.
But banning bandits is not a simple project, but because of the difficulty, Zhu Houzhao asked Wang Shouren to do it. After all, only Wang Shouren was the most powerful.
Even later, considering the purpose of training mountain soldiers to prepare for future expansion to the south, Zhu Houzhao simply ordered the Minister of War, Gui E, to temporarily recruit active-duty recruits from the border army and the Guards in the border towns to temporarily form an armed police force, which would be directly managed by the police department. , is responsible for suppressing bandits in the mountains. After all, bandits are mostly concentrated in steep mountainous areas, which is convenient for training mountain soldiers.
The order Qi Jingtong received was not only to deal with Qian Jiansheng, but also to organize local armed forces in Jianning County to wipe out the Wuyishan bandits in Jianning County.
Qi Jingtong directly asked Qian Jianshu to be his guide and led the Jinyiwei into Wuyi Mountain. He also successfully raided the bandit's lair in Wuyi Mountain and won a great victory.
In fact, it was indeed smooth in the early days when Zhu Houzhao asked Wang Shouren to organize active and retired troops to form an armed force to suppress the bandits. These bandits did not realize that the court would directly use the main army to suppress them, which caught these bandits off guard. Moreover, These bandits were unscrupulous and unprepared because of the connivance of local officials and the nourishment of local forces.
However, with the deepening of the suppression of bandits, some tough bandits that had not yet been successfully suppressed also caused the court to lose a lot of troops. However, in general, the results were quite remarkable. After two or three years, the banditry was greatly reduced.
Because of this, local gentry forces also lost the support of bandits, and the court could better control local forces. Veterans and Zhongjunshe students who served as grassroots officials could also do better work for the court, allowing the court to shift the politics of mining. The purpose is beginning to bear fruit.
At the cabinet meeting in the 29th year of Zhengde's reign, Zhang Cong, the chief minister of the cabinet, said excitedly: "Your Majesty, since the heavy tax on mining was levied in the customs, the imperial court has levied heavy taxes of more than 360 million silver dollars, which is the same as last year's tariffs and overseas colonization. The income is offset.”
Zhu Houzhao nodded after hearing this. He had to admit that the Ming Dynasty is indeed a strong country now, and the national property is so rich that it is no longer measured in tens of millions, but in billions of silver dollars. According to the current Ming Dynasty silver dollar and silver exchange, it is also It’s almost worth 100 million taels of silver.
"Although this money has been used to take away most of the benefits of mining from the people through coercion, I do not really want to use people's wealth to enrich myself or corrupt officials, but to control private property and reasonably Regulation, the money still has to be paid back through low-interest and interest-free loans! The Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Industry have calculated how much more money can be invested to encourage the people of Ming Dynasty to develop outside Guanwai and even Mobei. "
Zhu Houzhao asked as he spoke.
Wang Tingxiang, the Minister of Household Affairs, stood up first and said: "Your Majesty, you can also lower the low-interest loans for developing areas in Monan and Saibei that are not very cold, and invest another 30 million silver dollars in low-interest loans." Loan! In addition, you can invest another 10 million silver dollars as an interest-free loan for the development of Mobei and even Liaodong and Nurgandusi areas!”
"According to Wang Butang, in addition to the new investment from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development loans, the Ministry of Industry can also invest another 20 million to build a cement road from Guihua City to Helin, and can also directly build a road from Suzhou to Helin. The cement road extending to Shenyang Zhongwei!" Ye Heng, Minister of Industry, replied.
After hearing this, Zhu Houzhao also smiled with satisfaction, thinking that the imperial court must have money to do things easily. According to the Minister of Household Affairs and the Minister of Industry, the tax revenue currently received is enough to invest in both economic investment and engineering construction. Make the mining industry outside the customs more active.
I had a busy day moving today and only found time to write four thousand words. Sorry
(End of chapter)