Chapter 581 Aftermath
While this drama was going on in the Nanhai Restaurant in Danzhou City, a total of more than 500 armed personnel from the Haihan militia, police and security departments deployed inside and outside Danzhou were also conducting joint operations to capture lurking rebels inside and outside the city. .
This time the rebellion plan planned by Huang Zixing, Zhao Ye and others, in addition to the more than ten people who sneaked into Nanhai Restaurant to carry out the assassination mission, there are also more than a hundred people lurking in various places in the city. Once Nanhai Restaurant succeeds, these people will They will attack in all directions, causing chaos in the city, and at the same time, they will recruit accomplices from outside the city to enter the city.
Although the plan was well made, it was a pity that when these people entered the city in batches, they were already monitored by the relevant departments of Haihan. Although the professional manpower used to perform surveillance tasks is relatively tight, fortunately, in order not to expose their whereabouts after entering the city, these people basically stayed in several major temporary strongholds and did not report to the Ministry of Security before today. Brings too much pressure. When it came to arresting people today, it was relatively easy.
No matter how much trouble is made in the city, as long as a few city gates are closed, the rebels will not be able to escape. What is more difficult is the arrest operation outside the city. Due to the relatively limited local military strength, it is impossible to conduct large-scale roundups in the wild. The main method that can be adopted is to conduct concentrated raids on strongholds where the rebels may be hiding, and try to maximize their activities. The scope is reduced.
After the Ministry of Security received the exact information about Zhao Ye's whereabouts, Lin Nan contacted the military and asked them to launch a roundup of the Zhongming Academy area. The military immediately issued orders to the company led by Yu Tiezhu, who was stationed near the east gate and closest to Zhongming Academy.
In order to avoid alerting the enemy, the troops led by Yu Tiezhu did not station outside the city in advance. Fortunately, the location of Zhongming Academy was not too far away, and they could be reached within a few miles. After Yu Tiezhu received the order, he immediately organized his army and rushed to Zhongming Academy to arrest him.
When they arrived at the gate of Zhongming Academy, several militiamen rushed forward and kicked open the gate of the academy. The administrators in the academy heard the sound and came out to inquire. Yu Tiezhu announced loudly: "The Danzhou Management Committee and the Danzhou Prefectural Government have ordered to arrest the remnants of pirates who have sneaked into Zhongming Academy. Everyone in the academy immediately came out to gather and receive the order." Inspection, and those who violate the law will be treated as pirates! Anyone who resists the law with force will be killed without mercy! ”
Hundreds of militiamen swarmed in, then entered the east and west courtyards of the academy to conduct searches, and drove all the people in the academy to the central courtyard to gather. There were not many people left in Zhongming Academy. Today, Huang Zixing led his team into the city for a banquet. Seven more people were missing here. There were only about ten people left in the academy in total. Yu Tiezhu didn't recognize the target's appearance, so he asked the steward to quickly get the academy's roster and call the names one by one according to the roster.
After sorting through it like this, no one was found who was not on the roster. According to the records on the roster, except for Zhang Qianzhi, the latest student to enroll was half a year ago. Zhao Ye had obviously not come here at that time. Yu Tiezhu thought that either Zhao Ye had impersonated someone else, or he was not among these people, and if it was the latter possibility, then this guy had probably escaped.
Yu Tiezhu did not dare to be careless. While he sent people back to the city to ask Zhang Qianzhi, the only one who recognized Zhao Ye's appearance, to come and identify him, he divided two platoons of soldiers and immediately searched the nearby mountains and forests.
After Zhang Qianzhi received the news, it was already an hour before he rushed from the city to Zhongming Academy. After he hurriedly looked at the people who were under temporary house arrest in the academy, he immediately shook his head and said: "Zhao Ye is not here."
Yu Tiezhu said anxiously: "If this guy runs away, it will be difficult to catch him again!"
"It doesn't matter, first block the main roads nearby and arrest his accomplices." Zhang Qianzhi said: "I will go to the study to draw his appearance, and then ask the cavalry to send it to nearby states and counties to post it as a pirate accomplice. There is a reward for arresting him! Even if he cannot be caught for a while, he must not dare to go to Qiongbei's city for supplies. Let's see how long he can stay in the wilderness."
Although Zhang Qianzhi said it lightly, he also knew that a large part of the reason why the Ministry of Security had laid such a big plan this time was to capture this senior Jinyiwei official who was lurking in Qiongbei. And this guy's moral character is obviously not shallow. He did not choose to wait for the results in Zhongming Academy, but left here in advance and hid. Obviously, this guy has probably considered the possibility of failed assassination and the possible consequences - as long as Huang Zixing and others recruit him as the main messenger to hide in Zhongming Academy, his captors will probably be killed soon. Here, staying here waiting for news is like sitting back and waiting for death.
If this guy escaped into the nearby mountains and forests, with the existing military strength of Haihan, it would be impossible to organize a large-scale wild manhunt. It would be almost impossible to catch him in a short time. The only solution for now is to control the traffic arteries in Qiongbei and strengthen the entry and exit inspections of each city. No matter how talented Jin Yiwei is, without supplies and the cooperation of his friends, it will be difficult for him to make a big splash.
The large-scale arrest operation lasted for five days in Danzhou, and a total of more than 170 rebels were captured. During the operation, more than a dozen people were directly killed for resisting arrest. After the underground network headed by Huang Zixing was uprooted, nearly a thousand people were implicated. These people were gathered together and will soon be sent to the Haihan stronghold in Nanyang for reclamation. Fortunately, due to adequate preparation and effective command, there were no casualties on Haihan's side during the entire capture process. Only a few people were slightly injured, and the losses were minimal.
At the same time, operations against rebels were also launched in the capital of Qiongzhou, as well as in Chengmai and Lingao counties in northern Qiongzhou. After this battle, the anti-Haihan forces in the Qiongbei area were almost wiped out.
On March 15, the Danzhou Administrative Committee held Danzhou's first public trial and sentencing meeting outside the Administrative Committee in the north of the city. More than 3,000 local people attended the meeting. In order to achieve a good enough publicity effect, the management committee also specially used tweeters sent from Sanya for relaxation. Almost half of Danzhou City could clearly hear the entire process of the trial.
Huang Zixing, the head of Danzhou Zhongming Academy, and three other former officers of the Ming Dynasty Guards became the principal offenders in this trial. They were charged with colluding with pirates, concealing weapons, gathering to cause trouble, arson, and assassinating officials. The evidence was very clear. conclusive. Especially during Huang Zixing's trial, hundreds of witnesses were willing to appear in court to testify against him. Most of them were guests at the Nanhai Restaurant who witnessed the entire incident that day.
However, there were a few tainted witnesses among them. In order to save their lives, several people who were responsible for arson in the restaurant with Zhang Qianzhi that day also turned against Huang Zixing and accused Huang Zixing of planning and commanding the operation. This almost confirmed Huang Zixing's charges. Whether he had colluded with pirates was already a secondary issue. Just the assassination of officials was enough to make him lose his head. The final verdict was basically under Haihan's control. A total of seven rebels who had committed "heinous crimes" were sentenced to death, more than 100 people were sentenced to hard labor ranging from six months to ten years, and more than 700 people were sentenced to hard labor. Because his relatives, teachers and students were implicated, he was sentenced to exile overseas for cultivation. Most of these exiled people were innocent disasters, but for the sake of local stability, the management committee decided to clear out all these unstable factors - anyway, several new strongholds in Nanyang also need to move a large number of working people. Just transport these people there for colonization.
Naturally, there was not much opposition from the public to such a sentence. After all, almost all the prisoners' stakeholders were sentenced to exile, and the bystanders treated the trial with a spectator mentality. Moreover, the management committee's actions are indeed to maintain local stability. This general principle is also fully in line with the interests of the local people.
That afternoon, several prisoners sentenced to death were executed by firing squad at a cemetery outside the south of Danzhou City. The number of people who came to watch the excitement was no less than the people who watched the public trial in the morning. Thousands of people witnessed the Haihan-style execution method. After a burst of gunfire, a row of people kneeling on the ground fell straight to the ground. . Then Wu Zuo came forward to conduct an autopsy and announced that the execution was complete.
Danzhou Zhizhou Yan Mingjun and General Li Jin also "supervised" the entire trial and execution process that day. They now also know very well that their positions in Danzhou are not rulers who influence local military and political affairs, but assist Haihan to maintain The mascot of peaceful relations with Ming Dynasty. Let them show up on major occasions to show that this place still belongs to the Ming Dynasty, but the actual management of the local area is entirely controlled by Haihan.
Yan Mingjun now understands what others said at the time that it would be easy to be an official on Qiongzhou Island. In the ten years since he entered the official career, he has never been so idle during his tenure. He doesn't even do anything every day, and he doesn't have any official documents. He was required to check and sign, plant flowers and plants at home, write articles, or go for a stroll in the city. The time passed quickly, and with such leisure, he could still receive so-called "office funds" from Haihan people every month. "The amount is indeed much more than the salary he can get from the court.
Of course, there are still some things that make Yan Mingjun feel uncomfortable occasionally. For example, the work reports that are regularly submitted to the Guangdong government and the court must be reviewed and approved by the Haihan people before they can be sent away. The content and general direction of such reports are almost always specified by the Haihan people. At most, Yan Mingjun can have a little room to use words and sentences.
In addition, Yan Mingjun's scope of action is also limited to within five miles of Danzhou City. If you want to leave this range, you must first apply to the management committee for registration, and it is strictly prohibited to go to sea privately. The reason given by the management committee was to ensure his personal safety, but Yan Mingjun knew very well that the Haihan people just didn't want him to escape their monitoring range.
In comparison, Li Jin's life was much better and more fulfilling than Yan Mingjun's. His current schedule almost always revolves around the Haihan Militia. Every morning he must go to the city to watch the training of the Haihan Militia. At noon, he would have a meal with the officers of the militia, and then continue in the afternoon, and occasionally follow People from the militia discussed some military theoretical issues.
In front of this group of militia officers who are armed to the teeth, the only thing Li Jin can be proud of is probably the kung fu he has learned. He has been practicing single-sword sword skills since he was a child. Almost no one in Haihan can compete with him. of.
But Wang Tom's words quickly shattered the confidence he had built up with great difficulty: "General Li's sword skills are indeed very powerful, but if you are fighting against us, it really won't have much effect. You It takes more than ten or twenty years to master such sword skills, during which time you have to work hard. However, it only takes seven days at the shortest and only one month at the longest. As long as the gun in his hand is loaded with ammunition, It is possible to kill a master like you who has practiced hard for many years on the battlefield from a distance of dozens of feet.”
Li Jin didn't know this. After all, it had been a long time since the Ming army began to equip firearms on a large scale. However, the Ming army's musketry troops were indeed far from the Haihan militia in terms of equipment level and combat capabilities. Wang Tom said The truth mentioned only applies to the special case of the Haihan Militia.
Li Jin is a straight-tempered person. After he realized the strength gap between the two sides, he tried every means to inquire from Officer Haihan, trying to find a way to narrow the strength gap between the two sides, but he seemed to be unable to get in. It wasn't until Zhang Xin came to the militia one day to handle official business and he casually asked about Zhang Xin that the other person's words opened up his heart.
"It looks very complicated, but it sounds very simple. It's nothing more than money." Zhang Xin explained: "Our cost to train a soldier with the same armed force is about seven or eight times that of the Ming Dynasty. To put it into perspective, the Haihan Militia is The combat effectiveness of an army built with money will naturally not be bad.”
Li Jin asked in confusion: "The Haihan militia is not equipped with armor, and the cost of weapons is cheaper than that of the Ming Dynasty. How do you understand Director Zhang's words?"
Zhang Xinying said: "We are different from the Ming Dynasty. We follow the route of elite soldiers, and the soldiers who serve are all professional soldiers, rather than peasant soldiers like the Ming Dynasty who farmed and fought during the war. We need to invest a lot of resources in peacetime to maintain the troops. Combat effectiveness. These days, you have also seen how much we invest in the combat training of the militia. The monthly cost of live ammunition shooting is no less than that of fighting a small-scale battle. You have also tried the food of the militia. , it should be much better than the Ming army, right?”
Li Jin nodded and said: "Being a soldier in the militia has higher wages and better treatment than the Ming Dynasty. This is indeed nothing to say. But how can you afford such a huge investment?"
"The investment is huge, and the benefits are huge! Our army is not just for free food." Zhang Xin patted Li Jin on the shoulder and said, "You probably won't understand if I tell you now, but you will understand if you wait a little longer. ”
(End of chapter)