Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 307 Civil Service Reform
Nanxun Town, Huzhou Prefecture.

The notice issued by the Southern Zhili Governor strictly prohibiting the disruption of market order and cracking down on criminal gangs has been posted for three days.

But the local forces in Nanxun Town did not take this seriously.

The pawnbrokers are still bullying the market, and the young hooligans are still relying on the support of the powerful to collect protection fees and extort money.

Even the county magistrate in charge of Nanxun Town did not care. On the one hand, local forces would give him benefits, and on the other hand, he did not need to offend local forces for the sake of the court's decrees. Therefore, he still stayed in the county seat of Huating County and still followed the rule of governing by inaction and not letting official power go to the countryside.

The Police Department has not expanded to these new towns and can only control the area around the county seat.

However, now, the Jinyiwei who are specifically responsible for rectification have arrived.

At this time, Yuan Heng, a captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, brought a team of Embroidered Uniform Guard to Nanxun Town.

Nanxun Town, which has been developing freely and could be said to be a lawless place, was not interested in the appearance of the Jinyiwei at first and continued to do its own thing.

Even County Magistrate Mei was too lazy to intervene after learning about the appearance of the Jinyiwei. Now he is still worried that a distinguished person came to his place a few days ago, and he might lose his official hat if he did not entertain him well.

Mr. Zhai did not take these Jinyiwei seriously. Now he was instigating his own slaves to stop a merchant who was unwilling to purchase goods from him and prevent him from unloading the goods.

"In a word, if you refuse to sign a contract with our Zhai family, we will not allow the porters here to unload your goods! Your goods will not be able to be sold on the river!"

This noble servant of the Zhai family said.

"But your Zhai family has set the price too low. We have traveled thousands of miles to Nanxun Town to sell them, and we will lose money!" said the merchant.

"Your grandfather, I don't want to waste time talking to you! I'm just putting this out there. If anyone helps this merchant named Wei to place his goods, my Zhai family will beat him to death and have his wife and daughter sold to a brothel by his clansmen!"

As soon as the Zhai family slave finished speaking, Jinyiwei Baihu Yuan Heng came over and said, "Can your Zhai family still be the king of Nanxun Town? Can you represent the law?"

"My Zhai family is the law in Nanxun Town!"

After the Zhai family's slave had finished speaking, he discovered that there was a knife on his neck. He turned around and saw that it was a Jinyiwei. He was so frightened that he was stunned, and his initial arrogance instantly disappeared.

Yuan Heng, a captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, pulled the knife hard, and the head of the slave from the Zhai family rolled to the ground.

Everyone present was terrified.

"By special decree, after the announcement, anyone who continues to bully the market will be killed!"

While Yuan Heng, a captain of the Imperial Guard, was speaking, several other Imperial Guards killed several other slaves on the spot.

The merchant was so frightened that he forgot to unload the goods. Yuan Heng said, "Merchant, you can unload the goods now. Don't think of raising the price, or we will kill you with our knives!"

The merchants and helpers all replied tremblingly: "Yes, yes!"

At this time, in the Zhai family, Mr. Zhai was instructing his housekeeper: "Don't throw away this batch of moldy rice. Dry it in the sun and then transport it to Ningbo to sell it. The navy will come to collect military rations in a few days, and this batch of moldy rice can still make a good price!"

As soon as Mr. Zhai's butler agreed, Yuan Heng rushed in with the Jinyiwei.

"One was spared!"

Yuan Heng said this first, then drew his sword and chopped the housekeeper in half, then pointed the sword at Zhai Yuanwai and asked, "How much moldy rice is there in your house? Where is it hidden?"

"I still have 300 shi. I stockpiled them last year because of the famine. I wanted to sell them for a good price, but the Ministry of Agriculture unexpectedly sent a lot of sweet potatoes and potatoes. As a result, I couldn't sell them. They are all hidden in the cellar. General, please spare me! I am just a businessman. I still have some silver at home, and I am willing to give it to you!"

Yuan Heng asked Zhai Yuanwai to find all the moldy rice, and then ordered people to burn it.

Mr. Zhai and his business partners were dragged to the most crowded place in Nanxun Town, and were all killed on the spot! Their heads fell to the ground!
……

Such things continued to happen throughout Jiangnan.

The Fan family, a juren in Xiaotang Town, Huating County, relied on their juren status to openly instigate ruffians in Xiaotang Town to collect protection fees from the people and merchants in order to enrich their own family.

A team of the Embroidered Uniform Guards broke into the house and killed the head of the Fan family, more than a hundred of his slaves, and three hundred displaced people, even using firearms.

Duke of Wei Xu Pengju had no choice but to close his eyes and chop his knife at Zuo Zhong, a wealthy man in Jiangning who was forcing people to ruin by lending money.

Puff!
After killing one person, Xu Pengju had no hesitation in killing the others.

……

For a time, the whole Jiangnan region was terrified at the mention of the Jinyiwei, and tens of thousands of people were killed, no matter they were tyrants, bullies or gangsters.

Zhu Houzhao also strengthened his control over the police force he had originally set up in Southern Zhili, especially after several corrupt police officers were executed.

The number of local evil forces that affected the public security in Jiangnan and disrupted the commodity economic order in Jiangnan was greatly reduced. Local officials in Jiangnan were also trembling with fear and dared not cover up for local forces anymore. They even had to follow suit and strictly control them under pressure from the court.

In order to consolidate this achievement, Zhu Houzhao planned not to leave Jiangnan for the next two or three years. He wanted to allow Jiangnan, a region where capitalism was emerging, to truly establish a modern civilization, raising the level of humanistic literacy, people's economic living standards, and municipal services to a higher level, making it a benchmark for the future development of the Ming Dynasty.

Now it is just the first step, which is to eliminate the evil forces that hinder the development of Jiangnan's commodity economy and stabilize public security.

Hua Chen, a merchant from Qiushan County, Sichuan, brought 500 dan of grain to Wangdian Town, Jiaxing County. He saw that there was no bully occupying the dock in Wangdian Town. He couldn't help but ask the people from the porterage, "Where are Boss He's people? Don't merchants usually charge a standing fee when they come to the dock?"

"So that you know, Boss He was executed by the Royal Guards last year, and all seventy of his men were eliminated as criminal gangs! The entire river in front of Wangdian Town was red for several days, and there was blood everywhere!"

The man from the dental shop said.

"Isn't it said that Boss He has a relative working as a secretary in the court? How come he was killed by the Embroidered Uniform Guards?" asked the merchant Hua Chen.

"The court has cracked down severely and sent in troops. Not to mention the relatives of the Secretary, even the relatives of the Grand Secretary will be killed. His Majesty is in Nanjing to rectify the local security. No one dares to offend him! Now in the whole of Jiangnan, no matter who it is, can buy and sell freely. No one dares to bully the market anymore. We, the pawnbrokers, have to abide by the rules now," said the pawnbroker.

"This is truly a great favor from the Emperor. If I had known this earlier, I would have brought more grain. This year, Shu has had a good harvest. I heard that Southern Zhili suffered from severe drought and floods, so I traveled thousands of miles to sell grain. But I was worried about being robbed in Puyuan Town like the year before last, so I only brought 500 dan!"

The merchant said with some regret.

Like this merchant, other merchants who came to Jiangnan found that the business order in Jiangnan had improved significantly. For a time, the number of merchants trading in Jiangnan increased significantly, which also led to a sharp increase in the volume of trade in Jiangnan.

Moreover, because the imperial court had not yet established a complete commercial tax system, many towns and cities were still only engaged in free trade, and local forces were suppressed by the imperial court, most of the income went into the hands of civilians, which greatly increased the income of the people in Jiangnan and greatly increased the wealth of Jiangnan.

But Zhu Houzhao would naturally not be satisfied with this. Making the people rich could only be a primary goal, because the free economic market is a market where the fittest survive. In the long run, the rich will only get richer and the poor will become poorer. As a court, it is necessary to avoid this phenomenon and spend the wealth grown by society on public undertakings that benefit everyone.

"Nanzhili Governor Wu Wendi, Inspector General Dai Jin, and you, the left and right provincial governors and provincial inspectors, Jiangnan can now maintain public order, the people can trade and produce freely, and there is no lawlessness. It is the army and the Jinyiwei who are maintaining it! But severe punishments can only work for a while, not forever. The court cannot use the well-trained army to maintain local public order all the time. As local officials in Jiangnan, you must shoulder this responsibility!"

Zhu Houzhao gave these instructions to the local officials in Jiangnan.

Wang Shouren also said, "Your Majesty is right. The situation is changing, and the system must change with it. Jiangnan is different from other places. Seven out of ten people are working and doing business. There are also merchants from Huizhou, Taiyuan, Zhaoqing, Chengdu, and Wuhan living here. Six out of ten refugees in the world are concentrated here, all of whom are working and doing business. Naturally, we can no longer manage them like we used to manage farmers!"

"Your Majesty, and the Minister, I have been in charge of Nanzhili for many years. I think the main problems of Nanzhili are as follows: First, the tax policy is unclear, and the local levies are chaotic; second, the idlers dominate each area and collude with officials and clerks to oppress the people; third, there are not enough officials, and the governance is chaotic. I don't know how many towns and people have been added to the jurisdiction of a county!"

Wu Wendi also spoke up at this time, and added: "So, I think we need to change the civil service system first and then the tax system, and the civil service should be delegated to the local areas. I suggest abolishing the Nandu officials. I boldly say that these Nandu ministers and officials from various temples are useless except for interfering with the local areas! In the court, Beijing has officials from various departments to take charge of the government affairs of the country and coordinate everything. The officials from Nanjing can only hinder it. In Jiangnan, the officials from Nanjing only seek their own interests, and do not seek the welfare of the people in the south!"

Wu Wending's words were like a bomb that exploded among the officials. Nanjing Left Censor-in-Chief Bian Xian immediately stood up and said, "You are talking nonsense! The Ming Dynasty has a two-capital system, which is an old rule from the time of Emperor Taizong (Yongle had not yet been posthumously renamed Chengzu by Zhu Houzhao, but in history it was Jiajing who renamed Chengzu). You are changing the ancestral system without authorization! Besides, Nanjing still has six ministries and the Censorate, which has a deep meaning."

"What's the deep meaning? I'm just worried that the North will not be defended and the South will be established again!"

Wu Wendi said it very directly, and then bowed to Zhu Houzhao and said: "Your Majesty, I dare to speak frankly. Based on the conduct and ability of these officials in Nanjing, even if there is a change in the world and the northern capital is lost in the future, they will only surrender and sell out their country, and will never defend Nanjing to protect themselves, because apart from oppressing the people in Jiangnan and holding them hostage to fight against the central government, they have no blood at all!"

Zhu Houzhao admitted that Wu Wendi's prediction was correct. In history, after Beijing was captured by Li Zicheng and later fell into the hands of the Qing Dynasty, the old and young people in Nanjing did not defend Nanjing to the death, and those who surrendered were indeed the majority.

However, Zhu Houzhao did not expect that Wu Wendi, a talented man of both civil and military affairs who was promoted from prefect to governor because of his suppression of the Ning Wang Rebellion, would fire such a big shot at this time and directly attack the entire Nanjing official system. There were thousands of bureaucrats, and although most of them were just eating and drinking for free, most of them had considerable experience.

"What do you think, Lord Wang?"

Zhu Houzhao asked Wang Shouren, the existence of a central official system in Nanjing was a historical legacy of the Ming Dynasty, but it did not mean that the officials in Nanjing were meaningless. Therefore, he did not know whether he should withdraw them or not, but decided to ask other officials.

Wang Shouren also knew that many of the officials in Nanjing were in sinecure positions, but it was undeniable that many military and political affairs in the south, especially in Southern Zhili, were still managed by officials in Nanjing. After all, the capital was far away from the south, and due to geographical factors, many southern affairs could naturally be handled more efficiently in Nanjing.

What Wang Shouren could guess was that the reason why Wu Wendi, the governor of Nanzhili, dared to bombard the various distant Nanjing tribes was simply because he, the governor of Nanzhili, did not want to be constrained by this group of senior officials in Nanzhili.

Therefore, Wang Shouren only said: "Your Majesty, in my opinion, the Nanjing officials should not be withdrawn. After all, the household and military affairs of the south still need to be managed in Nanjing. The annual transportation of grain to the north and the coastal defense of the southeast coast all need to be coordinated by the Nanjing officials. However, the words of Governor Wu Wendi must also be considered. The powers and responsibilities of Nanzhili and Nanjing must be distinguished. The Nanjing officials must not interfere in the affairs of Nanzhili, and the responsibilities of the Nanjing officials must be clearly defined!"

After Wang Shouren said this, both the Nanjing officials and Wu Wendi had no objections. For the Nanjing officials, it was good enough not to dismiss them and not to force them to retire. For Wu Wendi, he did not really expect the court to get rid of all the thousands of Nanjing officials. He was just bombarding them to achieve his goal of being able to completely govern Nanzhili as the governor of Nanzhili.

Zhu Houzhao thought that these officials understood officials. If it were him, he would really think that Wu Wendi wanted to remove thousands of Nanjing officials, and he himself was indeed impulsive and wanted to abolish Nanjing's functions as a capital.

"Very good. Nanzhili will be relocated to Suzhou in the future, and officials from Nanjing and Beijing will not be allowed to interfere in the local affairs of Nanzhili. However, the three bad policies mentioned by Wu Wending hit the nail on the head. Now abolish the special management area system, and Nanzhili and Zhejiang provinces will begin to pilot the reform of the official system. First, the provincial level must have various departments in household administration, criminal administration, military administration, official administration, education administration, ritual administration, and industrial administration. Extending to the prefecture, there must also be corresponding departments. Extending to the county, there must also be departments. Increase local administrative power, and each village will implement an autonomous system, but all townships and above must appoint court officials."

Zhu Houzhao added: "Now the province has the Provincial Administration Office, the Provincial Inspection Office, and the Military Command Office. They all need to be abolished and re-established as offices. Each office will be set up according to various government affairs. The office is planned to be the same as the prefect, and is a fourth-rank official. However, there is no subdivision of government affairs in prefectures and counties. According to the rules, the Tongpan is in charge of military affairs, and the Tuiguan is in charge of criminal affairs. After all, there are few officials and their duties are unclear. Therefore, the prefecture needs to set up various bureaus according to various government affairs, and the county is the same. The original offices of prefectures, states, and counties are all changed into bureaus. The bureaus set up by the prefecture will naturally have the right to inquire into the government affairs of the bureaus set up in the counties under their jurisdiction."

After Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, the officials were all surprised, thinking that His Majesty was going to increase the number of officials. They were probably already preparing for today's move when he established the constitutional outline to abolish the slave class and restrict clerks from participating in politics and education.

(End of this chapter)