Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 318 Suppressing Bandits
Bandit trouble?

Zhu Houzhao received not only the report of Fang Changding, a grassroots official of the imperial court, being killed by bandits, but also reports from other regions about grassroots officials being killed by bandits or being killed in mysterious circumstances.

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 collection of mining taxes.

The grassroots backbone force composed of veterans and students of the Loyal Emperor Society was the foundation for Zhu Houzhao and the Ming Dynasty court to implement government reforms. After all, it would be difficult to implement the new policies thoroughly relying solely on civil servants and gentry, and they might even be lip service.

But now, it is obvious that some local forces are destroying the foundation of the Ming Dynasty court.

"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Justice has strictly ordered the provincial procuratorates to conduct detailed investigations into a series of killings of local officials below the county level. But in my opinion, these incidents are still related to the collection of heavy taxes on the mining industry. I am afraid that such killings will continue until the collection of heavy taxes on the mining industry is ended," said Wang Jun, the Minister of Justice, when reporting such cases.

After hearing this, Zhu Houzhao looked at Wang Shouren and asked, "What do you think?"

"Your Majesty, what the Grand Marshal said is of course correct, but I believe that no matter whether the government is lenient or strict, the law cannot be abolished. Local banditry is caused by the people ignoring the law, or there are local forces supporting them behind the scenes. I am afraid there is collusion between officials and bandits. If the government abandons the policy of levying mining taxes at this time because of the serious local banditry, it will only make the court look cowardly. These local forces and local bandits will become more fearless. If the court wants to reform in the future, it will be even more difficult!"

"Now that the court and local forces are in conflict again, we might as well make a concerted effort to wipe out these bandits, clarify the law, punish the evildoers, and eliminate the evil. Not to mention killing officials from the court, even if they are civilians, no matter whether they are bandits or officials, once they are implicated in the case, they must be severely punished!"

Wang Shouren expressed his opinion at this time. He hoped to launch a direct campaign to eliminate bandits. He also guessed that these bandits were committing crimes frequently at this time, and it was obvious that they were secretly supported by local forces.

Therefore, he believed that the court should take this opportunity to wipe out all the bandits, or even severely execute them, so that the people would realize the serious consequences of being bandits and local forces would lose the ability to secretly resist the court's policies.

Zhu Houzhao agreed with Wang Shouren's proposal. He also knew that the source of bandits was the people. In fact, in many cases, bandits were the people and the people were bandits. When there was a good year, the benefits of agricultural production were greater than those of being bandits, so the bandits would go down the mountain and become the people. In a bad year, the benefits of agricultural production were less than those of being bandits, so the people would become bandits.

In the barren mountainous areas where agricultural production is underdeveloped, the number of bandits is naturally greater, and many of them even collude with powerful local gentry. Among them, the gentry are undoubtedly the ones who benefit the most.

These gentry and landlords collude with the government when they need to crack down on bandits; collude with the government or bandits when they need to embezzle people's property; when they are oppressed by the government, they turn to bandits to protect their own interests; when they are oppressed by bandits, they turn to the government.

"Regardless of whether these local forces colluded with bandits to kill people, the bandits in various places must be eliminated. Since the current Ming Dynasty is an unprecedented prosperous era, there should be no so-called bandits! The existence of bandits is a shame for the court!"

Zhu Houzhao said this directly at this time, and then said: "First of all, we must eliminate the bandits, eliminate them comprehensively, and use the army to eliminate them! We will never stop eliminating the last bandit in the Ming Dynasty!"

Zhu Houzhao remembered that the first thing he did after the founding of New China was to eliminate bandits, and he also set up a special public security force.

Zhu Houzhao also decided to do so now, and ordered: "Wang Shouren, listen to the order, set up a police department, you personally serve as the minister, promote the police department system in the southern Zhili area to all provinces of the Ming Dynasty, set up police soldiers, and recruit a group of guards and retired officers and soldiers of the border army to serve as special forces to suppress bandits! Transfer Gui Yong to the left assistant minister of the police department, and Qi Jingtong to the right assistant minister of the police department!
I demand that you wipe out all the bandits in the Ming Dynasty within three years, and before the 30th year of Zhengde. I don't want another bandit to appear!"

Wang Shouren accepted the order and said, "I obey your order. Your Majesty, please rest assured that I will do my best to wipe out the bandits in the world!"

Zhu Houzhao nodded and instructed: "I will immediately establish relevant regulations for the punishment of bandits. Anyone who kills officials will be crucified!"

Wang Jun, the Minister of Justice, could not help but advise him: "Your Majesty, crucifixion is a punishment that cuts the flesh and separates the bones. Isn't it too harsh?"

"The officials who were killed were retired soldiers and outstanding students from the Imperial Guards and Border Army of the Ming Dynasty. They were either loyal and brave men who had defended the borders for the country, or they were pillars of the prosperity of the country. Now they have been killed by evil bandits and stubborn local tyrants because of their official duties. If we don't punish them severely, how can we respect heroes and protect the future of the empire!"

Zhu Houzhao slammed the table and said, "There is no need to discuss this matter any further. For those who are extremely vicious, you can report them to the higher authorities and punish them more severely!"

At this time, Qi Jingtong, the new left commander of the Imperial Guard, stood up and said, "Your Majesty, we, the Imperial Guard, have solved the murder of Fujian village chief Fang Changding and the State Taxation Bureau. We have definite evidence that it was done by the student Qian Zhai. This is the confession of Qian Zhai's nephew Qian Jianshu, which is one of the evidences. Your Majesty, please take a look."

Zhu Houzhao took a look and slammed the table. "Hmph! You go to Fujian in person. Since Qian Zhai dared to burn the head of a retired soldier of the Ming Dynasty's Imperial Guards, then put him in a bronze bull and burn him to death. All the officials and gentry of Jianning will be required to watch the execution and listen to his screams. They will understand the consequences of harming the soldiers of my Imperial Guards!"

"The minister obeys the order!"

Qi Jingtong knew what the Bronze Bull Punishment was. The Bronze Bull Punishment was a form of torture mentioned by Leonardo da Vinci when he narrated Western history after coming to the Ming Dynasty. It was more shocking than lingchi, mainly because it could amplify the pain of the person being punished into a huge bull's roar, which made the spectators feel the most deeply.

As a member of the Imperial Guard, Qi Jingtong saw that his retired brother in the Imperial Guard had his head chopped off and burned by the local student. Naturally, he wanted to punish Qian Jiansheng in the same way.

Within a month, Qi Jingtong rode his horse day and night to Jianning, naturally for the purpose of preventing the perpetrators from going unpunished.

Because Qian Jiansheng colluded with the bandits in Wuyi Mountain to kill Fang Changding and the officers and soldiers of the State Taxation Bureau, his mine was able to continue to be mined, and he could still receive countless copper ores from the mining. Moreover, because Fujian was located on the coast, the copper he mined was smuggled overseas and sold to Westerners, making a huge profit.

On this day, Qian Jiansheng was counting silver when he heard his butler running in hurriedly: "Master, the Jinyiwei are here!"

Jinyiwei?
Qian Jiansheng stood up. He never thought that one day he would be visited by the Jinyiwei. But at this moment he could guess why the Jinyiwei might have come to him. He was a little scared for a moment. But what he didn't understand was why something happening in the deep mountains and forests of Jianning County, Fujian could be noticed by the Jinyiwei.

Qi Jingtong walked in directly and ordered the Jinyiwei to surround Qian Jiansheng, and then asked: "Qian Jiansheng, there is no need for Qi to say more, you should understand why I came to you, since you have done it, you have to bear the price!"

Qi Jingtong said as he waved his sword: "Take him down!"

Qian Jiansheng suddenly yelled, "You Jinyiwei are disrupting the law! Although I am not an official, I am also a citizen of the Ming Dynasty. Even if you are Jinyiwei, you cannot arrest people at will! You don't go to suppress the bandits in Wuyi Mountain, but you are framing loyal people here! You are disrupting the government!"

"I am the Left Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and now I am the Right Vice Minister of the newly established Ministry of Police. This is the arrest warrant of the Ministry of Police, this is the prosecution order issued by the Censorate based on the evidence provided by my Embroidered Uniform Guard, and this is the verdict and execution order issued by the Ministry of Justice. Everything is in accordance with the laws of the court! Qian Jiansheng, I and the court have always abided by the laws, but you scholars talk about the laws in everything, but you don't follow them!" Qi Jingtong said and ordered the Embroidered Uniform Guard to arrest Qian Jiansheng on the spot, and then took him directly to Jianning County.

Then, Qi Jingtong asked Qiu Zhubu of Jianning County Law Bureau: "Qiu Zhubu, is the bronze bull ready?"

Qiu Zhubu replied tremblingly: "Reporting to Governor Qi, the bronze bull has been made, please take a look."

Qi Jingtong was led by Qiu Zhubu to a high platform near the prison in Jianning County, and saw a hollow buffalo statue made of brass that had been placed on the platform in a lifelike manner.

Qi Jingtong asked again: "Have all the prominent people in Jianning County arrived?"

"Reporting to the Governor, everyone is here."

Qiu Zhubu replied.

Qi Jingtong nodded again and ordered: "Then bring Qian Jiansheng up and let him be punished!"

then.

Qian Jiansheng was brought up and locked in the bronze bull.

Qian Jiansheng didn't know what punishment he would face at first, so he just banged on the copper wall desperately: "Let me out! Let me out! Master Qi, I know my crime, isn't that enough!"

Qi Jingtong and the Jinyiwei behind him only wanted to avenge their brother Fang Changding, a member of the imperial guards. Naturally, they did not choose to show mercy to Qian Jiansheng because of his plea for mercy.

At that time, charcoal fire had begun to burn under the bronze bull's abdomen. The raging fire made the bronze bull hotter and hotter. Qian Jiansheng, who was inside the bronze bull, finally could not bear it anymore and had to put his mouth to the tube extending from the bull's mouth to the abdomen to breathe air. At the same time, because of the scorching heat, his screams came out of the tube and turned into the wailing of the bull.

The representatives of local forces in Jianning County who were present were naturally shocked after hearing this, and had to be even more afraid of the Jinyiwei. Of course, these people couldn't help but secretly feel fortunate that they did not choose to assassinate the grassroots officials. They also didn't expect that the court would be so protective of the veterans of the Guards and the members of the Zhongjun Society!

Taking extreme measures against extremely vicious local evil forces was one aspect of Zhu Houzhao's crackdown on local forces by asking Wang Shouren and others. In addition to that, suppressing the bandits and eliminating the bandits in the Ming Dynasty was the top priority.

Why in later history, before the mid-20th century, there have always been bandit forces in China, no matter in times of peace or chaos, and they have never been eradicated? As a time traveler, Zhu Houzhao actually didn't quite understand the reason behind this, but he was sure that according to the model of later generations, bandits could still be eradicated.

As long as bandits can be eradicated, social security will undoubtedly be greatly improved, which will also be conducive to promoting commercial prosperity and allowing people to produce with peace of mind.

But eradicating bandits is not an easy task. And because of the difficulty, Zhu Houzhao asked Wang Shouren to do it. After all, Wang Shouren was the most versatile.

Later, Zhu Houzhao even considered training mountain soldiers in preparation for future expansion to the south, and simply ordered the Minister of War Gui E to select active recruits from the border troops and the Guards to temporarily form an armed police force, which was directly managed by the police minister and was specifically responsible for suppressing bandits in the mountains. After all, most bandits were concentrated in areas with steep mountains, which was just conducive to training mountain soldiers.

The order Qi Jingtong received was not only to deal with Qian Jiansheng, but also to organize the local armed forces of Jianning County and to eliminate 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 lair of the Wuyi Mountain bandits and won a great victory.

In fact, in the early stages when Zhu Houzhao asked Wang Shouren to organize active and retired troops to form an armed force to suppress bandits, things were indeed going smoothly. These bandits actually did not realize that the court would directly mobilize the main force to suppress them, which caught these bandits off guard. Moreover, these bandits had become unscrupulous due to the connivance of local officials and the nourishment of local forces, and they were not prepared.

However, as the campaign against banditry deepened, the imperial court suffered heavy losses of troops from some fierce bandits that had not yet been eliminated. But overall, the results were quite significant, and after two or three years, the problem of banditry was greatly reduced.

Because of this, the local gentry forces also lost the support of the bandits, the court could better control the local forces, and the retired soldiers who served as officials at the grassroots level and the students of the Loyalty Society were able to do a better job for the court, so that the political goal of the court to transfer the mining industry began to show initial results.

At the cabinet meeting in the 29th year of Zhengde, the cabinet chief Zhang Cong said excitedly: "Your Majesty, since the heavy tax on mining was levied in the interior of the country, the court has collected more than 360 million silver dollars in heavy taxes, which has offset last year's tariffs and overseas colonization income."

Zhu Houzhao nodded after listening. He had to admit that the Ming Dynasty was indeed a powerful country now. The national wealth was so abundant that it was no longer counted in tens of millions, but in hundreds of millions of silver dollars. According to the current exchange rate of Ming Dynasty silver dollars and silver, it was almost counted in hundreds of millions of taels of silver.

"Although this money was used to forcefully take away most of the profits from the mining of the people, I don't really want to enrich myself or corrupt officials with the people's wealth. Instead, I want to control the private property and regulate it reasonably. This money still needs to be paid back through low-interest or interest-free loans! The Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works will calculate how much more this money can be used to encourage the people of the Ming Dynasty to develop the areas outside the Great Wall and even the northern desert."

Zhu Houzhao asked as he spoke.

Wang Tingxiang, the Minister of Finance, stood up and said, "Your Majesty, we can lower the low-interest loan for developing the areas in the south of the desert and the north of the Great Wall where the temperature is not very cold by one point, and invest another 30 million silver dollars in low-interest loans! In addition, we can invest another 10 million silver dollars as interest-free loans for developing the north of the desert and even Liaodong and Nurgandusi!"

"According to what Wang Butang said, in addition to the new loans from the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Works can invest another 20 million to build a cement road from Guihua City to Helin. It can also directly build a cement road from Suzhou all the way to Shenyang Zhongwei!" The Minister of Works Ye Heng replied.

After hearing this, Zhu Houzhao smiled with satisfaction, thinking that it was true that only when the court had money could things be done easily. According to the Minister of Revenue and the Minister of Works, the tax revenue currently received was enough to make the mining industry outside the capital more active in terms of economic investment and engineering construction.

I was busy moving today and only found time to write 4,000 words. Please forgive me.

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(End of this chapter)