I was compiling the daily records during the Wanli reign

Chapter 279 The Elite Martial Guards are on the move! With imperial permission, they act first and report later.

October 25th, near noon, in the suburbs.

At Jingwu Academy, on the training ground.

The young Wanli Emperor, dressed in imperial robes, stood on a high platform, below whom stood nine hundred students from the Jingwu Academy, their postures as neat as combs.

Zhang Rong, Liang Menglong, and Shen Nian, the three deputy chief instructors of Jingwu Academy, stood at the very back.

At this moment, all the students of Jingwu Academy knew what they were going to do next.

After the young Wanli finished speaking, they divided into teams and headed to the fifty-six counties where the land surveying task might not have been completed on schedule.

The young Wanli Emperor looked solemn, glanced around, and then waved his hand.

Swish!Swish!Swish!
Not far away, several Imperial Guards on horseback carrying flags galloped from behind, then weaved back and forth in front of and to the sides of the nine hundred students.

The flag fluttered in the wind, embroidered with three large characters: Jingwuwei.

The young Wanli Emperor declared loudly, “In the Jingwu Academy, you are students, but when you go out on official business, you become the Jingwu Guards, the emperor's personal army that exercises imperial power!”

The nine hundred elite guards were very excited as they looked at the flag.

The elite guards undoubtedly had a higher potential than the embroidered guards, since the imperial court was training them to become generals.

After the young Wanli Emperor stated that "the Jingwu Guard is the emperor's personal army that exercises imperial power," they gained status and position.

When they went to local areas, even the prefectural governors had to bow and obey their orders.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" the elite guards shouted in unison, bowing their hands.

Emperor Wanli paused for a moment and said, "Although this assignment is not military, it is more important than military affairs. I will not elaborate on how important the surveying of land is to the Ming Dynasty at present. I am sending you as imperial envoys for surveying land because I believe in your ability to execute tasks and believe that you can accomplish those seemingly impossible tasks!"

"I hope you can firmly remember these five words: 'investigation, measurement, registration, verification, and reporting.' The process of land surveying only involves these five steps, nothing else. Can you remember them clearly?" Emperor Wanli emphasized.

"Yes!" the nine hundred elite guards replied in a loud voice.

"Repeat it to me!"

"Investigate, measure, register, verify, and report!"

"Say it again!"

"Investigate, measure, register, verify, and report!"

"Say it one last time!"

"Investigate, measure, register, verify, and report!"

The young Wanli Emperor's voice grew louder and louder, as did the voices of the nine hundred elite guards; these five words were now completely etched into their hearts.

This was something Shen Nian specifically suggested to the young Wanli Emperor.

These veterans, having spent so long in the military, are not good at thinking about land surveying strategies.

However, if they strictly follow these five procedures, they will definitely do a better job than local officials who are hesitant and have tedious reporting procedures.

The young Wanli Emperor nodded in satisfaction and asked, "Are you confident in becoming a hero of the Ming Dynasty?"

Be a hero of the Ming Dynasty.

This is exactly the theme that Shen Nian recently promoted when lecturing at the Jingwu Academy, and it also corresponds to the saying: A soldier who doesn't want to become a general is not a good soldier!
"Have!"

All nine hundred elite guards answered at the top of their lungs.

At this moment, their desire to achieve great things was completely ignited.

"Very well, bring out the wine, I will see you off!" said the young Wanli Emperor.

Soon, a large group of cooks brought in wine and bowls, which were then quickly distributed to each of the elite guards.

Zhang Rong, Liang Menglong, and Shen Nian all held wine bowls in their hands, their faces serious.

After a while.

Standing on the high platform, the young Wanli Emperor raised his wine bowl and shouted, "Come, drink this bowl of wine! I await your triumphant return to celebrate your victory!"

After saying this, the young Wanli Emperor drank it all in one gulp, and the nine hundred elite guards also drank it all in one gulp.

This bowl of wine represents the young Wanli Emperor's trust in them, but also a heavy responsibility.

If you drink the emperor's wine but fail to perform the emperor's duties, you will lose face big time. Those who cannot complete their duties will absolutely not be qualified to stay in the Jingwu Academy.

"set off!"

With a command from the young Wanli Emperor, the nine hundred elite guards, following the formations they had arranged that morning, took out their pre-prepared packs and set off in groups of ten or more.

Emperor Wanli assigned a member of the Imperial Guard to each squad.

This member of the Imperial Guard is holding a document, responsible for verifying their identity and the privilege of "acting first and reporting later" granted by imperial authority.

Of course, they are also responsible for communicating with local authorities.

After all, this is not something that elite guards who have been in the military for a long time are good at.

In less than a quarter of an hour, all nine hundred elite martial arts guards had left the martial arts academy.

Zhang Rong, Liang Menglong, and Shen Nian all returned to the city with the young Wanli Emperor.

At this moment, Duke Zhang Rong of England and Vice Minister Liang Menglong of the Ministry of War admired Shen Nian to the extreme.

The young Wanli Emperor's performance today is naturally due to Shen Nian's instruction.

Shen Nian did not allow the young Wanli Emperor to give a long speech or instruct him on too many matters related to land surveying. Instead, he emphasized the five key words for land surveying and encouraged them to become heroes of the Ming Dynasty.

With just a few words, he boosted the morale of the elite guards and made them understand exactly what they needed to do.

The two were also deputy chief instructors and were responsible for teaching, but it was clear that Shen Nian's status in the hearts of the nine hundred elite guards was far above theirs.

That's Shen Nian's ability.

"Shen Ziheng will surely be the future Grand Secretary of the Ming Dynasty!" Zhang Rong thought to himself.

at the same time.

Emperor Wanli, who was returning to the capital, was also very excited.

He felt that he had successfully boosted the morale of the nine hundred elite guards, and after saying these words, the young Wanli Emperor was also full of energy and fighting spirit.

……

In the following days, officials in various government offices in the capital worked very diligently.

Some government officials even told their subordinates in private meetings: "Next, we must work hard to drink a bowl of the pepper and ginger mutton soup that His Majesty has bestowed upon us!"
The various government departments began to secretly spar with each other.

Shen Nian disliked pretentious busyness, but she really liked the current atmosphere of genuine busyness in the court.

Once everyone is busy with important matters.

There was no more intrigue, no more backstabbing, no more factional strife, and no more battles between rulers and ministers.

This kind of court atmosphere is exactly what Shen Nian longed for.

Similarly, while the officials in the outer court were working hard and busy with official duties, the eunuchs in the twenty-four departments of the inner court behaved very well. If any eunuch did something wrong, Feng Bao would probably subdue him before the censors could impeach him.

……

On the third day of the eleventh month, Pan Jixun, the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, concurrently serving as the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, and in charge of the river transport and military affairs, submitted a memorial stating that the construction projects on the two rivers had been fully completed. After evaluation by several river officials, the conclusion was that there would be no major problems with the river transport for the next hundred years.

This result greatly pleased the young Wanli Emperor.

Although it cost more than a million taels of silver, the project was still successfully completed. In the future, there will be no need to allocate funds for river management; only routine maintenance will be required.

Emperor Wanli immediately rewarded the officials in charge of river management and reported the matter to the court, which would also be published in the latest issue of the "Wanli People's Mirror" so that more villagers would know about it.

The calm and tranquility of the great river signifies the imminent arrival of a peaceful and prosperous era.

……

November 8th, afternoon.

A squad of fifteen elite guards appeared in Hua County, Daming Prefecture. They were all dressed in black, with swords at their waists and a wooden Jingwu Guard token.

The team leader's name is Huang Hu.

After arriving in Hua County with his team, he quickly launched an investigation based on the information provided by the Ministry of Revenue.

Some team members were responsible for dealing with the county government, some for dealing with the people, some for conducting undercover investigations and interviews with the masses, and others for reviewing the county government's register of fish scales.

The next day, early in the morning.

Huang Hu then investigated and found out the main reasons for the slow progress of land surveying in Hua County: corrupt officials, resistance from landlords, and complicated procedures in the Outer Prefecture.

Nowadays, few people dare to openly engage in methods such as concealing land use, offering land, or using deceptive means, but they can still find loopholes in land surveying to hinder the progress of the government's land surveying.

The most representative holdout household in Zhangtian, Huaxian County, is the Liu family in the north of Huaxian County.

The Liu family owned more than a thousand acres of land and some shops in the county town. The family had many male members and was very powerful. They were also related to the clerks in Hua County and had a very good relationship with them.

When the magistrate of Hua County led a group of clerks (archers, scribes, and abacuses) to survey the fields, the Liu family welcomed them warmly, bringing water and cakes, and seemed very cooperative.

However, once the officials had finished surveying the land, the Liu family began to look for problems.

Sometimes it is said that the measurement of the bow is inaccurate, sometimes that the conversion standard of the measurement is inconsistent, and sometimes it is said that the calculation is wrong in some undulating mountainous and watery areas.

The Liu family found a problem, so the county government had to verify it. However, upon verification, they discovered that there was indeed a problem with the measurement.

We can only test again, but even after testing again, there will still be problems, and the problems are varied.

In short: it's impossible to measure accurately.

It is obvious that this was done deliberately by the county clerks in collusion with the Liu family, in order to delay the land survey.

The reason the Liu family did this was because there were rumors in the village that the nationwide land survey, which was taking away people's benefits, might soon be stopped. After the stop, the land that had not been surveyed could still be taxed according to the original standards.

With this rumor circulating, and the Liu family deliberately slowing down the measurement process, others also started to imitate them in a similar manner.

The magistrate of Hua County was of mediocre ability and was led astray by the clerks and common people for more than half a year before he discovered the problem.

Then he reported it to the state government.

After the prefectural governor discovered the problem, he dispatched another team to measure the land. However, the villagers either disguised the fertile land as rocky land, bribed the officials, damaged the archers, or even secretly altered the land registers, which made the team sent by the prefectural government very slow in measuring the land.

At the same time, the Liu family submitted a letter of complaint, alleging that state officials, in order to complete the land survey task, falsified land measurements and arbitrarily filled in the data.

When the imperial inspector learned of this, he investigated and found that the standards for land surveying in various prefectures and counties were inconsistent.

As a result, the magistrate of Hua County was dismissed and replaced by a new magistrate named Hu Weishi.

But this new magistrate was also a tough nut to crack; he couldn't win against the villagers and was worried they would report him and he would lose his position.

To ensure the accuracy of the standards, the measurements are taken very slowly, and the easiest cases are selected first.

The imperial court required that 200 mu be measured per day, but their progress was only 50 mu per day. As a result, the two-year period was about to end, and the land measurement in Huaxian County was still a major problem.

……

Early in the morning, the sun had just risen, and the autumn dew had not yet dried.

Led by Captain Huang Hu, a squad of fifteen elite guards arrived at the most unpredictable mountainous area in Hua County, guided by Magistrate Hu Weishi and many land surveying officials.

This mountainous area has undulating terrain and numerous ditches. The inability to standardize measurement methods has led to frequent conflicts between the government and the people.

Coincidentally, it was the Liu family's land.

After Huang Hu ordered his men to inspect the bows, he shouted, "Use 240 steps as one mu (unit of land area). Places in ditches and rocky areas suitable for planting should be counted as half the measurement. Make sure to complete the measurement task before noon!"

Immediately, the archers, scribes, and calculators all got busy. With the elite guards supervising them, they dared not make any small movements.

Hu Weishi, the magistrate of Hua County, also inspected the area carefully.

Yesterday, when he saw the official documents carried by these elite guards, and saw the eight characters "by imperial authority, execute first and report later," he was so frightened that he couldn't sleep all night.

Even local governors could not exercise imperial authority over local officials, clerks, and common people by acting first and reporting later.

It was obvious that the imperial court was quite dissatisfied with the progress of land surveying in Hua County, and if he wanted to keep his official position, he would naturally have to cooperate fully.

at this time.

A group of strong young men came running from a distance, carrying hoes and long sticks, each with a fierce expression.

The leader of the group was taken aback when he saw a group of men in black with knives in the field survey team. He then bowed to Hu Weishi, the magistrate of Hua County, and said, "Your Excellency, why are we suddenly surveying this mountainous land? My Liu family is not here. If you are not satisfied with the measurement, won't you have to remeasure it?"

This man, named Liu Da, was the eldest son of the Liu family. He was not as capable as his younger brothers, but he was very difficult to deal with when it came to making a scene and causing trouble.

When he said this, he was actually saying that the land survey results were invalid because the Liu family members were not present.

Hu Weishi, abandoning his former timidity, glared and said, "You audacious scoundrel! This is the imperial envoy sent by the court to survey the land. Anyone who dares to act recklessly will lose their life immediately!"

"Your Excellency, how...how have we acted presumptuously? If your measurements are inaccurate, can't we even report it? Even if we report it to the capital, to His Majesty, we'll have a valid reason!" Liu Da said disdainfully.

He relied on his collusion with clerks and his connections with some officials in Daming Prefecture to tamper with the measurement results, making the land survey data inaccurate, which is why he dared to be so arrogant.

After saying that, Liu Da looked at the black-clad elite guards who were still busy supervising the land survey and muttered to himself, "They don't even have a badge on their chests and are all so young. What kind of imperial envoys are they? They're probably just clerks from the prefecture!"

Swish!
After saying this, Liu Da waved his hand, and the strong young men behind him rushed into the field, blocking the archers, scribes, and calculators who were measuring the field.

"We need to check the measurement of the 'bu gong' (步弓) and the conversion method of the 'bu zhang' (步丈). Before we check, your land measurement results are invalid. If you force your land measurement, we will... we will appeal to Daming Prefecture and then to the capital. If the court finds that the measurement results are inaccurate, you should know what will happen to you!" Liu Da said loudly.

Because the imperial court was very strict in verifying the measurement standards, and because he could secretly bribe clerks to change the data or alter the acreage of the land by digging or burying ditches in the fields, he dared to be so arrogant.

This is a typical example of a troublesome person who has corrupted the local customs of Huaxian County and made land surveying extremely inefficient.

At this moment, Huang Hu walked out of the field and came to Liu Da.

“We, the Jingwu Guard, are here in Hua County as imperial envoys to measure the fields, as ordered by His Majesty the Emperor. Our identities have been verified by the magistrate of Hua County. Under our supervision, today’s measurement results will be recorded in the Yulin Register and directly copied to the Ministry of Revenue in the capital. Whether you acknowledge it or not is irrelevant!” Huang Hu said solemnly.

"Imperial Envoy for measuring land? Then you must follow the standards. If you have the final say, and you measure too much land, forcing us to pay more taxes, wouldn't that be disobeying the imperial decree? If we go to the capital to file a complaint with the emperor, can you handle it?"

After numerous acts of resistance, Liu Da discovered that what officials feared most was the people submitting petitions to higher authorities, especially petitions to the emperor. Therefore, he preferred to use such threats.

Swish!
Huang Hu drew his long sword, his face as cold as ice.

"Get these people out of the fields immediately, or we will execute them on the spot for obstructing the land survey!"

"Execute him on the spot? Do you think I don't understand the 'Great Ming Code'?" Liu Da said disdainfully.

Swish!
Just then, a white light flashed before Liu Da's eyes, and then his gaze froze as he collapsed on the edge of the field.

(End of this chapter)