The Revolt of the Three Feudatories: All-in at the start in Beijing

Several Manchu bannermen, seeing that Pan Feng wouldn't let them go, one of the street performers even hid behind and fired a sneak arrow, but fortunately Pan Feng was skilled enough to dodge it.

"Scrap!"

Pan Feng was furious. After cursing loudly, she charged forward with her knife and cleaved the street performer in two.

"Anyone who dares to resist will be killed without mercy!"

This bloody scene caused the chubby boy to faint on the spot, and the other bondservants didn't dare to move, kneeling down and begging for mercy.

Just then, the yamen runners patrolling the streets of Shuntian Prefecture arrived and were initially startled, but when they saw Pan Feng there, they breathed a sigh of relief.

They were just ordinary yamen runners, with only a hard wooden stick in their hands. They really didn't want to fight with the bandits; two coins a month wasn't worth it.

"Lord Pan, what's going on?"

Pan Feng considered the matter unusual and decided to report it to his superiors, so he waved his hand.

"Take these people to the government office immediately. I'll report to the General for further action. Remember, don't let any of them escape!"

After Pan Feng finished speaking, he picked up the chubby boy and left. Several constables exchanged glances and then stepped forward to tie up the twenty or so people tightly with hemp rope.

……

Inside the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Liu Mu drank tea while looking at official documents, while Zhou Peigong and Li Guangdi handled government affairs and reported the results on the spot.

"Your Majesty, the 50,000 troops of the Beijing Garrison have all been assigned to the garrisons. According to the plan, each person will have 30 mu of land, junior officers 50 mu, senior officers 80 mu, centurions 120 mu, and chiliarchs 200 mu. From now on, they will receive land stipends instead of military stipends!"

"With this order issued, the morale of the Beijing garrison will surely soar. Once all the firearms are in place, we can march south for the final battle!"

After Zhou Peigong finished speaking, Li Guangdi, the Minister of Revenue, also handed over an account book.

"Last year's land tax was approximately 8.35 million taels, and the grain tribute was 860,000 shi. Because the tax system had not yet been reformed, an additional 1.36 million taels was collected from the Qing Dynasty for military expenses related to the pacification of the southwest!"

Liu Mumenqing, the Minister of War, was not too surprised by Zhou Pei's report, but when he heard that the four northern provinces could actually collect ten million taels of silver, he was not happy but terrified.

It should be noted that these four provinces have a population of only 20 million, including a large number of women, children and infants. If each person receives five qian of silver, when spread out to able-bodied men, it might amount to two or three liang. But how could ordinary families earn so much?

Even though the number of gentry in the north has decreased due to the war, such high taxes are still pushing the people to the brink of despair, which may lead to public disillusionment with the new dynasty.

If a rebellion were to break out in the new dynasty, and the rebel leader were to ask, "Why didn't you report it to the authorities?" that would be incredibly embarrassing!

Seeing Liu Mu's expression change drastically, Li Guangdi knew that he was complaining about the high taxes, so he quickly added something.

"Your Majesty, the new officials have just taken office, and since our dynasty has not yet promulgated any new taxes, they are unsure how much tax to collect. They are simply following the tax system established by the Qing dynasty at the beginning of the year. Now, we can only continue with this mistake; perhaps we can reduce or exempt some local taxes this year as compensation!"

That's the only way. The tax money collected might have been embezzled by local officials, and if it were returned, probably not a single bit would ever return to the people.

"allow!"

"Furthermore, 30% of this year's extra tax revenue should be allocated to the Northwest to establish 100-household garrisons along the way to suppress bandits. We need to open up the roads to the Western Regions as soon as possible!"

"Lord Pei, isn't Marquis Zhao Wei of Wuwei alright? Let him go and oversee Wuwei, and wipe out the bandits from the Hexi Corridor to Hami!"

"Tell him, regardless of whether they are Mongols or anything else, kill any bandits he finds!"

Now that things have come to this, the only option is to reopen the Silk Road. The profits from this will certainly not be as high as those from the Age of Exploration, but for a landlocked country like the Ottoman Empire, it will still be extremely lucrative.

Moreover, when major powers do things, they don't always consider profits; they also consider the economic benefits brought by the Silk Road.

Just then, Zhao Fengnian walked in.

"Your Majesty, the Prince of Pingxi requests an audience!"

Liu Weiqing must have something urgent to say here at this time, since he was selecting the army to enter Tibet. Liu Mu quickly spoke up.

"Please come in!"

At this moment, Liu Weiqing, already dressed in a python-patterned gold-threaded cotton armor, went up and bowed.

"Your Majesty, the centurion of the Beijing garrison has just captured a group of Manchu bannermen slaves within the city!"

"These people weren't all killed back then, and now they've changed their identities and are hiding in the city, rewriting various biographies and folk tales to primarily slander Han emperors throughout history. The ordinary people are ignorant and uninformed, and there's already a considerable amount of anti-Han sentiment among them!"

boom! ! !

Upon hearing this, Liu Mu was so angry that he slammed his fist on the coffee table. He thought of some people in later generations who misled the people in an even more shameless way.

Liu Mu also grew up in that kind of environment. If his ancestors hadn't been surnamed Liu, he probably would have thought that the Manchu Qing dynasty was the most powerful, and that all the Han Chinese dynasties were ruled by incompetent and tyrannical rulers.

Thinking of this, Liu Mu immediately gave the order.

"Let the Ministry of Justice use torture until all these people confess to their accomplices. Then, execute them by slow slicing at the Meridian Gate, five hundred cuts in total, not a single cut less. If they need ginseng to prolong their lives, get it from my treasury!"

"At the same time, we will invite the public to watch, so that officials can explain the whole story to the people!"

hiss! ! !

Lingchi (death by a thousand cuts) is generally considered a serious crime, with 360 cuts, at which point the prisoner will die. Unexpectedly, the emperor ordered 500 cuts and even used ginseng to prolong the prisoner's life!

Upon hearing this, Li Guangdi stood up.

"Your Majesty, killing them is merely treating the symptoms, not the root cause. We still need to establish relevant government agencies specifically to deal with these kinds of incidents; otherwise, they will recur!"

At this point, Li Guangdi fell silent!

I even feel a little regretful.

The pinnacle of this special institution was the Embroidered Uniform Guard of the Ming Dynasty, which later led to a chain reaction with the Eastern and Western Depots, and was not very friendly to officials.

Liu Mu naturally saw this point. If the emperor is upright, the country will be upright. He would not mess with the Embroidered Uniform Guard, which has the privilege of investigating cases and administering punishments. But if the emperor can't even keep an eye on his officials, what kind of emperor is he? Thinking of this, Liu Mu took out a copy of the History of the Song Dynasty.

"Imperial City Guard, what do you, my esteemed ministers, think?"

When Li Guangdi heard about the Imperial City Guard, he instantly breathed a sigh of relief. Even Zhou Peigong, who was the most upright, was afraid that the Embroidered Uniform Guard might abuse their power.

Physical pain is something not everyone can endure.

Although the Imperial City Guard also had a supervisory function, it would transfer people to the Ministry of Justice, then submit evidence, and the files would eventually reach the emperor.

After going through so many procedures, if an official is truly wronged, it is highly likely that the injustice will be brought to light.

Of course, unless the emperor wants you dead.

"I have no objection!"

"The Imperial City Guard is excellent!"

Li Guangdi and Zhou Peigong agreed almost immediately, fearing that Liu Mu was setting up a spy agency.

Liu Mu nodded in satisfaction. The ruler and his ministers should be of one mind for things to be done well. Li Shimin did this very well, giving them what they were entitled to. If they broke the law, they should be beheaded and no one should blame them.