Northern Dynasties

Chapter 1306: The Marquis's Mansion is Like the Sea

Chang'an City was the capital of the Tang Dynasty, and the population of officials and civilians living in the city reached hundreds of thousands, far exceeding the population capacity of the major cities in Guanzhong in the past.

With so many people living in a city, daily public security management is a very serious problem. In addition, there are a large number of powerful residents in the city, and the difference in social status is far greater than in other places. As a result, the phenomenon of powerful people oppressing the weak is also relatively frequent.

Although the city is clearly divided into districts and markets, and in most cases the living areas between dignitaries and common people are strictly divided, since they live in the same area, there will always be overlaps. Especially in public transportation areas such as streets and alleys, no matter whether they are powerful or ordinary people, as long as they need to travel, they will inevitably come into contact.

Therefore, the management of streets and alleys in Chang'an City has become a very important part of the entire public security system. In addition to the two cases that shocked the capital before, incidents of trampling and collisions caused by daily travel by vehicles and people also occurred frequently, and such situations especially affected the travel safety of civilians in the capital.

Therefore, the decree formulated by the imperial court to rectify the public security in the capital was directly named "Street Cleaning Order", which mainly aimed to achieve overall improvement in the public security situation through standardized management of the streets in the capital.

The "Street Cleansing Order" mainly establishes regulations for matters such as street maintenance and the travel of people and vehicles. As a supplement to the criminal orders in addition to the "Kaihuang Code", one of its major features is that any person involved in the violation shall not be subject to the legal exemption clauses of discussion, reduction, redemption, or appropriateness.

In other words, if someone violated the "Street Cleaning Style" in a public area, even if he was a prince, he would be punished just like a commoner. The spirit of this rule was not to break down class barriers, but to minimize the cost difference between officials and common people in the city's public areas, so as to achieve the effect of warning against evil.

The powerful and wealthy are not born arrogant and domineering. The root of their character development is that the punishment they suffer after breaking the rules and making mistakes is far less than that of ordinary people, so their courage naturally grows.

As a national law, the Kaihuang Code cannot directly erase class differences and pursue universal equality. After all, the Tang Dynasty was still just a feudal regime. Without revolutionary productivity improvements, it could not achieve cross-era social changes. Class differences were still a basic element in its construction of rule. What Li Tai could do was to try to maintain a situation where rewards and punishments were close in some public areas.

Along with the promulgation of the Street Cleansing Act, some related institutions were also established. The most important of these were the establishment of the Left and Right Jinwu Guards, the Left and Right Street Envoys under the Jinwu Guards, and the Wuhou Shops throughout the city.

Jinwu Guard was one of the guards in the Southern Yamen during the Sui and Tang Dynasties. In history, Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Yuwen Yong, changed the soldiers of various armies into attendants and established the guards system on the basis of the guards system, thus merging the guards with the imperial guards. In the Sui Dynasty, the guards system was further improved on the basis of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and the Twelve Guards of the Southern Yamen were established to command the imperial guards, and later on, sixteen guards were added.

In the new Tang Dynasty today, the palace soldiers and the imperial guards have not yet been completely integrated, and the relevant system of rotating guards has not been regularized. The imperial guards in the capital are still mainly composed of the original two battalions and three guards of the Bafu, but relevant regulations are also being put on the agenda.

The reason why Li Tai did not directly set up the Southern Ya Guards to carry out the reform of the Fubing system into the Weifu system was because the Fubing system was still developing. In the newly conquered territories such as Hebei and Henan, military offices were still being gradually added, and the main task of the Fubing was still to garrison the local area.

Under such circumstances, it is a very rigid way of thinking to force these soldiers to serve in the imperial court and take part in the imperial guards. If the imperial guards have not yet formed an institutional system, then it is useless to set up the various guards in the southern court, and it will only cause the court institutions to become bloated.

Therefore, the various guard offices in the Southern Yamen were also arranged according to circumstances. In the near future, Li Tai only planned to expand the Second Battalion's personal guards into the Left and Right Guards, and the newly added Left and Right Jinwu Guards would be used as city guards. Soldiers would be temporarily selected from the various military offices in Guanzhong and Shannan to serve in the various guard offices. The original three guards were changed to the Left and Right Qianniu Guards.

At present, the Left and Right Jinwu Guards are still being organized, and the soldiers from Shannan Fan have not yet arrived in place. Therefore, the Wuhou Shops in various neighborhoods established along with the "Street Cleansing Style" will be staffed by the government offices of Jingzhao Prefecture and Chang'an and Wannian counties, selecting sons of high-ranking and good families under their jurisdiction, to cooperate with the Street Cleansing Style to rectify the public security in the capital.

Since different areas in the city have different functions, some areas have become areas that need special attention. For example, the East and West Markets and the surrounding streets and alleys are busy areas with frequent traffic. The people have the need for business and trade, so personnel disputes on the roads are naturally very frequent. Therefore, after the promulgation of the "Street Cleaning Style", these areas have become the focus of prevention and control.

Chang'an Pingkangfang was originally one of the most prestigious wards in the capital, with many dignitaries gathered there. The eastern neighbor of the ward was the East Market, so the East Chang Street of Pingkangfang became one of the most crowded and lively streets in the capital. Especially after the market opened at noon, the whole street was crowded with travelers, merchants, and people, and it was extremely crowded.

In response to this situation, Jingzhao Prefecture and Wannian County not only opened several additional roads in and out of the East Market, but the newly promulgated "Street Cleaning Law" also made a series of regulations such as separating pedestrians and vehicles, driving on the right, and speed limits for vehicles in an effort to improve traffic conditions.

Among these, the most important are the separation of people and vehicles and the speed limit of vehicles and horses. After all, once cattle and horses are frightened or running too fast, they will collide with pedestrians, causing injuries and even life-threatening dangers.

Fences were set up on the East Street of Pingkangfang to separate pedestrians and vehicles, and a sand road was laid on the sidewalk to slow down the speed of vehicles. Although this added some obstacles and inconvenience to the traffic of vehicles, it greatly improved the safety of traffic on the street.

In the past, there were various disputes such as collisions and road grabbing every day. If they were not handled quickly, they would cause serious congestion. Therefore, the powerful often rushed recklessly without any scruples, while the poor and weak endured in fear. After adding these settings, the overall traffic efficiency of the streets has been improved, and the people passing by have also felt relieved.

However, those who are restricted will be more or less unhappy, and for a regulation to become deeply rooted in people's hearts, it also requires strict enforcement by law enforcement officers and the accumulation of time.

Therefore, disputes would occur from time to time on this road. It was usually those who violated the laws and regulations who negotiated with the government. Naturally, there would be no phenomenon of the powerful bullying the weak. After being informed of the pros and cons, those who violated the rules were often willing to accept punishment.

But there are always exceptions to everything. After all, there are people in this world who are arrogant and have no idea of ​​the limits because of a little power. This evening, a horse-drawn carriage drove out of the west gate of the East Market. It did not turn north as required by regulations, but went directly south in the opposite direction and rushed into the sidewalk. As the carriage was going too fast, several pedestrians were caught off guard and fell to the ground, while other pedestrians dodged to the left and right.

"Stop immediately, and don't continue south!"

Seeing this, Wu Hou in Wu Hou Pu on the street hurriedly banged the gong to warn and shouted to stop the carriage, but the carriage still ignored him and went south for a distance until the crowd was so congested that it could not move. It then turned west and broke through the guardrail, preparing to leave from the other side along the traffic flow.

"What a bold thief! He really has no respect for the law! Quick, quick, throw down the barrier and block the way of this thief's car!"

Since the rules were established, the various military marquises had seen many powerful people breaking the ban, but there were only a few that continued to run recklessly like this one after being stopped. They immediately called out to their companions, and together they put up barriers and blocked the car in front of it. It took a lot of effort to finally stop the car.

However, before these military marquises could step forward to ask questions, the driver said fiercely: "You are such a bold thief, you dog slave, do you know who the nobleman in this car is? You actually stepped forward to harass and intercept him, do you want to die?"

Although those military marquises were only children of good families in the neighborhood, they had enforced the law and punished many powerful families in recent days, so they were fearless. They sneered and said, "You, the evil slave, have no right to decide life and death! On the contrary, your master in the carriage allowed his slaves to violate the prohibitions and do evil, so he must be punished!"

"Fight, beat back these thieves!"

Suddenly, a woman's angry and sharp roar was heard in the carriage. Upon hearing it, the coachman immediately called on several followers following on both sides of the carriage, and they rushed towards Wu Hou who had stopped the carriage and started beating him.

At the same time, a woman's head popped out of the car. The woman had a pretty face, and she looked a bit charming under her heavy makeup, but this time her eyes were full of hostility. She gritted her teeth and continued to shout at her servants to beat up those warriors who blocked the road. She was as ferocious as a female demon.

The street thugs were naturally indignant after being beaten. Although they did not dare to directly go up and beat the woman who was making a scene in the car, they would not hold back on the violent slaves and launched a counterattack. After all, these Wu Hou men were outnumbered and soon knocked these evil slaves to the ground.

The woman in the car was not frightened when she saw this. Instead, she jumped out of the car hysterically and started beating the warriors herself. She pulled out her hairpin and stabbed the arms of several warriors until they were bleeding.

"Mr. Dou is here, Mr. Dou is here! This evil woman will be severely punished!"

As this place was close to the Wannian County Government Office, the news of this vicious incident on the street quickly reached the county office, so Wannian County Lieutenant Dou Lan led a team of yamen runners to the scene quickly. Upon seeing this, the Wu Hous, who did not dare to fight back against the violent woman and could only avoid her, all showed joy on their faces and shouted.

"Stop it now, you wicked woman! Otherwise, don't blame the government for showing no mercy..."

Dou Lan came from a prominent family and was appointed county lieutenant in Jing County at a young age. Naturally, he was successful at a young age and was arrogant. Naturally, he would not be intimidated by this woman's behavior. He strode over and shouted angrily.

However, when he arrived at the scene and saw the face of the woman who was still madly scratching and stabbing the marquises, his expression froze for a moment, and he became embarrassed. He hurried forward and whispered, "Why is Madam Wang here? Does my cousin know about this?"

The woman who was still throwing a tantrum stopped when she heard the familiar voice and turned to look at Dou Lan. The cruelty and madness on her face immediately turned into a sad and aggrieved expression. She curled her lips and burst into tears: "Wu Lang came at the right time. These evil men in Chang'an took advantage of the tenderness of a foreign girl like me, and stopped me in the street to tease and bully me..."

When the surrounding Wu Hou heard this, they immediately showed anger on their faces, especially the Wu Hou who were injured by the woman. They raised their bloody arms and said, "Master Dou, please be wise! This lady allowed her servants to walk against the flow of the long street and run rampant. It was my duty to step in to stop them, but I was beaten instead..."

"Shut up! You waited for dozens of streets to come in and stop them by force. Who wouldn't be frightened? Quickly evacuate the passers-by nearby and don't let the situation escalate further!" Dou Lan looked at the woman who was crying with her face covered, frowned, and waved his hand to interrupt the military marquises who were about to explain the whole story. Then he ordered them to evacuate the people who were standing nearby to watch. He then took the yamen runners to lead the woman, her servants, and the stopped carriage to an open area on the side of the road.

"Wu Lang, please be sure to uphold justice for me and severely punish those evildoers! I am going to the East Market today to make some purchases for my lord..."

The woman came to the street, still with a sad look on her face, but Dou Lan waved his hand impatiently and said, "I will handle this matter myself. Madam Wang, please return home quickly and don't go out easily again, otherwise you will anger my cousin and you will have to bear the consequences yourself!"

A trace of fear flashed across the woman's face when she heard what was said. She didn't dare to stay there any longer to make a scene. Under Dou Lan's gaze, she obediently got on the carriage. Then the coachman and several servants escorted the carriage and hurried away.

After evacuating the pedestrians and restoring traffic, the military marquises came here again, but they did not see the woman. They immediately frowned and said, "Excuse me, Mr. Dou, where is that lowly lady? Even if I don't care about the beatings I suffered, it is clear that she condoned the servants' violation of the order. How can we let her go so easily?"

"Shut up, I will make a decision on this matter! I will return to the yamen later to make a clear judgment. All the Wu Hous who were injured today will be compensated!"

Dou Lan was also in a confused mood at the moment. He first patiently comforted the martial marquises, then turned around and quickly left.

The woman's surname was Wang. She was originally a prostitute in Guangzhou. Later, she was taken in by Gao Zhan, the false ruler of Qi, for his entertainment. Dou Lan's cousin Dou Rongding had previously followed Han Xiong, Duke of Xu, to conquer Qingzhou. When he was suppressing the remaining bandits, he captured this woman. He was attracted by her beauty and art and took her in. He brought her back to Chang'an. However, because the eldest wife in Dou Rongding's household was jealous and unforgiving, and his wife's family was powerful, Dou Rongding did not dare to take this woman home, and could only keep her in Chang'an as a concubine.

The reason why Dou Lan knew that woman was because Dou Rongding introduced her to him in order to let him take care of the woman within his job and help cover up in front of his family.

Originally, this woman had been kept in an outer house and seldom went out, so it was not a big deal. However, no one expected that she would become bolder and bolder, and even dare to go out without permission, causing such an incident. Fortunately, Dou Lan met her and helped cover it up.

However, Dou Lan was still worried at the moment, fearing that this woman might do something weird, so he hurried to his cousin's house to inform him of the matter.

The military marquises saw that woman arrogantly committing a crime and then disappearing without a trace. They were naturally furious. Several of them shouted angrily, "Who wants to be compensated for a few small amounts of money? The Supreme Lord issued the decree to make things convenient for the people in the capital. How can we allow these powerful people to play around and trample on us? Young Master Dou is protecting evil, but I will not tolerate it! Who dares to go to Jingzhao Prefecture with me to complain?"

"Let's go together, let's go together! If Jingzhao Prefecture refuses to accept the case, then we'll go to the provincial prefecture!"

The other military marquises also raised their arms and shouted in indignation, none of them willing to let that domineering woman escape the law.

When Dou Lan arrived at Dou Rongding's house, he was still happily preparing gifts and goods. Because his father-in-law, Duke Anguo Yang Zhong, would return to the court soon to report his achievements, and at that time, there would be no lack of courtesy and rewards. As Yang Zhong's son-in-law, Dou Rongding must of course show some performance.

But after hearing what Dou Lan said, the smile on his face disappeared immediately. Without time to say anything more, he made up an excuse and left the house with Dou Lan, heading straight to his secret residence.

When he arrived at the secret outer house in the alley, the concubine Wang came forward with a face full of grievance. Before Dou Rongding could open his mouth to reprimand her, she had already said timidly: "I know I was wrong. No matter how you punish me, please don't drive me away. My whole body belongs to you. If you don't have mercy on me anymore, what's the point of living? I'd rather die!"

Hearing the woman's infatuated and timid confession, Dou Rongding's anger dissipated more than half. After all, he was still attracted by the woman's beauty and charm, and could not bear to leave her. He frowned and scolded her for a few words, then looked at Dou Lan and said, "It's just walking against the flow of the street and disturbing the streets. I don't think it's a serious crime.

My family doesn't need to escape any punishment for this, but this woman's background is special after all, and it's not convenient to show it to the public. I won't make things difficult for Wulang. You must punish her as much as possible after you return to the palace. You can confiscate a lot of money, or you can be flogged, and send your servants to go. Just one thing, don't let the matter go on!"

Dou Lan nodded after hearing this. To be honest, he would be very unhappy if he was charged with favoritism, corruption and dereliction of duty because of this incident. But if he just concealed the presence of the Wang girl in the incident and doubled the punishment for the others, including more compensation and appeasement for the injured Wu Hou, it would not be a burden for his family.

After the discussion, Dou Lan hurried back to the county government office to sort out the mess. Dou Rongding also planned to go home, but Wang pulled him aside with tears in her eyes and told him that she had been frightened today and missed her master so much that she begged Dou Rongding to stay overnight. Seeing her shy and charming appearance, Dou Rongding was moved and chose to stay.

After a night of ecstasy, Dou Rongding was still sleeping in the gentle tent, when suddenly there was a commotion outside the courtyard, followed by a hasty knock on the door, and a panicked voice: "Ah Lang, are you in the room? The mistress is already in the front hall!"

"Madam? What Madam..."

Dou Rongding jumped up from his tent when he heard this, and hurriedly grabbed the clothes in front of the couch and put them on. When he opened the door, he saw his old servant standing outside the door with his head bowed. His face suddenly became a little panicked: "How did the mistress know this place? Who leaked the secret in the mansion?"

"No, it wasn't the palace that leaked the secret. It was Jingzhao Prefecture. Jingzhao Prefecture sent officials to the palace today to order those who violated the rules yesterday to surrender within a certain period of time. The person in charge, Liu Dayin, will personally enter the palace to arrest them!"

Hearing the old slave's words, Dou Rongding became even more panicked, and said angrily: "How could this Wu Lang be so careless and not careful in doing things!"

He did not bother to pay attention to the woman on the couch, and immediately walked towards the front hall while tidying up his robe. When he stepped into the hall, before he saw his wife, a palm with strong wind came towards him. Dou Rongding subconsciously leaned back to avoid it, but the palm swept away and then changed into a grab, grabbing Dou Rongding's beard and pulling him into the hall.

"Madam, calm down, Madam..."

Dou Rongding screamed in pain, leaned forward and bowed as he entered the hall, not daring to look up at his wife's angry expression. However, as his wife's fingers loosened, the beard under his chin fell down like snow, which made him feel so heartbroken that the corners of his mouth twitched. This beautiful beard added a lot of points to him, and he didn't want it to be ruined by the hands of a fierce woman today.

Dou Rongding's wife was Yang Zhong's eldest daughter. A woman from a military family was strong-willed. Her husband's taking a concubine was a provocation to the wife, so Yang was furious. She stared at Dou Rongding and said angrily, "Where is that lowly slave from the East?"

"Madam, please calm down. I am not hiding anything on purpose. It's just that this girl is of humble origin and lacks education. I originally wanted to teach her the etiquette and then bring her into the sect to pay her respects..."

Dou Rongding knew he was in the wrong, and although he was extremely ashamed and angry, he still lowered his head and spoke in a low voice.

Yang refused to listen to his explanation and continued to complain bitterly, "What etiquette did my husband teach her? How did he teach her to run rampant in the streets and ruin the family traditions of my family? If the Jingzhao Prefecture hadn't come to my house to interrogate me, I wouldn't have known that I had such an ugly woman in my family! This whore hasn't even entered my family yet, but she has already brought such trouble to my family. If she were to enter my family, how could my family be safe?"

"Don't enter, don't enter, I will order someone to drive him out..."

In order to appease his wife, Dou Rongding did not dare to argue any further. Although he was still a little reluctant in his heart, he quickly stated that he was ready to deal with the matter first and then discuss it later.

However, since Yang had already come this far, she was unwilling to give up. She snorted coldly, "This whore is the root of trouble. I didn't know before, but now that I know, how can I let her live again? Should my husband take care of her himself, or should I bring my son into the house and kill her?"

"This, this...it doesn't have to come to this. Lying and killing people is always inappropriate!"

Dou Rongding's face suddenly changed after hearing this, and he shook his head and waved his hands. However, Yang said nothing, just looked at him coldly.

The couple was in a stalemate in the hall for a long time. Dou Rongding's face changed. After a long while, he said in a hoarse voice: "This time the fault lies with me. I will deal with this matter clearly and ask for your forgiveness when I return."

After saying this, he turned around and walked back to the inner courtyard. The concubine Wang was standing trembling in the corridor at this moment. When she saw Dou Rongding striding towards her, a smile appeared on her face again. She hurried forward and said with a smile: "My lord, has that fierce woman been driven away..."

"Shut up, bitch!"

After hearing this, Dou Rongding stamped his feet and roared in anger. He then grabbed the wooden stick in the hands of the servant behind him, swung the stick hard and knocked the woman to the ground. Then, regardless of her wailing and begging for mercy, he continued to smash the stick on her head and face until the woman died. Only then did Dou Rongding, breathing heavily, throw the bloody stick on the ground.