People in the Song Dynasty were lawless

Chapter 442: Bandits are everywhere, it's time to clean up

"Brothers, this is a fat sheep, let's slaughter it for the New Year, go ahead!"

"We are Uncle Wang Mazi's team. We value money over lives. Leave your things behind and I will let you live."

"Stop the boat immediately. Do you hear me? Stop the boat immediately. Otherwise, when we get on board, you will kill us all."

More than twenty small boats were rapidly approaching the river bank, and the speed of the small boats and speedboats was much faster than their large ship.

In addition, they came from upstream and went downstream, so it wasn’t long before they were less than twenty feet away.

Zhao Jun could even see that the leading man had a face full of fat, pockmarks, and exuded a bandit-like air.

I think this person is the bandit leader Wang Mazi mentioned by those pirates.

“Is the problem of river banditry serious?”

Zhao Jun saw that the well-trained guards had come out of the cabin with rifles in their hands, so he didn't pay much attention and asked everyone casually.

Yang Gao said: "It's not just the big rivers. Wherever there are rivers and lakes in the country, there will be pirates."

"Oh?"

Zhao Jun frowned and asked, "Are there all over the country?"

"Yes."

Yang Gao said: "Moreover, many of these pirates are local fishermen or even captains of ferry boats. When they are ferrying passengers, if they find that the passengers are carrying a lot of valuables, they may kill them and rob them."

Zhao Jun's brows furrowed even deeper.

Yang Gao continued, "For example, when I was the magistrate of Jiangzhou, there was a Yangtze River pirate who killed a merchant and sank his boat into the river. Later, the real culprit was caught. It turned out that it was a local ferryman who saw the merchant's heavy baggage and was tempted by the money."

"Yes."

Su Huan also said: "I once took a boat from the Yangtze River to Bianliang to take the exam, and encountered pirates several times on the way. If I had not had no extra money, and if I had not paid for my life, I would have been drowned at the bottom of the river."

Hearing their words, Zhao Jun said with emotion: "If we want to achieve peace and prosperity, we have a long way to go."

As he was talking, Jiang Dalang came over and asked, "Dean, what should we do?"

"These river bandits are entrenched here. I don't know how many people they have harmed. Wait until they get close before attacking them. Don't let any of them escape. It would be best if we can capture them alive."

Zhao Jun said calmly: "When the time comes, we will interrogate them to see if there are any fish that have escaped the net, and whether there are still people in the old nest. We must not let anyone go, and we must wipe out this cancer."

"Yes."

Jiang Dalang agreed and immediately went over to command the troops. According to Zhao Jun's instructions, he waited until they got close to the boat before attacking.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

After a while, gunshots were heard.

Then there were all kinds of screams.

"Ahhh!"

"what is this?"

"Run."

"Jump into the river."

The pirates were caught off guard by the sudden musket fire and most of them were killed or injured in an instant.

Jiang Dalang then said, "Come on, those who are good at swimming, come with me on their boats and catch them alive. Those who are not good at swimming, don't come, do you hear me?"

"Yes."

Immediately, many Southern Imperial Guards soldiers who were good at swimming followed Jiang Dalang down the deck and jumped onto the enemy's ship to capture people.

Jiang Dalang was born a coolie at the dock. He often floated along the banks of the Bian River all year round and played in the water when he had nothing to do. He might not be a very good swimmer, but he was very agile on the boat.

In a short while, he captured several pirates, tied one up tightly, and with the help of the rest of the soldiers, brought them all to the deck.

Seeing that many bandits had been arrested, Yang Cha said, "Minister, Daozhi just said that many bandits are ferry bosses. Will the fact that we carry so much luggage have anything to do with them?"

As he said this, he glanced at the captain, sailors and others on the ship.

Zhao Jun traveled with a lot of carriages and horses. In addition to some daily necessities, many of them were soldiers' weapons wrapped in cloth, making it difficult for outsiders to see what they were. This made it easy for him to disguise himself as a businessman.

If this matter is really related to the captain of the ship, it is very likely that when they saw Zhao Jun and others had a lot of carriages and luggage, they might have had evil thoughts and colluded with the bandits.

They might even be bandits.

But Zhao Jun was not so arbitrary. He just smiled and said, "Before we figure it out, don't make assumptions or arrest people randomly."

"What if it has something to do with them?"

Yang Cha asked again.

"What you said is not without reason, but the Song Dynasty must rule the country by law, and it is definitely wrong to arrest people indiscriminately. However, this matter does require their cooperation in the investigation."

Zhao Jun thought for a moment and said, "Well, after we get off the ship, we will contact the local government and the Imperial City Department and ask them to come and take the people away first. The bandits will be arrested, and the captain and his men will take them for investigation. As long as they are sure that there is nothing wrong, they will release the people."

"Yes."

Yang Cha responded.

The matter was over quickly, and as the captain fought and trembled in fear, the boat approached the ferry.

But the crowd did not get off the boat, but sent people to Ji County to look for someone.

Su Huan asked, "Governor, this is Ji County. There are hundreds of pirates there. The local officials failed to manage the situation well and offended the governor. Should we hold them accountable?"

“I’m not really looking for accountability.”

Zhao Jun shook his head and said, "Unless we find out that the pirates are colluding with them, we can't blame them."

"The dean is still too kind."

Su Huan sighed deeply.

In fact, they also knew that it was difficult to blame the local officials for things like water theft.

Because as Yang Gao said, the pirates and bandits in many places are local fishermen and villagers. They fish and farm during the day, and become bandits at night, coming and going without a trace.

Even if the government wanted to wipe out the bandits, it would be hard to find evidence. The bandits were hiding in the local villages, and it would be difficult to convict them without direct evidence.

Secondly, in many places the entire village or even several nearby villages are filled with bandits, so you can't just massacre the entire village.

So this kind of thing is really not easy to solve.

of course.

It is normal for Zhao Jun to convict them. After all, they have offended the highest-level officials of the Song Dynasty, so the local officials can only blame themselves for their bad luck.

The fact that Zhao Jun did not hold them accountable now clearly shows that he truly understood them and was very kind.

But in fact, although Zhao Jun did not move around much among the people, official documents all over the country often mentioned bandits, road robbers and pirates. He was not unaware of the difficulty of clearing them out.

And the most important and main point.

In the 1980s, 1990s and even in the new era, such things happened in our country, especially in areas with many mountains and rivers, where bandits of all kinds emerged one after another and were numerous.

This phenomenon still existed until the beginning of the millennium. Drivers who do long-distance passenger and freight transport should have a deep understanding of this. It is normal to encounter several incidents in a month.

The bandits really disappeared completely after 2010, when a large number of Skynet systems became popular. There were surveillance cameras wherever people lived, even on rural roads. That was the end of the problem.

But now, in ancient times, let alone surveillance, even the grassroots yamen runners were seriously insufficient. It was extremely difficult to eradicate the phenomenon where the entire village was full of bandits.

Therefore, it was naturally impossible for Zhao Jun to blame the local government.

Otherwise, all local governments in the world will be held accountable, which would be too inhumane.

However, Zhao Jun also kept this phenomenon in mind.

When he goes out for inspection, he wants to personally understand the local situation, identify problems and solve them.

There are no more rebellious armies in the world.

But bandits are everywhere.

Those people either occupy the mountains and become kings, or gather in the lakes to plunder, or hide among the people. How can this be possible?
It’s hard to say whether we should learn from the great man and launch a nationwide anti-bandit campaign.

Zhao Jun thought to himself.

While he was still thinking about it, not long after, officials of all ranks in Ji County came hurriedly and boarded the boat to meet Zhao Jun.

At this moment, the magistrate and the county magistrate of Ji County, as well as the commander of the local Imperial City Division, were all sweating profusely, with expressions of panic on their faces, and they all came forward to pay their respects.

"Your humble servant greets the Chief Minister."

Each of them was trembling with fear, and the magistrate of Ji County and the commander of the Imperial City Division kept wiping the sweat from their foreheads.

When they found out about this, they almost had cardiopulmonary arrest.

joke.

The magistrate was robbed in his own area.

What else can it prove other than being incompetent?
Not to mention the problem of poor guarding and poor local governance, which led to rampant banditry.

The mere fact that the Zhiyuan was robbed was a serious crime in itself.

Even if he wasn't thrown into jail and tried for a crime, his career as an official would probably have ended.

Therefore, everyone was terrified.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Jun smiled and said in a generous voice: "Well, don't do that."

Before he could finish his words, the magistrate of Ji County knelt down in fear and kowtowed, saying, "I have failed to govern effectively and frightened the magistrate. I deserve death!"

"This humble official deserves death!"

When the other local officials and the commander of the Imperial City Division saw the county magistrate kneeling, they also knelt down and kowtowed in panic. Everyone was terrified.

"Okay, get up. Am I that scary? I don't blame you."

Zhao Jun said helplessly. "Thank you, Dean. Thank you, Dean."

Hearing that Zhao Jun had no intention of blaming him, the magistrate of Ji County wiped his sweat and stood up from the ground.

But my legs are still a little weak.

If we say that he is also a Jinshi, he is a scholar after all.

Kneeling and bowing were not popular in the Song Dynasty, so there was no reason to kneel.

But the county magistrate was afraid of death.

I've heard that the prefect is narrow-minded and anyone who offends him will often end up dead.

Even civil servants who were Jinshi graduates were not talismans. Countless corrupt officials died at their hands, including some at the prime minister level.

As a county magistrate who was also a Jinshi graduate, he was a high-ranking official in the eyes of the common people, but in the eyes of the prefect, he was no different from a small fry.

So the magistrate of Ji County panicked at the time, fearing that Zhao Jun would get angry, and ordered him to be executed on the spot.

Fortunately, what he never expected was that Zhao Jun was not angry at all, but his tone was very easy-going, which made many officials including the magistrate of Ji County feel relieved.

"Take him back and interrogate him first, Dalang."

"exist."

Jiang Dalang came over.

"Send some people to join the investigation and find out who is behind this. We must eradicate all the evil."

"Yes."

"Come with me to the county government office."

Zhao Jun looked at the officials of Ji County and said, "As long as this matter is not found to be related to you and you are not behind it, I will not blame you. However, you still need to pay more attention to local affairs. Even if you cannot completely solve it, you still need to investigate more."

"Yes Yes."

Everyone responded like quails.

It was only then that Zhao Jun got off the boat and looked around.

Ji County later became a vast plain, but during the Song Dynasty, the Yellow River flowed through this area, forming many tributaries.

On the banks of these tributaries, there are many villages covered with reeds.

The village is built on the river. There are hills, hillsides, woods, fields and rivers of all sizes nearby. People can farm and fish, so it is not difficult to fill their stomachs, but it is not easy to make a fortune.

It is believed that these Yellow River bandits originated from some local lawless criminals who were restless and coveted the rich assets of passing merchants.

The group arrived at the county government office.

Zhao Jun only summoned the local commander of the Imperial City Division and asked him to report on the local situation. He did not meet with other local officials, but waited in the county government office.

Everyone gathered in the backyard of the yamen and sat around the stone table. It was dinner time and everyone was talking while eating.

"We have gained a lot just after entering Hebei Province."

Zhao Jun ate a few bites of rice, but felt he had no appetite. He put down his bowl and chopsticks and sighed, "We have lived in peace for too long, and we often think that as long as the people have enough food and live a worry-free life, that is the kingly way. But we forget that we also need to pay attention to the safety of people's lives and property. Many such cases have been reported from various places before, but I did not pay attention to them. This is my dereliction of duty."

Yang Gao said hurriedly: "The prefect's crackdown on gangsters and evil has greatly improved local public security. These bandits are not like those evil elements who smash, loot and burn, so they are easy to identify. They hide among the people and hide in the countryside. They are ordinary people on weekdays, and only become bandits when they rob. They are extremely difficult to detect. How can you blame the prefect?"

"Yes, just as the prefect cannot blame the local officials, no one is to blame for this matter. It's just that we can't tell who are the common people and who are the bandits."

Wang Anshi also said: "They killed people and robbed them and then ran away. Not only can there be no evidence, but even the suspects cannot be found. This time, these people ran into the hands of the magistrate. If they were ordinary merchants, they would not be able to resist, and the local government would not be able to arrive in time. There is nothing they can do."

"The blame lies with the bandits, not anyone else."

"good."

"That's true."

Everyone was talking.

This is not to excuse Zhao Jun, but it is just the way it is.

Zhao Jun also understood this.

He nodded and said, "Well, it's true that I didn't take it seriously before. This time I met him and it was a great gain. When the time comes, we must formulate a plan to wipe out the bandits in the world. Even if we can't completely eradicate them, we must strike a blow to their arrogance. Otherwise, it's really unreasonable to come to the official road ferry in broad daylight like this."

Although such a phenomenon existed in the 1980s and 1990s, it was often found in deep mountains and old forests, especially in the south where the mountains were high and the forests were dense, making it very easy to hide.

Among them, the Chinese Highway is a place frequented by these people.

The more civilized ones would set up checkpoints and collect tolls, while the less civilized ones would just get into cars with weapons and rob them.

It is less common in the north.

The North China Plain is flat, with convenient transportation and very few places to hide. Once you are chased by the police, it is difficult to escape.

Now Zhao Jun is robbing in broad daylight at a busy official road ferry in the North China Plain in the north. This shows how rampant bandits were in ancient times.

Zhao Jun knew that it was impossible to eliminate it unless the technology of the Song Dynasty developed to the point where the entire country was equipped with cameras.

But reduce the frequency of this.

And it should be possible to ensure the safety of major roads.

For example, increase spending on grassroots public security, set up yamen runners departments on major official roads, equip them with guns and have them on duty, and let each county arrange patrol teams on the main roads in its jurisdiction.

This is very difficult in later generations because our country's roads are already well-connected. In any county, there are countless rural roads, county roads, national roads, and expressways. It is almost impossible to achieve this.

But it was much easier in ancient times.

Because there were not so many roads in ancient times, often a county had only one or two official roads, or no more than four or five. It was not a problem to organize a patrol team or even hire local farmers during their slack season to ensure the safety of the official roads.

But this can basically only be guaranteed for the northern plains, there is really no way to do it in the south.

"Dean Zhi, I have asked clearly."

Zhao Jun was thinking about this when Jiang Dalang came in and reported to him, "There is indeed a traitor."

"Oh?"

Zhao Jun asked, "Is it the local officials or the passenger ship that has the problem?"

"It's a passenger ship."

"Boss of the ship?"

"No, he is one of the captain's men."

Jiang Dalang said: "When we were loading the goods on board, we sent a message to the pirates."

"Yeah, that's to be expected."

Zhao Jun nodded.

Ferrying passenger transport in places like the Yellow River and the Yangtze River belongs to the transportation industry.

Although there is a saying that "people who work on boats, cars, and inns should be killed even if they are innocent", the boat here refers to the ferry boats that are used to kill and rob people.

But that generally refers to ordinary small ferries. When it comes to the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, if there are many ships, it belongs to a large fleet.

For example, the captain Zhao Jun hired this time had two large passenger ships, hundreds of people, and so many carriages and cargoes, so he had to pay hundreds of strings of cash at one time.

If you meet a tycoon merchant with lots of goods, it is not impossible to earn thousands or even tens of thousands of strings of cash by crossing the river once.

Therefore, under normal circumstances, for the sake of a one-time deal, a ship captain with a little bit of brains would not risk ruining the deal and kill the goose that lays the golden eggs by choosing to cooperate with bandits.

But it’s different for the guys. It’s not their business anyway. If they meet a fat sheep, they can make more money than they would earn as a guy in their entire life.

"How did the interrogation of the robber go?"

Zhao Jun asked again: "What's the situation over there?"

"They are two villages on the bank of Xishui River, a tributary of the big river. The people in the village have been fishing and ferrying people for a living since ancient times, but they also often kill and rob. Over time, they united together and specialized in this kind of business."

Jiang Dalang said, "They are very smart. They never pick on small or individual customers. They often target those wealthy merchants with large ships. When they have made enough money, they stop and hide for a few years or even more than ten years. They will go back to their old business when the money is gone or the rumors have passed."

"According to the local county government's investigation and interrogation, we found that the last time they did this was four years ago."

He continued, "Four years ago, a group of silk merchants disappeared while crossing the river in Ji County. Their families found Ji County, and the county government investigated. Many people said they saw them boarding the boat, but the boat did not reach the other side. So they thought they were caught in a storm and the boat sank to the bottom of the river. The families could only blame themselves for their bad luck, but they didn't expect it was this group of people who did it."

"It seems that the carriages and horses we brought with us when we boarded the ship attracted their attention."

Zhao Jun sighed.

Then he asked, "Were their families and relatives involved?"

“It has not yet been investigated.”

Jiang Dalang said, "But they made such a big fuss. I think even if they didn't participate in it personally, they at least knew about it."

Zhao Jun's eyes flashed with a cold light and he said, "Two villages, hundreds of people. Even if they are not bandits, they know about it. It is really shocking. Tell the county government to let Huang Sanlang take a hundred people to act together and arrest them all."

"Yes!"

Jiang Dalang nodded and went out.

Zhao Jun narrowed his eyes.

The whole village committed a crime together. Although I know that such things were not uncommon in ancient times, it is still shocking.

In this great Song Dynasty, only the counties and cities are doing a decent job in cracking down on gangsters and eliminating evil.

But who knows how much filth is hidden in these countryside and mountains.

Want to clean up.

There is a long way to go.

perhaps.

It's time to clean the house.

(End of this chapter)