I wield power with my innate talents, and forge the Heavenly Court.

Chapter 92 Change and Popular Support, Harvest and Military Deployment

Hearing the faint sounds of fighting and screams coming from inside the Cui residence, Ji Mingyuan's eyebrows twitched violently.

So cruel!

There is absolutely no room for easing tensions.

Those militia members had no intention of arresting them or bringing them to court; their aim was simply to confiscate their property and exterminate their entire families.

Which court would conduct a trial like this?

They only listened to the plaintiff and did not give the defendant a chance to defend himself.

Sure enough, the previous trial was just a public excuse.

Ji Mingyuan's lips twitched slightly, a sense of shared sorrow rising in his heart.

"Hoo~!"

Taking a deep breath, Ji Mingyuan quickly left the area.

He knew that the Cui family, along with more than a dozen other families, was completely finished.

From now on, Lintao Prefecture will be completely transformed. Everything will have to be done in accordance with the rules of the dynasty, and no family or individual will dare to cause trouble.

In fact, he underestimated the dynasty and the People's Salvation Army.

Over the next day, twenty or thirty wealthy families and merchants from all over Lintao Prefecture, as well as many landlords and gentry who had moved in earlier, gathered.

Anyone with a history of misdeeds or who harbored hatred or hostility towards the rescue army had their homes confiscated by the dynasty.

Those who committed heinous crimes were dragged directly to the execution ground and beheaded along with Prefect Ma Wenchang.

Those who did not commit serious crimes were sent to labor reform, including the families of those who were beheaded.

With the power the dynasty now wields, it no longer needs to pay too much attention to the grievances of ordinary people.

Therefore, the dynasty, which was in dire need of manpower, simply sentenced them to labor reform.

Moreover, the dynasty's aim was not to kill, but to intimidate and provide funds.

Now that we've gotten what we wanted, it doesn't matter whether we kill the others or not.

Apart from the Cui family and a few other large clans, which were basically wiped out, most of the smaller clans, except for their ringleaders who committed evil deeds, were sent to labor camps.

Upon learning of this verdict, the entire city began to praise the dynasty's reputation for benevolence.

If this had happened to the government or a typical rebel army, it would have been a case of confiscation of property and extermination of the entire clan.

At the very least, the men were exiled, and the women were forced into brothels or similar places.

The dynasty was merely forced to work, and it is said that they could be released after serving a certain number of years.

What kindness and compassion!
As for the length of time, that was determined by the dynasty. They couldn't leave until they harbored resentment or no longer needed them.

Time flies, and soon it was evening.

Zhou Bingli was appointed as the new Chief Clerk of the Provincial Judicial Commissioner's Office of Lintao Prefecture.

They were inquiring about the dynasty's treatment of those labor camp prisoners.

"Chief, there's no problem with those men going to build roads and cities."

But those women don't seem to be very efficient at doing these tasks.

Or we could just follow the old practice and send them to brothels.

Just like the Jiaofangsi established by the Ming Dynasty's founding emperor.

"."

Wang Chao glared at him speechlessly.

Why do you think that labor camps necessarily require building cities and roads?

"Huh? What else can I do?"

"What?
Do those labor camp inmates and road construction workers need to eat?

"Do you need it?"

"Can't those women cook?"

"Huh? Yes!"

Zhou Bingli's eyes lit up, and he immediately nodded emphatically.

"Yes, things like cooking, spinning and weaving, tailoring and sewing, aren't these all things that women are good at?"

As for whether those young ladies will...
No one is born knowing these skills.
Moreover, some of them are even more skilled at needlework, weaving, and embroidery than the average person.
We could easily set up a garment workshop and sell our products there.

In time, it will be able to create some value.
Prisoners, in particular, should not be allowed to eat and drink for free.

"Wouldn't establishing a music and dance academy be even more profitable?"

Wang Chao's expression turned serious, and he spoke solemnly.

"Remember, we are the People's Salvation Army, the army that will liberate the people."
But you must not do things that harm women.

They may be punished for their mistakes, but they should not be insulted.

Seeing Zhou Bingli walk away sheepishly, Wang Chao couldn't help but show a thoughtful expression.

In the Ming Dynasty, perhaps it was not as sexist as in the later Qing Dynasty, but the status of women was indeed far inferior to that of men.

The dynasty didn't even think about promoting gender equality now.

However, he is also willing to make changes little by little.

Now, while all the factions have been purged and no one can rival them, let's make some changes.

Since the goal is to change the situation of women, brothels are naturally the next area to be targeted for change.

Coincidentally, brothels were one of the key targets in the previous purge of forces.

After all, in industries like brothels in ancient times, it's impossible to say that there were no instances of forcing women into prostitution or violating laws and regulations.

That's basically impossible.

Moreover, brothels are a highly profitable industry.

The dynasty naturally wouldn't let them go, and they were basically all wiped out.

Nowadays, you won't find a single brothel in the entire Lintao Prefecture.

Of course, the dynasty did not actually intend to completely abolish it.

In today's context, that's not realistic either.

In fact, many women are already forced into prostitution to make a living. However, some changes are still possible.

For example, a mutually voluntary and relatively equal agreement should be signed, and forced drinking and sexual favors are prohibited.

If someone wants to leave, the brothel cannot stop them; they only need to pay a penalty for breach of contract.

At the same time, if a brothel wants to dismiss someone, it also needs to pay a penalty for breach of contract.

The dynasty preferred to transform it into a truly elegant entertainment venue.

As for whether some people will not accept it.

Now, in the entire Lintao Prefecture, if he says one, no one dares to say two.

As for those servants and servants, I will also sign new employment contracts with relatively equal terms. I must pay them commissions, and if they want to leave, I cannot stop them, but I will also have to pay a penalty for breach of contract.

If it is a dismissal, a penalty for breach of contract must also be paid.

We, the descendants of the Chinese nation, must never be slaves or servants, nor be forced or humiliated by others.

This is what he, as a Chinese person and the ruler of this place, should do.

He can't control other places, but within his territory, things have to be done according to his rules.

In particular, with powerful tools such as national fortune, public grievances, and official positions, people can see the general situation in a place and officials can be relatively restrained.

The dynasty's reforms were generally consistent from top to bottom, and coupled with the deterrent effect of the People's Salvation Army, virtually no one dared to resist.

Since they cannot resist, they can only obey.

Over time, this became the accepted norm, rather than the outdated practices of the past, such as buying and selling people.

Looking outside, the bright yellow aura of national fortune is gradually intensifying, while the gray-black aura of public resentment has dwindled to only a few wisps, still lingering in various parts of the city.

These places were mostly occupied by the families of wealthy and powerful families. Since they had not committed any unforgivable crimes, the dynasty did not execute them, but instead arranged for them to work for free in various places.

How could these people, who had suddenly encountered such a drastic change, not harbor any resentment towards the dynasty and the People's Salvation Army?

However, the dynasty no longer cared much about them, as they couldn't cause any trouble anyway.

The vast majority of the people are still grateful to him and to him for saving the militia, and now it can be said that the hearts of the people have turned to him.

Of course, if they want the people to truly win their hearts and minds, they will have to win several more battles and completely occupy this area.

But no matter what, he should live up to the people's blessings and gratitude, right?
I won't say I'll take care of everything, but I will arrange everything for them.

But we should at least try to give them a place to grow and an opportunity to improve themselves.
And this kind of fertile ground for survival and the opportunity for upward mobility should naturally include everyone, regardless of age or gender.

Although Wang Chao and his men's actions this time were a little crude and violent.

However, the gains were indeed substantial.

Even working overtime, it took them more than a day to finally finish the inventory.

And the value of those numerous antique paintings and calligraphy has not yet been estimated.

There's nothing we can do about it; none of them understand those things.

It wasn't until the third day that the spoils of the raid were finally managed to be roughly tallied.

"Five hundred thousand taels of gold."
Ten million taels of silver.
The total is twelve million taels.
Food supplies

Listening to the report from below, Wang Chao's thoughts drifted far away.

How come there are so many?
Keep in mind, this is just a prefecture-level city.

According to historical records from previous generations, Li Zicheng, the rebel leader, only managed to plunder 70 million taels of silver when he captured Beijing.

Furthermore, some people remain skeptical, believing that there aren't that many.

However, in the mere prefecture of Lintao, more than 12 million taels of gold and silver were found.

Moreover, this doesn't even include fixed land holdings, antiques, and calligraphy and paintings.

This is really hard to believe.

However, gradually, the dynasty also sorted out its thoughts.

Under normal circumstances, it would be impossible to find so much gold and silver in a prefecture-level city.

However, in the period before that, the agricultural communities expanded rapidly outside the city, causing a large number of landlords, wealthy villagers, and so on to migrate to the interior of the city.

As the center of a prefecture, the prefectural city was naturally of paramount importance.

Even wealthy and powerful families in the city may have transferred their gold and silver, which were stored in their ancestral homes and other places, to Lintao Prefecture.

It can be said that the gold and silver in Lintao Prefecture today include the wealth of all the rich households and landlords in Lintao Prefecture and its surrounding areas.

That's why Wang Chao and his group were able to copy so much.

During the Jia Shen Incident in Beijing, those high-ranking officials and nobles probably wouldn't have kept all their gold and silver in Beijing, right?

There must be even more gold and silver treasures stored in their ancestral home and other places.

Thus, the fact that they could still forge 70 million taels of silver in Beijing shows just how wealthy the high-ranking officials and wealthy merchants of the Ming Dynasty truly were.

Thinking about it this way, Wang Chao was no longer so surprised that he could collect more than ten million taels of gold and silver in Lintao Prefecture.

With so much gold and silver, the dynasty could finally unleash its full potential for development.

Recruiting artisans, recruiting soldiers, and so on.

He was determined to attract talent by throwing money at the problem.

Even scholars and intellectuals might find it hard to resist.
However, all of this depends on him defeating the government troops in Weiyuan County and Shouyang Pass, and roughly sorting out the occupied territories.

After having the gold and silver put into the treasury, Wang Chao summoned Li Hei again and inquired about the situation in Weiyuan County.

"With Zheng Wanchun's recommendation, Wu Chang, the county magistrate, has become the acting magistrate of Weiyuan County."
Because of the threat posed by the militia, the officers and soldiers were initially quite well-behaved and did not do anything too disruptive to the people.
However, recently, those officers and soldiers have become increasingly unrestrained, and robbing and looting have become commonplace. Many civilians are suffering terribly and are hoping for the arrival of our militia to save them.”

"Hmm, it's about time we got rid of them."

"Jiang Bo!"

"To!"

"Go, summon all the sentry chiefs for a meeting."

After everyone arrived, Wang Chao got straight to the point and explained the current situation.

Finally, some arrangements were made, leaving behind a detachment of 200 soldiers and 10,000 newly recruited soldiers to guard Lintao Prefecture and assist Wang Zhongyuan and others in managing Lintao Prefecture.

Wang Chao, on the other hand, led the remaining eight hundred regular troops to Weiyuan County to wipe out the government troops entrenched there, and then joined forces with Wang Dahu to wipe out the government troops at Shouyang Pass.

(End of this chapter)