Bringing the Railway to Daming

August 23rd, the fourth year of the Wenlong era.

When Emperor Zhu Biao of the Ming Dynasty heard that Hu, a powerful minister in Annam, a vassal state, had usurped the throne from the Chen family and even declared himself emperor, he appointed Lan Yu, the Duke of Liang, as the commander-in-chief, and appointed Geng Bingwen, the Marquis of Changxing, and Wang Bi, the Marquis of Dingyuan, as his deputy commanders. He also appointed Xie Cheng, the Marquis of Yongping, Chen Heng, the Marquis of Puding, Tang Shengzong, the Marquis of Yan'an, and Lu Zhongheng, the Marquis of Ji'an, as his left and right assistant commanders.

At the same time, a group of second-generation military officers or young generals, including Xu Huizu, Tang Ding, Mei Yin, Li Jinglong, Ping An, and Sheng Yong, were also ordered to participate in the battle.

Finally, Zhu Biao ordered Cao Guogong Li Wenzhong to lead a naval detachment to land in Annam from the sea and to be responsible for logistics and transportation in the later stages.

Because the Ming Dynasty had been preparing for the reconquest of Annam for many years, the troops used this time were all trained in the southwest for many years. Generals such as Lan Yu had also studied the Annam war for a long time, and there were also spies from the Guangming Guard as inside agents. Moreover, it was autumn, and the weather in Annam was not too hot.

Therefore, the Ming army advanced rapidly after entering Annam.

In early September, the Ming army captured Thang Long, the former capital of the Tran Dynasty (the Ho family had moved the capital to Thanh Hoa before usurping the throne), and in mid-October, they captured Thanh Hoa, the capital of the Ho family.

Hu Jili and his son Hu Han Cang led their remaining troops to flee south, but were intercepted by a detachment led by Li Wenzhong who landed by sea and were all captured. The Hu father and son were also captured.

Subsequently, the Ming army spent more than a month recapturing several cities occupied by rebel and rioting forces, as well as large groups of rebels and bandits in various places, thus initially pacifying Annam.

After Hu usurped the throne, he carried out a large-scale massacre of the Chen clan. In addition to the deaths of Chen Yong and the young Emperor Chen An, many members of the Chen clan were also killed. Fortunately, the Ming Dynasty eventually found a distant relative of the Chen clan and intended to restore the Chen dynasty for him.

However, the Chen family and many civil and military officials of the Chen dynasty believed that they lacked the ability to govern the country and care for the people. They also argued that Annam had been a territory of China during the Han, Sui and Tang dynasties, and were determined to request to be incorporated into the Ming dynasty.

Emperor Wenlong of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Biao, could not refuse after repeated attempts, so he granted Chen's request and thus recovered Annam.

On the 20th day of the first month of the fifth year of the Wenlong reign, Emperor Wenlong issued an edict to formally establish Jiaozhou Province and restored Longcheng, formerly known as "Daluo" in the Tang Dynasty, as the provincial capital of Jiaozhou Province.

In July of the same year, the Ming court dispatched the "Three Departments Investigation Team" to Jiaozhou to investigate the illegal activities of former Chen dynasty nobles, officials, and landlords. Anyone who had committed serious violations within the past ten years was to be punished.

The most serious offenses result in beheading, while the least serious offenses result in exile.

If a family is involved, the punishment will be severe: confiscation of property and extermination of the entire clan in serious cases, or confiscation of property and exile in milder cases!

During the Chen Dynasty, the powerful clans of Jiaozhou were notorious for oppressing the common people and had harmed countless innocent civilians. Moreover, due to the power of the powerful clans and the corruption and incompetence of the Chen court, the clans did not conceal their crimes against the people.

With the arrival of the "Three Departments Investigation Team," and the assistance of the Bright Guard and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, they easily uncovered evidence of numerous crimes committed by powerful families in Jiaozhou...
···
The 8th day of the 9th month in the 5th year of Wenlong.

The capital of Jiaozhou Province was Daluocheng.

Wu Kun, the head of the Wu family, was pacing anxiously at home, his forehead covered in sweat.

There's no other reason than that after the "Three Departments Investigation Team" arrived in Daluo City, they investigated illegal activities. More than a dozen people from the Wu family have been found to have committed murder, and there are dozens more who have committed other crimes such as "abducting women", "forced buying and selling", and "causing people to become disabled".

Among them are several members of the direct lineage.

A few days ago, these people were arrested and interrogated by the authorities.

Wu Kun had no doubt that those people would confess to some of the crimes they had committed after being interrogated, and at that time, the Wu family of Shenglong would be finished!

The Wu family is said to have originated from a branch of the royal family of the Wu Dynasty. They have thrived in Thang Long Prefecture for hundreds of years, experiencing several periods of rise and fall. Today, they own over 200,000 acres of fertile land, more than 30 mines, hundreds of shops, and dozens of manors and villas in Jiaozhou (Vietnam). They are considered one of the top ten powerful families in Thang Long Prefecture. During the reign of the Tran family, they were also among the upper echelons of powerful families in Jiaozhou.

Wu Kun thought that after becoming a citizen of the Ming Dynasty, even if the Wu family was not successful, they could still be a local powerful clan and continue to enjoy their wealth (and act arrogantly). Little did he expect that only half a year later, they would suffer such a "great calamity".

Previously, he had planned to take advantage of the opportunity to host a welcome banquet for the investigation team officials along with other powerful families, and then bribe one or two people, or even the entire investigation team.

Unfortunately, when the investigation team arrived in Daluo City, they didn't hold any welcoming banquets. They couldn't even meet the officials of the investigation team, so their plans to personally test and bribe them were thwarted.

Originally, Wu Kun and his group were not in a hurry—according to their previous thinking, even if the investigation team came on orders, it was impossible to really wipe out all the criminal families. At most, they would arrest one, two, or three or four typical cases to punish as a warning to others.

Unexpectedly, the investigation team made arrests and interrogations one after another, and almost every powerful family in Da Luo (Sheng Long) had members arrested.

The Wu family had a relatively large number of members arrested. It was only then that Wu Kun and other powerful family heads panicked.

They met privately several times and discussed the matter together, and they actually figured out some things—first of all, no official in the world is incorruptible, and the fact that the investigation team did not hold a welcoming party or even meet with them does not mean that they do not accept bribes.

Perhaps it was simply that the Ming Dynasty cracked down on corruption more severely, so these people dared not openly accept bribes.

Therefore, Wu Kun and others decided to be more tactful and sent their trusted servants to contact the subordinates or servants of the investigation team officials to see if they could bribe them through other means.

He summoned them because his trusted servants, whom he had sent out, had not returned for a long time.

'They couldn't have run away with that treasure, could they?'

Just as Wu Kun was beginning to doubt the loyalty of his trusted servant, another trusted servant who was in charge of oversight returned.

"Master, something terrible has happened! The second steward has been arrested!"

"What?" Wu Kun was a little confused when he heard this, then grabbed the servant by the collar and asked urgently, "What exactly happened?"

The servant nervously replied, "The second steward was originally dealing with one of the officials from the investigation team as instructed by the master. They were chatting and laughing together, and the steward even invited the official to a restaurant for a meal."

"Who knew that not long after leaving the restaurant, the clerk led a group of soldiers to catch up and arrested the second steward."

Wu Kun frowned deeply upon hearing this and asked, "Did those officers and soldiers say why they arrested Wu Yong?"

The servant said, "I dared not approach, but I seemed to hear from afar that the second steward was bribing officials and interfering with the judiciary."

Bribing officials and interfering with the judiciary?
Wu Kun was stunned for a moment, then realized something and sat down on the ground, muttering, "It's over. I'm afraid the 'investigation team' sent by the Ming Dynasty has either sentenced my Wu family to death or is serious and wants to wipe out all the powerful clans."

That night, Wu Kun sent his servants to contact other powerful families in the city to gather information.

The investigation revealed that many of these wealthy families, whose members also had criminal records, attempted to bribe officials within the investigation team. However, they were either refused or, like Wu Yong, were arrested instead.

This left Wu Kun in utter despair.

Late at night, he gathered some loose change and, with his wife and several children, prepared to flee to his private residence in the city to hide. However, they were arrested by soldiers lying in wait as soon as they stepped out of the back gate of the mansion…

In the following month or so, as the investigation team moved to several major cities in northern Jiaozhou, many local powerful families had their homes confiscated. Those with serious crimes were sentenced to beheading, while most of those with minor crimes were sentenced to exile eight thousand li away—directly exiled to Luohuang Commandery in northern Ming Dynasty.

When the news spread, the local powerful families, whose investigation team had not yet arrived, were filled with unease.

Those powerful clans who did not commit many evils in their daily lives were somewhat better off, believing that their crimes were not serious and that they might be able to survive this "great calamity".

Those powerful clans who had committed numerous evils and were notorious during the Trần Dynasty could no longer remain calm and were unwilling to sit idly by and wait for their doom, so they joined forces.

Qinghua, Lanshan.

It was the territory of the powerful Li clan.

The Li family's ancestors were originally Yue people, who later intermarried with Han Chinese who migrated there, adopted Han culture, and gradually prospered. Of course, the Li family is now only among the prominent families in Thanh Hoa; if placed in the entire Jiaozhou region, they would probably only be considered a mid-level prominent family, not even as prominent as the Wu family of Thang Long.

However, in the previous decades, the Li family took advantage of the dark and corrupt background of the Tran Dynasty to commit almost all kinds of evil deeds, which made them the powerful clan that dominated Lam Son. They owned hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland, dozens of mines and forests, dozens of shops, thousands of servants and more than ten thousand tenants!

Having painstakingly built up such a foundation, the Li family naturally did not want to end up with their property confiscated and them exiled.

Moreover, according to news from the north, given the crimes committed by Li Ping, the head of the Li family, he should at least be beheaded, or even be cut in half at the waist, which would be an even more gruesome death sentence.

Therefore, the Li family is now considered the most active powerful clan in Qinghua Prefecture in secretly organizing resistance against the Ming Dynasty. (End of Chapter)