Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 387: Baojia and Severe Crackdown

Zhang Wenda said in his memorial: "The capital is a vital and vital place, with people from all over the country living together, making it easy for treason to arise. Moreover, the Liaodong region is rife with troubles, and there are fears of spies lurking. Therefore, it is particularly appropriate to establish a system of baojia (military system) and strictly enforce it. I request an imperial edict be issued, directing the censors of each city to strictly supervise the military and horse divisions in compiling a household-by-household report, with ten households forming one jia, and ten jia forming two bao (military system), to conduct mutual checks."

For every member of a family, please clearly state their names, hometowns, occupations, whether they have fathers, sons, or brothers, and whether they have ever lived with relatives or friends. Make a complete list and submit it.

Afterwards, the censors of each city and the officials of each military department were required to personally patrol the local area, frequently opening the gates. If merchants came and went, they would not add names immediately, setting deadlines for delivery. If anyone appeared suspicious in the Ganjie area, they would immediately investigate the cause and trace their whereabouts. This was to ensure strict inspections, a clean and peaceful environment, and the safety of the capital area.

In summary, Zhang Wenda had three suggestions: compile the baojia system and recompile the roster; each official should personally inspect and register the merchants; if there are any unfamiliar and suspicious people, they must be investigated within a time limit.

"Is the security in the capital so bad?" Zhu Changluo asked.

Zhu Changluo occasionally ventured out, but these were usually for strolls around the imperial city. His longest journey was to Xu Guangqi to meet with foreign merchants. But that trip was incredibly expensive, with thousands of guards alone, and the expenses and routine rewards running into the thousands of taels. Even Zhu Changluo felt a pang of pain when he saw the bill.

Wang An put down his pen and looked up. He saw that while the emperor's brow was quizzical, it didn't hint at questioning. "Master, could you please let me see the manuscript?" Wang An asked.

"Take it yourself." Zhu Changluo closed Zhang Wenda's memorial and placed it next to Wang An.

Wang An walked over, picked up the memorial, flipped it open, and scanned the text in two or three glances. However, Wang An did not put the memorial back immediately. Instead, he pondered for a long time before relaxing his frown.

"Master, the lax enforcement of the baojia system has been going on for a long time. Zhang Zongxian is not the first to propose strict enforcement of the baojia system. I remember that at least Yao Zongwen, who was dismissed and exiled, submitted a memorial in the 47th year of the Wanli reign, requesting strict enforcement of the baojia system."

"Yao Zongwen" Zhu Changluo had almost forgotten about him. "Is he the guy who keeps chasing after the bear?"

Wang An was stunned for a moment, then smiled and nodded, "It's him."

"Since it was mentioned two years ago, why is the baojia system still not enforced strictly?" Zhu Changluo narrowed his eyes slightly.

Wang An replied, "Because the memorial was kept."

When Wang An was looking for evidence to convict Yao Zongwen last year, he retrieved Yao Zongwen's memorial and read it.

Yao Zongwen's memorial, primarily a response to the fall of Tieling, contained both unrealistic war fantasies, such as "Tens of thousands of local soldiers have gathered in Liaoyang City, united and motivated, and can be used as a bulwark," and practical suggestions, such as "Imperial order to the Censorate to strictly enforce the Baojia system."

Regardless, the Wanli Emperor at the time essentially only read Xiong Tingbi's memorials on military matters concerning Liaodong. Therefore, this memorial, along with most other memorials concerning Liao affairs, was placed in a room specifically designated for storing memorials. Throughout the Ming dynasty, only the Wanli Emperor had such a room specifically for storing memorials; in other periods, it was at most stored on a shelf.

Zhu Changluo was stunned. He had originally thought that this was because some officials were lip-service and incompetent, but he didn't expect that there was nothing for them to do.

After a moment's silence, Zhu Changluo picked up his red brush and wrote on Zhang Wenda's memorial, "Your memorial is absolutely appropriate. The Censorate and the Imperial Guards will be ordered to strictly enforce the baojia system. Even the families of important officials, relatives of the nobles, and imperial concubines must be organized in order. If anyone abuses their power to disobey, please report them in writing."

"Send it." Zhu Changluo handed Zhang Wenda's memorial to Wang An.

"Yes." Wang An took the memorial and remained standing where he was.

Afterwards, he picked up the previous memorial impeaching the Jinyiwei and the patrol camp for lax prevention and control, and wrote on it: The capital is a fundamental and important place, how could there be such a traitor? The Jinyiwei are ordered to arrest the criminals as soon as possible and punish them severely.

"Send this one too." Zhu Changluo handed Cui Qiguan's memorial to Wang An. "Send it now."

"Yes." After reading it, Wang An stacked the two memorials together. He walked over to a eunuch on duty and handed them to him. "Did you hear that too?"

"I heard it." The eunuch took the memorials from Wang An's hand, wrapped the two memorials with oil paper and put them in his arms, then stepped out of the palace, hugged his chest, and walked quickly towards the Qianqing Gate, rubbing against the eaves.

Wang An returned to his seat and sat down when he found the emperor looking at him. He was about to ask for the emperor's will, but the emperor spoke first: "Draft another decree."

"Yes." Wang An hurriedly sat down and took out the memo.

"The pen has been dry after being left for so long. Let's roll it in the inkstone to get some ink." Zhu Changluo also added some ink to the tip of the red pen.

"Yes." The weather was not hot and the tip of the brush was not dry yet, but Wang An still followed the emperor's instructions and dipped the brush deeply into the inkstone.

When Wang An pretended to wait for the note again, Zhu Changluo said, "Send it to the Jinyiwei and the patrol battalion."

"Yes." Wang An began to write.

"Increase the intensity of the crackdown and send more patrol officers. If the patrol battalion is understaffed, issue a decree to have the Rong government and the Ministry of War discuss transferring troops from the Beijing battalion to serve as temporary patrol officers. In short, sweep all the places and corners that are not normally searched." Zhu Changluo quietly stared at the red ink in the inkstone, which was stickier than blood. "Deal with them severely and strictly. Arrest those who deserve to be arrested, and execute those who deserve to be executed."

"Yes!" Wang An seemed to smell the stench of blood.

"Also," Zhu Changluo added, "a severe crackdown will inevitably disturb the people. Tell the Jinyiwei to be careful and not make things too awkward. Also, allocate some money and grain from the palace to reward the soldiers participating in the patrols according to the number of people, and keep them well fed. If anyone dares to act recklessly under the banner of rectification, enriching himself, and violating the law, then he will be the target of the rectification."

"Yes."

"Alas. That's all for now." Zhu Changluo knew very well that whether it was to rectify the baojia system or to crack down on and punish severely, they could only eliminate the existing destabilizing factors. There was still a big bomb in the capital that had not been removed. These days, it was okay. If the strong laborers who were laid off had eaten up their old capital and became unemployed people with no food or clothing, then the public security in the capital would deteriorate further.

A torrential downpour blanketed the northern North China Plain. Not only Beijing, but Tianjin as well, was washed clean of its grime. Despite the downpour, the water wasn't high enough to prevent ships from entering or leaving, so the harbor remained open. The boatmen at the docks, however, had to exert even greater effort to fight the elements.

Yet, the number of workers on the docks inevitably decreased. Grain, cloth, paper, and other goods vulnerable to moisture were no longer carried in or out. For workers with stable employment, this was a godsend. After all, even the most stingy of their employers wouldn't be so stingy as to spare a few dozen copper coins just for a day or two of rest. However, the day laborers who relied on these jobs for a living couldn't resist the force of nature, and with no wages to be collected, they could only silently curse the rain that had sown the fields.

In the center of the Acropolis, the plaque of the Tianjin Zhongwei Commandery Office has disappeared, and the plaque hanging on the main gate of the original office has been replaced with "Tianjin Governor's Office".

Twenty-four years earlier, the imperial court had first appointed a Tianjin governor to prepare for the Japanese invasion. However, at the time, the Tianjin governor was solely responsible for coastal defense and had no land-based jurisdiction, so the governor's office was located in the coastal region. Following the establishment of the post of Vice Minister of Revenue in the 47th year of the Wanli reign, the previously disused governor's office was taken over by Li Changgeng as the Ministry of Revenue.

Sun Chengzong never considered competing with Li Changgeng for office, or even sharing them. He wasn't even aware that Li Changgeng's finance office was the former Tianjin Governor's Office. In the 25th year of the Wanli reign, this top scorer in the Shuntian County Examination (Jiawu) was still working as a teacher under Fang Shoushi, the Left Governor of Henan. By the time the Japanese invaders were pacified, the post of Tianjin Governor had been rescinded, and he hadn't even passed the imperial examination.

But for Sun Chengzong, these past events were unimportant. His reinstated post as Tianjin Governor was completely different from the previous one. The emperor's edict authorized him to manage farming, grain transport, and military affairs, making it no exaggeration to call him the Governor-General of Tianjin. With so much to do, Sun Chengzong couldn't possibly have his seat in a remote coastal area. Otherwise, even issuing a memorial would have taken a day or two to receive a response.

It was already past noon, but because of the rain, the newly built signing room was still gloomy. In order not to affect the work, Sun Chengzong still lit a lantern.

While I was reading old files, there was a knock on the door of the signing room.

"Come in." Sun Chengzong put down his pen and rubbed his nose. When the visitor entered the room, he had already straightened his back and sat up straight.

"Your humble servant greets Sun Zhongcheng." The visitor was the only remaining senior official of the Tianjin Zhongwei Command, the pacification envoy Shen Zhengping.

"Please sit down." Sun Chengzong casually pointed to a chair.

"Thank you, Zhongcheng." Shen Zhengping bowed to express his gratitude, and then carefully placed the tip of his butt on the edge of the chair that Sun Chengzong pointed to him.

Sun Chengzong raised his eyebrows and asked directly, "Are they all here?"

The "they" mentioned by Sun Chengzong were the officials of Tianjin Zuowei and Tianjin Youwei. At the beginning of the year, Jinyiwei sent imperial envoys to the three guards of Tianjin at the same time.

The basic format was the same: they would find a random excuse to first arrest the official in charge of the imperial seal and bring him back to Beijing, and then plan for further action. Unlike Lu Wenzhao, the Jinyiwei's operation against the Left and Right Guards was very smooth. The two imperial envoys encountered no obstacles and almost immediately arrested the bewildered official in charge of the imperial seal. While Lu Wenzhao was still torturing the Shen family in the cells of the Central Guard Zhenfu Division, the official in charge of the imperial seals of the Left and Right Guards were feasting in the Jinyiwei's main cell.

However, despite the rapid progress of these two routes, they were ultimately halted. Before the incidents in the Left and Right Guards could ferment, the head of the Central Guard's Pacification Division, Shen Zhengping, took the initiative to expose the shameful crimes of officials from his own guard, bringing to Tianjin a figure like Sun Chengzong, a "honest judge."

Unbeknownst to Sun Chengzong, the very day he left Beijing, the Imperial Household Department, acting in accordance with the emperor's decree, ordered the Imperial Guard to cease operations. Consequently, no new Imperial Guards would be dispatched to Tianjin Left Guard and Tianjin Right Guard to harass local officials. Only Liu Qiao, having completed his mission, led a team out of Beijing to bring the convicted Central Guard officials back to Beijing.

But the officials of the Left and Right Guards were no fools. Although the Jinyiwei had not returned, and no one had specifically informed them of what had happened to the other two guards, they did realize something was amiss when they heard that Shen Caiyu, the commander of the Central Guard, had absconded from justice and that all the senior officials of the Central Guard had been arrested. To investigate the case, the imperial court had even dispatched the Tianjin Governor, who held almost the authority of a governor-general, to investigate the matter.

In order to protect themselves, officials from the Left and Right Guards kept writing letters requesting to see Sun Chengzong, or asking Sun Chengzong to go to their jurisdiction, but Sun Chengzong always replied that he was busy with other matters and would not move for the time being.

It was not until Lu Wenzhao, who was heading south to Hangzhou, crossed the border with the escaped prisoners that Sun Chengzong ordered his men to issue a constitutional certificate to the acting seal holders of the two guards, ordering them to come to the governor's office to discuss matters.

"In reply to the Lord Zhongcheng, Zhang Tongzhi and Wu Qianshi of the Right Guard have arrived and are waiting for you in the lobby." Shen Zhengping put his hands on his thighs. He sat very straight, but his head was lowered, like a student who was called by his master for questioning.

"Where is Ma Tongzhi of Zuowei?" Sun Chengzong asked.

Shen Zhengping shook his head and said, "Ma Tongzhi hasn't arrived yet."

"Isn't Zuowei closer?" Sun Chengzong glanced at the candle in the lampshade and found that the candle had burned down to almost half an inch.

Sun Chengzong turned to look at another table in the signing room. Sitting there was one of the newly recruited clerks from the Governor's Office. He and another clerk took turns in the signing room each day, assisting Sun Chengzong with paperwork and relaying orders that didn't require Sun Chengzong's presence. Sun Chengzong beckoned to the clerk, who immediately came over, bowed, and asked, "What are your instructions, Zhongcheng?"

"It's almost burned out," Sun Chengzong pointed to the lampshade in front of him. "Bring me a new candle."

"Yes." The clerk turned and walked towards a cabinet where candles were stored.

At this time, Shen Zhengping spoke up and said, "Zhongcheng, it is clear that Zuowei is indeed closer to Zhongwei, but the road is not that easy to travel."

"Well, let them wait." Sun Chengzong took the new candle and removed the shade. He lit the new candle over the remaining flame of the old one, then used the remaining flame of the old one to melt the base of the new one. The two candles fused together, and the candlelight rose proudly again.

"Then I'll leave first." Shen Zhengping stood up and bowed.

"Go ahead." Sun Chengzong nodded.

Shen Zhengping walked to the door and heard Sun Chengzong's voice again: "Go and invite Doctor Mi and Deputy Director Jin."

Shen Zhengping was just about to respond when the clerk left before him.

(End of this chapter)