Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 53 Punishing Traitors Requires Loyal and Virtuous Officials (Part 2)
Zhu Jue really didn't expect that he could find a spy just by using a pair of binoculars to scan the area.

He knew that there were many traitors within the Ming Dynasty court.

The problem is, these traitors are too audacious. They dare to send people to spy on us so brazenly. Aren't they afraid that the traitors will follow the clues and catch them all?

This spy was incredibly audacious; even after being caught, he struggled desperately, shouting wildly, "What are you doing? What are you doing? Is there no law anymore? I'm standing right here, I haven't done anything, how dare you arrest me!"

Upon seeing this, Zhu Jue frowned slightly and said, "Tell me, who sent you?"

This traitor even had the audacity to say, "I was just bored and came here for a stroll. What? Who sent me? Are you crazy?"

If it weren't for my desire to find out who's behind you, I could have executed your entire family based on just those words.

This guy seems to be a tough nut to crack; he probably won't open his mouth unless he's subjected to torture.

The problem is, besides the Beijing Garrison and the Imperial Guards, he also brought experts from the Eastern Depot. Who will torture this guy?
The Eastern Depot might use some cruel torture methods, but it didn't have its own prisons or torture chambers.

Moreover, the spies sent by the traitors in the court are certainly not just this one, and they certainly won't only send this group. If they haven't figured out what they are doing, they will definitely keep sending spies to spy on them.

He also needs to send people specifically to arrest the spies.

The Beijing Garrison was responsible for defending against the Jurchens, and the Imperial Guards were responsible for protecting the palace and the capital city, so they certainly couldn't be stationed there every day to catch spies.

The Eastern Depot could work, but it only had about a thousand people, and they also had to keep an eye on the officials in the outer court.

It seems that Wei Zhongxian is the only one who can handle this matter.

Wei Zhongxian was notoriously ruthless, so getting these spies to talk shouldn't be a problem at all.

Moreover, the Embroidered Uniform Guard has a large force, so it wouldn't be a problem to send some people here to keep watch for spies.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then instructed, "Zhenghua, send someone to find a sturdy shack, tie this guy to a pillar, and keep a close watch on him so he doesn't escape."

Upon hearing this, Fang Zhenghua immediately raised his hand and summoned ten guards, giving them detailed instructions.

The ten guards dragged the man along and hurried towards the shantytown built by the artisans.

Zhu Jue watched as the ten guards dragged the spy away before instructing, "Cheng'en, send a fast horse to summon Wei Zhongxian. Tell him to bring more men, and not all of them should wear flying fish robes; most of them should change into civilian clothes."

Furthermore, order someone to summon Tian Guozhang and Yuan Guozhang.

Upon hearing this, Wang Chengen immediately arranged for someone to go.

Wei Zhongxian is still in the palace; he certainly won't be here anytime soon.

Tian Hongyu and Yuan You had been in the vicinity, arranging and directing people to do their work while waiting for his summons. The two of them arrived quickly.

A short while later, the two arrived together, cupped their hands, and said in unison, "Your humble servants pay their respects to Your Majesty."

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then solemnly said, "I have just discovered spies. Those traitors in the court want to find out the secrets here and then pass them on to the Jurchens. You must be careful."

From this day forward, all those who work under your command, whether they are artisans, soldiers, or farmers, shall be organized into baojia (a system of mutual responsibility). Ten households shall form a jia, one hundred households a bao, and one thousand households a li (another system of responsibility). For every ten thousand households, you shall assign a literate young woman or her family member to oversee them.

In the future, when you assign them work, you should arrange it according to the established system of 10,000 or 1,000 households. When they are working, you should have the village head and chief of the village count the number of people every day to prevent them from running around.

If they are caught wandering around, they will be treated as spies. If they are caught loitering in the work area, the village head and other leaders must come to claim them before they can be released.

The baojia system already existed, and it would need to be reorganized after these artisan households, military households, and farmers settled down. It would just take some time, but there was no difficulty in doing so.

Upon hearing this, Tian Hongyu and Yuan You nodded repeatedly and said, "Your humble servants understand."

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then waved his hand.

Tian Hongyu and Yuan You quickly bowed and took their leave.

Next, we'll see what happens to Wei Zhongxian.

When will this guy be able to get here?

Zhu Jue glanced in the direction of the capital, thought for a moment, and then waved his hand, saying, "Let's go, let's go take a look at the Tonghui River."

Soon, they arrived at the Tonghui River, south of the steel plant. It was a T-shaped river mouth, with the Tonghui River to the south and the Chaobai River to the west. Further south from the confluence of the Tonghui and Chaobai Rivers was the North Canal.

Tongzhou City is located on the other side of the Tonghui River.

He couldn't see clearly before he had a telescope, but now that he has one, it's different.

Zhu Jue raised his binoculars and swept them across the river, revealing the entire city of Tongzhou.

Like the capital, Tongzhou City underwent an expansion. However, the capital built an outer city, wider than the inner city, to the south of the inner city, thus forming a triangular shape. Tongzhou City, on the other hand, built a new city, only half the size of the old city, to the west of the original old city, thus resembling a seven-character bend.

The city walls of Tongzhou are quite high, probably more than three zhang high.

Furthermore, Tongzhou City's waterway transportation is more convenient than this place, because Tongzhou City was built specifically for canal transport. The North Canal is located on its east side, and the docks there are densely packed, stretching for three or four miles, and can accommodate hundreds of canal boats at the same time without any problem.

The east side of Dongcheng is the Chaobai River, which has no canal wharf. The Tonghui River to the south is too narrow to build a canal wharf. For now, they can only connect a waterway dug at the shipyard to the Tonghui River and build a wharf there to dock canal boats, warships and grain transport ships.

At this point, building a new city only requires transporting some timber, coal, lime, and the like, so there isn't much need for docks. However, if all the factories here are in operation, there will be at least several hundred ships transporting raw materials every day, and docks will become a problem because it's difficult to unload cargo without docks.

It seems that once the city wall in the east is finished, the city wall in the southeast should be built as soon as possible.

This would not only connect the East City and the South City into one area, but also make use of the canal wharf in Tongzhou City.

He could even seize the entire city of Tongzhou and build factories there that require special secrecy, such as steam engine factories, machine factories, musket factories, and artillery factories.

Because Tongzhou City has city walls that are more than three zhang high, he only needs to order people to block a few city gates and arrange some people to patrol the city walls, and the spies will definitely not be able to get in.

However, conquering a city is not that simple; Wei Zhongxian will have to resort to force.

As he was pondering this, Wei Zhongxian arrived at breakneck speed with over a thousand imperial guards, bowing obsequiously on horseback and saying, "This servant greets Your Majesty. May I ask why Your Majesty has summoned this servant?"

You arrived quickly, didn't you?

The problem is, didn't I say we shouldn't all come dressed in flying fish robes?

Zhu Jue frowned slightly as he looked at the Imperial Guards, all dressed in their flying fish robes, and said, "Zhongxian, didn't I order most of them to change into civilian clothes?"

Well, that's not the case for most people.

Wei Zhongxian quickly explained, "Your Majesty, I was afraid you would wait too long, so I brought these thousand-odd guards here first. There are several thousand more secret guards running this way, and they are all dressed in civilian clothes."

You also maintain thousands of bodyguards?

Alright, this is perfect for catching spies.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then solemnly said, "I just caught a spy. I estimate that the traitors in the court will continue to send spies to spy. I want you to send people in plain clothes to stake out this place. Arrest all spies and torture them severely to find out who is behind them."

Oh, catching a spy.

I'm good at this.

I'm even better at using torture!

Upon hearing this, Wei Zhongxian nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, this servant will definitely clean up all the spies here, as well as the traitors within the court."

Don't rush to arrest the traitor.

Zhu Jue shook his head slightly and said, "You should arrest the spies first. As for the internal traitors, don't alert them yet. We need to take them all down at once, do you understand?"

Oh, and we should take them all at once.

If we arrest a few now, the others will be too scared to come, which would be a losing proposition.

Wei Zhongxian nodded repeatedly and said, "This servant understands."

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then waved his hand and said, "Let's go, let's interrogate the spy we just caught and see who sent him."

(End of this chapter)