In the Song Dynasty, there is no law. Chapter 315 of the main text: We must not be separated from the people. After hearing what Zhao Jun and Jia Changchao said, Cao Xiu and others realized the seriousness of the matter and began a thorough investigation almost that day.
Fan Zhongyan was ordered by Zhao Zhen to take charge of the entire investigation.
That night, countless Imperial City Guards and soldiers were transferred to Fengqiu, took control of the county government and government offices, and then, under the guidance of local clerks, searched house to house.
The next day, in just one day, most of the bandits who intercepted Zhao Jun's convoy were arrested.
Fortunately, it was near the end of the year, and most of the river workers had gone home to celebrate the New Year. Otherwise, if these people had hidden themselves among the more than 100,000 laborers, it would have been difficult to find them.
After interrogation, it was soon discovered that most of these people were local laborers hired to repair the river.
Because the imperial court has vigorously rectified the Yellow River and repaired canals in recent years, more than 400,000 civilians have gathered along the Yellow River.
Especially the construction of the canal section from Kaifeng to Huazhou, since it is a new canal, it requires much more manpower than repairing and reinforcing the previous river.
The Song Dynasty court treated the laborers who repaired the river quite well. Not only did they provide food and accommodation, but they also received a daily salary of more than 150 coins for digging canals. This income was considered relatively high among local prefectures and counties.
After these people got the money, they were bound to spend it in cities along the route such as Fengqiu, Changyuan, Zaocheng, and Huazhou, which led to the emergence of a large number of brothels, taverns, gambling houses, and restaurants in the cities along the route, attracting many people.
So what happens when so many social idlers gather together?
Of course it's fighting.
If you want to open a brothel, tavern, gambling house or restaurant, you must have a black and white background.
Therefore, many people began to band together for warmth, forming many forces of varying sizes, and thus social instability factors were born.
Among them, the people who robbed Zhao Jun’s convoy were a local gang. Most of their members were from Fengqiu. They formed a gang called Fengqiu Short Knife Society.
They used to build canals along the river, but later found that the money made from building canals was too slow, so they gradually opened a market and started fighting, bullying, extorting men, raping women, and robbing passing merchants. It can be said that they did all kinds of evil.
Under the leadership of their leader, the gang grew stronger and stronger, gradually becoming the largest local evil force in Fengqiu, with more than 50 core members and a total of more than 400 members.
However, after investigation by the Censorate and the Imperial City Administration, it was found that the protective umbrella behind the scenes was not even the county magistrate or the county magistrate, but the Fengqiu County Lieutenant and the many yamen runners under him.
But the people responsible for Fengqiu are obviously in big trouble.
Although they did not realize that the main objective factor was the sudden influx of a large number of people into the area, causing management difficulties.
However, allowing the Short Knife Society to grow rapidly without being discovered in time is also a major dereliction of duty.
Therefore, all local officials not involved in the case were dismissed, regardless of whether they had political resources or not, and were sent back home to grow sweet potatoes. As for the officials involved in the case, they were all punished for the same crime.
With special measures taken, more than 400 people were arrested in less than five days, and the rest of the local evil forces were also wiped out.
"It's truly ironic that a mere eighth-rank county lieutenant could allow such a massive evil force to dominate the world."
December 28th was the last time we worked before the New Year.
Inside the Constitutional Court, Zhao Jun was signing a special work document regarding the nationwide campaign against organized crime to be carried out by the Ministry of Police and the Imperial City Bureau next year.
Just after he signed, Du Yan, Zheng Jian, Fu Bi, Cao Xiu and others submitted their investigation reports.
After reading it, Zhao Jun sneered, "Although I personally dealt with the evil forces such as Wuyou Cave and Guifan Tower under the emperor's feet before, I thought they had been wiped out on a large scale. I didn't expect that in just a few years, they would start to grow again."
As he spoke, he signed the document in his hand, indicating that all the approximately 1,000 people captured from the evil gang would be executed. Then he looked up at Fu Bi and asked, "Where did they get their firearms?"
"It was stolen."
Fu Bi smiled bitterly and said, "Didn't the imperial court have a firearms camp in the northern suburbs of the city? Back then, management wasn't as strict. Instead of locking everything up in the armory, they locked it up in the squad office, one squad at a time. They stole over ten muskets and over five hundred rounds of ammunition."
"Where is the person responsible?"
Zhao Jun frowned. He knew someone was definitely responsible for the theft. First, the camp was not well guarded, allowing someone to sneak in. Second, the theft of the gun was such a big deal, yet they didn't even report it.
Fu Bi said, "They've been caught. The soldiers from those three squads reported it to the battalion commander, but the commander, fearing responsibility, concealed the incident and reported the firearms as damaged. The damaged guns were supposed to be returned to the logistics department, but he bribed the quartermaster and kept it a secret."
"Hmph, those who deceive their superiors and subordinates, causing such serious consequences, deserve to die!"
Zhao Jun snorted coldly, then thought for a moment before continuing, "Since the soldiers reported it, it's not their responsibility. The barracks' defenses were lax, and all those involved will be dismissed. As for the officers who deceived their superiors, they will be dealt with according to military law."
"yes."
Fu Bi responded.
"If the local Imperial City Office turned a blind eye, what use would they have? From the commander to the guards, all of the Fengqiu County Imperial City Office should be imprisoned for dereliction of duty!"
Zhao Jun said again.
"yes."
Cao Xiu quickly agreed.
"And the Imperial Censor who is inspecting the northern part of the capital will be demoted three levels."
"yes."
"The problem with Jingji Road is that the local counties are directly under the imperial court, without any oversight from the provincial government, and the Kaifeng Prefecture has no control over them. This means there's a missing layer of supervision, and this is the negligence of me and the Political System Council."
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