Everyone gathered in the backyard of the yamen and sat around the stone table. It was dinner time, and everyone was talking while eating.
"We've gained a lot just after entering Hebei."
Zhao Jun ate a few bites of rice but felt no appetite. He put down his bowl and chopsticks and sighed, "We've lived in peace for too long, and we often think that as long as the people have enough to eat and live a worry-free life, that's the way to go. We forget that we also need to pay attention to the safety of people's lives and property. Many such cases have been reported to us from all over the country before, but I didn't pay attention to them. This is my dereliction of duty."
Yang Gao hurriedly said, "The Magistrate's crackdown on organized crime has greatly improved local public security. These bandits are not like those evil criminals who smash, loot, and burn, making them easy to identify. They hide among the people and in the countryside. On weekdays, they are ordinary people, and when they rob, they become bandits. They are extremely difficult to detect, so how can they be blamed on the Magistrate?"
"Yes, just as it's difficult for the magistrate to blame local officials, no one is responsible for this matter. It's just that we can't tell who are the common people and who are the bandits."
Wang Anshi also said, "They killed and robbed people and then ran away. Not only are there no witnesses, but even a single suspect can't be found. This time, they ran into the hands of the Magistrate. If they were ordinary merchants, they wouldn't be able to resist, and the local authorities wouldn't arrive in time, so they would be helpless."
"The blame lies with the bandits, it has nothing to do with anyone else."
"good."
"That's exactly the truth."
Everyone was talking at once.
This is not to excuse Zhao Jun, but it is just the way it is.
Zhao Jun also understood this.
He nodded and said, "Well, it's true that I didn't take it seriously before. This encounter is also a great gain. When the time comes, we must formulate a plan to wipe out the bandits in the world. Even if we can't completely eradicate them, we must curb their arrogance. Otherwise, it is really unreasonable to come to the official road ferry in broad daylight like this."
Although such a phenomenon did occur in the 1980s and 1990s, it was often found in deep mountains and old forests, especially in the south where the mountains are high and the forests are dense, making it very easy to hide.
Among them, the China Highway is a place frequented by these people.
The more civilized ones would set up checkpoints and demand tolls, while the less civilized ones would simply get into cars with weapons and rob them.
It is relatively rare in the north.
The North China Plain is flat, with convenient transportation and very few places to hide. Once you are chased by the police, it is difficult to escape.
Now Zhao Jun is robbing in broad daylight at a busy official road ferry in the North China Plain in the north. This shows how rampant bandits were in ancient times.
Zhao Jun knew that it was impossible to eliminate it unless the technology of the Song Dynasty developed to the point where the entire country was covered with cameras.
But reduce the frequency of this.
And it should be possible to ensure the safety of major roads.
For example, increase spending on grassroots security, set up yamen runners on major official roads, equip them with guns and have them on duty, and let each county arrange patrol teams on the main roads under its jurisdiction.
This would be difficult in later generations because our country's roads have been built in all directions. Any county has countless rural roads, county roads, national roads, and expressways. It is almost impossible to achieve this.
But it was much easier in ancient times.
Because there were not so many roads in ancient times, a county often had only one or two official roads, and no more than four or five at most. It was no problem to organize a patrol team or even hire local farmers during their slack season to ensure the safety of the official roads.
But this can basically only guarantee the northern plains, there is really no way to do it in the south.
"Dean, please ask clearly."
Zhao Jun was just thinking about this when Jiang Dalang came in and reported to him, "There really is a traitor."
"oh?"
Zhao Jun asked, "Is it the local officials, or is there something wrong with the passenger ship?"
"It's a passenger ship."
"Captain?"
"No, he's one of the captain's men."
Jiang Dalang said, "When we were loading the cargo on board, we sent a message to the pirates."
"Well, that's to be expected."
Zhao Jun nodded.
Ferrying passenger transport in places like the Yellow River and the Yangtze River belongs to the transportation industry.
Although there is a saying that "people who work on boats, cars, and inns should be killed even if they are innocent", the boat here refers to the ferry boats that are used to kill and rob people.
But that generally refers to ordinary small ferries. When it comes to rivers like the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, if there are many ships, it belongs to a large fleet.
For example, the captain Zhao Jun hired this time had two large passenger ships, hundreds of people, and so many carriages and cargoes, so he had to pay hundreds of strings of cash at one time.
If you meet a wealthy and powerful merchant with a lot of goods, it is not impossible to earn thousands or even tens of thousands of strings of cash by crossing the river once.
Therefore, under normal circumstances, for the sake of a one-time deal, a ship captain with a little bit of brains would not risk ruining the deal and kill the goose that lays the golden eggs by choosing to cooperate with bandits.
But it’s different for the guys. It’s not their business anyway, so if they meet a fat sheep, they can make more money than what they would earn as a guy in their entire life.
"How did the interrogation of the robber go?"
Zhao Jun asked again: "What's the situation over there?"
"They are two villages on the banks of Xishui River, a tributary of the Great River. The villagers have been fishing and ferrying people for a living since ancient times, but they also often commit murder and robbery. Over time, they united and specialized in this trade."
Jiang Dalang said, "They are very clever. They never pick on small or casual customers. They often target wealthy merchants with large ships. When they have made enough money, they stop and hide for several years or even more than ten years. Only when the money is gone or the rumors have died down will they return to their old business."
"According to the local county government's investigation and interrogation, it was discovered that the last time they did this was four years ago."
He continued, "Four years ago, a group of silk merchants disappeared while crossing the river in Ji County. Their families found Ji County, and the county government investigated. Many people said they saw them board a boat, but the boat never reached the other side. They assumed their boat had sunk to the bottom of the river due to a storm, and their families could only consider themselves unlucky. They never expected it to be this group of people who did it."
"It seems that the carriages and horses we brought with us when we boarded the ship attracted their attention."
Zhao Jun sighed.
Then he asked, "Were their families and relatives involved?"
“It has not yet been investigated.”
Jiang Dalang said, "But they made such a big noise. Even if they didn't participate in it personally, they must have at least known about it."
A cold glint flashed in Zhao Jun's eyes as he said, "Two villages, hundreds of people. Even if they weren't bandits, they'd know about it. It's truly shocking. Tell the county magistrate to have Huang Sanlang lead a hundred men to arrest them all."
"yes!"
Jiang Dalang nodded and then went out.
Zhao Jun narrowed his eyes.
The whole village committed a crime together. Although I know that such things were not uncommon in ancient times, it is still shocking.
In this Great Song Dynasty, only the county towns and cities are doing a decent job in cracking down on gangs and eliminating evil.
But who knows how much filth is hidden in these countryside and forests.
Want to clean up.
There is still a long way to go.
perhaps.
It's time to clean the house.
(End of this chapter)
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