111 Chapter 111
◎Evil-elimination campaign◎
The war of words lasted for a month.
A month later, the new policy had already been spread to counties and prefectures across the country, and even grassroots officials went to the countryside to spread the new ideas and supervise some outdated clans to stop resorting to lynching.
After more than a year of standardized assessment, the overall quality of grassroots officials has also been greatly improved.
Last year, after the Machinery Department taught blacksmiths to learn to read for three months, the imperial court also ordered all government offices to improve the literacy rate of yamen runners and include literacy rate in the evaluation of officials.
In order to get the best grades, all the government offices showed their talents and actively dispatched county school teachers to participate in this "literacy" campaign.
Initial results have been achieved.
Fuliang County, Jiangxi Province.
Yu Hong's first thing on his daily visit to the yamen was to read the newspaper. Ever since "Mr. Meng" had visited the yamen, he had established his authority within the county yamen. He had since devoted himself to government affairs, earning an excellent grade in his performance appraisals for the past two years.
By the end of this year, he should receive a promotion document from the Ministry of Personnel, and he doesn't know where he will be transferred.
He had tried to inquire about Lord Meng's identity, but to no avail. Later, he heard about Princess Rong'an's military achievements in entering Guizhou from Shu, and also heard the name of "Captain Jiang". He suddenly remembered that the queen's surname was Meng, and he had some guesses in his mind.
Lord Meng must be the princess who is on a secret visit.
How lucky he is to receive the princess's praise.
Later, he carefully analyzed a series of actions taken by the court, and found that they were all good deeds that benefited the country and the people. Therefore, he became more determined to follow the princess in the future.
In early February, the court promulgated new policies.
After reading it, Yu Hong was quite supportive, but the war of words in the newspaper was getting more and more intense, with both sides going back and forth, which made people so excited that they wanted to join in.
Unfortunately, it's just a thought because we're too far away. By the time the manuscript is delivered to Beijing, the war of words will have already ended several rounds.
But this did not stop him from watching the game.
A few days ago, he was quite impressed by "Old Man Wutong". In the past two days, a new person has appeared in the support group, with the pen name "Qianyuan". His writing is brilliant and his wording is exquisite, which makes people applaud.
Between the lines, one can see his calm nature and broad mind.
If I have the chance, I really want to get to know you.
Although the war of words lasted for a month, "Qianyuan" only published three articles, each of which was incisive and thought-provoking.
He even copied it down and posted it on the headboard of his bed to study it carefully every day.
With just three articles, he captured the hearts of countless scholars.
The war of words ended with the victory of the supporters. It was heard that the leader of the opposition, Minister Fan, was so angry that he fell ill in bed and avoided people.
Yu Hong regretted that "Qianyuan" no longer published articles and sneered at Minister Fan.
"Sir! Sir!" A clerk came hurriedly, "Urgent news from Ji'an Prefecture!"
Different types of official documents have different formats. The urgent report in front of us is stamped with the seal of the Dusi Yamen.
He quickly opened it and was shocked when he read it.
Capital city.
After the new policy was announced, Lu Fei immediately set up his own business, registered his household in the capital, and took back all the property from his clan.
In fact, most of the properties were not in the hands of the clan, but fell into the pockets of officials in Taiyuan Prefecture. She pretended not to know, as long as the properties were returned.
After everything was settled, she wrote a thank-you letter to the newspaper, thanking the reporter, thanking the newspaper, and most importantly, thanking the court for giving her a new life.
The one who proposed the new policy was Princess Rong'an. The princess was very kind to her, and from now on, she would follow the princess's lead.
"Newspapers for sale! Newspapers for sale!" The newsboy was running on the street waving newspapers. He was the same one I met on the street last year. His clothes were embroidered with the newspaper's logo and were still 90% new.
Lu Fei waved: "Give me one."
"It's you, my lady," the newsboy smiled and handed her a newspaper. "In the new year, you seem to be more energetic."
Lu Fei took it with a smile and took out a few candies from her purse, "Take this and try it."
"Thank you for the reward, ma'am!"
The newsboy bowed deeply and ran away with the candy.
Lu Fei lowered his head to read the newspaper and was suddenly startled.
A riot broke out in Ganzhou Prefecture, Jiangxi Province. The leader gathered tens of thousands of people to massacre the government offices of Ganzhou Prefecture, occupied the city, and assembled a large army to march towards Ji'an Prefecture and Fuzhou Prefecture. Now they have captured the two prefectures and quickly swept through Nan'an Prefecture and Jianchang Prefecture.
Why did the riot suddenly break out?
Wenhua Hall of the Imperial Palace.
Minister of War He Zheng solemnly reported, "Princess, the Jiangxi Provincial Command has sent word that the rebels have occupied Ganzhou, Nan'an, Jianchang, Fuzhou, and Ji'an Prefectures, and will attack Nanchang Prefecture next."
"A cornered dog will leap over the wall," Xie Mingzhuo said calmly, "Quickly dispatch elite troops to support us. This time, we must completely wipe out the Sun and Moon Sect."
Since the year before last, she has ordered government offices at all levels in Jiangxi to vigorously crack down on the Sun and Moon Sect and squeeze their living space. After inspecting Shu last year, the scope of the crackdown spread to the whole country. The members of the Sun and Moon Sect are like rats crossing the street, unable to survive in the sun.
To deceive and incite tens of thousands of people is nothing more than a gamble on the last chance to survive.
The leader of the Sun and Moon Sect proclaimed himself "The Great Emperor of Heaven" and, under the banner of "speaking for the people", he coerced tens of thousands of farmers, shouting "hens crowing at dawn" and "the world is turned upside down", and regarded himself as the messenger of justice.
Xie Mingzhuo had been planning for over a year to wipe out the Sun and Moon Sect, and now it had reached the final step.
She wants to completely eliminate this group of evil cult members.
He Zheng accepted the order and withdrew.
One memorial after another came from Jiangxi, all of which were full of condemnation and curses against the rebels' brutal and tyrannical behavior.
"Whenever the Sun and Moon bandits passed through a city, they would extort money from the gentry and plunder government offices. If the gentry surrendered and donated money, they would appoint officials and abuse their power. If they chose to die in peace, they would be tortured and robbed, the suffering was unbearable."
"They regard officials and gentry as their enemies, and those who resist will be killed, their houses burned and destroyed, and the number of such crimes is too numerous to list. The former governor of Jiangxi, now a traitor and rebel, Shi Zan, has been appointed the Left Envoy of the Holy Heaven. This traitor, Shi Zan, is well versed in the defenses of Jiangxi and has led tens of thousands of bandits straight into the city, now approaching Nanchang Prefecture."
"Now, the Jiangxi Governor, Zong Zhen, hastened to assemble the Tiger Brigade, and marching southward with unfurled banners, with overwhelming force. On the first day of the third month of the Renxu year, he decisively defeated the rebels at Fengcheng, sending them fleeing in panic. Their defeat was as crushing as a mountain."
After Shi Zan defected last year, Xie Mingzhuo transferred Zong Zhen, the former commander-in-chief of Henan, to serve as the new governor of Jiangxi, to focus on military affairs.
Most of the prefectures in southern Jiangxi are the strongholds of the Sun and Moon Sect. Trying to wipe them out in one fell swoop is like trying to get oil by pressing snow.
According to secret investigations by spies, many officials and gentry, after receiving the court's order to "crack down on evil cults", did their work on the surface, but in fact they had been infiltrated by the Sun and Moon Sect members and were in collusion with them.
If we don't eradicate them completely, there will be endless troubles.
This time, the Sun and Moon Sect is making its last ditch effort, and these people have revealed their true colors, which is a perfect opportunity to eliminate all the evil and wipe them out once and for all.
In the process, innocent people will inevitably be implicated, but Xie Mingzhuo has done his best to act swiftly and end the rebellion quickly by taking precautions in advance.
No matter how much more, she can't do anything.
If the Sun and Moon Sect cannot be eradicated in one fell swoop, more and more people will be harmed.
Zong Zhen lived up to expectations and led his elite troops to eliminate the rebels in Fuzhou Prefecture, Ji'an Prefecture, Jianchang Prefecture and other places in just two months, forcing the rebel army to retreat to Ganzhou Prefecture.
At the same time, the imperial court ordered the elite troops of Fujian, Guangdong and Huguang to encircle and suppress the rebels from the east, south and west. In the north, Zong Zhen led his troops with great momentum and attacked the rebels' lair.
The rebels have become trapped beasts.
There is no such thing as a third time. Xie Mingzhuo had a brief battle with the rebels in Jiangxi, and then arrested the three Taoist priests Shenzhen in Shu. Now is the final blow.
When she returned to Beijing from Shu, she ordered people to secretly detain Shen Zhen, Li Ping'er and the former Sichuan commander Liu Zhaoyu. After being interrogated by the Jinyiwei, the three of them revealed a lot of information about the Sun and Moon Sect.
This also laid the foundation for today's situation.
Eradicating evil cults is only an episode in governing the country. Although Xie Mingzhuo has always been on high alert, most of her energy is still focused on how to enrich the country and strengthen the military.
The Qi Dynasty was based on agriculture, and the bulk of the Ministry of Revenue's fiscal revenue still came from land tax.
However, due to the "enclosure of land" by the gentry and wealthy families, this big share has been shrinking year by year.
She has been trying to figure out a solution to this dilemma.
The Sun and Moon Sect raised its flag in Jiangxi, repeatedly claiming that "landlords are cruel" and "officials and gentry are colluding." It also borrowed the lament of an ancient poet, "There is no idle land in the world, yet farmers still starve to death." It made a heartfelt speech, saying that the court was unfair and that the sect leader was appointed by heaven to enforce justice and plead for the people.
It was the same few sentences that were repeated over and over again, all of which took advantage of the injustice suffered by farmers, used words to deceive and incite, and then used the farmers as cannon fodder on the battlefield.
Even if they really succeed and are given official titles and honors, the farmers in the world will still starve to death.
Therefore, Xie Mingzhuo ordered Zong Zhen and others to focus on persuading the surrender. Before the battle, they shouted "Those who surrender will be given land", which made many farmers who were not deceived but coerced lay down their weapons and did not become victims of the sword.
On the sixth day of March, the Beijing Daily published a report.
Jin merchant Lu Fei was grateful to the imperial court and voluntarily donated 100,000 shi of grain to Jiangxi for the imperial army to eat.
As soon as this happened, people at the time praised his righteous act, and even those old-fashioned people who were still dissatisfied with the implementation of the new law were silent.
What were they doing when the women they looked down upon donated food and served their country?
Many merchants followed suit, and cartloads of food and fodder were continuously sent to the military camp. The morale of the soldiers soared, and they drove away the wolves and devoured the tigers, and even captured and killed the two envoys under the command of Emperor Shengtian in one fell swoop.
These two were both outstanding people in the Sun-Moon Sect, and Emperor Shengtian himself had to rely on them. After the two died one after another, the Sun-Moon Sect's morale was greatly reduced.
Emperor Shengtian actually tried to escape secretly with his confidants, but was discovered by spies. Yu Xintian ordered Zong Zhen to lead troops to capture them.
At this point, the Sun and Moon Sect was completely wiped out.
When the victory report reached the capital, Xie Mingzhuo praised Zong Zhen highly and decided to reward all the soldiers who had made contributions in eliminating the bandits.
After handling state affairs, she returned to the Palace of Heavenly Purity. Before she even entered the room, she heard her second brother's loud voice.
"Hahahahaha, I'm dying of laughter. That so-called Holy Heavenly Emperor is actually just a charlatan. He was imprisoned several times by the government after swindling people for money and sex. Later, he flattered himself and disguised himself as the Holy Heavenly Emperor to deceive the people."
Xie Changfeng shook his head with regret: "It's really pitiful for those innocent people who died tragically."
"There's no other way. If we don't get rid of him this time, we'll have to get rid of him later. By then, even more people will be harmed. Tiezhu has done his best to protect the people."
Meng Qi: "These people are truly heartless, even trying to use poison like opium to control people's minds. Fortunately, Shao Shao discovered it early and eliminated it in time."
"Shao Shao is back." said Xie Mingxuan.
The family gathered around the table for dinner. Lin Fan was away from Beijing on business again, and it was unknown when he would be back, but he had been writing a lot of letters.
After finishing his meal, Xie Mingzhuo stretched and lay down on the couch, listening to his family members chattering slowly, and a sense of satisfaction arose spontaneously.
"Tiezhu, now that the remnants of the Sun and Moon Cult have been captured, what are you going to do with that member of the Lou family?"
Old Master Lou is still imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice prison. Lou Kun has been acting as an insider in the sect, taking advantage of the opportunity to open up trade routes to pass on information from time to time. He has made a contribution to this plan.
The father and son of the Lou family were initially coerced, but they confessed in time, which caused the Sun and Moon Sect to surface. Regardless, their crimes do not deserve the death penalty.
"The two were exiled to Gansu."
"So far?" Xie Changfeng muttered, "People from the south wouldn't be able to adapt to the climate in the northwest."
He had played with the Lou family's porcelain and found it to be of top quality, but it was a pity that the craftsmanship was wasted.
Xie Mingzhuo smiled and said, "I think they can adapt."
A house somewhere in the capital.
Xu Zhixiu was mending clothes near the oil lamp when she suddenly heard a knock on the courtyard door. The dog Da Huang, whom she had raised for two years, suddenly pricked up its ears and started barking loudly.
After the court promulgated the new law, she went to the government to register as a female household. Later, she applied for a job as a tutor to a young lady from an official family. The monthly salary was not only enough to support herself, but also to help Mr. Lou in prison.
She was very satisfied with her current life, but she still had some worries in her heart. After all, she and Lou Kun had a relationship that was like that of husband and wife. When the imperial court was suppressing the rebels, she guessed that Lou Kun was an insider, but she was still worried when she didn't hear the news.
"Who is it?" Xu Zhixiu put aside all distractions and walked towards the gate.
There was no sound outside the door for a long time. For some reason, she suddenly had an intuition and immediately opened the gate.
An envelope slipped through the crack in the door and landed on her shoe.
Familiar handwriting came into view.
This is both a belated apology letter and a sad farewell letter.
Xu Zhixiu watched in a daze until Da Huang bit the hem of her skirt. Then she came to her senses and wiped away her tears with her hand. The tears were cold and salty.
May you be free from worries and live in good health in the future.
All the rebels of the Sun and Moon Sect were eliminated. At the same time, the imperial court issued strict orders to government offices at all levels across the country to be vigilant against the remnants of the evil sect at all times. Once discovered, they would be severely punished.
A vigorous campaign to eradicate evil was launched across the country.
The mess in Jiangxi still needs to be cleaned up.
The reason why evil cults can grow and develop is that the poor masses have despair of life. The Sun and Moon Cult has specially fabricated rhetoric targeting these people to deceive and incite them.
In order to prevent the resurgence of evil cults, the court must completely eradicate the soil that breeds despair.
Returning land to the people is the most critical link. To truly achieve this, we must be able to withstand the pressure from the gentry.
But the rebellion of the Sun and Moon Sect just gave Xie Mingzhuo this opportunity.
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