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Chapter 700 Tyrant
In the spring of the 13th year of Jingyang's reign, the emperor issued an edict to abolish the Five Military Commands Office and divide its responsibilities between the General Staff and the Ministry of War. At the same time, 133 guards were abolished at one time, with a total of more than 320,000 soldiers.

Logically speaking, there should be more than 700,000 soldiers in the more than 100 garrisons. However, after counting, the actual number of soldiers in these abolished garrisons was less than half, but they still spent enough money to fully staff them every year.

Where did the difference go? The generals of the Five Military Commanderies knew it, as did the officials of the Ministry of War, the cabinet ministers, and the Imperial Household Department. As the supreme leader of the Ming Dynasty, the emperor knew it even better.

But there was no action such as confiscation, punishment, or house confiscation, and no one was even called in for questioning by the Imperial Guards. The only statement made by the emperor was to summon the generals and nobles who had served in the Five Military Command Office to the Yangxin Palace, where he gave them some lukewarm praises, expressed his deep feelings, and pointed out the difficulties in building the navy and the army.

Then, from the next day, generals and nobles began to submit petitions, either saying that they were old or had some kind of illness, and asked to resign from their posts. By early summer, almost 90% of the generals and nobles who had served in the Five Military Commandery had resigned and returned home to retire.

The remaining seven or eight people were not attached to their high positions and did not want to leave, but they were unable to leave for the time being. The emperor ordered them all to the General Staff and the Ministry of War to cooperate in the inventory of the remaining military personnel in the garrisons, and even gave them a nice excuse, which was to make use of their remaining energy.

At the same time, two departments that were once prosperous and lucrative were also abolished, the Office of the Governor-General of the Grand Canal and the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Canal. More than 100,000 grain transport troops under their command also lost their jobs.

320,000 plus 120,000 equals 450,000. At one time, more than 400,000 people were unemployed, many of them young and strong. Together with their families, the number must exceed one million. Will this cause riots?
The answer is yes. Even though the imperial court attached resettlement measures when announcing the abolition decision, civil unrest still occurred in some places, 90% of which were caused by the grain transport troops.

Compared with the soldiers in the garrisons who were used to being oppressed and exploited, the treatment of the grain transport soldiers was much better. They could get 12 dan of food rations every month, and they could get a few more dan at the end of the year, which was definitely enough to support themselves.

But this is just a small amount. The real income is not the monthly salary, but the goods smuggled on the grain ships. Grain ships do not have to pay taxes. Officials can use grain ships to transport private goods, and soldiers will naturally not be idle. If the capital is small, just carry less. Anyway, you are working for the court, so it’s a waste not to carry it.

Now the governor of the canal and the general office have been abolished, not only has the canal army's livelihood been cut off, but it has also seriously affected the income of local forces along the canal. Ordinary people dare not make trouble, but local tyrants are unwilling to see the fat meat they have eaten for several lifetimes suddenly disappear, so they have to at least express their attitude.

Then the new naval governor Wang Sheng had something to do, and he was basically busy from early spring to late summer. In order to show his loyalty to the emperor, he personally led more than 8,000 troops of the Land War Guard and the Patrol Guard, and marched along the canal waterway, sweeping from northern Zhili to Shandong, and then from Shandong to southern Zhili, capturing and killing people along the way.

It is said that having the emperor as his brother-in-law is a great honor. As long as there is no imperial decree to stop, Wang Sheng will continue to arrest and kill. As for who should be arrested and who should not be arrested, it is too easy. First, arrest and interrogate according to the list provided by the local government, and then bite a long list.

Anyone who participated in the riots, whether they were grain transport troops, local civilians, or gentry and powerful people, were all arrested, then tried again, and arrested again... This cycle continued endlessly, like a pyramid scheme, one became two, two became four, four became sixteen, and it increased exponentially.

But apart from some who were beheaded locally, most were shipped to the nearest port and stuffed into the ocean-going ships of the Shipping Office. When one ship was full, it would be taken away, and even the Marines responsible for arresting people didn't know where they had gone.

In fact, even the captains of the Land War Guard and the Patrol Guard probably didn't know where these people were being sent to. At most, they knew that they were going south. Only those at the level of commanders would know roughly where these ships were going, but they would never tell anyone. Because these people didn't go anywhere, they were all dragged into the sea and abandoned. That's right, abandoned, thrown off the ship. They didn't even have a chance to fend for themselves. The abandonment location was in the deep sea far away from the shore and islands, and not close to the fixed route. The chance of survival was almost zero.

"Your Majesty, this is inappropriate and it is against the harmony of heaven. Although these people are suspected of rebellion, they are still citizens of the Ming Dynasty. Even if they should be punished, they can be sent to work in mines and factories for a few years. If that doesn't work, there are still Annan and Luzon where they can be resettled. There is an urgent need for labor. There are tens of thousands of people, why kill them all?"

The General Staff must have known the inside story, so Yuan Keli went to the palace to meet the emperor and tried to stop the killing of innocent people. The reason was very good. Since the captured Jurchen and Mongolian prisoners could be forgiven, then the people of the country should not be treated so harshly.

"How come Li Qing has become too soft-hearted? It seems that you have regressed since leaving the Navy Governor."

Wang Sheng dared to act so recklessly, and he did have the emperor's instructions behind him, and all his tricks were taught to him in person. Facing Yuan Keli's questioning, Hong Tao did not feel guilty or angry, but retorted.

"…Why do you say that, Your Majesty?" This made Yuan Keli confused. It was clearly you who asked Wang Sheng to kill the person, so what did you say was that I had backed down?

"Wild dogs can bite people because they have never received any favors. They bite people to protect themselves, which is understandable. But when wild dogs are raised as domestic dogs, they cannot bite people. If they do, the person will die.

Sending them to do hard labor in mines, factories, farms and plantations may sound merciful, but if something similar happens again, their partners, friends and neighbors will be in trouble.

Selfishness and ignorance are contagious and incurable. Only death can completely eliminate them. In order to protect the interests of more people, I can only kill them like a plague, the cleaner the better, leaving no one behind.

Rescuing a kitten or puppy is kindness, saving a life by taking the initiative is also kindness, and not killing prisoners indiscriminately on the battlefield is also kindness.

You and I have to govern tens of millions of people, and we are faced with the choice of sacrificing the small for the sake of the big at any time. There is also a more important kind of kindness than the above-mentioned kindness, which is whether we can protect the interests of the majority of people.

Whoever stands against this mercy, you and I will resolutely destroy him without hesitation. Otherwise, everything we have done and the people we have killed will be meaningless.

Let's stop here. No need to persuade me anymore. I will ask Wang Sheng to stop in time and try to involve as few innocent people as possible. Now there is another important matter that needs to be dealt with. Has the General Staff Department sorted out everything I want?"

(End of this chapter)