The room goes through the late Ming Dynasty, and the back door leads to North America at the beginni

Chapter 139 Killing some and punishing others, the anxious governor

Fu Ruwei had not suffered any special abuse in the past few days, but she had obviously lost weight and had two big bags under her eyes, as if she had aged ten years.

They were pushed onto the wooden platform by the rebels. Although they were only shackled and were not asked to kneel down, Fu Ruwei still felt humiliated.

What was worse than the humiliation was fear - although he initially wanted to die, in the past few days, he no longer wanted to die.

But when he heard the discussions of the people around him and thought about his actions since taking office as the prefect of Runing, he knew that he would definitely die.

Seeing Bai Taiwei sitting in the trial seat again, he remembered that he was judging the other party here a few days ago. He also thought that if Liu Sheng was arrested in the future, he would settle the matter at this Caishikou.

Unexpectedly, just a few days later, he would be the one who was stabbed at the entrance of the vegetable market.

I was stabbed a few times in my heart.

I couldn't help but shed tears.

Wen Shiyi next to him also felt a little humiliated, but he just kept a cold face and was not afraid.

In addition to the two chief officials of the prefecture and county, there were nine other captured officials in Runing City.

These are not the only officials in Runing City. Two of them committed suicide after the rebels broke through the city. The rest were hidden among the people and could not be found for a while.

With tens of thousands of people watching at Xicai Shikou, Cheng Song read out the rebel army's investigation and trial of these officials one by one.

In the more than two years since Fu Ruwei took office as the prefect, he had imposed various exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes due to clever pretexts, forcing many people to have their families destroyed, while he himself had embezzled and accepted bribes amounting to 8 to [-] taels.

In addition, there was no good governance that was beneficial to the people. Instead, it was common to keep famous prostitutes and entertain people. The accumulated taxes made the people complain. He was sentenced to hanging by the rebels and executed on the spot.

Among the remaining officials, two were sentenced to hang and three to be beheaded.

Wen Shiyi and other five people are considered good officials in the hearts of the people because they are not extremely corrupt, have never persecuted the people, or have performed good governance.

Just because he resisted the rebels and refused to surrender, he was sentenced to reform through labor...

The next day, the rebels orally sentenced officials and servants in the government and county government offices who committed treachery and evil in Xicai City.

These are the people who directly dominate the common people.

Corruption and bribery are commonplace, and many innocent people have been killed. A few of them are even notorious in Ruyang City!

Although most of these people are officials who have been passed down for generations, they are of great help to the rebels in managing Ruyang City.

But after Liu Sheng learned about their numerous crimes, he still asked Duan Lei, who was presiding over the trial, to execute them in the street.

When these evil officials and their accomplices were either beheaded or cut in half, the people watching applauded and cheered loudly. The atmosphere was much more lively than when the officials were dealt with yesterday.

On the third day, the rebels did not conduct another trial, but Liu Sheng asked Xunfengying to secretly investigate the property, reputation and private affairs of large households in Ruyang City.

For the gentry, wealthy merchants, big landowners and other big households, they killed some, punished some, and "praised" some. However, the tactics that the rebels were familiar with on the newly captured city will naturally be used again in Ruyang City...
Kaifeng House.

The original name of Fucheng is Bianliang.

But for more than 200 years since the Ming Dynasty, people have changed their habit of calling it Kaifeng.

Most of the important government offices of the province, such as the Chief Envoy Department of Henan Province, the Governor of Henan Province, the Inspector General's Office, and the Inquisition Envoy Department of Henan Province, are all located in this city.

There was also Kaifeng, a vassal state owned by the King of Zhou.

Therefore, Kaifeng can be said to be one of the largest cities in Henan at this time. Only Luoyang can barely compare with it. Nanyang, Ruyang, Shangqiu, Anyang and other prefectural cities are all inferior to it.

On this day, Governor Li Xianfeng returned from outside the city with more than 3000 Fubiao soldiers, covered in dust.

He was a native of Gaoling, Xi'an, born into a squire family, and was a Jinshi in the first year of Chongzhen.

His elder brother Li Xianpin was nearly two rounds older than him and was a Jinshi in the 23rd year of Wanli.

His parents died young, and he grew up under the upbringing of his elder brother.

When his brother was an official, he used cruel methods to punish corrupt officials, eliminate malpractices, arrest bandits, and get promoted quickly.

Later, he served as a military supervisor during the Pingshe Chongming Rebellion, taking the lead in destroying enemy holes. Due to his meritorious service, he was promoted to the governor of Huguang Pianyuan. Unfortunately, he returned to his hometown to retire due to illness soon after.

Li Xianfeng knows that his qualifications are not as good as those of his elder brother, but he still learns everything from his elder brother.

Since taking office, he has often punished corrupt officials, and is especially good at exterminating bandits, so he was promoted to the position of governor.

Logically speaking, a prefect like Fu Ruwei lived a comfortable life, so he should have a good life as a governor.

But in fact, he has been in a state of turmoil since taking over last year.

Especially this year.

In the past few years, the military disaster caused by rogue bandits in Henan was just over, but this year's drought and locust plague are far greater than in previous years!

There are reports of disasters from various parts of Henan, either saying that there is no harvest or that production has been seriously reduced.

He once thought about reporting to the court to reduce taxes and request for relief.

However, considering that the previous governor was dismissed because of unfavorable tax collection and rampant abuse, he held back. He only said that the disaster situation in Henan was the same as last year, and asked for some tax exemptions.

The court was right about this.

But in fact, in the 280th year of Chongzhen, the levy and expropriation rates were increased (the national total was 12 taels), and in the 730th year of Chongzhen, the levy and training rates were increased (the national total was more than [-] million taels).

Coupled with the increase in Liaoxiang tax from 650 cents per mu to 600 cents (a total of [-] million taels collected nationwide), the people's burden of three wages and salaries has reached more than [-] million taels in addition to the original tax!

With the three rates, even if only part of the tax is collected, it will still be an extremely heavy burden for the people of Henan.Because most of the people were disaster victims, they were in need of relief from the court.

What's more, some local officials still take advantage of the opportunity to collect taxes, add more names, make money wantonly, extort people, and line their own pockets.

Even though Li Xianfeng knew the situation, he was helpless.

It's one thing to know, but it's another thing to find evidence to arrest and put you on trial.

Besides, if you really do this, who would be willing to tax the court?

Moreover, there are eight prefectures and one prefecture in Henan (prefectures under the jurisdiction of the province, and there are prefectures under the jurisdiction of the prefecture), and I don’t know how many prefectures and counties he really wants to manage. How can he manage them?
Since there were many bandits in various places that had not been wiped out completely, as soon as the summer harvest was over, bandits sprouted up again in various places.

Those who are aggressive can gather tens of thousands of people in ten months; those who are aggressive can rush across prefectures and counties within a few days, destroying strongholds and villages.

As for the thieves who have hundreds or even thousands of people who have not yet become established, they are even more numerous, and they are wiped out and resurrected!
Even though he knew that most of the bandits were forced out, Li Xianfeng had to suppress them.

If it is not suppressed, the bandits will destroy the local area, which will reduce the government's tax revenue.

When those gentry and landlords lost money or had their families destroyed by bandits, they would also hate him and ask the court to put pressure on him. In serious cases, he might even be dismissed from office and questioned.

Therefore, he has been busy suppressing bandits since the summer harvest.

However, half a year later, he and Chen Yongfu, the deputy commander guarding Kaifeng, sent troops everywhere, but they could not even quell the bandits in Kaifeng Mansion. They just prevented Kaifeng from raising any giant bandits.

There are eight prefectures and one prefecture in Henan, with Kaifeng, Henan, Nanyang and Runing being the largest.

Nowadays, in addition to Kaifeng, Henan Prefecture has produced giant bandits such as Li Jiyu and others due to its failure in suppressing bandits.

There is also a giant bandit named Xiao Yingxun in Nanyang.

Even Runing, who had been relatively calm before, showed up with Liu Sheng and Red Lady, captured Queshan County, and also became a giant bandit entrenched in the area.

If all the famous bandits from eight prefectures and one state were included, there would be dozens of them!
How can he, the governor, not be so anxious?
Return to the governor's office.

Li Xianfeng went to the backyard to bathe and change clothes first, and planned to have a meal and then take a nap to make up for the lack of sleep he had been missing in the past few days when he went out to suppress bandits. After all, he was also in his 50s and [-]s, so going around suppressing bandits was really unbearable.

Unexpectedly, when he was finishing eating, his staff member Ge Wenyou, who was responsible for communicating information, came over with a worried look on his face.

"Futai, something big happened!"

"What's the big deal?" Li Xianfeng put down his chopsticks and felt anxious.

Ge Wenyou had been in his presence for several years, but he rarely showed such a panicked side.

"The official seal of Runing Prefecture is urgently reporting that on November [-]th, Tianmu Bandit Liu Sheng broke into Ruyang City!
Tongjuan Zhu Guobao and guerrilla Cui Zhen were killed in battle at the city wall. Magistrate Fu Ruwei and magistrate Wen Shiyi were captured, and guerrilla Shen Wandeng rebelled and turned over to the thieves! "

Ge Wenyou quickly explained the contents of the urgent report before placing the letter on the table.

Li Xianfeng seemed calm, but Ge Wenyou noticed that his hands were shaking slightly.

If it were just an ordinary county town that fell, Governor Li Xianfeng would not lose his composure, and his mood might not even fluctuate much.

The problem is that Ruyang is not only the capital city, but also the location of Prince Chong’s Palace!
If his vassal fell into the hands of thieves, even the governor would not be able to handle it!

Li Xianfeng opened the emergency letter with a slight trembling and read it. Li Xianfeng was shocked and angry.

"The Liu thief arrived on the [-]th and defeated Ruyang on the [-]th? How did Fu Ruwei and others defend the city?!"

Ge Wenyou guessed: "Guan Zhuan said in his heart that Shen Wanteng surrendered to the thieves. Could it be that Shen Wanteng and Liu thieves cooperated inside and outside, and they destroyed the city in one day?"

Li Xianfeng slapped the table and said: "No matter how the city was destroyed, Fu Ruwei can't escape the blame!"

Li Xianfeng must pin the main responsibility on Fu Ruwei, otherwise he may not only lose his official position but also his life if he falls into the hands of a vassal.

It should be noted that although the bandits have been wreaking havoc for more than ten years, no vassal has ever fallen into the hands of thieves before.

Prince Chong's Mansion has now made this start.

With the character of that person today, he would probably be furious after learning about this and would have to kill several officials.

Ge Wenyou also knew that the most important thing was that his vassal would fall into the hands of thieves. He thought about it and said, "Futai does not need to be too pessimistic. King Chong may have fallen into the hands of thieves, but as long as his life is not lost, we still have room for recovery. "

After hearing this, Li Xianfeng felt less heavy.

He thought thoughtfully: "What you said makes sense, but even if King Chong is still alive, how can we save him?

Let alone saving King Chong, it would be difficult for you to send troops to Runing.The weather is getting colder and colder now, and I don’t know when it will snow.

Li Zicheng in Henan Prefecture is also becoming more and more powerful, and he is very likely to join forces with local giants such as Li Jiyu. There are also many bandits in Kaifeng Prefecture, and soldiers and horses are needed to guard the city and key points.

Even if this court wants to send troops to Runing, it doesn't have enough troops.What can be done? "

After a period of silence, Ge Wenyou said: "The only plan now is to send spies to Runing to inquire about the news about King Chong and the truth about Liu Thief."

Li Xianfeng nodded after hearing this, "That's fine. If we find out that King Chong is still alive, and this court reports the matter to the court, it will also alleviate His Majesty's anger."

Ge Wenyou is responsible for the communication of information in Li Xianfeng Curtain, and naturally he is also in charge of intelligence exploration and collection.

After coming out of the backyard of the government office, he summoned several of his men who were responsible for detecting intelligence.

　First more.

　　I'm late.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)