Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 318: Millions of prostitutes, eradicate all evil!

"The Chopping Knife Gang".

The name comes from their iconic weapon - a sharp hatchet.

The gang members are basically between their teens and twenties. Most of them are ruffians and scoundrels who do nothing during the day but become a nightmare in the streets at night.

This group of people were poorly equipped: a wood-chopping axe and a brick, which were all the weapons they had to commit the crimes.

At first, the Chopstick Gang was just a group of idle young people who walked on the edge of Ming Dynasty laws to make a living, such as robbing small vendors and fighting.

Due to the turmoil in the imperial court and the support and inclination of many national policies towards local areas, the attention of local government offices was mainly focused on construction. Countless local young and middle-aged people devoted themselves to the construction of 25,000 miles of straight roads and 100,000 schools in the Ming Dynasty, and did not pay attention to these sporadic chaos.

The Chopstick Gang seized the opportunity and started beating up the old and weak and molesting the women, which was what the gang members were good at.

As a result, the power of the Chopstick Gang expanded rapidly, and they established multiple forces in Zunhua Prefecture and its surrounding areas.

The Chopstick Gang was no longer satisfied with small-scale conflicts, but began to target larger targets.

The shops and small vendors along the streets of Zunhua Prefecture became the main source of income for the Chopstick Gang, and these Chopstick Gang members would appear in groups in the streets and alleys.

They were more polite when dealing with shops. When a group of people came into a shop, they would lean against it casually. If any customer dared to enter the shop, they would take out the hatchet and scare the customer away, forcing the shopkeeper to pay the insurance premium.

When it comes to the poorer street vendors, the Chopstick Gang has no manners at all. Anyone who refuses to pay the premium will be severely beaten.

In order to save their lives, the small vendors had no choice but to succumb to the tyranny of the Chopstick Gang and pay the insurance premiums in silence.

If someone cannot tolerate this, they will report it to the government office. However, the Chopping Knife Gang was able to grow and become stronger because it had close ties with the government office.

Upon receiving the complaint, the magistrate of Zunhua Prefecture would dispatch two shifts of yamen runners to arrest the suspects, but it would not be long before the arrested members of the Chopping Knife Gang were released due to insufficient evidence.

Then, they would launch a brutal revenge on the complainant, and it would be normal for him to even have his hands and feet broken.

Once, twice... after so many times, the people of Zunhua Prefecture finally understood what was going on.

Knowing that they can scare and intimidate the people, the members of the Chopstick Gang are becoming more and more arrogant. Gradually, they are no longer satisfied with collecting insurance premiums and are instead engaging in faster ways to make money.

One is gambling, the other is prostitution.

Under the sun.

I'm afraid there is no faster way to make money than these two.

The Chopstick Gang opened a large number of gambling houses and brothels in Zunhua Prefecture and its vicinity.

The insurance premiums received are used to lend the money to those greedy gamblers in the gambling house at interest. Nine out of ten times, the gamblers will cheat and lose, so there is no chance of winning or making a comeback. If they cannot pay off their debts, the people in the gambling house will use the gamblers' wives, children and daughters to pay off the debts.

The wives and daughters of the gamblers were sent directly to the brothels run by the Chopstick Gang, while the sons, under the intimidation, seduction and bewitching of the Chopstick Gang, became members of the Chopstick Gang.

From a victim, he became one of the perpetrators.

However, only a few people could gamble enough to sell their wives and daughters, and beautiful people were a minority in the world. The brothel business was not good, and the "immortal" Chopstick Gang, relying on the protection of the government, simply returned to their old business and robbed any girl they took a fancy to.

This was why, when Hai Rui first entered Zunhua Prefecture, the people whose daughter was kidnapped came to him for help due to their desperation. The old man and woman were really prepared to die if their daughter could not be saved, and they stopped the carriage of the Minister of Rites of the time with the last glimmer of hope.

Hai Rui's name was known to everyone in the Ming Dynasty. Even ordinary people knew it, let alone the two shifts of yamen runners in the county government.

Therefore, after Hai Rui entered the Zunhua County Court, the captain on duty knew that he was in danger. He led the bailiffs to rescue the woman first, without even having time to report to the county magistrate.

But the Chopstick Gang had already found a bigger backer, and even had a relationship with the concubine of the prefect of Yongping Prefecture, so they no longer had much fear of the magistrate of Zunhua Prefecture.

The one who took a fancy to the rescued woman was the only son of the leader of the Chop Knife Gang. As a result, dozens of Chop Knife Gang members rushed into the county government office, beat and scolded the county yamen runners, and even attacked the Embroidered Uniform Guards in an attempt to rapine the woman.

However, I didn’t expect to hit “Nanshan”.

The most impartial and selfless of the Nine Ministers of the Ming Dynasty, no, he has just been promoted to Cabinet Elder, and the task he is ordered to supervise is to eliminate crime and evil.

Naturally, the first fire started in Zunhua Prefecture, then spread to Yongping Prefecture and even to Shuntian Prefecture.

Detailed information about thousands of Xiadao Gang members, including their strongholds, gang composition and activity patterns, was quickly presented to the Jinyiwei.

Hai Rui once again issued an order from the Prime Minister, hunting down the members of the Axe Gang. Kill them wherever they were found. If they were found on the street, they would be killed there. If they were caught in a toilet, they would be drowned in the pit.

To this end, the Jinyiwei formulated a detailed plan.

The entire Zunhua Prefecture was divided into several key areas, and the specific locations of the various strongholds of the "Chaidao Gang" were determined based on intelligence analysis.

In order to ensure the secrecy and suddenness of the operation, the Jinyiwei decided to adopt the strategy of zoned encirclement and concentrated attack, that is, to raid multiple "Chaidao Gang" strongholds at the same time to prevent the Chaidao Gang members from having time, opportunity, and possibility to escape.

The entire operation lasted only a few hours, and by nightfall, the situation in Zunhua Prefecture was under full control.

One thousand two hundred and fifty-six members of the Chopstick Gang were all beheaded, all the gambling houses and brothels were raided, the pimps and brothels were killed, and the prostitutes were placed in a nunnery to await enlightenment.

The raid was successfully completed, and the streets of Zunhua Prefecture returned to their long-lost tranquility, but Hai Rui's cleansing of the area was not over yet.

Following the "vine" of the Chopping Knife Gang, the Jinyiwei found countless "clutches". Countless pieces of evidence were found by the Jinyiwei and placed in front of Hai Rui. It can be said that every case was full of blood and sweat, and every case deserves death.

The entire Zunhua county government, celebrities, and prominent families have all received bribes or benefits from the Axe Gang.

Hai Rui had always hated officials who were unkind and sought fame, so he immediately issued a third order from the cabinet, saying, "Pass on my order. Anyone who has anything to do with the Chopping Knife Gang will be killed without mercy, and all their property will be confiscated and put into the national treasury!"

"Yes!" the Jinyiwei captain received the order.

Actions against government officials, celebrities, and prominent families were much simpler. These well-known people could not escape from the temple or the monks. They would kill the criminals according to the map and then leave. The Jinyiwei and the imperial guards traveled throughout the county, killing nearly a thousand people and confiscating more than a million.

When the blood-stained account books were presented to him, Hai Rui remained expressionless and indifferent. He looked in the direction of the Yongping government office. Calculating the time, the prefect of Yongping Prefecture should have been arrested by now.

The bodies of the dead were burned, and their heads were piled up to form a mausoleum at the entrance to Zunhua County, while Hai Rui's carriage meandered towards the Yongping government office.

……

cabinet.

News came in from all directions.

In just two months, the two capitals and fifteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty cracked down on 6,140 gangs involved in organized crime, such as gambling houses and brothels, 19,776 gangs involved in evil, executed 38,442 gangsters and evil forces, arrested 70,684 gangsters and evil forces, and investigated 6,719 officials involved in corruption involving organized crime and evil forces.

Such means obviously shocked the emperor. To kill and capture so many people, it must have been done by the Jinyiwei and Tiqi from all over the country and the Dongchang soldiers who attacked everywhere.

In their briefings to the Cabinet, the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot specifically gave "high praise" to certain local gangs.

The most powerful gang in history: Yang Kuan, the leader of the axe gang of Yongping Prefecture, secretly stored 38 muskets, more than 10,000 fire bullets, 100 sets of armor, and four "chariots" in this capital area, at the feet of the emperor.

In the final arrest operation, the Jinyiwei of Yongping Prefecture almost got into trouble. If the intelligence had not been sent in advance and the nearest Beijing camp had not been directly mobilized to provide support, the Jinyiwei and Dongchang responsible for the arrest might have paid a heavy price.

And this is not just an ordinary gang of evil people. According to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, anyone who privately possesses muskets and armor, regardless of the purpose, is considered treason.

Hai Rui, the cabinet elder, took powerful action at the first opportunity, beheading all of Yang Kuan and other members of the Chopping Knife Gang, and even scattering their ashes. At the same time, he also exterminated the relatives of Yang Kuan and other high-ranking members of the Chopping Knife Gang.

However, muskets and armor were not something that the Axe Gang had the chance to touch. Xu Heng, the prefect of Yongping Prefecture and a marquis of a prefecture, was beheaded by Hai Rui's Emperor's Sword.

But this is far from the limit of the darkness and evil in this place.

The highest-level gangster: the evil tyrant Liu Yong. This gangster corrupted the officials of the Wei Army, from the prefect Mu Han of Shenyang Zhongwei, the co-prefect Qian Jiang, the magistrate Zhao Wei, to the county yamen runners under the jurisdiction of Shenyang Zhongwei, without exception, all of them were evil and criminal.

If the military had not been independent of the court system, and Hu Zongxian and Wang Chonggu had not made many adjustments to the military commanders of various towns, I am afraid that the entire Shenyang Zhongwei would have been controlled by Liu Yong's "superiors".

When Mu Han, Qian Jiang and Zhao Wei first received the order from the cabinet minister, they did not take it seriously at all and allowed the gang to continue to harm the people.

This immediately aroused the vigilance of the Jinyiwei in the Shenyang Zhongwei. After learning the inside story, they reported it one after another, directly to the cabinet and Yuxi Palace. Finally, Zhu Qi, the acting commander of the Jinyiwei, personally went to Liaodong with the imperial edict, mobilized the border troops, blocked the entry and exit of the Shenyang Zhongwei for seven days, and cleared up everything with iron blood.

Mu Han, Qian Jiang and Zhao Wei surrendered together, and their entire families were executed.

Even so, the prefect of Yongping Prefecture and the prefect of Zhongwei in Shenyang were not the most evil people.

The highest-ranking gang leader: Sun Lang, the Censor of Huguang, formerly the prefect of Yongzhou Prefecture. During the turmoil in the court in the 40th, 41st and 42nd years of Jiajing, he took advantage of the opportunity. When Huguang received the order from the Cabinet, Sun Lang, who had been a criminal for 20 years, was fully responsible for the affairs of eradicating evil. But no one expected that this bastard was the boss of the "Shengtian Gang" which was spread throughout the prefectures and counties of Huguang.

At the beginning, Sun Lang killed and arrested some people in a proper manner and achieved considerable political achievements.

But his real purpose was to take advantage of this opportunity to kill all other gangs in Huguang and become the uncrowned king of both the black and white worlds in Huguang.

With criminal justice in the left hand and darkness and evil in the right hand, he can be described as lawless.

But long before the campaign against organized crime and evil began, Sun Lang had already been targeted by the Jinyiwei. When Sun Lang was in the secret room, shouting "Half a step ahead of heaven", a senior secret agent of the Jinyiwei hiding beside him hacked him to death with a knife.

The Shengtian Gang was also attacked at the same time by the Jinyiwei from various prefectures and counties in Huguang. Those who should be killed were killed, and those who should be arrested were arrested.

Within a few days, all the evil and darkness in Huguang was wiped out.

As for the youngest gang, the "Black Tiger Society" in Guangdong and Guangxi, except for the "boss" Feng Xi who was born in the 12th year of Jiajing, the other core gang members were all born after the 25th year of Jiajing. They also recruited more than 60 ruffians and scoundrels born after the 30th year of Jiajing as their "henchmen".

Also in Guangdong and Guangxi, the Jinyiwei gave another evaluation, that is, the closest gangster around them: There is a Bailulou in Yangjiang County under Zhaoqing Prefecture, which specializes in wine and food business, but it has opened stores all over Zhaoqing Prefecture.

Lin Qin, the owner of Bailulou, teamed up with Xu Li, a gangster on the street, and started a "no-cost business". Whether it was the daily food needs of Bailulou or the opening of a new restaurant, Xu Li was responsible for extorting them. If they didn't give in, he would chop off their hands and feet.

Bailu Tower started out in this way, and Lin Qin and Xu Li also made a fortune. After Lin Qin and Xu Li were beheaded by the Jinyiwei, their wealth was liquidated and amounted to more than one million taels of silver.

It is no less than the wealth of a large gang.

But all of these were put into the national treasury.

It was a rare moment for Gao Gong, the Prime Minister and Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, to smile. Before cracking down on the evil in the two capitals and fifteen provinces, he was still worried that something bad would happen. But when he saw the countless silver and money being poured into the national treasury, he suddenly felt that nothing was a problem.

So much evil and corruption at least brought hundreds of millions of taels of silver into the national treasury. It might not be enough to build 25,000 miles of straight roads, but it was more than enough to build "100,000 schools".

Cracking down on gangs and eliminating evil can earn money at the national policy level. Gao Gong believes that such things that benefit the country and the people should be done more often.

There are always shortcomings in local self-inspections, and the Jinyiwei cannot cover everything. Gao Gong even believes that ordinary people should be involved, and anyone who reports evil and criminals should be rewarded handsomely.

In order to prevent local government offices from abusing their power and bending the law, the Censorate of the Censorate should be sent as imperial envoys to inspect the provinces, prefectures and counties across the country. If the people do not trust the local government offices, they can report to the imperial envoys, who will also be heavily rewarded if the facts are verified.

As it was related to "money prospects", Gao Gong was very interested and quickly drafted a memorial, "a memorial to completely eliminate evil", in which he elaborated on what he was thinking in detail.

After he stopped writing, he asked Hu Zongxian and Li Chunfang to take a look and asked for their opinions. Hu and Li were silent for a moment, but did not object or add anything.

Gao Gong asked Gao Youshi, the secretary of the cabinet, to go to Yuxi Palace to present a memorial, but immediately below the memorial was the number of prostitutes caught in this campaign against organized crime and evil.

There were 100,000 people along the Qinhuai River alone, in the capital, Hangzhou... In total, there were as many as one million people in the two capitals and fifteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty. I wonder how much money it would cost to educate them.

What's more, many of these prostitutes have been working in the industry for many years and suffer from illnesses. It is unknown how much it would cost to treat them.

Gao Gong "woke up" from the stream of money, holding his chest, as if bleeding...

(End of this chapter)