Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

The fifth day of the first lunar month in the twelfth year of Chongzhen, Yanzhou Prefecture.

The fifth day of the first lunar month is commonly known as the Po Wu Festival, because many taboos can be broken after this day.

The Spring Festival had just passed, but there was still a festive atmosphere in Yanzhou City. Red lanterns were hung high on both sides of the streets, and people of status greeted each other with bows when they met.

Of course, these celebrations only exist in wealthy families, and the streets are mostly populated by ordinary people.

Unlike those dignitaries, most of these common people did not have smiles on their faces.

Since the end of last year, the prices of all goods in the city have risen sharply due to the court's increase in commercial and industrial taxes.

The price increases of many things have already exceeded the amount of commercial taxes levied by the court.

At the beginning, many people thought that it was because of the Chinese New Year and too many people were buying New Year goods.

Common people cannot afford to offend those prominent figures, so they have to tighten their belts and buy less New Year goods in the hope that prices will drop after the New Year.

But now it is the fifth day of the New Year, and the prices of grain, rice and other commodities in the city have not only not fallen, but are even higher than at the end of last year.

Some people with bad tempers argued with the store owners, but were driven out by the store employees with sticks.

While beating people, he was also shouting that if anyone was to blame, it was the imperial court that was increasing taxes.

The people didn't know who to blame. They only knew that if this continued, they would not be able to make ends meet in a few days.

As a result, many people gathered at the Yanzhou government office, hoping to ask the Yanzhou prefect Chang Bizhen to come forward to seek justice for the people.

However, Chang Bi Zheng refused to show up and claimed to be ill, and only asked Tongzhi He Caimao to deal with it.

At first, the people thought that with the intervention of the government, they would be able to curb the soaring prices. However, for two days, He Caimao only said that he would negotiate with the merchants in the city, but there was no further news.

The people had no rice to live on, so they refused to give up and blocked the gate of the government office.

That evening, the people were still gathered at the Yanzhou prefectural government office and refused to disperse, but suddenly a large group of soldiers came running from both sides of the street and surrounded the group of people.

A general stepped out from the ranks of soldiers and shouted angrily at the people present:

"I am Li Ping, the captain of the city guards. You are besieging the prefectural government office wantonly. Are you planning a rebellion?"

The people were all filled with fear when they saw this. They didn't know how to respond. Suddenly, a sturdy man walked out from the crowd and said:

"General Li, how dare we rebel? The prices of goods in the city have skyrocketed for almost a month, and we can no longer make ends meet. We just want to ask the prefect for help.

But the prefect claimed to be ill and did not see us, which led to the current situation."

Seeing someone willing to step forward, all the people immediately responded in unison. Li Ping glanced at the burly man, frowned and said:

"What's your name? What do you do? Why don't you kneel when you see this general?"

The strong man also had a hot temper. Not only was he not afraid, but he shouted at the top of his voice:

"General Li has such great authority. I am just a fisherman in the countryside. My name is not important. We just want to know, is General Li here to punish us or to solve the price problem in the city?"

In fact, the Ming Dynasty law did not stipulate that the people had to kneel when they saw the officials. The people completely became kowtowers until the Ming Dynasty.

Although the rank of a thousand-household official was not low, in the eyes of the common people, the garrison soldiers were good for nothing except bullying the common people.

In that case, it doesn’t matter whether he kneels or not.

But this angered Li Ping. He pointed at the strong man and said angrily:

"Come here! Tie up this unruly man and take him to the government jail!"

As soon as he finished speaking, several soldiers rushed towards the strong man.

"What crime have I committed? I refuse to accept the consequences!" The sturdy man did not expect that Captain Li would arrest people as he said, so he shouted immediately.

"Besieging the prefectural government office is a crime. If you don't obey, you will be forced to obey once you are in jail."

Captain Li looked at the sturdy man gloomily.

As soon as these words were spoken, the people around turned pale and no one dared to speak anymore.

"Listen, everyone. If you dare to cause trouble again, I will throw you all into jail!

Why don't you just go away quickly?"

When the people present heard this, they all breathed a sigh of relief and were about to flee, but at this time, another group of people came over from outside the street.

The team consisted of about a hundred people. The leader wore a round hat, black boots, and a brown shirt. The rest wore the same hats and boots, but straight clothes.

The leader had a blank expression on his face. He took out a silver waist badge from his waist, held it high above his head, and said as he walked:

"Tian Jingwen, the chief officer of the East Jishi Factory, is in charge of supervising the implementation of the tax system in accordance with the imperial edict.

What are you all doing here?"

When the captain Li Ping saw this, his expression changed several times, but finally turned into a smile.

"Captain Tian, these unruly people have gathered to cause trouble and have hindered the work of the prefectural government, so I am leading the troops here."

Except for the factory manager and a few leaders who held official positions, most of the managers in the Dongjishi Factory had no rank.

However, the East Factory was well-known after all. Whenever it went out on business, it used the name of the emperor. Even if it had no rank, it was not something that a mere captain of a garrison like him could afford to offend.

Tian Jingwen frowned when he heard this.

"Humph! There must be a reason for a crowd to cause trouble. You only talk about the result but not the reason. Do you think I am easy to fool?"

The people present were originally very afraid of the people from the East Factory, but after hearing what Tian Jingwen said, they became happy again. The detained strong man immediately shouted:

"Lord Angel, we are not unruly people. We are here to ask the prefect to resolve the soaring prices in the city.

Captain Li wants to arrest people without any reason!"

As soon as the sturdy man finished speaking, Captain Li's expression changed immediately.

"Take him to jail!"

After saying that, Captain Li quickly pulled Tian Jingwen aside and took out a sixty-liang silver note from his waist.

Tian Jingwen did not take the banknote, but said to the criminal officer behind him:

"Manager Qian, according to Ming Dynasty law, what crime should officials who bribe be charged with?"

Upon hearing this, Manager Qian took a step forward, and like Tian Jingwen, he had no expression on his face, but spoke in a resounding voice:

"Embracing and bribery are one crime, punishable by ten taels of silver, ten strokes of the cane, and a demotion by one rank.

Twenty taels, twenty strokes of the cane, dismissal from office, and exile for five hundred miles.

Forty taels, forty strokes of the cane, dismissal from office, and exile a thousand miles.

……

Those who shave sixty taels or more will be skinned and stuffed with straw, and then hung as a flag at the gate of the government office to serve as a warning to others! "

"Then what are you waiting for? This person bribed me in public, and there are witnesses and evidence!" Tian Jingwen said in a deep voice.

"Come here, arrest the criminal Li Ping!" Manager Qian immediately ordered his subordinates.

Li Ping was dumbfounded, he just wanted to get close to them, after all, it was said that officials from all over the country acted in the same way when people from the East Depot came here.

Unexpectedly, this guy named Tian Jingwen not only didn't give him face, but also wanted to catch him right away.

They even brought up the ancestral rule that those who embezzled or bribed sixty taels of silver would be skinned and stuffed with straw.

Didn't this outdated ancestral custom disappear long ago in the Ming Dynasty?

……