Chapter 469 - Autumn Levy (Part 24)
"That's easy enough. We just need to coordinate with Secretary Wang per the usual procedure," Wu Ya said.
Both the Constable Squad chief and the Household Clerk were extremely lucrative positions in the county. Filling them required substantial payments—for a county as modest as Lingao, the Household Clerk position cost two hundred taels of silver. The Constable Squad chief also required a certain tribute before taking office. These kickbacks went to the county magistrate. Of course, such opportunities were rare under normal circumstances.
"I'll naturally coordinate with Secretary Wang on this matter," Xiong Buyou said, inwardly annoyed by these endless irregular fees. In this remote and backward frontier county, not a single such practice was missing.
Still, for now the county yamen's façade had to be maintained. Following procedure was acceptable. A few hundred taels of silver was nothing to the transmigrators.
"But now that you've dealt with Chen Minggang and his entire crew, how will this year's autumn levy proceed?" Wu Ya expressed concern.
"No need to worry. Collecting this grain is child's play for us." Xiong Buyou patted his chest, though he himself didn't know exactly what Wu De planned. Nor did he particularly care—there was always a solution.
"The immediate priority is to have Zhou Qi take over Chen Minggang's operation as quickly as possible," Wu Ya said. "How much has already been collected? How many grain tallies have been issued? How much has the granary actually received? These are all complex matters. Zhou Qi may be experienced, but we'll need to retain a few of Chen Minggang's people as well..."
"Thank you for your guidance, Deputy Magistrate Wu." Xiong Buyou was to remain at the county yamen to complete the takeover work, so he wasn't in any hurry to leave. Instead, he chatted casually with the two officials. In truth, he already knew everything about their family situations. This was purely relationship-building, while also probing for more intelligence about the inner workings of the yamen.
Lunch was provided by the Welfare Society Restaurant—quite exquisite, accompanied by fine wine. The several men chatted most companionably. Wu Ya and Sun Ruiwu were both minor officials who'd been stuck in place for over a decade. They had long since given up hope of promotion and viewed their posts merely as a means of livelihood. Compared to Wu Mingjin, they had far fewer misgivings and spoke more freely.
When discussion turned to the three squads and six offices of the yamen, both men had plenty to complain about. Lingao had always been a place beyond the emperor's reach. Not only were local strongmen extremely overbearing, but the clerks were also deeply entrenched, controlling county administration and regarding the officials as beneath notice. Wu Mingjin, as the proper magistrate, was treated somewhat better. Subordinate officials like Wu Ya and Sun Ruiwu often had to beg the clerks to get things done. Whatever kickbacks they were given, they accepted without daring to haggle.
"Officials like us are walking the 'path of epidemic ghosts,'" Wu Ya said bitterly. "I've served as Jail Warden and Registrar in five or six counties—all 'hardship posts in frontier wastelands.' After nearly twenty years, I barely made it to County Deputy, only to be assigned here! One term wasn't enough—I'm serving a second! And even if I get transferred, who knows which godforsaken corner I'll end up as yet another petty official!"
Sun Ruiwu echoed his sighs. Xiong Buyou made sympathetic noises while privately taking mental notes. These two minor officials, though part of the ruling class, were clearly dissatisfied with reality. Having served long in local positions, they possessed rich administrative experience and knew official procedures well. They were worth cultivating as potential assets. The Intelligence Committee had issued a circular to all departments, asking them to keep an eye out for recruitable candidates during their regular work.
He lavished attention on them and made a great show of sympathizing with their grievances. Though both knew this was merely social courtesy, hearing themselves praised by the "all-powerful" Australians still made them feel better. A sense of mutual appreciation developed.
This drinking session lasted until after two in the afternoon. Xiong Buyou personally escorted them back to their residences—Lingao being a small place, officials from outside all lived with their families within the yamen complex. He also took the opportunity to greet their family members and gather more information. Only then did he return to his command post within the yamen compound.
The county yamen had now been effectively taken over. The action team members from the Political Security operations division, dressed in constable uniforms, controlled all entrances and key departments. The next step was a comprehensive purge of the yamen's institutions.
The plan for taking over the county yamen had been discussed several times between Wu De and the others. How to arrange and deal with the three squads and six offices had been carefully considered. If they eliminated everyone, the county's routine administrative functions would be paralyzed—contrary to their goals. After several discussions, they decided to begin with the "strong-arm" and key departments.
What the transmigrators called "strong-arm departments" were the "three squads." Of these, the Constable Squad handled court processions, maintained order during hearings, and administered torture; the Runner Squad handled public security and catching thieves; the Militia Squad was responsible for local security forces. These three "squads" were the "sword-wielding" elements of the organization and had to be completely taken over.
The takeover model would resemble that of the Bopu Patrol Station. However, the Patrol Captain was at least an official—the transmigrators couldn't casually dismiss him and would have to keep him as a figurehead. The three squads had no such constraints. Whether to replace everyone from top to bottom or partially retain some could be decided at will.
"Among these three departments, the Militia Squad has the least technical content," said Dong Weiwei, the "amateur Ming history expert," based on historical knowledge and gathered intelligence. "This county's eighty militiamen serve barely any function beyond the most basic city defense. In the past, bandit suppression relied primarily on local defense forces and village militias."
The militiamen under the Militia Squad's command were different from the regular Ming military forces like garrison troops or guard stations. They were local security forces specifically used to guard prefectural and county yamen, and also frequently handled tasks like escorting prisoners, transporting grain tribute, and patrolling the locality. As for their combat effectiveness—that was another matter entirely. In the Qing dynasty, the Militia Squad was nicknamed "foxes," meaning they wielded only borrowed authority like a fox using a tiger's might, with no real fighting power.
The local Militia Squad chief was a butcher named Li Heng—the only butcher running a meat shop in the county. Having purchased this position, he routinely bullied the countryside, engaging in forced purchases and other abuses. Public resentment against him was considerable.
This Militia Squad chief had another notorious "achievement": he frequently exploited prisoner escort duties, directing his men to collude with exiles in highway robbery along the route. He had several murder cases connected to robberies on his record.
This seemingly outrageous behavior was actually not rare at the time—indeed, it could be called an open secret of the "hidden rules."
"The Militia Squad will be completely purged—chief and all militiamen sent to the study class. We'll sort them out individually later," Wu De said. "Li Heng has aroused considerable public anger. We can have the yamen revoke his position. We'll hold him for now and deal with him through a public trial when the opportunity arises."
An infantry company would be drawn from the army to fill the "militia" vacancy. This way, the county seat's defense would be entirely in the transmigrators' hands.
"The most useful aspect of the Constable Squad for us lies in administering torture," Dong Weiwei said. "They're not particularly useful otherwise, but if you insist they have technical content, I won't argue."
"Someone has to do the dirty work," Wu De said. Currently, some transmigrators were also "doing dirty work"—Zhou Dongtian was one—but the numbers were far from sufficient. Most transmigrators had grown up in modern civilized society. Pulling a trigger to kill someone was manageable; actually torturing a living person was beyond most of them.
"These people are every one of them wolf-hearted and dog-lunged, but they can stomach it. Many things can be delegated to them."
"We can leave the Constable Squad alone for now," Xiong Buyou said. "They can't cause any trouble anyway."
"No, there are too many constables. We can't support so many people on the government payroll," Wu De said. "Their wages may be meager, but they'll squeeze it from the common people. So we only need to keep a few."
Additionally, the Constable Squad controlled the yamen's own security and escorted county officials' comings and goings, as well as handling many miscellaneous duties within the yamen.
"The Constable Squad must be firmly in our hands—that way we'll have complete control over everyone in the yamen."
The final decision was to send the entire Constable Squad to the study class, screen out seven or eight who could be "reformed and utilized" as torturers, and replace the rest with interns from the Political Security General Administration.
"Won't they have to participate in court sessions, march in processions, and all that?" Zhou Botao asked.
"Is that difficult?"
"I know it's not difficult, but the interns were trained with considerable effort. Using them for this—isn't that wasteful?"
"Not wasteful at all. This is exactly where they're needed." Wu De smiled. "Don't worry—once we have a population boom, the rapid-training class interns won't be so precious anymore. For now, giving them practical experience will make them the core cadres of the future."
Last to be dealt with was the Runner Squad. Of the three squads, this one had aroused the most public anger. In theory, the Runner Squad was supposed to maintain public order; in practice, it did the opposite. Generally speaking, the runners only arrested "clueless" or "dense" outside thieves and petty criminals. Anyone who had registered with them and paid their dues received protection; sometimes the runners even participated personally. Some runner squad chiefs were themselves the heads of the county's criminal underworld. Ordinary people suffered tremendously from them, and even gentry households were often subject to their extortion. They were universally despised, yet no one dared offend them.
Wu De planned to use graduates of the police rapid-training program to completely replace the Runner Squad personnel and establish a modern police system within the county seat.
"However, this runner squad won't be the county-wide institution it was before," Wu De explained. "In practical terms, it will only have the status of a county-seat district station."
With the plan set, implementation proceeded in an orderly fashion. As dusk fell, the night watchmen began beating their clappers and calling out "Curfew!" in the streets as ordered. There was no night market here; originally no one walked about after dark anyway. In moments, the streets were deserted. Army companies waiting outside the city entered in file, beginning with the militiamen at the gates, then proceeding to the yamen.
The runners of the three squads were assembled according to the roster one after another. Some had sensed something was wrong since the afternoon, but with the gates and yamen under control, they had nowhere to flee. They could only submit to arrest.
(End of Chapter)