Chapter 1724: The Prefect's Yamen
Kneeling at the very front was Wei Bifu, the former Vice Prefect of Guangzhou. Seeing the Hair-shorn superior step down from the sedan, he hastened to announce loudly: "Wei Bifu and the civil and military surrendered persons of Guangzhou pay respects to Lord Liu!"
Only then did Liu Xiang notice the large crowd before the spirit wall. Several dozen people knelt prostrate on the ground, not daring even to breathe loudly. He felt his "official addiction" swelling. Clearing his throat, he asked: "Who are those kneeling?"
Wei Bifu responded eagerly: "Your guilty servant Wei Bifu leads the civil and military surrendered persons of one prefecture and two counties to wait upon Your Excellency here."
Liu Xiang observed that Wei Bifu was white-haired with a completely white beard. A man of such advanced age, still striving to present a servile manner—he couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Fame and fortune truly wore people down! He said: "You may all rise and speak."
Wei Bifu took the lead, trembling as he stood. The group of surrendered persons behind him rose as well, each bowing respectfully with lowered heads, not daring to look up.
The Vice Prefect was the assistant official of the Prefect, generally responsible for specific areas of administration. In a prefecture, it was already a considerable position. However, the fact that the highest-ranking official to surrender in Guangzhou Prefecture was merely a Vice Prefect left Liu Xiang somewhat disappointed. Though the External Intelligence Bureau had warned that few local officials would surrender, he had still hoped the Guangzhou Prefect himself might submit.
"Where is the Prefect?"
Wei Bifu's body trembled slightly. "Reporting to Your Excellency—Old Master Dong... stubbornly resisted the Heavenly Army and has already committed suicide by poison in the rear quarters..."
This Prefect Dong had been in office for less than half a year. Receiving an appointment to Guangzhou had been a plum assignment under both Ming and Qing—no one expected it would become a death sentence.
"There are quite a few officials in Guangzhou Prefecture. How is it that only you few are here?"
"Reporting to Your Excellency, many were incorrigible. Some committed suicide resisting the Heavenly Army; others abandoned their posts and are of unknown whereabouts."
Liu Xiang nodded. "Let us go in and have a look."
When Zhu Yuanzhang had ruled, he established the "National Standards for Construction of Government Offices at All Levels," so yamens of prefectures and counties throughout the realm were built according to a uniform format. In his previous travels, Liu Xiang had visited the Hongtong County Yamen and the Nanyang Prefectural Yamen. After arriving in this era, he had toured the county and prefectural yamens on Hainan Island. Apart from differences in size and architectural refinement, the basic design was always the same.
But this was his first time receiving a prefectural yamen as a victor. The feeling was entirely different.
Wei Bifu hastened to say: "Allow this humble official to lead the way for Your Excellency."
With Wei Bifu leading, they passed the spirit wall to find a memorial archway inscribed "Proclaiming and Publicizing Memorial." On the left and right stood the "Clarification Pavilion" and the "Commendation Pavilion." After entering the main gate, there was an interior screen wall—the so-called Xiao Wall. Circling around it into the courtyard, they came to the second gate, the Ceremonial Gate. Two courtyards flanked it: the east side held the Guest Reception Hall, the west the Judiciary Office, along with a Land God Temple.
Liu Xiang saw five or six corpses lying before the Judiciary Office and started. "What happened here?"
"Reporting to Your Excellency—the Heavenly Army released all prisoners from the prefectural prison and killed several jailers..." Wei Bifu said apprehensively.
"The prisoners?" Liu Xiang sensed something was wrong. There was no such directive in the takeover plan.
"The Heavenly Army has released them all..."
Liu Xiang's expression darkened. He muttered under his breath: "Nonsense!"
Though Wei Bifu didn't catch his words, he saw the sudden displeasure on his face. Not knowing what had touched a nerve, he grew fearful and bowed even lower.
Liu Xiang had no patience for empty talk. He called over a naturalized citizen cadre beside him: "Go to the Security Command immediately and convey my order: anyone seen on the streets wearing prisoner's clothing or barely clothed, suspected of escaping from prison, is to be arrested without exception."
"Yes, Chief!"
Whenever there was a rebellion, every captured city would "release all prisoners" to demonstrate contempt for the old authority, proclaim benevolent governance, and expand their own forces. But for the Senate, the situation was different. Even if many prisoners had been unjustly imprisoned—locked up for trivial "offenses"—plenty were genuine criminals: bandits, robbers, murderers, petty thieves. Besides, the Guangzhou Prefectural prison differed from the county jails of Shunde and Nanhai; its inmates came from over a dozen counties throughout Guangzhou Prefecture. Releasing these people directly into society—without money to return home, without food or clothing—would immediately create an unstable element in public security.
When formulating the entry plan, Liu Xiang had specifically instructed that the policy for taking over the prefectural and county prisons was to "accept as is, temporarily not process." Yet someone had still made a mess of it.
He asked: "Which unit was responsible for the takeover here? Get the commanding officer to see me!"
Wei Bifu saw his unfriendly expression and stepped back. Then the "Fake Hair-shorn" officer who had first entered the prefectural yamen jogged over, stood at attention before the Chief, and raised his hand to his forehead—the military salute of the Hair-shorn bandits. He announced loudly:
"Platoon Leader of 1st Platoon, Battle Line 4th Company, 4th Infantry Battalion, Second Lieutenant Wu Baliu!"
"Was it you who smashed open the prefectural prison, killed the jailers, and released the prisoners?"
"Yes!" Wu Baliu said loudly. "That place was simply unfit for humans—a living hell. The prisoners' hands and feet were clamped in racks and had rotted until maggots grew. I saw several corpses wrapped in reed mats in the back, all bleeding from their orifices—the prisoners said the jailers had secretly murdered them for bribes over the past few days... I was furious! Is there no justice? So I killed the jailers and released all the prisoners!" He still seemed rather pleased with himself, as if he had enforced justice on Heaven's behalf.
"You fool!" Liu Xiang bellowed. Seeing the other man's astonished eyes, he realized he had overreacted. Softening his tone, he said: "The jailers who abused and tortured prisoners to death deserve punishment—but they deserve lawful punishment. The prisoners may include the wrongly accused and those who suffered injustice—but they need to be distinguished case by case. That is the work of the National Police and the courts, not your job!" He took a breath. "That prison held both good and bad people. You released everyone at once. Where do victims of robbery and murder go to seek justice now? Who told you everyone in prison is innocent?"
"I..." Wu Baliu scratched his head, chagrined. "I didn't think it through."
"How many prisoners did you release?"
"I didn't... didn't count..." he stammered. "When we opened the prison doors, a flood of people rushed out. Only about a dozen are left now—those with wounds from punishment and the sick... Chief... did I make a mistake..."
Liu Xiang said: "Your mistake will be handled by the army. Return to your unit now and await the National Army takeover." He turned to Wei Bifu: "Let us continue."
Wei Bifu felt slight relief and didn't dare offer any more opportunistic flattery. He simply led the way. Passing through the Ceremonial Gate, they saw a pavilion in the middle of the courtyard walkway, named the "Admonition Stone Pavilion." This too was a format established by Zhu Yuanzhang. Liu Xiang knew that on the stone facing the main hall was carved: "Your salary and your emolument are the grease and marrow of the people; the common folk are easily abused, but Heaven is not easily deceived." The outer side bore three characters: "Justice Begets Clarity."
The east and west sides of the main hall courtyard were lined with clerk offices: the Documents Office on the east, managing the dispatch and receipt of documents, and the Archives Office on the west, managing the examination of files from the six departments. Behind the main hall was what Liu Xiang most cared about—the Shelf Archive—which had been sealed with wax seals and was guarded by soldiers. All other areas were similarly secured.
Liu Xiang asked a few questions and learned that the Treasury (prefectural treasury) had also been sealed and was under guard. The two locations in the prefectural yamen he cared about most had no problems, so he was relieved.
Behind the main hall was the second hall, used for hearing ordinary cases. Passing through, they arrived at the Flower Hall—this was already the residential portion of the government office. The Flower Hall was where the chief official held public and private banquets and received guests; some cases unsuitable for public hearing were also conducted here. Its arrangement was more domestic, lacking the solemnity of the main and second halls.
At the moment, however, the chairs in the Flower Hall were in disarray—a complete mess. Several corpses lay on the ground, covered with white cloth. Naturalized citizen clerks stood guard beside them.
"This is—"
"Old Master Dong... and his family's bodies. We are waiting for Your Excellency's inspection." Wei Bifu hastened to say.
Liu Xiang nodded. The coroner who had been waiting at the side lifted the white cloth and said ingratiatingly: "Your Excellency, please see. It is indeed death by poison."
The deceased Prefect was middle-aged, not portly—somewhat haggard, in fact. He probably didn't come from a wealthy family. Liu Xiang recalled that Lin Baiguang had told him Old Master Dong had been quite close to the Guangzhou Station, accepting "gifts" and "stipends" from Guo Yi without hesitation, turning a blind eye to the Senate's affairs in Guangzhou. He had assumed someone like Old Master Dong would surrender. He hadn't expected such decisive suicide.
"Master Dong's attendant is waiting in the corridor. Would you like to call him in for questioning?" Wei Bifu asked.
"Yes."
Wei Bifu waved toward the bottom of the Flower Hall steps. A middle-aged man rushed in from the corridor, first kneeling on the ground and kowtowing to Liu Xiang: "Greetings to the Great Lord."
"Stand up." Liu Xiang gestured. "You are Master Dong's attendant?"
"Yes, this slave is Dong Qing."
"Do you recognize the corpses here?"
"Yes—they were all prepared for burial by this slave and this slave's woman personally." Dong Qing wore a mournful expression. "Master Dong, Madam Dong, Madam Dong's personal maid, and Master Dong's nephew. They all committed suicide by poison."
Liu Xiang sighed and waved his hand: "Find coffins and have them encoffined as soon as possible."
"Yes, thank you for Your Excellency's grace." Dong Qing knelt again and kowtowed loudly several times.
Liu Xiang asked: "Is there anyone else in his family?"
Before Dong Qing could answer, Wei Bifu spoke up: "There is also a concubine and a young lady, plus a few maids and servants. They are all being held in the rear quarters. This humble official had someone watch over them and forbade them from committing suicide, awaiting Your Excellency's decision."
"Oh?" Liu Xiang was somewhat surprised. He had participated in pacification campaigns before and broken through many strongholds of landlords and powerful families. After every stronghold fell—for fear of humiliation—not only the masters' family members but even maids and servants would commit suicide. So every time a stronghold was taken, special squads had to be dispatched to intercept and counsel them.