After the war is over, the next question is how to deal with the surrendered thieves and their families?

This is a problem that caused great headaches in the Ming Dynasty, and it is also the root of the thieves who have repeatedly suppressed the thieves. If you don’t deal with this problem well, it is difficult to guarantee that the 700 thieves who surrendered today will not rebel again.

When in the capital, in addition to studying the methods of handling thieves by governors from various places and finding the pros and cons, Zhu Cilang has secretly discussed the methods of handling thieves with Wu Di, Zhang Jiayu, several staff officers of the General Office of the Staff, as well as generals in the army.

Everyone is divided into two completely different factions, one is dominated by generals such as Liu Zhaoji and He Zhen, who believe that all thieves should be executed on the spot and eliminated the roots so as not to rise again. The reason is very sufficient: thieves are all surrendered and rebelled again, and they are capricious. Once they are released, they will be in danger. Zhang Xianzhong and others are the best examples.

What's more, thieves are treasons. According to the Ming Dynasty, those who directly participate in the treason should be executed.

The literati represented by Wu Yan and Zhang Jiayu have another view. They believe that most of the thieves are farmers forced by life. Except for some of the thieves who do evil, who must be beheaded, everyone else should give them a chance to reform.

Listening to the opinions of both parties and combining some experiences in previous lives, Zhu Cixuan finally formulated a preliminary plan.

That is to set up a "simplified court" that specializes in dealing with thieves.

First, we will classify the surrendered thieves, first select some bandits who are extremely guilty and are deeply resentful by the people, and execute them publicly in front of the people. How to choose? The method is simple. All the thieves are brought to the people for the people to identify. Anyone who commits a bloody crime or commits a serious crime can be convicted of death.

For example, now, any murder case that has been committed in Liudian Town can be identified by the people of Lidian Town.

There will definitely be someone who misses the internet, some thieves did not commit crimes in Liudian Town, or the person he murdered has died, and no one can identify him.

But there is no way. Without evidence, it is impossible to kill all the surrendered thieves. Then, no one will surrender. At this stage, this kind of expedient can only be used.

Then the verdict was issued, and two to eight years of labor reform were sentenced to the thief's reform according to the time and size of the position they participated in. What is labor reform? As the word "有有" means labor reform. The longer the participation time, the higher the position in the thief's position, the longer the labor reform will be required.

As for the location of labor reform, Zhu Cilang also set a few tentatively, one was the construction of the Great Wall in Huangyaguan and other places, the second was the small coal mine in the capital, and the third was the construction of cities in various places after Henan was pacified. In short, all the thieves had to pay the price for their past actions.

A thief who performs well will not only be released after his sentence, but also a piece of land will be given to them, so that they can return to their status as a good citizen.

As long as you participate in a thief, the lightest punishment is two years of labor reform.

Why do this?

Because although the thief was born into a peasant, whether he was bullied or forced, he was not willing to join the thief, but since he joined the thief, he would be more or less infected with the hostility of some thiefs, and even developed the bad habit of not liking to work, and only likes to rob and abuse the people. Even the thief who commits the least crimes will be released back to their hometowns, and they will find it difficult to restore their simple instincts in a short time, and if they are not good, they will get back. Therefore, Zhu Cilang wants to transform them into labor and let them regain the true face of the hard work of the farmers.

As for the family of the thief, the thief himself died in battle, and his family had no support, so they handed over to the local government to properly resettle. The family members of the thief who were sentenced to "labor reform" followed the thief to the place where the thief was reformed and did some small work within their ability. Unlike the thief who were sentenced, the family members had wages for work, which was very meager, but they were enough for them to make a living. With family members around, the thief could be more at ease with labor reform and would not have the intention to escape.

The family members are also a kind of bondage against the thief. If the thief dares to escape, not only will the thief themselves die, but their families will also be executed together.

This is equivalent to adding another insurance policy, which prevents the thief from escaping from jail and escaping.

This is a solution that Zhu Cilang thought about for a long time and came up with.

Compared to the ostrich policy of the court that surrendered the thieves and simply giving them a tael of silver to return home, Zhu Cilang felt that his policy might solve the possibility of the thieves re-offending.

Moreover, this policy does not require too much money, only some food. When the first batch of thieves are released after two years and the land needs to be distributed, the bandits in the Central Plains should have been almost settled. In this case, if they are asked to return to their hometown and give them a piece of land, they will be honest and dare not have any other thoughts.

Of course, the punishment belongs to the Ministry of Justice, and the Beijing camp has no power to punish, but the bandits are prisoners in the army. Unlike the people, Zhu Cilang, as the prince, has some tricks to take advantage of, so he has settled for the time being.

Before leaving Beijing, when Zhu Cixuan informed Wu Di of this policy, Wu Di was very impressed and believed that the governors and governors in all regions should follow this. As long as they strictly implement it, it should be possible to gradually resolve the stubborn problem of thieves surrendering and rebelling.

The president of the temporary court was Feng Houdun, one of the three anti-Qing ministers.

Feng Houdun is an old pedan with a straightforward personality and is just right to do such a job.

At dusk, more than 700 captured thieves were taken to the central square of Liudian Town, and a thousand soldiers of Jingwu Camp held spears to maintain order. Soon, the people who heard the news came from all directions.

The people's anger at the thief was so depressed for a long time. When Feng Houdun made a majestic announcement of the order and ordered the people to accuse the criminals, the scene immediately became chaotic. Many people rushed out, not only accuse the thief, but also cried and told their tragic experiences. Some people rushed up and punched and kicked the thief who was tied up and knelt on the thief.

At this time, the thieves completely lost their former prestige and knelt on the ground one by one, begging one by one, hoping that one would save his life.

Among them, earlessness is the worst. Almost every person who rushed out would identify him. Two hours ago, the beautiful young woman who was still rushing in his arms also rushed up crying and scratched his face twice, almost scratching his eyes, from "earless" to "eyesless".

The monkey was not much better. He was surrounded by angry people and kicked and beaten. If the officers and soldiers had not stopped him, the two would have been beaten to death on the spot.

After the identification was completed, Feng Houdun asked the prince for orders.

Zhu Cilang gave an order: "Tell me the order of the palace and behead these murderers!"

"Give me your life! I will never dare to do it again..." After hearing the prince's order, all the thieves who were accused of murder were mentioned to the forefront and were taken care of by the swordsman. Some people accepted their lives with a look of desolation, while others were still begging for mercy loudly.

"cut!"

With the order, more than 40 thieves, including the three masters of the Heavenly Monkey, fell to the ground. However, the execution process was not very smooth, because these swords and axe players were not professional swords and axe players, but new recruits selected from the army. The suppression of bandits was too smooth, and the two Qianjun troops behind did not see any blood at all, so the prince handed over the task of execution to them.

It is also good to not be able to kill enemies on the battlefield, kill people's heads, and see blood and energy.

But beheading is a very skillful job, and it does not rely entirely on brute force. A knife and axe driver failed to cut off the thief's head with one knife, and then made up the second, third, and even five or six consecutive cuts before his head fell to the ground. The thief died very unhappily and screamed in pain.

But the people felt even more relieved.

After a rush to slash, more than 40 thieves finally stopped moving.

Blood gushed out of the untidy neck soaked the street bricks. The heavy sunset overflowed, and a vomiting breath gushed over the scene.

But the people were excited. They knelt down in a dark way, thanking the court and the crown prince.

Zhu Cilang sighed at it that the people of the Ming Dynasty did not have high requirements, but only wanted a living environment with food and clothing. Whoever could do it for them would be their great benefactor.

Except for the death penalty, the remaining thieves were sentenced to prisons ranging from two to eight years.

The bloody heads are in front of everyone, and no one dares to refuse to follow, especially when they hear that they can be assigned to the fields after the sentence, their families can also accompany them, and earn a little money, the thieves have no objection to the verdict of the "Court".

"Your crimes are to be punished according to our Ming Dynasty law, but Your Highness is compassionate and gives you a chance to live. I hope you can understand Your Highness's kindness, reform with peace of mind, and become a good citizen as soon as possible." Feng Houdun proclaimed loudly.

"We will never dare to rebel again..."

All the thieves bowed their heads.

The thief leader was "earless" and was not beheaded. According to the court's regulations, he would be taken to the capital and dealt with by the court.

After the verdict was announced, the official army distributed all the thieves' property seized by the thief and the people of Liudian Town.

All the generals were surprised by the order of the prince. As usual, these property belonged to plunder and could be possessed by the government army and distributed as rewards to all the soldiers participating in the war to inspire the soldiers to move forward bravely.

It is not impossible to give out part of the pension to the people, but it should not be all.

Furthermore, it seems that it should not be divided equally. From the 60-year-old man to the infant in the cradle, from the wealthy businessman who lives in the house to the beggars who wander on the streets, they all treat the same. This is completely different from the past practices of the government army. After all, these property cannot be beggars robbed on the streets. Most of them should come from wealthy businessmen's families with money and food. If they are divided equally, the beggars will be happy, but don't those rich families complain?

Zhu Cilang knew everyone's doubts, but he did not explain them.

Only a few smart people including Wu, Zhang Jiayu and others could see the prince’s intention.

The Beijing camp is the personal soldier of His Majesty the Emperor, with a unique and prominent position, and the Prince's Army. If he goes out of the capital to quell the rebellion, like ordinary officials, he will covet the capture and refuse to give it to the people, not only will he lose his own identity, but he will also disappoint the people of the world. The prince's mind is just like this, and it is no different from the generals.

The prince's move not only helped the people, but also increased the reputation of the court and the prince himself.

The money is not much, but it is enough to make the people of all over the world know that the crown prince is "ful and kind" and is a crown prince who "loves the people as much as his son".

How can such a reputation be calculated by money?

As for equal division, it is to win people's hearts.

Eight or ten people in the world are poor, and only one-tenth of the rich. Why not use one-tenth of the wealth to gain nine-tenths of the heart?

Furthermore, although these property were robbed from the rich family, there was no name on it, so it was difficult to tell whose property it was. It was rare to return it in history, and it was basically the private property of the general. Now the prince is willing to take it out and distribute it according to the heads, and the rich have nothing to say.

A policy that the three families are satisfied with, and the prince has no reason not to implement.

That night, the prince's camp was spent in Liudian Town. After dark, the Haixing magistrate who heard the news rushed over and was scolded by Wu Qi. The Haixing magistrate apologized and kowtowed, and Wu Qi did not make things difficult for him. According to the prince's order, he handed over some of the thieves' families to him and strictly ordered not to be abused and to be resettled with the standards of treating the victims. The Haixing magistrate obeyed the orders one by one, and then proposed to pay homage to the prince, but was rejected by Wu Qi.

Early the next morning, the prince led his army and took the bandits and his family away.

The people of Liudian Town helped the elderly and the young and sent them to see each other off.

Soon, the emperor went on a war on behalf of the heavens and annihilated a thief near Cangzhou, spreading all over the country.

"Your Majesty, you have a great victory!"

The next afternoon, Emperor Chongzhen was reading the memorial in the Winter Warm Pavilion with a worry. A burst of rapid footsteps interrupted his thoughts. When he looked up, he saw that Wang Chengen ran in with a memorial and looked joyful. For so many years as Emperor Chongzhen had heard too little when he could hear the word "great victory", especially now, when the prince led his army to fight, his expectations for the word "great victory" were even better than before.

"What kind of victory? Is it a great victory for the prince?"

Emperor Chongzhen suddenly stood up.

"yes!"

Wang Chengen nodded affirmatively.

"ah?"

Emperor Chongzhen was so excited that he almost danced with his hands and feet. He wanted to beat my son so well. He defeated the thieves in Kaifeng as soon as he left the capital. Haha... Hey, it's not right. My son has just left the capital for six days, and probably hasn't arrived in Kaifeng yet. How could there be a great victory in Kaifeng?

Emperor Chongzhen stopped the smile on his face, restored the emperor's majesty, and hurriedly accepted Wang Cheng'en's memorial and looked at it with a glance.

The memorial was not from the prince, but from the officials of Cangzhou. They reported the battle of Liudian Town to the court in detail. During this period, they did not forget to flatter the prince, such as a surprise attack. The prince appeared, and thunder flashed, and the thief fell off his horse in shock... Although they knew that the civil servants were exaggerated, the fact that the prince won a battle in Cangzhou was solid, and Emperor Chongzhen was very pleased after reading it.

"My son is heroic..."

Although it was just a small victory, and only a thief with three thousand people was not considered a great achievement, and the prince was lazy to submit memorials, in the eyes of Emperor Chongzhen, in the eyes of a father, his son's talent and heroism seemed to have added a little more.

"Wang Cheng'en, I want to write a poem for my son!" Emperor Chongzhen smiled.

"yes."

...
Chapter completed!