The imperial capital is in chaos. Almost suddenly there was chaos.
More than 700 criminal cases occurred the day before yesterday. Many shops were looted by thugs. Some of these shops were opened by relatives of civil servants and domestic slaves. Some are in the names of nobles.
Sap beatings and various robberies also occurred frequently on the streets, and the vast majority of the victims were civil servants, nobles, and people who gathered around them to earn a living.
Different factions in the capital city, including the City Fox and the Society Rat, also went to war. These people originally relied on certain forces to control a certain territory. They change occasionally, but generally maintain a balanced situation.
But now, it seems that they plan to re-divide the sphere of influence in the capital.
Chongzhen naturally set this fire, and was always paying close attention to the reactions of all forces.
Starting from the day before yesterday, the security in the capital suddenly became chaotic. However, he remained unmoved. He sneered inwardly. It's all just a little fight, just to scare me.
The day before yesterday, mainly the shops, hotels, brothels, and casinos of Donglin's industrial group were caused by gangsters. Many businesses were ruined. The emperor didn't take it seriously. Dong Lin was tossing his nobles like this, and it would be wrong if they didn't react.
However, the fight soon escalated.
The Xinghua House in Jinyu Hutong, the first-line brothel in the capital, was suddenly raided by the Military and Horse Department early yesterday morning, and a large group of officials who violated the rules and engaged in prostitution were caught on the spot.
The madam arrogantly claimed that this place was taken care of by the men from the Ministry of War.
But the soldiers and horses were determined and not only sealed the brothel. They also took away all the disheveled guests. Searches were carried out in the middle of the night, and at noon, in broad daylight, the prisoners were taken away along the busiest streets.
Let these officials cover their faces with their sleeves and be miserable.
From the beginning to the end of the Ming Dynasty, officials were prohibited from entering Fengyue places. The main reason is that no one takes care of this matter. If you really dare to take care of it, it is clearly stipulated by the Ming Law.
This incident angered the civil servants.
In the afternoon, many of the nobles' properties were damaged by thugs. Soon, the rogue forces attached to the nobles took revenge before dark.
At night, there was originally a curfew. Except for the special policy of Huangcheng North Street, which allows people to walk on the streets all night long, Beicheng only postponed the curfew by one hour, while Nancheng still maintains the curfew.
Both the Patrol Battalion and the Military and Horse Division have the right to maintain public order, and the powers of both parties overlap. This was the embodiment of the emperor's divide and rule strategy. However, both sides are now on the move, both at night catching the city foxes and rats protected by the other side.
Last night, the whole North City was in chaos, with fights and robberies everywhere. Others took the opportunity to set fire. Dozens of fires broke out in the capital.
Chongzhen listened to Jin Yiwei's report during the day and remained unmoved. He did whatever he should do. Continue to review memorials from various places. Someone from Jin Yiwei comes to read the most recent situation report every quarter of an hour.
Chongzhen listened and worked. Occasionally, a sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth.
However, at night, he was awakened by the sound of a gong.
This is an alarm signal for a fire in the imperial city. He sat up suddenly. The queen also woke up and was panicked when she heard the sound of the gong. I don’t know if the Forbidden City is on fire or the Imperial City is on fire.
In the history of the Ming Dynasty, there were frequent fires in the palace, and there were endless times when the queen and concubines were burned to death. I heard there was a fire. They were all frightened. Chongzhen himself also experienced fire. When he was a child, the fire in Li Xuanshi's palace scared him so much that he even had a shadow.
Chongzhen put on his clothes, walked out of Kunning Palace, and took the eunuch on duty to Qianqing Palace. At this time, the eunuch of the Superintendent of Ceremonies hurriedly came to report.
"Your Majesty, there is a fire in the stolen goods warehouse. Manpower is being organized to put out the fire."
Chongzhen felt nervous. Last year, he began to crack down on the eunuchs. All the confiscated property was placed in the stolen property treasury. That's a lot of money.
He hurriedly asked: "What's going on? I have repeatedly warned that we must pay attention to fires. Now that the weather is dry in autumn, there are cloth, silk, furniture and other flammable items in the warehouse. Why is it still on fire?"
Ning, the eunuch's supervisor, trembled and said, "I really don't know the reason. When I found out, the fire was already burning. Twelve large warehouses caught fire at the same time. The flames started up all at once and engulfed the whole house.
None of the little eunuchs on night duty came out. "
Chongzhen yelled: "Where are the Jin Yi Guard Fire Army and where are the Fire Guards in the palace? We haven't sent all the people yet. How many things can be snatched out?"
Guan Ning said: "Your Majesty, all the people who can be sent have been sent by the princes. He is personally directing the fire fighting over there. I originally wanted to mobilize the fire shops in Beicheng. But suddenly dozens of fires broke out in Beicheng in the middle of the night. The officers and soldiers of Huo Ding have all been transferred to put out the fire. There are no more pumps and waterwheels left."
The fire protection work of the Ming Dynasty Palace was also managed by the Imperial Guards. There are five military commanders in the north city who are responsible for fire and robbery matters in the capital. There are 112 "red shops" in various streets in the capital, and each shop has 10 Huoding officers and soldiers. In other words, there are a total of 1,120 fire brigade personnel in the north and south cities. Usually, if there is an occasional fire, these people are enough to deal with it.
At the local grassroots level, there is a general manager responsible for fire robbers. According to the "Wanshu Miscellaneous Notes", at that time, there were residents' organizations such as shops and shops in Wanping County, Beijing. Each shop layer and fireman had three to five people, and the general manager was responsible for them. manage.
They took turns keeping watch at night, ringing the watch and bells to alert people to the fire robbers. They are the watchmen in the movie, those people who hold lanterns and bang their clappers, shouting something, the weather is dry and things are dry, beware of candles.
In some places, patrol bunks (guard bunks) are also set up for the commanders and firemen to rest and avoid rain and snow. The patrol shop is equipped with knives, guns and other weapons as well as fire hooks, buckets and other fire-fighting equipment. Similar to the modern fire brigade, it is part of the police organization.
However, the one in charge of fires now is the Soldiers and Horses Division. Fires broke out everywhere in the city, and even the imperial city was on fire. The responsibility belongs to the Soldiers and Horses Division.
Chongzhen knew in his heart that this was revenge for the soldiers and horses going to the brothel to inspect the civil servants.
These officials were actually paraded through the streets. No one can hide it. Their official position must have come to an end. This was a big blow to Donglin officials.
Now after dark, fires are burning all over the capital, and the soldiers and patrol battalions are arresting the city foxes and rats protected by each other. This leads to the expansion of fires, and autumn is a season when the weather is dry, the wind is strong, and the wind direction is very unstable. Once this fire starts, it will spread quickly.
What's even worse is that even the Imperial City's stolen property treasury was on fire.
Here are all the property that Chongzhen confiscated from the house in the past two years. In the financially strapped Ming Dynasty, these things were the emperor's pet peeve. The emperor must be furious. This time, Bingma Si will definitely be punished.
Chongzhen wanted the two sides to have a quarrel, but it was not his original intention to cause such a quarrel.
Chongzhen was so anxious that he took the eunuchs and warriors on night duty out of Xuanwu Gate and came to the top of Jingshan Mountain. Looking around, I saw that all sides of Beicheng were on fire. There are fire heads everywhere. You can even faintly hear the cries of the people.
The wind is very strong tonight, with a level 5 wind.
Most of the houses in this city are made of wood, and autumn is dry. If a burning, wind-blown flame falls on a neighbor's house, it will immediately ignite the grass on the roof.
Living in the capital has been difficult since ancient times, and rice in the capital is expensive.
In fact, since ancient times, the most expensive thing in Beijing has been a house. The Song Dynasty was the dynasty with the highest salary for civil servants. None of the prime ministers can afford to buy a house in Tokyo, so many of them rent.
Therefore, the alleys in Beijing are generally narrow and small, so people try to build as many houses as possible on a piece of land. This is especially true in the poor people's courtyards. According to regulations, when buying land to build a house, both parties must give up three feet as an alley. High walls such as parapets are also required for fire protection and isolation.
However, many times, in order to build more houses and save money for building materials and labor, people build houses intensively and refuse to build high parapets to prevent fire. This means that once a fire breaks out, it is very easy for the company to be burned down.
Because of the strong winds in autumn, the wood of the old house is rotten. Once a fire breaks out, the flames will burn explosively. Many pieces of wood and other combustible materials such as cloth will carry flames and be evaporated by the heat and fly to other neighbors' houses.
There are grasses growing on the roof tiles of many old houses.
The imperial capital is located on the line of the Great Wall, close to the outside of the Great Wall. Every year dust storms bring large amounts of mud onto the roofs. The imperial capital is very green. It is said to be half city palace wall and half city tree. There are many birds.
When birds take grass seeds back to feed their young, some grass seeds often break away and fall on the roof.
In this way, the grass seeds will germinate once the rainy season is over. Grass growing on various houses in the capital is a common phenomenon. Weeds turn yellow in autumn, greatly increasing fire hazards.
Chongzhen turned his head and looked towards Beicheng.
Imperial City North Street was ablaze with lights, and the street lights were lit all night long.
Because in the past two days, there have been many people making trouble in the city. Beicheng is very chaotic. But the area north of Imperial City North Street is very quiet.
Chongzhen knew that this street and the one-mile area on both sides were purchased by Dingyuan Bo for development. This is also the only area in Beijing that can receive a large amount of commercial taxes. The emperor was provided with an annual income of more than 100,000 taels of silver.
It's quiet and peaceful here. There was no fire anywhere.
Chongzhen saw many security guards patrolling the streets holding torches and long iron rods.
After Yang Fan's demolition team paid the money, they immediately carried out large-scale demolition. The residents were driven away. Except for the newly developed communities, it is a wasteland with no people at all. Naturally, there was no way to cause trouble.
There are a limited number of residential areas, grand theaters, libraries, Xinghe Supermarket, and the surrounding commercial streets such as Yandai Xiejie and Gulou East and West Streets. All are closely protected by security.
Chongzhen used the single-channel telescope donated by Macao to observe carefully and found that the entrances of the streets and alleys adjacent to the residential areas were all blocked. The entrance to the alley was blocked with a wooden barrier. There were security teams dressed in black who were there to check people coming in and out. He seemed to be looking at his ID.
Chongzhen knows that anyone who buys a house in such a community is called an owner.
This is what Princess Le'an told him. By the way, Chongzhen also has a house. He is also the king of the house. He is also the owner of the largest villa. He and his family and servants were also given owner certificates and access passes.
Obviously, now faced with the chaotic situation in the city, Yang Fan's community has begun to intensify its investigation efforts. No one can enter the community without documents.
Chongzhen even saw many carriages and sedan chairs gathering from all over the North City to the Drum Tower. Needless to say, he knew it. This is the owners who bought houses in these communities and brought their families to the communities to take refuge. Now, this is probably the safest place in the whole city.
There are long queues at the gates of the five newly developed communities on the north side of Huangcheng North Street. They are all people waiting to enter. Many officials buy houses in this community but may not necessarily live here.
They have many houses. But now, they found that this is the safest place.
These communities have high walls and barbed wire fences, and round-the-clock security. There are also security teams patrolling on horseback on the streets outside the outer walls. The surrounding roads are all streetlights.
In the past, I only felt bright when looking at street lights, but now I realize that bright lights at night can give people a great sense of security. Criminals only dare to commit crimes in the dark, they dare not be exposed to street lights.
Chongzhen sighed. The fire in the stolen goods warehouse had already burned half the sky red. I'm afraid even if the fire is extinguished, nothing will be left.
He went back in a bad mood. At this point, emotions have no effect.
The nobles obviously understand in their hearts. So many things have happened during this period, what exactly is going on. Their performance today is to tell those who are ready to take action that they are not soft persimmons who can be manipulated casually.
When Chongzhen returned to Kunning Palace, the queen sat on the drum stool in fear, clutching her handkerchief nervously.
"Nothing's wrong. Don't worry, Queen. Go to bed early."
Although Chongzhen was lying on the bed, he never fell asleep again.
The next day, he came to Qianqing Palace early and continued working.
At noon, another explosive news came.
Li Banghua, the Secretary of the Ministry of War, did not know why he was not at home and continued to complain of illness. He went to a secret door and was assassinated on the way back. His servants, bodyguards, and maids were all killed. Fortunately, he was saved by the cavalry of the patrol camp.
Chongzhen's eyelids jumped when he heard that the struggle had reached this level, this level.
This was something he didn't expect. He didn't want to make such a big fuss, he just wanted Zhang Shize and Yang Fan to separate from the Xuanwu Army so that he could control the army.
Obviously, the noble group has protected Donglin for a long time,
Suppressing Xungui has reached an intolerable level.
Yesterday, the Imperial City's stolen goods warehouse caught fire, which was like tearing out his heart. This is Donglin expressing his dissatisfaction with him. At the same time, put the blame on the Soldiers and Horses Division
Today, the Minister of the Ministry of War was assassinated in the street. This was because the nobles showed him their determination.
This is the time to completely break up the relationship. The nobles have already made plans to overturn the table.
Chongzhen panicked for a moment. Things were out of his control. He set the fire with his own hands, but the fire burned so hard that he lost control.
He sat on the chair in despair. He dared to kill even the Minister of the Ministry of War, and he even plotted against a minister before. There is nothing they dare not do.
Last night, even the imperial city was set on fire. This shows that maybe the Forbidden City is not very safe. He himself is not so safe either. After all, Concubine Zheng is still here. He can't cover the sky in this palace with just one hand.
If Xun Gui and Concubine Zheng are forced to cooperate. That's not bad.
After all, until now, the power of King Fu's family should not be underestimated. It's just that they are all dormant.
