Damingfu City is called Yuancheng, and its historical heritage is not as profound as those famous historical cities. However, in the past hundred years, it has grown rapidly. Its population, land, transportation, and products are all prosperous.
More than 20 years ago, due to the Khitan invasion of the south and Du Chongwei's rebellion, Yuancheng suffered serious military damage and fell silent for several years before gradually recovering, with a stable population growth, mature farmland development, and abundant products.
However, after more than 20 years of stable development, looking back at Yuancheng, we can see that it has already recovered its vitality and achieved greater prosperity than any era in the past.
The combined resident and floating population in and around Yuancheng alone remains at around 300,000 people all year round. As for Yuancheng, it was one of the few cities in the Han Dynasty that was expanded and rebuilt under the orders of the imperial court. It was one of the "new cities" that attracted attention both inside and outside the Han Dynasty.
The outer city has a circumference of 42 miles, which is much larger than Youzhou City in the north. The layout of the city is also based on the Tokyo style, with the strong style of Emperor Murong. When it was first built, Murong Yanchao even suggested building a palace in the inner city to facilitate Emperor Liu's visit. Naturally, Emperor Liu rejected it, but this did not hinder the grandeur of Xinyuan City.
The inner city, official district, Hebei Province, Daming Prefecture and all the offices under the central departments and departments are all concentrated here, including the Wude Department. However, seemingly adhering to the low-key style of their leader Wu Deshi Li Chongju, the Hebei Wu De Division Office was only set up in the corner, unassuming and inconspicuous. However, no one will underestimate this spy agency with many eyes and ears.
Up to now, there are three special organizations in the Han Dynasty, namely the Imperial City Department, the Wude Department and the Military Intelligence Department. Among them, the Military Intelligence Department has strong professional attributes and is backed by the big tree of the Privy Council. Under the leadership of Li Chongju, Wudesi gradually washed away some of its early stigmas and gradually became accustomed to and accepted by people.
This was due to Li Chongju's norms and constraints, but also because others had no way to do it. Emperor Liu had some untouchables in the allocation of power, including Wude Si. At that time, Fan Zhi, Li Tao, Dou Yi and other prime ministers all argued with Emperor Liu about the status and authority of Wu Desi, but they were all ruthlessly rejected and suppressed.
On the other hand, over the past ten years or so, the Imperial City Secretary has jumped out to stir up hatred. With attributes like eunuch, spy, and surveillance all added together, how could he not be hated by others?
However, being low-key does not mean weakness, and no one dares to look down upon it. On the contrary, after more than 20 years of development, Wudesi's authority has quietly become deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
Apart from anything else, the power to arrest and interrogate officials below the sixth rank is enough to make the vast majority of Han officials feel in awe. Under the management of Li Chongju, Wude Division lost some of the madness of Wang Jingchong's era and the mystery of Li Shaoyou's era. , but it is more rational and has improved many regulations.
The Wude Prison is still a dangerous place feared by officials. The Wude Camp has expanded to tens of thousands of people and is distributed in various roads across the country. Every time a Wude Camp rides out, the officials are frightened. trembling.
Although the Imperial City Division was initially established and developed with the "help" of the Wude Division, Zhang Dejun has requested Emperor Liu many times for an armed force like the Wude Camp, and he has not let go until now.
By the eighth year of Kaibao, the Wu Deshi was already a behemoth. The rank of Li Chongju, the Wu Deshi, was not high, only from the third rank to the lower. However, his power was not inferior to the prime ministers in some aspects, especially for those who For middle- and lower-level officials.
Today, from a nationwide perspective, there is no state capital that does not have officials under the Department of Wude, and the officials under it include governors at all levels, marriage officers, and detective officers, plus those low-level assistants and craftsmen. , secret agents, the total number of them is nearly 30,000. Although they are scattered in various places, they are not so eye-catching, but if they are reported, it will definitely cause a fierce discussion.
Of course, among these 30,000 people, the number of those who are full-time imperial officials, registered officials, and receive imperial salaries must be discounted. Even so, there is considerable financial pressure to support so many people.
After all, it is not easy to get the treasury to spend a large amount of money every year to support Wudesi. Emperor Liu diverted money from internal funds and provided financial support to Wude Division until the fifteenth year of Qianyou, when it was cut off. This was also after the secret companies under Wude Division matured.
In the past ten years, the focus of Wu Desi's work has been on the north and south. The south has the fastest expansion of manpower. Because the reunification was not long ago, many things require Wu Desi to secretly monitor and spy on to provide Emperor Liu with real and effective information. and intelligence to protect the return of the South.
As for the north, Li Chongju, who was well aware of Emperor Liu's ambition of the Northern Expedition, did not dare to relax at all. He invested a lot of financial resources in espionage affairs within the Liao Kingdom, and also lost many capable detectives and craftsmen.
When the imperial court officially launched the Northern Expedition, Li Chongju's focus was completely placed on affairs with the Liao and northern tribes. However, the results during this period were not very satisfactory to Emperor Liu. Many intelligence messages could not be delivered in time. Emperor Liu was not satisfied, and Li Chongju was under great pressure.
Li Chongju also accompanied him on this tour. As the boss of Wude Division, when he arrived at Daming Mansion, he would of course also have to inspect the work of Wude Division in Hebei Province.
Probably due to the nature of the work, the Wude Si Yamen in Hebei Province is also in a cold and gloomy atmosphere, with gray and black tones in the Yamen.
The arrival of Li Chongju did not add much excitement, but only brought heavy pressure. In the lobby, there is a standard wudoshi hall layout, with a dog head table, minions chairs, and an eagle sculpture background mural.
Li Chongju was sitting on the main seat. There were more than ten officials standing in the hall, all of them were the staff who came with him and the governor of Hebei and his subordinates. The scene was very quiet, and all the attention was on Li Chongju, quietly Waiting for the boss to speak.
Due to his low-key personality and style, Li Chongju rarely displayed official power, but this time, he rarely ignored his subordinates for a long time. Finally, he spoke: "I won't hide it from you, His Majesty is not very satisfied with Wu Desi's recent performance!"
In a word, everyone couldn't help but change their expressions, and most of them lowered their heads. He casually took out an official document from the court case, glanced at it twice, and Li Chongju said directly to Hebei Douzhi: "What problems do you have, I am not interested in it for the time being, and I don't have the energy to intervene. However, self-examination and self-correction I hope you can give me a satisfactory result!"
Hebei Duzhi is a middle-aged man with very thick hair and a rough face. It is difficult to imagine that he is engaged in intelligence management. However, facing Li Chongju's words at this time, he was very frightened and had no other ideas at all. He just said resolutely: "Yes! I understand!"
Li Chongju didn't care at all about his statement. His face was very cold, and he continued in a not-severe tone: "Hebei's subordinate officials and officials, next, there are two aspects! One, His Majesty is on a tour, Hebei It is the main inspection area to see the most realistic situation of officials, troops, scholars, farmers, industry and commerce.
Secondly, the Northern Expedition was in full swing, and Hebei was the most important logistical support for the East Route Army. Military-related matters especially needed to be monitored more closely. For such a long time, there was not a single act of corruption among such a huge mobilization of officials, soldiers and civilians. Your Majesty doesn’t believe the incident of abusing people, do you? "
"My subordinates were careless. Please forgive me, Minister!" Everyone in Hebei Province knew that fine sweat had accumulated on his forehead and started to drip.
"Stand back!" Li Chongju still reacted coldly and ordered his subordinates in Hebei Province. Then he looked at them all and said, "I will borrow your lobby first!"
"This is what it should be! You are free to do as you like!" Douzhi said quickly, even wishing that Li Chongju would make more requests.
In response to his solicitude, Li Chongju was noncommittal. After pondering for a while, he looked at an accompanying official and said in a deep voice, "Tell me about the latest developments in the north!"
