In late August, Jingxi officials were shocked by the "Pure West" operation launched from Fengri City. Especially the local officials in Fengli City, some were taken into the dungeon in the middle of the night to die, and some woke up to find that half of their colleagues in the yamen were missing.
The officialdom has always been a weather vane for a place. Whenever there is any shock in the officialdom, it will quickly spread to the streets, directly affecting some big merchants.
Then, there was some repetition. After the bloody arrests in the Fengri City area, a subtle stalemate emerged in other parts of Jingxi: Xuanqing Guards had an ambiguous attitude, but would not be too tough if they wanted to arrest people, and the local government tried their best to protect them.
Many people who saw this scene breathed a sigh of relief in their hearts. They felt that Xuanqingwei had reached some kind of tacit understanding with the local government. It was only Fengri City that was sacrificed, and there would be no big incidents in other places in Jingxi. Scope of turmoil.
But just a few days after putting this heart back, the wind direction in Jingxi changed drastically again.
The Xuanqing guards who had an ambiguous attitude before seemed to have changed their minds. One by one, they began to take people everywhere with murderous intent. They changed their hesitant and procrastinating behavior before. Even in order to act quickly, several general banners under the Xuanqing Guard who delayed were directly dismissed from their posts and investigated. The local government wanted to jump out to save him like before, but in the end, many people got involved in him.
Many people submitted letters of complaint, but the response they received was uniform and chilling: Xuanqingwei was ordered to investigate a series of smuggling cases, and local government offices were not allowed to interfere, otherwise they would be charged with the same crime.
At this moment, many people's hearts felt so cold that it was already too late to run away. In less than five days, all the officials, dignitaries, and merchants suspected of smuggling materials in the Jingxi area were arrested and taken back to the Xuanqingwei Prison. Only a few fish escaped the net. It was only a matter of time before they were hunted down by sea arrest documents and brought to justice. .
By mid-September, you thought things were over, right?
not at all.
On the contrary, it is getting worse.
First of all, it was Jingxi. None of the people who had been caught before could withstand Xuan Qingwei's methods. They vomited everything that should be vomited. This was great, causing Jingxi, which had been peaceful for just a few days, to stir up trouble again. Moreover, most of the people targeted this time were officials within the Yamen establishment.
Three officers in charge of the major cities alone were arrested, and there were even more officials in the subordinate towns. A half-empty office is not a joke, it is a fact.
No matter how worried the officials below were, in the end the only care from above was to appoint new officials as soon as possible, or to promote them on the spot, barely maintaining the operation of basic institutions in various places.
It was also mid-September, and the arrest operation that was originally limited to Jingxi suddenly spread, and Xuansu spread throughout the country. The only difference from Jingxi is that the investigating party is no longer Xuanqingwei, but the Criminal Department.
But in terms of investigation intensity, it is not much worse than Xuanqingwei, but the methods are much gentler. Most of the people arrested and imprisoned are indestructible, and some who can jump are held high and held accountable. Demotion and fine were enough. It's much better than Jingxi.
The biggest impact is not only on various places, but also on temples.
Thousands of officials from all over the country were imprisoned or dismissed from their posts, which dealt an extremely heavy blow to the originally overwhelmingly dominant civil servant group in the temple.
Especially in terms of prestige and the leadership ability of the top boss, they have been seriously questioned.
If the leader is good, how can he let his subordinates become like this without realizing it? As a result, Xuan Qingwei grabbed his tail and beat him hard.
In addition, many officials with clear ideas have also realized a problem: civil servants like to weave personal connections. It seems that many things are much easier after joining a group, but secretly such personal connections are also breeding corruption and bad bugs, which is very important to the country and the dynasty. Words are not a good thing.
Even thinking about it carefully, once these personal connections are used for bad things, wouldn't it be harmful to You Lie?
In addition, everyone knows very well that this kind of grouping behavior is actually not much different from "forming a party for private interests."
There are actually quite a few people who reflect this way.
There were also some people who were so frightened that they broke out in a cold sweat, but they dared not speak out in anger at the big guys who failed in the battle in the temple. They all have their own information channels, and this time they were almost involved.
Later, I heard rumors from various departments in the imperial city that Jingxi had been given the right to investigate directly from the emperor by the Xuanqing Guards. There was nothing we could do about it. But in other areas of the country, the group of people who were taken down and dealt with by the Ministry of Justice were the big bosses above who pushed one by one and pushed one by one to die, and it seemed that they had drafted a list before the investigation began.
It sounds like a joke, maybe in the eyes of the big guys above them, these people below them are just things that can be sold by the pound.
If you feel resentful, you no longer have the same respect and awe for the voices above.
Don't trust the above too much. It's better to be more cautious when doing things, lest you catch someone and beat him to death if you have any clues. The people above may not be able to protect him.
The effect of the purge was surprisingly good for a while. At least none of the newly appointed officials dared to act recklessly, and waited cautiously for the limelight to pass.
It was not until the end of September that things gradually calmed down. There were still some sporadic incidents but they were no longer concerned with the overall situation.
Fengri City was the first to restore order, and many people in the official circles had unfamiliar faces. The most fearful person now was the Xuanqing Guards in black brocade robes, and they had no reflexes.
Moreover, there is another name in Fengri City that is taboo among people, and that is Shen Hao, the official of 100 households in the Black Flag Camp of the Xuanqing Guard.
The new official was told by the old man that Shen Hao had been known as a evil star before, and someone from above was taking care of him. In Fengli City, even thousands of officials could not do anything to him, and he offended a large number of people but still remained the same. Get promoted and make a fortune. Moreover, what people gain is human lives and wealth. This evil star was the first to launch the "Pure West" operation!
It seemed that no one cared about such rumors. Naturally, they spread throughout the Fengli City area, and Shen Hao's reputation as the evil star was immediately confirmed. Although he is still an official of only one hundred households, no one dares to underestimate him. Even if you see him, you will instinctively be wary.
Even Wu Changhe no longer treats Shen Hao as condescendingly as before, feeling in his heart that this surnamed Shen is evil.
But Shen Hao had no intention of paying attention to what was said outside. He had been busy with other things since the operation in Fengli City had basically come to an end, and now he couldn't take any time to relax.
Taking advantage of the fact that nearly half of the officials in Fengri City were dismissed from their posts for investigation, a large number of vacant positions were not only promoted on the spot but also transferred from other places. These people who are officials in other places bring at most a few personal servants and family members. Other servants, nursing staff, etc. must be found locally.
This is a God-given opportunity for the Blackwater Project led by Shen Hao.
