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The emperor was driving back to Nanjing from Xijing, and on the way, he questioned several officials who were either corrupt or derelict in their duties. This may not sound like much at first, but if you find out that these officials were arrested by Ye Bu Shou, it will be different.
It is rumored that the mysterious Yebushou department is as well-organized and has as many personnel as the Jinyiwei of the Ming Dynasty.
However, the Yebushou had always been used to collect intelligence from outside, and rarely used internally. Therefore, its reputation was far less feared by officials at all levels than the Jinyiwei of the previous dynasty.
But this time, Ye Bushou suddenly showed his sharp claws. The magistrate of Yi Yang was taken away in the middle of the night, the prefect of Huaiqing was arrested in the court, the magistrate of Zhengzhou was taken away in a brothel, and the magistrate of Gong County was taken away while making an impassioned speech in the county school.
The evidence of these people's guilt was conclusive. Huaiqing prefect Zhao Wenjing embezzled 1,200 dragon coins and was sentenced to exile according to the law. The others were sentenced according to the severity of their crimes. The lightest punishment was that of Yiyang prefect Wu Chaoqun, who embezzled 54 dragon coins of public funds and was dismissed from office.
The emperor personally oversaw these cases and closed them quickly.
Ordinary people applauded and cheered; but officials in the court, from the prime minister to the seventh-rank county magistrate, suddenly became uneasy.
The country was so big and there were so many officials that it was not a big deal if a few local officials below the fourth rank were convicted. But the key point was that these officials were not convicted through normal judicial procedures, but were directly arrested and interrogated by the Yebushou, and then the evidence was reported to the emperor, who convicted them.
This move is exactly the same as the Jinyiwei prison back then, which is why all officials are terrified.
What kind of place is the Jinyiwei prison? No matter who you are, it is almost impossible for you to see the light of day again. Even if you are innocent, they can still frame you with a hundred serious crimes.
This news spread like a plague in the Qin officialdom, making everyone feel insecure and terrified.
The officials in Henan first discovered a characteristic: the officials who were convicted were all those who opposed the presumption of innocence and were the most vehement in opposing judicial reform.
Kaifeng prefect Lu Shiliang was originally opposed to judicial reform. When he heard the news that Wu Chaoqun and several other officials had been convicted, he suddenly became uneasy and worried every day that Ye Bu Shou would come to his door.
Seeing that he tossed and turned every night, his wife Liang gave him an idea. When the imperial carriage arrived in Kaifeng Prefecture, he should greet him by praising the emperor's civil and military achievements to the skies, and finally strongly advised the emperor to go to Mount Tai to offer sacrifices to heaven.
"Enshrine the Buddha at Mount Tai?" Qin Mu was a little confused at the time. This Lv Shiliang really dared to think so. Since the Qin Emperor and Han Emperor, how many emperors have offered sacrifices to the Buddha at Mount Tai
Although we have conquered a lot of territory, the people's livelihood in the country has not yet fully recovered. Isn't it a bit too ambitious to go to Mount Tai to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth at this time
To be honest, it would be a lie to say that Qin Mu was not moved at all. However, he couldn't just run to Mount Tai just because the prefect mentioned it. That would be a joke for him.
"Nonsense." Qin Mu scolded lightly, but did not blame him any further.
Until the imperial carriage left Kaifeng. Although Ye Bu Shou never approached Lu Shiliang, he felt that every time they met, Huang Lianshan looked at him in a very intriguing way, which made people feel creepy.
After seeing off the imperial carriage, he breathed a sigh of relief and secretly decided that he should stop being the first to do something and be an honest official in the future.
When Qin Mu arrived in Shangqiu, he received a message from the Western Regions that Batur actually followed Qin Mu's conditions and honestly withdrew his troops from southern Xinjiang, leaving the entire northern Xinjiang to Li Dingguo.
When Qin Mu heard this, he couldn't help but burst out laughing. It seemed that the last military parade in Chang'an and the hunting in Hetao were not in vain. Batur Khan of the Junggar tribe was frightened and did what he said obediently.
Sima An advised: "Your Majesty, the more this is the case, the more we should not underestimate Batur. We should be more careful and cautious against people who can bend and stretch themselves."
Qin Mu immediately stopped laughing and bowed his head, saying, "Mr. Sima is right. Batur is indeed not a simple man. He suddenly gave up the Guasha area and hurriedly retreated to the Western Regions. Now he can judge the situation and resolutely give up Moxi and the southern foothills of Tianshan Mountain. He may seem cowardly, but it would be difficult for a wise and brave person to make such a decision."
In the current situation, the people of the Yarkand Khanate, which Batur had just taken over, were in constant rebellion, and the capture of the Moxi people had caused his army to be in turmoil, and now they had a new understanding of the Qin army's weapons. In this situation, if Batur continued to fight to the death with Li Dingguo at the southern foot of the Tianshan Mountains, it would be more disadvantageous than beneficial to the Dzungars.
Therefore, it is absolutely wise for Batur to make such a decision based on the current situation.
Gu Jun'en frowned and said, "Your Majesty, after Yan Yingyuan's thousands of miles of raid, desert west is already sparsely populated. Now Batur follows your Majesty's instructions and takes away the men and the elderly and weak in the southern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains, so there will only be a few women left in the southern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains.
Our Great Qin has a small population and a shortage of labor, so it is bound to be difficult to migrate a large number of people to the Western Regions. It is also impossible to send too many troops at once. Otherwise, it would be difficult to transport food and fodder for the army from within the country, which would be a huge problem.
The southern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains are still easy to deal with, but the Russian Empire and other tribes have long been eyeing the western part of the desert, and I'm afraid they will soon take advantage of the situation and move in. Your Majesty, this is something you must worry about."
Qin Mu nodded and said, "Gu Qing is right. What good ideas do you have for this?"
The ministers accompanying the emperor fell silent for a moment. Moxi was sparsely populated now, and if they sent troops there, they wouldn't even be able to provide food and fodder for the army.
Moreover, due to the sharp decline in population caused by the wars in recent years, even in the Central Plains, there are still many deserted lands with no one to cultivate them. It is impossible to relocate people there. How can we station troops without people
Sima An thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, during the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, the Western Regions were opened up and the Protectorate was established. The first purpose was to implement military reclamation and the second was to collect taxes on passing businesses for military use. At present, it is not realistic for our Great Qin to send a large number of troops there, but we can send a small number of troops to guard some strategic points and assign women from the Western Regions to the soldiers in the army as wives and concubines, so that they can farm or graze around the garrison to solve the supply problem of the garrison."
As far as Qin Mu knew, when the Tang army controlled the Western Regions, they also mainly controlled some strategic points. The number of garrison troops depended on the importance of the location, ranging from one or two hundred to a dozen.
However, this approach is feasible in the southern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains, but not in the vast grasslands of Moxi.
On the endless grassland, it is hard to tell where the strategic points are, and there are not many important passes for you to garrison.
Once the enemy attacks, a hundred or so people on the undefended grassland can be easily killed, and you may not even know who killed them.
Frankly speaking, some ministers felt that places like Moxi had no value and were a waste of manpower and resources, so there was no need to pay attention to them now.
"For the southern foot of the Tianshan Mountains, let's do as the Grand Secretary Sima said. Let Li Dingguo send a small number of soldiers to guard the important passes. As for the western desert, we also need to send some troops there. It doesn't need to be too many, just a little patrol. If anyone dares to come and rob, we'll deal with it then.
The vast desert grasslands are rich in water and grass, and the nomadic tribes nearby must be salivating. If they want to graze, let them come for now. We have drawn the border, and those who cross the border to graze will just have to pay some rent. We don’t send many soldiers, and the rent is probably enough for the soldiers’ daily supplies.”
Collecting rent? Sima An almost choked on his tea. It was estimated that in this world, except for this imaginative emperor, no one would think of collecting rent from the Moxi grassland.
However, if you think about it carefully, this is actually a feasible strategy. There is plenty of grass anyway, and it will grow again the next year after you eat it. Don't waste it. It may be a good idea to rent it to some small tribes for grazing.
Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment, and no one spoke for a moment. The idea of taking back the entire Moxi grassland and then renting it out was too novel.
Yang Chao, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, said, "Your Majesty, didn't Gao Yigong recruit 30,000 Tibetan young men in Qinghai-Tibet? Why not just merge the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains and add a province, and then let these 30,000 Tibetan young men go to the western desert to herd sheep?"
"Good, good, this plan is feasible." Qin Mu appreciated it greatly. These 30,000 young and strong Tibetans were born herdsmen. If they were allowed to graze, who knows how much income they would generate for the court in a year. Then he could send three or two thousand well-equipped Qin soldiers to take charge.
These 30,000 young and strong Tibetans can not only graze, but also greatly increase the control over the western desert grasslands, which can be said to kill several birds with one stone.
"Okay, let's do it. Then we'll create a Tianshan Province."
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ps: I suddenly realized that there are only ten days left until the Chinese New Year. I feel a little confused for some reason. Another year has passed, another year has passed! Let me find a corner and howl a little... (To be continued...)
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