Wei Liangchen quickly came to Jiangxi with only a few servants and flag officials, and invited Li Bing to see him the night he arrived.
Li Bing, who sent two secret letters to escalate the matter, is already in his forties.
His hometown was in Rencheng, Shandong Province. It was first invaded by Song Jiang and then plundered by Li Cheng. When the clan members fled, they went their separate ways, leaving very little of the family's wealth. The land was also distributed to the refugees in the first year of Hongwu.
Li Bing served as an official in the small court in the southeast. By the time he returned to the Ming Dynasty, it was already too late to get his land back.
In other words, although Li Bing came from a wealthy family in Shandong, he is now barefoot and not afraid of wearing shoes. So what if he offends a wealthy family in Jiangxi? I've already done this, come and bite me!
"How is the situation?" Wei Liangchen went straight to the topic.
Li Bing introduced the situation: "When Jiangxi Province cleared the land, it was relatively thorough, and I'm afraid less than five counties were able to do so. The rest of the prefectures and counties had more or less problems. After the Three Laws Division came to investigate the case, I took the opportunity to review the various places.
But the resistance was huge. Although the prefectural and county officials were frightened and carried out strict inspections, it was difficult for the officials to carry out the execution."
"The emperor is so angry, how dare those big families make trouble?" Wei Liangchen said in surprise.
Li Bing said: "It's a mess. There were disputes every day when I was in charge of the land. The roots (bones) and surface (field skins) of the fields were transferred to countless hands, and most of them couldn't produce the sales deeds. The officials went to the countryside to get married.
When working in the fields, there would be fights over the fields, and even a peasant woman would commit suicide on the spot by drowning herself in the river.”
Wei Liangchen sneered: "Maybe it's just a coincidence that this happens in one township and one village. It's the same in the whole province. It's not just the big family who are doing something weird!"
Li Bing said: "Also, too many Jiangxi officials have been involved in the case and have been under review by the Three Laws Division in the past two months. The new officials have just arrived and have no confidants available, and they are easily fooled."
Wei Liangchen said: "Start with the families confessed by the criminals. Once the charges are proven, we will immediately arrest the people, confiscate their homes, break up the clan, and relocate them. Regardless of whether anyone in their family is an official, they will all be arrested and the clan will be broken up. One county will arrest one.
If you have a big family, you can shock the whole county, and what happens next will be easy to say!"
"I thought so too, so I secretly reported to His Majesty to request the dismemberment of the clan," Li Bing said.
Wei Liangchen pointed to the two flag officers behind him. They held a command flag and a gold medal: "I have this in my hand, which can mobilize the Jiangxi army."
The two flag officers are both served by palace guards.
One person holds the flag and the other person holds the card, following the governor at all times, representing the emperor's personal presence.
The king's order flag was a thing that only existed in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It appeared more frequently than the Shangfang Sword. The Ming Dynasty was more cautious and would not give it out easily. The Qing Dynasty gradually spread it, and eventually every governor had it, and the gold medal was reduced to
It is a gold-painted wooden sign.
For example, Wang Yangming was sent to suppress bandits in Jiangxi, but found that he could not command the local army. So Shangshu invited Wang to order the flag, and suddenly no one dared to disobey the order, and he could mobilize the troops as he was told.
Li Bing had never seen it before: "What is this?"
Wei Liangchen said: "The king's order flag is specially set up for major cases in Jiangxi. It is equivalent to the troop deployment document and military talisman."
"You actually have such great power." Li Bing was extremely shocked. This was impossible in the Song Dynasty.
For ordinary troop deployment, only the military talisman is useless; a troop troop deployment document stamped by the Ministry of War is also required.
How many troops will be transferred and what they will be used for should be clearly stated in the document, and cannot exceed the scope specified in the troop transfer document.
The king's command flag is not only a collection of troop deployment documents and military symbols, but also has extremely high authority to freely mobilize troops.
As long as Wei Liangchen is in office as governor, he can quickly deploy troops to do whatever he wants as long as it is within the scope of Jiangxi Province.
This thing is generally not given, but as long as it is given, it is a big deal, indicating that a certain place is so chaotic that it is difficult to manage.
Li Bing took out another unopened letter: "This is from the Duke of Gan. He asked me to deliver it to you."
Wei Liangchen quickly opened the letter and read it. After reading it, he was overjoyed: "The Zhang family has agreed to cooperate with the demolition clan to relocate, and the Duke of Gan will also help persuade other big clans in the same town."
"My qualifications are too low. I can't persuade the Chen family of Yimen, and I can't get a land from the government," Li Bing said. "Maybe if the governor is gone, they will give me some face."
Wei Liangchen said: "The king's order of flags is like the emperor coming in person. If they don't give your majesty face, they will give the army some face!"
In the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Yimen Chen family had already been demolished once by Wen Yanbo and Bao Zheng.
At that time, they occupied a large amount of land in Jiangzhou (Jiujiang), and even owned land across the border in other roads.
Not to mention the people who were separated and scattered in more than 70 prefectures and counties, let’s talk about what happened before they were separated. In the fourth year of Qingli alone, 403 people from the Yimen Chen family living in Jiangzhou took the imperial examination at one time!
Li Bing reminded: "The Chen family in Yimen has been relocating for hundreds of years, and the people who stayed in Jiangzhou have grown and prospered. Their farms and gardens have been restored to more than 200 places. Each farm is similar to a village, and the head of the village is led by the Chen family.
Appointed by the clan leader. If the local government wants to collect taxes, they must visit in person, otherwise they will not even be able to collect the grain taxes."
"Most of the shops in the prefecture and county markets are owned by the Chen family. There is also the Shou'an Hall, which specializes in supporting orphans and the elderly. There are also places where orphans and the disabled are cared for. Even those without the surname Chen can live in these charity places."
"The ancestral hall has a punishment hall. If a clan member commits a crime and is beaten to death, not only will no trouble occur, but the villagers will praise the family's strict family law."
"All the children of the tribe, whether rich or poor, can study for free. They also opened a medical hall where tribesmen can go to get treatment. There is also a theater where you can watch plays every month. There is also a library, which was formerly called the Imperial Library.
, which contains the imperial brushes of the former Song emperor."
"Buddhist temples, Taoist temples, and witch chambers. Regardless of whether they believe in Buddhism, Taoism, or witchcraft, clan members can come and go freely. Sacrifice is also under the control of the family, and there is no need to trouble the government."
Wei Liangchen was dumbfounded after hearing this: "As expected of... the Chen family of Yimen!"
How can local officials manage such a big family?
No wonder the people who treated the gentry well, such as the Northern Song Dynasty, were so ruthless that they forcibly disbanded the Chen family of Yimen and relocated.
If it continues to develop, it will become a country within a country.
Most of the local land was occupied by the Chen family, not to mention the clan members, and the tenants were also controlled by them.
This kind of control is all-round, from eating and drinking, to birth, old age, illness and death, to reading and treatment, and even religious beliefs, everything is handled by the elders of the Chen clan.
…
A few days later.
Wei Liangchen used the king's command flag to dispatch three-level officials from the provincial and county levels in Nanchang City, and with a thousand garrison troops and five hundred cavalry troops, they sailed to De'an County in a hurry.
The land controlled by the Yimen Chen family has spread throughout all counties in Jiujiang Prefecture, but the family headquarters still remains in De'an.
As soon as the fleet turned into the river at Pengli Lake (Poyang Lake), the Chen family of Yimen had already received the news, and the clan leader Chen Zongxian urgently held a meeting of clan elders.
"The big tree attracts the wind," Chen Zongxian sighed. "The governor is almost at the border of De'an County. It seems that our Yimen Chen family is going to be split up again."
A clan elder said angrily: "We can accept it if we move elsewhere. But this time we are going to Hunan, which is all raw land and cannot recruit many tenants. How can this be relocating the clan? It is clearly an exile of the whole clan!"
"
"That's right," another clan elder said, "no matter in the Tang or Song Dynasties, our Yi clan, the Chen family, could be exempted from the corvee and receive grain loans. However, in the Ming Dynasty, we had to share the land with the peasants. The labor money turned into mortgages."
As for the collection of mu, shouldn’t most of the Jiujiang Prefecture’s labor money be paid by me, the Chen family?”
Another clan elder said: "Jiangzhou, which is so good, must be renamed Jiujiang Prefecture. The previous county magistrate also asked us to demolish the torture hall, saying that we should not indiscriminately set up lynchings. My Chen family has a strict family tradition. How can disciplining the clan members hinder his government?
thing?"
Another clan elder said: "Chen Dong, the censor of Zuodu, is the descendant of the Chen family of our Yimen who moved out. Why doesn't he speak for his family? At least he should give some advice to the emperor!"
Every word you say and every word I say are all complaints.
Chen Zongxian also talked about dismantling the clan, but the clan elders were unwilling to move.
They wanted to bargain with the court. They could demolish the tribes and move, but they could not go to Hunan. Even if they went to Hunan, they would have to be close to the city and they would not be allowed to cultivate wasteland. Moreover, it would be the same as the demolition tribes in the previous Song Dynasty. How much land was taken away from their hometown by the government?
When arriving at a new place, they must be replaced with equal value.
After making a fuss, the clan elders dispersed.
The patriarch Chen Zongxian was sitting in the hall with a sad face. The government could not control the Chen family of Yimen, and he could not control the elders of the clan. Many of them were his elders!
Another day later, Wei Liangchen came with his troops.
Chen Zongxian took the clan elders to greet him, and they were a little worried when they saw the army.
But it's just a worry. The Chen family in Yimen is extremely famous. Does the governor really dare to use force?
"Old Chen Zongxian pays homage to Governor Wei." Chen Zongxian led the ceremony.
Wei Liangchen returned the courtesy with a smile: "I have long admired the name of the Chen family of Yimen, and I came here to visit you today."
Coming to visit with soldiers?
The two exchanged a few words, and Wei Liangchen said, "I heard that the Chen family has an imperial library?"
Chen Zongxian quickly said: "It has been changed to Wanjuan Tower."
Wei Liangchen asked again: "Are there many imperial books of the former Song emperor enshrined in the building?"
Chen Zongxian said: "It is just a collection, not an enshrinement."
Many wealthy families have imperial edicts written by the previous emperor, so this is not a sin.
When Wei Liangchen mentioned this matter, he was just trying to intimidate him and increase his power of words little by little.
Wei Liangchen continued to ask: "For the Spring and Autumn Society sacrifices, the government should have come forward. Why did the Chen family of Yimen do it for them? Is it because they were afraid that the government could not afford the sacrifice fees?"
Chen Zongxian explained: "Successive county magistrates have entrusted Chen to handle matters on their behalf. It was inappropriate to think about it, and I will never do it again in the future."
"Can I take a tour here?" Wei Liangchen asked.
Chen Zongxian said: "Governor Wei is a guest. Not to mention visiting, I can just stay here for a year."
As a result, Wei Liangchen, accompanied by a group of clan elders, led hundreds of followers around.
After walking for a while, the clerk next to him came up and whispered a few words to Wei Liangchen.
After Wei Liangchen heard this, he broke into a building directly, walked through the halls and pointed inside and said, "Is this the Punishment Hall?"
Chen Zongxian said: "The former Magistrate Liang said this was inappropriate, and I, Mrs. Chen, will no longer use lynching."
"Why hasn't the plaque been changed?" Wei Liangchen pointed to the plaque with the words "Xingzhantang" engraved on it.
Chen Zongxian said: "Before it was too late, the old man had to remove it immediately."
Wei Liangchen turned around and spread out his hands, and the attendant took out a copy of "Da Ming Law". He took the "Da Ming Law" with both hands and asked Chen Zongxian: "Do you know what the crime of setting up a private court is?"
Chen Zongxian finally panicked: "I just discipline the lawless members of the clan to correct the family tradition. I don't do this anymore."
Wei Liangchen sneered: "Even the county magistrate cannot judge the crime and must hand it over to the court. If the court sentenced him to a heavy sentence, he would have to report it to the Ministry of Justice for review. If the case is reviewed by the Ministry of Justice for review, it would be reported to the Ministry of Punishment for review.
You just dealt with it right here, which is more powerful than the Ministry of Justice. Is it possible that the Ministry of Punishment has set up a branch in the Chen family?"
"Don't dare, absolutely don't dare!" Chen Zongxian's vest was sweating, and his hat was too big.
"I heard that people were beaten to death in this torture hall," Wei Liangchen suddenly turned around and said to the soldiers behind him, "The Chen family of Yimen set up a private court, despised the court and committed murder, so the punishment hall was demolished immediately.
The Chen clan chief, as well as the elders in charge of the Punishment Hall, were all arrested and taken to Nanchang for trial by the Three Laws Division!"
