Chen Rui was questioned by Wang Shouren like this, and immediately realized that he had fallen into a desperate situation, not to mention that now his coach has been controlled by Wang Shouren, even if his own subordinates want to rescue themselves, there is not enough logistics supply, there are not enough explosives and artillery, and it is impossible to break through the general government built with thick bricks and high walls and heavily garrisoned.

What's more, because these people were engaged in gunpowder adulteration with Gonggong Wei, even if there was still gunpowder in Xuanfu, most of it was mud and sand, and they couldn't attack the general government.

In addition, the guards were still eyeing outside the city, and Chen Rui had to admit that he had no power to fight back now.

Other officials involved in the adulteration of gunpowder, such as Yushi Song Bin, couldn't help but tremble all over his body at this time, he didn't expect that the chief Wang Shouren would suddenly change his mind and punish his own people, but now he also knew that he was already a turtle in the urn, and he had no room for retort and sophistry.

The whole process was not thrilling, and all the civil and military officials of Xuanda from the general army down were taken down by Wang Shouren and imprisoned in the general palace.

After confirming that the iron prison had been firmly locked, Wang Shouren took his own soldiers to a high platform in the General Command Mansion, looked at the Xuanfu City that was already as calm as ever, just smiled faintly, and instructed Ren Meng, the deputy general he brought from Jiangxi: "Pass on the order of the general, the military exercise is over, and the Guards will enter the city immediately, and at the same time, the generals above the general flag of the Guards and the border army will go to the General Command Mansion to listen to the training and receive the reward!" ”

After Ren Meng got the order, he took people out of the General Mansion.

The generals of Xuanfu, who were still in the dark, did not understand why the military exercise ended suddenly, but no one suspected that there was fraud in it, after all, they also knew that the military exercise could not really be a war, and the two armies had to do it with real guns, and even some of the generals of Xuanfu were lucky because of this, thinking that it was undoubtedly good for the military exercise to end like this, after all, if it was really done with real guns and ammunition, the gunpowder mixed with sand on their side would not be able to defeat the guards anyway, and even expose their own internal corruption.

Even some Xuanfu generals still despise Wang Shouren in their hearts, believing that it was because Wang Shouren, the chief of the system, was worried that the adulteration of gunpowder in Xuanfu would be exposed, so he directly ended the military exercise.

But there are also some Xuanfu generals who feel that this matter is very strange, after all, they did not know the content of the military exercise from the beginning, nor did they know when the military exercise would end, and now the military exercise ended suddenly, which naturally made some Xuanfu generals feel uneasy.

However, because the high-ranking generals and officials are in the General Administration, these middle- and lower-level Xuanfu generals can't do anything even if they have doubts.

And at this time, the Guards also entered the city, and all four divisions entered the city.

"The important civil and military officials of Xuanfu have all been controlled by me, and now they are these generals who are involved in this case at the bottom, once I gather these people later, your people will immediately occupy all the key passes in Xuanfu Town, and try not to shed bloodshed because of this case!"

As soon as Wang Shouren saw Zhang Lun, he secretly discussed, and Zhang Lun also nodded: "Don't worry, I have already conveyed the order!" ”

Wang Shouren nodded, straightened his clothes, sat on the chair of the Taishi in the middle hall, and instructed Ren Meng: "After all the generals of the Xuanfu are concerned, they have their weapons and all of them are seized. This time, we must take advantage of this matter to let the mayors of the military towns remember for a long time, the Ming still has the king's law, and everything that is done is not conducive to my Ming must be dealt with strictly! ”

Ren Meng nodded and went to the front hall with a team of personal soldiers.

"Why should we unload our weapons! When did your general government have this rule? ”

Chen Rui's clan brother Chen Chen suddenly felt dissatisfied with the soldiers of the General System Mansion asking him to unload his weapons.

Ren Meng walked over at this time: "At present, there are no less than 100,000 officers and soldiers stationed in the entire Xuanfu City, what if someone assassinates the chief system and takes the opportunity to make trouble, if you refuse to unload your weapons, then you will not be allowed to come in to receive the reward, in addition, this matter will be made clear to the chief system and the chief military officer!" ”

Wang Shouren, the chief commander, was in charge of the promotion of the border officers and soldiers, and the chief soldier was Chen Chen's brother, so Chen Chen could only stop at this time and unload his weapons.

Seeing this, the other officers and men had no choice but to unload their weapons.

After all the civil and military officials entered the front hall and packed the front hall compound of Nuo University, Ren Meng led a team of officers and soldiers around the curved fence and came to the center, and at this time, Wang Shouren also officially wore the imperial python robe and walked out, standing on the pre-built high platform, and shouted: "I will read one later, come up one!" ”

Thereupon.

After Wang Shouren finished shouting this sentence, a scribe sang his name: "Guerrilla Chen Chen!" ”

As soon as Chen Chen heard that his name was being pronounced, he thought that he was the first general to receive the reward, and he also forgot the unhappiness of being unarmed at the beginning, and walked up directly.

"I've seen the general system!"

However, Chen Chen also had some doubts in his heart at this time, wondering why his brother Pingjiangbo Chen Rui did not appear, and there were other civil and military officials in the Xuanfu, but he still saluted Wang Shouren.

And Wang Shouren didn't wait for this Chen Chen at this time to ask why Chen Rui and the others hadn't seen it, so he ordered: "Take it!" ”

Chen Chen couldn't help but be stunned for a moment when he heard this!

"What! Take?! You want to take me down?! ”

Chen Chen was horrified.

And the other generals of the Xuanfu below were also shocked.

These middle and lower-level generals of the Xuanfu had already begun to have some doubts when they saw that there was no Chen Rui and others on the high platform, but now that Wang Shouren suddenly ordered to take down the clan brother of the chief military officer, they naturally had a premonition that something was wrong.

And this time.

Ren Meng also waved his hand, and the soldiers of the General Administration Mansion, who had been ambushed outside, appeared around the wall and the high platform, and raised their muskets.

These middle- and lower-level generals of the Xuanfu naturally felt that something was wrong at this time, and they all made noise for a while, asking what they were going to do.

But at this moment, these middle and lower-level generals in Xuanfu Town also realized that they now had no family members and no weapons, so naturally they couldn't resist, so no one dared to rush out of the general palace or rush to the high platform to attack Wang Shouren, except for noisy questioning.

At this time.

Two of Wang Shouren's personal soldiers walked behind Chen Chen, grabbed Chen Chen's two arms, and then escorted him down.

Chen Chen had come back to his senses and asked loudly: "Master Chief, what are you doing, why are you taking me!" ”

"After investigation, Xuanfu gunpowder was adulterated and mixed with a large amount of sediment, and now this box of gunpowder is one of the proofs!"

Wang Shouren grabbed a handful as he spoke, threw it down, and at the same time, said: "You should know this matter better than this official, but none of you reported this matter to this official, and some even helped to abuse and share the benefits, while some secretly muttered and did not dare to report, but in any case, the civil and military officials of the entire Xuanfu and the inner court united to cause the adulteration of gunpowder is conclusive evidence, and you naturally cannot escape the involvement!" There may be some people who are not punished, but they also need to be given a warning of punishment! ”

When Wang Shouren finished speaking, Chen Chen had already been escorted down and put in prison.

At this time, all the middle and lower-level generals of the Xuanfu who were present were dumbfounded, some of them were loyal, and Chen Rui naturally guessed that Chen Rui was not good and wanted to avenge Chen Rui, but because he had no weapons in his hands and the officers and soldiers of the General Administration Mansion were surrounded by live ammunition, they had to hold back their anger and did not have an attack.

There are also people who are not Chen Rui and other henchmen, and they feel uneasy.

The generals of the Guards who were also summoned also arrived and were greatly shocked, they did not expect that their people were sent to the Xuanfu to see how the lords above punished the greedy people.

"Guard Mingbin!"

At this time, the scribe read the name of a military general, and this military general named Mingbin didn't know whether he should go up for a while, and he couldn't help but tremble for a while.

Seeing this, Wang Shouren gave Ren Meng a look, and Ren Meng took someone to escort this Mingbin directly from the crowd.

Next.

Every time the scribe recited a name, a general from Xuanfu Town was escorted away.

After all the generals in Xuanfu Town were escorted away, only the generals of the Guards were left in the entire front hall, and the generals of the Guards were all confused, and they were also panicked because of this big move of the imperial court.

However, Wang Shouren did not do anything to the Guards, first, the Guards did not involve this case, and second, the Guards and the border army are now two systems, and he, the secretary of the military department of the three sides of the general system, only has control over the border army.

Zhang Lun walked in at this time, directly took these guards generals, and immediately ordered these guards officers and soldiers to occupy all the key passes of Xuanfu.

And the soldiers of the various guards of the Xuanfu were also so confused that they handed over the key passes to the guards to guard.

Even some of the military attachés' family members didn't know what to do because the commander was not there, and they all watched in a daze as the officers and soldiers of the Guards occupied their own commander's mansion.

At this time, Wang Shouren also announced the emperor's will, and all the border soldiers of the entire Xuanfu were organized into a new guard reserve army, and gathered in Jizhou, ready to carry out training, and then broke up and reorganized into the guards system after the training.

Many of these border soldiers are veterans who have resisted the Tatars for many years, and they are all recruits who lead Lumi, so naturally they cannot become farmers to farm.

The guards of Xuanfu, on the other hand, were all deposed from their military status and were waiting to be distributed to the land of the guards, and these guards themselves were the military households of many officers and soldiers, no different from serfs, and were no longer necessary as a military force.

According to Zhu Houzhao's intentions, it was natural to take advantage of the incident of rectifying the Xuanfu to completely turn these military households into peasant households, give them land, and exempt them from paying taxes for three years.

Zhu Houzhao believes that after three or five generations, these can become the most stable popular foundation for the Ming Dynasty to rule the border towns.

The border soldiers are naturally happy to become the guards, after all, they all know that the guards will often be ordered to go out to the fortress to fight, basically they can get a lot of booty, can make a fortune, than staying in the border town of Guancheng and only guarding the monthly Yulu, and even worry about being detained by the officials from time to time, and the guards do not have to worry about being detained, because there is a military justice department, and even each battalion has a soldiers' committee, which can propose to the battalion officer about his life and directly go to the emperor to complain to the chief officer.

For the guards, it is naturally the happiest to be able to give themselves land, and in addition to their military status, to completely get rid of the fate of being enslaved by the officers, and even, this makes them have a good impression of the court for the first time.

Even some guards instinctively worried about the imperial court, and discussed: "Let us have land to plant, and let us no longer be the military households that are slaves to these officials, but in this way, can these officials agree to thousands of households?" ”

And the only thing that cannot accept this change is the family members raised by military attachés at all levels, these family members are originally raised by military attaches with rich income, and even have various relationships, and they are also relatively loyal to military attachés.

But these scattered families can't do anything, and they can only wait for the court to deal with it.

Zhu Houzhao knew that these people were all minions of military attachés at all levels, so naturally they could not be used; although these people's combat effectiveness was also strong, a soldier and bandit who had become accustomed to relying on his master to rob his house and house would bury hidden dangers if he stayed in the army, but if he stayed in the people, he would only become a bandit.

Therefore, Zhu Houzhao decided to disrupt these families and immigrate to various colonies in the Ming Dynasty.

When Wang Shouren announced Zhu Houzhao's decision, some family members naturally did not do it, did not want to live in other places, and even held the so-called loyalty to rescue their masters, so they were naturally shot and killed by Wang Shouren's officers and soldiers.

But most of the family members are not really loyal to their masters, after all, people are seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages, and these family members do not really want to be loyal to their masters, and they can only let the imperial court arrange them to be ordinary people in various colonies.

The 100,000 cases of gunpowder adulteration in the entire Xuanfu were handled smoothly, and there was basically no major turmoil, and the border troops and guards had no complaints.

And the next thing is just to deal with these civil and military officials who are suspected of adulteration of gunpowder.

According to Zhu Houzhao's will, Wang Shouren set up a special military tribunal to try these civil and military officials in border towns who were in the military system but not in the Guards system.

The handling of these civil and military officials is also very simple, and if the circumstances are serious, they will be shot directly, while if the circumstances are less serious, they will be demoted to their posts or sent overseas, and those who do not report the information will be given a warning, and they will also be demoted to overseas or remote areas to serve as military attachés.

Pingjiang Bo Chen Rui and his clan brother were naturally shot.

But the real big man involved in this case is not Chen Rui, but Wei Bin, who is responsible for the production and transportation of gunpowder.

Wei Bin's house was raided and sentenced to death, and Zhu Houzhao also took over the shares and put them into the state.

In general, after Wei Bin was executed, Zhu Houzhao's campaign to purge the Chaogang in the eighteenth year of Zhengde was over.

This movement not only started the pace of the construction of the rule of law in the Ming Dynasty, but also started the pace of the abolition of the military registration system in the Ming Empire.

All the guards of Xuanfu were changed to Fuzhou counties, ending the system of guards, but this does not mean that there will be no more troops stationed in Xuanfu.

Zhu Houzhao still stationed 100,000 guards in Xuanfu according to Wang Shouren's suggestion.

At the same time, Zhu Houzhao also ordered the Ministry of War, Shangshu Guixu and Yang Yiqing to be responsible for the formation of a new guard, and before that, an army would be transferred from the guards to be changed to a border army to be responsible for the defense of border towns.

In this way, new recruits can first receive actual combat training in the Guards when they are organized into the Guards, while older veterans can be reorganized into border troops to enhance their defensive capabilities based on actual combat experience.

But because of this, the Guards and the border army have almost become one system, and Zhu Houzhao directly put the official management and command of the border army into the Guards system, and upgraded the Guards system to the Ming Military Committee.

In accordance with the original command system of the Guards, the Daming Military Commission was set up into the General Staff Department, the General Political Department, the General Armament Department, the General Military Justice Department, the General Logistics Department and the Military Tribunal.

In this way, the power of the Ministry of War was further reduced, and it was only responsible for recruitment training and the management of military academies, as well as weapons research and development, as well as the guards that had not been removed for the time being.

However, the guards now basically exist in name only, and most of the military households in the guards have deserted and become urban migrants, while the officers of the guards have become landlords without land ownership.

Zhu Houzhao thought that after the reform of the Xuanfu guard system was completed, he would transfer junior officials to reform other health centers.

But all this can only be done step by step, and the gradual abolition of the guard system and military membership requires human and financial support.

Because the ban on the guard system and military registration is not as simple as the next holy decree, you have to send officials to establish government management there, and if you ban military registration, you also have to send officials to establish household registration.

Moreover, Zhu Houzhao's ban on the system of guards and military membership was not just a simple matter of changing the system of guards into a model of government and county officials, but also to prevent officials from harming the townships and avoiding the drawbacks caused by the grain chief system, Zhu Houzhao decided to reform the administrative system of the Ming Dynasty.

All this is mainly the responsibility of the new cabinet deputy Zhang Xuan.

Kang Hai, the first assistant to the cabinet, was an academic official, and his administrative ability and experience were not as good as Zhang Zhang's, and Zhang Xuan himself was also determined to innovate, so he took the initiative in the process of administrative reform.

First of all, according to Zhu Houzhao's edict, Zhang Xuan extended the administrative official system of the Ming Dynasty to the township level, and merged the chief of the Li and the chief of grain, and changed it to Li Zheng, and Li Zheng was the most basic manager of the Ming Dynasty, but not an official, just an official, and was appointed by the innocent and virtuous people of each village or workshop.

The township level and above are uniformly included in the official system, and the former officials are naturally included in the official system, giving them grades and promotion opportunities.

Because of the expansion of the territory of the Ming Dynasty, it is basically guaranteed that a large number of experienced officials at the grassroots level can be transferred out to serve as magistrates and other officials.

The most worth mentioning is that the chief and the chief of grain merged, the chief of grain system is the system pioneered by Zhu Yuanzhang, but with the development of the empire, it has become outdated, and even led to the bankruptcy of many families because of the bankruptcy of serving as the chief of grain or being exploited by the chief of grain.

Of course, this change can also be made because the Ming Dynasty now has the basis for reforming the tax collection system after a large inflow of silver, and Zhu Houzhao issued an edict that all provinces can adopt the change of levy in kind to the levy of silver dollars according to their actual conditions.

Zhu Houzhao did not directly implement a whip system throughout the country as Zhang Juzheng did in history.

Because the Ming Empire is a complex country, there are differences between the north and the south, in the areas with developed commodity economy in the south, the silver dollar has become the mainstream currency, and the economic life has all relied on the exchange of silver dollars, and the people's families more or less have silver dollars but no food, so the collection of silver dollars in the south is the most beneficial to the people.

However, in the north, the commodity economy is not developed enough, most of them are still farmers, and many poor areas of commercial activity are still exchanged for goods in kind.

Therefore, if the tax is rashly levied in the north, it will mainly collect silver dollars, but it will cause a burden on the people, because the people will have to take the grain to the merchants in exchange for silver dollars in order to pay taxes, and even directly borrow usury, after all, the banking institutions of the Ming Dynasty cannot be all over every township, even if they can go to the bank to exchange, once the merchants manipulate the price of grain, it will also cause the people to lose their interests because of the exchange of silver dollars.

This is also why in history, Zhang Juzheng's reforms will cause some people to oppose and some people to support them.

Wang Anshi is the same, his exemption law is that the people pay different amounts of money to the government according to the different levels of wealth and poverty to exempt from forced labor, and then the government recruits personnel to carry out public construction, so as to avoid the people from hurting the peasants due to forced labor, and the policy is not supported by the northerners, but by the southerners.

Because the commodity economy in the south is developed but densely populated, the people in the south have money but no land, and the people in the north have land but no money.

Now that Zhu Houzhao wants to reform the Ming Dynasty, he has to consider the differences between the north and the south, and let the local officials in various provinces make arrangements according to the actual situation, and pay the money if they can, and pay the grain if they can.

This also causes the national income of the Ming court to still be divided into two parts, one part is grain, and it still occupies the main part, after all, the Ming Dynasty still accounts for a relatively large proportion of agriculture, and part of it is silver dollars, and the proportion has a tendency to increase.

However, the state expenditure of the Ming Dynasty was already mainly in silver dollars, and various expenditures such as supporting the army, officials and public construction were all paid in silver dollars, which also led to the fact that the Ming court had to exchange grain for silver dollars.

Fortunately, Daming had a state-run grain company like the Grain Industry Bureau, which could sell grain to these people while the imperial court issued silver dollars to officials, the military and other public officials, and made a profit from it, without causing the imperial court to suffer losses in this economic exchange.

Zhu Houzhao could imagine that without the grain bureau, a large number of people engaged in public services would have to exchange grain from the merchants, and there is no doubt that this profit would fall into the hands of the merchants, making the private capital strong.

The grain in the hands of the Ming court will gradually depreciate because of the shelf life of the grain, resulting in damage to national interests.

"The Food Bureau is an important institution for maintaining the stability of the empire, otherwise, once there is a large-scale famine, we will not be able to organize enough financial resources to solve the famine and maintain stability!"

Zhu Houzhao said to the officials of the Food Bureau.

Of course, the coexistence of grain and silver dollars was also a test for the economic planning of the Ming Empire, and as the administrator of the empire, he had to consider these two variables at the same time to control the collection of prices and taxes and the amount of silver dollars.