In mid-October, a cold wave from Siberia hit Beijing, turning this ancient city into a snow country.
Zhu Jing was wearing a cotton coat, cowhide boots, and a scimitar at her waist. She was riding on a horse, and the horse's hoofs were wrapped in cloth, which made her appear stable.
The cold wind seemed to be a bit strong, causing him to squint his eyes unconsciously.
This put great pressure on everyone.
Dozens of officials from the Five Cities Military and Horse Division followed him, walking in the snow, looking quite embarrassed.
"Speaking of which, does General Zhu really want to patrol the streets?" A broad-faced man from a hundred families rubbed his rough face and tilted his head and said.
"Who says it's not the case!" Hundreds of households walking side by side showed helpless and envious expressions:
"I have just been knighted and appointed as the Commander-in-Chief of the Military and Horse Division of the Five Cities. My rank jumped from the sixth rank to the fourth rank."
"The magistrate of Wanping County is only in the sixth rank!"
"The four counties of the capital, millions of people, water and fire, patrolling thieves, and clearing ditches and streets are all under our jurisdiction. There are three or four thousand people. What is the fourth grade?"
The broad-faced Baihu puffed out his chest: "In my opinion, this is appropriate."
"Otherwise, how can we benefit from it?"
The two looked at each other and smiled.
Before the Military and Horse Division, the commanders could only be of the sixth rank, the deputy commanders were of the seventh rank, and the officials of one hundred households were of the ninth rank. In a place like Beijing where a brick could be thrown and a seventh-rank official could be hit, it was really not impressive.
After the restructuring, the Military and Horse Department of the five cities had one capital commander responsible for central coordination, and four deputy capital commanders, each responsible for a county.
The deputy capital commander also jumped to the fifth rank, and the thousands and hundreds of households under his command also jumped to the sixth and seventh ranks.
The increase in salary and official rank is equivalent to being directly promoted on the spot. Who wouldn't want to?
The main roads in Beijing are widened to ten feet, while ordinary streets are only about two or three feet wide at most, and can be blocked by three or four carriages running parallel to each other.
The so-called busy traffic refers to the main road. Even after snow, it is still crowded with people, so Zhu Jing will naturally not patrol it.
Seeing so many people behind him, he couldn't help but said: "Let them leave. What's the point of following them? Parading on the street?"
In this way, the number of people around him was reduced to about ten people, with four deputy commanders behind him.
"Snow clearing is going to speed up."
Zhu Jing glanced at the ground and said casually: "It's not enough to clean the main road, the streets must also be cleaned."
"Yes!" the deputy commander in charge of Xuanwu County couldn't help but said: "There are many people in the outer city, and the population is twice that of the inner city. The troops and horses under his command are somewhat insufficient."
“If there’s not enough, we’ll hire more people.”
Zhu Jing said coldly: "Under the emperor's feet, don't be stingy with those three melons and two dates. Even if Shuntian Mansion has no money, the Ministry of Revenue will give it to you."
"yes!"
"The coal is ready, the best Jingxi coal -"
"One piece only costs three cents and can burn for two hours——"
At this time, a mule cart stopped on the street, breathing hot air and shouting continuously.
A dozen residents surrounded the mule cart, holding dustpans or barrels in their hands, and kept shouting.
Another businessman, on the other hand, kept sending pieces of briquettes into his frame, paying with one hand and delivering them with the other.
In the blink of an eye, a truckload of briquettes was reduced by 30%. As time goes by, its quantity will inevitably decrease sharply.
Seeing the commander of the capital looking at him intently, the deputy envoy on the side couldn't help but said: "There was a heavy snowfall last night, which caused many people to wake up from the cold."
"This is the most appropriate time to sell briquettes."
Zhu Jing continued to stare, but he did not respond.
Although he has been away from Beijing for many years, he has a deep understanding of people's lives.
On a winter day, a family must prepare at least two hundred pieces of briquettes, otherwise they will not be able to survive the severe cold in Beijing.
Therefore, the coal consumption of one million people in Beijing in one winter is very huge, and it is indispensable even on weekdays.
This actually makes the mountains and forests near Beijing breathe a sigh of relief and become more green.
It's just that the cinders in that place...
Seeing his eyes downward, the deputy hurriedly said: "These cinders will not be let go easily. Those urchins will be asked to sweep up the cinders. We don't need to deal with them."
"Coal is used more in winter, so we still have to pay attention to fires. In winter, it can really kill people."
Zhu Jing said calmly.
"yes!"
Continue to patrol, Zhu Jing will not let him go easily.
The character houses in each street are arranged according to the order of the thousand-character script. One official and two white servants are responsible for the fire prevention, public security and other matters of a street.
It was natural for him to have a real visit.
And the true appearance of the house was revealed,
In the alley, almost at the end of the alley, there is a dilapidated house with a broken door and a few wooden boards to fill up many gaps, which can barely block the wind.
There are no windows and it looks damp.
A few men were huddled in the room warming themselves by the fire. An iron pot was hanging, as if they were boiling water. Several cake irons were placed on the pot, and the heat was constantly evaporating, making them gradually soft.
In the corner of the wall, gongs, drums, flags, shovels, waist knives, etc. were piled together in a mess.
Several big men were huddled around the fire, many of their cotton-padded clothes were patched, and they looked desolate.
But Zhu Jing had no sympathy at all.
After all, the Wucheng Military and Horse Division is also the manager of Beijing City, and it also has jurisdiction over some markets, so there is no shortage of money.
At the same time, as a member of the official family, the monthly salary of Bingma Si was only one silver dollar and five measures of grain, plus some extra money from faraway places with high salaries, which was enough for his family to live a comfortable life.
It is so simple now, but it is just the usual frugality of the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Division.
There are dozens of avenues and thousands of alleys and alleys. Even if they are compressed, there are nearly 600 houses in the entire city of Beijing.
Gongs, drums, flags, hoes, etc. are expensive, especially the office room, which costs a lot of money.
No matter how rich the Soldiers and Horses Division is, the figure of six hundred becomes insignificant.
"Commander——"
When they first saw Zhu Jing, they were stunned for a moment, but then they understood after being reminded and hurriedly saluted.
Seeing the laziness of several people, Zhu Jing had a cold face, but she didn't have an attack. She just said: "The snow is heavy, so you have to take care of the manual cleaning."
After saying this, he left.
From these people, he did not see the temperament of a soldier at all. Instead, they showed their philistine slickness.
Obviously, the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Division did not have the military temperament it had from the beginning, and it had disappeared many years after he left.
Holding the horse, he walked slowly, thinking about the bloated problem of the Five Cities Military and Horse Division.
When we inspected the ditch, we found that there was only a slight blockage, but it was not serious.
However, the energy of the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Division was divided again.
Are ditches important?
It was naturally very important as it related to the filth problem in the entire capital and the fact that the accumulation of filth in the emperor's mouth would contribute to the spread of the plague.
Naturally, fire prevention is also very important, as it is a matter of life and death, even the safety of the emperor and officials.
But the main job of the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Division is to catch thieves!
"Change, must change."
The more Zhu Jing patrolled, the more she became aware of the shortcomings of the Five Cities Military and Horse Division.
Not to mention the bad habits and routines, but the bloatedness of the Military and Horse Department is the most fatal.
There are 3,600 regular soldiers, plus nearly 8,000 white servants. They are responsible for the entire capital's population of one million, setting fires and disaster relief, clearing ditches and streets, and even managing household registration and issuing residence permits.
But its main job of catching thieves was neglected.
Thinking of this, he drafted a memorial all night, and one day he went to see the emperor with dark circles under his eyes.
"Reform the Five Cities Military and Horse Division?"
The emperor looked interested and looked at this article which was full of accusations against the Army and Horses Division, and couldn't help but said: "What plan can you have?"
"I believe that the Five Cities Military and Horse Division must be split up."
Zhu Jing said in a deep voice: "For water management, we can set up a fire control department; to clear ditches and streets, we can set up a street cleansing department."
"As for the original Military and Horse Division, they are still responsible for catching thieves, but those cunning old officials are not allowed to do so."
It is a good idea to divide the two military divisions into three parts.
Wait, isn’t this fire, sanitation, and public security?
Zhu Yixi suddenly understood.
However, as he pondered the plan carefully, he realized a shortcoming: it was too scattered.
The zifang system sets up zifang on the streets to achieve the purpose of strict and detailed control.
But in this way, the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Division actually has only a few hundred people in its hands. For the huge city of Beijing, this number of people is simply not enough in the event of an accident.
That is to say, the maneuverability is not strong.
Therefore, the new reform must integrate control and mobility to fill the loopholes.
Thinking of this, Zhu Yixi fell into thinking.
After a long time, he said: "From now on, the Five Cities Military and Horse Department will also be called the Patrol Police Department. It has the Fire Department, the Street Cleaning Department, the Robbery Department, and the General Affairs Department."
"The Patrol Police General Office has a chief commander, who has the rank of fourth rank, and four deputy commanders, who have the rank of fourth rank."
"The patrol police bureau also has four branches, each located in Wanping, Daxing, Xuanwu, and Chongwen counties. Each branch has one commander, the fifth rank, and four deputy commanders, the fifth rank..."
"The branch office, like the main office, also has four divisions, headed by four deputy commanders."
"With five streets and a limit of 1,000 households, divide jurisdictions, establish branches, and establish seven ranks, and four divisions will be established as above..."
To put it bluntly, it means changing the previous total-points into total-points-total.
Establish a Ming Dynasty version of the police system.
One street with one house is too scattered.
Zhu Yi digested the emperor's words. He thought about it for a long time and then said: "Your Majesty, if this is the case, even an ordinary branch will have nearly twenty people."
"That's right."
Zhu Yixi smiled and said: "The main office must have at least five hundred people, and the branch office must have about two hundred people."
"A rough calculation, it's about 10,000 people!"
"If there aren't enough people, let's include the white servants!"
Zhu Jing is perfect.
After careful consideration, he realized that the power of the General Patrol Office was huge, almost overwhelming all the major county offices.
Money and food are secondary.
There are 10,000 troops in the inner and outer cities of the capital, which is a powerful force no matter what.
Of course, there is a capital camp on the city wall and a bodyguard department in the imperial city, so these ten thousand people are nothing.
It can even be said that this number of people is not enough.
Not to mention, there are also censors who patrol the city to monitor, who dares to mess around?
Zhu Yixi's psychological arrangement was very good.
The county government handles civil matters, while the patrol police are responsible for criminal cases and arrests, and each does not infringe.
This is also a preliminary design. If you feel uncomfortable with it, just fine-tune it.
Under our noses, we must establish a modern police system no matter what.
Even during his lifetime, he wanted to establish a police academy and a police rank system, and formally carry them forward and spread them to every county in the world.
And the trader in the capital is Zhu Jing.
He took a deep look at Zhu Jing and hoped that he would bring success as always.
As if feeling the emperor's gaze, Zhu Jing's face was full of determination.
Although he could not understand such a historical burden, he was already aware of the powerful strength of the Patrol Office and the heavy trust given by the emperor.
Returning to the Wucheng Army and Horses Division, Zhu Yi began to carry out drastic reforms.
He first rented a four-entry courtyard in the inner city to accommodate everyone in the entire patrol headquarters.
He has had people rebuild and expand the original county government office.
This is extremely rare in the Ming Dynasty, which has never built official offices and displayed a clean and honest style.
After that, the four major branches established new yamen as usual.
The same is true for street branches.
The four departments, the Street Cleaning Department, the Fire Department, and the Robbery Department, are clearly visible at a glance. The General Affairs Department looks relatively simple, but it is responsible for household registration, market, purchasing and other matters, and it still has a lot of power.
The four divisions all belong to the category of chores, doing more work and doing less work.
When a group of veterans saw that he was getting serious, they immediately backed down and hesitated to move forward.
Zhu Jing couldn't bear it at all, and dismissed one-third of the officials at once, offending countless people.
After all, when living in the capital, what the noble ministers need most is to have their own people.
For example, if you beat a slave to death or something, in order to avoid seeing the official and the family scandal being exposed, they naturally need to cover it up.
But Zhu Jing was born on the battlefield and relied on the emperor's favor. She didn't take them seriously at all and still went her own way.
There was no one he could use, so Zhu Jing directly recruited people from Jingying to use them.
In just one month, the police system in the capital was initially formed.
"Main Hall..."
When Zhu Jing was panicking and wanted to get angry, a subordinate suddenly came over with a look of hesitation on his face.
"What?" Zhu Jing's expression changed: "If you have anything to say, just say it."
"A big incident occurred in Princess Kunning's residence. Shuntian Mansion beat the enemy over -"
According to the previous rules, criminal cases were basically handled by the patrol police, and the county government was only responsible for civil litigation. Such operations were normal.
But within this normality, there is something abnormal.
Because the county government is reluctant to give up its power, how can those general magistrates be willing to let their power fly away.
People are accustomed to going to the county government to report cases, so these general judges made their own decisions and did not report to the patrol police headquarters at all.
Zhu Jing could only turn a blind eye to this.
There's no way he could go to the county government office to steal money, right?
At this time, a big problem suddenly occurred, and the key involved Princess Kunning, which made it very difficult.
"Damn it -" Zhu Jing cursed inwardly, but on the surface he showed no fear.
"Tell me, what kind of eucalyptus is it?"
Zhu Jing asked in a deep voice.
Princess Kunning, the daughter of the former Emperor Chongzhen, is now the only heir, and the emperor is so favored by her!
When it comes to the previous dynasty, everything must be done with caution.
"I heard that the items given by His Majesty were stolen. Shuntian Mansion did not dare to make arbitrary decisions, so they sent them to us..."