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"Sir Luo, Sir Shen has always said that the matter of the militia can only be decided after you arrive. We learned that Sir Luo had gone to chase the pirates and have been hoping that Sir Luo would return victorious, "Li Shouchang, the most powerful of the four heads of the militia in Wuzhou, said with an experienced smile.
Luo Dagang was even more experienced. He smiled slightly. "The pirates have been caught a long time ago. However, we are going to conquer the world and rule the world. So from now on, there must be rules. According to the new legal procedures, it took a few days to deal with the pirates. The heads of the pirates are now hanging in Guangzhou for public display. In a few days, they will be sent to Wuzhou for public display. You don't have to rush! "
Hearing that Luo Dagang and the others had easily wiped out the pirates, regardless of whether it was sincere or not, the heads of the militia all expressed their congratulations.
After Luo Dagang finished listening to their flattery, he waved his hand for everyone to quiet down. "I just said, we are going to conquer the world and rule the world! Everyone looks like you are all scholars. Presumably, you have heard Confucius's words, 'Killing without teaching is called tyranny.' This means that if we do not announce the laws we have set to everyone, if we do not let everyone know. If someone breaks the law, we will immediately kill them according to our laws. That is tyranny. I'm sure all of you know this saying, right? "
From their expressions, these scholars did not immediately think of this saying. Luo Dagang glanced at Shen Xin. Shen Xin immediately went to the bookshelf in the meeting room and took out a copy of the Analects of Confucius. Flipping to the page, he handed it to everyone to see. Everyone glanced and understood the content of what Luo Dagang was saying. Li Shouchang immediately began to flatter. "Sir Luo is truly talented in both the pen and the sword!"
After Luo Dagang heard this, he smiled calmly. He said in a very happy tone, "Brother Li, I understand what you mean. But you think that I don't know a lot of words and that I've been educated. You didn't expect that!"
Although his attitude was very warm, the nail in his words made Li Shouchang immediately become well-behaved.
Luo Dagang did not become self-satisfied because of this. He continued to say, "Everyone, there is no need to play this empty game. Let's get straight to the point! We all know that you've set up a militia. That's why we've come up with the 'Militia Management Regulations'. These regulations won't change overnight. We'll also publish the contents of these regulations in the newspapers. If there are any new changes, we'll send them to you as soon as possible. Take a look now! "Luo Dagang took out a red document and handed it to Li Shouchang.
The other team leaders all wanted to come over and take a look, but they felt that it wasn't appropriate. Luo Dagang saw that they wanted to move but didn't dare to. He couldn't help but laugh and said, "You are the leaders of the militia. Each of you has a share."
After that, he counted out three more documents and gave one to each of them. After the heads of the militia received it, Luo Dagang said, "You guys can take your time to read it. Come back here tomorrow afternoon. We can have a good talk. "
After sending off the bewildered militia leader, Luo Dagang told him to go home first. At this time, Shen Xin had already picked up a document and was reading it carefully.
This was the latest document on the management of the militia. There were four main contents.
First, a militia must report to the local government in order to become a legal militia. Those that didn't report were illegal militia.
1. Every member of a legal militia must pay a militia tax of ten taels of silver to the local government every year.
2. Legal militia must implement the joint and several law. If a militia member commits a crime, the militia leader must bear joint and several liability if he didn't participate. The punishment is half that of a criminal. In terms of civil fines, the amount of the criminal's fine multiplied by the number of people in the militia. If a militia leader participated in a crime, then in addition to the punishment mentioned above, he must accept the relevant trial alone and accept the relevant punishment.
3. Legal militia members are not allowed to hold public office.
4. If a legal militia hires peripheral personnel and doesn't report their members. In addition to being ordered to rectify, a fine of 20 times the total number of people who have reported and those who haven't reported will be imposed.
5. If a militia member leaves the organization, no one can stop him.
2. Illegal militia must be disbanded. If they conduct private activities, they will be punished with labor and other punishments.
…
3. Militia cannot interfere in public affairs.
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4. Scope of action of the militia
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This was the revised draft of the "Regulations on the Administration of the Militia" produced by the Commander-in-Chief's Office. Originally, the Commander-in-Chief's Office wanted to use high-pressure methods to completely disband the militia. However, after discussion and practice, they finally came up with a method that was more like boiling a frog in hot water. Forcibly disbanding the militia would not be effective, and many people would be worried at this time. The basic idea of the final formulation of this regulation was to allow the militia to exist as an organization with a strong sense of unity. The militia would become a large taxpayer. Members of the militia would be excluded from the system. The militia had a certain degree of duty to prevent bandits.
After reading the document, Shen Xin asked doubtfully, "Chief of Staff Luo, the Commander-in-Chief's Office doing this is equivalent to making the militia obedient dogs. Not only are we not giving the dogs food, but we also have to make the dogs show filial piety to us. Won't the militia rebel? "
Luo Dagang sat comfortably on the chair before replying, "It's good to rebel! After they rebel, we can catch them all in one fell swoop. However, whether they have the guts to rebel is something worth watching. "
Shen Xin was not so relaxed. "They naturally won't fight us now, but they will wait for an opportunity. If we have the slightest opportunity, I'm afraid they will act. "
Luo Dagang shook his head. "If we have an opportunity, that's our business. If they rise up to rebel, that's their business. In the end, I don't think they have the slightest hope of rebelling. When that time comes, we won't have to be polite to them in the slightest. Those who should be searched will be searched, and those who should be beheaded will be beheaded! "
After saying this, Luo Dagang looked at Shen Xin's uneasy expression and couldn't resist laughing. "Brother Shen, after you've experienced these things, you'll know that sometimes it's not that you don't want to kill them and they will appreciate your kindness. I'm telling you right now, it was wrong of us not to fight our way into Wuzhou. We didn't fight our way into Wuzhou, and these people really don't know how powerful we are. "
In the afternoon of the second day, the militia leaders did not show up on time. On the third day, they also did not show up. According to the latest news, the militia commanders in Wuzhou were secretly contacting the various powers inside and outside Wuzhou.
Shen Xin immediately called for a meeting, and the outcome of the meeting was far beyond his expectations. The other members of the Recovery Society all supported Luo Dagang's line of thinking. They had to carry out a great purge of the militia and other powers. Furthermore, Luo Dagang had seen Vézé in Guangzhou and asked in detail where the authority of the political commissar lay. As the convener of the meeting, Shen Xin could not carry out any decision that had not been passed by the meeting. However, as long as the program and principles of the Recovery Martial Manor were not violated, everyone could discuss and decide the specific execution process.
For the Recovery Martial Manor, the focus now was to stabilize local order, control the safety of Wuzhou's shipping routes, and do their best to rope in the people who relied on their labor to make a living into the hands of Wuzhou's local political power. Starting from these principles, the united strategy that Shen Xin had proposed met with unanimous opposition. On the contrary, Luo Dagang's proposal to eliminate the militia and some of the "influential" boat leaders on the Pearl River shipping routes was completely accepted by this group of middle and high-ranking officers.
"As long as we get rid of this group of leaders, the people who want to seriously earn a living will naturally come to us. Cutting off someone's path to wealth is better than killing their parents. As long as we continue to control the shipping routes, as long as we manage all the business on the river, we will not rest until one of us is dead, "Luo Dagang said loudly.
Shen Xin did not show any weakness and retorted, "The Taiping army controls the shipping routes on the Yangtze River, but there is no such thing!"
"Haha!" "Haha!" The officers from the two provinces all laughed out loud at the meeting as if Shen Xin had said the biggest joke in the world.
After all, Shen Xin was only 20 years old. Although he had been a temporary government worker for two years and had experienced many things, he could not help but have a youthful nature. After being universally laughed at, he was truly angry. With a flushed face, Shen Xin said loudly, "What's so funny?"
Luo Dagang did not laugh at him, but his face carried the condescending smile of an elder looking at a youth. "Brother Shen, this is not the Yangtze River, this is the Pearl River. We are not facing people from Anhui, Hubei, or Jiangsu. We are facing people from the two provinces. The people on both sides of the Yangtze River are afraid of the government, but our brothers from the two provinces don't really care about the government! In the two provinces, whoever's knife is faster, whoever's knife is sharper, who can give orders! Relying on words is completely useless! "
Seeing Shen Xin's expression that did not agree with this idea, Luo Dagang said to the people in the meeting, "We are all members of the Recovery Society, so let's vote according to the rules of the Recovery Society!"
The only vote against was Shen Xin's. Luo Dagang's "complete solution" was passed. The Wuzhou troops immediately began to adjust their policies and strategies. First was to strengthen the defense system in the city with the Wuzhou magistrate's yamen as the core. The defense system of the shipping bureau at the docks was also strengthened. The armed police stronghold, which was undertaken by the army, was also strengthened.
At the same time as the internal preparations for battle were made, the troops' "traditional defense points" at the city gates, city walls, and other places were clearly weakened. What surprised Luo Dagang was that even though he had been completely rejected, Shen Xin was only unhappy for the first two days. Starting from the third day, he also threw himself into the preparation work. Because of the dissatisfaction in his heart, Shen Xin's face was always tense, but he did not show any anger, nor did he throw his temper at his brothers. Luo Dagang's evaluation of Shen Xin had greatly increased.
Finding some time, Luo Dagang began to chat with Shen Xin. "Brother Shen, tell your brother the truth. Do you really submit now?"
"Hmph!" Shen Xin laughed coldly. "It's not that I submit to you, it's just that things have already come to this. I have to follow the policies of the Governor's Office!"
"Follow …" Luo Dagang paid special attention to this sentence that was very much in line with Shen Xin's mood. After repeating it a few times, Luo Dagang suddenly remembered something Vézé had said. "You believe that you can't reach your desired political goal by relying on your own strength, so you have to find like-minded comrades and walk together with them. As for how far you can walk and where you can walk, I can say that even Brother Luo doesn't know. But you will follow this idea and walk along this flag. Wherever you go, that's where you go. "
At that time, Vézé had explained to Luo Dagang the difference between joining the revolution and opportunistic revolution. Luo Dagang had undoubtedly joined the revolution. The reason why he resolutely switched from the Taiping Rebellion to Vézé was not because he wanted to obtain a higher official position from Vézé compared to the Taiping Rebellion, nor was it because he wanted to obtain more rewards and wealth. Luo Dagang believed that the Taiping Rebellion had already lost its political ideals. Only Vézé still persisted in the creed of "overthrowing Manchu Qing" and "dividing the land equally", and was unswervingly fighting for it.
Although Shen Xin was still young, and his ability to handle matters was not necessarily worthy of praise. But with just this one sentence of "follow", Luo Dagang was certain that Shen Xin was a fellow who joined the revolution. Even if he was angry, even if he was unhappy, even if he was rejected by the majority, Shen Xin did not abandon his own work. Instead, he persisted in his post and continued to walk along the policy.
Thinking up to this point, Luo Dagang could not help but praise in his heart, "That political department sure has a good eye!"
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