Chapter 303: The Public Security Problem

"I heard that last night, there were some problems in the city?" Maintaining his usual upright posture, Liu Chengyou asked calmly without even raising his head.

The aged figure standing before the imperial presence was none other than Hou Yi, Governor of Kaifeng. Compared to the beginning of the year, this cunning old fox hadn't changed at all—his body still looked quite hale and hearty.

However, upon hearing the Son of Heaven address the matter directly, he made his bow, stole a cautious glance, and replied: "Your Majesty, a few ruffians and scoundrels, after getting drunk, picked quarrels in the marketplace, which led to brawling and a minor disturbance..."

"A minor disturbance? It escalated into an armed brawl with deaths and injuries—what would you call a major disturbance then? And what about the looting and theft? How did that come about?" Liu Chengyou's flat tone already carried a note of interrogation.

Hou Yi lowered his head a bit further and said in a resentful tone: "A pack of local thugs took advantage of the chaos to commit crimes! The curfew and market closure hours were extended, and the subordinate officials below were unprepared and slow to react—this is Your servant's negligence."

Governor Hou's attitude was properly deferential, or perhaps this was his cleverness—openly admitting fault and voluntarily shouldering the blame.

Last night, in the markets of the Eastern Capital, trouble suddenly erupted, developing from ordinary quarrel-picking into an armed brawl involving dozens of participants. In such situations, there were inevitably those who took advantage of the chaos to break the law. The government's people had clearly failed to take preventive measures in advance, allowing the matter to balloon out of control.

"How many dead and wounded?" Liu Chengyou glanced at Hou Yi.

"Five dead, seven seriously wounded, and eighteen lightly wounded." Hou Yi had evidently made detailed inquiries and recited the figures fluently: "After the incident, both the Kaifeng Prefecture and the Patrol Inspectorate dispatched constables and soldiers to suppress and arrest the culprits, capturing one hundred and seventeen people in total. Of the thugs who participated in the brawl, aside from a few who escaped, all were taken into custody."

"That many people were involved?" Liu Chengyou furrowed his brow.

Hou Yi hurriedly explained: "To avoid letting anyone slip through the net, all those present were brought back to the yamen. I have ordered them to be interrogated one by one to distinguish the guilty from the innocent, and over forty of those without fault have already been released. Additionally, I have dispatched constables from the prefecture to follow the confessions and search for those who fled..."

After hearing Hou Yi's report, Liu Chengyou's expression softened considerably. Whatever else might be said, this Governor Hou did handle the aftermath with considerable orderliness.

"And what about the fire that broke out south of the city?"

Without hesitation, Hou Yi replied: "Common folk crowded together in close quarters and were careless with fire, which started the blaze. Thirteen houses within the ward were burned, but fortunately the weather was damp and the fire was suppressed in time before it could spread—there were no casualties..."

"You have indeed been diligent as Governor of Kaifeng!" Liu Chengyou said to Hou Yi after a brief silence. Seeing that the man was still standing, he raised his hand in a gesture: "Sit down and report!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" At this, the old fellow secretly let out a breath of relief and took his seat. Though he had handled the situation with seeming ease, it wouldn't be true to say he felt no trepidation at all. Despite being appointed Governor of Kaifeng, he didn't delude himself into thinking he enjoyed the Emperor's full trust—after all, he had a "record" of past offenses, and he feared Liu Chengyou might find some pretext to dredge up old accounts.

After taking his seat, Hou Yi took the initiative to ask for the Emperor's opinion: "Your Majesty, how should the captured persons be dealt with?"

"Depending on the severity of their offenses, execute those who deserve execution, imprison those who deserve imprisonment—especially the ringleaders, who should be punished with the full weight of the law!" Liu Chengyou replied without hesitation.

"Yes!"

"How many homicide cases has the Eastern Capital seen this past year?" Liu Chengyou asked.

Caught off guard by this question, Hou Yi was put on the spot. Without urgent need, why would he bother keeping track of such things? After a moment's hesitation, he still answered honestly: "Your Majesty, please forgive Your servant—I will need to check the archives when I return to the yamen. However, of those I handled personally, there were over forty cases."

"The management of the Eastern Capital's markets and wards still leaves much to be improved!" At this, Liu Chengyou's calm tone released a note of dissatisfaction.

Clearly sensing this, Hou Yi immediately spoke up with a pledge: "Your servant will certainly enforce strict rectification from now on!"

Though it was the capital, Kaifeng was hardly a place of stable order—especially in the streets and alleys, where dragons and snakes mingled together, and people from all four corners of the realm poured in. It was lively, and prosperity was recovering, but chaos and crime were never in short supply either, especially during times of turbulent circumstances.

Since the founding of the Great Han, public security in the Eastern Capital had enjoyed two periods of being quite good. But those were maintained through high-pressure control and harsh legal deterrence—abnormal conditions that could not be sustained for long.

The first was the few months after Liu Zhiyuan first entered Kaifeng and changed the dynastic title. During that period, military-style management was essentially imposed. It wasn't until later, when Prince Wei Liu Chengxun and Liu Chengyou successively intervened, that things began to ease.

The second was the month or two after Liu Chengyou ascended the throne. To secure political stability and public peace, the management of Kaifeng was exceptionally strict—even harsh to the point of cruelty. At that time, Shi Hongzhao and Liu Xin held power, and both were ruthless men who delighted in severe laws. Basically, anyone who committed even the slightest offense was dragged to the Imperial Guard Command for "education."

During that period, the scoundrels of the Eastern Capital's streets could be said to have vanished without a trace, not daring to show their faces. Goods abandoned on the road went untaken, and common folk didn't even dare walk with their heads raised. Public security was good, the situation was stabilized—but it could be said that for most people, the very air of the Eastern Capital was oppressive, and breathing wasn't easy.

Especially later, when military officers of the patrol agencies, seeking private gain, colluded in corruption, falsely accused the innocent, and abused punishments, creating a very bad impression. Vice Minister of Justice Bian Guidang had even submitted a remonstrance to Liu Chengyou on this account, suggesting that Liu Chengyou promulgate clear regulations to crack down on lawless military officers and restore peace to the people.

Liu Chengyou accepted the advice graciously, but it was only after Shi Hongzhao and Liu Xin had both been successively transferred out of the imperial army that conditions fully improved, with public security management of the Eastern Capital entirely returned to the Kaifeng Prefecture. With management pressure thus relaxed, all manner of ghosts and monsters inevitably began to surface.

As for all this, when Hou Yi first took office as Governor, he had made a show of action for a time, but the fundamental problems had never been solved. At bottom, it came down to deficiencies and ambiguities in the management system, compounded by no small problems in the government's enforcement of the law.

On ordinary days, minor scuffles never reached Liu Chengyou's ears, but this time an armed brawl had been reported directly to him as a matter of importance by the Wude Office, once again drawing Liu Chengyou's attention.

At this moment, hearing Hou Yi's words, Liu Chengyou slowly shook his head—a "strict rectification" was not enough to satisfy him.

Noticing Liu Chengyou's expression, the old fellow's eyes brightened slightly, and he asked respectfully: "May I ask what instructions Your Majesty has? Your servant humbly awaits your sacred will."

This old codger—his shrewdness and slickness at reading faces and moods really didn't seem to fit a rough soldier who had fought his way up from the ranks.

Liu Chengyou didn't put on airs of profundity either, directly laying out his thoughts for Hou Yi: "The Eastern Capital's prosperity is recovering, yet the management of markets and wards still has deficiencies. For the sake of public security, in response to the current situation in the Eastern Capital, the Kaifeng Prefecture should promulgate a new set of regulations for the management and punishment of offenses in the markets and wards!"

"Your Majesty's insight is brilliant!" At this, Hou Yi immediately cupped his hands in a flattering "lick," then said very candidly: "Your Majesty knows well that Your servant is but a military man—the drafting and compilation of regulations is truly beyond my abilities, and I fear there is no one of such talent under the Kaifeng Prefecture either..."

A person's self-awareness is sometimes truly rare and precious.

Seeing that Hou Yi hadn't directly accepted but instead laid the problem out plainly, how could Liu Chengyou fault him for insufficient ability? He had clearly given the matter thought, and waved his hand to tell him: "I'll give you a suggestion—go find Fan Zhi, the Hanlin Academy Director."

At this hint, Hou Yi immediately caught on, beaming as he bowed with clasped hands: "Your servant understands. Thank you for Your Majesty's guidance."

Fan Zhi had recently been leading a group of civil officials, devoting himself wholly to the compilation of the *Criminal Code*, and with Wang Pu later joining to assist, the progress had finally picked up considerably. Having him help draft a "Regulations for Public Security Management in the Eastern Capital" would be no problem at all.

"Additionally, you must strengthen management and oversight of the Patrol Inspectorate's officers!" Liu Chengyou added with emphasis.

"Yes!" Hou Yi responded decisively. In his heart, he had also secretly resolved to carry out a rectification and restraint of the subordinate officials and constables under the Kaifeng Prefecture yamen. Previously he had turned a blind eye, but now that the Emperor himself had spoken, he naturally knew what needed to be done.

In fact, regarding the deteriorating public security problem in the Eastern Capital, Liu Chengyou had long harbored intentions to rectify it—after all, this was the foremost district of the realm, and such chaos in the streets was utterly improper. The disturbance on the winter solstice night had merely moved up the timetable for Liu Chengyou's crackdown on public security.