Editing Organized crime (section)

===== Punishments for fences =====
Two different Ming Laws, the ''Da Ming Lü'' 大明律 and the ''Da Gao'' 大诰, drafted by the [[Hongwu Emperor]] Zhu Yuanzhang, sentenced fences with different penalties based on the categories and prices of the products that were stolen.

In coastal regions, illegal trading with foreigners, as well as smuggling, became a huge concern for the government during the middle to late Ming era. In order to prohibit this crime, the government passed a law in which illegal smugglers who traded with foreigners without the consent of the government would be punished with exile to the border for military service.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://roger.ucsd.edu/search~S9?/Xming+dai+li+fa+yan+jiu+&searchscope=9&SORT=DZ/Xming+dai+li+fa+yan+jiu+&searchscope=9&SORT=DZ&extended=1&SUBKEY=ming+dai+li+fa+yan+jiu+/1,70,70,E/frameset&FF=Xming+dai+li+fa+yan+jiu+&searchscope=9&SORT=DZ&1,1,|title=Ming dai li fa yan jiu|last=Yang|first=Yifan|date=2013|publisher=Zhongguo she hui ke xue chu ban she|isbn=9787516127179|edition=Di 1 ban|series=Zhongguo she hui ke xue yuan xue bu wei yuan zhuan ti wen ji = Zhongguoshehuikexueyuan xuebuweiyuan zhuanti wenji|location=Beijing|page=42|oclc=898751378|access-date=2021-12-31|archive-date=2021-03-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210306025533/http://roger.ucsd.edu/search~S9?%2FXming+dai+li+fa+yan+jiu+&searchscope=9&SORT=DZ%2FXming+dai+li+fa+yan+jiu+&searchscope=9&SORT=DZ&extended=1&SUBKEY=ming+dai+li+fa+yan+jiu+%2F1%2C70%2C70%2CE%2Fframeset&FF=Xming+dai+li+fa+yan+jiu+&searchscope=9&SORT=DZ&1%2C1%2C|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In areas where military troops were stationed, stealing and selling military property would result in a more severe punishment. In the Jiaqing time, a case was recorded of stealing and selling military horses. The emperor himself gave direction that the thieves who stole the horses and the people who helped to sell the horses would be put on [[cangue]] and sent to labor in a border military camp.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://roger.ucsd.edu/search~S9?/Xming+dai+li+fa+yan+jiu+&searchscope=9&SORT=DZ/Xming+dai+li+fa+yan+jiu+&searchscope=9&SORT=DZ&extended=1&SUBKEY=ming+dai+li+fa+yan+jiu+/1,70,70,E/frameset&FF=Xming+dai+li+fa+yan+jiu+&searchscope=9&SORT=DZ&1,1,|title=Ming dai li fa yan jiu|last=Yang|first=Yifan|date=2013|publisher=Zhongguo she hui ke xue chu ban she|isbn=9787516127179|edition=Di 1 ban|series=Zhongguo she hui ke xue yuan xue bu wei yuan zhuan ti wen ji = Zhongguoshehuikexueyuan xuebuweiyuan zhuanti wenji|location=Beijing|page=326|oclc=898751378|access-date=2021-12-31|archive-date=2021-03-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210306025533/http://roger.ucsd.edu/search~S9?%2FXming+dai+li+fa+yan+jiu+&searchscope=9&SORT=DZ%2FXming+dai+li+fa+yan+jiu+&searchscope=9&SORT=DZ&extended=1&SUBKEY=ming+dai+li+fa+yan+jiu+%2F1%2C70%2C70%2CE%2Fframeset&FF=Xming+dai+li+fa+yan+jiu+&searchscope=9&SORT=DZ&1%2C1%2C|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In the [[Salt in Chinese history|salt]] mines, the penalty for workers who stole salt and people who sold the stolen salt was the most severe. Anyone who was arrested and found guilty of stealing and selling government salt was put to death.