Chapter 242: Diligent Government and Love the People

After the banquet, everyone dispersed, although the banquet was called Yangxing, but Shen Yu did not set off today, the real departure time was arranged in the early morning of the next day, after asking the specific time, Chu Zhen also said goodbye and left.

"Ruida, why did you say so much just now?" Sending the guests away, on the way back home, Shen Yu said softly, there was also a little displeasure on his face, and others were fine, but his brother's voice, Shen Yu would not hear it wrong anyway.

"The wine order, the wine order, is naturally an order to prohibit, regardless of status, if you don't follow the implementation, then what's the fun at all, just don't play." Shen Liao didn't care about the Dao, and generously admitted that he had just opened his mouth to make Chu Zhen dance.

Knowing that Shen Liao was deliberate, anyway, the matter had passed, and Chu Zhen also skillfully resolved the embarrassment, and tried his talent in front of everyone, Shen Yu was not interested in it, shook his head slightly, and said with a chuckle: "Ruida, what do you think?" ”

The question was clueless, but Shen Liao understood, was silent, and said lightly: "It's not good." ”

Typical unconvinced, Shen Yu smiled and said: "Ruida, Jing Chun is very sincere, and just now he specially asked me about your situation, saying that he would come to the door to ask for advice." ”

"I haven't been available for the past two days." Shen Liao said, sneering, as if he meant something: "Besides, presumably he doesn't have the leisure to do so, the new official has taken office three fires, and the yamen still has many things waiting for him to deal with." ”

"Oops, I forgot to remind Jing Chun." When Shen Yu heard this, his face changed slightly, and he wanted to turn around to find Chu Qian, but Shen Liao stopped him.

"Big brother, you can't take care of this, it's customary." Shen Liao Zhengrong said: "Besides, I can't even pass this level, what can I talk about governing the world and the people." ”

"You can't say that, Jing Chun is inexperienced, and it's normal to be a little blinded." Shen Yu said.

"That's why you can't manage it, teach him a lesson, and he will be impressed in the future and won't make the same mistakes." Shen Liao said softly: "Didn't you and I come here like this back then?" ”

After a deep groan, Shen Yu sighed lightly: "I hope they don't go too far." ”

The gentlemen at the banquet were too enthusiastic, everyone came to toast, Chu Zhen also felt a little drunk, fortunately he didn't have to walk by himself, he just sat in the sedan chair and took a nap, to be honest, the sedan chair was stable, but it was also a little shaky, similar to the feeling of drunkenness, fluttering, Chu Zhen was a little tired, in a daze, his eyes were slightly closed, and he entered a state of sleep.

"Your Excellency."

The sound of a call in his ears woke Chu Zhi up, stretched his body, and found that the sedan chair had stopped, looking out from the wall window of the sedan chair, but he had already arrived in front of the county yamen, why not go in directly, Chu Zhen was confused in his heart, lifted the curtain and got off the sedan chair, but found that a group of people had gathered in front of the county yamen, bustling, it seemed to be a little lively, and there were several yamen soap officials maintaining order.

"What's going on?" Chu Zhen frowned and asked.

"My lord, these are the people who came to report their grievances." Liu Renzhi hurriedly came over and said, his eyes seemed to flicker a little.

Reporting the case and complaining about grievances, Chu Zhen sneered in his heart, the so-called new official took office with three fires, and before he lit the fire, some people wanted to give themselves a dismount, and he really regarded himself as a scholar who didn't know anything, just on the first day of his tenure, he had not yet hung his card to make a notice, saying when he would officially start receiving lawsuits, and where would anyone come to report the case.

There is no need to be reminded, Chu Zhen knows from some information in later generations that the officials in the county yamen are best at instigating many locals to come to complain whenever a new official takes office, and the case is complicated and plausible, and he is willing to give up until the new official is dizzy, and then the official will be disgusted with this kind of thing, so the officials take advantage of their slack and take the power to handle the case in their hands and empty the official.

The reason why the officials dare to do this, to put it bluntly, is that most of the officials are elected by the local wealthy, and they have been entrenched in the local yamen for generations, and they have already colluded with each other inside and outside to form a force such as a local snake, but those who were sent by the imperial court to the state and county to be officials, because of the avoidance system, are basically all foreigners, and at the beginning of their tenure, even language communication is still an obstacle.

If you think about it carefully, it is clear that the positions of officials are passed down from generation to generation, and the officials change every three years, naturally, in the eyes of some senior officials, the real masters of the yamen of this state and county are them, and the officials sent from above are the past guests, of course, to give the new person a little color, so that he understands the way to be a guest, the question is, how can Chu Zhen tolerate this kind of thing.

"My lord, it's almost time, it's not too late to take on the case tomorrow." Liu Renzhi proposed on the side.

"Yes, some small things will be handed over to the small ones to deal with, and then the adults will go through the hall again, sign and seal, and report to the state government." Immediately, someone chimed in.

"This official is entrusted by the imperial court to govern the place and pacify the people, how can he slack off." Chu Zhen smiled and said: "The scribe will go to record the people's case first, and Master Liu will order the third class of officials to be promoted, and when the official changes into official robes, he will immediately open the court for inquiry." ”

"Obey." Several scribes bowed their heads and said, the corners of their mouths swept a strange smile, what about the disparity in status, sooner or later they will ask us for help, and it is no wonder that the scribes are so confident, speaking of which is a major tradition of ancient officialdom, doing anything, there is a set of cumbersome procedures, in addition to the basic decrees, the precedents that should be cited or can be inferred are like sweat cows, the scholars who were born in the imperial examination, can talk about the head of the Tao through the history and strategy, and the poem Yunzi said that he may be familiar with the melon, but few can touch these doorways.

To give a simple example, if an official takes over a business, which decree or which provision should be followed, it cannot be found in books such as laws and regulations, and if something goes wrong or is found out by the superior, it will be dismissed at least or reprimanded at worst.

At this time, it is necessary to try to find out the precedents that have appeared in the past, or to draw analogies from similar precedents, so as to ensure that nothing is lost, but what precedents should be found, or even if they already know, which frame and which compartment in the archives should be retrieved, it is only to rely on the soap officials who are familiar with the situation of the county government.

Just when Chu Zhen returned to the inner house to change his official uniform, Liu Renzhi quietly warned several scribes: "The county is not small, don't go too far with you later." ”

"What does Master Liu mean by this, why can't we understand it." A certain official smirked.

"People are the children of official eunuchs in Beijing, if he can't get off the stage and loses face, it's not just you who are unlucky." Liu Renzhi snorted lightly, brushed his sleeves and left, and according to Chu Zhen's instructions, he summoned the third class of officials to prepare for the trial of the case.

Wearing a pale green official robe, he walked slowly from outside the tent into the hall, strutting his head, really a little majestic, his eyes swept slightly, and he saw that the clerks of the county government and the officials had already stood in line to greet him, Chu Zhen nodded slightly to show satisfaction, and then walked to the position in front of the public case and sat down.

"Greetings." A group of subordinate officials saluted.

Chu Zhi nodded lightly, sitting in the public hall for the first time, feeling quite novel, straightening his chest, sitting upright, his eyes drooping slightly, but he saw that there were printed bags, sign holders, pen holders, inkstones, waking wood, and tiger head cards with the words "avoidance" and "quiet" written on the case, etc., each of which has its own wonderful use, under Chu Qian's words and deeds, Chu Zhi will naturally not feel strange.

"Master Liu, where is the situation?" Serious matter, Chu Zhen pulled down his sleeves, and then turned his head and asked, in ancient times, a lawsuit was to write a pleading, and it didn't matter if you couldn't write it, the county government had a special scribe in charge of this matter, and the drumming and shouting injustice method was only used in emergency situations, after all, what was said with the mouth was far less detailed than written, and if there was a slight mistake in response, it would be hit by dozens of boards, so few people dared to knock it easily,

"Please take a look." Liu Renzhi, who was sitting at the first desk on the lower right, hurriedly got up and presented a thick stack of paper.

"How many cases are there in total?" The weight is not light, Chu Zhen sneered, his face was silent, and he asked casually: "Are the subjects waiting in front of the ya?" ”

"There are thirty-seven cases in total, and the owners are all there." Liu Renzhi said softly.

The ancient government is not a modern court, generally after receiving the case, it can be resolved immediately if it can be judged, unless there is really no way to make a decision immediately, it will choose to delay, or very efficient, after all, the people still have to work hard, but there is not so much free time to spend in the court.

"The ox is lost, and cannot be found; The money was lost, and it was suspected that it was stolen by Ah San next door; Some people eat and drink in restaurants for nothing and don't pay for anything; Sun Qi wants to rebel. Chu Zhi glanced at the pleadings casually, and found that they were all trivial things, of course, Chu Zhi also knew that it might be a trivial matter in his own opinion, but relatively speaking, for the people, it was a big thing.

In ancient times, the status of cattle was extremely lofty, the laws of various dynasties clearly stipulated that those who slaughtered cattle for no reason would be imprisoned, and the people could not do without it for cultivating the fields, and now they were lost, the mood must be very anxious, carefully read the pleadings, Chu Zhen pulled out some cases related to the people's livelihood first, and put them in the front, as for things like Sun Qi to rebel and the like, they were directly pressed to the bottom, which was obviously a matter of chasing the wind and catching shadows, and it was actually reported to it, and now I don't have time to pay attention to it, and I will ask carefully later.

"Open the hall and lead the matter." Looking at the situation for a while, Chu Zhen already knew it, and coldly picked up the waking wood and slapped it hard, and the sound of snapping made everyone in the hall shocked, fortunately, he had been on an errand in the county government office for many years, and the officials liked to play with this hand, and the officials were also a little immune, and when they heard the voice, they all stood solemnly.

"Ascension." The two rows of officials responded in unison, and then struck a neat and orderly shocking stick.

A few hours passed, and the scribes in the hall changed from wanting to see jokes, to being surprised that they couldn't help it, and then to being numb and tearful.

Knowing that the officialdom is dark and the officials are as cunning as oil, how can Chu Zhen not take precautions in advance, as early as before taking office, he has already consulted the elders and teachers who are good at the rule of officials, although he has only learned a few experiences, and has not been able to fully integrate them, but he has dealt with a few civil cases, he is simply at ease, and he has not spent half his effort at all, and he has lost the cow, asked about the situation, ruled out the possibility of theft by others, and directly ordered the officials to go to the back mountain to find it, and if he did not give money for nothing, he was sentenced to go to the restaurant to help make money to redeem himself, and there were all kinds of things, Let the victim explain the truth of the matter clearly, and you can write a judgment to close the case in three or two clicks.

In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen cases have all been handled, and it has only been more than an hour, mainly because some of the owners of the matter, because they are timid, and some words do not reach the meaning, otherwise the time may be shortened, and when this matter is reached, no one in the hall of officials dares to underestimate the young county officials.

I thought that if this trend continued, the rest of the case would be finished, but I didn't know what happened to the county magistrate, and I changed my previous discernment, wisely decided, and repeatedly interrogated a small case that was not worth mentioning, and asked the victim to repeat it nearly a hundred times, before he barely figured out what was going on, but after a while, he seemed to forget it again, and asked again.

On a summer night, it can be said that the moon is bright and the stars are sparse, and the silver-white moonlight sprinkles the earth, and the cool breeze takes away the heat of noon, however, above the public court, a group of officials and scribes feel drowsy, their eyelids tremble, and some simply bow their heads, and from time to time they twilt, as if they are echoing the words of the county officials, of course, if there is no thin and well-proportioned snoring, then it is even more impossible to see the flaw.

In fact, it is not to blame them for being so rude, mainly because it is now midnight, the real night is deeper, Hangzhou is not as good as Bianliang in the city that never sleeps, at this time most of the people in the city have turned off the lights to rest, the brightly lit Qinlou Chu Pavilion, but also pay attention to the impact, of course, it is impossible to open to the vicinity of the official office, so at this time, the street in front of the county government is quiet, there is no sound, but the county government is brightly lit, and there are some movements faintly, which frightens many passers-by.

Moreover, the officials did not have the habit of staying up all night, and even if they had nightlife, they would have some intimate communication with the flowers and jade in the warm bed, but now they did not even have a place to sit, and they had to listen to those words that they had heard hundreds of times over and over again, and there were probably few people who could persist without fatigue.

Chu Zhen is one of them, or he drank some pure wine, he was in good spirits, ordered someone to send tea and soup, took a sip gently, and became more and more energetic, so he wanted to speak, but he didn't make a sound, but he heard the master of the hall answer mechanically: "The little one's name is Ding Wu, and if you want to sue that Sun Qi for rebellion, if you go back to the adult, it's because the little one is a neighbor with him, and I overheard their husband and wife quarreling, and in their words, there are many offenses to the court and the official family." ”

Chu Zhen was stunned, and immediately understood that he had repeated too much, and the subject already knew what he was going to ask next, so he didn't wait for himself to ask, so he went down to answer, and looked at the situation in the court.

A burst of people turned on their backs, some people woke up, subconsciously wiped their mouths, and stood up solemnly, secretly complaining in their hearts, at this time, everyone knew that the county magistrate was obviously deliberately delaying time, otherwise it was already the last case, but there was no result after asking for nearly half an hour.

How can there be such a judgment of the case, neither summoning the defendant, nor allowing the subject to come up with strong evidence, just repeatedly asking, what can be the result, besides, this case does not need to be tried at all, everyone knows that Ding Wu just heard that there is disrespect to the court in the content of the quarrel between the husband and wife, in the era when there is no tape recorder, as long as people flatly deny it, and there is no other person and material evidence, no one can prove that what he said is true, such a case, in fact, does not need to be tried at all, the official can directly not accept it, and he can also be convicted of slander.

Hurry up and close the case, some scribes secretly lamented in their hearts, it's not that no one has proposed to the county lord, it's late at night, you can temporarily suspend the court, and wait for tomorrow's retrial, the problem is that people are unwilling, and the reason is very high-sounding, the words are not separated from the court, the society, the official, the country, the people, the people, the people, the people's suffering, the strength is stronger than the people, and the people are the masters of the county government, what to say is what.

"Master Liu, how do you think this case should be judged?" Chu asked with a smile.

"Everything is subject to the county respect, and the lower officials have no disagreement." Liu Renzhi said respectfully, and there seemed to be a smile between his eyebrows.

"In that case, let it be so decided." Chu Zhen smiled, dipped the pen in ink, and wrote smoothly on the pleadings, then threw the lake back into the pen holder, got up and brushed his sleeves away, and when he crossed the tent, a voice came: "Retreat." ”

"Quit." After a period of incomprehension, everyone came to their senses and hurriedly responded with a voice full of relief and joy.

"Husbands and wives turn against each other, it's a common thing; The two neighbors are the first to complain, and there is trouble; Arrest and declaration, eventful; The county is not allowed, saving trouble. It's wonderful. Seeing Chu Zhi leaving, Liu Ren stepped forward to pick up the pleadings of Chu Qian's instructions, recited it, walked down the hall, stuffed it to the county government office, and said with a chuckle: "Put it away, and post it on the wall outside the government tomorrow for publicity." ”

At this time, as long as the soap officer with a little cleverness in his brain, he has already understood in his heart that the practice of embarrassing the newly appointed officials has been seen through, and he has quietly and skillfully countered the army, and he did not break the intentions of the officials on the spot, leaving face for everyone.

A certain scribe reacted, and hurriedly put on a smile and said, "Lord Bookkeeper, just now you said that the county venerable has some origins, do you know anything, and please give advice." ”

"I don't need to say it, someone will tell you tomorrow." Liu Renzhi said with a smile, and also returned to the official residence with light steps, feeling a little strange in his heart, it was so late, he didn't feel the slightest sleep, could it be said that drinking alcohol could also refresh himself.

In the early morning, the sun has not yet come out, the sky is white, there is a little chill, the dock outside Hangzhou, everyone and Shen Yu made a final farewell, and the Shen clan's fathers and villagers talked sadly for a moment, Shen Yu walked to Chu Zhen's side, a smile flashed between his lips, and said softly: "Jing Chun, I haven't slept in the middle of the night, and I am still so energetic when I get up in the morning, which is really enviable." ”

"You got it." Chu Zhen smiled.

"Half of Hangzhou City is quiet, and the lights in the Yali of Qiantang County are bright, listening to its movements and excitement, no one can tell what is going on, which one doesn't care." Shen Yu said, his eyes full of smiles.

"If the new official takes office, no matter how you say it, you must also be diligent and love the people, so as not to let those inspectors of the imperial history play me slack in government, let the examination institute make a record, and affect my application for grinding in three years." Chu Zhen laughed.

The two looked at each other and chuckled, and after a while, Shen Yu said softly: "Jing Chun, you did a good job last night, but you softened a little, and you must show your authority to some people, otherwise they will not be grateful." ”

Since he was a child, he has lived in the yamen with his father, and under the influence of his ears and eyes, Shen Yu is no stranger to the officials, familiar with the number of doors and roads in the yamen, and knows when and how to act, in order to deter some slippery officials.

"I don't understand." Nodding slightly, Chu Zhen sighed lightly: "It's just a matter in the county ya, and I can't leave them for a while, after Brother Ruida is in charge of the yali, if anyone dares to commit any more crimes, I will not spare them." ”

Shen Yu also felt reasonable, chatted for a while, and finally waved goodbye to everyone, boarded the passenger ship, and set sail soon after, the ship slowly went away, until it disappeared into the sky, staring at the river for a long time, Chu Zhen sighed leisurely, collected his mood, politely declined the invitation to send farewell to the gentleman to the banquet, sat in the sedan chair, and returned to the government leisurely.

Although he lived in the county yamen for two days, Chu Zhen was not really in office, and he still lacked a set of ceremonies, so after returning to the yamen, under the proposal of Liu Renzhi and the officials, Chu Zhen did not refuse, and readily agreed.

First put on the official clothes, bow to the door of the ceremony, worship the door of the ceremony, and worship the god, and then go to the lobby, change into the court clothes, kneel down to the north, this is called thanking the grace of the saint, and then worship the seal, this is the old tradition in the officialdom, after all, with this seal handle has everything, and then take off the court clothes for the official clothes, what house gods, stove gods, all the way gods are sacrificed in place, lest they can't get along with themselves, toss for a long time, back pain, and finally naturally enjoy the participation of the subordinates, scribes, and messengers, and the ceremony is completed.

Of course, after the interest came up, Chu Zhen naturally had to carefully inspect his own territory, all the silver warehouses, material warehouses, granaries and other yamen warehouses in the yamen had to be checked one by one against the account books left by his predecessor, and at the same time the prison room, prison place, etc. were examined, and the various books and office books and errand books submitted by the officials were checked, and let them take turns to report again, which could be regarded as self-introduction, and Chu Zhen just took the opportunity to recognize people, after all, even the names of his subordinates were not clear, and it was really a little unreasonable.

That's it, a day has passed, but there is no case to be tried today, Chu Zhen also hung the card, announcing that the day after tomorrow will begin, officially receiving the people's lawsuits, the reason why the day after tomorrow is because Chu Zhen will go to Shen's house to visit Shen Liao tomorrow, after all, the behavior of the scribes makes Chu Zhen feel very unhappy, but these people are familiar with the situation in Qiantang, and they are inextricably linked with the local wealthy, and it is not easy to move them, the water is clear and there are no fish, and Chu Zhen also understands the truth of rare confusion, so I want to invite a master to sit in town, Let the soap officials restrain themselves.