After Zhang Shun left, Liang Wensheng continued: "Now I announce several decisions of this official, first, Qi Yujia, the household secretary, was removed from his post for investigation and investigation for falsifying accounts, embezzling silver taels, and stealing and selling grain in the warehouse, and has now been taken into custody pending trial. The position of the head of the household secretary is held by Ji Jiude. ”

"Second, after the approval of Lord Zhang's letter to the court, the post of Tongzhi will be temporarily handled by the official Zhuang Wenxuan. After the official recital is approved by the court, it will be formally appointed by the ministry. ”

"Third, from today, we will borrow 10,000 stone of grain from the community warehouse to help the victims. All officials must be conscientious, diligent in government and love the people, and they must no longer perfunctory their responsibilities and deal with things, let alone collude with unscrupulous businessmen and big businessmen, and harm the people. Otherwise, as long as it is discovered by the official, the official counselor will be exempted! Severe punishment will not be loaned! ”

"Yes, I will obey the order! Conscientious, diligent and love the people! The officials sang aloud.

At this time, Liang Wenhui stood up and sang loudly: "If there is something to do, play early, and leave the hall if there is nothing"

The officials were like criminals who had been released from prison, and all the hulala were gone. Only Zhuang Wenxuan and Ji Jiude were left in the hall.

After the many officials in the hall left, the two bowed at the same time and said in unison: "Thank you for your promotion, the lower officials (subordinates) will definitely swear to serve your lordship." ”

"You two don't need to be polite, the two of you boldly report and expose the corrupt and perverted the law, and make meritorious contributions to eradicating them, and you should be rewarded and promoted."

"This is what the subordinate (subordinate) should do, and he will not be praised by the master." The two replied in unison.

"Ji Si, the year after tomorrow is the year of the Great Make, you have to start preparing for the compilation of the Yellow Book now, this time the Great Book must be truthfully compiled to find out the population in this state. There is also the summer grain collection to start preparations, the grain chief below, if you find that there is fraud and concealment at will, you must sort out the evidence, and the official must report to the household department to request recall. ”

"Yes, my subordinates will do their best." Ji Jiude replied carefully.

Writing here, I want to explain the Yellow Book and the Fish Scale Book that are closely related to the people in the Ming Dynasty.

In order to effectively manage the household registration, master the labor force, and ensure the collection of government service in the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty conducted a nationwide census at the beginning of the founding of the country, and compiled the general list of the national household registration - the Yellow Book on the basis of the census.

At that time, the imperial court required all local prefectures, prefectures and counties to compile yellow books, which were compiled into fangs in towns, chambers in the suburbs, and li in villages, with every 110 households as one li.

The 110 households in one mile are compiled into a volume in order of the amount of grain, and the name, place of origin, mouth, age, and field industry of each household are indicated in the booklet. Among them, there are lonely and widowed people who cannot serve in the service, so they are attached to 110 households, and they are called Abnormal Zero.

The yellow book is in duplicate, one copy is kept in the book, and the other is handed over to the state and county. The state and county summarize the books of each mile and make the general register of the state and county, which is also in duplicate, one is kept in the state and county, and the other is handed over to the government.

In this way, the government at all levels copied the law, and the government handed it over to the political secretary, and each political secretary finally remitted it to the household department in the imperial court, because the book submitted by the political secretary to the household department must be covered with yellow paper, so it is called the "yellow book".

With it, the Ming Dynasty was familiar with the total population of the country, mastered the possession of land, and with the Yellow Book, it could forcibly levy labor and levy taxes on the common people in the Yellow Book.

In order to prevent changes in the burden of servitude caused by changes in population and land rights, Zhu Yuanzhang also stipulated that the household registration should be surveyed every 10 years and the yellow book should be renewed, which is called "Dazao".

The fish scale atlas is also a kind of book that is directly related to the yellow book system.

In order to accurately grasp the situation of land ownership, in the 20th year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang sent students from Guozijian to measure land all over the country, and compiled all the cultivated land in this area into a book with the area where 10,000 stones of grain was paid.

In the booklet, the shape of each field is drawn, numbered, the area and the name of the landlord are indicated, and the nature and grade of the land are indicated.

In this way, when you open the book, you can see that the land graphics are overlapping and overlapping, like fish scales, so it is called a fish scale atlas. The Atlas of Fish Scales is the general inventory of the land of the whole country.

The Yellow Book is based on the household registration of the Ming Dynasty, and the Fish Scale Atlas is based on the land, and the two volumes corroborate and complement each other. These two volumes play the role of one warp and one weft, like a large net woven by warp and weft, covering all the population and land of the common people.

In the early days of the Ming Dynasty, the two-volume system was formulated on the basis of strict investigation by the founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, and indeed played a positive role. However, with the passage of time, the officials in charge of registry affairs in some localities began to engage in corruption and irregularities, and the powerful landlords also concealed their household registration and land.

According to historical records, in the 24th year of Hongwu, the total land area of the country registered in the Yellow Book was 8804623 hectares, and in the 15th year of Hongzhi, the total land area on the Yellow Book was only 4292310 hectares, and the land area could be reduced by more than half.

In the 26th year of Hongwu, the country's population had reached 60.54 million, but by the fourth year of Hongzhi, the population registered in the Yellow Book had decreased to 53.28 million.

After a hundred years of peace, the Yellow Book has been recuperated, and the Yellow Book in some remote areas has been added, and the total population has decreased instead of increasing.

At the beginning of Liang Wensheng's tenure, there was still more than a year before the year of the great creation, so he instructed his subordinates to start preparations, which shows that he attached great importance to the compilation of the Yellow Book. In fact, how can he not pay attention to it, this is the basis of his rule, he must be in power here for at least three years before he can get the opportunity to be promoted.

After Ji Jiude left, Liang Wensheng said to Zhuang Wenxuan: "Wenxuan, let's go to the inner hall to talk." "The so-called inner hall is the three halls, because this is the place where the Lord Zhizhou and his family live, so it is also called the inner hall.

Zhuang Wenxuan has been in excitement since the beginning of the row. He has been in the position of official for ten years and has not been promoted. And on the second day of his tenure, Lord Liang directly asked him to take care of Tongzhi, and if the Ministry of Officials approved, he would be officially promoted to Tongzhi. This is a five-level upgrade in a row, which is completely unconventional.

In fact, the reason why Liang Wensheng dared to act so vigorously and resolutely, with a big sword and a wide axe, was entirely because he had a big backer, Wang Shu, the secretary of the ministry. There are people in the court who are good officials and promoted. As long as the magistrate has a backer, someone in the capital appreciates and speaks for him, as long as he makes political achievements in the local area, then the promotion is like riding a rocket. At this time, Wang Shu had already sent a minister, and the officials were in charge of Wang Shu's friend Tu Chu, so he would naturally take good care of him. Liang Wensheng is not stupid, taking advantage of his big backer to preside over the ministry, how can he not perform hard and get further promotion?

The two came to the inner hall, and after the handyman served tea and left, Liang Wensheng asked: "Regarding the case of the Qi family, Wen Xuan may have suggestions?" ”

Zhuang Wenxuan thought for a while and said: "My lord, the lower officials think that there is still one person in the Qi family who wants to be detained and summoned for trial, and that is Qi Yuwang who instigated and smashed the Zhou Ji grain store. ”

"Well, although Qi Yuwang is not guilty, he is tyrannical in the city and oppresses the people, so he can be punished." Liang Wensheng said: "Now it's not too late to send someone to summon witnesses, and then detain Qi Yuwang." ”

After arranging for the officials to detain and summon the relevant witnesses, Liang Wensheng asked Zhuang Wenxuan again: "How will the Qi Yu family and his father try the verdict?" ”

"As far as I know, the Qi family does not have a big background, only one Qi Yu family is on an errand in the Yamen, and it has made a career, because in recent years, Lord Yang has ignored government affairs, and the financial power has settled in the hands of the housing officials, and the Qi family is bold and black-hearted."

"Okay, I understand. In this case, according to the results of the trial, it is sufficient to make a judgment according to my "Da Ming Law". ”

"My lord, you should also consider Lord Yang's side. Lord Yang is an official family with deep roots, if the adult starts a big case at the beginning of his tenure, Lord Yang will definitely be dissatisfied, and it will not be beneficial to the adult. Therefore, it is better to deal with this case in a low-key manner, if you open up the Qi family, leave the Qi Yu family alive, and do not raid the house, only fine the silver. This kind of treatment not only gives an explanation to the people, but also does not offend Lord Yang, so it is the best. ”

While they were talking, the official came to report: "My lord, the witnesses Wei Guixiang and Liu Weishi have arrived. ”

"Take them to the second hall and wait."

Since this is not a formal promotion, there is no need to ask the case in the lobby, and the interrogation in the second hall is not a formal trial, unlike in the lobby, there is a sense of ceremony.

In fact, in ancient times, questioning cases was not like what was played on TV, the eldest man was promoted to the court to ask the case, and the offender must be passed on first, then the witness, and then the board, this set of processes.

Instead, it is necessary to do a lot of work in private, especially witness testimony, and even more so, to do a good job in advance before being promoted. In fact, the ascension is just a ceremony, and many things have already been decided before the ascension.

Liang Wensheng and Zhuang Wenxuan hurriedly ended their conversation, took the scribe, and came to the second hall again.

The two witnesses who were waiting in the second hall saw two big men in green robes come in, and immediately knelt down and kowtowed.

Liang Wensheng asked the two of them to get up and sit down, but where did the two dare to sit, they just stood up and waited for the eldest master to ask.

Liang Wensheng asked: "Wei Guixiang, on the day the Zhou Ji grain store was smashed, did you see Qi Yuwang and a tall and thin man in your restaurant?" ”

"Lord Hui, I have seen it. Qi Yuwang went to the restaurant before noon that morning, asked for a private room, sat in it alone and drank, and asked two family members to guard and prevent the guys from approaching. A tall and thin man had been to the box twice, the first time shortly before Zhou Kee's accident and the other time shortly after Zhou Kee's accident. ”

"And do you know what the two of them said in the box?"

"There were two housekeepers guarding the door of the box, and they never heard it."

"Do you dare to testify in the lobby?"

"This ......" Wei Guixiang hesitated.

"You don't have to be afraid, the Qi family's case is very big, and the Qi officials have been detained for corruption, and the evidence is conclusive."

"In that case, the villain is willing to testify."

"Good. You go down first. ”

After Wei Guixiang left, Liang Wensheng asked Liu Weishi again: "Liu Weishi, when Zhou Ji had an accident, you were buying rice in the store, what did you see?" ”

At that time, after the woman saw Wu Ergou in the neighborhood buying rice, she swapped the grain bag with the person behind her, and then he began to shout. At that time, I also talked about him, but he didn't admit that he was Wu Ergou and wanted to beat me, so I was scared and left. Then, something happened inside. ”

"Then what does Wu Ergou usually do for a living?"

"He is a member of the Qi family, and he usually follows the third young master of the Qi family on the street."

"Do you dare to say that in the lobby?"

"My lord, the Qi family has fallen, our people are all celebrating, and the women are not afraid of the Qi family's revenge. But I'm afraid that those ruffians will come to my house and make a nuisance. ”

Liang Wensheng thought for a moment and said, "If I allow your family to move out of here and find a workshop for your husband to work in, would you be willing?" ”

"The people's woman Xie is caring and understanding, and the people's women are willing to testify."