Zheng Peng arrived at the backyard of the inspection village, and saw that the banquet had been set up, and his eyes couldn't help but light up. Joining the army as a manager, he arrived here from the state city, and he interrogated people and criminals day and night, sorted out files, and was busy until the sky was dark. Although the county lieutenant of Yongcheng was quickly transferred, manpower was still tight. Today, Du Zhongxiao had a treat, and he was finally able to relax, which made him breathe a sigh of relief.

The guest sat down, and Du Zhongxiao said: "Because there is something in the state, I will be sentenced to return to the state city for a few days." Thinking of Mr. Zheng's hard work, I will prepare a banquet here and drink a few glasses. After a while, he sent some wine and meat to the officials who tried the case, so that they could relax. ”

Zheng Peng thanked again and again: "The festival pushes with heart!" After reviewing these days, there are some eyebrows, and the officials should be rewarded. ”

Bozhou and Suzhou are both Jiedu Prefectures, the late Tang Dynasty conventions, Jiedu envoys and observers, Du Zhongxiao and Su Song are both observer officials, which are one level lower than Jiedu Tuiguan. However, it is common for officialdom to use higher-level official titles, and everyone calls them thrift pushes. In fact, there is no difference between the Jiedu Tui Guan and the observation of the Tui Guan in the office, but for the selection of people, there are subtle differences in rank, and this difference is irrelevant to the officials who are born in Jinshi, and they will not be promoted in order in the selection rank, but they are just the ladder of their entry into the officialdom.

Du Zhongxiao drank a glass of wine, took out Wang Anshi's official document from Yangzhou, handed it to Zheng Peng, and said, "Before the general judge leaves, let me discuss this matter with the manager." It mentions a firewood level, and I can't remember who it is for a while, and I don't know if the manager has some eyebrows. ”

Zheng Peng took the official document and read it, thought for a while, and suddenly said, "Could it be him?" The section level surnamed Chai, there is only this one person who thinks about it. ”

Seeing that Du Zhongxiao, Su Song, Cheng County Lieutenant and He Zhai were all looking at him, Zheng Peng said: "There is a Chai Benshan in the state court, which was originally the section level of the manager court, and later transferred to the state court as a marquis. This person has been a servant for many years, such as assisting in the prison, escorting and distributing prisoners, and all kinds of miscellaneous things. A few years ago, I came to Bozhou to take up a post, and it was also this person who ushered in the send-off. This person is not of high rank, but he has escorted prisoners for many years and is familiar with many Jianghu figures. ”

Everyone nodded, and they all felt that it should be this person. Marquis Yu originated from the Marquis of Mabu in the Five Dynasties, who was one of the real officials in the state at that time, and after entering the Song Dynasty, like many of the official positions of the generals of the Five Dynasties, became a position of officials, and his status was low. The state officials and marquis were all subordinate to the state court and the manager's court, and they specialized in dealing with prisoners. In the "Water Margin" read by Du Zhongxiao in his previous life, the two people who escorted Lin Chongfa should be Yu Hou.

After entering the Song Dynasty, many officials under the Five Dynasties, especially military attachés, became public officials. Their status has plummeted, but many official titles have not changed, and some have not even changed their positions. In the five dynasties, the officials in front of the yamen, Confucius, the priests, and the section level were all in high power, but now, they are all public officials in the yamen. However, the folk titles are still habitually according to their official titles, and the Yamen officials are observed, the festival level, and the marquis of Yu are everywhere, which can be regarded as historical relics, and these originally noble official titles are actually not officials now.

This is the epitome of the times, just like Du Zhongxiao's previous life, rapid social changes, so that some of the unbelievable names of the state-run economy era quickly rot down the street after the reform, which is a reason. Thousands of years later, when people read history, they will be confused. A few decades ago, people were called bosses, and their identities must be scary, and it didn't take many years for them to be everywhere, but people at that time didn't think so.

Chai Benshan was just a low-level official under Zheng Peng, and Du Zhongxiao and others asked about him, but they couldn't say it clearly for a while. At that moment, he summoned a retinue of his own from the outside, asked him to take the post back to the state city, and let Chai Benshan go to the inspection village to listen to it. The State Court and the Si Yuan are the two prisons where Zhu Cao joined the army, although they are not the same, but the personnel exchanges are very frequent, and they will not arouse suspicion.

After drinking for a while, everyone's conversation returned to Mamuen's case. The case involved a large number of public officials, but for the officials, these subordinates did not carry much burden. Officials are different, officials will not be jointly and severally liable because of officials, and everyone has no psychological burden.

Zheng Peng said: "The most tricky thing now is that almost all the old officials in Yongcheng County have committed crimes, and once they are thoroughly investigated, there will be no one available. In particular, one of the two stewards was a Heab Division and a Wei Prison Division, and there were many lawlessness. Even the Li Zheng and the township clerks who collected grain taxes under the management of Master Ye had committed many crimes, not to mention the heads and elders. If all these people are brought to justice, the affairs of a county will be paralyzed. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "If that's the case, after cleaning them up, can we transfer people from other counties?" ”

Cheng County Lieutenant shook his head again and again: "These officials have always used big families in their hometowns, if they use people from other counties, which one will serve them?" Things can't be done. ”

Zheng Peng also sighed: "Officials govern the locality, and officials are minions." They have no power in the local area, so they are dull and unable to do things. ”

Du Zhongxiao thought about it and compared his previous life, but after all, he still had to agree with the opinions of the two. In his previous life, the laws and regulations were so strict, the institutions were complete, and the specific staff were still mainly locals. If not, what can the newly graduated student baby do?

Zheng Peng said again: "If you don't deal with them, you can't deter everyone." After making so many big cases and still working well in the yamen, this place will be even more difficult to govern in the future. This is a dilemma, and we can only wait for the judgment of Zhizhou and Tong. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "From this point of view, all those involved in the case must be investigated. However, since it is a nest case, the criminal responsibility can be reduced, so that the person who makes a small mistake can make meritorious contributions. That is, the punishment is widely arrested and punished, but the punishment does not have to be too heavy except for the first evil. ”

Everyone nodded. Now it seems that this is the only way to go.

After drinking a few more glasses of wine, County Lieutenant Cheng suddenly shook his head and smiled bitterly: "Fortunately, this case was handled after the autumn tax was collected, otherwise, almost every big family in the township committed the crime, where will this year's tax be collected?" Taking advantage of the current winter leisure, this case must be handled quickly, and it must not be delayed until the beginning of spring next year. Otherwise, some large families have a weak heart, sell their property, and flee to other places, and there is nowhere to collect the summer tax in the coming year. ”

The others nodded in agreement, discussing the details as they drank.

Du Zhongxiao listened quietly, thinking and learning at the same time. This is the experience of a real local official, and there are a lot of things, and many things affect the whole body. You can't try to be cool for a while, make a mess of the place, and in the end you will suffer the loss.

Why is it that when there is a case, many local officials can suppress it and delay it if they can? There are people who accept bribes and are lazy in government affairs, but more often than not, they are afraid of trouble. When the case involves these big households, it is necessary to consider not only justice and fairness, but also future governance.

Why do officials often turn to the power of others? Because these people can reduce a lot of government troubles. For example, taxes, as long as a township is pressed on the head of Lizheng, let him collect it, and if there is less points, the tax will be forcibly collected from his family first. As for what means he will use in the future and how he will make up for his losses from the villagers, it is not a matter for the officials to worry about. There are more than ten townships in a county, as long as most of the townships have such large households, the most important examination tax is basically guaranteed.

Again, the cost of taxation in rural areas is high. The imperial court only cares about the examination courses, but does not care about the cost of tax collection by local officials, and the local large households have become a buffer for the cost of tax collection. In order to complete the examination, sometimes they give profits to large local households, and sometimes they force their families to die, which is possible for officials, and it is only a matter of what they do to their advantage.

A lot of Du Zhongxiao's knowledge is extrapolated from the era of his previous life, and there are still many things to learn in this era.