Are things in the world difficult or easy? If you do something, the difficult things will become easy; if you don't do something, the easy things will become difficult.
Although the situation in Jingnan is a mess, all things are difficult at the beginning. As long as we try, we can make sense of the mess.
After listening to everyone's reports, Zhu Ping'an thought for a moment and sorted out his thoughts: if there is a backlog of cases, then he will work overtime to hear and sentence them; if there is a backlog of cases, then he will work overtime to hear and sentence them; if there is a backlog of official business assigned by Taizhou Prefecture, then he will deal with them one by one in different categories; if taxes and grain have not been collected, then he will go to the grassroots to investigate the situation and urge the payment of taxes; if there is a flood disaster, then he will provide timely disaster relief, develop water conservancy, and solve the hidden dangers of floods and droughts; if there are disputes in Miao and Man villages, then he will do a good job in maintaining stability; if there are frequent bandits and pirates, then he will recruit soldiers and horses, train young men, strengthen city defenses, and deploy matters to suppress bandits; there is a risk of Japanese pirates recurring, and given Jingnan's current situation, early warning and defense are still the main focus.
Although the county government is small, its organizational structure is as complete as that of a country, and there is a specific responsible department for each task.
As the magistrate, he was responsible for all work in Jingnan and was in charge of case trials; Zhang Xiancheng was in charge of taxes and grain; Yao Zhubu was in charge of official duties assigned by Taizhou Prefecture; Li Dianshi was in charge of public security, arrests, and the recruitment and training of young men. In view of the current situation in Jingnan, yamen runners and existing civilians would serve as soldiers, strengthen training, consolidate city defense, and carry out bandit suppression as appropriate; the six departments of the county government would implement the specific tasks according to their responsibilities, and at the same time, the etiquette department would send people to the Miao villages and villages where disputes occurred to investigate the situation, report in a timely manner, and do a good job in maintaining stability based on facts and the overall situation.
After sorting out his thoughts, Zhu Ping'an arranged the work, looked around at everyone, and said softly: "This is the arrangement for the time being. Do you have any suggestions? Please feel free to give me your advice. Ping'an is young and inexperienced, so there must be something wrong with my arrangements. Please don't worry and tell me frankly."
"No, although the county magistrate is young, he has clear ideas, is experienced in handling affairs, and his arrangements are impeccable."
County Magistrate Zhang and others all shook their heads and agreed with Zhu Ping'an's arrangements and deployments, without any different opinions on safety.
"In that case, I'll have to trouble you all to fulfill your respective responsibilities according to the division of labor. From today on, from now on, you will work overtime to handle the accumulated official business in Jingnan as soon as possible. If any problems are found during the process, we will solve them together."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Ping'an glanced at everyone again, struck while the iron was hot, and finalized the matter.
"Don't worry, Your Excellency. We will do our best to assist you and do a good job."
County Magistrate Zhang and others were very cooperative, responded very enthusiastically, were in high spirits and full of energy.
Zhu Ping'an was a little surprised by everyone's cooperation. Was I overthinking it before
Yes, this saves me a lot of trouble.
Next, Zhu Ping'an arranged Liu Mu, Liu Dadao and six others to be assigned to the third shift of the county yamen. As a county magistrate who held all the power in ancient times, he still had some power. In this way, the Jingnan County Yamen had a total of 22 yamen runners in the soap shift, 32 constables in the fast shift, and 52 civilians in the strong shift.
Zaoli Yamen runners were equivalent to the modern judicial police. They were responsible for following the magistrate's left and right guards to clear the way, standing on both sides of the hall during the trial, maintaining discipline, escorting criminals, and carrying out torture and caning. Liu Dadao and Liu Dachui were assigned to the Zaoli Yamen runners.
The fast-moving catcher, or "Bukuai" for short, is equivalent to the modern police officers in the Public Security Bureau and police stations. They are responsible for summoning defendants, witnesses, detecting criminals, and searching for evidence. Liu Mu and Liu Daqiang were assigned to the fast-moving catcher.
Zhuangban Yamen runners are equivalent to modern armed police, mainly responsible for guarding key locations such as city gates, government offices, warehouses, prisons, and patrolling urban and rural roads. Liu Dagang and Liu Dafu were assigned to Zhuangban Minzhuang.
After the work was arranged, everyone dispersed. When the court was over, Zhu Pingan stopped the criminal clerk who was leaving and told him to collect and sort out all the backlog of case files and hand them over to his daily office in the second hall.
In the yard outside the second hall, Liu Mu, Liu Dadao and others changed into brand new yamen runners' uniforms, wore swords, and hung waist badges engraved with their names. They became official yamen runners and began to admire themselves.
"Brother Mu, are we becoming constables too?" Liu Dadao said to Liu Mu excitedly, pressing the standard sword on his waist.
"Yes, wearing this leather suit, I feel like I'm walking with the wind." Liu Dachui was also very excited.
"In the past, the constables in our county were so powerful. They were all big shots in our county and could walk sideways. Once, a constable in the county was chasing a criminal and passed by our village. That guy, that scene... I didn't expect that we brothers would also transform ourselves and become official constables of the county government."
Liu Daqiang couldn't help but think of the past. He touched the yamen uniform on his body, as if he couldn't believe that he had also become a constable.
"It's all thanks to you, young master. We must do our job well and not embarrass you." Liu Mu reminded everyone.
"Of course." Liu Dadao and others said without hesitation.
In the office of the second hall, Zhu Ping'an waited for a long time, but the clerk of the household department did not deliver the piled case files. He could not help but frown. The household department was only ten meters away from his office. Why was the delivery of the files so slow? !
Zhu Ping'an stood up and walked out of the room, heading towards the household department.
When Liu Mu and his friends saw Zhu Ping'an leaving the house, they came forward and prepared to accompany him for protection. When they came, Li Shu had emphasized to them that they should protect Zhu Ping'an at all times. When they learned that Zhu Ping'an went to the household, they gave up the plan of close protection.
After entering the household office, Zhu Ping'an finally understood why the household office clerk had not yet delivered the case files to him. Although the household office staff, including the clerk, were in the room, they were all dawdling. They looked busy, but in fact, they were not working hard and had no results. Until now, they had not sorted out a single file! Yes, a whole room of people had not sorted out even a single file!
"Ahem, Your Excellency the County Master, why are you here? It's dusty here. You just wait in the room. I'll send the files to you after I've sorted them out. But, these cases have been pending for too long, and they are placed in too many places and incomplete. It will take time to sort them out." When the Household Registrar Zhang Danian saw Zhu Ping'an coming to him, he hurriedly put down the teacup in his hand, coughed, and came up to greet him with a warm face, explaining one thing after another.
The household manager, clerk, and others also followed suit, saying how heavy the workload was, how difficult the work was, and so on.
"Thank you for your hard work. If there are any difficulties, overcome them. Work overtime and try to finish organizing the files today."
Zhu Ping'an narrowed his eyes, pulled the corners of his mouth, and encouraged everyone.
After leaving the Household Department, Zhu Ping'an's face darkened. He then went to the Household Department, Rites Department, Military Department, Criminal Department, and Work Department to take a look around. Not surprisingly, the working conditions in these five departments were exactly the same as that in the Household Department. They were all slacking off, with all sorts of good excuses, difficulties one after another, and making excuses.
Not to mention Li Dianshi, he has not yet reported to the yamen.
County Magistrate Zhang and Chief Clerk Yao are exactly the same. Although they are in the office and appear to be working, they are not putting in any effort.
These subordinates of mine, who are friendly and enthusiastic about their work, have already united behind the scenes!
This is not just a show of force, this is an attempt to get myself out of power!