There was a solemn atmosphere in the lobby of Jia'an County National Martial Arts Museum. Shi Changfeng and several supervisory officials from the Inspectorate sat in the main seats in the lobby. Beside Shi Changfeng sat some officials from Jia'an County. Shao Yuanjie, Wang Dou and Su Youlun, who participated in the selection of county magistrate, sat on the other side. Opposite Shi Changfeng and the others sat one hundred local celebrities from Jia'an County. Between Shi Changfeng and the one hundred local celebrities, there was a big box. Behind Shi Changfeng stood three people. On the table in front of the three people, there was a porcelain bowl each, and no one knew what it was used for.
Everyone was waiting nervously and curiously. At this time, the three people participating in the county magistrate selection were actually the most nervous.
Shao Yuanjie, the chief judge of Jia'an County Criminal Arrest Office, was sitting next to him in his official uniform. Although there was not much expression on his face, his hands on his knees were unconsciously clenched into fists, and his fists were covered with sweat.
The country squire Wang Dou was a little fat, and it was not known whether it was because the weather outside was too hot or because of his body shape. He sat next to the man and kept wiping the sweat off his forehead with a towel.
Although Su Youlun's face was somewhat calm, at this moment, he couldn't help but pinch his palm with his hand to calm himself down.
Normally, the three of them were not inexperienced, but the selection of county magistrates was something that had never happened before in the Han Empire. It was their first time, and they were also the ones involved, so it was inevitable that they were a little nervous.
Shi Changfeng looked at the 100 local celebrities from Jia'an County who had arrived. After asking the people around him to call out their names and confirm twice that the list was correct, he finally spoke. He turned around and looked at the three people sitting together who were participating in this unprecedented selection of county magistrates. "We have just confirmed the list and personnel of the 100 local celebrities of Jia'an County in public. Do you have any objections to this list and personnel?"
“No objection!”
“No objection!”
“No objection!”
All three of them spoke.
"Okay, since the three of you have no objection, and now the time is up, then let's officially begin!" Shi Changfeng cleared his throat, stood up directly, looked at the people in the hall and said loudly, "I was entrusted by the governor to come to Jia'an County today to fully supervise the selection of the county magistrate of Jia'an County. The list of one hundred local sages has just been confirmed. Shao Yuanjie, Wang Dou, and Su Youlun have no objection to the number and list of local sages. Now, I will talk about the method and process of selecting the county magistrate by the local sages this time!"
"In a moment, all the local celebrities will be given a local celebrity ticket. The ticket has the names of Shao Yuanjie, Wang Dou and Su Youlun printed on it. Who do you think is more suitable to be the county magistrate of Jia'an County? You can circle the name of the one you like with a pen. Each person will get one local celebrity ticket. There can only be one county magistrate, so you can only circle one person's name. Those who circle more than one name, or do not circle or make unclear changes will be regarded as abstentions. Their votes will be invalid and they cannot vote a second time. After you have made your choice, you will take turns to cast your votes in the box in front of me, and then the box will be opened and the votes will be counted in public. The one with the most votes today will be the county magistrate of Jia'an County, with a term of four years. Do you understand?"
Although this voting method is new, the rules are simple and clear. Those who can be elected as local celebrities naturally have no problems with their IQ, so when Shi Changfeng said this, everyone basically understood it.
"Sir, you said that the term of office of the county magistrate selected this time is only four years. After the four years are up, the person selected today will no longer serve as the county magistrate?" A local wise man immediately stood up and asked.
"Whether the person elected today will continue to serve as the county magistrate four years later depends on the opinion of the governor. The governor may allow him to continue to serve, or remove him, or promote him. Of course, the biggest possibility is that the governor may let the village elders vote again. If it is the latter, and the village elders are still willing to continue to choose him, then he can continue to serve!"
"It's clear, it's clear!"
"Yes, this method is simple!"
Shi Changfeng turned to look at Wang Dou and Su Youlun, "Although you two are candidates for the selection of county magistrates today, you are also the local celebrities of Jia'an County, so you will each have a local celebrity vote later. You can vote for yourself or for others!"
Wang Dou and Su Youlun both nodded.
Shi Changfeng looked around the hall and asked, "Well, do you have any questions?"
"Sir, I have a question. If two of the three of them get the same number of votes in the end, and both of them get more votes than the other one, how should it be calculated?" Among the local sages below, an old man in his seventies or eighties stood up and asked.
"Well, the governor has already considered the question you asked. If this situation really happens, then it is God's will. Let the two people with the same number of votes draw lots in public to determine the winner. In the words of the governor, personal luck is God's will. It all depends on your luck!"
"Sir, I can't read, how can I choose..." Another person stood up.
"Those who can't read can raise their hands later. I will tell you who is named on the ticket!"
After hearing this, everyone had nothing to say. Seeing that everyone had no more questions, Shi Changfeng looked at Shao Yuanjie, Wang Dou, and Su Youlun, "Okay, then before the official vote, Shao Yuanjie, Wang Dou, and Su Youlun, you can say a few more words to the local elders!"
Shao Yuanjie was the first to stand up. He clasped his fists to the crowd and said in a deep voice, "My fellow villagers, I have served in Jia'an County for more than 20 years. I have worked diligently and conscientiously, and there has never been a wrongful case under my command. The public security in the county is also good, and no bully can run rampant in the village. If I become the county magistrate of Jia'an County, I will live up to the trust of you villagers and continue to work diligently so that the people in the county can live and work in peace!"
Shao Yuanjie sat down after he finished speaking. Wang Dou stood up tremblingly, wiped his sweat first, and then said loudly, "You all know how my Wang family is. The money in my family is more than I can spend in ten lifetimes. But no one in my Wang family has ever been an official as high as a county magistrate, so I came out this time to try and see if I can bring honor to my family. If I can become the county magistrate of Jia'an County, I will say two things. First, I will not be greedy for a penny of public money. If I am greedy, I, Wang Dou, and my descendants of the Wang family will not have a good death. Second, if I become the county magistrate, the taxes and corvées of the people in the county will not increase in the next four years, and I will also find a way to repair the road from our county to Pingxi City!"
Wang Dou sat down, Su Youlun stood up and said crisply, "If we want Jia'an County to get better and better in the future, it depends on the word talent. As long as the children in the county are promising, our Jia'an County will definitely not be bad anymore. If the local sages choose me to be the county magistrate, I will definitely make sure that more and more children in Jia'an County can enter the National Martial Arts Hall and Kyudo Club every year in the future!"
"You three have said everything you wanted to say. As for the rest, I will let you guys decide for yourselves. Now we will distribute the votes for the local celebrities. After you get the votes, please don't move around or make any noise. Just circle the name of the person you want to select in your own position. You guys have half a quarter of an hour to make a decision!"
After Shi Changfeng finished speaking, he glanced at the people around him, nodded, and then his followers distributed the prepared "ballots".
The "ballot" is as big as a palm, with two pages, printed on kraft paper, and can be opened in pairs. The outside of the "ballot" is printed with the words "Votes from Local Elites". After opening it, you can see the names of three people on it. What is distributed along with the "ballot" is not ink, but a small piece of shaved charcoal core, which allows the local elites to easily circle the names on the "ballot".
"Let me tell you, those of you who have received the tickets for the local celebrities, the order of the three names printed on the tickets is based on the number of strokes in their names. Those with fewer strokes are ranked in front, and those with more strokes are ranked in the back. The first one is Wang Dou, the second one is Shao Yuanjie, and the third one is Su Youlun. Whoever you want to be the county magistrate, just circle his name with charcoal..."
…
(End of this chapter)