"This is how the selection process for the county magistrate of Jia'an County went. Everything went smoothly and nothing went wrong. What surprised me was that in the end, the local sages of Jia'an County voted for Wang Dou the most, and Wang Dou became the county magistrate..."
After finishing the selection of the county magistrate of Jia'an County, Shi Changfeng and his party returned to Pingxi City. It was already dark, but Yan Liqiang was still handling official business and meeting with officials in the Supervisory Office at this time, so Shi Changfeng went directly to Yan Liqiang to report the process of the selection of the county magistrate of Jia'an County that day.
Neither of them had dinner, so Yan Liqiang and Shi Changfeng ate and chatted in the back garden of the Governor's Mansion.
Yan Liqiang poured a glass of wine for Shi Changfeng, then asked with a smile, "Do you think the local sages in Jia'an County will choose Su Youlun in the end?"
"How did the Inspector know this?" Shi Changfeng looked at Yan Liqiang in surprise.
"People of the same blood are close to each other. You and Su Youlun have known each other before, and you have had contact and a personal relationship with him. You think he is not bad, so naturally you hope that he will win!"
"Could it be that the governor had already guessed that the winner of Jia'an County this time would be Wang Dou?"
"I guessed it in advance. The Wang family is a wealthy family in Jia'an County. Wang Dou, as a local gentry, had previously built bridges and roads and helped the orphans and widows in the local area. He had a good reputation. Wang Dou was also smart. He knew that what the local people hated most was corrupt officials. The more corrupt officials were, the less the people would get. Every penny the officials were corrupted with was actually taken from the people in the end. So you see, he swore and swore before the local sages voted about this. What he is seeking now is fame, not wealth. With the confidence of his Wang family, he is indeed qualified to say so. Those local sages are not stupid. They all know that as long as the position of county magistrate is not corrupt, even if it is a little incompetent and only follows the rules, it will not have much impact. A good official is one who can let the people in the county live a stable life, and naturally more people will vote for him. In this regard, Shao Yuanjie and Su Youlun are both a little worse than Wang Dou..."
"I see!" Shi Changfeng shook his head and smiled. He clinked glasses with Yan Liqiang and took a sip of wine. "There is one more thing. This time when I went to Jia'an County, I learned that there were actually some problems with the recommendation of local celebrities in Jia'an County. Some local celebrities, that is, local pavilion chiefs and Jia chiefs, appointed themselves without being recommended by the people. In the next four years, the power of local celebrities in Jia'an County will be greatly increased. These people have picked up an advantage..."
"It's normal to let people take advantage of it at the beginning, because at the beginning, the people in Jia'an County didn't know that the title of the local celebrity could affect the selection of the county magistrate, and not many people paid attention to it. After the selection of the county magistrates of the four counties this time, the people of the entire Pingxi County will know that the title of the local celebrity is not empty, but real power that can select and supervise the county magistrate. If local areas nominate local celebrities again, the people will strive for it and will no longer be fooled by a few people. At that time, we will set rules for local people to nominate local celebrities, and everything will come naturally. After the rules are set, there will definitely be frauds at the beginning. We will arrest a few, kill a few, and support the people a few times, and no one will dare to be clever..."
After hearing what Yan Liqiang said, Shi Changfeng suddenly understood. It turned out that Yan Liqiang had already known that some of the local celebrities nominated by the four counties this time had problems and were not very standardized. However, Yan Liqiang did not care, because this nomination and selection was just a drop in the ocean. Yan Liqiang's purpose was just to let the people in the county know the importance of the position of local celebrity, let everyone pay attention to it, and at the same time know that the county magistrate can be appointed in this way.
"Sir, are you going to promote the selection of county magistrates throughout Qiyun County in the future?"
Yan Liqiang shook his head. "There's no rush for this. We can wait and see. This time, the four counties can be considered as a pilot. Let's see if there are any problems with this and summarize the experience. If the effect is really good, we can consider promoting it. The system of the Han Empire has been passed down for many years, and many people have become accustomed to it. It's not realistic to completely deny it and change a set of rules. If it goes wrong, it will cause a big mess. We can take small steps and do it slowly. After the selection of county governors of the four counties is over, I plan to make some reform measures in the four counties. By then, I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you, Mr. Shi, to take action..."
Hearing the familiar name of Mr. Shi from Yan Liqiang again, Shi Changfeng smiled and asked, "Liqiang, what else are you going to do?"
"What I'm going to do is also related to the local sages!"
"It's related to the local celebrities. Li Qiang, don't you think the local celebrities in the four counties have enough power now?"
Yan Liqiang did not answer directly, but shook his head and asked, "The Great Han Code of the Han Empire has a total of 32 volumes, including one volume of Mingli, two volumes of Li Law, seven volumes of Hu Law, two volumes of Li Law, five volumes of Bing Law, twelve volumes of Xing Law, and three volumes of Gong Law. The Ming Law alone includes the five punishments of flogging, caning, imprisonment, exile, and death, the ten evils, treason, treason, rebellion, evil rebellion, unrighteousness, great disrespect, unfilial piety, disharmony, injustice, civil strife, and the eight discussions, discussion of relatives, discussion of old friends, discussion of merit, discussion of virtue, discussion of ability, discussion of diligence, discussion of nobility, and discussion of guests. The content is detailed and complete. This "Great Han Code" can almost be written in Chinese. It can be said that it is perfect and has no omissions. The Great Han Code not only takes the essence of the laws of the previous dynasty, but is also compiled by countless talented and wise men of this dynasty. Looking at the Silver Continent, there are only a handful of countries and races with such a complete set of laws. The protection of the people in the Great Han Code is also very thoughtful, and the punishment for those who commit crimes and corrupt people is also very severe. Since the Great Han Empire already has the Great Han Code, why are there still countless people who want to rebel and want to join the White Lotus Sect? Why do people from all over the country flock to it when there is a slight change in the world, and no one believes in any law anymore? "
Shi Changfeng put down the wine glass in his hand, frowned, and pondered for a moment, "The reason is that although the "Han Code" is good, it is too difficult to enforce the law impartially at the grassroots level, making it difficult for the lower-class people to redress their grievances and to make their claims heard. Once the resentment is deep, they can only fight violence with violence..."
"Yes, that's right. If the Han Code of the Han Empire could really be implemented, local governments could handle cases and enforce the law impartially, so that good would be protected and evil would be punished, the weak would have something to rely on and the strong would have something to fear, and the bottom line of legal justice in people's hearts could be maintained. In this world, where would there be so many arrogant and debauched officials who don't care about the lives of the people? Where would there be so many people with deep anger who want to kill officials and rebel at every turn? How could the White Lotus Sect have such a huge response in the Han Empire? In the final analysis, most of the reasons for everything in the Han Empire today are due to problems in the enforcement of the law!"
"But what does this have to do with local celebrities?" Shi Changfeng didn't figure it out for a moment.
"Of course it matters, and it matters a lot. Ninety-nine percent of the people in this world, and ninety-nine percent of the problems and lawsuits they encounter in their lifetime, can be resolved within one county. In the past, if there were one or two corrupt county magistrates in a county, the whole county would be in chaos, and all laws would be empty words. Any case could be decided by their words. Once the people entered the government office, they were like fish on a chopping board, with no room for struggle. I plan to implement a jury system in the four counties in the future. All trials in the four counties must be attended by seven local sages, and the chief magistrate's judgment must be the final word. In the trial of a case, if the final result cannot be agreed upon by more than four of the seven village elders, it will be invalid. One hundred village elders in each county will take turns to draw lots to participate in the trial of the case within the county. It cannot be scheduled in advance. After the trial, the case files, the decision of the chief judge, and the opinions of the jury village elders will all be posted for the public to see. Although this method cannot completely prevent corruption and abuse of power, it can prevent and reduce the harm caused by corruption and abuse of power to the greatest extent, increase the cost of corruption and abuse of power, and minimize the number of unfair trials and cases, so that the people's will and opinions can be truly reflected..."
Shi Changfeng was stunned. He had never thought that Yan Liqiang could come up with such a method. But after thinking about it carefully, this method was indeed a hundred times stronger than the current system of the Han Empire. If it could be promoted, it might be possible to achieve what Yan Liqiang said, so that the good would be protected, the evil would be punished, the weak would be supported, and the strong would be feared. It would no longer be possible for one or two corrupt officials to completely destroy the rule of law in a county and the people's trust in the court government...
(End of this chapter)