The county government office was the office for all the civil servants in the county. Officials such as the county magistrate, county magistrate, chief clerk and registrar all had their own independent houses.
Nearly a hundred officials gathered in the county magistrate's house, occupying most of the yard.
County Magistrate Tao Dingnian, Chief Constable Lu Hong, Court Lord Wen Gu and many other officials of high rank stood at the door, while those clerks without rank stood outside.
Ninety percent of the officials in Ning'an County gather here!
"A mere acting county magistrate actually interrogated the chief clerk on the spot. This rule cannot be broken!"
"If Shen Zhubu is found guilty, the Left Prime Minister will be furious, and we will all be implicated!"
"That's right. If Chief Clerk Lian Shen can try cases and sentence people as he pleases, will we still have a place to stand in Ning'an County?" Wucuo Novel Network does not skip words.
"Yes, we must not let County Magistrate Fang succeed!"
"Oh, by the way, I have a friend in the workshop who said Fang Yun is planning to implement some kind of performance appraisal. His implementation in the workshop is just a lie, but he actually wants to reform the civil service system and get an A in the civil service department!"
“What performance review?”
"I don't know the details, but he has come up with new ideas based on the Ministry of Personnel's evaluation. The main purpose is to restrict the power of officials and use a special evaluation method to rate officials, thereby deciding who will be promoted and who will remain in their positions. He may also persuade some officials to resign!"
"How ridiculous! Is this Jingguo's world, or Hefangyun's world? How do the workers in the workshop react?"
"Some people complained, but some praised it. Overall... the disadvantages should outweigh the advantages!"
"We must not let his reform succeed! He gets a good rank, but we officials will suffer!"
Some young officials remained silent after hearing this, because after entering the yamen, they found that no matter how outstanding their abilities were, even if they had a certain background, they could not compete with the old officials or those with stronger backgrounds, and their way to promotion was almost blocked by those people.
If those above were talented people, these young officials would not have any complaints. But the problem is that among those officials, less than 30% are qualified in government affairs. Many people don't even read the "Wen Bao" and don't understand the latest development of the human race. They are far behind ordinary scholars.
This corrupt group has aroused the disgust of ambitious officials, but the government is a place where seniority and connections are valued rather than reason. They are willing to govern a county well, but there is no room for them to display their talents, so they can only slowly go along with the corrupt and become corrupt old people in power in the eyes of the younger generation.
Even though they were from the same party as the Left Prime Minister, these officials were dissatisfied with the old officials in the same party.
Their attitude towards the other party's luck keeps changing.
A capable official! This was the unanimous evaluation of Fang Yun by the young officials. No matter how much opposition the left prime minister had with Fang Yun, it could not change their opinion of Fang Yun.
Watching the judicial system continue to improve, watching the industrial technology flourish, watching the officials from the Ministry of Agriculture visit in large numbers, watching the medical experts holding a medical literary conference in a county for the first time, every young official felt that Ning'an County was showing unprecedented vitality.
This is a phenomenon that has never happened even when Zuo Xiang was governing Mizhou.
Documents can lie, memorials can lie, and even the contents of the Wenbao can lie, but the changes in Ning'an County will not lie, and the people will not lie.
During the day, these young officials still followed the crowd and opposed Fang Yun. But at night, when they returned to their homes, they persisted in studying Fang Yun's poems and articles, researching Fang Yun's works on "The Holy Way", and organizing and recording Fang Yun's innovations.
The more they learned, the more they admired Fang Yun.
The young officials glanced at Tao Dingnian and others, and couldn't help but feel disgusted. Shen Ming was an old man who was just sitting there doing nothing. It was not a pity that he died. Fang Yun did nothing wrong!
Attacking Fang Yun for the sake of Shen Ming is the most ridiculous thing in the world.
However, they cannot object, nor do they have the power to object, so they can only remain silent.
Tao Dingnian had a gloomy face, his hands folded on his lower abdomen, and he spoke in a low but clear voice.
"You all have seen clearly what happened today. Although County Magistrate Fang has made great contributions to the peace, he is arrogant and obsessed with power. Mencius said: If the ruler regards his subjects as his own hands and feet, then the subjects will regard the ruler as their own heart and soul; if the ruler regards his subjects as dogs and horses, then the subjects will regard the ruler as their fellow countrymen; if the ruler regards his subjects as dirt, then the subjects will regard the ruler as their enemy! Everyone, can you follow the teachings of the Second Sage?"
An official shouted loudly: "Of course! We Confucians never fear the power of the monarch. Although the monarch is the monarch and the ministers are the ministers, if the monarch is not the monarch, then we will not be the ministers!"
"Confucius once said: Serve the king with virtue, and if it is not possible, then stop. The saying that the king orders the minister to die and the minister has to die is something from dramas, and we scholars don't believe in it! If the king is unrighteous, we can just not serve him, and we should do the same to the county magistrate. At worst, we can just stop being officials!"
"If a minister is disloyal, he should be put to death. That is the idea of the Legalists. What does it have to do with us, the miscellaneous scholars?"
"Today, Fang Yun treats Shen Ming like dirt and weeds, so we will treat Fang Yun as our enemy!"
"right!"
The crowd responded loudly.
Wen Gu, the county magistrate, said, "In that case, I suggest that we all go to the county yamen to plead for Shen Ming. If Fang Yun disagrees, we will all leave the county tomorrow and go to the capital to beat drums to appeal for justice and stain the imperial city with blood!"
"Mr. Wen said it well! Without us, I want to see how Fang Yun can govern a county."
Some young officials gritted their teeth. The departure of these officials would inevitably cause chaos in Ning'an City, forcing Fang Yun to hardly get a B grade in the field of civil service, let alone an A grade. But the people of Ning'an County would suffer!
The departure of these officials may very likely lead to the failure of Ning'an County's recent great development.
Ning'an County's rise is likely to be interrupted by these bastards!
However, they did not speak, otherwise they would have been attacked by everyone.
"let's go!"
"Walk!"
Nearly a hundred officials marched toward the main hall of the county government.
Fang Yun sat upright on the square chair, looking at Shen Ming who was awakened by the cold water, with a smile on his face.
"Master Shen, if you cooperate with this county and explain the matter clearly, this county will consider a lighter sentence."
"Bah!" Shen Ming had no scruples anymore. Since Fang Yun had escorted him to the lobby, the two sides had completely fallen out.
"It seems that Master Shen is a little confused." Fang Yun said slowly.
"In one day at most, Lord Zuo Xiang will send someone to rescue me!"
Fang Yun nodded and said, "I hope the left prime minister will send someone to rescue you. Well, if you are not in a hurry, I am not in a hurry either. Now my staff and private soldiers are going everywhere to invite witnesses. It won't be long before the truth about what you did will be revealed."
Shen Ming sneered and said, "Fang Yun, Fang Yun, I know you are a capable official, but you are also a brainless and stupid official! Don't say that I did nothing wrong. Even if there is a problem, Quan Ning'an... No, everyone in Mizhou, who dares to say no to me?"
"No!" Ao Huang said from the side.
The yamen runners on both sides could not help but lower their heads. The Legalist scholar who was taking notes also lowered his head and smiled, then faithfully recorded what Ao Huang said.
Shen Ming's face flashed with embarrassment, and then he said: "Fang Yun, I am indeed just a small chief clerk. If it were any other time, you could crush me to death with just one finger, but now is the palace examination! If you forcefully interrogate me, the officials of Mizhou will definitely destroy your civil service department! If your civil service department is destroyed, the Left Prime Minister will definitely have an excuse to prevent you from serving as an official in Jing State, and the Emperor can also prevent you from serving in the Holy Academy!"
Shen Ming finally revealed the ultimate purpose of destroying Fang Yun's civil service department.
(To be continued…)