Suhe sent someone to inform Li Zhisheng that he had been promoted to county magistrate.
Su He was thinking about county system reform in his study.
Now we have broken the convention that imperial power does not go to the countryside, and power goes directly to the countryside.
Some functions of county government have been replaced by township governments.
In particular, the power of the county magistrate is too concentrated. He can mobilize troops, arrest and judge, and can also decide the promotion of everyone in the county government.
The county magistrate is equivalent to the local emperor. As long as he does not offend his superiors, he has no scruples.
Without checks and balances, power will inevitably become unscrupulous, and only the local people will suffer.
Su He first stripped the judicial power of the county magistrate, and handed over the power of arresting prisoners to the patrol inspectors, and the power of hearing cases to the newly established punishment department.
The promotion of county officials is no longer decided by the county magistrate, but is appointed and dismissed by his superior, now the commander-in-chief.
The county magistrate can only manage township chiefs and village chiefs, and nominate the chief officials of various yamen in the county.
The adjustment of the county system has greatly weakened the authority of the magistrate and allowed the magistrate to have checks and balances.
Early the next morning, the new magistrate Li Zhisheng came to the governor's office to report on his work.
When Su He saw him, he first praised him: "You did a great job in cleaning up the bad habits in the countryside in such a short time.
I have asked people to promote your experience to the whole county."
Su He then explained to Li Zhisheng his reformed county system.
"Your future work will mainly be to manage the county and villages, improve water conservancy, collect taxes and recruit troops.
Counties should develop more handicraft industries, and rural areas should continue to change customs and promote land lending."
"I understand, Commander Su, and he will definitely do his job well." Li Zhisheng assured immediately.
"Xingxing is responsible for adjudicating cases, but I have not recruited qualified talents.
If you know someone you can recommend to me."
Li Zhisheng said goodbye and was about to go out. Su He thought that he had not recruited Ji Xing yet, so he asked Li Zhisheng to help find him.
…
Li Zhisheng wore his newly made county magistrate clothes to visit his old friend.
He looked at the envious and frightened eyes of passers-by, and he was extremely excited.
Unexpectedly, he would become a county magistrate one day.
When he received the news, he thought it was a dream.
It was definitely not someone who entertained him, as he didn't sleep the whole night.
Su He asked him to recommend someone who was familiar with prisons, and he immediately thought of his friend Wu Donglin.
Li Zhisheng came to Wu Donglin's house and saw him grinding wheat.
"Brother Donglin, my uncle is a co-worker in the county. Now that my uncle is ill in bed, I can only ask you to come out.
Would you like to join me in serving as the Commander-in-Chief, responsible for the trial and sentencing of cases?
If you are willing, I can recommend you to Commander Su."
Li Zhisheng stepped forward to help Wu Donglin push the stone mill and asked his opinion.
Wu Donglin glanced at Li Zhisheng, continued to push and grind with his head lowered, thinking for a long time and sighed.
"Brother Zhisheng, look at you wearing the official uniform of a county magistrate and becoming the head of a county.
It’s impossible to say that I’m not envious. But the day before yesterday, when the Commander-in-Chief Government recruited officials, I didn’t even answer the call.
I'll be honest with you, this official is not doing his job well, and he might one day..."
Li Zhisheng understood what Wu Donglin meant. If they served as officials for the rebels, one day the government troops might come and kill them, and their heads would fall to the ground.
"Brother Donglin, think about it, if you weren't an official in the Commander's Office.
Can we become officials in the Ming Dynasty? Can our descendants really pass the imperial examination?
Just like me, wouldn’t it be possible for me to pass the exam as a scholar based on my true talent and practical knowledge?
We all know that the places for scholars have been allocated, and you can only be admitted as a scholar unless you join a big boss as a student.
But because of our background, those people looked down upon us and did not accept children from our family at all.
You don’t think about yourself, you also think about the future generations of your family.
You have also worked in the county government, so you said that the officials of the Ming Dynasty were corrupt and incompetent. Did they have the strength to wipe out the rebels?"
Wu Donglin stopped grinding, turned to look at Li Zhisheng and asked: "Brother Zhisheng, the punishment was an official in the Song Dynasty. He was mainly responsible for raising punishments and inspecting officials.
The punishment you mentioned is mainly to deal with something, let me see if I can bear it."
Li Zhisheng saw his friend relent and introduced him to the official position of punishment.
Inspections are responsible for investigating cases and collecting evidence, and criminals are tried based on the evidence collected during inspections.
"Isn't this the job of the former county magistrate? I am not doing this to weaken your authority."
After Wu Donglin heard the introduction, he asked quite unexpectedly.
"That's right, Commander Su said that in the past, county magistrates often confused and judged cases in a confused manner.
Leave professional matters to professionals.
The main job of the county magistrate is to manage the county seat and the villages under his jurisdiction."
Li Zhisheng had just heard the news, and he also felt that some of his rights had been deprived.
But when I think about it carefully, I think it doesn't matter. He doesn't know how to handle cases in the first place, so he still has to leave these tasks to others.
Wu Donglin accepted the invitation from his friend, met Su He in person, and officially took up the post after an inspection.
He collected county government files and visited victims.
Deal with the backlog of county government cases as soon as possible.
Guilty verdict, innocent acquittal.
It was obvious at a glance that it was an unjust case, and the prisoner was immediately released and sent home.
The victim's family did not flee the city, the criminal chain was complete, and they were sentenced directly in accordance with the law.
The laws Wu Donglin now adopts are mainly the Ming Dynasty laws that have been abridged by Su He, which only contain common criminal clauses.
Wu Donglin handled all these cases in only two days.
The rest are all difficult and miscellaneous cases, and the records in the files are unclear.
No one can understand these cases.
He could not take charge of the trial of this kind of case, so he could only go to the commander's office to see Commander Su.
Wu Donglin waited in line for a long time and finally saw Su He.
He briefly introduced the problems he encountered.
"Commander Su, I have dealt with most of the backlog of cases, but the owners of the remaining cases cannot be found or there are no files.
I don’t know how to handle this kind of case.”
"It just so happens that I'm going to the prison too, so I'll take you with me."
Su He and Wu Donglin went to Dalao.
On the carriage, Su He explained the trial methods of difficult cases.
“Cases related to the gentry tend to favor the criminals.
As long as the prisoner's statement is flawless and proves that he is not guilty, he can be released directly.
Cases related to the common people are biased towards the common people.
Misdemeanors can be sentenced lightly, but serious crimes can be sentenced severely even if there is no file."
After Wu Donglin heard what Su He said, he understood the key points of the sentencing.
The carriage arrived at a very large courtyard in the west of the city. This was a new prison cell, with inspectors standing guard with knives.
Wu Donglin went to interrogate the prisoner.
When Su Yan saw Su He, he immediately came over to greet her.
"Commander Su, the new prison cell in the county has been renovated."
Su Yan led the way and took Su He to visit the cell.
This is a large factory with separate dormitories and windows sealed with iron bars.
This is a prison cell mainly dedicated to reform-through-labor. There are different cells for minor and serious criminals, and the work of reform-through-labor is also different.
“We must not treat prisoners in labor camps like the subordinate officials of the Ming Dynasty, who tortured prisoners in prison without paying them.
These are all good laborers, and many dangerous jobs in the future will depend on them.
If you raise livestock at home, you need to brush them every day and feed them some good food.
These people can be used as livestock, but they must be taken care of."
"Commander Su, please rest assured, we can rely entirely on the welfare of our inspections at the labor camp.
No one will ruin the jobs of brothers." Su Yan assured confidently.
The items produced in the labor reform factories are purchased by the commanding government, which is much cheaper than the market price, but their costs are low and they can make a lot of money.
Su He saw Su Yan's statement that he was quite satisfied with the system he designed.
Only when there is sufficient profit motivation can people work seriously and responsibly.
Su He also visited the prisoners' workplace and food, and he was very satisfied.
"Commander Su, there is a very special prisoner. I don't know how to judge him, but he insists on seeing you."
Wu Donglin ran over wiping the sweat from his head.
