The county government in the Ming Dynasty had many things to do, including politics, economy, culture, education, health, civil affairs, justice, etc. It was a mess.
But all said and done, there are only three most important things.
They are: tax collection, public security, and judging cases.
If officials are lazy, then the most important thing is to collect taxes.
As for public security and adjudicating cases, it doesn't matter as long as there are no big mistakes.
When Li Xiao was sitting in the court, the Mei County magistrate brought in the case files for handling. Li Xiao's head was so big that the files were piled up into a small mountain.
Li Xiao frowned and said: "It's strange, isn't the position of Dong'an County Yazhi only vacant for two months? There are so many grievances in two months?"
Mei County Magistrate smiled awkwardly and said truthfully: "To be honest, the previous magistrate didn't do much to deal with this, which has accumulated over the past three years."
"Three years."
Li Xiao clicked his tongue, what a shame.
"Okay, let the people come in in order."
Li Xiao waved his hand and ordered.
"Yes, I'll do it right away."
Meixian Cheng hurriedly went down to make arrangements.
Li Xiao sat in the middle, and Zhu Ningyun sat aside.
She said angrily: "I don't know if I don't come down. It turns out that this is the magistrate of Dong'an County, and he doesn't fulfill his duties in his position. It's really abominable."
Li Xiaodao: "There are problems with the system. Small things lead to big problems. I'm afraid there are magistrates like Ming Dynasty everywhere."
Zhu Ningyun was surprised and said: "Xiaolang, as the parent of this party, can you improve?"
Li Xiao thought for a while: "Just do your best."
Zhu Ningyun nodded happily, and then looked at Li Xiao with admiration and said, "Xiaolang, you are quite majestic when I see you today. You have never been an official. Where did you learn this?"
Li Xiao, who learned from TV, chuckled: "I've never eaten pork, haven't I seen pigs running around? I'm just thinking."
Zhu Ningyun rolled her eyes at him, "Your blind speculation is really amazing."
Not long after.
After hearing the news, people outside crowded in and stood outside the fence of the court hall.
Some of them came to redress their grievances, and some came to watch the fun.
After all, when you come to Xinzhi County, the people are concerned about you. If a good official comes, they will be happy. If the same official comes as before, they will scold you behind your back.
Of course, I can only scold my mother.
Zhu Di and Xu Miaoyun, dressed in commoners, were also among the crowd.
"Your Majesty, look, on the first day after Li Xiaozao took office, he took his sworn brother with him and sat together, talking and laughing."
Xu Miaoyun became even more worried when she saw Li Xiao and her adopted brother in the court.
"Daughter-in-law, please be patient and let's see how Li Xiao handles the case. Maybe that sworn brother was invited by Li Xiao to help him."
Zhu Di still maintained his attitude. He felt that Li Xiao was definitely not as good as Long Yang.
"Okay, let's take a look."
Xu Miaoyun said softly.
At this time, the yamen servants brought the first person to seek redress. There were three people in total.
The three were taken to court.
Li Xiao knocked and found a dark and thick piece of wood on the table, which should be the legendary gavel tree.
Li Xiao picked up the gavel and slapped it on the table.
There was a loud snap.
All three of them shivered in fright.
This gavel is to establish the absolute majesty of the magistrate.
Li Xiao said sternly: "If you come and tell me your name, what grievances do you want to avenge?"
At the same time, the Prime Minister of Mei County picked out the files and showed them to Li Xiao. They were cases from the year before last.
Good guy, this is wiping the last magistrate’s butt.
The master next to me was sitting, picked up a pen, and started recording.
One of the three men in civilian clothes said, "Sir, Li Erniu, a common man, runs a butcher shop."
As he spoke, he pointed at another thin man and said, "This is Zhang Dali from the shop next door to me. He owes me twenty taels of silver and has not paid it back for three years."
And the thin man named Zhang Dali said: "Sir, Zhang Dali, a common man, sells oil umbrellas. I do owe Li Erniu twenty taels of silver, but this Xu Sanduo also owes me twenty taels, and he won't pay me back. I don’t have the money to pay back.”
The man named Xu Sanduo said: "Xu Sanduo, a common man, sells oil cakes. I owe Zhang Dali twenty taels of silver, but Li Erniu also owes me twenty taels of silver. If he doesn't pay me back, how can I pay it back to Zhang Dali?" "
These three people held their own opinions and immediately stunned everyone present.
“It’s a bit troublesome”
Zhu Ningyun looked at Li Xiao worriedly, this was too complicated.
It was Xiaolang's first time handling a case. If he couldn't handle it, he would be very embarrassed.
No, I must help Xiaolang.
Thinking like this, Zhu Ningyun frowned and began to think hard.
All the county government officials and government servants also looked at the newly appointed Magistrate Li.
Xindao said that this case had confused the previous county magistrate and left it unsolved.
I really didn’t mean to embarrass Mr. Zhixian, these three people just happened to be at the front.
It’s broken, it’s broken, the magistrate won’t blame us, right?
Even the people outside the venue were confused. Zhu Di and Xu Miaoyun also frowned and watched carefully to see how their son-in-law would solve the problem.
Li Xiao finally understood.
Isn’t this a typical triangular debt problem?
Why do these people feel so sad about such a simple thing?
After thinking about it, Li Xiao finally figured it out.
This is not the future. At that time, I had nine years of compulsory education, as well as high school and university. When I went to school, I had to study mathematics, Chinese, physics, politics, geography, etc.
In ancient times, most people went to school to learn how to read.
Most people can't even read.
Even literati studied Confucianism. They studied Confucianism for the imperial examination and then became officials. Most of them were unable to resolve cases. How can they resolve cases after studying Confucianism?
Forget it, it's time for me to appear as a saint in front of others.
Li Xiao smiled slightly, looked at the three kneeling people, and said:
"I'll repeat it, just listen and nod."
"Li Erniu, you owe Xu Sanduo, twenty taels of silver, right or wrong?"
Li Erniu nodded.
Li Xiao said again: "Xu Sanduo, you owe Zhang Dali twenty taels of silver, right?"
Xu Sanduo nodded.
Li Xiao continued: "Zhang Dali, you owe Li Erniu twenty taels of silver, right?"
Zhang Dali nodded.
Li Xiao asked: "But if the other party doesn't pay back the money, you won't have any money either?"
The three of them nodded together.
While Li Xiao said this, he also figured out the relationship.
It is indeed a typical economic problem, the triangular debt relationship.
At this time, all it takes is an extra sum of money to solve the problem.
Li Xiao got up and walked down the hall.
He took out twenty taels of silver and handed it to Li Erniu. "Take it."
Li Erniu was startled and said, "Sir, what does this mean?"
Li Xiao smiled and said, "I'll lend you twenty taels of silver."
Li Erniu didn't dare to answer, and quickly waved his hand and said: "Sir, this is not good, isn't it?"
Li Xiao said impatiently: "Just take it if I tell you to, there is so much nonsense."
"Sir, the common people don't dare! The common people don't dare to take your money."
As he spoke, Li Erniu knelt down and kowtowed a few times.
Li Xiao was puzzled at that time, why did these ancient people always give him a few knocks?
In fact, Li Xiao himself did not notice this.
This is an ancient society with distinct classes, and his behavior is indeed a bit surprising.
Between the county magistrate and the people, one is heaven and the other is earth.
Li Xiao suddenly gave him money, which was really scary.
The people outside were also surprised.
"Why did the county master give Li Erniu money?"
"This, this, this is too exaggerated."
"Is it Master Qingtian?"
The people were talking in low voices, and their expressions were obviously filled with joy. It was obvious that the county magistrate who came this time was here to do practical things! !
Seeing this scene, Xu Miaoyun whispered:
"Your Highness, could it be that Li Xiao plans to use his own money to solve this case? Although Li Xiao is rich, he cannot use his own money to handle family matters."
Zhu Di thought for a while and said, "It shouldn't be that simple. Let's see again."
Xu Miaoyun nodded and said: "I don't think it's simple either, but I haven't figured out what's going on yet. Let's take a look, maybe it's a clever trick."
In court, Li Erniu still didn't dare to accept the money.
"Oh my little temper."
Li Xiao shouted: "Stand up and continue! Otherwise, I'll beat you twenty times!"
This scolding frightened Li Erniu.
"Good sir, I'll pick it up."
Li Erniu had no choice but to take the twenty taels, and then looked at Li Xiao, confused.
"Li Erniu, don't you owe Xu Sanduo twenty taels? Give him the money back."
Li Xiao ordered.
Li Erniu nodded and returned the money to Xu Sanduo.
The two of them clicked the money and everything was settled.
Since then, Li Erniu and Xu Sanduo's debts have been cleared.
"Okay, you two have settled your account."
After saying that, Li Xiao looked at Xu Sanduo again, and continued: "Xu Sanduo, you owe Zhang Dali twenty taels, isn't it time to pay back the money?"
"Yes, yes, my lord said so."
Xu Sanduo handed the newly obtained silver to Zhang Dali.
"Okay, you two settled the account."
After speaking, Li Xiao looked at Zhang Dali and said: "Zhang Dali, you, Li Erniu, have twenty taels of silver, please pay me back."
Ever since, Zhang Dali returned the money to Li Erniu.
"Huh?"
Li Erniu found that after paying back his money, he still had twenty taels of silver in his hand.
The other two people were equally surprised: "Yeah, it seems I don't owe money anymore."
Li Xiao laughed, waved, and said, "Li Erniu, did I lend you these twenty taels of silver? It's time to return it to me."
"Yes, sir, I will lend you twenty taels of silver, and I will return it to you now."
With that said, Li Erniu returned the twenty taels of silver to Li Xiao.
Li Xiao accepted the money and said with a smile: "Now, the three of you don't owe each other any debts."
The three of them were stunned and looked at each other, oh, this is really happening!
It really is!
They took the money and returned it all to their creditors.
The money that others owed me was also paid back!
"Really, it's settled!"
The three of them were surprised.
Li Xiao said: "Are you still satisfied?"
The three of them nodded excitedly: "Satisfied, satisfied!"
Li Xiao asked: "Can the case be closed?"
The three of them said: "Yes, it's amazing. It's amazing."
Li Xiao looked at the boss and said loudly: "Case closed! Next one!"
The words fell.
The whole place suddenly fell silent.
Some people haven't figured it out yet
But people with more flexible minds have finally figured it out.
Anyway, the debts of these three people were cleared.
I originally thought that the county magistrate would pay for it himself.
But in the end, the money that the magistrate himself lent was returned to his hands.
Back and forth, it takes less than a stick of incense.
Let a case that is hard to figure out be easily solved? ? ?
The three people left the court, and then laughed and said: "Oh, this matter has been resolved for three years, it's great, the magistrate is awesome!"
The people present were also shocked.
"How did this new county master do it?"
"I don't understand. Just after going around in a circle, the three of us didn't owe any debts?"
"That seems to be the truth."
The people were very happy. The county boss handled the case on the first day he took office. It seemed to be quite good. The key is that his case-handling ability is also very good.
"Hey, that's interesting."
Among the crowd, Zhu Di's eyes lit up.
Zhu Di and others figured it out after just a little thought.
Originally, these three people owed each other debts, but the problem was that others also owed them debts, and neither of them could give each other money in exchange.
Li Xiao only needs to lend out twenty taels of silver and let one of them pay back the money.
Then, just like wearing candied haws, I returned them all one by one.
Finally, the money returned to Li Erniu, and Li Erniu returned the twenty taels of silver he borrowed from Li Xiao.
All accounts have been settled.
"My lord, you are so tall."
Xu Miaoyun was also surprised.
She was originally in charge of the government's accounts, so it was natural for her to get things done.
But I had never encountered such a thing before, and I didn't understand it for a while.
Unexpectedly, the son-in-law resolved the matter in an understatement and successfully closed the case.
"Not bad, not bad. I know that Li Xiao is a person who can do practical things."
Zhu Di couldn't help but be very happy.
"Your Majesty, no matter what aspect you look at, our son-in-law is really speechless."
Xu Miaoyun also liked this son-in-law more and more, but she was still vaguely worried about her son-in-law's private life.
"Don't worry, Li Xiao is definitely not what you think."
Zhu Di whispered.
Xu Miaoyun nodded.
But his eyes were always fixed on the little girl sitting aside in the courtroom.
"Huh"
Xu Miaoyun let out a light sigh, with doubt on her face.
"What's wrong ma'am?"
Zhu Di asked.
Xu Miaoyun squinted her eyes, as if she couldn't see clearly, and said hesitantly: "Why does that white-faced scholar look familiar? It seems that I have seen him somewhere? My lord, please take a look."
No wonder Xu Miaoyun felt familiar.
Because of the white-faced scholar who disguised himself as a man, Li Xiao’s so-called adopted brother.
In fact, she is her biological daughter.
"Huh."
Zhu Di looked over, looked at it carefully, and felt familiar.
"Madam, you do look familiar, like you've seen her before, and you feel familiar, but I can't remember where I've seen her before."
Zhu Di also squinted his eyes and said.
However, due to the distance, they did not see the scholar's appearance clearly.
The two of them fell into deep thought and couldn't remember it after thinking for a long time.
At this time, the second case also began to be heard.
An old man with gray hair came up and knelt on the ground as soon as he came up.
"County Master, you have to make the decision for me."
The old man lay on the ground and cried.
The old man has a stooped figure and a wrinkled face, and is an authentic farmer.
When Li Xiao saw this honest farmer-looking man, he immediately felt very pitiful.
"Xiaolang, this seems to be a real injustice."
Zhu Ningyun felt pity in her heart and said: "If he is really wronged, he must be redressed."
Li Xiao nodded and whispered: "Madam, don't worry, it's as you wish!"
To be honest, when Li Xiao was sitting in this courtroom.
There is a sense of responsibility on the shoulders.
In addition, countless people outside stared at him with expectant eyes.
This feeling is even stronger.
Sitting here, holding the gavel in hand, I feel like I control the life and death of others.
Yes, that's what it feels like.
Controlling life and death, his words and actions can really determine the fate of a person and even most people in this county.
Is this what it feels like to be an official?
No wonder it is said that power is the best aphrodisiac!
This kind of power is, without exaggeration, much higher than that of officials in later generations.
Snapped--
Li Xiao was very excited. He slapped the table with the gavel in his hand and said: "Who is here? Tell me your name. If you have any grievances, tell the truth. I will definitely uphold justice for you!"
The old man knelt on the ground and cried:
"My name is Zhang Tian, and I have a son. On the thirteenth day of the first lunar month last year, my son was beaten by several of Mr. Zhang's sons because he accidentally used water from the ditch in Mr. Liu's field. Now he is paralyzed and bedridden. We are old and have no one to farm now, so we can no longer live happily. Then the Liu family wants to buy our land at a cheap price. Please make the decision, please make the decision."
When Li Xiao heard this, he understood what was going on.
Isn't this similar to what happened when I just traveled through time?
There are few sons in the family, and they are bullied everywhere.
At that time, I also spent all my efforts to resolve the crisis and hold on to one-third of an acre of land, otherwise I would have starved to death long ago.
Li Xiao looked at the county magistrate next to him and asked, "Is this the case?"
Mei County Prime Minister nodded: "Sir, this matter does exist, but the Liu family has already paid money and the case was closed before. Later, the old man came to seek justice because he felt the money was too little, so our county government ignored it."
Li Xiao asked: "How much money did you lose at that time?"
Mei County Prime Minister looked through the records and found the process of that day, and replied: "Ten taels of silver."
"What?"
Li Xiao frowned: "It only costs ten taels of silver to paralyze someone! How unreasonable! Their family only has one son, how can ten taels of silver be enough to live on?"
Li Xiao immediately stood up, slapped the case and said, "Come here, go to the Liu family and bring the culprit, Boss Liu, and several of his sons to me!"
The yamen servant below looked at him with big eyes and small eyes, not knowing whether he should move or not.
Hearing this, the Prime Minister of Meixian County whispered: "Sir, the Liu family helps us collect taxes every year and donate money to build roads. Just watch."
Boss Liu is a local bully in the village. He has many sons and a large family.
Therefore, when county governments collect taxes, they often need the help of these local bullies to collect taxes. Therefore, they turn a blind eye when encountering problems.
But Li Xiao refused to accept this trick and said coldly: "What does it have to do with me? It's no use to anyone!"
He looked at the government officials below, "Why, I can't move you?"
The Prime Minister of Meixian County winked, and then the group of government servants left.
The next half hour.
Li Xiao handled two more small cases.
They were all trivial matters, nothing major, like a murder case.
Half an hour later.
When the group of government officials came back, one of them reported: "Sir, the Liu family refuses to come. There are so many people in the family that we can't call them."
"Can't scream? What's the use of raising waste like you?"
Li Xiao showed no mercy and scolded him whenever he opened his mouth.
I can't even shout out to one of the defendants, it's really hopeless.
It seems that this group of people are usually glib, bullying, and making jokes, which is useless!
The government officials lowered their heads. They were also old-fashioned. We took care of the matter. If you scolded us, we would sigh. Hey, they are powerful anyway, and there is nothing we can do about it.
"Trash!"
Li Xiao was speechless when he saw that these old people were not afraid of scolding and were as thick-skinned as the city walls.
However, with so many people watching today, dignity must be upheld!
Otherwise, how can we get along in the future?
Li Xiao didn't want to play intrigue with these people in a small county town.
"Chang Yingwu obeys the order!"
Li Xiao shouted.
"The mark is on!"
Chang Yingwu, one of the hundreds of personal guards brought by Li Xiao, handed over his hand.
"Go to Huanghua Village and bring the Liu family to me!"
"Take your orders!"
After speaking, Chang Yingwu looked at one of the yamen servants and shouted: "Lead the way!"
"yes"
The yamen servant was frightened and trembled. He had never seen such a scene before, so he walked over obediently.
Chang Yingwu waved his hand and said loudly: "Go out and arrest people!"
Boom boom boom——
Two rows of soldiers in helmets and armor left directly from the court hall.
These people are the elites of Yanshan assigned to the princess by Zhu Di!
The soldiers' neat steps and solemn expressions were frightening.
At this moment, the whole place was silent.
The people were shocked.
The master who came this time was so overbearing!
He has no mercy at all and doesn't know his identity, but he can actually command soldiers?
Oh my God
Dong'an County. Things are about to change! ! !
Among the crowd, Zhu Di also squinted his eyes, very satisfied.
This is right. This is my son-in-law, Zhu Di!
(End of chapter)
