“If this county really wants to make progress, it naturally won’t care so much;”
"But what this county cares more about is whether we are truly loyal to His Majesty and to the country."
"At least in the eyes of this county, there is no need to harm the people of justice and deceive the emperor for the sake of more immigrants and personal future!"
"A gentleman does what he does and what he doesn't do. If Wuyuan County wants to catch so many mine thieves, let them catch them."
"Not only will this county not wantonly frame good families who do not mine privately, it will also strictly investigate those who dare to do so, and will report this matter to the court!"
After the prince said this, he said to Zhang Yunsheng: "If Mr. Zhang feels that this county's move is very pedantic, he can leave after the employment period is up. I can also help you recommend a boss who is more worthy of your admiration."
Zhang Yunsheng sighed and said: "Dong Weng can make such a determination, either he is a saint, or he is a person with a not so simple background."
The prince smiled lightly and was noncommittal.
"What's going on in Xiuning County? In the entire Huizhou Prefecture, Xiuning County has the fewest number of mine thieves caught, not even a thousand. How can such a big county have so few mine thieves!"
Although the prince chose not to mess around, his superior, Anhui Inspector Kuang Longgeng, was very angry about this. After receiving reports on illegal mining from the counties under his rule, he started questioning him on the spot.
Subsequently.
Kuang Longgeng also directly sent an official letter to Xiuning County who went to Prince Edward, asking him to ensure that no mine thief who mined privately slipped through the net and that there was no suspicion of harboring or harboring.
The implication of Kuang Longgeng's order was that he was dissatisfied with the fact that Xiuning County had caught too few mining thieves. It was equivalent to telling the prince that if he did not catch enough mining thieves, then the prince, the magistrate of Xiuning County, would be detained by him as the patrol censor. A hat that shields and harbors mine thieves.
When the prince saw this official letter, his heart was on fire. He didn't expect that patrolling the police in a dignified manner was also a virtue. He only wanted a good result and didn't care about the process. He also wished that local officials like them, who were close to the people, would create more unjust cases.
"Aren't they afraid that if the court does this, it will force a civil uprising?"
The prince couldn't help but ask.
Zhang Yunsheng said with a sneer: "Dong Weng, please calm down. There are soldiers stationed in various parts of the imperial court now, so the higher-ups are just hoping for a civil uprising so that more people can be deported."
"Having said that, this is making fun of the credibility of the entire country, and it also violates the new etiquette of treating our own people as human beings. If we can slander more people today to move more people, then in the future, if there is a civil uprising Once it becomes unstoppable, can the rebellious common people stop treating the royal family, powerful officials and gentry as human beings, and can they kill them whenever they want for the sake of national justice?"
"Isn't this still an era of old etiquette, where everyone will be treated as a slave at any time, and everyone will become a master at any time, and there will be no talents who are truly independent and free enough to do their own research and create their own works?"
"It can be said that although these people now talk about new rituals, they are still doing things in the same way as old rituals! That is, for their own future, to please their superiors, and for the immediate national interests, they do not hesitate to let a large number of innocent people People die in vain!”
"If this continues, as long as the wealth brought by the steam engine grows to the point where it can no longer grow and stagnates, Ming Dynasty will sooner or later return to the old rituals!"
The prince became more and more enthusiastic as he spoke, and in the end he even put his hands on his hips:
"The worst thing is, I, the county magistrate, won't do it, and I won't patrol according to other people's circumstances."
"good!"
"very good!"
"The magistrate of Xiuning County really has a temper. In this case, I can only truthfully accuse the court of his lazy administration!"
Kuang Longgeng, the censor of the imperial censor, was quite angry when he learned that the prince of Xiuning County did not comply with the instructions, so he just said this and then actually read the prince's book.
Zhao Huaiqing, the governor of Anhui Province, was as surprised as Kuang Longgeng, the governor of Anhui Province, after seeing the investigation and arrest of mine thieves in various counties in Huizhou Prefecture.
Because he didn't expect that Xiuning County would catch so few mine thieves.
But Zhao Huaiqing didn't say much, let alone impeach the prince.
It's not that Zhao Huaiqing doesn't want the officials below to catch more mine thieves, but he knows that those who dare to be fair at this time are either true gentlemen who are not afraid of trouble, or people with strong backgrounds. He has no need to do it because a county has no The purpose of catching more ore thieves is to annoy such people. After all, there is no need to offend these two types of people.
Here, the prince collected the evidence of Wuyuan Magistrate Dai Yiqing's excessive execution of the imperial edict, and reported it directly through the Ming Dynasty's informant system, in order to reflect the situation at the grassroots level.
"The situation expressed by His Highness is definitely true, but Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, a situation like Dai Yiqing's cannot be dealt with at the moment."
"Because if the court really just wants them to strictly inspect the mines and uses it as an important indicator of success, they will do whatever it takes, even slandering their relatives and friends as mine thieves. But if the court wants them to strictly inspect the mines, We must not accuse a good person unjustly, because they will simply choose not to investigate strictly because they can’t do it, and only take money from the mine thieves.”
"Now, from the court's perspective, the more criminals that can be exiled, the better."
"So, the imperial court can only let Dai Yiqing's situation go unchecked, and even reuse him because of his outstanding performance in hunting down ore thieves! And if it really wants to deal with Dai Yiqing, it will only dampen the enthusiasm of the world's bureaucrats to hunt down ore thieves, and make them stop trying to please the imperial court. He turned to please the wealthy family."
"In short, the biggest problem here is that it is difficult to ensure that there are no unjust cases and wrongful convictions. Even if Fujianfu and county officials can control themselves, they may not be able to control the people below them. Even if the people below can control themselves, they cannot control them. The common people were bribed by the mine thieves, and then they did not admit that they were the mine thieves and only hid in the common people's homes. It is rare in this world to have the best of both worlds, and it is very difficult to achieve both. In the past, when the land was cleared, it was inevitable that there would be false reports and increased reports. "
Wang Xijue spoke at this time.
Zhu Yijun nodded.
He knows that the bureaucracy is essentially a tool for the supreme ruler to control the people, and is not really the parent who makes decisions for the people. No matter how loyal the bureaucrats are and support reforms, they are essentially to safeguard the interests of the ruler. As long as it is beneficial to the ruler , even if the ruled pay a price, they will not suffer resistance from the entire bureaucratic group, and asking the bureaucrats to safeguard the interests of the ruled as well as the interests of the rulers is like forcibly dividing a person into two halves, no doubt It will make this bureaucrat unable to do anything.
Sometimes, it is true that the interests of the rulers do not necessarily coincide with the interests of the ruled.
Take the matter of immigration, for example.
The common people are naturally reluctant to leave their hometown, especially in this peaceful and prosperous age. Even if there are too many people to live by farming, they would rather mine and do business in their hometown than run away.
But as the rulers, the emperor and the bureaucrats, as long as they stand in the national interest, they would like more people to go out, the better. It is best to turn the newly opened fertile fields into fertile fields farmed by the Han people. After all, in this era, The Han people's farming skills are indeed much superior, and because the customs are the same, the cost of governance is much lower.
Therefore, Zhu Yijun admitted that what Wang Xijue said was right.
But Zhu Yijun also knew that although the Han people could endure it, the intensity of their resistance after being forced into danger was also terrifying.
After all, although the aristocratic families in Chinese history enjoyed a very luxurious and lustful life, they were also massacred and people trampled all the bones of their ministers.
Therefore, Zhu Yijun still said something at this time: "Having said that, it still needs to be curbed when it reaches a certain level. We cannot really not treat the people as human beings. That is against the new etiquette. Once it backfires, the consequences will be very serious." serious."
"What your Majesty said is that in the opinion of a foolish minister, as long as a popular uprising is suppressed and appeased properly, he will continue to be a capable minister. If a popular uprising is provoked and cannot be suppressed, he will be punished with the crime of abusing the people. Even if The disposal is not because the mine inspection is wrong, but because the consequences cannot be dealt with, so that other bureaucrats will not stop doing their best to inspect the mine."
Wang Xijue replied.
Zhu Yijun nodded.
"But Your Majesty, a bureaucrat like the Crown Prince who dares to reflect the truth must still be reused."
Wang Lin, the official minister, said something.
Zhu Yijun said: "Of course, whether it is reflecting the true situation or doing its best for the imperial government, I am considered a loyal minister! And we still have to issue an order not to abuse the people through this. The central court must at least have a correct attitude."
"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"
So, not long after, Dai Yiqing, the magistrate of Wuyuan County, was indeed arrested for his outstanding performance in mining inspections.
The prince was also praised for reflecting the truth and was promoted to the censor of Shandong.
At the same time, the emperor decreed that no unjust, false, or wrongful convictions could be made through the investigation of mine thieves.
"I got promoted anyway."
The prince was not happy about this. He only felt that governing the country was not as simple as he imagined. It seemed that in the eyes of those in power, there were only pros and cons, not right and wrong. All the right and wrong in words were actually based on pros and cons.
Seeing this, Zhang Yunsheng couldn't help but persuade: "Don't worry too much, Dong Weng. Although the current government has reused officials like Dai Zhixian who are willing to harm the people for the sake of flattery, they have also promoted officials like you who dare to tell the truth for the people. This shows that the current government He is indeed an upright man who is loyal to the public and the country. He not only reuses Dai Zhixian for the country, but also reuses Dong Weng for the country. He truly has no selfish motives at all and is all for justice! If he has no heart for the common people and is intolerant and only knows that the party is in agreement and opposes dissenters, he should be treated as a public servant. Such an upright minister will only be dismissed due to impeachment by his superiors!"
"I know."
The prince replied with a smile and said: "The national policy of hunting down ore thieves this time has really taught this county a lesson. It really cannot be learned from the books of sages. As a county magistrate, if you want to reform the bad government below, there is no way." We can't do it without the support of the local officials, and if we want to prevent the ills from above, we can't do it without the support from above. It's really difficult, so it's no wonder that so many officials are willing to do nothing."
Having said this, the prince sighed: "Fortunately, the situation of my successor should be much better than mine. After all, many rural officials have been forcibly moved away. He should be able to take drastic measures."
"But compared with a county like Wuyuan, the successor will not be grateful to Dongweng, but will blame Dongweng."
Zhang Yunsheng had spent a long time with the prince and had some understanding of his character. He knew that he was not a narrow-minded person, so he spoke frankly at this time. (End of chapter)
