"You mean you want to let Hou Ruming's wife and daughter go?" Zhou Xun raised his eyebrows, with an unpredictable look on his face. It was unclear whether he agreed or opposed it. These days, He Nan spends his days interrogating prisoners in a dark prison, and Zhou Xiu is not idle at all. He has to deal with government affairs for more than eight hours a day, and his free time is used to search for and recruit talents. Of course, it is impossible for a county so big to have just one good person from Zhou Yu. In the more than a month since he took office, Zhou Yu has promoted some officials who share the same goals with him, and these people have also recommended many knowledgeable and ambitious officials with his encouragement. Cheese.
At this time, the two of them were sitting in the lobby of the county government discussing matters. Although they both looked a little tired, they did not feel half-hearted.
He Nan nodded, and was about to state his reasons to his senior brother, but was interrupted by Zhou Xun. The senior senior brother, who was over 40 years old, shook his head gently: "No."
He Nan, who was about to speak freely, was stunned for a moment - after these days of contact, He Nan knew that Senior Brother Zhou Xi was generous and kind to others, and he thought he would get support from him, but at this time, he strangely stopped himself. I don’t know the reason for the proposal: “Senior brother, why not?”
Zhou Xun sighed softly and said: "You know, whether it is corruption or neglect of government, or forming a party to do whatever is wrong, or for example, the murder case of the general's nephew that you once handled, it is essentially an abuse of power. "
"Power is given to officials so that they can better safeguard the interests of the court and the people, rather than letting them use power to indulge themselves and seek benefits for themselves."
"The so-called seniority and high status should not actually represent privileges and honors, but responsibility and responsibility."
He Nan nodded. He felt deeply about what his senior brother said. Otherwise, he would not have sent Jiang Chen to the execution ground despite countless pressures and temptations. However, he still didn't understand what this had to do with letting Hou Ruming's wife and children go. relation.
"Don't you understand yet?" Zhou Xun stretched out his left index finger and tapped the table gently: "The state has national laws, and families have family rules. The national laws clearly record how to judge corrupt officials like Hou Ruming and their families. Then we should Respecting national laws, it is true that Hou Ruming's wife and children did nothing wrong - but the law is the law."
"Letting Hou Ruming's wife and children go is a betrayal of national law and an abuse of power. If you and I ignore the law, what's the difference between us and those corrupt officials? What's our stance? To punish those sinners?"
After saying that, Zhou Li closed his eyes gently. In fact, he may not have felt compassion in his heart, but as a disciple of the Shanhe Prefecture of the Judicial Office and the governor of Shuihan County, he could only give up his emotions appropriately and focus more on the overall situation. .
"But we do this to prevent innocent people from being involved in the case, which is fundamentally different from those corrupt officials who do it to satisfy their own selfish desires!" He Nan was a little excited. He didn't think highly of Hou Ruming. But he couldn't bear to send several women to the military camp to be used as prostitutes. "I think someone has done something similar before. This is not about disregarding the law, but about human tolerance."
"Innocent? I'm afraid that's not necessarily the case. Even if Hou Ruming's family members did not participate in Hou Ruming's corruption and had no knowledge of it, they did enjoy the special treatment Hou Ruming brought to them, didn't they?" Zhou Xun said, "You You are right, there have been many such things in the past. But because such things have happened so much, it has become more confusing - the law has written provisions in black and white, but there is no human relationship. Just you and I can give Is it determined by the breadth of 'favor'?"
"Also... it's someone else's business to overstep their authority, but we can't--at a small level, we represent Shanhe Mansion and Li Zhanchun, and at a large level, we represent the justice of the court's laws and the justice of the people." Zhou Li said it almost word for word. It seemed that the decision he faced was also very difficult - even more painful than He Nan. After all, he was the one responsible for making the decision.
"Damn it!" He Nan cursed bitterly and leaned on the wooden chair like a shriveled water bag. "Why do we have to stick to the rules step by step? Can't we propose changes to the national laws?"
"When you were judging the case, those who were convicted by you also thought so, didn't they?" In order to appease He Nan's emotions, Zhou Li even made a joke, but he then said seriously: "Someone also proposed We have to amend the national laws, but do you know how troublesome it actually is?"
"When the Shengguo Kingdom was founded and the country's laws were formulated, dozens of historians and classics scholars participated in the formulation of the "National Laws". They not only referred to the previous dynasties, but also took into account the national conditions and people's livelihood of the current dynasty. Although it cannot be perfect, it is still quite good. It’s complete. The laws of the country have not changed in the past two hundred years. If we really want to change the law, it will be very difficult to achieve."
"Just because we have followed the rules for two hundred years, we should make some changes, right?" When he talked about this, He Nan became bright and cheerful again.
"Then it depends on the abilities of your younger generation." Zhou Xi showed a meaningful smile.
Just as the two brothers were discussing the matter, a government official rushed in from the hall: "Master Zhou, Master He, Wang Wei has been escorted into the city at this time. I don't know how to deal with it?"
"Let's send him to the prison first, and then order someone to prepare some meals and send them to the prison. As for the manpower responsible for escorting, I have other arrangements." He Nan made the decision for Zhou Xi, and after the Yamen took the order and left, he turned to The head teased the senior brother and said: "I spend my own money to reward the brothers who have traveled long distances and worked tirelessly. Isn't this an abuse of power?"
Zhou Yan just smiled at his junior brother's teasing: "How could you do all the work of winning people's hearts? You haven't been in the place for a long time and you don't know. For such cases of inter-county arrests, the court will give you With the subsidy, we can arrange a cleansing banquet for them at the best restaurant in the county, so there is no need to spend additional money."
"But let's not go there, let's just make it and go straight to the prison."
Zhou Xun's behavior has always been to embrace Pu Hanzhen. A simple meal is fine, but if something serious happens to be dealt with, it is normal to forget about food and sleep - if some officials change, such a feast of fish and meat will not be allowed to start until I arrive.
The two simply ate some food and walked towards the prison. On the way, Zhou Xun suddenly mentioned something: "A few days ago, you asked me about the promotion of Xuanyang County Magistrate Li Shitong..."
At this point, He Nan didn't have any hope. After all, it would be considered an "abuse of power" to promote Lao Li based on his own connections. He now truly understands the meaning of the ancient saying that "a light promise will lead to a lack of faith". When he sang a big promise to Old Li, the old man burst into tears of gratitude...
"I also investigated Li Shitong, and I have to lament that he also suffered a hard life. Although his transfer is not within my scope of authority, I think that he is a diligent official on weekdays and has made great achievements in political achievements. Some time ago, he was After taking out my salary to help the victims, I wrote a letter and sent it to the Sheriff of Fuyang County, telling him that the old official under his command still had some ability. As for whether the Sheriff of Fuyang County promoted this person, that was his decision. .”
He Nang just wanted to complain that the old man had received money from Song Wuyan before, but then he thought about it and realized it again - if Lao Li was an old corrupt official, he would have been promoted by giving gifts, and there would be no need to beg his grandfather to sue his grandmother. Are you flattering yourself? I guess he was usually superstitious and possessed evil spirits and never thought about corruption. He finally got the money back and got himself caught. In the end, he was forced to use the money to provide relief to the victims, not to mention that he also paid it back. few.
Although He Nan couldn't tolerate sand in his eyes like Zhou Xi, he couldn't just let this matter pass by. If Lao Li was finally exposed for some bad deeds, it wouldn't matter if it affected him or his senior brother. But I couldn't be more proud of it - I have to beat this old fox when I get the chance to go home.
The two of them walked and talked like this until they came to the entrance of the prison. He Nan took out a booklet from his arms like a magic trick. It was exactly the confession that Hou Ruming had written for He Nan a few days ago in exchange for the livelihood of his wife and children: "You don't know if you don't know it, but I'm shocked when I read it. If Hou Ruming hadn't written it out, I wouldn't have known that he had an intersection with Wang Wei."
Zhou Yan smiled slightly and was not surprised at all: "After you decided to start with Wang Wei, I sent people to investigate him carefully. Otherwise, do you think I want you to deal with Hou Ruming? In fact, these days All the prisoners you deal with are more or less related to Wang Wei, and it can even be said that these people formed a network of relationships with Wang Wei as the center."
"Senior brother is still foresighted, and He Nan admires him." He Nan spent the whole day in the prison interrogating the prisoners in shifts, but he never thought that his senior brother had already planned everything for him.
"Speaking of this, I suddenly thought of a way to pardon Hou Ruming's wife and children to the maximum extent within our scope of authority." Perhaps it was Hou Ruming's "Record of Breach of Law" that gave him inspiration. He was about to be imprisoned. When he entered Wang Wei's cell, an idea suddenly flashed in He Nan's mind.
"Really?" Zhou Yan was also a little curious about this, but he has always been cautious and not in a hurry: "Junior brother, please think about it as a brother. Let's discuss it after today's work is over."
After a while, the two finally saw the "chicken" in the killing of chickens to scare monkeys. This old man with half a head of white hair is full of energy. His increasingly old and stooped body and the wrinkles on his skin cannot hide his handsomeness when he was young. He is still a handsome old man. Even though Wang Wei was already in prison, he still looked calm and composed. He seemed to be someone who had seen the world.
"Mr. Wang." He Nan decided to be polite before finding out the old man's temperament. "I think you still have an impression of this prison. Do you know why we invited you back all the way?"
"Please? Your Excellency is really good at talking. Is this the only way to ask for help?" Wang Wei held his head high and said with a hint of sting: "You two must be the current Sheriff and Sheriff of Shuihan County. It seems that we Shuihan County is really in decline, even a little kid can become the county magistrate."
In just one sentence, Wang Wei's character was fully exposed in He Nan's eyes - this guy was quite proud of his identity. After all, he was once the second-in-command of Shuihan County, and when he was an official, he could Those who have a place in the county are usually over forty when they are young.
"I'm not a county magistrate, I'm just a jailer, and the Lord He next to me is the jailer of our Shuihan County." He Nan's words seemed to lower the status of the two of them, but in fact they wanted to show that Contempt for Wang Wei - for such a headstrong and arrogant person, he must either flatter him until death, or use flexible tactics to provoke the general - He Nan knew that if he coaxed Wang Wei to come, what would he do? I felt nauseous and vomited first, so I took the latter option.
"Prison Cao Lord He" was also made nonsense by He Nan. The warden was the warden, and He Nan was temporarily acting as his deputy. In fact, the so-called Master He was referring to He Nan himself, but he was pinned to Zhou Xun.
"Hmph, it's just a little jailer who doesn't understand etiquette. Don't you, a jailor, still know that you are not qualified to interrogate me?" The old man changed the subject and pointed directly at "Congratulations."
Unexpectedly, this young junior interjected without hesitation: "Every official in the county performs his or her duties. When you enter the cell, the prison officer is the biggest. Mr. Wang doesn't know that, right? Or Mr. Wang, you have no governance at all." I’ve been in government affairs so I don’t know anything about it?”
Gonghuo, naked Gonghuo.
Although Zhou Yan didn't know what He Nan's purpose was in lying about his identity, since his junior brother did this, he cooperated with him to the end. With a face that was not inferior to Wang Wei in terms of age, he said seriously: "Isn't that right? That’s right, whether you are a relative of the emperor or a commoner in the countryside, it is the same when you enter the cell. There is no status that cannot be tried, let alone whether you are worthy or not."
"Huh, tell me then, what is my fault?" Wang Wei's expression was very upright, as if he was the presiding judge and the two standing outside were the prisoners.
In fact, Wang Wei's attitude is quite normal - because he doesn't think he is guilty at all. After all, he has been cautious in his decades of service as an official and has never taken a bribe from others. What can the other party have against him?
"Haha, I knew it just by looking at you..." He Nan said: "If you are an official without moral principles, you are either stupid or bad. If we say that those who are corrupt, bend the law and exploit the people are 'bad' people who know their mistakes and make mistakes. , then you are a 'stupid' who doesn't even know where you are wrong."
I don’t know what’s going on these days. It’s definitely more difficult to accept a person being called “stupid” than being called “bad”, because sometimes “bad” even contains a little bit of praise, praising people as “smart and cunning”. " means, and even the word "good" has such a sad and derogatory connotation.
It seems that this person has no merits and can only praise "you are a good person".
Don’t you see, there are many things that heroes do to save beauties. If the hero is handsome, unrestrained and extraordinary, then the beauty will only have a shy face. Simply say, "The little girl has nothing to repay, she can only give her body to her." If the hero returns Characters such as cynicism, unrestrained frivolity, etc. are simply a fatal weapon to win the hearts of beautiful women; but if the hero has a poor image and a dull personality, you can hear a lot of praise words, such as being kind-hearted, self-sacrificing, chivalrous and righteous, and warm-hearted. Wait, but most of them end with "You are a good person. This little girl has nothing to repay, so she has to work as a cow or a horse in the next life to repay."
In short, it is always better to be called bad than to be called stupid.
As an old man, Wang Wei certainly couldn't have a passionate confrontation with a young boy. What's more, he relied on his identity, so he had to say: "The kid with a yellow mouth can only talk quickly, and now he can only talk... You can talk nonsense and say that being an official is unethical, but I have lived a clean life and my political achievements are obvious to all."
"Huh..." It's a good thing he didn't mention it. When he did mention it, it would play into He Nan's wish. "I have studied Mr. Wang's official resume over and over again. At first glance, I didn't notice any difference, but if I look closely, That’s really shocking…”
