Wang Xiaolie opened his eyes, and it was already dark. The soldier lit the candle, and the shadow of the candle flickered there.
Standing up, Wang Xiaolie stretched. He said to himself: "It's so bad now! But after a busy afternoon watching people, I actually fell asleep."
I walked around the house twice to wake up. Return to your seat and deal with the official documents on the table. After a while, I read several official documents and the table became much empty. Seeing a book lying next to him, Wang Xiaolie took it over casually.
It turned out to be the "Shiqing" magazine of Caifengyuan, which had been compiled, and Chen Yuyi showed it to him.
Turning it over casually, I saw some country stories and the like. The authors all use a similar format to Tang Dynasty legends and write them in classical Chinese. After a rough look through it, there was nothing particularly outstanding. Turn to the end and see that it is a work that imitates a storybook.
What Wang Xiaolie wanted was this kind of work, not the things that people talked about. If you look carefully, you can see that there are a few poems at the beginning, which show the literary talent. It's a pity that there are no outstanding ones in it, they are all idle moans.
Next, the story is about a rich man in a county. This rich man was cautious and ruthless, and he gradually became the dominant one. Finally, the magistrate gave him a task to replace the inn's plaque. One of the households refused to change, so he used various methods to kill the shop owner's sons one by one without any evidence. The shop owner still refused to change. In a rage, the rich man killed the shop owner as well.
There's nothing particularly outstanding about the story, but this man brought the rich man to life. Even the parts about how to kill people are written vividly.
After reading the article and closing the book, Wang Xiaolie closed his eyes and thought for a while. Take the copy of "People's Sentiment" next to you, open it and read it carefully. Sure enough, it didn't take long to find Zhang Di's report from Xin'an County. If you look carefully, you will see that it is Mo Yuanwai from Xin'an County.
After reading the contents of "People's Situation", Wang Xiaolie said: "This Zhang Di is quite a talent."
When officials went to collect stories, Wang Xiaolie did not limit the content. He could write down whatever he heard or saw. But there is one thing, you are not allowed to tell lies, it must be the true content and the real name of the person. Later, officials will inspect it, and they must be able to understand the matter from beginning to end according to the article. If it is just hearing, you must indicate that it is hearing. You cannot write what you heard and heard in a vivid and attractive way.
After all, the officials who collected the news were there to understand the people's sentiments, not to tell stories. The two magazines "Legends" and "Shiqing" are intended to make these stories known to the public and at the same time provide a certain amount of income for the officials collecting stories.
After thinking for a while, Wang Xiaolie put the article away and went back to read it carefully in the evening.
Early the next morning, Wang Xiao went to the official hall and ordered his soldiers to invite Chen Yuyi.
Chen Yuyi entered the official hall and saluted Wang Xiaolie.
Wang Xiaolie said: "Commander Chen is sitting here. I have something to discuss with you."
After saying that, he went to the small living room next to him, invited Chen Yuyi to sit down, and ordered the soldiers to serve tea.
Wang Xiaolie took out "The Love of the World" and handed it to Chen Yuyi. He said: "There is an article here about the story of Xin'an County. Has the staff read it?"
Chen Yuyi did not read the book and said, "I compiled this book, so I have naturally read it."
Wang Xiaolie said: "The member Mo in the book is also a talented person. What does the staff think of this person?"
Chen Yuyi said: "I have carefully read "People's Situation" written by Zhang Di, and it is quite detailed about the affairs of Yuanwai Mo. Yuanwai Mo is good at flattering officials and never goes against the government. He is also cautious in doing things and can't be caught. Hold on to the handle. It is difficult to deal with such a person."
Wang Xiaolie nodded: "Yes, the government has no way to deal with him. Furthermore, if he flatters the officials, the local officials will protect him. Even if we send officials to rectify it, there will be no way to deal with him. Such a person, It’s really difficult to deal with.”
Chen Yuyi said: "However, if such a person does not go against the wishes of the government, it may not be a bad thing for the place."
Wang Xiaolie couldn't help laughing after hearing this. He said: "It may not be a bad thing for the place? What about the people who were bullied by him? The magistrate made a street look like a ghost alley. What about the shops on both sides of the street? Not to mention that these shops changed their signboards and spent money in vain. It is not good for the place to have such people, but the county magistrate can do whatever he wants!"
Chen Yuyi couldn't help but frown after hearing this: "How is Xuanfu going to solve it?"
Wang Xiaolie sighed: "I just don't know how to solve it, so I asked you to come and discuss it. We are now in charge of the official government. At the least, we adopt the form of government supervision and private management, or the government is in charge. There is a problem with this. , as long as there is official protection, powerful people can do whatever they want in the local area. One of Mo Yuanwai's characteristics is to cater to the official. No matter what the official entrusts to him, he can handle it beautifully. He is also careful and will never cause trouble to the official. Just think, for local officials, who wouldn’t like such a person? Even now, if we send officials down and don’t change the magistrate of Xin’an, it will be difficult to investigate matters outside the Yuan Dynasty.”
Chen Yuyi nodded slowly and said, "Xuan Fu is right."
Wang Xiaolie said: "You and I are the same person after all. It is impossible to go down and investigate things like this in Xin'an County in person. And don't think that this is only the case in Xin'an County. As time goes by, it will be like this everywhere. Because for officials , it is too difficult to handle everything properly. There are thousands of people under the rule, and there are all kinds of people. Don't think that the people are pitiful when you see Zhang Di saying that the shop owner is pitiful. If the officials' methods are soft, , there will be real unruly people jumping out, making things difficult for officials everywhere. When they meet real unruly people, they will attack hard. When they meet ordinary people, they will comfort them in every possible way. It is simple for us to say this now, but we need officials to really do it. , how difficult it is. In the end, officials will choose to stick to their word and not allow the people to object. We have rules and regulations above that do not allow officials to do this, so what should we do? People like Mo Yuanwai will be used to do this. Some things that are inconvenient for the government to do. Officials provide protection to Mo Yuanwai, and Mo Yuanwai does illegal things for the government, and both parties benefit. In this way, how can we prevent the local government from doing this? "
After hearing this, Chen Yuyi couldn't help frowning and nodded slowly.
Wang Xiaolie said: "I set up the Caifeng Yuan to understand the real situation of the place. You can't know it from the officials. For example, in Xin'an County, there is a bully like Mo Yuanwai, but we see that his political achievements are very Okay. No matter how the assessment is conducted above, as long as there are traces of the assessment, places like Xin'an County will always stand out. If we promote officials based on assessment, then it will be easier for such officials to be promoted. When there are more such officials , this has become an unspoken rule that the officialdom does not say publicly. It is illegal, but compliant. By then, the end will be rotten."
Chen Yuyi said: "Then what should we do? Since it is a government, if you don't listen to the officials, who will you listen to?"
Wang Xiaolie shook his head: "I just can't think of it, so I have to discuss it. What I can think of is to set up a collection of styles and let officials go there to reflect the real situation of the people. Because we officials don't know the reality of the people. The situation. It looks like blooming flowers, but in fact it is a raging fire cooking oil. A spark can explode the people. The so-called unity of the top and bottom can break through metal. The people in power above do not know what the people think, so how can it be done? "
Chen Yuyi thought for a while, nodded slowly and said: "Xuanfu established the Caifeng Yuan, so that's what it means."
Wang Xiaolie said: "Although there is a Feng Cai Yuan, how the Feng Cai officials work and how other officials cooperate is also very important. If the Feng Cai officials are like Zhang Di and can control the promotion of officials, there will be a big problem. Officials will inevitably try their best to please and make peace, but what will happen? There is a clear lesson from ancient times. In the Qin Dynasty, every county set up a supervisory censor, and did not change the appointment of a censor. This was the supervisory place. The power was too great, and in the end the censor became the censor. The state shepherd is in charge of a place. Such supervision of the censor or governor is ineffective. Local officials can collude with them, but the superiors still don't know the local situation."
Chen Yuyi frowned and fell into deep thought.
Wang Xiaolie said: "So, the most important thing for collecting the wind is to collect the news. The most important thing is to report the local people's information. If there are powerful people in the local area, it is also the public opinion, and of course it must be reported. However, checking the local powerful people is not the main task of the collecting official. It is just a matter of course. . There are powerful people in the local area, but the Caifeng officials do not report it, which is the failure of the Caifeng officials. There are powerful people in the local area, and the Caifeng officials only report the powerful people, which is also the Caifeng official's dereliction of duty."
Chen Yuyi smiled bitterly: "Today's officials will definitely not be able to meet such high requirements."
Wang Xiaolie said: "If the abilities of officials are not good now, then we should improve them little by little, and one day they will be good. What is most scary is that the abilities of officials are not improving day by day, but getting worse day by day. Originally, officials If your ability is not good enough, if it keeps getting worse day by day, then you’ll pay it forward!”
Chen Yuyi said: "It is normal for things to get worse day by day, and it is rare for things to get better day by day."
Wang Xiaolie nodded: "Yes, that is indeed the case. If it becomes worse day by day and it becomes the norm, does such a regime still want to have long-term peace and stability?"
After a while, Wang Xiaolie said again: "The trouble with Xin'an is here. If we deal with it on a large scale because of a report from a collecting official, then the attitude of the officials towards the collecting officials will change in the future. No. Like now, Zhang Di went to the county and found a hotel alone, and the officials did not help at all. They also allowed him to conduct interviews in the county without interfering at all. How do we avoid this situation is a difficult problem."
Chen Yuyi said: "I'm afraid it's difficult to avoid this kind of thing."
Wang Xiaolie said: "But if a county is like this, we can't just ignore it. Let's do this. The Xuanfu Division sends an officer to show that we take it seriously. How to deal with it? Let's slowly sum up our experience. In fact, what is difficult about this kind of thing? Who will take care of it? We have no experience, so we can only go step by step."
Chen Yuyi said: "Xuanfu came to discuss it with me. In fact, my mind was a mess and I had never thought about it before. If I want to think about it clearly in the future, it is true that this kind of thing cannot be figured out at once."
Wang Xiaolie nodded: "Yeah, it looks simple, but it's actually very difficult."
How to deal with Xin'an County may seem simple, but in fact it involves many problems.
As a propaganda envoy, it would be unqualified for Wang Xiaolie to get furious as soon as he found out about this situation, or even send a special person to deal with it. This kind of thing is routine for the local area, and it is not just the case in Xin'an County. You have dealt with Xin'an County, what about other places? Just send a special person to deal with it if you know a place? Then these specialists will form a yamen, and whether they are suitable or not becomes a question.
The first thing to solve is which yamen should take charge. Should it be managed by the higher level of the administrative system, that is, the Henan Prefecture, or by the Xuanfu Division. If the Henan Prefecture was in charge, it meant that Wang Xiaolie, as the Xuanfu envoy, had known about the matter and gave a small warning to the administrative department. If the Xuanfu Division is in charge, Wang Xiaolie believes that this is not a small mistake in the administrative system, but a systemic problem.
There is a very big difference here. Although Wang Xiaolie is the Xuanfu envoy and the governor of Henan Prefecture, the officials below do not hold concurrent posts.
The second thing to solve is how to deal with it. There is a big difference between whether to simply and directly remove Xin'an County Magistrate from office, arrest Mo Yuanwai and give a severe sentence, or whether to deal with the matter after analyzing it clearly. The former is treated as an accidental event, while the latter is treated as a common event.
Accidental events have their own way of dealing with accidental events, but ordinary events are completely different. Not only to deal with Xin'an County, but also to formulate a set of methods and effective measures to serve as a reference for other places.
As a propaganda envoy, Wang Xiaolie needs to carefully consider the nature of the matter, the severity of the matter, and the basic principles to form a complete set of handling measures. Instead of hearing about this and feeling something was wrong, they sent someone to remove the officials.
