Kingdom of Heaven and Han

Wang Xiaolie opened his eyes, it was already dark.The soldiers lit a candle, and the shadow of the candle flickered there.

Standing up, Wang Xiaolie stretched.He said to himself: "It's so bad now! But seeing people busy all afternoon, they fell asleep."

After walking around the room twice, I woke up.Before returning to his seat, he dealt with the official documents on the table.After a while, I read several official documents, and the table became much empty.Seeing a book next to it, Wang Xiaolie took it over casually.

It turned out to be the "World Affairs" magazine of Caifeng Academy, which had already been edited, and Chen Yuyi showed it to himself.

I flipped through it casually, and saw that it was some rural tales and the like.The authors all use a format similar to Tang Legends to write novels in classical Chinese.After a rough look, there is nothing particularly outstanding.Turning to the end, I see that it is a work that simulates a storybook.

It is this kind of works that Wang Xiaolie wants, not those things that the common people gossip about.Watch carefully, and at the beginning, there are also a few poems, showing literary talent.It's a pity that there are no outstanding ones in it, and they are all romantic and moaning.

Next, I wrote the story of a rich man in a county town.This rich man is cautious and ruthless, gradually becoming the overlord of one side.In the end, because the magistrate gave him a task to change the plaque of the inn.One of the households was determined not to change, so he used tricks to kill the owner's sons one by one without any evidence.The shopkeeper still refused to change. In a rage, the rich man killed the shopkeeper too.

There is nothing particularly remarkable about the story, but this man brought the rich man to life.Even the parts about how to kill people are vividly written.

After finishing the article and closing the book, Wang Xiaolie closed his eyes and thought for a while.Take the "People's Feelings" next to it, open it and watch it carefully.Sure enough, it didn't take long to find Zhang Di's report in Xin'an County.Look carefully, it is written by Mo Yuanwai from Xin'an County.

After reading the contents of "People's Feelings", Wang Xiaolie said: "This Zhang Di is quite talented."

When officials go down to collect folk songs, Wang Xiaolie does not limit the content, he can write whatever he hears or sees.But there is one thing, you are not allowed to tell lies, it must be the real content, the real name of the person.Follow-up officials will check, and they must be able to understand the matter from beginning to end according to the article.If it is only heard, it must be stated that it is heard.It is not possible to write the content of listening and speaking vividly and attractively.

In the final analysis, officials who collect folk songs go down to understand people's conditions, not to tell stories.The two magazines, Legend and World Affairs, let these stories be known to the public, and at the same time provide a certain amount of income for the officials.

After thinking for a while, Wang Xiaolie put away the article and went back to read it carefully at night.

Early the next morning, Wang Xiaolie 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: "Officer Chen is sitting here, I have something to discuss with you."

After finishing speaking, 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 "World Love" and handed it to Chen Yuyi.Said: "There is an article in it about the story of Xin'an County, has the staff read it?"

Chen Yuyi didn't read the book, and said: "I edited this book, so I have read it."

Wang Xiaolie said: "Yuanwai Mo in the book is also a talent. What does the staff think of this person?"

Chen Yuyi said: "I have read Zhang Di's "People's Feelings" carefully, and it is fairly detailed about Mo Yuanwai's affairs. Mo Yuanwai is good at flattering officials, never against the government, and he is also cautious in doing things, so that people can't catch him. Hold on to the handle. Such a person is difficult to deal with."

Wang Xiaolie nodded: "Yes, the government has no reason to deal with him. Besides, if he flatters the officials, the local officials will protect him. Even if we send officials to punish him, we will not be able to do anything. Such a person, It's really hard to deal with."

Chen Yuyi said: "However, if such a person does not violate the wishes of the government, it may not be a bad thing for the local government."

When Wang Xiaolie heard this, he couldn't help laughing.Said: "It's not necessarily a bad thing for the place? What about the people who were bullied by him? The county magistrate turned a street into a ghost alley, what about the shops on both sides of the street? Not to mention, these shops changed their signboards and spent money for nothing. There are such people in the local area, which is not good for the local area, but the county magistrate can do whatever he wants!"

Chen Yuyi couldn't help frowning: "How will Xuanfu solve it?"

Wang Xiaolie sighed: "I just don't know how to solve it, so I invite you to discuss it. We are now, the government is going to get to the bottom, at least 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, the powerful can do whatever they want in the place. Mo Yuanwai has a characteristic, that is, he caters to the official. No matter what the official entrusts him, he can handle it beautifully. He is also careful and will never cause trouble for the official. Just think, for the local officials, who doesn’t like such a person? Even now, if we send officials down, it will be very difficult to find out what happened to the outsiders if we don’t change the magistrate of Xin’an.”

Chen Yuyi nodded slowly and said, "Xuan Fu is right."

Wang Xiaolie said: "You and I are all alone after all. It is impossible to investigate things like 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 all kinds of people under the rule of thousands of people. Don’t feel that the people are pitiful now that Zhang Di said that the owner is pitiful. If the officials’ methods are soft , there will be real troublemakers who will jump out and make things difficult for officials. When encountering real troublemakers, they will strike hard. When encountering ordinary people, they will comfort them in every possible way. It is simple for us to say it now, but officials must really do it , how difficult it is. In the end, officials will choose to keep their promises, and the people will not be allowed to object. We have rules and regulations above, and officials are not allowed to do this, so what should we do? People like Mo Yuanwai will be used to do Some things that are inconvenient for the government to do. Officials provide protection to Mo Yuanwai, and Mo Yuanwai does some illegal things to the government, and both benefit from each other. So how can we prevent localities from doing otherwise?"

Hearing this, Chen Yuyi couldn't help frowning, and nodded slowly.

Wang Xiaolie said: "The reason I set up the Caifeng Institute is to understand the real situation of the place. I can't get it from the officials. For example, in Xin'an County, there are such rampant bullies as Mo Yuanwai, but we can see that his political achievements are very good. Okay. No matter how the evaluation is done above, as long as there are traces of the evaluation, places like Xin'an County will always stand out. If we promote officials according to the evaluation, then it must be easier for such officials to be promoted. Wait until there are more such officials , This has become an unspoken rule that is not publicly stated in the officialdom. It is not legal, but it is compliant. At that time, the cutoff will be rotten."

Chen Yuyi said: "Then what should we do? Since it is the government, if you don't listen to officials, who should you listen to?"

Wang Xiaolie shook his head: "I just can't think of it, so we need to discuss it. What I can think of is to set up a wind collecting institute, let the officials go down and reflect the real situation of the people. Because we are officials, we don't know the truth of the people. It looks like a brocade of flowers, but in fact it’s a fire cooking oil, and a spark can blow up the people. The so-called concentricity between the top and the bottom can cut gold. The people in power at the top don’t know what the people think, so how can it work? "

Chen Yuyi thought for a while, then nodded slowly and said, "Xuanfu set up Caifengyuan, so that's what it means."

Wang Xiaolie said: "Although there is a wind-gathering institute, how the wind-gathering officials work and how other officials cooperate are also very particular. If the wind-gathering officials can control the promotion of officials like Zhang Di, it will be a big problem. Officials are bound to do everything they can to please them and try their best to welcome peace. What will happen then? There are ancient lessons. In the Qin Dynasty, each county set up a supervisory history, but did not change the governor. This is the supervisory place. The power is too great, and finally the governor became the supervisor. The state pastor is in charge of a region. This kind of monitoring of the censor or governor is ineffective. Local officials can collude with them, but the local situation is still unknown."

Chen Yuyi frowned, lost in thought.

Wang Xiaolie said: "So, officials collecting folk songs are collecting folk songs, and the most important thing is to bring up the local people's information. If there are powerful people in the local area, it is also the sentiment of the people, and of course they should be reported. However, checking local powerful people is not the main task of the wind-collecting officials, it's just incidental. .There are tyrants in the local area, and the officials who gather folk songs don’t report them, which is negligence of the officials. If there are tyrants in the local area, and the officials who collect folk songs only report the powerful ones, it is also negligence of the officials who collect the wind.”

Chen Yuyi smiled wryly: "The current officials must not be able to meet such high demands."

Wang Xiaolie said: "Now the official's ability is not good, so let's improve it little by little, and one day it will work. The most fearful thing is that the official's ability is not improving day by day, but getting worse day by day. Originally, the official If the ability is not enough, if it gets worse day by day, it will be paid off!"

Chen Yuyi said: "It's normal to get worse every day, and it's rare for things to get better every day."

Wang Xiaolie nodded: "Yes, it is indeed the case. If it gets worse day by day, it becomes normal. Does such a regime still want long-term stability?"

After a while, Wang Xiaolie said again: "This is the trouble with the Xin'an matter. If we deal with it on a large scale because of a report by a wind collecting official, then the attitude of the officials will change when they treat the wind collecting official. No. As it is now, when Zhang Di went to the county and found a hotel by himself, the officials did not help at all. He was also allowed to interview in the county without interfering at all. How we can avoid this situation is a difficult problem.”

Chen Yuyi said: "This kind of thing is probably hard to avoid."

Wang Xiaolie said: "But in a county like this, we can't just ignore it. Let's do it this way. The Xuanfu Division will send an officer to show that we attach importance to it. How to deal with it, we will slowly sum up experience. In fact, this kind of thing is difficult. Control, who will manage it. We have no experience, so we can only go step by step."

Chen Yuyi said: "Xuanfu asked me to discuss it. In fact, my mind is still in a mess. I haven't thought about it before. Think about it in the future. This kind of thing really can't be figured out all at once."

Wang Xiaolie nodded: "Yes, it looks simple, but it is actually very difficult."

How to deal with Xin'an County seems to be very simple, but in fact there are many problems involved.

As a Xuan Fu envoy, if Wang Xiaolie was furious as soon as he found out about this situation, and even sent a special person to deal with it, it would be unqualified.This kind of thing is commonplace in the local area, not just in Xin'an County.You have dealt with Xin'an County, what about other places?Know a place and send a special person to deal with it?Then these special personnel will form a government office, and whether they are suitable or not will become a problem.

The first thing to solve is which yamen will manage it.Whether it is managed by the higher level of the administrative system, that is, the Henan government, or by the Xuanfu Department.If it was managed by the Henan government, it means that it knew about this matter, and Wang Xiaolie, who was the envoy of Xuanfu, issued a small warning to the administrative department.If the Department of Xuanfu was in charge, Wang Xiaolie believed that this was not a small mistake of the administrative system, but a systemic problem.

There is a very big difference here. Although Wang Xiaolie is the envoy of Xuanfu and also knows the Henan government, the officials below are not concurrently.

The second thing to solve is how to deal with it.There is a big difference between simply dismissing the magistrate of Xin'an County, arresting Yuanwai Mo and giving him a heavy sentence, or analyzing the matter clearly before dealing with it.The former is regarded as an accidental event, the latter as a general event.

Accidental events have the treatment of accidental events, ordinary events are completely different.Not only to deal with Xin'an County, but also to form a set of methods, a set of effective treatment measures, for reference by other places.

As a Xuan Fu envoy, Wang Xiaolie needs to consider clearly the nature of this matter, the severity of the handling, and the basic principles to form a set of handling measures.Instead of hearing about this incident, I felt that it was wrong, and sent someone to dismiss the officials.