At the end of the Han Dynasty: a stingy husband from his hometown

Chapter 248 Helpless and pleased

Listening to Zhou Qi's questioning, the county magistrate sweated more on his forehead, but he still argued: "This is just a trivial matter between neighbors. There is no need to record it in the file and waste resources."

Zhou Qi asked: "If it was really a trivial matter, why did Agu continue to accumulate resentment in his heart, leading to the tragedy of annihilation?"

Magistrate Zhou was speechless when asked, and hurriedly knelt on the ground, not daring to say any more.

The conflict between the two families may seem like a minor matter, but because the government's disapproving attitude did not fundamentally resolve the problem, the conflict between the two parties became deeper and deeper, leading to such evil consequences.

Zhou Qi was an official in his previous life, and in this era he started as the magistrate of Anfeng County, so he understood the thoughts of the county magistrate very well.

In the final analysis, the county magistrate did this not only because he did not care about the people's affairs, but also to make his political achievements look better.

If everything is handled fairly and fairly, a huge amount of energy will inevitably be wasted. If many cases are really pursued, files will be left behind.

There are too many files, and when the performance is assessed every year, the superior may feel that you have not managed the place well, which has led to so many problems.

There are two counties. One place has fewer security incidents and the people live and work in peace and contentment. The other place has countless files and many unsolved cases.

Obviously, the performance evaluation and ranking of the former will be significantly higher than that of the latter.

On the contrary, this kind of inaction method can not only quickly solve trivial matters, but also ensure that these matters will not be recorded in the files.

Not only in this era, but also in the future.

Most local police officers do not distinguish between right and wrong. They just want to resolve the matter with Xini. Even if you are clearly in charge, if you do not want to mediate and settle the matter, you will become the targeted party.

When something like this happens, it is certainly because the local government is short of manpower and does not want to complicate the matter.

The most important reason is to calm down the incident as soon as possible and avoid overloading the local government office and complicating things. This will not only increase the workload of the officers, but also affect the ranking among the government offices at the same level.

Zhou Qi had just arrived in Yundu County and checked the files here for the past year, only to find that there were relatively few recorded files.

If someone who doesn't understand the details reads it, they might think that Yundu County is really living and working in peace and contentment, but for Zhou Qi, who is familiar with the grassroots government, he can quickly guess the reason.

He glanced at the county magistrate coldly and said nothing more.

Since ancient times, there has been a relatively classic saying, that is - major cases should be judged by politics, medium-sized cases should be judged by their impact, and small cases should be judged by relationships.

Most of the cases where people with real power and status are dismissed from office or convicted are because of political incidents.

Otherwise, no matter how serious the corruption is and no matter how turbulent the public opinion is, as long as the other party has a strong background and the right political alignment, basically no matter how big the issue is, it can be suppressed.

It's amazing, but it's just a flat promotion, a demotion or a temporary suspension.

After the limelight passes, it will remain the same.

For those who do not have enough power, the influence of public opinion can also determine their life or death, just like this tragedy.

If Magistrate Zhou had no background, he could be brought to an end with just this one big case, and there would be no chance of him turning around.

only.

After all, County Magistrate Zhou was born in the Zhou family of Pei State, and he was a highly valued descendant of Zhou Jing, the head of the Zhou family. Otherwise, he would not have been promoted to the position of County Magistrate of Yundu at such a young age.

Speaking of which, Zhou Qi is considered to be from the Zhou family of Pei State.

Therefore, even if Zhou Qi knew the twists and turns, and knew that the case of family extermination was indeed a terrible consequence of the county magistrate's failure to deal with the problem and the intensification of conflicts, he did not intend to actually deal with this person.

It's not that Zhou Qi is timid or trying to protect his own people.

It can only be said that after getting used to the styles of official circles, Zhou Qi has long been accustomed to this kind of thing.

If he was the kind of person who couldn't get rid of the dirt in his eyes, he wouldn't be where he is now.

However, the problems exposed by this case forced Zhou Qi to think carefully about countermeasures. Otherwise, if things go on like this, the contradictions of the people at the bottom will not be released, which will most likely affect his own rule.

He also had to think about another issue, which was the conflict between Han and Hu.

The initial conflict between Agu and Wu Er was undoubtedly caused by Agu Zhanli, but in the end the government clearly favored Wu Er, probably because Wu Er was a Han.

In this era, the Han people did not have the adoration for foreigners and generally felt that they were superior to others, whether they were treating foreigners or naturalized ethnic minorities within the country.

The government also oppresses the people, and the oppression of ethnic minorities within the territory is often higher than the oppression of the Han people.

This is why, since the Eastern Han Dynasty, foreign races in various places have been rebelling endlessly.

In the final analysis, the government is still not clear enough, and it is normal for others to resist when they are oppressed.

Zhou Qi does not have this idea of ​​Han supremacy.

He traveled through time from later generations. The so-called Han people in later generations have merged with countless ethnic groups, and basically no longer have pure Han blood.

The so-called Han people refer more to culture than blood.

In particular, Jiangxia Man may have been completely Chineseized in later generations.

What's more, Zhou Qi was able to stabilize the situation in Jiangxia, and Jiangxia Man was indestructible.

Over the years, Jiang Xiaman has also been the most trusted soldier under Zhou Cheng.

The case has reached this point, and Agu's verdict is actually not important anymore.

Zhou Qi asked the county magistrate to handle it according to law, but he summoned Xi Zhicai, Dian Wei, Zhou Yu and others and asked, "What do you think about this case?"

Dian Wei was the first to speak and said: "In my opinion, this Yundu County Magistrate acted unfairly, which led to such a tragedy. He should be jailed and held accountable."

Zhou Qi was not surprised by Dian Wei's indignation.

If he thought as much as he did, he wouldn't be Dian Wei.

Zhou Qi had a smile on his face and was noncommittal. Then he looked at Zhou Yu and asked, "What do you think of Gong Jin?"

Zhou Yu pondered for a long time and then said: "In my opinion, Magistrate Yundu did not make a big mistake. No one expected that Agu would be so extreme that he would lead to the tragedy of annihilating his family."

"The murderer is Agu after all."

"I have observed the people's livelihood in Yundu and found that the people here do live and work in peace and contentment. The Yundu County Magistrate is also quite honest and can be regarded as a capable official."

Dian Wei couldn't help but frown slightly when he heard this.

In fact, Zhou Yu's statement is not wrong.

Although superficial work can be done, it is not difficult to see from the lives of Agu and Wu Er that the lives of the people in Yundu County are indeed quite wealthy.

Otherwise, Agu, who was not good at farming, would not have had time to plant thousand-year-old seeds, and Wu Er would not have owned oxen and oxcarts.

After hearing Zhou Yu's words, Zhou Qi couldn't help but sigh slightly in his heart, but didn't say much.

In the final analysis, it is impossible for Zhou Yu, who was born in a noble family, to truly love the people like a son and care about their concerns.

Since ancient times, how many officials have been able to do this?
Not to mention Zhou Yu and the Yundu County Magistrate, most officials would not take it seriously when dealing with these trivial matters.For such trivial matters, they don't even want to know who is right and who is wrong, as long as they can settle the matter as soon as possible and prevent them from bothering officials.

Even if it's a big deal, even if you can really tell right from wrong, what's the use to the officials?Will they get promoted as a result?
Obviously not!

With the development and passage of society, official governance will eventually become bloated and inefficient.

It is extremely difficult to eradicate stubborn diseases among officials, and Zhou Qi did not think he had the ability to do so.

However, Zhou Qi originally had high hopes for Zhou Yu, but the other party's words finally disappointed Zhou Qi.

He did not deny that Zhou Yu was right, even Zhou Qi would do the same.

However, Zhou Qi still felt a little uncomfortable.

You could say he was hypocritical, or you could say he had too high hopes for Zhou Yu.

"If Zhuge Liang encountered this kind of problem, how would he answer it?"

At this time, Zhou Qi couldn't help but think of that person in history who had no complaints from the people even though the criminal law was severe.

Zhuge Liang can truly take matters into his own hands and distinguish right from wrong. Even if he punishes people, he will clearly explain the law and right and wrong, so that the punished will be willing to accept the punishment without any regrets.

If Zhuge Liang encountered this kind of problem, he would definitely deal with it fairly.

Zhang Yi said: Rewards should not be far away, punishment should not be close, no title should be obtained without merit, and punishment should not be avoided by high power. This is why the wise and foolish people forget their own bodies.

Chen Shou said: Those who are loyal and beneficial will be rewarded even if they are angry; those who break the law and are negligent will be punished even if they are close; those who admit guilt and lose love will be punished even if they are serious; those who use rhetoric and rhetoric will be killed even if they are light.Good deeds will not be rewarded if they are not small, and evil will not be devalued if they are not small.The common things are refined, the physics is the foundation, the names are responsible, the hypocrisy is despised.Finally, within the territory of the state, those who are afraid but love them, and those who have no resentment despite severe punishments and administrations, can be seen as having a calm mind and clear warnings.

Yuan Zhun said: If you enforce the law strictly, the people of the country will be happy to obey it; if you use the people to the best of their ability, they will not complain.

These may seem like just words, but if you look deeper, you will be amazed.

Zhou Qi asked himself, even he himself cannot be fair and just in everything.

This kind of person only exists in legends.

Apart from anything else, if you want to achieve this, you need a lot of pressure from the powerful.

Perhaps it is under such a system that people will completely abandon their worldly feelings and only think about working hard and making achievements.

Perhaps this is also the case. Even though Zhuge Liang has passed away for nearly a hundred years, the people of Shu still miss him deeply.

If Magistrate Zhou could do this, Agu would not hold a grudge and eventually cause a catastrophe.

It's a pity that throughout the thousands of years of Chinese history, there is only one Zhuge Liang.

This is why Zhou Qi wants to train Zhuge Liang to be his son's right-hand man.

No matter Zhang Zhao, Du Ji or Zhang Hong, they all have talents in governing the world.

But in the final analysis, these people are all from aristocratic families, and their ideals of governing the country will naturally side with the aristocratic families.

Zhou Qi needed the support of aristocratic families when he first conquered the world, and the ideas of these people in governing the country would naturally be of great use.

Once the world is at peace, the ideas of these people in governing the country will subtly bring disaster to the dynasty, and the power of the aristocratic families will inevitably gradually expand.

Zhou Qi didn't want to be like Cao Cao, who had worked so hard to build a foundation and ended up making a wedding dress for a wealthy family.

Zhou Qi did not comment too much on Zhou Yu's views. Instead, he turned to look at Xi Zhicai and asked, "What do the military advisors think?"

Xi Zhicai said: "Since my lord has already made a decision in his heart, why do you need to ask me?"

Zhou Qi smiled and said: "Those who know me have ambition!"

Agu was sentenced to death.

However, because these are troubled times and population is extremely important, the death penalty will be reduced by one level in the end.

Agu was eventually exiled to serve as a corvee for the rest of his life. Even if he was granted amnesty, his sentence could only be reduced by a year, and he could not be reduced by one level for further crimes.

Before leaving, Zhou Qi wrote a letter to Zhou Jing, telling him all about what happened here.

In addition, the letter also told Zhou Jing to treat Jiang Xiaman with caution and not to treat them differently because of their status.

You need to show kindness and treat people with justice.

Of course, if there are those among the Jiangxia barbarians who violate the law, they cannot be shielded in private. They should be tried fairly in accordance with the law.

Only in this way, after a long period of development, will it be possible for Jiangxia Man to fully integrate into the Han people.

Han culture should not be narrowly nationalistic, but should be inclusive and inclusive.

Zhou Qi did not add fuel to the fire, nor did he accuse Magistrate Zhou of not doing things well, he just stated the matter as it happened.

However, everyone knew that Zhou Qi had expressed his attitude by writing a private letter to Zhou Jing describing the case.

If nothing unexpected happened, the magistrate of Yundu County, who had a bright future, would have come to an end.

By doing this, Zhou Qi not only saved face for Zhou Jing and the Jiangxia Zhou family, but also secretly attacked Zhou Jing.

He couldn't do what Zhuge Liang did. Punishment cannot be avoided by virtue of superiority. Although those who break the law and neglect others will be punished, since this kind of thing has happened, he still has to do something after all.

Zhou Qi's move can be regarded as a warning to officials from all over the country. When dealing with similar cases in the future, they should not just focus on keeping things quiet, but only think about reducing trouble, and only think about not affecting their annual political assessment.

After all, officials must be able to distinguish right from wrong, make decisions for the people, and make the people feel warmth instead of injustice.

Zhou Qi left Yundu and visited several counties in Jiangxia. Finally, he visited Zhou Cheng, Li Wen and the leader of the Jiangxia barbarians.

Zhou Qi discovered that although the administration of officials in various places in Jiangxia could not be said to be flawless, compared with when the late emperor was in power, the administration was indeed much clearer and the people could live and work in peace and contentment.

Everyone has food to eat, everyone has farmland, everyone has a house to live in, and everyone has clothing to wear.

It seems simple, but it is extremely valuable in troubled times.

Seeing the prosperous scene of Jiangxia now, and recalling the scene when thieves were swarming and corrupt officials were rampant, Zhou Qi couldn't help but feel a little relieved.

At least, in his own way, he was subtly influencing the course of history, making the lives of the people in Jiangnan much better.

The fact that the people can live such a stable life is inseparable from the fact that Zhou Qi has not resorted to militarism in recent years, but has been closely related to the people's recuperation and recuperation.

In recent years, although Zhou Qi has recruited refugees and greatly enriched the population of the area under his jurisdiction, there are only [-] to [-] at most during each expedition.

It's not that the government can't recruit more soldiers and horses.

Only because Zhou Qi did not want to affect the people's livelihood due to the war, he controlled the number of soldiers and horses.

Otherwise, with the population of Jing and Yang states, it would be no problem to recruit 20 or [-] soldiers and horses.

(End of this chapter)