Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 255: Play of the Secret Box
Hurrying quickly, Zhang Wencheng finally arrived in Changsha County in mid-June.

At a glance, the quaint Changsha City is majestic and majestic. The wide moat is about ten feet wide, like a big river. On the huge suspension bridge, people are like ants.

Donkey drivers, cart drivers, firewood-carryers, pedestrians with their children and daughters, and vendors with bloated bags are in an endless stream, which makes people dizzy.

But as soon as they approached Changsha City, the mules and donkeys unpacked their bags, and a group of soldiers put on armor and held spears, and instantly became majestic.

Under the service of two servants, Zhang Wencheng put on the official robe with the embroidered brook. In the black and white, the cyan official robe is particularly conspicuous. He wears a black gauze hat and a plain silver belt around his waist.

Weighing the black boots on his feet, Zhang Wencheng waved his hand: "Go, enter the city."

People rely on clothes and horses rely on saddles.

When this outfit comes out, it stands out from the crowd.

However, he did not enter the city directly, but sent someone to inform the city.

After a while, officials headed by the county magistrate came in mighty form, beating gongs and drums, and it was very lively.

"But Judge Zhang and his party?"

The old county magistrate grinned.

"Don't dare to bother Dajia."

Zhang Wencheng saw that, except for the county magistrate, everyone else from the county government had come, and his heart skipped a beat.

It seems that the county lord is still annoyed that he has taken away the right to sue, and he is not happy!
With a slight smile, Zhang Wencheng handed over the imperial edict, sue, and official seal.

The county magistrate didn't dare to be negligent, so he quickly looked at it seriously, and then discussed with the old subordinates beside him, and it took a while.

It's not his fault, it's really that the official seals, edicts, and confessions are all from Prince Yu's Mansion, without the emperor's jade seal, it's really brand new.

I have less experience, so I naturally have to take a closer look, so I can't make mistakes and make a joke.

Everyone stared intently, waiting for the final result, the atmosphere was rather stiff.

"Judge Zhang is full of travel and dust. It's really hard work. The old man wasted time and committed a crime. Let's go. The banquet has been booked and I will clean up the dust for you."

The county magistrate smiled and said, the atmosphere suddenly became lively, and the compliments were endless.

"Where is it, you are doing your duty faithfully."

Zhang Wencheng smiled and didn't care.

Immediately, a group of talents entered the city mightily.

When the guards at the gate of the city saw the situation, they hurriedly beckoned people to get out of the way and let them jump into the city.

The common people knelt tremblingly and lowered their heads in fear, only the children looked up at the official lord furtively without any scruples.

Zhang Wencheng walked in with his head held high and his chest held high. Looking up, he bowed his head and bowed like ants.

The taste of this kind of power is completely different from working in the military and political department.

"This is power!"

After entering the city, the banquet was full of excitement, but Zhang Shenyan's heart was solemn.

The county magistrate was late and gave him a big blow.

As soon as the wine entered his throat, he left, and the whole banquet was also empty, and the atmosphere was extremely embarrassing.

"Okay, that's great!"

Zhang Wencheng raised his wine glass and laughed.

He had been by Zhang Shenyan's side for many years, and he didn't understand the thoughts and plans in the officialdom, but this was the first time he had seen such an act that almost broke his face.

"When I enter the city, I have to make you unhappy."

Zhang Wencheng sneered and returned to the Yamen.

The government office has not yet been repaired, there are only three or five rooms in the courtyard, if it weren't for the plaque hanging on it, he really didn't recognize it.

Opening the package, I saw a simple and extraordinary wooden box, the size of a palm, weighing only half a catty.

"I'm afraid you don't know. As a judge, I not only have a judicial position, but also have a monitoring responsibility for you and others. I will listen to the heavens."

Holding the wooden box carefully, Zhang Wencheng raised his head and laughed.

Guochao is used to using the small to control the big, and he is not an ordinary judge.

……

On the other side, in Prince Yu's Mansion, Zhu Yixi was busy reviewing secret boxes from all over the place.

The Secret Zhe system was a measure taken by the Qing Dynasty to strengthen the centralization of power and weaken the power of prime ministers after the decline of the Tongzheng Division.

From the very beginning, the function of the General Administration Department was to collect memorials and submit them to the imperial court, and to screen important memorials and the emperor's review.

In the early Ming Dynasty, it was even possible to check and balance the prime minister, deny and refute memorials, and even block the audience.

It was the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the emperor was lazy in his administration, and the memorials he submitted were generally not published, or were handed over to the cabinet for processing, and the importance of the Secretary of General Affairs was greatly reduced.

In the later period, there was even a clerical room in the inner court, which was responsible for "enclosing the minister in charge of the general administration into this chapter every day" and submitting the memorials to the minister for reclassification.

Furthermore, the emergence of Jinyiwei and Dongchang enabled the emperor to know internal and external news, and the General Secretary was almost useless.

However, in view of the cruelty of the eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty prohibited eunuchs from participating in politics, factory guards were abolished, and the general administration department was useless, so the secret seal system came into being.

"Easy to use is easy to use, but it is a bit tiring."

Zhu Yixi couldn't help but feel a lot of emotion when he reviewed the secret book.

Dozens of secret boxes quickly came to Xiangyang through the post station, and all kinds of news were dizzying.

Customs and customs, bandits and robbers, disaster weather, and even illegal acts of local officials, everything is there.

Therefore, Zhu Yixi also learned to classify.

Disaster prevention and control is the most important thing, followed by bandits and bandits, and officials breaking the law last.

Drafted in turn, let the Military and Political Department and the Staff Department go to verify and deal with it.

As for the violation of laws and disciplines by officials, Zhu Yixi can't just listen to one side and believe it. Instead, he asked the search department to investigate secretly.

"Politics is really amazing."

After reading for a while, Zhu Yixi was deeply moved.

No wonder reform has been difficult since ancient times, because vested interests are too powerful.

Although these secret compromises did not directly explain the constraints of the place, but the inside and outside of the words all revealed their difficult situation.

This is still [-]% of the magistrates were re-appointed by the shogunate.

Even if the former military and political department colleagues served as judges, these new county magistrates still held back repeatedly and did not want to lose their power.

Isn't the horror of breaking the magistrate's county lies in the judiciary?
Now that the right to collect commercial taxes has been stripped off, coupled with the judicial power, this makes the Bailihous quite uncomfortable.

Therefore, Zhu Yixi deeply understood that the judge was resisted not only by power, but also by silent protest against the above.

"Therefore, there is still no rush for reform, and it must be done step by step."

Zhu Yixi said with emotion that all policies are formulated by the superiors, but it is the county magistrate and other people-friendly officials who implement them. Too much persecution is not a good thing.

After thinking about it, he stuffed a plan on expanding the transshipment department into the national tax department on the bookshelf in the middle.

The Department of National Taxation, as the name implies, coordinates all tax collection matters, namely commercial tax and agricultural tax.

The transshipment department has accumulated a lot of experience in collecting commercial taxes, and it is natural to take into account agricultural taxes.

Now, there is no rush.

Although he temporarily gave up the National Taxation Department, Zhu Yixi still took the trouble to reform the local system.

He casually took out another plan from the top of the bookshelf - about the establishment of the Public Security (Police) Bureau.

(End of this chapter)