The Red Mansions

Chapter 122 Taking office, the ceremony of worshipping the gods, the inspection department

The next day.

After Jia Yun first went to Ningbo government office to report with her identity, she rushed to Cixi non-stop, and finally arrived at the post station outside Cixi city before sunset.

In fact, in ancient times, high-level liars who pretended to be officials were not uncommon.

Even so, the actual operation of stealing officials is quite difficult in terms of the procedures for officials to take office.

In ancient times, the transfer of officials was usually through the central procedure of the imperial court and appointment of officials.

When selecting officials, the imperial court adopted the so-called "avoidance of origin" system in order to prevent local influence from growing stronger and engaging in malpractice for personal gain.

There are only two things that officials rely on to verify their authenticity: the letter of appointment and the identity certificate, which are the official credentials required for officials to take office.

The two documents indicate in detail the basic information of the appointed officials, such as name, place of origin, age, physical characteristics, etc., and are also printed with the seal of the Ministry of Officials.

The power of attorney has been specially designed, with exquisite materials and exquisite design, so it is not so easy to be counterfeited.

In addition to carrying credentials that are not easy to copy, the process before officials take office also increases the difficulty of impersonation to a certain extent.

Officials must first go to the province to report to the chief envoy, meet with the superior, exchange official documents, and then go to the state capital. There are appointment documents at all levels, and official seals at all levels of the Ministry of Officials are also kept in the province, so there will be no impersonation.

In Journey to the West, it will never happen that Tang Seng's father is killed and replaced by an impostor.

Another point is that in order to allow officials to take office smoothly, the court also has relevant preventive measures.

For example, the monopoly system, to the greatest extent prevents the occurrence of false official incidents from the root cause.

"Monogram" inherits from "Hua Ya", but there are breakthroughs in form.

It is no longer a regular signature, but a personal name is written in cursive script, or changed into a pattern or symbol that implies artistic emotion. The monogram is equivalent to the artistic signature of the ancients.

When an official becomes an official, he needs to write a document to the Ministry of Officials.

In this way, superiors and handover officials can verify the authenticity of documents through monograms, and handwriting verification has gradually become a way for incoming officials to verify their authenticity.

In the station room, Jia Yun bathed and changed her clothes, and shed the dusty clothes all over her body.

Just after sitting down and drinking tea, Jia Wenlin knocked on the door and came in.

Jia Yun asked, "Brother Ming went to Cixi City?"

"I entered the city a quarter of an hour ago, and my subordinates sent two brothers to follow." Jia Wenlin clasped her hands and replied.

Although Jia Yun is the county magistrate and the second official, she is still an official, and she is also the second in command in the county. She cannot take office quietly, but must notify the county government in advance.

Officials in prefectures and counties are arranged in the order of chief official, second official, subordinate official, teaching post, miscellaneous post, etc. Officials, servants, aides, family members, etc. are not included in the official sequence.

The system of mutual assistance and supervision between Zhengzuo and Zuoerguan made it possible for Zuoerguan's functions and powers of advising, serving, and supervising to function normally.

However, there are also problems such as the atrophy of the authority of the second official, the difficulty in coordinating the contradictions between the chief and the assistant, and the ineffective supervision of each other.

Therefore, whether he can handle the working relationship with the county magistrate will be the first problem Jia Yun has to face.

Of course, the relationship is mutual, and the magistrate will probably also ponder how to get along with the newly appointed magistrate.

Jia Yun nodded. Seeing Jia Wenlin's rigid stare, she couldn't help laughing and said, "Uncle Lin, we don't need to be so formal when we get along in private."

"That won't work, the rules are the rules." Jia Wenlin shook her head like a rattle, "Now that the master is entering the officialdom, the rules of our personal guards must be established first, so that there will be no trouble."

Jia Yun nodded and said, "Forget it, since you insist on this, I won't persuade you anymore."

"But I have to say one more thing. Uncle Lin will go back and tell the clan uncles and brothers. I hope we come to Cixi with clean hands, and when we leave, we still have clean hands. Do you know what I mean?"

Jia Wenlin clasped her hands and replied, "Master, don't worry, if anyone's hands are not clean, without the master's order, the subordinates will break their hands first, and after returning to the clan, they will hand them over to the tribe to see if they can raise their heads in the future! "

Jia Yun nodded with a smile, and was about to speak when Xue Pan strode in with a long wooden box in her arms.

"What are you holding?" Jia Yun stood up and asked.

Xue Pan smiled and said: "I remember once you said that you wanted a good sword, and I kept that in mind. No, I spent a lot of effort and finally bought a good sword for you."

With that said, he handed the wooden box to Jia Yun.

Jia Yun's face brightened, and after taking the wooden box, she walked a few steps, took it to the table and put it down.

When I opened the wooden box, I saw a pitch-black six-faced Han sword inside.

Generally, Han swords below 1.1 meters are dominated by one-handed swords, while those above 1.2 meters are dominated by two-handed swords.

The sword in the box is 1.2 meters long, but with Jia Yun's strength, holding it with one hand is like holding a stick of wood.

The design of this six-faced Han sword embodies the rough and majestic style of the Qin and Han Dynasties. The straight sword body is for righteousness, and the long and narrow blade is for domineering.

The blade of the Han sword is straight and straight, and the blade is extended by two degrees of curvature.

It can be said that it very accurately represents the style of gentleness, humility and humility of Chinese Confucian culture, which is round on the outside and square on the inside.

And the "hidden" and "displayed" contained in it are the essence of this kind.

Seeing that Jia Yun liked it, Xue Pan said, "This sword is made of meteoric iron."

"I originally wanted the craftsman to make the eight-faced Han sword more majestic, but the sword-casting craftsman said that the six-faced Han sword is the most powerful, so I finally made a six-faced Han sword."

"Thank you Brother Xue, I like this sword very much!" Jia Yun pulled out the sword body, inspected it carefully, and praised it full of praise.

This six-faced Han sword is much wider and thicker than other swords, with double-sided blood grooves, majestic, majestic, majestic, domineering and fierce, and the lethality is amazing at a glance.

In fact, Confucian scholars seldom wear weapons nowadays, and Jia Yun never thought about going out with weapons often. The reason for wanting to hold a good sword is because of his love for weapons.

Of course, if there is a chance to raise the sword to fight and kill the enemy, Jia Yun is also looking forward to it.

Although with his current skill, a pair of fleshy palms is no less lethal than using a weapon, but that is a bit too shocking. With a good sword to cover up, he can let go of his hands and feet to kill.

Another point is that his demeanor is too elegant now, and his gentle appearance is less majestic and domineering, but after being equipped with this sword, he instantly becomes more masculine, which is a surprise.

Early the next morning, Jia Yun changed into a green official robe. He was of the eighth grade. The patches on the front and back of the official robe were embroidered with orioles. He wore a black gauze hat and waved two small wings, which was very interesting.

This black gauze hat is also exquisite, the higher the official rank, the narrower the wings, and the lower the official rank, the wider the wings.

The beautiful woman gently dressed Jia Yun. Her eyes were big and bright. After being moisturized by Jia Yun for a night, her face became more rosy and shiny, and she looked very feminine.

"I can't bear it these days." Liren said with her lips pursed.

Jia Yun gave her a light peck, and said with a smile: "Be patient, Meiren's body is not comfortable, and it will be easier to have her help in a few days."

The beauty gave him a gouged look, and said angrily: "When I left home, Madam persuaded the master to bring a few more maids to serve him, but you refused to agree, and now you are trying to torment the slaves and sister charming, after all, this is not a long-term solution! "

After a pause, she blinked her eyes, and asked curiously: "Tell me, did the master think about me from the very beginning when he knew me?"

"Nothing!" Jia Yun denied, "To be honest, I thought more about Keren at that time, and I was more wary of you."

Then, he suddenly lowered his head and leaned close to the beauty's ear, and whispered: "Back then, I was helping Ke Ren to treat her illness. I took off all her clothes and found that she was too pretty, so I almost couldn't hold back!"

The beauty covered her mouth and smiled: "Haha, when she woke up, she always said that her whole body was sore, as if her body had been kneaded by someone. So that's what happened! Then why did she come to the house, but you didn't Looking for her?"

"Oh, it's not that I don't want to look for it, but that it's not in time." Jia Yun smiled.

The beauty thought for a while, then suddenly said: "Is it because of the servant girl?"

"Well, that's the main reason. The secondary reason is that she's a little timid. I'm afraid of scaring her, so I'll wait until she gets used to staying at home." Jia Yun nodded.

The beauty pouted and said: "If you are with the master, you are not afraid to scare the servants. The other day I called the servants over, and they jumped on the servants without warning. It is too bullying."

She was indeed aggrieved. When Jia Yun saw her for the first time, her eyes were like seeing an old acquaintance, and she looked very greedy, but later Jia Yun didn't touch her, and when she touched her, there was no warning. than she expected.

Just as Jia Yun was about to speak, she heard a charming person shouting at the door: "Master, Brother Ming said outside that the people from the county government who came to meet Master have already arrived at the post."

At the gate of the post station, the county master led the six-room scribes, the third class of yamen servants, and the whole city and country gentry to welcome Jia Yun.

The magistrate would not come so far to greet him, at most he would greet him outside the yamen, which would be more polite.

Officials and country gentry and students bowed their hands to pay respects, while the six clerks and three classes of yamen servants knelt down to pay respects.

After Jia Yun went up to greet the chief secretary and other officials, she asked the scribes and servants to get up with a kind face, and then sat in the sedan chair prepared by the county government.

After everyone thanked them in unison, they stood up and avoided the side of the road.

As for the charming and beauties, they boarded another sedan chair under the cover of the green cloth curtain.

After the transfer was completed, the foreman of the yamen sent a message to start the sedan chair. For a while, gongs and drums blared, gongs blared to clear the way, and drummers played and beat.

To enter the city, you have to enter through the east gate, which is called Ziqi coming from the east.

Sitting in the official sedan chair, Jia Yun sighed in her heart: "It's been the same since ancient times!"

Although the county magistrate is not a high-ranking official, he is the second-in-command in the local county. He is one of the few officials who have been registered in the Ministry of Officials, and his status is naturally honorable.

It was too late to sigh for a long time, and the team went straight to the gate of Cixi County Yamen and stopped.

Jia Yun lifted the curtain and got off the sedan chair, and when she looked up, she saw Gong Chaoxu, the county magistrate of Cixi, and Qiu Nong, the county school instructor, surrounded by a group of clerks and yamen servants, standing in front of the yamen waiting to be greeted.

"Your Majesty of Fanlao County welcomes you personally, I am ashamed to be an official!" Jia Yun stepped forward and said politely.

Gong Chaoxu is over 50 years old, with good facial features, pampered, rosy face, relatively affluent appearance, with a kind smile on his face, and he greets each other gracefully.

After seeing Jia Yun, a strange color flashed in his eyes.

Although he has learned that the newly appointed county magistrate is only seventeen or eighteen years old, he still can't help but fluctuate after seeing the real person.

But he didn't think of belittling Jia Yun just because she was young.

As long as they are normal people, they will understand that if they can be released to be an official at the age of seventeen or eighteen, and they only have the honor of raising people, Jia Yun must have a background that is as good as the sky. Do not provoke.

Not only Gong Zhaoxu understands this truth, but also Qiu Nong next to him, and even others.

It was precisely because of their understanding that Jia Yun entered the Yamen in a harmonious atmosphere. After going through certain procedures, she formally performed her duties and handed over to the former county magistrate who was about to retire and return home.

Jia Yun has just taken up her duties, and she still has a lot of work to do.

For example, if you want to worship temples and offer incense, you must worship in the local Confucian Temple, Guandi Temple, Wenchang Temple, and Chenghuang Temple to show that you respect Confucianism and Taoism, and even the local gods are very respectful.

It is necessary to clear warehouses, grain depots, and material depots, inspect prisons, and inspect city defenses.

It is necessary to check the book, that is, to check one by one against the roster of officials and attendants recorded in the book.

To visit the country gentry, of course, the county's royal relatives, retired officials at the same level as himself, and even the rich and powerful.

When doing the above series of things, the new official will inevitably choose two or three things, and give them some ingenious instructions. This is the "three fires" that are burned.

In fact, not only the county magistrate will do these things, but the county magistrate will also do these things after taking office.

But before Jia Yun had time to light the fire, Gong Chaoxu approached him, saying that the Ningbo Mansion had sent an official letter a few days ago, ordering all high-ranking officials in the entire Ningbo Mansion to rush to the government office to participate in the ceremony of worshiping the gods on the sixth day of November.

Jia Yun wondered, "My lord, what kind of regulations are in this ceremony of offering sacrifices to gods, and what kind of gods are they offering sacrifices to?"

"Well, I heard that the sacrifice was to the God of the Sea. After offering sacrifices to the God of the Sea, the God of the Sea will be able to resist the invasion of pirates and let them be buried in the sea. From then on, the people of Ningbo will be able to live and work in peace and contentment!" Gong Zhaoxu said seriously.

Jia Yun was dumbfounded. He had never heard of such an operation before, so he couldn't help blurting out: "Isn't this nonsense? When encountering pirates, you don't want to strengthen your armaments, but place your hopes on Sea God. Isn't it unreliable?"

Gong Zhaoxu pulled his lips, sighed, shook his head and said, "Who says it's not? But it's obvious that Mr. Fu Zun is determined to worship the Sea God. Can we, as lower officials, stop it?"

Jia Yun pondered for a moment, then hesitated and said: "My lord, I have just arrived in office, and there are still many things to be familiarized with. Can I not participate in this ceremony?"

"What do you think? The official document is clearly written in black and white. All high-ranking officials must go to the grand ceremony!" Gong Chaoxu asked back, with a smile on his face.

In fact, no matter who encountered this matter, they felt that the ceremony of worshiping the gods was not a human thing. After receiving the official document a few days ago, Gong Zhaoxu reacted exactly like Jia Yun. Although he was depressed, he had nowhere to vent.

Seeing that Jia Yun looked like he had seen a ghost, Gong Chaoxu felt much more at ease. It is better to be alone than to be happy alone. If you are depressed, everyone will be depressed together.

Jia Yun's good mood when she first took office was completely ruined, so she could only say depressedly: "Forget it, since the official letter is required, I have to follow the order."

Gong Chaoxu laughed and said, "Haha, that's right, no matter whether the ceremony of worshiping the gods is reliable or not, let's just go for fun, don't take it too seriously."

"My lord, I can see the gloating on your face!" Jia Yun looked at Gong Chaoxu and said seriously.

Gong Chaoxu restrained his smile, and said seriously: "What's the matter? The county is just afraid that Mr. Jia is young and energetic, so it's not worthwhile to run into bad luck for such a trivial matter!"

Jia Yun snorted a few times, cupped her hands and said, "Then I have to thank the magistrate for taking care of me!"

"That's not necessary, as long as Lord Jia can support this county to benefit the villagers more in the future!" Gong Chaoxu laughed.

After sending Gong Chaoxu away, Jia Yun sat in her office and thought to herself, "Ningbo is a bit evil!"

It is now November, and the autumn harvest is early.

As the magistrate of the county, Jia Yun has not been very busy in managing food and horses, tax collection, household registration and other matters recently. However, when patrolling and arresting pirates, it happened that pirates attacked Ningbo, and the arrest was stricter.

However, this matter is handled by the Inspection Department.

The main duty of the Inspection Department is to catch thieves and maintain law and order.

In addition to the main responsibilities, the Inspection Department also plays another important role, that is, the local extension of the national army, and it must undertake part of the army's duties, such as gathering intelligence and suppressing refugee uprisings.

Although the inspection department belongs to the lower level of the county government, it also has the nature of the army.

Each inspection department has dozens to more than a hundred people under its jurisdiction. These people are not regular officers and soldiers, and they are all recruited from the local area.

If I had to say it, the people recruited by the inspection department were a bit like militiamen in nature.

At the same time, most of the inspections are carried out by local tycoons.

In the era when imperial power did not go to the countryside, the central government's control over the local area was limited to the county level, and if it went deeper, it had to rely on local famous people, such as squires.

Therefore, if a local official like the county magistrate wants to manage the county well and maintain his status in the county, he must establish a good relationship with the local tyrants and gentry.

Some people even say that the tyrants and gentry are the real masters of the local area, and the county magistrate is dispensable to them.

The inspections in the inspection department are generally local tyrants and squires, and the soldiers they recruit are also local people, and may even be local hooligans.

The inspectors are also officials, and their grades are from the ninth grade, not officials. Although the grade is low, they are also local emperors.

After Jia Yun got acquainted with official duties in the office for a while, she was about to call someone to bring the inspector, when the inspector came by herself.

The patrol inspector is Luo Zhijian, 37 years old, in good health, with a square face and a dignified appearance.

After Luo Zhijian saluted, Jia Yun asked, "Inspector Luo, how many soldiers does our Cixi Inspection Department have?"

"Back to the adults, the number of people is basically maintained at around 100 on weekdays. If necessary, the subordinates are sure to recruit 5000 people within three days." Luo Zhijian replied in a rough voice.

Jia Yun thought for a while, and then asked: "If the pirates kill Cixi, will the inspection department have the strength to fight?"

"This... this subordinate doesn't dare to promise too much..." Luo Zhijian said hesitantly.

Jia Yun glanced at him, stood up, walked in front of him, and said solemnly: "Inspector Luo, arresting thieves is your due duty, don't force me to set the fire to the inspector department after taking office. what!"

(End of this chapter)