Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Chief Secretary Yamen.

Facing the crowd of officials in front of him, Tao Ding'an's calves became weak.

He is just a rural security chief. His family has some land and can be called a wealthy family, but he is not even close to being a wealthy family. He has also been studying for seven or eight years, but he has not even passed the county examination. He is still far from being a scholar.

The official figures he usually interacts with the most are just informal officials in the county government. Commonly known as temporary workers.

Occasionally, I can see formal officials, and that is when I take the villagers to pay taxes.

It is rare to meet a county magistrate, but how can you meet a provincial official?

Tao Ding'an was full of enthusiasm when he came, but he was frightened by the capital commander outside the city. At that time, he was already scared and regretted.

At this moment, it's all about holding on.

"Little citizen Tao Ding'an, I would like to pay my respects to all of you!"

Tao Ding'an knelt down with a bang, and more than twenty villagers who were arrested with him also knelt down quickly.

Censor Yan Tao suddenly spoke up: "The Ming Dynasty Code of Etiquette clearly stipulates that except for important ceremonies and sacrificial activities, officials and citizens are not allowed to kneel down and worship the emperor at will. If an official kneels down to worship the emperor at court, he will be fined three months' salary as a punishment. If civilians kneel down to worship officials in government offices, streets, or outdoors, and the officials do not correct them, it is an act of dereliction of duty. Officials who force people to kneel down to worship officials will have their political achievements deducted upon verification! "It's offensive to kneel outside."

"Ahem!"

Yang Xun, the chief envoy from the left, said quickly: "Stand up quickly. How can you be dignified by kneeling and worshiping frequently?"

"Thank you very much, gentlemen." Tao Ding'an stood up with the villagers.

Yang Xun added: "This is not to interrogate the prisoners, please release them quickly."

Yan Tao reminded: "Even if you are interrogating a prisoner, if you are not a suspect in a serious crime, or if you are not resisting arrest or fleeing, you cannot just tie the person up and interrogate him casually."

Zhang Su, the right envoy, smiled and held up his hands: "Yan Yushi is so proficient in the Ming Dynasty Laws, it is really admirable."

Yan Tao didn't look good: "Shouldn't every official know this?"

"Indeed." Zhang Su was not angry even after being criticized.

Magistrate Nie Wen suddenly said: "You claim to be here to find me. If you have anything to say, ask me now."

Tao Ding'an said: "We are all country folk and do not understand government orders. But in our town and inn, there are government notices posted. The common people have also read for several years and can recognize the seal of the prefect. The notice stated that the people would not be required to pay a penny for the recruitment of immigrants. If someone was selected, they would be given two cents of resettlement allowance. The government officials have different opinions, and the people in the countryside really don’t know who to listen to.”

"That's unreasonable!"

Yang Chen slapped the armrest of the chair and said with an angry expression: "How dare those subordinate officials defy the rules and collect exorbitant taxes and fees in violation of regulations!"

This is to remove yourself first.

The inspector Huang Shilian asked: "Which official asked you to collect the money for exemption?"

Tao Ding'an replied: "Wan Changsheng, a government official in Shanyang County."

Huang Shilian raised his voice: "Where is the Shanyang County Magistrate?"

"I am here," Shanyang County Magistrate Guan Zhongfu stood up and bowed, "Fear me, sirs, this county has never issued an order to collect exemption money."

Huang Shilian said: "There must be some subordinate officials who are very bold."

After saying that, Huang Shilian also stood up: "This matter is a criminal case and involves officials. Please transfer it to the Procuratorate."

Feng Liang, deputy envoy and academic official of the Imperial Court, said: "According to the imperial system, it should be handed over to the Imperial Court for trial."

If it were really given to the Inspector General to take full responsibility, the major issues would surely be reduced to trivial matters, and the trivial matters would eventually turn into a misunderstanding caused by a subordinate official. As for the exemption money, it is definitely not collected, and it has never been collected.

Yang Shu looked at his eyes, nose and heart, wandering around without saying a word.

Zhang Su sat quietly and just smiled.

A political activist from Huainan Province named Rong Song said: "It is most appropriate to follow the imperial system."

Nie Wen expressed a different opinion: "Even if we follow the court system, we should let the Chuzhou Prefecture's judicial officer investigate first. How can there be any reason for the inspector to directly take over the case?"

Huang Shilian said: "If there is a major case, the prosecutor has the right to take over the case. This time the villagers gathered thousands of people in the provincial capital to petition. If Guo Duzhi had not led troops to disperse, the number of people would have gathered more and more. There is no sentiment among the people. A minor matter is already a major case, and it is not against the rules to hear it in person.”

This statement made sense, and Nie Wen immediately shut up.

However, Yan Tao took out a temporary appointment letter and showed the emperor's seal and the seal of the Supervisory Office on it: "I am ordered to inspect Huainan. If there is a major case, I can summon officials at all levels in Huainan to assist in the investigation. This case was taken over by the Supervisory Office. It will be heard by the Chief Secretary here.”

Huang Shilian's expression turned cold.

Inspection censors and local prosecutors usually give each other face.

This is because the Inspectorate is reluctant to offend the Inspectorate, and the Inspectorate also needs the Inspectorate to cooperate in handling the case.

Apart from other things, putting the case before the Inquisition Division is a basic respect for the Inspection Division. Failure to do so would be tantamount to openly falling out, indicating that the imperial censor did not believe in Anchasi, and even suspected that Anchasi himself was involved in the case!

Yan Tao's statement instantly caused many officials in the room to change their expressions, realizing that Huainan might be in trouble again.

Yan Tao stood up and walked towards the main seat in the hall.

Yang Xun, the chief envoy from the left, also stood up and gave up his seat to Yan Tao.

Yan Tao bowed and said, "Please invite two chief envoys to serve as judges."

Yang Xun and Zhang Su bowed in return.

Yan Tao added: "Please ask Magistrate Nie to be the secretary-in-charge of this case, and then invite all of you who are involved in politics and council to be the secretaries. As for the officials of the Inspection Division, please assist in the trial."

The people who were named stood up and bowed to Yan Tao.

Everyone sat down, and pens, ink, paper and inkstones were quickly prepared.

Yan Tao said: "It is said that the officials of Shanyang County are Wan Changsheng. If the other officials of Shanyang County do not have important government affairs in their hands, they will all come to the Chief Secretary to wait for summons."

Soon, many officials from Shanyang County gathered at the Chief Secretary.

But a civil servant came over and said, "Wan Changsheng has fallen ill from overwork over the past few days because he was on an immigration mission."

Yan Tao was furious: "Are you dead or not?"

The civil servant replied: "I'm just sick."

Yan Tao said: "Even if you die, you must bring the body to the hall!"

After a while, Wan Changsheng was carried up, looking very angry.

Yan Tao asked: "But you went to the countryside to collect the money for exemption from military service?"

"Cough cough cough cough..."

Wan Changsheng coughed first, and was supported by his colleagues as he struggled to answer: "No... no."

Yan Tao pointed to Tao Ding'an: "Do you recognize this person?"

Wan Changsheng turned his head weakly and looked carefully: "I recognize...he is Tao Ding'an, the security chief of the Second Security Bureau of Mokou Township, Shanyang County. I took people to the countryside to post notices. After posting the notices, I went to the security chiefs to arrange immigration. I also showed him an unposted notice saying that no money or food would be charged for this immigration, and the selected immigrants would also receive two resettlement allowances.”

"He lied!"

Tao Ding'an became anxious: "He said that based on the household registration, one household had to pay three hundred guan to be exempted from service. This was just a small household. Rich households had to pay 5 to 50 guan according to the family's property. In the former Song Dynasty, they all confiscated it. So ruthless, they took advantage of the prosperity of the people in the Ming Dynasty and imposed excessive taxes and miscellaneous taxes! The wealthy households were unwilling to give me enough free money after seeing the notice, and they just wanted to give me a few cents for the sake of their appearance. No, I would rather be selected as an immigrant than give it. If the common people don’t pay for the exemption, we, the security chiefs and armor commanders, have to pay for it. How can my family have enough money to make up for it?”

Wan Changsheng was still weak and weak: "Master Yushi, if we go to the countryside to collect money randomly, how can we post the notice? I personally led people to post the notice. The notice says no money will be collected. No matter how courageous I am Don’t dare to mess around.”

Yan Tao asked: "Tao Ding'an, do you have any evidence?"

Tao Ding'an felt cold all over: "How can they leave evidence when they collect arbitrary taxes and miscellaneous taxes? They always tell us how much they will charge."

Wan Changsheng seemed to have regained some of his energy, and cried: "Master Yushi, you have to make the decision for us small officials. These Baojia have long eyes and have no law. They exploit the villagers under the banner of the government, and they also use dirty water." Throw it on us little officials!"

As soon as these words came out, the more than 20 people who were arrested together with Tao Ding'an all became excited and cursed.

Because many of them are also armor commanders.

Once corrupt officials cannot be eliminated, they will become criminals who collect taxes indiscriminately, and they collect taxes indiscriminately under the banner of the government. The worst case may be imprisonment, or the worst case may be beheading!

Yan Tao continued to ask the chiefs of security: "If the official does not leave the tax payment certificate, how dare you collect the tax indiscriminately? Aren't you afraid of being held accountable?"

Before Tao Ding'an opened his mouth, a chief said: "Which one is the guarantor, which one is the guarantor? If you don't give enough money, the guarantor and the commander will be retaliated against later."

"How to retaliate? Tell me one by one." Yan Tao asked.

Tao Ding'an said:

"Although the imperial dynasty is divided into acres and acres, people are no longer allowed to serve for free. Even ordinary corvee labor will be paid. But if it is related to water conservancy and the military, sometimes it is still necessary to serve for free, and the government only provides some rations."

"If any security chief offends an official, he will arrange the most difficult and tiring work for the villagers in the entire security. The rations given will be mixed with old rice mixed with sand, and the rice will be measured in small buckets to withhold it. If there is an attack from the court, In big battles, civilians will be drafted to transport food, and those officials will also pick out those they don't like. "

"There are also taxes. In order to ensure sufficient rice supply, several provinces along the Yangtze River and the canal are not allowed to pay all the money to offset the taxes. Each county has a grain quota. Shanyang County also has a grain quota. If someone offends an official, he will They were repeatedly harassed. One time they said the grain was not clean enough and there were stones, and another time they said the grain was not dried. The villagers had to move the grain back to the city more than ten times if it was not qualified. People are tortured to death!”

"This is just official revenge."

"There is a commander named Wu Kai in the east of Beishen Town. Because he offended an official, his son was lured into gambling. He incurred gambling debts and forced him to go bankrupt."

"There is a security chief in Youxia Township named Zheng Lin. His family runs a tofu workshop. Because he offended the officials, local gangsters came to his door and said that the tofu was bad for his stomach. He forced him to go to the county government to file a lawsuit. Those officials were framed in the tofu shop. The spoiled beans were found, and many local gangsters claimed that they would pay for eating the spoiled beans. Finally, Zheng Lin was forced to sell the tofu shop and more than ten acres of land at a low price, and then the lawsuit was settled, and the tofu shop and farmland were also bought by them. ”

"And Qingjian Township..."