.Chapter 851 duel (Part 1)

Three days later, the lobby of the Suzhou Governor's Office.

Hai Rui was sitting upright in the hall wearing a crimson official uniform, and two yamen runners lined up.

The prefects in the hall were full of red and purple robes. In order to welcome Hai Rui, they came to Suzhou a few days in advance. However, Hai Rui did not give him face and entered the city indifferently. He avoided them and went straight back to the yamen. He didn't see the governor, so he could not go back. He could only wait patiently and sent someone to inquire about the whereabouts of the master of the capital. He heard that Hai Rui went to Songjiang to pay homage to Mr. Xu, and then he heard that Hai Rui was in a closed door in the mansion, but he just didn't meet them anyway.

While I was feeling uneasy, I finally heard something yesterday evening, saying that the governor was promoted to the church today and asked the prefect to report on time.

So the officials did not dare to neglect and came to the governor's office on time, and finally saw the legendary King of Sea Hell here.

"Su Song and other officials met with the emperor of the capital. The emperor was in office and was in a low position to welcome the lost time. I hope to forgive my crimes." The officials saluted together.

"No need to be polite. You will have time to spend together in the future. Please look up and recognize each other, sit down and talk about something." Hai Rui said simply.

The officials thanked the seats and sat under the benches on both sides according to their grades. Chen Shounian, the governor of Suzhou, who was the first in the left, bowed and asked: "Master Zhongcheng, I dare to ask, which day will it be on to open the seal and release the notice?" As he said that, he took out a piece of yellow paper from his sleeve and said: "There are the latest auspicious days of this month, please decide."

"Why choose a date? It's about opening the seal today and publishing the notice." Hai Rui refused to answer and directly ordered: "Flag plaque official, pass the notice I have drafted to everyone."

So his flag-plaque distributed several copies of the handwritten documents. The prefect took them over and opened them. It was written on it. There were thirty-five articles in total. However, it was completely different from the previous notices of taking office. It was not about asking the people to do anything, but about the laws and systems that Hai Rui set for himself and his subordinate officials. The main contents were:

First, it is prohibited that officials from being generous and show off when receiving Shangguan. If it is stipulated that when he goes to various prefectures, prefectures, and counties, 'official officials are not allowed to show up for Guo's greetings', 'all officials are all dressed in local clothes and colors, 'This court does not use drums and music everywhere, 'The county and post offices are not allowed to lay felt and coloured,' etc.

The second is to oppose extravagance. If you stipulate that you will only live in the original office, and the office will not be modified, including the arrangements, inkstone pools, tables, etc. in the office, and only use the original items and 'not new'; it also stipulates that "each official will not put shells in front and back, and high-priced paper is not allowed; if you go to various places to eat, the silver for each meal shall not be used for each meal, and the price of silver shall not exceed three cents for each meal, and the price of low prices shall only be used for two cents, including the cost of firewood and candles.

Third, we oppose corruption and the transformation of public into private affairs, and stipulate that "invasion and deception of warehouses are clear laws" "not for public affairs and people, we will never use it." Public property is not allowed to be used as favors, and we invite guests and give gifts. It is stipulated that only public and silver can be used for private affairs, and that you must use your own salary when doing private affairs. If you "do not distinguish between public and private affairs, you must use your own business to pay for it" it must be considered as corruption.

Fourth, it is against bribery and bribery, and stipulates that gifts and bribes are not allowed to be given to the official office and the chief officials. In order to prevent the clerk from accepting bribes, the patrol officers are required to search the clerks. If the bribery is an official, the punishment should be increased.

Fifth, use economic methods to punish dereliction of duty. If the official army is required to not receive monthly grain on time, the prefectures and prefectures and county officials cannot withdraw them, or the prefectures and county officials' rice and silver are deducted to the official army.

Many regulations, all kinds of and thorough, are all the experiences of Hai Rui's political affairs in the local area. He summarized and improved the regulations he made in Changzhou, Huai'an and other places in the past, and formulated a complete set of behavioral norms for himself and his subordinates.

Especially some phenomena in the past where Hai Rui hated but was unable to change... For example, the officialdom of welcoming and sending, luxury and waste, and formalism of red tape, now that he is in power, he naturally has to eliminate this corrupt style within his jurisdiction. In the Treaty, he stipulated that no matter how big the official is, the county magistrate, the county magistrate is not allowed to go out to welcome him, and only let the post magistrate express his etiquette. In fact, when Hai Rui was appointed as the county magistrate, he realized that the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas were richest in the world, and officials from all over the country liked to visit here and get some benefits. Due to official etiquette and for the sake of human favors, local officials often do their best to welcome him and send him, and they can't help but serve them with delicious food and drink, and when they leave, they also offer local specialties full of cars. Although these expenses were eventually transferred to the people, the burden on the government itself was also very heavy.

Hai Rui kept the etiquette of welcoming and seeing off the trip to the simplified level, and also controlled the standards during actual reception, which was to reduce the burden on local officials and also to dispel the idea that some officials wanted to take advantage of the land.

Hai Rui's strength is also his serious amendment to the institutional standards. He believes that there are not many cases of truly open embezzlement of public funds. Real embezzlement is all about taking advantage of the ambiguity of the rules and the ambiguity of the standards, and safely gaining enough benefits between the differences that can be large or small. The harm of this invisible loss is even more than open embezzlement, because it is more hidden and safer, and is even regarded as a hidden rule for reasonable income generation, and has been inherited by previous officials. So honest officials have to follow the rules, otherwise they will not be able to gain a foothold.

Therefore, strict standards must be formulated. Hai Rui listed a long-term list, detailing the various official transactions, as well as the corresponding reception standards, expenses, etc., because he was once a magistrate and knew all about these things.

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Such regulations really embarrass the officials... We are not allowed to welcome and send off our colleagues, wouldn't we be discouraged from our colleagues? Even papers for writing official documents require "no sky in front and no floor in the back, thin paper without thick paper, and satin covers are not allowed." Is this a damn thing that makes people laugh at us to death?

Because the other party was the King of Hell, the prefects did not dare to give suggestions elsewhere, but only grasped this point and said carefully: "This seems to be too detailed."

"Remedy must be too correct!" Hai Rui said in a deep voice: "Since Jiajing, my Ming Dynasty has been extremely financially difficult. The slogan of 'Save and frugality' has been shouted for decades, but it has only been just talking. If there is no specific content, the so-called thrift and opposition to waste are just empty words." He sighed and said: "And I want to save paper, just for those few sheets of paper? No, my purpose is to oppose the text to be too complicated and nonsense. The number of words in the Treaty is limited, and our court cannot fully speak for the time being. Each official will take it as a matter of discretion. In the future, whenever the text is transferred, everything will be mainly simple. If one sentence is spoken, one sentence will be used only one sentence, and two or three sentences will be used for two or three sentences. If one piece of paper is used for pieces of paper, one piece of paper should be used for long paper, so that everything is missing."

After a few more words were spoken, seeing that the prefects were no longer looking, Hai Rui said in a gentle tone: "Don't worry, this court has also been a prefect, and knows where to be a prefect and where not. For example, I will give the expenses of the accounting office and the staff and the chefs, so I will give it very relaxed. If you are diligent, you may have some leftovers." It means that I am not giving you the opportunity to make money, it depends on whether you are efficient.

When they met this kind of Shangguan who was so familiar with government affairs that were outrageous and demanding, the prefects were really speechless and crying... Guilty to the cave, if they were playing like this, they would feel like becoming an official? No wonder those smart people, when they heard that Hai Rui was coming, they would have to run away with a bed and a bed. It turns out that they had foresight.

"Everyone doesn't say anything," Hai Rui asked, "that's that just because you have no objection?"

"..." Although the prefects were unwilling to do so, they didn't have the courage to oppose the King of Hell in person.

"Okay, I'll send the order to open the seal and release the surrender!" Hai Rui slapped the agglomeration, and the flag-plaque official responded and invited the official announcement that had been prepared long ago to post it at the yamen. In the yamen lobby, Hai Rui also began his first speech after taking office: "Sir!"

The officials quickly recovered from their extreme depression and stood up and said, "Master Tutang."

"How about you wait for an official?" Hai Rui said again.

"The officials are innocent and cautious, and they are responsible for the court, and the people are divided into worries..." The magistrates replied as if they were endorsed.

"What? Are you really doing the affairs of the court and sharing the worries of the people?" Hai Rui said with a smile on his face.

"That's right." The officials thought to themselves, could they still say 'no'?

"That's really great." Hai Rui said without hesitation: "I am having a major event to report to the court and to the people of the people, and I need your help."

"Please give me instructions..." The hearts of all the prefects were in their throats.

"I checked the archives of land and acres in Susong's various prefectures and found that both the official land and the private land were extremely chaotic... A large area of ​​official land belonging to the court was found in private land; two land owners appeared in the same private land; and the fields for exemption of taxes by officials and gentry were seriously exceeding the standard, etc. In short, the registration of land and acres in Susong was extremely chaotic, which would inevitably cause great inconvenience to the tax collection of the court. For the people, once there is a dispute over the ownership of land, the government cannot distinguish right from wrong." Hai Rui said in a deep voice: "So this court decided to use the six months before the tax revenue this winter and next spring to re-measure all the land and acres in the ten prefectures under its jurisdiction, which is the basis for people to pay taxes in the next few years..."

If the prefects could tolerate the "Governor's Treaty" by Lao Shizi, then the decision to "clear the fields and acres of land" completely exploded their chrysanthemums and all of them were blown up. They shouted: "This will never be used, it will inspire civil rebellion!" "Yes, thousand-year-old fields, eight hundred masters, and many ordinary people do not register with the government. Once they are re-measured and built, there will definitely be troublemakers taking the opportunity to occupy other people's land!" "And Wu Zhong's education is prosperous, and there are all officials everywhere. If it is measured, these gentry will definitely not agree. The strong dragon will not suppress the local snake. The master of the capital will think twice!"

"Why didn't the gentry agree?" Hai Rui forced the man to ask.

"Because..." The man was depressed, and I kindly reminded him about his feelings, but he was treated as a donkey. He could only explain helplessly: "The court stipulates that those who have fame can be exempted from taxes on a certain acre of land, and each prefecture and county also have their own discounts. For example, in our Changzhou, the juren can be exempted from taxes for 400 acres, and the Jinshi can be exempted from 2,000 acres. If you have an official position at home, you will be exempted from 2,000 acres. If you can achieve a second rank or above, you will be exempted from 10,000 acres. But if you are promising to study, it is hard to say which ancestral tomb is coming from smoke from the ancestral tomb.

Many poor scholars, small and medium-sized families, have high schools, but cannot use this discount. So some people put their own land in their names and give them a reward every year to exempt them from taxes on this part of the land." He paused and said: "In fact, there are many situations in the country where both parties take their needs, but the landlord is still the original landlord. Those who have fame and fortune only take up a name, so their transaction contracts are not transferred to the government, but they are just registered when collecting taxes."

"But if the land is cleared and the book is rebuilt, the landlord will definitely not do this again, and the officials' family will lose this income... Sir, you are a clean official with Tianzi No. 1. Maybe in your eyes, they are not considered honest, but with this money, they do not have to embezzle, and they can support the whole family and maintain the necessary decent appearance. In the eyes of the people, they are all clean officials."

Hai Rui waited patiently for him to finish listening, and then said lightly: "If it is a discount stipulated by the court, it can be implemented accordingly. However, each prefecture and county collect taxes for the country, the tax exemption standards should be determined by the Ministry of Revenue, and each prefecture and county have no right to set their own rights." As he said, he glanced at the magistrates who were indignant and said: "After talking about it, it is actually the same thing. If you lose the country, the people, and the big families, you cannot lose the big families. I want to ask, who gave your black sha to you, and whose parents are you!" Seeing the magistrates silent, Hai Rui shouted: "Speak!"

"What lord taught me is that," the prefects said speechlessly, and could only argue in a low voice: "But we can't cut off our wealth. In that case, not only Su Song-ji officials hate us, but all the officials in the world will be unable to get along with us." "Yes, Master Dutang, if you insist on doing this, we have to resign and not be appointed..." As soon as this statement came out, many people agreed.

"If you are an official and do not make decisions for the people, what's the use of the court keeping you?" Hai Rui patted the agglomeration and said, "To be honest, before I came, the court had already expected someone to give up, so I prepared a full set of new teams for me. Even if I lack anything in the Ming Dynasty, I will not lack a few officials. I am unwilling to do it. Now I can take off my hat and leave! I can leave at any time in the future, but who dares to slander or collude with others? Although I don't have the dog-headed guillotine that can protect the dragon map, I can still take your dog-head!"

segmentation
Chapter completed!