SFS Chapter 104 County Governance
Chapter 104 County Governance
The night passed quickly.
More than 300 drunk people from Yueshan lay on the street.
It must be said that the Yue family's military discipline was quite good.
When Xu Tianyi went out the next day and saw this, he was also silently impressed.
But obviously, it greatly affects public security.
When he saw Yue Shan again, he was completely drunk.
Wei Qing didn't want to see him, so she bypassed him and went directly to other counties to begin maintaining order.
Wei Qing was clearly not in a good mood either, and Gu Qinghan accompanied her as she left.
Yue Shan woke up, rubbing his head.
Unlike the soldiers, he stayed at the inn.
After he finished washing up, Xu Tianyi was already waiting for him downstairs, along with a group of prospective officials.
Seeing a group of people waiting for him, Yue Shan's originally complicated feelings turned somewhat awkward.
"I, Yue, have lost my composure. Please forgive me, Master Xu."
Xu Tianyi smiled slightly: "There is no need to force matters of the heart. A real man should carry a three-foot sword and achieve unparalleled feats. General Yue came to find me because of his ambition and ideals, not just because of a woman."
Yue Shan sighed deeply: "Victory and defeat are common occurrences in war, and I will not be pessimistic or negative because of this."
Xu Tianyi really didn't expect him to answer like that.
"General Yue is indeed magnanimous. Please come with me, but today you are merely a student, not a general, understand?"
Yue Shan nodded, removed his armor and sword, and dressed in a brocade robe, just like any other young master, and followed.
"Master Xu...where are we going?"
"Go to the government office for the morning meeting..."
"Morning meeting? Like an early morning court session?"
Xu Tianyi nodded.
The group soon arrived at the main hall of the government office.
After taking his seat, he asked Yue Shan to sit next to him.
After all, they paid for the course.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is Young Master Yue. He has come to learn my methods of governing a county. He is here purely to learn and will not compete with any of you. Let's give him a round of applause."
This group of students included people of all ages, from impoverished scholars to those who had failed the imperial examinations, shopkeepers, servants of wealthy families, and high-ranking members of gangs.
Xu Tianyi selected officials based on loyalty; those who dared to write in blood and have tattoos on their faces naturally had a chance to become officials.
Furthermore, one must diligently study grassroots governance and gain the approval of the supervisory department established by Xu Tianyi in order to compete for the position of advisor to Xu Tianyi.
The reason is that the county magistrate has already been appointed. Xu Tianyi's selection of advisors was basically to sideline the county magistrate.
Meanwhile, the other subordinates would not obey the county magistrate either.
The originally appointed county magistrate also needs to be re-evaluated, otherwise he will not have any power.
A round of applause erupted in the hall.
There's one more person, but no one cares if the other side isn't competing.
This was the first time Yue Shan had ever seen an official selection process done this way, and he was very curious.
Although the Wuji Empire's official selection system was also a civil service examination.
It was virtually impossible to become an official through the imperial examination.
The imperial examination system under the rule of the King of Qi was extremely corrupt, with most people rising to power through bribery.
The number of cheaters is countless.
They don't care about talent; they only care about family background and the wealth they hand over.
Even during the reign of the crown prince, few people from humble backgrounds succeeded in the imperial examinations.
It seems that the imperial examination system merely offered a glimmer of hope to the poor and needy.
Xu Tianyi's group consisted of people who looked quite poor.
But everyone was full of energy and spirit; to put it simply, they were all very energetic.
Carry paper and pen with you to take notes anytime.
Everyone stood tall and straight, meticulous in every detail.
The first thing to do at the morning meeting was to practice martial arts and boxing.
Yue Shan was somewhat taken aback.
"They even want you to learn martial arts?"
Xu Tianyi smiled and said, "This is not a simple feudal society. There are martial artists here who can fly over rooftops and walk on walls."
Therefore, even if you can't become a master, you should at least have good physical fitness.
In the future, when there are more talented people, the selection of officials will definitely prioritize the outstanding ones.
If a county magistrate had the cultivation of a Grand Martial Master, it would be much easier for him to travel to various places for inspection.
For example, now that I am a Grandmaster, I can travel to another county 30 miles away without even needing to ride a horse at high speed; it won't even take half an hour.
Just imagine, if I become a Martial Saint in the future, it will only take me an hour at most to travel from here to the border of Yunzhou, which is a thousand miles away.
I think it's a good thing for officials to be cultivated.
Yue Shan nodded slightly, agreeing that there was some truth to it.
After carefully examining the boxing technique, Yue Shan tried practicing it himself and couldn't help but admire it. The boxing technique looked slow, but it actually benefited his physical condition.
After practicing boxing for about thirty minutes.
Xu Tianyi began the morning meeting.
First, here's today's work schedule.
This task is usually done by the secretary, Gu Qinghan; now, the intern secretary, Ji Yingying, just sits there in a daze.
As Yue Shan listened to Xu Tianyi's explanation of the rules and regulations, he became more and more confused.
It turns out that Xu Tianyi had divided his office into many departments.
Departments such as land, finance, commerce, industry, criminal justice, civil affairs, urban defense, and medicine.
Each department is responsible for different tasks.
This is completely different from the situation in the Wuji Empire where the county magistrate had everything under his control, or rather, the county magistrate didn't really manage anything.
Basically, everything you mentioned is handled by someone.
After the explanation, Xu Tianyi led everyone to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
This department is responsible for population statistics, issuing household registrations, changing household registrations and names, and also registering marriages and divorces.
Xu Tianyi required that everyone must register and have an ID card.
Then, people who couldn't speak clearly, had intellectual problems, or were completely unable to work were all put together. These unwanted people were actually useless, and killing them would be against nature, so they were simply kept and sent to the medical department for treatment (experiments).
The more Yue Shan listened, the more he admired Xu Tianyi.
A simple population allocation would be impossible in the Wuji Empire, because many wealthy families were hidden and not registered in the household register, while Xu Tianyi had basically abolished slavery.
The lowest class of people are criminals, while innocent people are good citizens.
The next level up is based on contribution level.
In short, Yue Shan was surprised to see that the eleven counties in the northwest had a population of only over 287 million.
More than ten years ago, this place had at least five million people and was a prosperous land.
The entire Leizhou region has over 15 million people, Yuzhou has 8 million, Yanzhou has 5 million, Zhongzhou has 20 million, Yunzhou has 2 million, Linzhou has 4 million, Yuanzhou has 17 million, Yongzhou has 16 million, and Runzhou has 7 million.
The Wuji Empire has a total population of over 80 million.
If we also include bandits, pirates, and other undocumented individuals, the population is estimated to exceed one hundred million.
If even the prosperous Leizhou has seen such a sharp decline in population, what about the other prefectures?
Yue Shan felt a chill run down his spine, and this made him feel even more guilty for the harm he had caused to the seventy-two cities.
The number of people who died as a result is estimated to be no less than tens of thousands, and at least two hundred thousand more were implicated.
He couldn't help but break out in a sweat.
When he turned his head, the look in his eyes towards Xu Tianyi was no longer hostile, but rather filled with admiration.
He is fully confident in commanding an army of 100,000.
But this involves governing more than two million people.
The silent Yue Shan continued to study under Xu Tianyi.
Watching him categorize and govern these people.
First, they suppressed the bandits, identified their crimes, and then classified them into different classes. After that, the criminals were sent to the Ministry of Works to be led by craftsmen to repair roads and expand the city.
Then came commercial expansion, with local merchants being funded to attract merchants from other places to set up factories, and cheap labor and large amounts of land being leased to them cheaply to expand their businesses.
Then land was allocated to farmers, with the government collecting rent from the people for the land, and farm tools and seeds were rented out and oxen were distributed.
Seek out skilled farmers to teach among the various households.
The city defenses have also reorganized their personnel to assist in management, but they are basically only responsible for simple tasks such as opening and closing gates and managing city stalls and traffic. To be honest, there are no troops and they don't set up much defense.
The criminal investigation department also began to crack down on organized crime, prohibiting the existence of unemployed people. Any underground gangs that were discovered were killed. Those who bullied and exploited the people, refused to pay for meals, or extorted money were all arrested.
Gambling dens are prohibited from operating, and brothels cannot be banned for the time being, but doctors and supervisory departments frequently go to inspect them to prevent human trafficking and the spread of diseases.
In the medical field, Xu Tianyi incorporated it, reducing treatment costs and profits while increasing doctors' salaries and reputation.
Almost all cities began to be rebuilt, with the addition of sewers and public toilets.
Various roads began to connect.
The entire eleven counties in the Northwest, apart from the military, were thriving.
However, Xu Tianyi paid a full five million taels of silver for this (including other resources, antiques, calligraphy and paintings, etc.).
Ninety percent of the aristocratic families were slaughtered, and a large amount of gold and silver jewelry was seized. Xu Tianyi sent it to the Shen family to exchange for a large amount of ancient coins.
They also lowered everyone's wages, which enabled them to support such a massive reform.
After spending the whole day looking at Yueshan, Xu Tianyi led him on an inspection tour of several surrounding counties.
It addressed issues such as popular resistance, the spread of plague, land disputes, and hoarding.
Xu Tianyi's methods of handling matters not only broadened Yue Shan's horizons but also gave him much to think about.
Faced with the people's resistance, he thought that Xu Tianyi, who loved the people, would kindly persuade him, but to his surprise, Xu Tianyi shouted angrily, beheaded the ringleaders, suppressed the dissent, and then began to explain.
Xu Tianyi told him that if the policy was to be implemented as soon as possible, they could not consider whether the people understood it or not.
I don't care about what happened before, I only care about what happens now.
Now I'm in charge. Whatever I tell you to do, you have to do it.
First, try courtesy, then force, and finally persuasion. When faced with a difficult problem, deal with the person who created it first.
They might think I'm tyrannical at first, but over time they'll realize how good I am to them.
The subsequent plague was also dealt with by mandatory quarantine, dispatching doctors, and killing and burning those who could not be treated, with compensation paid out.
The whole process was carried out very quickly. Xu Tianyi said that when dealing with things, you have to be swift and decisive, and get things done as quickly as possible.
Often, all the people need is a stance. If they still push their luck after a stance is given, then those who deserve to be beaten or killed should be punished.
To facilitate management, expansion is needed in nearby towns, and villagers from the surrounding areas are encouraged to move into the towns.
Only in this way can people from a large number of remote villages be gradually attracted and gathered together for management.
In short, at his request, a large number of officials began to do their own thing.
He also personally demonstrated to everyone what the officials in each department were supposed to do.
In fact, being an official is nothing more than being familiar with all the small things within one's responsibilities. If you understand everything, you can naturally be a good official.