The Silent Reforms of Eldridge Chapter 4

How can we cleanse our minds and worries? We must start with officials and scholars at all levels, and then the common people will gradually understand. It has been eight months since I took office. My talents and virtues are meager. I can neither move the gods with my actions nor restrain the people's hearts with my education. Every time I think about this, I feel uneasy. In the past eight months, there have been numerous murder cases in Shuozhou, and there are also many cases in which people take control of themselves. Of course, some of them are true, but there are also many alarmist ones. It can be seen that people's hearts are not ancient, and therefore they offend God. Moreover, I heard that love and filial piety are very weak between father and son; marriage and divorce are very casual between husband and wife. The heart of benevolence and righteousness does not exist, and the thoughts of wealth are too heavy. I am very sad. This will not only cause natural disasters, but also have a great influence on the changes in the world and people's hearts.

Therefore, I am issuing this notice to inform all military and civilian personnel to change their bad behaviors and habits. The gentlemen living in the countryside must maintain their moral integrity, and the respected elders must also influence the countryside. If we can really make it known to every household and be courteous and popular, we will naturally have good luck and good life. As for the gods in Shuoping Mansion, we have personally gone to pay homage to them on the 15th of this month. The methods of catching locusts have been informed to each village, and officials have been dispatched to hunt them in sections. It is expected that the locusts will be wiped out in a few days.

After this warning, kind people should always keep their original intentions, and those who have done evil must get rid of their old habits. There is no difference between the principles of blessing, good and disaster, and the standards of heaven and the world; the signs of reverse, bad and good fortune are also determined by human behavior. Treat God with sincerity, be sure not to be obedient and disloyal, accumulate virtue and do good deeds, and the family will naturally have enough. Teaching by example is not a matter of words. It should be cultivated through interaction between superiors and subordinates. The hearts of the people are in harmony with the hearts of heaven, and there will be prosperity and misfortune. Don't be good at this method of praying for mercy, and don't regard it as an ordinary message. Special notice!

Over the past month, the government and the people have put in a lot of effort to catch locusts, but there are still a lot of larvae in the wheat ridges in the fields, which makes me very anxious. Last year's harvest was bad, and the savings at home have been exhausted. If there is another locust plague this year, the people will not be able to survive. In the official office of Shuozhou, there used to be an altar. It was said that the Yamen God of this office was very effective in judging decisions. I went there in person to worship and asked the God's meaning. The Immortal wrote eight words: "The country will work hard and the people's livelihood will be stable." I secretly felt in my heart. happiness. But how can we be safe until the locusts are cleared? Just listen to it. One day later, it rained heavily and continued for three days and three nights. The temperature outside the customs was already low, but it suddenly became very cold after the rain. Then land security guards from every village and village came to the city to report that the locusts had disappeared without a trace. I sent people to check, and everyone who came back said that the locusts were gone. So, I replied to Governor Shen in detail with the true facts, and then returned to the prefect's Yamen in a shoulder carriage[1].

There is a reason why I say that people in Shuoping Mansion are not as old as they used to be. Just when I was trying my best to catch locusts, Chang Junyuan, a resident of Guo County, came to complain: His son Chang Shangkuan married a woman from the Tian family of the state, and they were married for eight years before they conceived a child. The child in the daughter-in-law's belly continues the incense. But this spring, Tian's brother Tian Tiedan lied that his mother was seriously ill, took Tian back to his parents' home, and then sold her to another place.

I immediately arrested Tian Tiedan and brought him to justice. As soon as the torture instruments were placed, this crazy guy confessed everything. According to Tian Tiedan, he sold his sister to Shouyang. I immediately sent an urgent express to Shouyang County Magistrate Zhong Wangjie, asking him to quickly send someone to find Tian. Tian quickly found her--because she was pregnant, she hadn't had time to get married yet. I reported that Tian was on the case and handed it over to her husband Chang Shangkuan to take it back in court. I also severely punished Tian Tiedan for kidnapping and trafficking his sister. Chang Shangkuan and his wife reunited, and the child in Tian's belly was also saved. Everyone was happy.

[1] "Jianyu" means sedan chair.

I set the rules

Although it is the task of state and county officials to collect money and grain, if the state and county officials cannot collect it, the prefect will also be responsible for the ineffective supervision. Xu Zhizhou of Shuozhou was old and unable to govern. The money and grain collected this year has come to be reported for sale (each state and county must report the actual amount of money and grain collected to the Ministry of Household Affairs every year, which is called "complaint for sale"), but not much has been collected, and the officials above are unwilling to participate in the withdrawal. Instead, he ordered me to collect the money.

I investigated and found out that the reason why Xu Zhizhou failed to report sales was because the state's scribes were obstructing it: the money and grain books themselves were tricky, and the collection process was full of flaws. In response to this situation, I took the following measures:

1. Create a separate inventory based on government files to verify the amount of money and grain payable;

2. Except for the temporary reprieve for sporadic small households with less than two taels of silver and less than a bucket of rice, unruly people who owe a lot of silver and grain and refuse to pay them will be asked to raise their debts immediately - that is, write a guarantee at a fixed time and fail to pay after the due date. , the staff is responsible for several big boards;

3. If the money and grain have been put into the pockets of the clerk, the flower household (that is, the farmer) should be invited to the hall to identify it. If the identification is true, the clerk will be taken into custody on the spot;

4. Those who have been delayed for a long time will be severely punished immediately; those who are cunning and bad supervisors and scholars will not be tolerated;

5. All kinds of fire will be cut if the consumption is equal to the balance.

With my hard and soft tactics, all the money and food were collected in less than twenty days. Now that my task has been completed, I will not delve deeper into the misappropriation of the scribes.

Soon, he received an order from Taiwan [1] to find ways to suppress the practice of various government offices or police officers setting up private prisons to lock up innocent people.

Since I took office, I have strictly ordered my subordinates to strictly abide by the law in handling cases. Only prisoners with a crime of more than a crime will be detained; prisoners with a crime of less than a cane will be immediately released on bail. The police officer summoned the plaintiff, defendant and witnesses. If the plaintiff could not come to the case, the defendant and witnesses would be released after interrogation, so that they could produce in peace and ensure their livelihood. If the case is brought back to the superior and then sent back, the plaintiff will withdraw the case within one month according to law.

After receiving the order, I immediately formulated the charter:

1. In any case where there is a subpoena, a sign must be posted to announce that the case will be heard on a certain day, and who the plaintiff, defendant, and witness will be subpoenaed. The subpoenas will be issued one by one. Personnel who have nothing to do with the case will not be subpoenaed;

2. After the witnesses arrive in court, they will be asked in court whether they have been detained by the police;

3. The interrogation is over, signatures are postponed, and the suspects are released separately. Then we will decide how to judge, how many people will be brought to the case, how to acquit, and how to make public announcements;