The Silent Reforms of Eldridge Chapter 11

Returning to the government office, as soon as I walked into the ceremony gate, someone stopped the sedan and handed over the petition. When I took it, I saw that it was the petition from Wu Longtu and others urging the court to open. I warned in the sedan: "There is nothing wrong with your case. Why don't you wait until the 10th day to submit the petition as required? It is really impetuous and ridiculous." After that, I threw the petition out of the sedan. A few days later, they met Hengtong again, and neither of them mentioned the incident again.

From then on, the case was never heard and allowed to drag on. Anyway, both the plaintiff and the defendant are very rich and don't care about the travel expenses. Besides, I heard that Wu Longtu and others are only happy in the provincial capital and having fun. Every time I receive a case on the first day of the month, my instructions are "No delay in waiting for the court hearing." It wasn't until the winter lunar month, when the New Year was about to come, that I commented: The accounts of the case you are suing have not been verified clearly. Now that the year-end seal vacation is coming, you can post bail and go home to celebrate the New Year. The trial will be held after the printing is published next year.

I think that this case was first deceived by family members and masters, and was mistakenly brought to the province, and then was swayed by the city guard Hengtong, and it became a difficult case. In lawsuits in Shanxi Province, wealthy people often rely on bribes to achieve their goals, regardless of whether they are justified or not. However, the officials who examine the cases often do not know how to behave, which often leads to major cases. The previous Yangqu County Magistrate Li Lianmeng was beheaded for accepting a huge bribe from Sun Fuchang, but subsequent officials still did not repent. Why is this? If it is difficult to be a local official, it is difficult to do it here.

From then on, whenever I received a petition on the first day of the month, I would personally give instructions and ask the clerk to get it and copy it before posting it in the yamen. I would not let the master handle it, so this kind of disadvantage was avoided, and the atmosphere in the yamen was much better. Later, I still sent the case back to Jiexiu County for its own trial, and dismissed my family member Chen Xiang and the staff member named Xiong.

The case of Ningyuan Hall’s Xilun loss was finally settled. I will be compensated two thousand taels according to the length of my tenure. When a case is settled at a deficit, the official who suffers the deficit will pay half of the compensation himself, and the superior officials will accept a share of the compensation. This has always been the case. However, the superiors were always unwilling to share the compensation, so they always ordered their successors to admit their losses. This resulted in almost no county in Shanxi Province not losing money.