Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 608 Local Grassroots Governance
As early as the Northern Song Dynasty, the pace of centralization of power was greatly accelerated. What is the separation of powers in the West? The Northern Song Dynasty directly separated the five powers.

The Transshipment Department manages finances and supervision; the Criminal Department is in charge of judicial and prison affairs; the Changping Department is promoted to be in charge of Changping tea and salt affairs, Changping warehouse, loan lending, money and grain, etc.; .

Economically appease the military of the prefecture and county where the commander Lu belongs.

In the Ming Dynasty, according to the inspectorate, the chief secretary, and the commander-in-chief, they were in charge of prisons, civil affairs, and military affairs.

Xuezheng is in charge of education and imperial examinations.

However, in the Shaowu Dynasty, the commanders and envoys of the capital changed completely. They no longer governed the military households, but served as the commander-in-chief, managing the patrol battalions in various prefectures and counties.

And the governor has completely become a permanent post, supervising the affairs of a province, and truly becoming the head of a province.

In addition, in addition to the separation of powers at the provincial level, the division of powers at the county level is also being carried out in an orderly manner.

For example, the position of general judge was changed from random to permanent, and he was in charge of the justice of a county's prisons, and the original prison officials were also under his command, which directly weakened the power of the county magistrate.

As for the teaching instruction of the original eighth rank, it was promoted to the seventh rank in one fell swoop, in charge of the students and education of a county. The power has not increased, but the status has greatly increased, second only to the county magistrate.

The patrol battalion is set up in the battalion, and its number ranges from [-] to [-].

In essence, with the implementation of the New Deal, as the executive deputy magistrate, the power of the county magistrate is also changing, and the right to speak in civil affairs is gradually expanding.

Obviously, he will be the chief envoy in charge of civil affairs.

The power and responsibility of the county magistrate has gradually become the general manager, rather than direct management.

In this way, at the county level, the county magistrate center is formed, headed by the county magistrate, supplemented by the county magistrate, Tongpan, Jiaoyu, and Yingzheng.

County, prefecture, and province are the three levels of administrative decentralization.

It also seems to be aware of this change in power, and Zheng Sen has a deeper understanding of the post of county magistrate.

Supervising and taking the boss became his job, and the master Qiangu and prison master he hired before gradually became useless.

It is precisely because of his detached position and getting rid of the cumbersome civil affairs that he is more able to face those gentry.

Because the gentry have only two ways to restrict the county magistrates, money, food and connections.

The money and food are now in the charge of the county magistrate, who is only in charge of supervision.

As for connections, he is even less afraid, not to mention the same subjects, the secret box in his hand is enough to deal with everything.

"Your Majesty, this is an imperial decree issued by the cabinet..."

At this time, Yicheng came out of breath, and handed in the imperial court's decree with his own hands.

The post station was the largest communication "communication" system in the world established by Ming Dynasty at that time, and this system was composed of three parts: post post (messenger), express delivery (express delivery) and delivery transport (large cargo transportation).

Around Beijing, there are 1936 post stations under this huge network system, with a total length of 143700 miles of post roads and more than [-] employees.

It is equivalent to the context of the Ming Dynasty, which conveyed Beijing's decrees to the whole country. Although Emperor Chongzhen had self-destructed and self-mutilated, Emperor Shaowu took it up again.

"Imperial decree?" Zheng Sen was stunned, then looked at it, and then suddenly said: "It's finally here."

Yi Cheng was full of curiosity, but he didn't dare to ask more questions.

At the top, it's about law enforcement.

I saw it wrote that all counties and prefectures were required to set up patrol police divisions to specialize in law enforcement.

Its chief official is Zhengbapin, who is under the dual jurisdiction of the general judge and the county magistrate, and is responsible for the public security matters of a county.

The number of people ranges from [-] to [-], and each county will recruit as appropriate.

To put it bluntly, this is a job for the county government, and how many people you can recruit depends on the financial situation.

This is the independence of law enforcement power, and it is also a supplement to the patrol battalion.

After all, the patrol battalion is an army, and some public security issues have to be dealt with by special personnel.

As for the next article, Zheng Sen read it several times and thought about it for a long time before making a decision.

Immediately, Zheng Sen summoned the county magistrate, the general judge, and the six-room scribe to discuss the matter of patrolling the superintendent.

A dozen or so people were packed to the brim, and they respected Zheng Sen, an unreasonably young county official.

"The matter of the yellow book must be accurate, and the villages must not be neglected..."

"Ponds and ditches in various places need to be repaired more..."

After chatting about some trivial matters, Zheng Sen found out the imperial edict.

"According to the regulations of the imperial court, there must be police officers in the county, and there should be offices in every village and township to take charge of the county's public security. How many people do you think should be added?"

"Xianzun, there are not many villages and towns in this county, only a few, but there are more than [-] in the village, so if there are a hundred people in the county, there are two people in each village, a total of more than two hundred people is enough."

The county magistrate thought for a while, said a number, and then looked at Zheng Zhixian, waiting for him to make a decision.

"There are more than [-] people in the county, and a hundred people are not enough. It is better to set up one person in each ri, so that the county warehouse can be more relaxed..."

Household clerks are now honored as the ninth grade, and the humble status has been abolished. It can be said that the status has risen sharply, and the voice of the yamen is quite loud.

Zheng Sen responded silently.

In fact, in a county town, there are 500 people in the white service alone, and it can only be governed, and more than a hundred people can only be regarded as barely enough.

Why doesn't he want to recruit all the staff, but there are too many people supported by finances, and they will not be able to make ends meet.

Sighing, Zheng Sen took out the last official document for everyone to see.

It is shocking to see this official document: On the inadequacy of Lijia and Fangxiang——

In the early Ming Dynasty, workshops were set up in the city, and boxes near the city were set up.

In the countryside, 110 households make up one mile, and ten households make up one jia.

The chief of the ten households with the most money and food is the village head, who takes turns.

To put it simply, it is to supervise the taxation and corvee.

In addition, the "virtuous and respected" person is set as Lilao, to persuade good people, and to resolve lawsuits, first go through Lilao's mediation, if not, then go to the Yamen, if you don't go through Lilao, just go to the Yamen, it is called Yueju.

The Lijia system is the foundation of the imperial court. Although it has collapsed a bit, it is deeply rooted.

But the lijia system has one of the most obvious flaws, that is where exactly 110 households come from to make up a li?

"Under each square in the city, word shops will be set up, in the order of thousands of characters. There should be a shop in each street, responsible for security, drainage, etc., and each word shop should have a policeman."

Zheng Sen looked at everyone and explained:

"As for the countryside, a township should be set up three to five miles away, with hundreds of households in charge, and each township will have three people who are 'management, teaching, and guarding'."

"Administration is for managing affairs, and a township head is appointed; education is for enlightenment, and a villager is appointed; guarding is for guarding the village and protecting the people, and for thieves and thieves, a township police is set up."

The township head, township elders, and township police are the extension of the county government's rule over the countryside.

"From the Nine Grades?" After reading it, the county magistrate was taken aback, frowned and said:
"It's the county warehouse again. How can there be so much money and food in this county!"

"The three elders can be exempted from corvee, and the annual salary is set at ten silver dollars and ten stone grains, which is enough."

Zheng Sen said casually.

(End of this chapter)