I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 834: King Osprey's Abilities
The official road between Anyang County, the county seat of Zhangde County in Henan Province, and Tangyin County is wide and straight, with canals on both sides and rows of trees.

Six carriages were traveling in a line on the official road, with a team of cavalry guarding in front and behind.

In the middle carriage, Hai Rui and Wang Yi'e sat opposite each other.

Hai Rui, who was wearing a washed-out blue shirt and a cloth on his head, turned his head to look at the scenery outside the window for a while and said, "After taking the train, taking this carriage feels slow and uncomfortable.

I really hope that the railways can be built soon, so that it will be more convenient for me to inspect various places."

Wang Yi'e, who was wearing a green yak, a net scarf wrapped in his bun, and a big hat placed aside, laughed.

"Mr. Hai, please don't tell anyone about this. If you say this, local officials will do everything they can to sabotage and delay the construction of the railway."

Hai Rui also smiled, stroking his beard, with a hint of pride on his lips.

I just want the people to love me and the officials to hate me.

"Zijian, have you thought of a strategy?"

"Mr. Hai, what's the strategy?"

"Zijian is playing dumb again. Have you made up your mind about the Henan matter?"

"I've thought about it a long time ago, even before I left Beijing."

"Oh, tell me."

"Mr. Hai, the Henan case is, as the emperor said, an opportunity, a great opportunity to reform and improve the Ming Dynasty's judicial system."

"Then how does Zijian plan to seize this great opportunity?" Hai Rui continued to ask.

Wang Yi'e said without hesitation: "Mr. Hai, I have been reading the files of major cases in Henan and found that the key reason why those police officers were able to do such evil is that the power of investigation and prosecution in their hands, that is, the power of law enforcement defined in the new law, can be expanded infinitely.

The major case in Henan was an abuse of power, which resulted in extremely serious consequences."

Hai Rui nodded with satisfaction. Wang Yi'e was still as courageous and pioneering as ever.

"The argument that law enforcement power is abused by unlimited self-expansion is very novel. Please continue to talk about it."

"Mr. Hai, most of those police officers are former yamen runners, their skin has changed but their hearts have not. The new law only defines the police's power of investigation as the power of law enforcement, but it is vague as to how to investigate cases and how to enforce the law.

When the higher-ups are vague, the lower-ups will act recklessly.

These police officers can file cases at will, arrest people at will, and if they say you are guilty, then you are guilty, forcing the criminals to prove their innocence.

The new criminal law and criminal procedure law set the principle of "the one who claims must provide evidence" and "the presumption of innocence" on the basis of the principle that the person who claims must provide evidence. However, these new laws are still on paper, and local judicial departments are still using the previous Ming law to handle cases.

That does not work!

Mr. Hai, I have decided to reform the police and procuratorial departments. I will start from this aspect and make the law enforcement power concrete. "

Hai Rui's expression became serious. He looked at Wang Yi'e and asked, "How about making this law enforcement power concrete? Where do you plan to start, Zijian?"

Wang Yi'e replied: "Investigating a case generally involves the following procedures: filing a case, investigating and handling the case, solving the case, arresting people, closing the case, going through the procuratorate, prosecuting, and then going through the trial, conviction and sentencing.

I plan to start with these procedures, determine the correct procedures, and then grant different departments corresponding powers based on the procedures, as well as other methods, to concretize law enforcement powers. "

Hai Rui's hand, which was stroking his beard, stopped moving. He stared at Wang Yi'e intently and slowly uttered four words: "Procedural justice."

"Mr. Hai is right. It is procedural justice. The word the emperor said may sound simple, but it actually contains profound meaning.

I really neglected it before, but when I read the major cases in Henan, I suddenly realized that procedural justice is actually the limitation of power, which checks and balances the abuse of power by the judicial department. "

Hai Rui's eyes lit up as he listened to Wang Yi'e's words.

I didn't expect that he really put some thought into it. The key is that his reform ideas sound very reliable.

"I thought about it and decided to split the case investigation power into the power to establish a case, the power to interrogate and arrest, and other powers.

The police department has the right to decide on the right to file a case, but criminal cases must be filed, this is the principle. As for other civil cases, in principle, the government will not investigate unless the people sue.

After a case is filed, it must be investigated. During the investigation, the police have the right to question anyone and investigate the case. The person being questioned has the responsibility to answer truthfully, but also has the right not to answer.

Hai Rui frowned, "You have the right not to answer? Doesn't this conflict with your responsibility to answer truthfully?"

Wang Yi'e shook his head: "Mr. Hai, they are not in conflict.

At first, I thought about this for a long time.

The regulations stipulate that the person being questioned must answer questions. If he really knows nothing, no matter how much you ask, he will not know. However, some police officers will use this requirement to force him to answer. Not answering is intentional concealment. "

"Well, this is indeed a common method used by the yamen runners in the past to wrongly accuse good people."

"Yes, Lord Hai. I mentioned earlier that the principle of presumption of innocence and the principle of self-incrimination are valid. If the person being interrogated is required to answer questions, he or she will fall into the trap of proving his or her innocence.

Therefore, I have defined two rules: the person being questioned can say nothing, but if you are willing to speak, you must ensure that you tell the truth. If you talk nonsense, make up lies, and delay the investigation of the case, you will be held accountable for perjury and obstruction of public affairs. "

Hai Rui understood and nodded, "Zijian, continue."

"Mr. Hai, when I was considering this interrogation procedure, I weighed the pros and cons and felt that the person being interrogated should be given a certain degree of protection to prevent police officers from expanding their law enforcement powers and abusing their power.

Police officers can summon the person being questioned to the police station for questioning according to the law, and the person being questioned must be present. However, two police officers must be present at the same time during the questioning, and the person being questioned must be informed of his or her rights and obligations before the questioning.

If you don't have to answer, but once you answer, you must answer truthfully, the interrogation notes must have a confirmation signature from the person being interrogated that he or she has been informed of his or her rights and obligations.

The interrogation must be completed within three hours. Of course, this time can be modified, such as six hours, which needs to be negotiated again.

After the interrogation is completed three times, the interrogator has the right to refuse further interrogation. This provision is to prevent some police officers from repeatedly summoning the interrogator to coerce him.
The interrogation procedure is roughly as follows: After the police interrogate, investigate, and collect evidence, if they determine the perpetrator needs to be arrested, they must apply for an arrest warrant from the prosecutor.

After listening to the police's investigation report on the case and studying the relevant evidence, the prosecutor confirmed that the suspect was a major suspect and approved the arrest warrant. "

Hai Rui nodded. He had been a county magistrate before, so he certainly knew that one of the greatest powers of a county magistrate was to issue passes. Only when the yamen runners got the passes could they do their work "legally".

All official matters such as collecting grain, collecting taxes, arresting people, etc. can be handled.

Getting a ticket was like getting the imperial court's order, which allowed you to do whatever you wanted. If you resisted, you would be defying the imperial court and disregarding the law! This became the biggest reliance of the yamen runners for extortion.

In the previous imperial system, yamen runners were commoners, meaning they received no salary from the court and had to bring their own food to work for the government.

In the beginning, it was hard work, a kind of corvée labor, which required taking turns to perform.

Soon people discovered the secret to making money, and they scrambled to take on this hard job. It was then passed down from father to son, and gradually it became a hereditary system.

Once the corvée got a ticket, they could say you were guilty, and if you owed five shi of grain, you had to raise the amount even if you had to sell everything you had. The ticket could then be used to arrest people and close down shops. They could do whatever they wanted and inflict any harm on the people at will.

In order to avoid harm, the common people, even the wealthy landlords, could only pay for "peace".

Therefore, when the yamen runners received the badges and tickets, doing their job was secondary. The real task was to earn back the capital first and then make a fortune.

Because the tickets are so important and represent the imperial court and the law, they will certainly not be issued lightly.

Under normal circumstances, the legal advisor represented the county magistrate and negotiated with the chief clerk of the six offices to agree on what kind of tickets to issue, how many tickets to issue, and how much each ticket would cost.

Then the yamen runners pooled their money and went to the clerk to buy official tickets with a clearly marked price.

Generally, criminal name tickets are the cheapest, costing ten to twenty taels of silver.

Of course, if the person involved in the case is a wealthy person, which means there is a lot of money to be made, then the value of this ticket will rise.

The main focus is people-oriented.

Forty to fifty taels of silver for a tax collection ticket
As far as Hai Rui knew, the most expensive ticket in the Ming Dynasty before was the ticket issued by the Lianghuai Salt Inspection Office, which was worth ten thousand taels of silver.

With that ticket, the yamen runners can catch private salt dealers and extort small salt merchants. The rewards are huge!

The yamen runners invested money and must get something in return.

Three or five times is only considered a small profit, while ten or eight times is considered a small fortune.

Hai Rui was well aware of the dirty deeds going on in the county government, so he understood why Wang Yi'e had such good intentions in imposing severe restrictions on the police department's law enforcement powers.

Abuse of power is indeed the root cause of harsh rule.

"Zijian, are you handing over the power of arrest to the procuratorate and the courts to check and balance the police?"

"Mr. Hai is wise."

The main responsibility of the police department is to handle cases and maintain social order. The officials in the police department are either former yamen runners or retired military officers.

Most of them were brave warriors, and although they also studied legal knowledge on time, they were very vulgar in the eyes of prosecutors and judges.

In the past, prosecutors were juren and xiucai who had studied and passed the examinations. Today, most prosecutors are graduates of university law and politics schools and have passed the provincial examinations.

Intellectuals look down on each other, and there is also a chain of contempt in the officialdom. Prosecutors and judges will naturally look down on crude police officers. This is a form of checks and balances.

The prosecutors and judges have the power to issue warrants, but the specific matters of arresting people and handling cases are still handled by the police.
Wang Yi'e continued, "The police department can only arrest the criminal for three days, or 72 hours, with an arrest warrant. If there is no solid evidence to prosecute the criminal, the police department must release him.

Of course, the police department can also apply to the prosecutor to extend the arrest period to seven days, up to a maximum of fifteen days.

However, once the arrest period is extended, if the suspect is proven innocent at the end of the case, the police officer who applied for the extension of the arrest period and the prosecutor who approved the extension must bear the corresponding responsibility and accept the corresponding punishment.
There are other powers, such as sealing up shops, checking bank accounts, and other more serious and influential law enforcement powers, which require the approval of the Judicial Court."

Wang Yi'e spoke eloquently and Hai Rui understood him clearly.

In fact, what we learned is still the same as the emperor's, checks and balances.

Heavy shackles are placed on law enforcement officers, so that the law enforcement power that could be expanded at will in the past is now implemented under multiple supervisions, and those who supervise it include the procuratorate, the courts, and multiple departments of the judiciary, and they supervise and check and balance each other.

After Wang Yi'e finished speaking, Hai Rui thought silently for a long time.

He turned his head and saw farmers working in the fields in groups of three or four outside the car window.

These farmers stood in the fields, with their hands on their hips, looking at the golden wheat fields. Although he couldn't see their expressions clearly, Hai Rui could feel their joy.

After a year of hard work, we finally saw the harvest.

Hai Rui, who was well aware of the sufferings of the people, knew very well what the heavy ears of wheat meant.

Since the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, when a country prospers, the people suffer; when a country perishes, the people suffer.

When can we break this vicious circle?

The land tax was exempted, and the court no longer had to pay taxes, but instead spent money to buy grain from the people.

Hai Rui suddenly remembered what the emperor said.

If it were during the Jiajing period, Hai Rui would have spit in the face of the emperor when he heard this.

However, since the Longqing period, the emperor's new policy reforms have become increasingly effective.

The Industrial Revolution he often talked about revealed its ferocious momentum that swept everything.

No matter how stubborn a person is, once he has visited the steel mills, machinery factories and coal mines throughout Luanzhou, as well as the Shanghai cotton mill and shipyard, and taken a train ride, he will remain silent.

A revolution that will revolutionize the world!
People no longer rely on fields or weather for their livelihood; they can use machines to create massive amounts of goods.

The Ming Dynasty's ships transported the goods they produced to all corners of the world, in exchange for endless wealth for the people of the Ming Dynasty to enjoy.

Gather the wealth from all over the world to support the Ming Dynasty.
Exemption from land tax!

Hai Rui began to believe what the emperor said, but he didn't know if he could live to see that day.

Hai Rui turned around and asked, "Zi Jian's design is very ingenious and well-intentioned. But do the people know about his good intentions? Do they know how to use it?"

Wang Yi'e shook his head and pointed out without any hesitation: "Mr. Hai, I think you have some deviations in your thinking on this issue."

(End of this chapter)