The Moon in the Qin Dynasty

Chapter 743: Dragon Tour Observation
However, the beauties around him also knew what was important. Ying Zheng always finished the day's work on the same day. Unless he did something a little naughty, he would never dare to disturb him when he was reviewing something. Otherwise, Ying Zheng would definitely not have the time to review it now.

Three days passed in a flash, and the team still hadn't left Hangu Pass. Ying Zheng was not idle along the way, summoning local officials and villagers to comfort them and give them some rewards that symbolized the emperor's grace.

Along the way, Ying Zheng also read the letters submitted by many princes. All the letters submitted by the princes were handed directly to Ying Zheng without going through anyone in between. Ying Zheng burned them all after reading them. Everything was in his own heart.

At present, the overall situation in Guanzhong is very good. Villages are scattered in the vast fields, crops are thriving in the fields, and the people live and work in peace and contentment. This can be confirmed by just looking at the mental state of ordinary people.

There are very few cases of corruption and deception of the people in Guanzhong. After all, it is under the feet of the emperor and has an old base. All places are developing vigorously, so it is normal that things are getting better.

If the people in Guanzhong don't have a good life now, then it's really over. The key point is to look outside Hangu Pass. The further east you go, the more strange things there will be.

It is not difficult to see the ability and morality of local officials.

At present, there are nearly 800 counties in the Qin Dynasty, and the population of each county ranges from 50,000 to 60,000 people, to 10,000 to 20,000 people, or even less than 10,000 people.

With this scale, if you take the time to investigate, collect information about local customs, and listen to public opinion, you will know what kind of people the local officials are. It's just a matter of whether you want to find out or not. There is no such thing as not being able to find out.

You only need to look at the local people's food, clothing, housing, transportation, and daily life, and their facial expressions and spirits to see how well the local officials are governing.

Then check the material reserves in the treasury, the weapons and equipment in the armory, the actual number of soldiers, and verify whether the accounts are consistent.

Find out where the collected taxes go, how much is left, where the conscripted labor is used, whether the local water conservancy facilities are complete, and the status of road construction.

At the same time, the difference between the clothing, food, housing and transportation of local officials and the people is obvious. Taking all these factors into consideration, the local governance situation is basically clear.

Ying Zheng mainly looked at three things. The first was the reputation of the local officials and whether they had brought discredit to the court.

Second, what is the local development situation, whether the economy is prosperous, and whether people's livelihood has improved.

The third is whether there are any major problems with the accounts.

If an official has a good reputation, but the local development is not good, then we should see whether it is due to objective factors, ability problems, or whether he is just pretending.

If it is an objective factor, it depends on the specific reason. Is it affected by the central policy? Is there any problem in the coordination between the upper and lower departments? These issues are very important. After sorting and compiling them, it will be of great benefit to the optimization of the internal administration of the empire.

If it is just a matter of ability, as long as he has a good reputation and acceptable morals, although such a person cannot become the chief official of a county, he can be transferred to a supervisory position.

If it is fake, then look at the second point. If it develops well, then you can pretend you didn't see it.

If one's development is not good due to corruption but still pretends to have a good reputation, he or she must be dealt with seriously.

If one has a good reputation, decent morals, strong abilities, and good local governance, then he is lucky enough to happen to catch the emperor's tour and be remembered by him, which makes him worthy of promotion and training.

There is also the third point, which is the issue of accounts.

If there are some minor flaws, but the reputation is not too bad and the local development is good, we can turn a blind eye to it.

Is there any cat in the world that doesn't steal fish? Stealing a little meat is no big deal.

But you can't steal the whole fish, nor can you scratch the house to pieces, let alone scratch the owner, otherwise you will be damned.

In addition to officials, there are also local big families. If there are any with a bad reputation or who oppress the people, they will be found out and punished with the most severe crime.

If there are people who oppress the people, or even commit serious crimes and violations of laws and discipline, but the news cannot be spread and the higher-level leaders in the jurisdiction are unaware of it, then this is a serious matter.

In this situation, it's not just one or two people that are in trouble, it's basically the entire area that is in trouble, and we must strike hard!
Under the current system, if a big problem occurs locally and neither the higher-ups nor the emperor knows about it, then the problem is too serious. The outer court and the inner court’s secret guards are all rotten, and there is an information vacuum.

This means that everything in the local area is out of control and must be reshuffled! A thorough cleansing!

However, this situation is unlikely to occur. Given the system of the Qin Dynasty and the recently adjusted official system, it is unlikely that it will become rotten so quickly. It will take at least another 20 years.

Moreover, in Ying Zheng's view, there is nothing easier to win people's hearts than to punish corrupt officials.

For the emperor, dealing with corrupt officials is the most profitable deal. The first is to pass the buck, saying that it was all done by the subordinates, not the emperor's orders. The emperor was also deceived, thinking that the original intention of the superiors was good, but the subordinates did not execute it well.

The second is to win people's hearts. There is no ordinary person in the world who does not like to deal with corrupt officials. Third, after dealing with them, they can confiscate their property, exile them, or kill them. This is another source of income. Killing a corrupt official is equivalent to exploiting 100 ordinary people. If it is a bigger one, it may be equivalent to exploiting 1,000 or 10,000 households. The court will have more money, which is also a good thing.

Fourth, killing a chicken to scare the monkeys and show authority. Don’t think that you can do whatever you want just because you are an official. This will affect governance and stability. Such idiots should not be spared.

Fifth, if the person under investigation is not a close confidant and does not have any great influence, then the vacant position can be used to promote someone immediately and gain one of your own.

If they are our own people, then it is fine to purge such idiots who seriously undermine the rules. If you are reluctant or it is inconvenient, then teach them a lesson and demote them to another place first, and then look for opportunities to promote them in the future.

Raise it high, drop it gently, and handle it quietly. This can also greatly enhance the other party's loyalty. It is better to use it than to do it. You will not lose anything.

Sure enough, until they left Hangu Pass, Ying Zheng did not use the knife he was ready to use to kill people.

This made Ying Zheng secretly breathe a sigh of relief. If the base camp was rotten now, then these years would have been a real failure.

If this is true, the focus in the future will not be on development, but on the rectification of official administration.

The team went all the way to Luoyang, and what they saw along the way also made Ying Zheng quite satisfied. Luoyang, as the heartland of the Central Plains, had been under the control of the Qin Dynasty for a long time, and now it was peaceful and harmonious. The people lived and worked in peace and contentment, and their lives were prosperous. Although there were some minor problems, they were all minor problems and easy to solve.

The old palace of the Zhou Dynasty in Luoyang had already been carefully cleaned up. Everyone settled down in Luoyang temporarily and had a good rest for a while. After all, many of the accompanying officials were old and could not be tormented to death.

Ying Zheng also wanted to inspect the work of various departments in Luoyang Jing Pipeline. This time, he wanted to pick out some typical cases and kill them to serve as a warning to others.

He wanted to let everyone know that they should not think that the emperor is far away, because the emperor's majesty is everywhere. The sky is high, but the emperor is not far away.

The black dragon had already sneaked into the Luo River, lying dormant. When the corrupt officials were dealt with and the people were pacified, the black dragon would appear and show the people its divine dragon demeanor, letting them know that the rumors were true.

The work of Luoyang Jing pipeline is still good and overall remarkable. After all, it is the hinterland of the Central Plains, where there is nothing lacking. The quality of both officials and people is relatively high. After many years in Qin, it has been straightened out long ago. The promotion and development of policies are relatively smooth, and the situation is also good.

The corruption situation is not serious. After all, it has only been more than two years since the empire was renewed. Even if it could rot quickly, it would not happen so quickly. It takes time for corruption to grow, and the loopholes have not been discovered yet.

Moreover, Lu Buwei also came back to retire. With this retired white jade pillar keeping watch here, no one dared to go too far.

However, it is certainly impossible to say that there are no corrupt officials, evil tyrants and evil gentry. It's just that there are not too many of them.

It's still the social atmosphere. Now the overall atmosphere of the empire is positive and striving for development. Ying Zheng has always advocated benevolence and righteousness, and his superiors set an example for his subordinates. Even if officials and powerful people are unwilling to follow, they dare not openly disobey.

No matter officials or powerful people, they would not dare to do such things as abusing the people. Wouldn't that be a slap in the face of Your Majesty?

After all, since the emperor advocated benevolence and justice, it meant that he hated those who were not benevolent and justice the most. It was easy to imagine what the fate of those who were not benevolent and justice would be.

The most you can do is to make some money and enjoy yourself.

In cases like this, as long as it was not excessive and Ying Zheng knew that the emperor would start to restrain himself after going on tour, he would turn a blind eye.

We cannot treat officials with the same standards as saints, that is unrealistic. As long as there are no complaints and public resentment, it is not appropriate to kill officials lightly.

The exceptions are evil tyrants and evil gentry. It is better to kill as many of them as you can. The more you kill, the more stable the area will be and the more secure the rule will be.

As for the local administration and those who committed crimes, Ying Zheng also tested many princes in turn and let them express their opinions.

The eldest brother Fusu adhered to the doctrine of the mean. Simply put, he should kill when necessary and demote when necessary, and he should kill with caution and lightly.

The second son, Zi Du, just smiled and said, "Deal with it according to the laws of the Qin Dynasty."

The third brother Ming said the same thing as his second brother.

The fourth brother, Yude, suggested to be cautious in killing and to practice benevolence and forgiveness. He suggested to exile more people to the southeast or Hexi, as there was a shortage of people in those places.

There is also the sixth son, Zhiji, whose mother is the son of a beautiful Qiang woman. He is clever and says that it is a way of benevolence and justice, not to kill. The emperor's tour of the world is a great virtue, a great joy and a great celebration. Killing people is unlucky, so he can be demoted and exiled.

On the contrary, Dayou, contrary to his usual behavior, said one word with absolute certainty: kill! According to the laws of the Qin Dynasty, the third level of death is imposed for the crime. The emperor was caught for not being able to restrain himself during his tour. On weekdays, he would be so rampant and cruel to the people. If he didn't kill them, it would not be enough to appease the people's anger, and if he didn't kill them, it would not be enough to rectify the law of nature.

(End of this chapter)