Transmigrated into a minor official in a county government, with children at home waiting for rice t

Zhao Changyan leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh.

The breath was long, as if it had been held for almost half an hour before finally finding an outlet. "Jingzhai, you see things too clearly. My brain has been spinning with you for so long, it's completely fuzzy."

He pushed the empty teacup towards the corner of the table. "I understand. Zhang Shouli alone can mobilize the county government, while you only need to mobilize him. No wonder you passed the imperial examination with flying colors, while I failed miserably. Brilliant!"

Li Hang smiled upon hearing this, but shook his head helplessly. "Changyan, don't let Hao Lushi hear what you've said, or he'll hold a grudge against you for years to come."

Zhao Changyan shifted his body, adjusting to a more comfortable sitting position. "With you here, why would I be afraid of him? Speaking of which, if Hao Yun had half of your ability to judge people, he probably wouldn't need to use so many schemes."

Li Hang smiled and said, "Not so. Juancheng is just a county government after all. I just happened to discover Zhang Shouli, a capable official who can mobilize six departments all by himself. What's better is that he doesn't have deep roots and is easy to control."

"Kong Wenfu is different. He not only has the support of his family, but also the influence of the Wang family, and even the protection of the prefect. If the roles were reversed, he would probably have to put in much more effort."

Zhao Changyan couldn't help but laugh upon hearing this, "You're certainly not modest. Jingzhai, what do you think Zhang Shouli will do after taking over the Criminal Investigation Department?"

Li Hang smiled confidently, "If I'm not mistaken, he might be preparing a report for the interrogation room right now..."

If Zhang Sanlang heard this, he would probably jump three feet high.

Jinshi Lane, the former residence of the Zhang family.

Before it was completely dark, four oil lamps were lit simultaneously in the main room, a rare occurrence.

A stack of blank mulberry paper lay on the octagonal table, with writing brushes, inkstones, and other items placed on the corner of the table.

Zhou An sat in the first chair on the left, holding the pen in his hand, his face full of resentment as he hovered the pen over the paper.

The paper in front of him had six large characters at the top: "Procedures for Handling Criminal Cases".

Zhou An glanced at Zhang Sanlang, then at the Xu brothers standing against the wall, and finally his gaze settled on Huangfu Ce, who was squatting by the threshold. "Uncle Zhang, how do we write this?"

Zhang Sanlang sat in the main seat, not answering immediately. His gaze swept across the octagonal table, lingering for a moment on each person's face. "Mr. Huangfu, you go first."

Huangfu Ce squatted by the threshold, a wolf-hair brush in his hand, twirling it between his fingers. He heard Zhang Sanlang call his name, but he didn't stand up. Instead, he placed the brush on his knees, thought for a moment, and then spoke.

"Third sir, I worked as a clerk in the criminal division of the Yuncheng County government for several years. The most important thing is that once a case enters the criminal division, it often just disappears without a trace."

"The case filing form is kept in the cabinet. When the person was detained, when the interrogation took place, how many times it was conducted, and whether it was closed or not, it all depends on the person in charge's word. When asked by higher-ups, he says he's still investigating, and no one can really challenge him."

Zhou An took a pen and wrote a line on the paper. He wrote quickly, but his strokes were neat and straight, showing the foundation he had built up in the state school.

Zhang Sanlang nodded and turned his gaze to Xu Zheng.

Xu Zheng stood at the right end of the octagonal table, his hands hanging at his sides. He was more composed than when he first entered the torture chamber. His chin was still thin, but his eyes no longer darted around as before.

"Uncle Zhang, during Fang Qianxing's tenure, I went to the warehouse and looked through the old files. Half of the cases from the last three years didn't have closing dates."

"Some case files record that the case was filed in the second year of the Taiping Xingguo era, and it is still locked in a cabinet this year. The case handlers have changed twice, and no one can say for sure whether the case has been tried or not."

He glanced cautiously at Zhang Sanlang. "Some of the case files are incomplete or have inconsistent testimonies. It just so happens that Clerk Hao was inspecting the prison, and I didn't have time to collect two of them..."

Xu Fang stood half a step behind his younger brother. He was a head shorter than Xu Zheng, but his shoulders were broader, as if he was ready to shield his brother from something at any time.

He glanced at Zhang Sanlang and quickly interrupted Xu Fang, "Uncle Zhang, during the past few months I've been running errands in the interrogation room, I've discovered something else. Anyone can flip through the case files, and anyone can take them away."

"Once, when I was delivering documents, I saw a servant pull a case file out of a cabinet, put it in his pocket, and walk away. I asked him where he was going, and he said that Fang Qianxing had asked him to deliver it to the prefectural government. Later I found out that the case hadn't even been concluded yet."

Zhou An paused for a moment.

He looked up at Zhang Sanlang, saw that he was expressionless, and then lowered his head again to continue writing.

Zhang Sanlang leaned back in his chair, gradually relaxing. "Ah Zheng, when you review case files, what do you find most difficult?"

Xu Zheng thought for a moment, then lowered his voice, "The hardest part is not knowing why the case handler is dragging their feet. Some cases have all the witnesses gathered and all the necessary questions asked, but they still can't be closed."

"I asked Fang Qianxing why, and he said that the criminal office did not have the clerk's approval, and he needed to wait for Magistrate Gu. But Magistrate Gu was in charge of all the affairs of the county government, so naturally, priorities had to be set."

Zhang Sanlang nodded.

His gaze shifted to the threshold, where Huangfu Ce had already picked up the wolf-hair brush again and was twirling it between his fingers.

"Mr. Huangfu, you have been in the Yuncheng Criminal Division for many years. Have you thought of any solutions? I know that most of the senior officials in power do not like to reform the system. Often, the junior officials and clerks have good ideas, but no one pays attention to them."

Huangfu Ce stopped twirling his pen. "Yes. I think that for every case filed, a cancellation form should be attached to the end of the file. It should list several columns: date of filing, date of detention, date of interrogation, and date of case closure."

"At each stage, the person in charge would fill in the date in the corresponding column. If the deadline was exceeded, the reason had to be stated. When the performance evaluation was conducted at the end of the year, if the dates on the cancellation forms did not match, the clerk's office would directly deduct the allowance."

Zhang Sanlang's index finger stopped on the armrest. "The cancellation slip is a good thing. Ah Zheng, you just said that half of the cases from the past three years don't have closing dates."

"If we attach a cancellation form to each case file, the first column can be filled in on the day the case is filed, and each subsequent column has a deadline. If anyone is delaying their case, we can find out at the end of the month."

Xu Zheng nodded.

He straightened up a bit, as if he had heard something he had wanted to hear for a long time.

Zhou An's eyes lit up upon hearing this.

He didn't look up; his pen had already scribbled several lines across the paper.

Seeing that his idea had been approved by Zhang Sanlang, Huangfu Ce seemed to become interested as well. "There's one more thing. We also need to take charge of reviewing the case files."

"A piece of paper was pasted on the back cover of each case file, recording who had turned the page, when they turned the page, and why they turned the page. No one was allowed to take the file out of the interrogation room without a record."

Zhou An was about to put down his pen when he suddenly stopped.

He looked up, his face hesitant. "Uncle Zhang, this method is good. But if someone takes the case file out of the cabinet in the middle of the night and puts it back before dawn, there won't be any trace in the register."

Before Zhang Sanlang could speak, Lu Qiucheng, who had been squatting silently in the corner, suddenly raised his eyelids and said, "Then lock the cabinet."