Rebirth: From being expelled from the imperial court to becoming a high-ranking official

County Magistrate Lu returned to the main hall with Qin Yunhe, feeling very nervous.

Qin Yunhe asked County Magistrate Lu to sit down. Seeing that he was hesitant and seemed to be hesitant to speak, he didn't know where to start for a moment.

This is actually quite difficult to handle.

If County Magistrate Lu was corrupt, perverted the law, used harsh punishments, or made up arbitrarily names and oppressed the people, that would be easy to deal with and he would be punished.

But even though he didn't do anything well, he had an "ambitious" heart and was willing to learn from others' good experiences and apply them.

Although he was still doing it for his own reputation and career, it was much better than those local officials who exploited the people and only wanted to serve as county magistrate for a few terms to accumulate some wealth and then go home to be rich.

Many local officials who entered the government through the imperial examination did not know how to govern county affairs, so it was thoughtful of them to think of learning from others' experience.

In fact, if these policies can be implemented well, it will benefit the people.

When Magistrate Lu saw that Qin Yunhe didn't say anything for a long time, he became even more unsure.

"Your Excellency, did the gentry say anything?"

Magistrate Lu thought he was respectful and willing to listen to opinions. These gentry were really...

Qin Yunhe sighed inwardly before speaking, "I heard that County Magistrate Lu has implemented some measures to encourage farming and land surveying to benefit the people?"

When County Magistrate Lu heard this, he immediately perked up and an unconcealable smile appeared on his face.

He was worrying about how to let the inspector notice his measures to benefit the people and his ability in governing the county.

"Yes, Your Excellency. I have worked hard to govern the country over the years, and I am determined to repay the court and benefit the people.

Since I took office in Tongyang County, I have vowed to make achievements here. To be honest, these measures are the successful experiences I heard from other places. I think that since they are measures that benefit the people, they should be promoted vigorously...

I also know that ordinary people have a hard time living, so I have not only implemented these measures to benefit the people, but also tried to reduce the taxes and levies as much as possible...

I dare not boast of my integrity, but you can ask around, my Lord, whenever I sit in court to adjudicate a case, this county will never favor one side for money..."

Qin Yunhe felt that Magistrate Lu was getting more and more proud as he spoke, so he had to interrupt him.

"County Magistrate Lu, how effective are your policies?"

When talking about the effect of the implementation of government policies, County Magistrate Lu sounded a little embarrassed.

"Your Excellency, this...it takes time to implement the decree..."

It seems that he himself knows that the implementation effect is not good.

“How many years have you been in office?”

"I have been in Tongyang County for almost two years."

Qin Yunhe nodded. Two years was indeed not a long time for the implementation of a government policy.

"Have you ever seriously thought about why the implementation of the policy is not effective?"

"Your Excellency may not know that it is really difficult for local governments to implement administrative orders."

Speaking of this, County Magistrate Lu was also full of grievances: "Not to mention that there are always gentry who don't cooperate, there are also many obstacles in this government office. Just look at that County Magistrate Meng..."

County Magistrate Lu gritted his teeth and said, "When I first took office, I heard that County Magistrate Meng had been in the county for many years, so I thought he must understand the people's sentiments, so I relied on him a lot.

When these policies were first implemented, I gave him full authority to carry them out. Later, the gentry came to me and I realized that the implementation was not ideal. "

Qin Yunhe frowned.

If the county magistrate and the county magistrate cannot work together, the implementation of the government orders may indeed be hindered. However, "Since Magistrate Lu wants to implement measures to benefit the people, can he just give orders and ignore them?"

Magistrate Lu said with a guilty conscience: "The main reason is that I don't know much about farming, land, money and grain. I saw that County Magistrate Meng has some prestige in the government and has some means, so I trust him wholeheartedly..."

"You mean that County Magistrate Meng deliberately delayed and obstructed the implementation of the decree in order to embarrass you?"

"Well... it's not necessarily intentional obstruction, but it's definitely not carried out properly..."

"No matter how good the policy is, it needs to be actively implemented to be effective. Since you are the head of the county, how can you completely leave such an important matter to your subordinates?

Also, why didn't you tell me about your conversation with County Magistrate Meng in advance? Just say that I sent someone to invite you to Tongyang County early in the morning, why weren't you in the yamen?"

County Magistrate Lu felt guilty and started to complain: "Sir, please don't listen to the slander of the villain. This matter really cannot be blamed entirely on me.

All the officials in this county are in the same boat with County Magistrate Meng, and no one informed me that the inspector was coming to the county..."

"Don't push everything onto others. Don't you know that county officials must attend the morning court? If you were attending the morning court, how could you not know that I was at the county?"

"What your Excellency has taught me is that... I never slack off in my morning service, but... it was those few days..."

Qin Yunhe remembered what County Magistrate Meng said, that the magistrate was so disheartened at home because of the fraudulent exam, and his brows furrowed even more.

Seeing Qin Yunhe's expression, Magistrate Lu dared not evade any more and said quickly, "Because Liu Mao repeatedly complained, the academician and the prefect had people scold him. I also heard that a magistrate was dismissed or even exiled for adding seals to fake examinees. I was disheartened when I thought that I had been serving the people wholeheartedly but ended up like this..."

Qin Yunhe couldn't help but slammed the table: "You are not taking care of county affairs before the matter is concluded. Even if it is found that you did not accept bribes to protect the untouchables, you will be punished for dereliction of duty!"

"Please forgive me, sir. I know I was wrong and will not slack off in the future. But, sir," County Magistrate Lu obviously did not want to miss the opportunity to offend County Magistrate Meng: "I am really wronged. County Magistrate Meng has been in the county for many years and has a good relationship with the clerks, so he has made things difficult for me in various ways.

That Xue Hai must have been the one who framed me. How could the case file that missed the law have been handed over to the prosecutor? It was obviously him who deliberately let it go..."

"He deliberately let it go?" Qin Yunhe said, "If you had carefully checked the case files, how could you not have discovered the omissions?"

Although many county magistrates delegate these tasks to their subordinates, they already feel that their subordinates are unreliable and yet they still don't pay enough attention to them. This is really speechless.

County Magistrate Lu looked at Qin Yunhe guiltily and stopped trying to argue.

"Let's talk about Han Lin cheating in the exam.

If you had paid a little more attention, why would you have reported it to the Education Department? If you had reported it according to the rules earlier, at least Liu Mao couldn't sue you for shielding someone.

The prefect has ordered you to investigate the matter in detail, but you didn't even check the case files of the old case, and you didn't even know that Han Yang's name was not on the register.

Although this matter is troublesome, if you are willing to pay a little more attention and inquire about clues from various sources, you can find out the truth early. Even if Liu Mao still refuses to accept and insists on reporting to the Education Department, you can report the whole story one by one, how can the Education Department and the prefect reprimand you? "

The more Qin Yunhe talked, the more he felt that this County Magistrate Lu was hopeless.

He is not good at controlling his subordinates; he is not good at handling county affairs; he is not good at judging cases.

I don’t understand how he managed to stay as county magistrate for so many years.

"County Magistrate Lu, how did you govern the county in your previous position?"