Qin Official

"I issued a secret order and someone reported that you accepted bribes, indulged in illegal activities, and enriched your own pockets. Is this true?"

Zhou Zhen was very drunk at first, but now he was completely frightened by these words and fell to the ground, sweating like rain.

He is also from Guanzhong and knows the laws of Qin. Qin was famous for its harsh punishments, not only for the people, but also for the officials. A large number of laws and regulations were formulated to deal with crimes committed by officials. If officials committed a crime, the punishment would be increased and there would be no room for forgiveness.

Therefore, when Xunzi entered the Qin Dynasty decades ago, he found that the officials of the Qin State governed the Qin Dynasty in a clear and transparent manner. The officials were all respectful and frugal. They did not dare to take bribes or be derelict in their duties, and they were extremely efficient in their work.

In the law governing officials, corruption and bribery are particularly abhorred. Anyone who gives or takes a bribe of up to one copper coin will be tattooed, have their face tattooed, and be sentenced to hard labor! This punishment not only affects the person himself, but also requires "three generations of imprisonment", that is, his descendants within three generations are not allowed to be officials.

Zhou Zhen raised his head and looked at the fatal real-name report letter in Heifu's hand. Since he could afford the paper, or it was done by an official in Xiami County, there were no more than three people who knew about his affairs. As long as Give Zhou Zhen some time and he will be able to track it down!

But at this time, Heifu's voice sounded again: "A secret order is issued. The order has its own words. Keep it and steal it. Those who are worth ten gold will abandon the market. The letter said that the bribe you have collected is more than this amount. What are you going to do? explain?"

"I'm a low official... I'm a low official."

While Zhou Zhen was thinking about his words, Heifu did something that shocked him!

But Hei Fu walked directly to the candle, put the letter on the flame, and let it burn completely!

"Sheriff, this..." Zhou Zhen didn't react.

Heifu laughed: "I see that there are so many exaggerations in this letter that it is not credible. I am afraid that I want to deliberately disturb the officialdom of Jiaodong!"

Although he burned a blank letter to deceive Zhou Zhen, Heifu also understood that the three feet of ice did not freeze overnight. In fact, the corruption in Jiaodong officialdom began a few years ago...

After the surrender of Qi, these old men from Guanxi, who had been promoted through military service, came to Guandong and saw the colorful world of Linzi and Jimo, which opened a new door.

Because Jiaodong is far away from Guanzhong, the number of Qin officials sent there is scarce, so the Qin laws that restrained officials in the past are almost non-existent, and they can only rely on conscious self-discipline.

In the first one or two years, Zhou Zhen, as a veteran, still adhered to his bottom line and refused all bribes in money, silk, and jewelry. But people always have weaknesses. He is lustful and fond of wine. This line of defense was quickly captured by the beauties, wine and meat sent by powerful officials and merchants, and it became deeper and deeper.

Slowly, this good warrior who once devoted himself to fighting and getting promoted has a new hobby: money. As long as he has money and silk, how can he be short of beauty Jiarou? He turns a blind eye to the illegal activities popping up from all over the country and joins them in exchange for material enjoyment.

Looking at the guy in front of him who felt like he had received amnesty after seeing a blank letter burned, Hei Fu sneered in his heart and couldn't help but think of a passage he heard in his previous life.

“There may be some Communists who have never been conquered by enemies with guns, and they are worthy of the title of heroes in front of these enemies; but they cannot withstand the attacks of people’s sugar-coated shells; Lose the battle.”

This sentence was the same in the Qin Dynasty.

Heifu had people secretly investigate in advance and found out that Zhou Zhen was not the only one who was corrupt. There were almost no people in Jiaodong officialdom who dared to claim to be innocent! Even the censor, who was supposed to supervise the officials, was involved!

If he looked further afield, he would find that corruption was rampant in more than just Jiaodong County.

Take Peixian County as an example. The magistrate of Peixian County organized a housewarming banquet for his friend Lu Gong, and asked Xiao He, the organization director, to host it. Guests had to pay thousands of dollars to be seated. Isn't this corruption and abuse of power for personal gain? Xiao He and Cao Shen were also accustomed to this.

Liu Ji, the director of the pavilion in Sishui, refused to pay for meat and wine. The proprietress of the wine shop finally gave him a discount on the wine coupons so that he could eat for free. This may be Liu Ji using his personal charm to sleep with the ladies who own the wine shop, but it could not be that the common people show kindness to the petty officials and pay protection fees in disguise to seek asylum.

Exchanging power for money and beauty is an innate ability of almost every official.

To put it bluntly, since the unification of Qin, no one in the entire Guandong, from the county magistrate of Liubaishi to the chief of Dou Shi Pavilion, can strictly discipline himself and not accept a single bribe!

Except perhaps one person, and that is Xi...

As for the others? Most of the Qin officials that Xunzi once saw were "all respectful and thrifty, come from public service, return to their families, and have no private affairs". Most of them have become corrupt.

This is an open secret throughout the empire. As long as the officials do not go too far, there is a tacit understanding that no one will expose it, because once it is exposed and the matter becomes serious and attracts the attention of the court, it will still be severely punished according to the law.

The emperor didn't like having a bunch of lice underneath, sucking the money, food, flesh and blood that should have been handed over.

The Qin Law was created by Legalists to safeguard monarchy. Only one person has legal immunity. Therefore, in the Qin Dynasty, only one person was qualified for corruption, and that was the emperor!

Heifu thought for a long time and finally came to a conclusion: in the final analysis, Qin's corruption started from top to bottom. The emperor himself was extravagant and lustful, building palaces and mausoleums lavishly, and filling the pass with beauties from the Six Kingdoms. When the people below saw this, how could they have no idea in their hearts, and would they still foolishly discipline themselves for the country?

The heart of one person is the heart of thousands of people. Qin's love is extravagant, and people also miss his family. But how can he use up all his money and use it like sand?

The upper beam is not straight and the lower beam is crooked. This is a systemic problem. Anti-corruption can control the flies below, but who dares to fight the tiger at the top? Leaving aside the roots and trying to treat the branches and leaves will only end in an anticlimax!

However, Heifu did not intend to let go of Zhou Zhen and the officials who were seriously corrupt in the county. He just hoped that before they were finished, they could give some more warm-ups and help him catch a big fish.

So, Heifu started his nonsense, poured a glass of wine, and had a heart-to-heart talk with Zhou Jin, who was frightened after being frightened.

"There is no need to be anxious about issuing secret orders. You and I both understand that the law strictly prohibits greed and amassing money. It is too difficult to do so."

"We are officials in a foreign county, thousands of miles away from home. We only have less than half of the money and food we send back to the place. We also have to support some staff and disciples, but the salary we receive is the same as in Guanzhong. We often make ends meet. This is really another problem. Let the horse run, and let the horse not eat grass.”

"Furthermore, Guandong is no different from Qin, where everyone is pursuing profit. The petty officials in those places are not willing to work diligently and only work for small profits. Therefore, when senior officials collect money, sometimes it is not for money, but a kind of Flexibility..."

He dipped his hands in wine, wrote the word "official" in official script on the desk, and began to recite lines from a TV series he had watched in his previous life:

"How to write the word "official"? There are two mouths, the upper one must be fed first, and then the lower one can be fed. If you want to govern the people, don't you have to rely on officials, big and small? If you can't feed them, who will Willing to do things for us!"

Zhou Zhen was stunned. Although he was corrupt, he felt guilty in his heart and was timid to disobey the law. However, the county guard took corruption as a matter of course! Great principles follow one after another, and the feelings are also among people of my generation?

Heifu became serious again: "I gave you a secret order. Do you know now why I don't track you down?"

Zhou Zhen shook his head honestly: "I don't know."

Heifu said: "You should also be aware that if this matter is investigated strictly, you will not be the only one who will be dismissed from office and lose his head. It may be all the officials in Xiami County, and even many senior officials in the county will be implicated!" "

"By then, half of Jiaodong's officials will be wiped out. How can I still manage the county? How will I cope with His Majesty's eastward tour that is about to begin soon?"

Speaking of this, Zhou Zhen finally realized it and thought to himself: "That's right. If we get to the bottom of it, Jiaodong will be in chaos. Without us county officials, we can cultivate the palace, open roads, dig gold mines, and collect rent and taxes. To urge the head of Guizhou to serve, who will do it for the county governor!?"

"People must learn to be flexible."

Hei Fu sighed: "I have been immersed in the officialdom for several years before I understood this truth. Not only should I not be too harsh on officials, but I should also be strict with wealthy families."

When Zhou Zhen heard this, he immediately felt that there was something in this statement.

Sure enough, Heifu Tuqiong saw this and suddenly asked: "I heard that you have a close relationship with the Yeyi Tian family?"

The Tian family in Yeyi was the benefactor who stuffed Zhou Zong. Not only him, but also the magistrate of Yeyi County and the brothers Tian Gu and Tian Du followed suit. After all, Yeyi was once a private town of the Tian family, with thousands of private armed forces and a huge reputation. It is no exaggeration to say that if the Tian brothers raised their arms in the market, they could mobilize thousands of people to seize the city and rebel!

This is the legacy left by Anping Jun Tiandan, which cannot be easily erased.

It was precisely because of the bribery of local officials that private salt sales in the two places led by the Yeyitian family were so rampant.

At this point, Zhou Zhen did not dare to shirk the lies and admitted that he often interacted with Tian Du.

"That's great. I have something I need you to help me with."

Zhou Zhen knew that his life was in the hands of the county guard, and whether he would kill or circumvent him all depended on one word, so he quickly said: "Just ask the county guard."

Heifu said: "I would like to invite Tian Gu, the head of the Tian family in Yeyi, to meet in Pingdu."

Pingdu is a township in Yeyi, not far from Xiami. A big event happened there recently. Heifu ordered people to search for mineral deposits throughout the county. Although a gold mine was discovered in Qucheng, Huang County, it was located deep in the mountains and was difficult to mine.

Pingdu also found a mine. Although it was not as big as Qucheng's, the veins were shallow and easy to dig, so they planned to set up a "gold mining" in Pingdu.

Heifu said: "After all, Yeyi was once the territory of the Tian family. We need the help of the Tian Gu brothers to start mining in Pingdu and organize manpower. We invited them to meet there just to discuss the matter."

Zhou Zhen understood that this was probably what the county governor meant by "flexibility". Alas, it seemed that after half a year here, he finally discovered that he could not rule the place without relying on the local powerful families.

But Zhou Zhen said weakly: "Tian Yu is a cautious person and never leaves Yeyi easily..."

Heifu sneered: "I am the county guard after all, why should I condescend to go to Yeyi to visit him? Choosing Pingdu instead of Jimo has already given Ashuda face! Come get the letter, I said, you write it!"

After asking Zhou Jin to write the letter, Heifu paced back and forth, feeling that this was not enough to win Tian Gu's trust and that he could not deceive this person, so he said:

"By the way, in the letter, please mention something to the Yeyitian family for me."

Hei Fu said sternly: "I have a nephew named Weiyang, who is sixteen years old. I heard that Tian Yu has a daughter, who is fourteen years old. I want to propose marriage to the Tian family on his behalf. I will accept the gift and marry her as my legitimate wife. The two families will always be happy." also!"