My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 394 "Memorial Requesting the Establishment of a Patrol and Inspection Commissioner's Office to Oversee the Situation"

After Wang Renzhong came out of Hai Rui's official residence, Hai Rui handed over the documents containing the accusations to Wang Renzhong after he made those remarks.

With these documents in hand, Wang Renzhong began investigating the issues at each of the various offices he visited.

The five-gate patrol censors were a complete slap in the face to these lowly patrolmen.

These cases themselves were handled in an extremely crude manner, even to the point of being blatantly brutal.

Therefore, after Wang Renzhong arrived at these patrol stations, he quickly addressed these issues.

The subsequent processing was also very swift.

The Five Gates Patrol Censorate was the superior office of the patrol and arresting officers. Wang Renzhong swept away these bad apples like autumn leaves in the wind and brought them to justice.

Wang Renzhong had been busy for five days. Early in the morning, he was about to leave the city to handle a case involving the outer gate patrol camp when he was stopped by the people as soon as he left the city.

Wang Renzhong thought it was the common people blocking the carriage to appeal their grievances, so he got off the carriage, only to find that it was a few village elders holding an umbrella and blocking the carriage.

"Imperial Censor Wang! We are villagers from the outskirts of Beijing. Imperial Censor Wang, please redress our grievances! This is a 'Ten Thousand People Umbrella' made by twenty-five villages in the outskirts of Beijing!"

As his subordinate handed him the "Ten Thousand People Umbrella," Wang Renzhong felt a strange sensation as he touched it.

When he was studying, Wang Renzhong read the classics and also had the idea of ​​establishing a destiny for the people.

Wang Renzhong was happiest when he passed the imperial examinations step by step, finally became a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), and then stayed in the Censorate as he wished.

He also felt a surge of ambition, wanting to become a pillar of the Ming Dynasty, just like those upright individuals.

However, after serving as an official for many years, Wang Renzhong rose step by step from the Anti-Smuggling Censor to the Five Gates Patrol Censor, but his original aspirations for serving as an official were becoming increasingly distant.

Wang Renzhong felt that he had accomplished nothing during his many years in the Censorate, except for the period when he was preparing to establish the patrol battalion.

He once wanted to ask his friend Su Ze, but then felt he was being pretentious and ultimately didn't bring himself to ask.

But today, as he received this umbrella for the people, Wang Renzhong was reminded of the aspirations he made when he was a young student.

Back then, I had the idea of ​​making a difference for all people, but I didn't have the ability to help others stand up for themselves.

Today, as the Imperial Inspector of the Five Gates, I have the power to speak out for the common people, but I don't know why I have forgotten this original intention.

After recalling his original aspirations, and seeing the village elders kneeling on the ground, Wang Renzhong quickly stepped forward and helped them up one by one, sincerely saying:
"The blame for the corruption in the police force lies with Wang. You elders are unworthy of the punishment you have received!"

Wang Renzhong insisted on refusing to accept the "umbrella of ten thousand people" and then went to the most remote patrol station on the outskirts of Beijing to continue the work of reorganizing the patrol station.
-
May 7th, newspaper office.

Shen Yiguan rushed into the newspaper office, but did not see Su Ze.

Since things started going smoothly at the post office, Su Ze, the right-wing councilor, has been frequently slacking off at the newspaper office.

During this time, nothing major happened at the Court of State Ceremonial, and Shen Yiguan often visited the newspaper office.

Luo Wanhua said:
"I was invited by Brother Qingpu (Wang Renzhong's courtesy name) to go to the outer city patrol camp."

"Is it about the Grand Censor's efforts to reform officialdom?"

Luo Wanhua nodded, but then he said:

"Master Hai just submitted a memorial prohibiting the use of ancient terms. Does Brother Jianwu want to be fined?"

Shen Yiguan burst into laughter.

No one could have imagined that Hai Rui's great sword of the Ming Dynasty would strike their newspaper office with its first blow!
Hai Rui's first memorial was a request to the court to ban all kinds of complicated ancient titles and to standardize the titles of officials.

As a result, the first newspaper to be affected was the Yuefu Xinbao.

The Yuefu Xinbao newspaper published several reports on officials' conduct, all of which used ancient terms commonly used in official circles. Hai Rui then discovered this and ordered Shen Zao, the anti-smuggling censor in charge of copyright and other matters under the Censorate, to impeach the Yuefu Xinbao newspaper.

As a result, the editorial department of Yuefu Xinbao was reprimanded by the cabinet, fined, and had to publish an apology in the newspaper.

For this matter, Luo Wanhua was ridiculed by Shen Yiguan for a while.

Shen Yiguan laughed heartily, but when he thought of the recent madness of the Censorate, he could no longer laugh.

After Hai Rui entered the capital, all the officials were extremely cautious.

Hai Rui immediately launched an impeachment storm.

Hai Rui first impeached some officials who had poor private morals and bad reputations.

However, Hai Rui did not attack them directly on their moral character. Instead, he collected evidence of their violations of the Ming Code before he began to impeach them.

Faced with irrefutable evidence, Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng were also troubled by these names.

Hai Rui truly did not take sides. Among the officials he impeached were protégés and former subordinates of Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng. As long as they violated the laws of the Ming Dynasty, Hai Rui impeached them without fail.

Faced with irrefutable evidence, Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng naturally did not protect anyone, and these impeachment memorials were sent to the palace.

The Longqing Emperor was furious when he saw these impeachment memorials.

Over the years, the Longqing Emperor always felt that his reign was a golden age.

In fact, these feelings are not wrong.

In the years since Emperor Longqing ascended the throne, the lives of ordinary people have indeed improved.

But when Hai Rui exposed these corrupt officials, Emperor Longqing finally understood what the officialdom was really like.

Among the officials impeached by Hai Rui, the highest-ranking was a junior official in the Ministry of Justice, accused of colluding with the Zhenfu Division to extort money from the families of prisoners.

The rest were officials with low rank but in very important positions.

One of the minor officials in Shuntian Prefecture, who was in charge of collecting taxes at the city gates, embezzled nearly 20,000 silver dollars in two years, a figure that greatly shocked the Longqing Emperor.

Many medium-sized counties in inland areas don't even have this much tax revenue in a year. How could a low-ranking official like him embezzle so many silver dollars?

However, the Longqing Emperor later believed it as well.

The Censorate did indeed find these silver dollars in the official's home.

Faced with such overwhelming evidence, Emperor Longqing naturally approved Hai Rui's memorial in its entirety, dismissing all these officials and transferring them to the judicial authorities for prosecution.

Thinking of Hai Rui, Shen Yiguan said with lingering fear:
"Qingpu is probably having a tough time."

Luo Wanhua nodded and said:

"Yes, otherwise Brother Qingpu wouldn't have asked Brother Zilin for help."

Shen Yiguan sighed and said, "This Great Ming Divine Sword is indeed extraordinary. I heard that several Jinshi candidates who were selected for the provincial examination this year were so frightened that they no longer want to stay in the Censorate."

Luo Wanhua was still shaken.

Hai Rui's arrival in the capital put the entire Ming Dynasty bureaucracy on edge.

Although Hai Rui has not impeached a single high-ranking official to date, the fact that so many of his subordinates have been brought to justice naturally serves as a deterrent.

Upon closer examination, are all the high-ranking officials in these government departments truly innocent?
Even if they were unaware of it, they would still be guilty of failing to properly manage their subordinates.

Everyone understood the sharpness of this great Ming Dynasty sword and felt what it meant to have a thorn in their side.

Shen Yiguan sighed and said:
“These days, the Grand Herald, oh no, the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies Wang, is also having a hard time.”

"Lord Hai impeached several officials of the Court of State Ceremonial, but who would have thought that the head of the guesthouse could also embezzle so many silver dollars!"

Luo Wanhua asked curiously:

"Even the person in charge of the guesthouse can embezzle?" Shen Yiguan nodded and said:
"Yes, that person in charge actually embezzled the best ingredients from the guesthouse and replaced them with inferior ingredients from the market to pass them off as high-quality ones!"

"Lord Wang is also having a headache. He demands that the guesthouse must keep clear accounts from now on and conduct regular inspections."

Shen Yiguan sighed:

"Lord Hai also said that the Censorate will keep an eye on these positions where the incidents occurred. If the successors commit the same offenses, Lord Wang will likely be impeached by the Censorate for failing to properly manage his subordinates."

Luo Wanhua nodded and said, "As Brother Zilin also said, preventing corruption is more difficult than fighting corruption."

Shen Yiguan seemed to realize something and asked, "So, Brother Zilin was invited over by Brother Qingpu also because of the matter of the patrol camp's anti-corruption measures?"

Luo Wanhua nodded and said:

"Yes, the patrol camp was originally designed by Brother Zilin, so Brother Qingpu can only turn to him."
-
Police stations outside the capital and the outer city.

"Brother Zilin, do you mean to establish a special supervisory department to oversee the patrol police?"

Su Ze nodded and said:

“A good police officer must know the local conditions, but in doing so, each patrol station will become increasingly closed off, and the supervision within the patrol station will naturally become ineffective.”

Wang Ren nodded.

He has visited all the patrol stations in the past few days and has a very good understanding of the most basic patrol stations.

These patrol officers who get into trouble are often the most capable and skilled officers in their respective patrol stations.

Their colleagues, in fact, were more or less aware of their misdeeds.

But since everyone was a colleague, no one reported or exposed them.

Some corrupt patrol officers would spend the money they embezzled on the public, and these people often became the "capable people" of the entire patrol station, gaining the support of everyone.

In fact, Wang Renzhong was also very heartbroken.

Among them were many professional police officers who had graduated from the police training program. Many of them were the backbone of the police stations and had made contributions to maintaining the security of the capital when the police battalion was first established.

Su Ze said:

"Therefore, relying on internal supervision is ineffective; a dedicated inspection team needs to be established to conduct effective supervision."

"Brother Qingpu, therefore I suggest establishing a special inspection team, led by an imperial censor from the Censorate, to be specifically responsible for supervising the patrol and arrest teams inside and outside the capital city."

Wang Renzhong finally nodded and said:
"Brother Zilin, have you prepared your memorial yet?"

Su Ze pulled a memorial from his sleeve and handed it to Wang Renzhong.

Wang Renzhong picked up the memorial.

Memorial Requesting the Establishment of a Special Circuit for Police Inspection

Su Ze begins by describing the impact of petty corruption on the imperial court:

"The harm caused by lice and weevils is not only a drain on the people's wealth, but also a disgrace to the imperial court."

Su Ze analyzed the reasons for corruption in the police force and concluded:
"The first is that 'patrol stations are isolated and their supervisors are part of the same group.' Patrol officers have been stationed in the area for a long time, are familiar with the local people, and have also formed personal relationships. Whenever someone commits a crime, they either intimidate their colleagues or share the spoils to keep quiet, making the system of reporting and exposing such crimes virtually ineffective."

"Secondly, 'power and responsibility are scattered, and there is no way to investigate and punish.' Although the Censorate oversees all the departments, the affairs of the five cities are vast. The censors' inspections are like a fleeting glance, making it difficult to notice the details; the people's complaints are blocked at each level and often get stuck in the prefectures and counties. If small gaps are not plugged, they will eventually lead to the collapse of the long dike."

Su Ze proposed setting up a "Patrol and Inspection Commission" specifically for oversight.

A new Circuit of Police Inspection was established under the Censorate, with one Censor in charge, to oversee the inspection of police forces inside and outside the capital.

This circuit was directly under the jurisdiction of the Vice Censor-in-Chief, and reports were submitted directly to the Censorate, not under the jurisdiction of the Five City Censors, in order to avoid obstruction.

At the same time, the "direct access for public nominations" system was reopened to supplement official oversight.

Following the example of the Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Imperial Guard, a system of submitting secret memorials was established, with copper boxes for submitting confidential memorials placed outside the gates of each patrol post.

Letters from the people were delivered directly to the Inspectorate by the Inspector, and a reply was required within three days. Those who verified the facts were rewarded for reporting the crime, while those who made false accusations were punished.

Su Ze concluded by writing:
"The decay of flies is no less harmful than that of tigers."

"The imperial court must not only fight tigers, but also eradicate flies, using swift and decisive measures to cure this scabies!"

After reading Su Ze's memorial, Wang Renzhong repeatedly said:
"Brother Zilin, please give me this memorial. I will contact the five city gate patrol censors and ask them to jointly submit it."

Su Ze said meaningfully:

"It's good that you have such a public-spirited attitude, Brother Qingpu, but you can try it out."

Wang Renzhong looked at Su Ze with some doubt. In his opinion, Su Ze's memorial was excellent. Could anyone object to it?
-
Memorial Requesting the Establishment of a Special Circuit for Police Inspection

——[Simulation Start]——

Wang Renzhong took the memorial "Requesting the Establishment of a Special Circuit for Surveillance" and requested the joint signature of the five city gate patrol censors.

Three of the imperial censors who patrolled the city explicitly opposed your memorial.

Wang Renzhong and you jointly signed the memorial, which was then sent to the cabinet.

The cabinet supported your memorial, but when it was sent to the inner court, it was opposed by the Censorate.

The Censorate submitted a memorial arguing that there was no need to establish a separate Inspectorate, and that the supervision of the capital's police force should be entrusted to the Inspectors of the Five Gates.

The Longqing Emperor agreed to establish the "Inspectorate of Police and Constables," but did not set up a separate Censorate for inspection as per your memorial.

——[Simulation End]——

[Remaining Prestige: 1690.]

[To approve your memorial, you need to pay 400 prestige points. Do you wish to pay?]

Indeed, the right to supervise is a very important right.

The other five city patrol censors were not as easy to talk to as Wang Renzhong.

They were not opposed to the establishment of "inspectorates and supervisors," but rather to the court taking away their supervisory power.

Su Ze naturally chose "yes" without hesitation.

[Prestige points have been deducted, leaving 1290 prestige points. Please complete the memorial as soon as possible and await its effect.]

Su Ze closed the "Handheld Ming Dynasty Court" and sighed softly.

That's how it is. For the other five city gate patrol censors, the establishment of a separate supervising censor was tantamount to taking power away from them. This kind of supervision made them feel that someone was deliberately finding fault with them.

In reality, if they are left to their own devices, the supervisory power will become a mere formality. In this world, those who can constantly reflect on themselves and supervise themselves, like Hai Rui, are a very small minority.

Looking back at Hai Rui's actions, Su Ze could only say that he had initially thought Hai Rui was an honest official, but he never expected that beneath Hai Rui's seemingly upright exterior lay a great deal of political wisdom.

Rectifying the governance of officials at the grassroots level may seem like a small matter, but it has a significant effect on improving the atmosphere of governance and is the action that allows ordinary people to feel the improvement in governance.

After all, most ordinary people can only come into contact with these petty corruption cases, and the impact of these petty corruption cases is very bad.

Hai Rui used this move to solidify his position, which can be considered as polishing his sword sheath.

Su Ze eagerly awaited the moment when he would actually draw his sword.

(End of this chapter)