Chapter 240: The conflict between clerks and county magistrates is the biggest problem of Ming Dynasty administration
As the saying goes, it is easy to see the King of Hell, but difficult to deal with little devils!

Through some later costume film and television dramas, as well as the recent investigations of Jinyiwei and Yinlongwei, Zhu Gang discovered that yamen runners could be so arrogant and domineering.

Just because they did not get the corresponding benefits, they were able to break the other party's token in front of the plaintiff.

According to the relevant regulations of the Ming Dynasty: once the signal token is broken, it means that the person concerned does not obey the summons and can be sentenced to "contempt of court".

In the Ming Dynasty, when central power was at its peak, disrespecting the court was tantamount to disrespecting the royal law.

With such a big hat put on them, ordinary people could only pay money to the constables and yamen runners responsible for summoning them.

All plaintiffs who were able to argue reasonably have been arrested, and it is even more impossible to let go of those defendants who were already in the wrong.

It was passed down to later generations and became a common saying.

"The gate of the yamen faces south. They eat the plaintiff and the defendant. If you have a reason but no money, don't come in!"

However, considering that Zhu Yuanzhang already had a very serious prejudice against clerks.

It was naturally impossible for Zhu Gang to state these investigation results directly.

This time he returned to Yingtian Prefecture halfway because he wanted to completely resolve the current situation of "valuing officials and neglecting clerks" in the Ming Dynasty while dealing with the "Yixing case".

"Dad, I always thought that as long as we increase the salaries of Ming officials, we can greatly change the current administrative situation.

However, it was not until I left Yingtian this time and really went deep into the people that I discovered that the conflict between the clerks and the county officials was the biggest problem. "

Zhu Yuanzhang obviously did not believe that clerks, as grassroots staff, could completely undermine the power of the county magistrate.

“No matter how powerful those police chiefs and yamen runners are, they are just clerks without any rank.

The magistrate is at least a seventh-rank official, so how could he allow his subordinates to deceive him? "

Zhu Gang said bluntly: "The county magistrate is just a temporary official who serves for three years. The truly powerful people will be demoted to other places after three years.

During this period, they would just be friendly with the clerks and try not to make the relationship awkward.

Besides, the clerks are often the power of families accumulated over generations, and ordinary county officials really can't beat them!"

Zhu Yuanzhang gnashed his teeth and said, "This is exactly the main reason why Dad banned the clerks from taking the imperial examinations. They are so rampant even though they have no rank or status.

If I really have the chance to become a court official, I will definitely be more extreme than those parasites in the "Empty Seal Case."

Zhu Gang shook his head and said, “In fact, whether it is the Imperial Edict or the Nine Laws of the Ming Dynasty, they ultimately need someone to execute them in order to be implemented.

If we cannot solve the Ming Dynasty's problem of 'valuing officials over neglecting clerks', even the best policies will be difficult to achieve the desired effect when they are implemented at the local level."

At this stage, the Ming Dynasty basically adopted the appointment measure of "serving officials in other places", so there was a common situation that "the county magistrate was an official from other places, and the clerks were locals".

Moreover, the constables and yamen runners are locals, and they have been in collusion with each other for generations.

As the saying goes, the law does not hold everyone responsible. The magistrate could at most dismiss a few people, but it was impossible for all the constables to lose their jobs.

In addition, the county magistrate was not familiar with the local situation, so if he wanted to get things done he could only rely on local constables and yamen runners.

Otherwise, taxes cannot be collected and policies cannot be implemented.

"If we issue an order to ban the hereditary system of clerks and strengthen the assessment of local officials, can we change this situation?"

Looking at Zhu Yuanzhang who still had illusions, Zhu Gang directly wrote the five words "national power does not extend below the county level" on the paper.

“Many of the clerks are from the side branches of local gentry.

If the county magistrate fell out with the constables and yamen runners, he would in a sense offend the local nobles. You adopted the local governance policy of "national power does not go below the county level" for cost considerations.

But in the end it provided fertile ground for those wealthy aristocrats to abuse their power for personal gain.

If a county magistrate wants to get things done, he cannot do without clerks; if a county magistrate wants to get things done, he cannot compare with them.

If you were the county magistrate, how would you deal with these clerks?"

After a short silence, Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and said, "Then let's ban the local nobles from becoming clerks and give the opportunities to the children of ordinary people.

They are children of farmers, they will definitely not bully the common people like those tycoons!"

Seeing that his father still didn't grasp the crux of the matter, Zhu Gang simply asked bluntly: "The monthly salary of clerks in various government offices is only one stone. Do you think that except for the children of wealthy and aristocratic families who have no worries about food and clothing, ordinary people would let their children become clerks?"

Just when Zhu Yuanzhang was rendered speechless by his third son, the voice of Crown Prince Zhu Biao suddenly sounded outside the imperial study.

"Dad, you are really smart all your life, but you are foolish for a moment!

Why don't you just ask how Third Brother handled this situation while he was in Taiyuan?"

After hearing Zhu Biao's reminder, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly became enlightened.

"Your elder brother is smart, but you are the one who beats around the bush when you speak.

Now tell me how you handled the conflicts between the clerks and the county magistrate during your stay in Taiyuan."

Zhu Gang took a sip of tea slowly, and then slowly spoke at Zhu Yuanzhang's urging.

"In fact, there are two ways to solve this problem. One is to significantly increase the salaries of clerks, thereby encouraging the children of ordinary people to take the initiative to apply for corresponding positions.

Another way is to let the existing clerks see the hope of promotion, so as to reduce the possibility of them forming cliques and engaging in private activities in the local area. "

Zhu Biao said with a puzzled look in his eyes: "The current annual fiscal revenue of our Ming Dynasty can only support a team of more than 8 officials.

If the salaries of clerks were to be raised substantially, it would inevitably place a huge burden on the national treasury.

But if we transfer those clerks who are familiar with the local conditions, how can we guarantee that their successors will have the same excellent work ability?"

Zhu Gang smiled and explained, "All county officials in Taiyuan will be evaluated on their government affairs every year.

As long as one can meet the corresponding standards, he can be promoted from a constable or yamen runner with no rank to a patrol inspector of the ninth rank.

As long as the six-room county clerk performs well and passes the government affairs assessment within a year, he can be promoted to the ninth-rank county chief clerk.

Even a coroner of low status can obtain a place in the government affairs assessment through outstanding performance in daily life.

To be honest, Gu Xiuqi and Zhong Boxian, who were transferred to the court by my father, are outstanding talents selected by me from among the clerks. "

Zhu Yuanzhang asked in confusion: "Although there are as many as 22 ninth-rank officials in our Ming Dynasty, most of them are not local officials.

You conduct a government review every year, so how can you assign so many positions to clerks?"

Zhu Gang picked up the wolf-hair brush on the table and wrote down "Shiye", a special profession that only developed in the middle and late Qing Dynasty.

"I divide legal advisors into six categories: book advisors, criminal advisors, money advisors, levy advisors, registration advisors, and account advisors.

Only officials of the ninth rank who have passed the government affairs assessment are eligible to apply for this position."

(End of this chapter)