When Du Zhongxiao and his party arrived in Ye County, the sun had not set yet. After stepping off the special train, Du Zhongxiao looked around and couldn't find the shadow of four years ago. The development here is too fast, not like other prefectures and counties, which have not changed for decades.

The Baiting Supervisor Wu Junyong and the Ye County Magistrate Li Qi led the officials and waited at the station early and went forward to welcome them together.

After the ceremony, Wu Junyong said: "The Ye County Post Office has arranged a residence of Zhongcheng. Zhongcheng can take people there. Tonight, welcome the Zhongcheng, and the officials of our supervisor will pay a visit. Don't refuse."

Du Zhongxiao said: "This matter is easy to talk about. Yesterday, I posted a document from Ye County and asked all the Jian family and others involved in the case to be arrested. Is it done?"

Li Qi on the side said: "Return to the Central Chief, the officials have done so this morning. All the people involved have been put into jail."

Du Zhongxiao nodded, thought for a while and asked: "I have been fighting in the court for two days. Is there any news to Ye County? Is there any criminal running away?"

Li Qi said: "The court affairs did not reach the local area for a while, and the criminals knew nothing about the disputes between the court, which was a very lucky thing."

The case is not handled here, and the court is fighting over and over again. Du Zhongxiao is most afraid that the court will not find a result, and the criminal will receive the news first. He will be relieved after hearing Li Qi's words. With Yi Li's confession, this case is not complicated, just be careful.

Because Ye County is on the main transportation roads of north and south, there are many officials coming and going, and the inn is extremely luxuriously built. Du Zhongxiao lived in a separate courtyard and placed the people nearby, which is very convenient. When he went to the residence to change his casual clothes, Du Zhongxiao and Cheng Laiguang went to the welcoming banquet together.

They each sat down, and the magistrate Wu Junyong stood up and introduced the officials of Baitingjian and Ye County to Du Zhongxiao, saying: "The Chief Secretary came from afar, and all the officials were very happy. They prepared a lot of wine to welcome the Chief Secretary, and it was no wonder that they were shabby."

In recent years, as more and more railways have been paved, many central officials have begun to go on tour. Ye County has received many officials, and everyone has become accustomed to it. Du Zhongxiao said a few polite words and drank with everyone. After all, it is a big county, and the banquet is very rich.

After three rounds of drinking, all the officials talked about gossip and slowly went away.

Du Zhongxiao told Ng Junyong: "In recent years, Baitingjian collected a lot of money and grain, which is a place in the eyes of the court. However, I heard that there are too many customers here, the government is not in management, and the rule is very chaotic. The Bai family case is just an example, but in fact there are many such things in the local area."

Wu Junyong sighed: "Zhongcheng, there are few officials and many people in the Baitingjian, and the government really can't control it. It's like Baitingjian, with a population of nearly 100,000, but it is still a small state with a disparate official. If the cases that occur under the rule are not complete, it will be difficult to investigate."

Du Zhongxiao said: "This is also the truth. Seven or eight years ago, when I first built Baiting Supervisory Bureau, I had only managed a few thousand households, but now it has expanded more than ten times. There are still so many people in the government, and it is really impossible to manage the local area."

Ng Junyong said: "Fortunately, they are in charge of the major factories run by themselves, and there is no need for the government to intervene, otherwise the situation will be worse. I have submitted many memorials to upgrade Baiting Supervisory to a large prefecture and increase officials to come. The court just does not allow it."

This is a very embarrassing thing. The court believes that the Baiting Supervisor is very good now, and he collects a lot of money and grain, so he doesn't want to change it. He is afraid of something, but it will not affect the overall situation. Sending people to Baiting Supervisor has only strengthened the management of official affairs and sent more officials to serve as officials, but there is no change in the local area.

This is not a question for anyone, but the entire court, and I don’t know how to manage the changes that have taken place in Baitingjian. For thousands of years, agriculture has been the foundation of the world. This kind of industrially developed place is an alternative. The court avoids management locally and delegates power to the place.

What will happen if this continues? The local powers expand, eventually controlling the local area and even causing unrest. They may not be able to overthrow the government, and may be suppressed, and the new industry will also be hit.

This problem must be solved. The old political system was not suitable for management, so the political system must be reformed. Now it has been developed for less than ten years and chaos has been everywhere. If it is not sorted out, it will become more and more serious.

Du Zhongxiao said: "The court ruled the world, and it was nothing more than a peaceful country and peace. In recent years, there have been chaos in the Baiting Supervisory Bureau and a large number of cases have been accumulated. I heard that there have been many disputes in the local area, and no one will pay attention to the government even if it is reported."

Ng Junyong said: "This matter is really unfair. Apart from me, there is only one prosecutor and one recorder in the yamen. He is busy every day, so no one cares about it? There are only so many people, and the number of officials is limited, so I can't control it."

In the Song Dynasty, except for officials, they were actually public officials, and they all had to pay salaries. There were prescribed quotas. Baitingjian and Xiazhou had not many quotas, so how could they manage such a large place? Those who could be temporarily increased were just servants. Baitingjian is a place with developed industry, and most of them were customers. Where can they find such servants? The final result was like this.

In terms of system, the level of the prefecture is based on the households, and the local level will be raised with more population. However, most of the people who have increased in Baitingjian are customers, with a lot of mobility and cannot even complete household registration statistics. From the local government to the court, they just need to pass by.

Li Qi on the side said: "The court only wishes to open more factories here and collect more taxes, but he doesn't know that for the local government, there are not enough officials, and many things cannot be managed, and many troubles are the same. This is the case of Baiting Supervisory and Ye County. It is like the case of the Bai family. It was reported at that time and investigated based on evidence. It was like that. The descendants of the Bai family came to sue, but they could not find evidence, so they could only close the case."

Du Zhongxiao said: "I will live here in Ye County for a few days, learn about the place, and then report the report. If it is necessary to change, then change it early and don't cause any major trouble. The Bai family's case will be taken first and wait until Bao Tixing comes before trial."

Ng Junyong and Li Qi bowed together: "This is the best. We both have a slight word, and even if we report the memorial, no one will pay attention to it. The Chief Secretary is an important minister of the court. If we report the memorial on behalf of the local government, it will definitely be different."

Du Zhongxiao said: "I hope this is the case. By the way, Baiting Supervisor built many schools back then, how are you doing now?"

Ng Junyong said: "There is no money in the local area, so each factory can only build it themselves. Nowadays, several factories have their own schools, and those who have learned it go to the factory to do things. The best of the Iron Supervisor is the best. All children in the factory can study at school for three years and then take the exam for other schools."

Du Zhongxiao frowned and said nothing. The economy of Baitingjian should not be like this, but in fact it is like this. Due to the developed local economy, Baitingjian completely abolished all kinds of harsh and miscellaneous taxes and only collected taxes according to the court's laws. The Song Dynasty was a highly centralized system. The money collected by the local government belonged to the three departments and the money collected by the treasury in the prison was theoretically owned by the three departments. The money collected by the prison was to save money. Strictly speaking, there was no complete financial power in the local area, and there was very little money that could be misappropriated in his hands. Baitingjian collected a lot of money, which belonged to the court, and local officials did not have money.

Because the local area is developed, Baitingjian works here and temporarily uses money, so he can ask local big investors to donate this kind of money. Whether it is willing to donate or not, he has to take it out, which is the so-called harsh donation. With the economy developed, there will be more such donations, which is easier to do than ordinary prefectures and counties.

This era has a completely different relationship with the central and local governments in Du Zhongxiao's memory. In order to eliminate the harm of the vassal states, Taizu acquired local financial power and changed the structure of officials. The local government's threat to the central government was less, and its governance ability was weaker.

While talking to Ng Junyong and Li Qi, Du Zhongxiao thought secretly. With the development of the economy, the original political structure is no longer in line with reality. How can we change it so that the emperor and officials can accept it.
Chapter completed!