Ch. 35 - Overbearing and Unreasonable

After receiving the document, Sun Shaozong naturally needed to report to the leader in charge of the office, the Governor of the Department, Liu Chongshan.

Unlike Authority Chen, Liu Chongshan was very disciplined. He just threw a lot of old cases and files that happened before the Chinese New Year that he hadn’t gotten to collect evidence in and sent him off to the Assistant Prefectural Magistrate's exclusive courtyard.

That was normal; after all, he had just suffered a setback a few days ago and had to be forced by the situation to publicize Sun Shaozong's reputation on his behalf. His praise for Sun Shaozong was still in his ears. It was not good to turn around and disown people right away.

Besides, although Liu Chongshan was the supervisor, Sun Shaozong, the Assistant Prefectural Magistrate, as a Deputy, has the right to checks and balances in governance. If he went too far, Sun Shaozong could even directly impeach Liu Chongshan in court.

So at least on the surface, he didn’t dare intimidate him too much.

At this point, it seemed necessary to explain the General Division of Labor of the Central Judicial Office.

In the past, when Sun Shaozong watched ancient costume dramas, it seemed that everything was handled by the Governor of a Prefecture. Only the Central Judicial Office was the third-grade Governor of a Prefecture, and the others were the fourth-grade magistrates of a Prefecture. But in reality, if it were true, the Governor of a Prefecture would have been tried to death 800 times!

The Governor of the Prefecture, who was a top-ranking official, was equivalent to the Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee in the Central Judicial Office. Although he nominally took charge of the overall situation and could intervene in everything, he rarely dealt with specific details.

The fourth-grade prefect was equivalent to a Mayor, who focused on invigorating large cases while providing relaxing control over small ones but managed a little more detail than the Governor.

The fifth grade of Governance could be compared to the Secretary of the Political and Legal Committee and the President of the court. They have the right to open a court session to pronounce s and investigate cases.

These three people were also honored as ”Magistrates and Superior Officials” in the government office, that was, officials who could be promoted to the court to ask questions. The remaining officials, big and small, were not qualified to be promoted independently, regardless of their power.

Three persons in total were in charge of the money, grain, finance and taxation, salt and iron, registered residence, and criminal cases.

Sun Shaozong, as an Assistant Prefectural Magistrate by name, was equivalent to a Chief of Police in terms of his functions and powers. He has no right to be promoted to court for a trial. He could only independently or assist his superiors in investigating cases and providing investigation results and various proofs.

Although it couldn't compare with the prestige of ”Court Officials,” there was also a privilege that court officials didn’t have, which was the right to investigate and cooperate in cases.

That was to say before they could be sent to the Ministry of Punishment to close the case, they had to be reviewed and approved by him, regardless of who was involved—the Prefecture Governor, the Prefecture Chief, or the major cases that would be tried by the Ministry of the Department.

If Sun Shaozong disagreed with the result of the trial, he could ask for a new trial. He was usually replaced by the Ministry of the Department, followed by the Governor of the Prefecture, and finally the Prefecture Chief. If he was still unhappy with the outcome of the new trial, he could also make another appeal to the Ministry of Punishment for a decision.

If the Ministry of Punishment decided that the trial result was unfair, the Govenor of the Criminal Department would be in big trouble.

Because of this, Liu Chongshan left 30% of his scruples about Sun Shaozong behind.

Next, there were Local Authority Officers, Training Officers who were in charge of Reconnaissance and Audit work, the Magistrate of a County, the Discipline Officer, Inspectors, and so on. Officials from the seventh grade to lower-class government officials were either in charge of specific details or would assist the three generals in presiding over the executive work.

In other words, although Sun Shaozong's rank was not high in the Central Judicial Office, there was no doubt about his authority.

—Dividing Line—

When Sun Shaozong arrived at the northwest side of the Ministry of the Department compound, a small courtyard dedicated to the Criminals of the Prefectural Judge, there had already been a group of lower-ranked officials waiting to meet their new superior.

Because the highest of these people was only a successful candidate in the imperial examinations, no one dared to be presumptuous in front of Sun Shaozong. Of course, it was hard to say whether they would secretly do everything in their power to obstruct him.

Among them was an old acquaintance, Zhao Wuwei, who was the leader of the horse-faced guards.

Zhao Wuwei was in charge of more than a dozen captors, with more than 300 unlawful officials and non-staffed temporary workers outside. According to his rights, he was at least the Captain of the Criminal Police Department, but he was at the bottom rank of the Central Judicial Office. Among a few low-ranking officials, he couldn’t even reach the front, only standing in the last row at the corner.

When these dozen officials came forward to greet him one by one, the leader, the eighth-grade County Magistrate Lin Delu, also presented the official seal of his predecessor, who died of an emergency, so there was no handover ceremony.

Sun Shaozong carefully put away the official seal and said a few words of honor. Seeing the sparse responses below, he knew that these people had their own different thoughts. It was estimated that only a few would turn closer to him, so he simply announced the dissolution.

All the officials immediately scattered off like animals, and Zhao Wuwei also mixed with them and went out of the courtyard.

After walking around outside and seeing no one was paying attention, Zhao Wuwei turned back quietly, hesitated for a long time in the yard, and finally gritted his teeth and walked to the front door of the main room.

"Master, it’s me. I have something to report..."

Just outside the door, he said the words respectfully. Then he heard Sun Shaozong's voice, "Is it, Leader Zhao? I have been waiting for you for a long time. Come in and talk."

Zhao Wuwei was stunned when he heard the speech. There were three main rooms where the Assistant Prefectural Magistrate of the Criminal was located, namely the living room, study room, and bedroom. Sun Shaozong's voice came from the study room on the east side. It was reasonable to say that the outside situation could not be seen.

Is it possible that the Assistant Prefectural Magistrate can predict the future? How else would he know I was going to turn back!

Thinking like this, Zhao Wuwei didn't dare to hesitate at his feet. He hurriedly walked his shoulder sideways into the study room, bowed his body, raised his face, and inquired carefully, "Master, how did you know I was coming?"

While sorting out the official documents on the writing table, Sun Shaozong smiled and said, "I asked someone to inquire about you. You are a trusted follower of the former General Judge. The former General Judge had some friction with the Ministry of the Department Liu. Now I'm afraid he won't easily accept your refuge. Otherwise, he wouldn't have arranged for you to find me a few days ago."

Speaking of this, he looked up at Zhao Wuwei's horse-face and said with a smile, "Besides, you just stood in the corner, twisting around like a monkey. If I can't see what's hidden in your heart, won't I be blind?"

Indeed, he deserved to be called the ”Divine s of the Assistant Prefectural Magistrate Sun!”

Zhao Wuwei exclaimed in his heart when he saw that the official documents on the writing table had been sorted out in a short time. There was no confusion, like with the novices. It seemed that he was more familiar with such things than the old officials, who were used to doing such things; thus, he had more confidence in himself.

So he quickly knelt on his knees and bowed his head, saying, "The Master is as good as a torch! Now I’m helpless. I have offended Governor Liu, so I can only shelter under the Master's protection. If the Master is willing to take care of me, I will surely be local and give my best ability to work under your command!"

After these words, he kneeled on the ground and waited for the result. Unexpectedly, a thigh-thick arm suddenly stretched out and pulled him up from the ground!

Zhao Wuwei was startled. He was about to struggle, but he was facing Sun Shaozong's eagle-like eyes. He bluffed that half of his body was soft. How could he still struggle?

Sun Shaozong stared at his horse-like face and said with a warm smile, "I don't care if your words are sincere or false. Since you want to be a lackey under me, you'd better not be half-hearted! The Ministry of the Department Liu can at most let you lose your official position and dismiss you from office, but if you dare to betray me... You said that with my ability, if I go over your resident wall in the middle of the night and kill all your family members, can anyone find out later?"

His smile was like the spring breeze blowing on his face, but his words were like a sword. They were cold and sharp!

Zhao Wuwei has often seen the fierce words and expressions of civil servants. It was the first time he had seen such an overbearing and unreasonable boss who was prone to destroying people!

Fortunately, it was a good thing that he usually dealt with those big thieves. He had a bit of courage. Then he hurriedly said in a trembling voice, "Mas... Master, I dare not have two minds!"

"Haha..."

Sun Shaozong laughed, gently put him back on the ground, and patted him on the shoulder. "It's just a joke. Don't be so serious. Tell me, what do you want to report to me?"

If he believed this was a joke, Zhao Wuwei was a big fool!

However, he did not dare to interpret further and hurriedly explained his intention, "Master, I heard that people in the Yamen would embarrass you at the reception banquet!"

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