There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 291 The Wise King of Han
After hearing this, Nie Yu had a pretty good idea of ​​what the village covenant was.

To put it simply, it's similar to clan rules within a clan system, except that village covenants are an enlarged version of clan rules, enforced through the local village head system.

The reason why Feng Xiuyong chose to report the case to the highest authorities can be analyzed in two aspects.

First of all, this case was indeed just an ordinary minor case, even a trivial one, which could have been resolved by the mayor of Huangxikou Town without the need for the magistrate of Xupu County. The key point was that the villagers did not choose to report it to the authorities, but instead left it to the village rules for adjudication.

If village covenants can replace the law, then what about the newly promulgated "New Laws of the Great Han Dynasty"?

This is a contradiction between the village covenant and the "New Laws of the Great Han Dynasty".

Secondly, after receiving the case, Feng Xiuyong immediately conducted a detailed investigation and statistics, and found that since he took office as the governor of Hunan, the number of criminal lawsuits in Hunan had decreased by nearly 30% in the past year.

This is no ordinary matter. Criminal cases have shrunk by 30%. There may be some credit to the peace and prosperity of the Han Dynasty, but no matter what, it cannot be reduced so quickly. There must be a problem somewhere.
The two villagers involved in this case initially sought the town mayor's intervention, but after the mayor acquiesced, they changed their approach to having the village elder adjudicate the case.

Such familiarity with the place suggests that the village covenant has existed in Huangxikou Town for a long time.

This is just Huangxikou Town. What about the other towns and villages under the rule of the Han Dynasty?

So many towns and villages have started to promote village covenants, but the key issue is that the Han government doesn't know the details.

The gentry lost most of their land under the rule of the Han Dynasty, but they still retained their class privileges. That's why they secretly promoted village covenants, hoping to use them to infiltrate and seize control of the Han Dynasty's grassroots.
The village chiefs and peasant associations established under the rule of the Han dynasty found the village covenants useful, as they mostly taught people to be virtuous. Therefore, they actively cooperated with the gentry to promote the village covenants, completely ignoring the hidden dangers within them.

After reading the case handed over by Nie Yu, which included two hidden dangers specifically pointed out by Feng Xiuyong, Zuo Guanlan immediately cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, the village covenant system is an outdated relic of the past, long since corrupted and decayed. It should be buried in the world forever, rather than being revived by those gentry in an attempt to undermine the foundation of our Great Han!"

Unlike the conservative views of Feng Xiuyong and his group, Zuo Guanlan, as a young man, had more radical ideas and believed that the village covenant system should be completely abolished.

Since the "New Laws of the Great Han Dynasty" already exist, what need is there for village covenants?
If the village covenant continues to exist under the guise of its existence, then when villagers commit crimes in the future, will they be judged according to the village covenant or according to the "Great Han Law"?
Nie Yu did not immediately respond to Zuo Guanlan's idea, but pondered it repeatedly, and reviewed the case records and the opinions and suggestions of Hunan officials at all levels regarding the case.

After a while.

Nie Yu said, "Let's talk about this case first! The local government should be ordered to strictly follow the 'New Laws of the Great Han Dynasty' in this case. Since it was just a simple quarrel and fight, it should be judged according to the regulations for quarrels and fights. No favoritism or perversion of the law is allowed!"

Hearing that the judgment was based on the "New Laws of the Great Han Dynasty," Zuo Guanlan was not surprised, and then asked, "What about the village covenant system?"

“There’s no need to completely abolish the village covenant.” Nie Yu shook his head slightly. It’s not that the Han Dynasty needed the village covenant system, but rather that it was already deeply ingrained in people’s hearts, and even if it were abolished, the effect would be minimal.

In many towns and villages, village covenants have become a consensus among the people, and most of these covenants are certainly meant to encourage people to do good and help each other, so there is no need to ban them all.

Although the Han Dynasty extended its power to the grassroots level through town mayors, village chiefs, and peasant associations, it would be a good complement to the Han Dynasty's new laws and the extension of power to the countryside if it could be supplemented by village covenants and managed within the framework of the new laws.

Nie Yu made a decision: "We can have all the townships and villages submit their village covenants, which will be coordinated by the government. The parts that teach people to do good can be retained. Those that contradict the 'New Laws of the Great Han' can be deleted or modified according to the actual situation, and then combined into a 'Village Covenant of the Great Han'."

"Well, let's publish this in the next issue of the Great Han Gazette so that everyone in the world can see it. Don't say that the government is interfering with the village covenants; the government is just standardizing and unifying the village covenants."

"Furthermore, even if the newly drafted village covenant is to be implemented in the future, it cannot be presided over by the gentry, but should be jointly adjudicated by the farmers' association and the village head. If there are any disagreements, they should be reported to the town head for mediation. Moreover, every time the village covenant is adjudicated, it must be reported to the town head for record-keeping."

In short, the village covenant system can be retained, but the Han government must be involved in its formulation.

Of course, the Han dynasty would not interfere with the content of the village covenant, and in doing so, it also deprived the gentry of the possibility of using the village covenant to vie for grassroots voice.

"Yes." Zuo Guanlan responded and withdrew to convey the imperial decree to the cabinet.

After thinking for a moment, Nie Yu wrote another edict on the table, stamped it with his personal seal, and then summoned a secretary to deliver it to the Ministry of Revenue. This edict was to be drafted by the Ministry of Revenue to distribute salaries to the village chiefs.

Not paying salaries is no longer an option. Although the Han Dynasty had established village chiefs, they were not actually considered part of the official system. Just like the former clerks, they only had the status of clerks, barely considered part of the system, and had the power to manage the village, but they didn't receive a single penny in salary.

So, these village chiefs might be very excited at first, thinking they've become officials. But once the novelty wears off, they find themselves managing so many trivial matters every day, keeping themselves extremely busy, and then not getting a penny, generating electricity purely out of love.

Gradually, the village chiefs became complacent, unlike the town mayor and the land allocation official. Although these two positions had very low salaries, they were at least part of the formal official system, and promotions could be based on performance.

That's why local gentry were able to promote village covenants quietly. The village chiefs had become complacent, didn't want the hassle of managing affairs, and saw that the village covenants promoted by the gentry were quite convenient, so they went along with it.

As long as no major trouble occurs, many village chiefs are too lazy to bother with it.

This is actually not the most serious problem. If it were just that the village chiefs were negligent in their duties, then the problem wouldn't be too big.

The fear is that these village chiefs will abuse their power for personal gain. Since former clerks didn't receive salaries, they'll create their own, colluding with local gentry and landlords to exploit and oppress the people.

Because they thought, since they had done so much work and didn't get paid, it wouldn't hurt to take a little extra, right?

Once you're stained black, there's no going back.

Nie Yu set a fixed salary for the village chief to avoid corruption in advance, because working without pay is not a sustainable way to work.

While this fixed salary system may not completely eliminate the problem, it at least provides motivation to support village chiefs who are willing to work hard and remain honest.

As for the other village chiefs, they'd better pray they don't get caught when they reach out!

Nie Yu then wrote another imperial edict to the Ministry of Justice, which contained detailed rules for handling corruption by local village chiefs and peasant associations in the "New Laws of the Great Han Dynasty".

When the new law was drafted, these two were not listed separately because they were not considered public officials.

Now that salaries have been set, there must be a legal basis for arresting and punishing people.

Nie Yuding's approach was simple and brutal: if someone embezzled even a single penny, their entire family's land and property would be confiscated, and their descendants for three generations would be barred from taking the imperial examinations or becoming officials, though they could still study.

The order was announced via telegram, and the response from various state and local governments was swift.

The local officials of the Han Dynasty had long been driven to the brink of madness by the village covenants promoted by the gentry.

It's already the new Han Dynasty, and they, as local officials of the Han Dynasty, are supposed to handle and coordinate local affairs, yet they still have to greet these gentry?

Fortunately, the King of Han was wise!
Now the village covenant needs to be revised, and the gentry need to be completely removed from the picture.

It took almost a month to compile and collect these village covenants. Finally, the revised and compiled version of the village covenants was presented. Nie Yu personally wrote down a few red lines based on his memories from later generations, which can be regarded as a subtle way of educating the people.

The new village covenant, in the form of the "Great Han Village Covenant," was published in the latest issue of the official gazette and placed below the "Great Han New Laws" as an additional supplement to them.

As long as the Han Dynasty did not perish immediately, it would gradually and imperceptibly transform into a traditional virtue passed down by word of mouth among the people over the next hundred years.

(End of this chapter)