Rise From the Humble

The Town God's Temple in Jingnan County is not large in scale. A plaque reading "City God's Temple" hangs on the main entrance of the main hall, and a peach wood couplet hangs on the left and right sides: "Be a good person, have a good heart, be a good person, have a peaceful soul, and have a peaceful dream. Do some good deeds and God will know how to judge ghosts and gods."

Zhu Ping'an, led by Zhang Xiancheng and others, entered the City God's Temple from the corridor in the middle of the ceremonial gate of the City God's Temple.

After entering the main hall of the Chenghuang Temple, Zhu Pingan discovered that the deity enshrined in the Chenghuang Temple in Jingnan County was Wen Tianxiang, a famous patriotic and loyal minister in the Southern Song Dynasty. This was also a historical figure that Zhu Pingan had always admired very much.

Probably Wen Tianxiang once resisted the Yuan Dynasty on the land of Jingnan County, so Jingnan County enshrined him as the god of the City God Temple.

In the hall, the three animal sacrifice rituals and various utensils have been arranged, waiting for you to worship the city god.

After everything was ready, Zhu Ping'an led Zhang County Cheng and others to kneel down and kowtow three times to the city god, burn incense and worship, and swore to the earth, "My subordinate Zhu Ping'an has been appointed as the magistrate of Jingnan County by the emperor's order. I swear to God specifically, But God is wise, upright, and directs the underworld, yin and yang inside and outside. If I have unprepared government affairs, I hope God will bless me and make my government affairs prosperous, so as to bring peace to the common people. If I neglect my government, commit corruption, frame my officials, and abuse the people, God will It is a calamity. My subordinate, Zhu Ping'an, takes this oath to honor the alliance to show my heart and to do my best in my duties. God's judgment is clear, and I dare to accuse him because of his character."

This is called an oath with the gods, and it is the most important thing to worship the city god. You swear to be loyal to the gods and to your duties, with yin and yang as the inside and outside, and to realize the co-governance of humans and gods. Only in this way can you become a Yamen director. The City God Meeting will inspect and inspect the county magistrate's performance after taking office, and issue rewards and punishments.

After worshiping the city god, Zhu Pingan, led by Zhang Xiancheng and others, went to the Jingnan County government office to worship and receive the seal.

Accepting the seal is a sign of taking office.

All Zhu Ping'an carried was the official appointment document issued by the Ministry of Personnel and his own seal. At this stage, only after verifying his identity with the official appointment document and seal from the Ministry of Personnel could he accept the seal of the Jingnan County Magistrate.

In this way, he can be considered as the magistrate of Jingnan County.

When they arrived at the county government office, Zhu Ping'an divided his troops into two groups and asked Liu Dadao to drive the carriage and carry Hua'er from the side door to the back house to pack up. He took Liu Mu and others with him and followed Zhang Xiancheng and others from the main entrance of the county government office. Enter the county government office.

"Meet the County Lord."

The three teams of county government officials had already lined up to wait. After Zhu Pingan and others entered the county government office, they knelt down and saluted.

"Without courtesy, please get up."

Zhu Ping'an nodded to the government officials and made a raising gesture with his hands, signaling the government officials to get up.

"Thank you, Lord County." All the government officials stood up in response.

"Your Majesty, please come here. The Yimen is over here. After passing the Yimen, you will find the lobby of the county government. Our Jingnan County Government was built in the eighth year of Dade in the Yuan Dynasty. It has been more than two hundred years ago. It has a long history. Later, it was renovated and expanded three times in the 12th year of Hongwu, the 20th year of Yongle, and the 6th year of Zhengde. It was repaired many times by successive county magistrates, and it has what it is today. The government office is located in the north and south, with Wen on the left and Wu on the right. The rear residence and the prison are located in the south."

Zhang Xian Cheng led Zhu Pingan to continue walking. As he walked, he acted as a commentator and briefly introduced the history and layout of the county government to Zhu Pingan.

Zhu Pingan nodded and observed as he walked. After arriving at Yimen, Zhang Xiancheng stopped and asked Zhu Pingan to enter Yimen first to show his respect as the head of the county. He followed Zhu Pingan and walked in.

As Zhang Xiancheng said, after passing Yimen, the county government lobby came into view of Zhu Pingan.

The lobby seemed to have just been renovated and was neat and tidy. The layout and furnishings were similar to those of the old county government offices that Zhu Pingan visited in modern times. On the two pillars in front of the lobby, there is a couplet written in big characters on a red background with black paint, which reads: "Acts of law have no relatives, orders have no reason; rewards should only be severe, and punishments should be light." There is a plaque hanging above the lobby, which reads "The Mirror Hangs High". Below the plaque is the Warm Pavilion. In the middle is a three-foot-long black lacquered case, with the Four Treasures of the Study and red and green heads for trial on it. Behind the case is a white The wall is framed with a wooden frame in the middle. The inside of the frame is white, and a huge picture of "Sea Tide Sun" is painted on it.

The bright mirror hangs high above the head, and the sea water behind it faces the sun, which means that an official should be as bright as the sun and the moon, and as clear as the sea water.

This will be the main place for his future work. Zhu Pingan stepped forward to the Nuan Pavilion and stretched out his hand across the koan.

"Your Majesty, would you like to receive your seal now?" Zhang Changru, the county magistrate, stepped forward and asked softly.

"Yeah." Zhu Pingan nodded.

"Master Yao, why don't you hurry up and get the magistrate's seal?" Zhang Changru, the county magistrate, looked at Master Yao Wenyuan and reminded him.

"Please forgive me for the offence. It's due to procedures. Please show me the Three Treasures."

After Lord Bo Yao Wenyuan took the magistrate's seal with the seal on it, he held the seal in both hands, bowed and said to Zhu Pingan.

The so-called three treasures are the seal, official documents and sword. These three are the certificates to verify the identity of the appointed magistrate.

"Master Yao's words are too serious." Zhu Pingan nodded with a smile, turned his gaze to Liu Mu, and said softly, "Brother Mu, please invite the Three Treasures."

"Yes, young master." Liu Mu responded and respectfully handed the three treasures he carried with him to Zhu Ping'an.

"Please." Zhu Ping'an placed the three treasures on the koan and extended his hands to Yao Zhubo and others in a gesture of invitation.

Li Da, the Dianshi, was the first to come up to check and looked over it several times. Then Zhang Xian Cheng, Yao Zhubo and others also came forward to check one by one.

After checking and confirming that it was correct, Yao Zhubo handed the magistrate's seal to Zhu Pingan with both hands. Zhu Pingan, under the witness of everyone, took off the seal, took out the magistrate's seal with both hands, and placed it on the public case.

"Meet the County Lord."

Zhangxian Cheng and Yao Zhubo came forward with all the Jingnan County government officials, stood in the hall, bowed twice, and formally paid homage to Zhu Ping'an.

"Everyone, please rise. I have been transferred to Jingnan County Magistrate by the emperor's order. I have a heavy responsibility to govern the people. However, I have just arrived in Ping An, and I am young and inexperienced. I will rely on you more in the future. I hope you will work hard with me. , work with utmost devotion and loyalty to the country, and jointly benefit the people of Jingnan." Zhu Pingan stood up and bowed in response.

"The county magistrate is humble. We must obey Taiwan's edict carefully. From now on, the county magistrate will act accordingly, be loyal to the country, and benefit the people of Jingnan." Zhang Xiancheng led the crowd in replying in unison.

Then, from bottom to top, government servants, Zaoli, officials, Jingsun, lobbyists, monks, Taoist officials, yin and yang students, medical officials, academic officials, etc. came forward to bow to Zhu Pingan twice. Zhu Pingan stood up. Receive a gift.

He ascended the hall, organized the yamen, painted the mao, and sent the officers to the county and the countryside to post notices to inform the people in the jurisdiction that the new county magistrate had taken office.

After the incident, Zhu Ping'an attended the reception banquet prepared by Zhang Xian Cheng and others as usual, and the guests and hosts enjoyed the banquet.

By night, Zhu Ping had just completed all the procedures for taking office, and he was almost exhausted.

"Uncle, is the handover going smoothly?"

Hua'er, Baozi's little maid, had already prepared foot-washing water for Zhu Pingan and put it under his feet for Zhu Pingan to soak his feet. She massaged Zhu Pingan's shoulders from behind and asked in a low voice while massaging.

"Since it went well, why are you still frowning?" Hua'er asked in confusion.

"It's because it went so smoothly." Zhu Pingan narrowed his eyes comfortably and said slowly.