Wenren Sheng naturally knew what an Investigating Magistrate was.
They were responsible for criminal justice across a prefecture's several counties, sometimes even more than a dozen counties.
In this world, the offices managing criminal justice, from lowest to highest, were County Commandant, Investigating Magistrate, Provincial Inspector, Minister of Justice, and the Son of Heaven.
They were respectively responsible for criminal justice in a county, a prefecture, a province, and the entire realm.
Final approval of executions had to be reported to the Son of Heaven.
But the Son of Heaven would never dirty his hands with such matters. He always pushed them onto the Chief Assistant Minister, who likewise avoided taking responsibility and passed them on to the Minister of Justice.
In the end, the Son of Heaven would often reduce all sentences by one degree and grant sweeping pardons at the slightest provocation.
It had a distinct sense of déjà vu from a certain place.
Of course, one official post alone was never enough. They each had their own Deputies, with complicated titles and considerable numbers.
An Investigating Magistrate alone had four or five Deputies, along with a whole group of Advisors to deal with the endless stream of cases.
An Investigating Magistrate was an official who could handle cases across county borders.
They were generally rank six or subordinate rank five, slightly above County Magistrates, who were usually rank seven.
The place where Wenren Sheng was staying was a major county—the county where the prefectural seat was located.
This was what the saying, "Three lifetimes of wickedness, and you become County Magistrate of the attached county," meant.
He followed a group of Constables to the Investigating Magistrate's office.
Then he saw the Investigating Magistrate.
The Investigating Magistrate's surname was Liu. He had passed the metropolitan examination at the