The little-known Mi County government office has five of the best in the country, which is worth a visit.

During the National Day holiday in 2020, I took a self-driving tour to the Mi County Government Office in Xinmi City, Zhengzhou City, Henan Province. After finding the county government office in the old town of Mi County, I listened to the explanation of the guide and visited the entire county government office. I was shocked in my heart! I was surprised that Mi County could preserve such good cultural relics!

Since the Qin Dynasty unified China and implemented the system of prefectures and counties, there have been at least 10,000 to 20,000 prefectures, prefectures, prefectures, and county government offices, but very few have been preserved intact to this day. There are fewer, and there are not many county government offices. The famous county government offices in the country include Fuliang County Government Office, Pingyao County Government Office, Neixiang County Government Office, etc. Henan Province is located in the Central Plains, with ancient capitals such as Luoyang and Kaifeng, and numerous historical and cultural monuments! Among them, there are three well-preserved ancient county offices from the feudal era in Henan Province. The first is the Neixiang County Government Office in Nanyang, Henan. It is located on East Street in Neixiang County, Nanyang. It is a 4A scenic spot. In 1996, it was announced by the State Council as the fourth batch of national key cultural relics protection units. The ticket price is 75 yuan. The second is Yexian County Government Office, located in the center street of Yexian County, Pingdingshan City. In 2006, it was announced by the State Council as one of the sixth batch of national key cultural relics protection units. Tickets are 50 yuan. The Yexian County Government passed by Yexian when visiting the Lushan Shiren Mountain Scenic Area during the National Day last year and specifically visited the Yexian County Government. The third is Mi County County Government, located in the southern section of Kaiyang Road, Xinmi City, Zhengzhou City. In 2013, it was announced by the State Council as the seventh batch of national key cultural relics protection units. The entrance fee is 60 yuan. Among the three county government offices, Neixiang County Government Office is the most famous. It is as famous as the Forbidden City in the ancient government office culture. More than 30 party and state leaders, including Li Keqiang, Zhu Rongji, Li Changchun, and Li Lanqing, have visited Neixiang County Government Office. It can be seen that Neixiang County Government is very famous. Although Ye County County Government is small, it is the only Ming Dynasty County Government among the existing ancient government offices in China. Although Mi County's county government is not as well-known as the above two county governments, it has some of the best in the country, making it the leader in ancient county government culture.

Xinmi City is a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Zhengzhou. In April 1994, it was removed from the county and established a city with the approval of the State Council, but the county government is still called Mi County County Government. According to historical records, the Mi County County Government was first built in the 12th year of Daye of the Sui Dynasty (616). It has gone through the Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing, and Republic of China dynasties, and has a history of 1,400 years ago. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty of the county government, when Li Zicheng attacked Mi County, it was destroyed in the war. In the third year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1370), Feng Wanjin, the county magistrate, rebuilt it on the original site. It has been repaired, added and expanded many times since then, and it still maintains the architectural style of the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

The first one in the country: a nine-story courtyard with five entrances. Neither Neixiang County Government nor Yexian County Government has five courtyards. Mi County Government Office Building complex in Mi County is 220 meters long from north to south and 110 meters wide from east to west, covering an area of ??nearly 25,000 square meters. The screen wall, gate, Yimen, Jieshifang, platform, lobby, second hall, third hall, Daxian Tower, back garden, etc. are arranged along the central axis from south to north, forming a nine-story, five-entry courtyard. There are also east and west flower halls, Class 8, 9 rooms and the county jail. The county government office has a complete range of buildings including pavilions, terraces, towers, pavilions, gates, squares, bridges and pools, with blue bricks and gray tiles, grand halls, front halls and back houses, and a rigorous and reasonable layout, embodying the solemnity and solemnity of ancient Chinese government offices.

The second best in the country: the well-preserved county Yalian Pond. From the gate to the Yimen is a three-hole stone bridge with two cements on each side. It is 18 meters long from north to south, 6 meters wide from east to west, and several meters deep. The water is clear and fish can be seen playing in the water. Lotus roots are planted inside, which is called the lotus pond. Zhou Dunyi of the Song Dynasty wrote in "The Theory of Love for the Lotus": I only love the lotus when it emerges from the mud but is not stained. Lotus and Tonglian. The sound of lotus pond is similar to "honesty". Therefore, it means that the county government is a Qingshui government office. Officials here must know etiquette, justice, integrity, and be honest and upright. Building a lotus pond is not something that ordinary county governments can build. Only high-level government agencies can build lotus ponds. The lotus pond of the Mi County government office is a major feature of all existing county government offices, and it is also one of the preserved county government lotus ponds in the country. The reason why Mi County was able to build lotus ponds was because during the Eastern Han Dynasty, Mi County magistrate Zhuomao was named "Dehou" by Emperor Liu Xiu, so Mi County's county government level was higher than that of ordinary county government offices.

There are three gates in Yimen. The main gate in the picture is usually not open. It is only opened when new officials take office, inspections by superior officials, or major events. Generally, you take the east gate, so Dongliu is called the Shengmen or Renmen. The west door is called the Ghost Gate, or the Death Gate. It is only opened when the condemned prisoner is taken out of the execution ground. The couplets on both sides of the main entrance are "When the country is upright and the heavens are at peace, the people will be at ease, and the officials will be clean and the people will be safe." This couplet still has a warning significance to this day.

This square is in the form of four pillars and three doors. The south side is engraved with the three characters "Gongsheng Ming", and the north side is engraved with the words "You are given your salary, the people are fat and the people are anointed, and the people are easy to abuse." "God is hard to bully" sixteen words.

The third best in the world: the unique Mi County map in the country. After passing Jieshifang, there was a glass cover on both sides of the corridor, covering the uneven soil. I didn't know what it was. It wasn't until I read the introduction that I realized that it was made by Changgu Zhenxiang, the county magistrate of Mi County during the Republic of China. The three-dimensional map of Mi County is equivalent to the current sand table. It's a pity that it is not well preserved. This is also unique among county governments.

The fourth best in the country: there is a rolling shed in front of the main hall. The picture above shows the main hall of the county government office, also known as the lobby. The main hall is built on a high platform with two sycamore trees in front. In front of the sycamore trees is a platform where the county magistrate and local gentry can enjoy the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival. The main hall is located in the center of the entire county government building complex and is the place where the county magistrate hears cases or major events.

There are six rooms on the east and west sides, which are arranged according to the left civil and right military. On the east side are the three rooms for officials (yamen personnel), households (taxation, finance, household registration, etc.), and rites (education, celebrations, etc.), and on the west side are the military (military), punishment (security), and engineering (roads, warehouses, etc.). The main hall is 17 meters long, 12 meters deep and 10 meters high. It has 12 columns and a construction area of ??204 meters. What is different from other county offices is that there is a rolling shed built in front of the main hall. This is something that can only be built by a high-quality county government. Because the Mi County County Government had a large administrative area at that time, and during the Eastern Han Dynasty, the county magistrate Zhuomao was granted the title of Dehou by Liu Xiu, the founding emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, so the Mi County County Government was two ranks higher than the average county government, which was seven ranks. The county government of Mi County is of the fifth rank. A rolling shed can be built in front of the main hall. There is a gap between the northern eaves of the rolling shed and the southern eaves of the main hall. Whenever it rains heavily, a water curtain forms between the two eaves. It is a major landscape in Mi County and also symbolizes integrity.

Daxian Tower is the place where documents and county magistrates’ seals are stored. Whenever the county magistrate is on holiday, the seal is placed here and is taken care of by Wong Tai Sin. Only the county magistrate himself can go up to this building, no one else can go up.

Mi County’s county government ranks fifth in the country: the prison has been in use for the longest time, the longest in the world. The Mi County County Government Office was first built in the Daye Period of the Sui Dynasty. Since its completion, the prison has been through the Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing, and the Republic of China. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Mi County Prison still used the South Prison within the county government office. It was not until 2003 that a new prison was moved out and the old prison was handed over to the cultural department, which was later developed into a tourist attraction together with the county government. So when you come to the Mi County County Government Prison, you will see a modern power grid on the high wall and a modern watchtower made of red bricks. This is something you cannot see in other county government prisons. This prison was in use for more than 1,400 years from the Sui Dynasty to 2003. It is the largest prison in the country and possibly the world.