Their fate rests in your hands.

You are not an emperor conquering the world. You are a county magistrate in Tang China.

Far from the imperial court, your concerns are fields, taxes, grain stores, roads, court petitions and the welfare of ordinary households. Whether the bridges stand, justice is served and people survive a bad year may depend on decisions made at your desk.

The Magistrate is a deep historical simulation of local government in the Tang dynasty. Govern a living county where agriculture, trade, population, taxation, infrastructure, crime and politics are closely connected.

There are no perfect answers. Only consequences.

Govern a Living County

Develop your county from its busy wards to its most distant villages.

Build and maintain roads, bridges, canals, embankments, wells, granaries, markets, docks, schools, clinics, gaols, barracks and workshops.

Improve irrigation. Reclaim abandoned land. Encourage settlement. Protect trade routes. Regulate markets. Support education. Strengthen public security.

But every project demands money, labour and political capital.

A new road may increase trade while taking farmers away from their fields. A thriving market may increase prosperity while pushing up food prices. A cheaply built embankment may save money today—and cost hundreds of homes when the river rises.

Manage the Economy

Collect taxes, organise labour obligations and meet the demands of officials above you while keeping your own county functioning.

Buy grain when prices are low. Store it for emergencies. Release reserves during shortages. Encourage commerce and improve transport.

Trade in historically grounded goods including grain, silk, tea, salt, iron, timber, livestock and ceramics.

Prices respond to harvests, transportation, population and events across the county. Prosperity in one part of the economy can create problems elsewhere.

Hear Cases. Deliver Justice.

As magistrate, you are also judge.

Hear disputes, investigate crimes and examine witness statements, contracts, injuries, physical evidence and official records before reaching your decision.

The law may suggest one answer. Mercy another. Public order a third.

A harsh sentence may deter crime while creating resentment. Leniency may save a family but weaken confidence in your authority. A wrongful judgement can follow you for the rest of your career.

The county records do not forget.

Keep the Peace

Organise patrols, protect roads, pursue thieves and suppress banditry.

Decide where your limited guards should be deployed and how aggressively disturbances should be handled. Crime may be caused by organised gangs—but also by famine, debt, corruption or desperate villagers.

Sometimes force restores order.

Sometimes it creates the next crisis.

Face Disaster

Floods, droughts, epidemics, fires, crop failures, famine and unrest will not arrive on your schedule.

Prepare while you can.

Maintain granaries. Repair waterworks. Preserve emergency funds. Strengthen vulnerable settlements.

When disaster comes, difficult choices follow.

Feed displaced families or preserve seed grain for the next harvest? Spend the treasury on relief or maintain the infrastructure the county depends upon? Borrow from wealthy families—or risk giving them even greater influence?

A difficult year can become a catastrophe remarkably quickly.

Navigate Tang Politics

You do not rule alone.

Prefectural officials expect taxes, reports and obedience. Local landowners, merchants, scholars, clerks and village leaders possess influence of their own.

Work with powerful families when their resources can help the county—or investigate them when their land mysteriously disappears from the tax registers.

Good government may earn promotion.

Political mistakes may bring investigation, demotion or dismissal.

Every Decision Has Consequences

The systems of The Magistrate interact.

Better irrigation increases harvests. Larger harvests encourage population growth. Population growth increases revenue—and demand for food.

New markets create wealth—and opportunities for crime.

Public works improve infrastructure—but consume labour.

Higher taxes balance the treasury—but can drive struggling households into debt.

Your county changes because of what you do.

What Will Your County Remember?

Your term will eventually end.

Perhaps you will leave behind full granaries, safe roads and prosperous villages.

Perhaps you will be remembered for justice.

Perhaps for cruelty.

Perhaps the bridge you built will still stand a generation later, while your name survives only in an old county chronicle.

Features

• Deep simulation of Tang-dynasty county government
• Manage agriculture, taxation, trade, population and public finances
• Build roads, bridges, canals, markets, granaries and public institutions
• Investigate and judge crimes, disputes and petitions
• Manage grain reserves, prices and disaster relief
• Fight banditry, corruption and unrest
• Navigate local elites and the imperial bureaucracy
• Make decisions with consequences that can emerge months or years later
• Available in English, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese
• Entirely offline — no account, advertisements or internet connection required

Still Developed

The game is still being developed. I aim to deliver continuous support, polish and new features. 

Serve your term. Shape a generation.

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他们的命运，掌握在你手中。

你不是一位征服天下的皇帝。你只是大唐治下的一名县令。

远离帝国朝廷，你所面对的是田地、赋税、粮仓、道路、诉状，以及无数普通百姓的生计。桥梁能否撑过汛期，冤案能否得到昭雪，百姓能否熬过一个灾年，都可能取决于你案头上的一道决定。

《县令》（The Magistrate） 是一款以唐代为背景的深度地方治理历史模拟游戏。你将治理一个不断运转、不断变化的县域，其中农业、贸易、人口、赋税、基础设施、治安与政治彼此紧密相连。

没有完美的答案。

只有后果。

治理一个真正运转的县

从繁忙的县城坊市到最偏远的乡村，你都必须为整个县的发展负责。

修建并维护道路、桥梁、运河、堤坝、水井、粮仓、市场、码头、学校、医馆、牢狱、营房和作坊。

改善灌溉，开垦荒地，鼓励人口迁入，保护商路，管理市场，兴办教育，加强地方治安。

但每一项工程都需要付出钱粮、劳役和政治资本。

新修一条道路可能促进贸易，却也可能在农忙时抽走田间劳力。繁荣的市场可以带来财富，也可能推高粮价。今天为了节省开支而草率修筑的堤坝，到了洪水来临时，也许会决定数百户人家的命运。

管理县域经济

征收赋税，安排徭役，完成上级官府下达的任务，同时还要保证自己的县能够正常运转。

粮价低时购入粮食，存进常平仓以备不时之需；粮食短缺时开仓放粮。发展商业，改善交通，让物资能够流通。

管理具有历史背景的商品，包括粮食、丝绸、茶叶、盐、铁、木材、牲畜和陶瓷。

价格会随着收成、运输、人口以及县内发生的各种事件而变化。一个领域的繁荣，也可能在另一个领域制造新的问题。

审理案件，裁决是非

作为县令，你也是县中的最高司法官。

处理民事纠纷，调查犯罪，审阅证人证词、契约文书、伤情、物证以及官府档案，然后作出判决。

律法可能指向一种答案。

仁慈可能指向另一种。

维护地方秩序，又可能要求第三种选择。

严厉的刑罚或许能够震慑犯罪，却也可能激起怨恨。宽大处理也许能够挽救一个家庭，却可能削弱百姓对官府威严的信心。

一场错误的判决，甚至可能伴随你的整个仕途。

县衙的档案不会忘记。

维护地方治安

组织巡逻，保护道路，追捕盗贼，打击匪患。

你必须决定有限的差役和武力应该部署在哪里，又该以多强硬的手段处理骚乱。

犯罪可能来自有组织的盗匪，也可能源于饥荒、债务、腐败，或者走投无路的百姓。

有时候，武力能够恢复秩序。

有时候，它只会制造下一场危机。

面对灾难

洪水、旱灾、疫病、火灾、歉收、饥荒和民乱不会按照你的计划到来。

你只能在灾难发生之前尽可能做好准备。

储备粮食，修缮水利，保留应急资金，加固脆弱的村庄和设施。

当灾难真正到来时，你必须作出更加艰难的选择。

是赈济流离失所的百姓，还是保留来年的种粮？

是耗尽县库救灾，还是继续维护整个县赖以运转的基础设施？

是向当地豪族借粮，还是冒着让他们进一步扩大势力的风险？

一个困难的年份，很快就可能演变成一场真正的灾难。

周旋于大唐官场

你并不是独立统治自己的领地。

上级州府要求赋税、文书和服从。

地方豪族、商人、士人、胥吏和乡里首领，也都有自己的利益与影响力。

当地方大族的资源能够帮助县政时，你可以选择与他们合作。

当他们名下的大量土地突然从赋税簿册中“消失”时，你也可以选择调查他们。

出色的政绩可能为你带来升迁。

政治上的错误，则可能招来调查、贬官，甚至罢免。

每一个决定都会产生后果

**《县令》**中的各项系统彼此关联。

改善灌溉能够提高粮食产量。

丰收会吸引人口增长。

人口增长会增加税收——同时也会增加粮食需求。

新的市场能够创造财富——也会创造更多犯罪机会。

大型公共工程能够改善基础设施——却会消耗大量劳动力。

提高赋税能够充实县库——也可能让本就艰难度日的家庭陷入债务。

这个县，会因为你的决定而真正发生变化。

这个县会怎样记住你？

你的任期终有结束的一天。

也许你离任时，留下的是充实的粮仓、安全的道路和富足的村庄。

也许百姓会记住你的公正。

也许他们记住的是你的严酷。

也许你修建的桥梁在一代人之后仍然横跨河面，而你的名字，只剩下地方志中的寥寥数行。

游戏特色

• 深度模拟唐代县级地方治理
• 管理农业、赋税、贸易、人口和财政
• 修建道路、桥梁、运河、市场、粮仓以及公共设施
• 调查并审理犯罪、纠纷和百姓诉状
• 管理粮食储备、市场价格和灾害赈济
• 应对匪患、腐败和社会动荡
• 周旋于地方豪强与帝国官僚体系之间
• 你的决定可能在数月甚至数年之后才显现真正的后果
• 支持英语、简体中文和繁体中文
• 完全离线游玩——无需账号、没有广告、无需互联网连接

任一方百里之地，担一任父母之责。

守此一任，影响一代。