Qing Yao

Chapter 11 Can you still play like this?
Hey?
This question was asked.

Although it didn't make sense, it made Zhao An speechless, and Wu Laoer's image also became taller, like a hermit sweeping monk.

This insight is something that most people would never think of.

The absurdity is also the truth.

Seeing Zhao An remained silent, Wu Lao Er grinned and said, "Boy, think about it carefully. Is this the truth?"

Zhao An said helplessly, "That's the truth. That's right. Even things like dredging the silt have to be borne by the people. The county is a bit too much."

Wu Lao Er disagreed: "What's the point? If we don't pay the people, does that mean the county should pay for it? If the county had money, why would they support you guys?"

"."

The more Zhao An listened, the more confused he became. He clearly understood every word Wu Lao Er said, so why did it sound so awkward when put together?

From what he said, the tax bureau has more than a hundred people who are supported because the county has no money. If the county had money, would the entire unit be laid off directly?

What kind of logic is this?

There is no reason in the world to support someone without money!

"Look, I told you there are a lot of things you don't understand. Don't rush to say I'm wrong. Take our Taxation Department, for example. Do you really think the court supports over a hundred of us? Bullshit! It's the county magistrate who supports us!"

It was a rare opportunity to preach to someone, and after drinking half a bowl of wine, Wu Laoer became excited. He moved his small stool in front of Zhao An and pointed at something with a look on his face that said, "You don't understand at all."

"Why does the County Magistrate support us? Isn't it because he has no money and relies on us to collect it for him? Not only our Taxation Department, but also the Inspection Department, the Medical Department, the Monks' Association Department, and even the six jails in the county, thousands of people, all supported by the County Magistrate. Has the court ever given them a penny?"

"This"

After hearing what Wu Laoer said, Zhao An remembered an article he had read in his previous life, which said that in the county government of the Ming and Qing dynasties, except for the county magistrate and assistant officials who were recognized as officials, no one else seemed to be able to receive "imperial grain" and the county had to rely entirely on its own revenue and support.

This is true even for officials registered with the Ministry of Personnel.

The reason is that the imperial power does not extend to the countryside.

The system was first established by Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty. This great hero who expelled the Tartars and restored China was worried that grassroots officials would disturb the people if they frequently went to the countryside, so he stipulated that grassroots officials were not allowed to go to the countryside unless it was an urgent matter.

It was a good intention, but someone had to do the local work, so institutions like the Six Rooms were established. This required recruiting a large number of local personnel to fill the county government office to ensure its normal operation.

The problem was that Zhu Yuanzhang set extremely low salaries for officials and was unwilling to pay salaries for people recruited locally. As a result, things evolved into a system where local officials were fully responsible.

I am not responsible for anything else except recruiting people and paying their salaries to the county.

There is no funding from above, and there are so many mouths waiting to be fed. What can the grassroots officials do? What else can they do except find ways to exploit the people?

It's purely a case of good intentions leading to bad results.

"The court won't give you money, and the county needs work. What do you want the county magistrate to do?"

Wu Laoer also hit the nail on the head. "Our county magistrate's annual salary is only 45 taels. The imperial court gives the highest amount of money for maintaining integrity in Jiangsu, but the county magistrate only receives 1,200 taels of money a year. Apart from these two sums, the imperial court doesn't give our county magistrate a penny. How do you expect him to do his job? With this little money, he can't even support the over one hundred people in our tax department!"

Zhao An nodded, not quite understanding. "Master, are you saying that the county magistrate has no money, so he's relying on us to get money for him? If the court gave the county magistrate enough money, he wouldn't need to support so many of us?"

"Hey, you're a teachable kid!" Wu Lao Er gave Zhao An an approving look, casually picked up a few peanuts and put them in his mouth, then downed the rest of his wine. "Take the dredging of Slender West Lake last year for example. If our tax department hadn't forced those merchants to donate, how would we have had the money to do it?"

The old man spoke without restraint and described the merchants' voluntary donations as forced donations.

"That's it,"

Zhao An understood. No wonder the salaries of local staff in his previous life were borne by the national treasury and only distributed through local financial departments. It turned out that this was the root of the problem.

If local governments are really allowed to continue to be self-sufficient, who knows how many people in a county will be living off the government.

After thinking about it, he was still puzzled: "In addition to the people's money, grain and capitation taxes, the county also has a lot of commercial taxes to collect. How much can a dredging project cost? There is no need to ruin their reputation by forcing donations for such a small amount of money."

"You're still young and don't understand a lot of things. Even though we pay a lot of taxes every year, the county magistrate is still in financial difficulty. That money is not enough to spend. For example, the county magistrate has to pay the prefect over a hundred taels of silver every month, which is at least a thousand taels a year. This monthly fee alone is not enough to cover the county magistrate's salary and maintenance silver combined."

Wu Laoer sneered, "It would be easy to be a county magistrate in other places, but Ganquan County is a sub-county of Yangzhou Prefecture. As the old saying goes, if you were not good in your previous life, you will be a county magistrate in this life; if you did evil in your previous life, you will be a sub-county magistrate in this life; if you are full of evil, you will be a sub-county magistrate in this life.

Do you know how miserable Fukuo County is?
No matter who comes to Yangzhou City from above, all their food, drink, and toilet needs are handled by people from Fukuo County. Let me calculate the cost for you: two opera troupes, five tables for the top banquet, and fourteen tables for the middle banquet. The top banquet must be barbecued bird's nest, and the middle banquet must be shark fin and sea cucumber. Do you know how much it costs to entertain them?"

Zhao An shook his head, thinking how would he know.

"At least two hundred taels!"

Wu Laoer shook two fingers vigorously in front of Zhao An, "The government is treating our Fukuo County as a money bag! You can't refuse to give! Add up all the miscellaneous items, do you think the county magistrate has an easy life? If not, he can only find ways to make money. Who will do it for him? Aren't we the ones who are supported by others?"

Zhao An was speechless again. According to Wu Lao Er, the county magistrate not only served as a purse for the higher authorities, but also had to cover all expenses within his jurisdiction. Tens of thousands of taels a year was just the basic expenses. This official position was really eye-opening. He laughed and said casually, "If that's the case, then the county magistrate will lose a lot of money."

"Compensation? Where and for what?"

Wu Lao Er chuckled and said, "It's just a matter of making more or less money, there's no such thing as losing money."

He paused, then laughed to himself, "You know what, there are some who have lost money. Two years ago, the magistrate of Jiangning County had just taken office when the Governor-General of Liangjiang died. As a result, the governor's funeral expenses were all charged to the magistrate. In the end, when the accounts were calculated, the magistrate lost tens of thousands of taels. As a result, the magistrate owed a lot of high-interest loans to the banks and money houses. I guess he still hasn't recovered from it."

Zhao An was stunned for a moment: "Can an official borrow money from a loan shark?"

Wu Lao Er laughed out loud: "Why can't I borrow it? Not to mention borrowing it at high interest while in office, I can borrow it even if I'm not in office."

"Why would you borrow money at high interest rates before taking office?"

Zhao An was really confused.

"To get the job."

"."

Wu Laoer’s answer really shocked Zhao An—borrowing money to go to work!

"What a fuss! Before an official passed the imperial examination, he was broke. Once he took office, all expenses were borne by him. If he doesn't borrow money to make ends meet, how can he be an official? The official borrows money, and the people working under him also borrow money."

At this point, Wu Lao Er curled his lips towards Ambassador Ding's duty room in the southwest, "Didn't that guy borrow five thousand taels at high interest to buy the ambassador position through someone else? Otherwise, how could he have gotten his turn?"

(End of this chapter)