Qing Yao

Chapter 18: No Matter Is Small for the County Master

"One pound and two ounces of fine tea, costing fifteen ounces of silver; a coat for the lady, twenty ounces of silver. Fifty ounces of silver for the young master's tuition, thirty pounds of pork, twenty pounds of mutton, and ten pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables, for a total of forty-six ounces of silver."

After listing the accounts one by one, Zhao An, who had been working in the household office for more than a month, waited until the ink had dried, then took the bills to the duty room of his lawyer Ji Bochang.

The specific work assigned to him by the Household Department was nothing more than keeping accounts for the expenses of the county magistrate's family, and also serving as a purchasing agent for the county magistrate's family.

When Zhao An first heard that this was his job, he was extremely happy. Isn't this equivalent to being a servant to the county magistrate, and a servant in his daily life? That means he would have to meet the county magistrate seven or eight times a day.

The more you see him, the more opportunities he will have to show off.

Because of his excellent performance, the county magistrate was pleased and promoted him to deputy section chief. Wouldn't it be smooth sailing and prosperous for him in the future?

However, after working for only a few days, Zhao An realized that he was too happy too early, because as a clerk, he could not see the county magistrate at all. Apart from taking the orders issued by Master Ji to do business and keep accounts every day, he could not even see a hair of the county magistrate's wife, let alone the county magistrate.

There is no choice but to take it one day at a time.

Apart from this task, Zhao An was not given any other serious work in the Household Affairs Office. He was only given trivial tasks, such as delivering documents to other offices, buying food for the clerks from the stalls outside the government office, or doing some copying and writing.
Anyway, anyone can order Zhao An, a temporary worker on loan, around, and the only thing left is for Zhao An to deliver toilet paper to them in the toilet.

No wonder everyone in the Taxation Department was not optimistic about Zhao An's "secondment".

On the other hand, Master Sun Rui, who taught Zhao An for two days and then gave up on him, was very happy. This guy did nothing despite his title as a clerk. Every day he either skipped work or gambled with the people in the cell. His life was so comfortable.

The people in the household department were all very polite to Sun Rui. The older ones called him "Old Four", while the younger ones called him "Fourth Brother" or "Fourth Master".

Zhao An called him "Fourth Master".

Zhang Qingting, the manager of the household department, didn't care about Sun Rui either. Zhao An saw this director-level manager and Sun Rui arm in arm several times, and they were so close that they could even wear the same pants.

There is no good thing in the world without reason. After observing for a month, Zhao An basically understood what was going on.

Sun Rui is just a scoundrel, or it would be more accurate to say a thug.

Before entering the household, Sun Rui was a gangster in Xiaguan. Because he was bold and fearless and had a gang of younger brothers under him, he gradually became a big gangster. Whenever merchants encountered problems that were difficult to go through official channels, they would ask Sun Rui, the local tyrant, to come out and settle the matter.

During this process, Sun Rui must have dealt with people from the yamen, especially the constables in charge of public security.

After getting to know the constable, he got to know people from other departments of the yamen. I don't know through whom he got the job and pretended to be an official.

In the words of later generations, it means successfully cleansing oneself and practicing both black and white.

The people in the yamen, including the household department, were polite to Sun Rui, simply because they hoped that Sun Rui would come forward to help them solve any problems they encountered. After all, people in the yamen also had their own private matters.

Especially in the prison, there are special needs for Sun Rui. After all, who can run a gambling and prostitution business without the protection of the government?

Zhao An suspected that Sun Rui might be a member of the Qing Gang.

The Qing Gang is the Canal Gang, which was founded during the Yongzheng period. It is said to have a million members, but the actual number may be about the same, because anyone who makes a living from the canal transportation has to join the Qing Gang, otherwise they will not be able to make a living.

As the old saying goes, those who stick together are necessarily xenophobic.

The Qing Gang is no exception.

Yangzhou is the southernmost entrance and exit of the canal, and there are naturally many Green Gang members who make a living here. Sun Rui was able to become famous in the Xiaguan Wharf, the territory of the Green Gang, so he must have a close relationship with the Green Gang.

However, Zhao An had no intention of making close friends with Sun Rui. He wanted to follow the right path, and having too many connections with gang members would not be good for his career.

Unless he just wants to be a "big shot" at the level of a minor official in Yangzhou forever, in that case he must have a good relationship with a local tyrant like Sun Rui.

I have the impression that the Green Gang also produced some big figures, but not now, but the three tycoons of Shanghai more than a hundred years later.

Among the three, Boss Du is truly the ceiling that gang members can reach.

Sun Rui's "desk" is the second one in front of Zhao An, but he is not there now. No one knows where he is fooling around.

After speaking to the steward Zhang Qingting, Zhao An went to find Master Ji to sign the contract.

He made the account, but did not give the money to the merchant. Master Ji needed to sign the bill and then the account department would settle the account with the merchant at the end of the month.

To ask why the county magistrate's own living expenses should be allocated by the government agency of Hufang is really asking too much.

Mr. Ji's duty room was next to the county government's Chengguan Treasury, which was the county's silver vault. It also had some areas for storing documents, historical materials, local chronicles, etc.

The place is very large and there is a special team of strong men responsible for guarding it.

The current magistrate of Ganquan County was Ding Houen, a native of Ningbo, Zhejiang. He was a top-ranked Jinshi in the 48th year of the Qianlong Emperor's reign. However, due to his low ranking, he was unable to be assigned to the Hanlin Academy as a Shujishi, nor was he assigned to a ministry. Instead, he was sent directly to Yangzhou as a magistrate.

It is estimated that he had some connections, otherwise it would be impossible for a third-class Jinshi to be assigned to a superior county like Ganquan County at the beginning. Most of them were assigned to remote areas.

The household officials said that Magistrate Ding was already forty-seven when he passed the imperial examination, and therefore his entire family came with him when he took office: two sons, two daughters-in-law, five grandsons, three granddaughters, a nephew and his family who came to work with their uncle, and servants hired from back home, totaling over forty people.

There are many people, so there is a lot of food and drink. Plus they need to eat, drink and dress well, so the daily expenses are at least hundreds of taels.

In other words, the county magistrate's family's food and drink for one day was equivalent to Zhao An's five-year salary.

If such a large expense is not covered by the county treasury, does the county magistrate have to pay for it himself?

Last time, I heard from Master Ji that the county magistrate's daughter and son-in-law who stayed in their hometown would also come over next month. Because the house in the back office was not big enough, the county magistrate planned to tear down the backyard wall and upgrade the county office.

The workshop has already sent people to discuss the relocation issue with the people living near the yamen.

Zhao An went to the contract warehouse and found Master Ji who was working in the duty room and handed the bill to him.

"Here you are,"

After glancing at the bill, Master Ji nodded and signed his name at the bottom of the account.

Without this signature, the account cannot be reported.

Zhao An put away the bill signed by Master Ji and was about to go back when Master Ji called him: "Cut off the watermelon that the concierge just delivered and eat a piece before you go back."

Zhao An saw the two watermelons placed in the corner when he entered the room, but he was too embarrassed to cut them, so he hurriedly said that he was not thirsty.

"Just cut it when I tell you to. There's nothing to be embarrassed about."

Looking at Zhao An who came to visit him every day, Master Ji smiled and shook his head. He put down his work and went to pick up a watermelon, put it on the table and cut it with a knife. Then he handed a piece to Zhao An and said, "Eat it, so you don't say I'm stingy."

"Thank you sir!"

Zhao An no longer refused, picked up the watermelon and started eating it.

Mr. Ji also cut a piece for himself and started eating. While the two of them were eating, the door was pushed open and in came Mr. Jiang, who was in charge of criminal cases in the yamen.

Master Jiang is over sixty years old. Although he is old, he is in good spirits. He holds two iron balls in his hands all day long.

In addition to the two legal advisors Ji and Jiang, there was also Legal Advisor Song who was in charge of finances and Legal Advisor Ma who was in charge of registration.

Master Song and Master Ma are both in their forties. The former looks smart and capable, while the latter gives people the impression of being taciturn.

Since he had no work connection with the three masters, Zhao An had no idea how they behaved.

"You came just in time. Here, have a piece."

Master Ji wanted to cut a piece for Master Jiang, but Master Jiang shook his head and said, "My stomach can't stand the coldness of watermelon. Don't eat more of it and it will make you sick."

"Whatever you want," Master Ji asked casually, "Isn't the county magistrate in the hall trying a case? How did you find time to come here?"

Master Jiang sat down opposite Master Ji and sneered, "It's not a big case. It's just two families telling lies. What's the point of trying it?"

Master Ji took a bite of watermelon and asked curiously, "How did the county magistrate decide?"

"What can be the verdict? The plaintiff and the defendant will each be fined 500 taels and the case will be closed. If you disagree with the verdict, come to the government office."

As he spoke, the two iron balls in Master Jiang's right hand kept spinning back and forth, much like how Zhao An had been spinning walnuts in his previous life.

"The county fined me five hundred taels, so why not a thousand taels at the government office? You'd have to be crazy to go there."

Master Ji smiled and said something to Master Jiang, but he spoke in his hometown Shaoxing dialect. Zhao An didn't understand and just buried his head in eating melons. At the same time, he envied the county magistrate's job. It was really good. No matter whether you were the plaintiff or the defendant, you had to pay money to the county.

Appeal?

The prefect is looking forward to you coming to sue him.

Gee
After a while, Zhao An had eaten up a large piece of watermelon. He secretly wiped his mouth with his sleeve and was about to get up to go back to the household. When Master Ji saw him stand up, he thought of something and hurried to the table to get a list and handed it to Zhao An, saying, "Second Master's wife is about to give birth. Go shopping according to this list."

"Er Ye" refers to the county magistrate's second son, Ding Youlu, whose wife is several months pregnant.

"Hey!"

Zhao An took the list and muttered to himself: Damn, I’m going to bleed again.

Not only would he, a temporary worker on secondment, have to bleed money, but Ganquan County Government, including all official agencies and wealthy merchants in the city, would also have to bleed money.

Because every time there is a festival, birthday, promotion, or birth of a child, I have to prepare gifts, without exception.

Half a month ago, the county magistrate collected a large sum of money for his wife's birthday, and Zhao An was also asked by the household department to give a hundred coins.

The money was not a lot, but not a little either. Anyway, Zhao An felt very distressed about it.

This time Lord Ding has a grandson, I wonder if one hundred coins is enough.

Although he felt sad, he still had to do his job. He honestly took the list given by Master Ji to several "designated" merchants in the county government and placed the order. The merchants delivered the goods the next day. Zhao An collected the "invoices" from the merchants according to the rules, and after settling the accounts, he came to Master Ji to sign the order.

Master Ji had something to see the county magistrate about, so he quickly signed the form. When he reached the door, he suddenly stopped and looked at Zhao An meaningfully: "You have been at the yamen for so long and you haven't seen the county magistrate yet?"

Zhao An bowed and said, "In reply to your question, sir, I have not had the honor to meet the County Master."

Master Ji nodded slightly: "Then follow me."

After saying that, he walked directly towards the back yamen.

Are you taking me to see the leader?

After being stunned for two breaths, Zhao An excitedly caught up with Master Ji and carefully followed him through the storage warehouse into the county magistrate's living quarters.

The living area and the office area were separated by a door. Sitting there were two old men in their fifties, both of whom were brought from their hometown by the county magistrate.

Even though the two old men are gatekeepers, they can earn the county magistrate tens of thousands of taels of silver just from the gate fees in a year.

Because if you want to see the county magistrate, it is not as simple as registering at the Chengfa Office at the entrance of the yamen, but you have to go through them.

The door fee system was not a random charge by two old men, but a system approved by the emperor.

More than 20 years ago, an upright censor wrote a memorial to Emperor Qianlong, reporting on the practice of local officials taking bribes to profit from their relatives and friends, hoping that the emperor would issue an edict to ban this unhealthy practice. To his surprise, Emperor Qianlong replied, "It is common sense for local officials not to seek excessive profits."

What do you mean?
Eat radishes leisurely and worry less.

The two old gatekeepers naturally recognized Master Ji. Master Ji didn't have to pay any money when he took people to see the county magistrate. He just looked at Zhao An twice more.

County Magistrate Ding was busy in his study writing a letter to his teacher, the Minister of Rites, Lord Qian. Writing the letter to greet him was secondary; the main thing was to send ice to Lord Qian.

The so-called "ice tribute" means that local officials give gifts to officials in Beijing who are their protectors in the name of cooling down in the summer.

In summer there is "ice tribute" and in winter there is "charcoal tribute".

This is the rule in official circles. Gifts must be given on every three festivals, two birthdays, when a vacancy is filled, as well as "ice gifts" and "charcoal gifts".

Lord Qian was the Minister of Rites. Officials of this level generally received an "ice tribute" of more than 800 taels. Therefore, every year Ding Houen had to give Lord Qian about 10,000 taels in gifts.

This does not even mention the filial respects paid to the governors, governors, prefects, provincial governors, prefectural governors, and educational governors above.

Therefore, County Magistrate Ding's life was really tight. After deducting various expenses for more than a year after taking office, he had only earned more than 10,000 taels.

Master Ji came here to increase the income of the county magistrate.

It was when he was strolling in the city the day before yesterday that he found that the cloth produced by local workshops in Yangzhou was very popular. Merchants from other places often came to Yangzhou to buy cloth and sell it back. Therefore, he wanted the county government to issue a notice to the local cloth-making workshops, stating that all cloth sold to the outside world must be inspected and stamped by the county government before it can be sold. In this way, a compliant and reasonable inspection fee can be charged.

"I've done some preliminary calculations. There are no fewer than a hundred cloth-making workshops, large and small, within the jurisdiction of this county. Each one charges an inspection fee of five hundred to one thousand taels per year. This would bring in tens of thousands of taels in revenue annually. What do you think, Your Excellency?"

After saying this, Master Ji waited patiently for the county magistrate's final instructions.

Zhao An was so angry when he heard this: That’s how we all play it!

What instructions can the county magistrate give? In one word: good!

"This approach can ensure the quality of cloth produced by each workshop, not only allowing the people to benefit, but also ensuring the reputation of Ganquan cloth. Very good, very good!"

County Magistrate Ding was beaming with joy. Master Ji's idea was truly a timely help, helping him resolve the shortfall in the "ice gift" he had paid to his master, Lord Qian, this year.

Then he noticed Zhao An standing respectfully behind Master Ji. Seeing that he looked unfamiliar, he couldn't help but ask in confusion, "Who is this?"

"His name is Zhao An. He was borrowed from the Taxation Department last month and used by the Household Affairs Office."

Master Ji gestured for Zhao An to salute the county magistrate and said with a smile, "Does the county magistrate remember the last time we set off the cannon? It was his idea. He's a good young man, hardworking and smart."

"Oh, it's him."

County Magistrate Ding had made an impression. After Zhao An saluted, he gestured for him to stand up and said with a smirk, "Young man, are you doing well in the household office?"

Zhao An quickly said, "Not bad."

Perhaps it was his first time to have such close contact with the county leaders, Zhao An appeared to be very nervous and restrained.

He looks very honest.

Seeing this, Master Ji deliberately said, "He is the one who handles the accounts of the back office, and he has never made a mistake."

"good,"

County Magistrate Ding nodded and looked Zhao An over. "Mr. Ji has told me about you. You're a promising talent. It's really unfair to ask you to keep accounts for the county every day."

"Don't be wronged, the county lord has no trivial matters!"

Zhao An blurted out, "Students believe that the county's affairs are the county magistrate's affairs, and the county magistrate's affairs are also the county's affairs. Serving the county magistrate is serving the people."

(End of this chapter)