Qing Yao

Chapter 30 The Wisdom of the Little Boss

Everything is afraid of being regular.

The Green Gang members were dressed in all sorts of different clothes, including long shirts and short shirts. They looked fierce, but they were not formal at all, even worse than the security teams that went to the countryside to collect grain.

If we send them out to collect the money directly with this character, there will probably be chaos.

Zhao An couldn't get them a regular yamen runner uniform, and he didn't dare to design one privately because that would be punishable by death. He could only give them the red armbands of the administrators in their previous lives to temporarily wear, to indicate their identity and increase the deterrent effect.

As for why they are called "people's inspectors", there is an explanation for this.

Gang members were also common people under the rule of the Qing Dynasty. Who is the quality certification (consumer protection) mechanism that the government wants to establish now serving?

Isn’t it for the people?
Then it would be very appropriate and fair for the people to act as the inspectors.

If you ask the above questions, is there any explanation more reasonable than this?

But we can't just kick people out and collect money. Necessary training is still necessary.

First of all, we need to provide training on the specific content of the certification business to ensure that we can answer some business inquiries from payers when charging fees.

Otherwise, when the payers ask you what the money is for, and you, the collector, hesitate for a long time without being able to answer, and the onlookers cheer along, who would be willing to pay?

Zhao An worked overtime last night to write the training content. Considering that the literacy rate is too low these days, and the illiteracy rate of social organizations like the Qing Gang is surprisingly high, it is definitely not possible to expect them to learn on their own, so he, the "little boss", will explain it specifically in plain language that is easy to understand.

As a result, the lecture lasted for more than an hour, and Zhao An was so thirsty that his mouth was dry. Often, a question had to be repeated several times before this bunch of fools could understand it. It was really more tiring than being a kindergarten teacher.

Even with this, the rough guys only understood about 60% of it.

Although these people didn't dare to complain in front of Zhao An, the "little boss", their expressions revealed their true thoughts - "Isn't it just to collect money? Why do we have to go through so much trouble?"

There's no way around it, this is the difference between the times.

Zhao An talks about professionalism, attitude and influence, but the Youth Gang talks about efficiency.

The rougher, the more efficient.

We don’t care whether it has an impact or not, as long as we collect the money. After all, it’s the government’s job, and the government will cover it if anything goes wrong.

The key point is that these people thought that the government would cover them if anything happened, but Zhao An knew that no one would cover for him. If something really happened, the first person to be exposed would be him, a crappy ambassador.

Instead of asking the county magistrate to take the blame for you, you might as well hope that he will collect less money this year.

Therefore, these people must be restrained, be as formal as possible, and be gentle in the charging process to avoid accidents that no one from top to bottom wants to see.

He also paid close attention to this group of people and found that a few of them were quite smart. They could understand what was said and would occasionally put forward some constructive suggestions. So he ticked the names of these people and prepared to observe them further.

They looked young, at most in their twenties. Among them, Ren Chaoyang and Zhuang Yingjiu were the "house-born children" of the Qing Gang.

This "house-born child" does not refer to the descendants of slaves in wealthy families, but the descendants of canal workers whose ancestors have made a living from the canal for generations.

According to the Green Gang's rules, members who wanted to join the gang didn't need an introducer or a six-year probationary period; they could simply inherit their father's business. Only outsiders joining the Green Gang were required to undergo this six-year probationary period.

The other two people chosen by Zhao An, Wang Qingyuan and Ma Weijun, were small hooligans in Yangzhou City. Strictly speaking, they were not official members of the Green Gang because they had never submitted a visiting card to their master. They were just people who followed the Green Gang to make a living.

You can also say that they are prospective members of the Qing Gang.

There are people like this in every era. Those who can make it will make it, while those who can't will just live a mediocre life and end up being old scoundrels.

However, the two of them looked smart and could understand what Zhao An said, so Zhao An chose them.

The purpose is nothing more than to see whether these people can really get things done. If so, then try to train them to become "followers" of the "little boss" within the Qing Gang.

The only way to solve the shortage of manpower is to train our own people, apart from borrowing people.

After patiently explaining the main business content, Zhao An explained the charging standards in detail to everyone, including who is eligible for exemptions, in order to minimize the harm caused to the disadvantaged people at the bottom by the random charges ordered by the county magistrate.

Finally, there is the regulation of charging behavior.

"Remember, first, you are not allowed to hit people, second, you are not allowed to hit people, and third, you are still not allowed to hit people!"

Zhao An said this while standing up, and this was his only requirement for this group of Green Gang members.

When they heard that hitting people was forbidden, there was an uproar below. One of the gang members who looked reckless shouted, "Little Boss, what if we are not allowed to hit people, but the other party refuses to hand over?"

"Yes, little boss, you are young and work for the government, you don't know that some people outside are very slippery. Such people will not make friends no matter how you talk to them. Only a beating can make them behave."

"If we're not allowed to fight, what are we doing here?"

"."

A group of Qing Gang members who were used to solving problems with violence were making a lot of noise. Zhao An frowned, knowing that he had no authority in these people's hearts at the moment, so he could only wait for them to calm down.

At this time, Ma Weijun, who he had selected for observation and training, shouted, "What are you arguing about? What are you arguing about? What are you all arguing about? What did you forget about the Fourth Master's instructions? Whatever the little boss says is what goes. If you don't agree, go to the incense hall and learn the rules!"

Everyone shut up when they heard this. It seemed that Sun Rui had a great influence among the Yangzhou Green Gang members.

Ma Weijun waited until everyone was quiet before turning to Zhao An and clasping his fists, saying, "Little Boss, please continue. Everyone is listening!"

Zhao An nodded, looked around at everyone, and said slowly: "It is definitely not okay to hit people. We are doing errands for the county. Beating people would bring discredit to the county, so when you leave, you should focus on persuasion."

"Little Boss, we all understand what you mean, but collecting money is not as simple as you think. If we don't let you do it, I'm afraid it will delay your important matter."

The person who spoke was Zhuang Yingjiu, a young man from the Green Gang whom Zhao An also cared about. He was in his early twenties and looked very experienced, giving people the feeling of being mature beyond his years.

"It's definitely not okay to hit people,"

Zhao An raised his hand to interrupt another member of the Green Gang who was about to speak, "But as long as people can eat, drink, defecate and urinate, it is impossible for this craft to be closed for a day. If he doesn't open, what will his family eat and drink?
So, although I forbid you from hitting people, I also didn't forbid you from fighting him off until you can't even let him go to the toilet. Let's see how long he can last."

(End of this chapter)