Qing Yao

Chapter 73 Professor Zhao!
The county magistrate's concerns are justified.

It was no problem for Zhao An to get the identity of a student and work as a student in the provincial school. Who would take a minor official of the ninth rank seriously and who would have thought that this guy was an imposter?

Even if someone noticed this, it could be easily resolved with the power of County Lord Ding.

The title of Baili Hou, the magistrate of Pojia County, is not just a casual remark.

But now Zhao An was lucky enough to become a professor in charge of education in Yangzhou Prefecture, and he was at the same level as County Master Ding, so the problem became serious.

Because the personnel files of seventh-rank officials are no longer under the management of local governments, but are now under the unified management of the Ministry of Personnel.

What's even more troublesome is that teaching positions, like the three systems of salt transport, river routes, and grain transport, are independent of the local official system. Therefore, Zhao An, the professor of the provincial school in charge of education, must not only have his personnel relations registered with the Ministry of Personnel, but also with the Ministry of Rites, the competent department for education.

It is under the joint jurisdiction of two departments.

The trouble lies here. The Ministry of Personnel couldn’t discover that Zhao An had forged his identity, so could the Ministry of Rites not discover it either?

No matter which department discovers the problem first, it is a disaster that will destroy the entire family of the counterfeiters!
Impersonating someone else and becoming a professor in a prefecture, is there anything more ridiculous than this in our Qing Dynasty?

If this incident becomes public, exiling those involved to Ningguta will be a sign of the emperor's great grace.

The county magistrate was regretting so much that he wanted to vomit his gallbladder. His eyes were red with anxiety. When he learned about this matter in the government office, he was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. He wanted to rush into the government school with a knife and skin Zhao An alive.

You bastard, don’t you know how fake you are? Are you trying to show off on purpose, or are you trying to make my whole family lose the game?

Teacher Song was also panicking. He was the one who came up with all the fake materials for Zhao An. If the county magistrate pushed all the responsibility onto him to protect himself, he would never be able to clear himself of the blame even if he jumped into the Yellow River.

How to do?
It is impossible to surrender voluntarily. As the old saying goes, you won't cry until you see the coffin.

Things haven't gotten to the worst yet, but you're crazy enough to jump into the fire.

How could he, who had passed the imperial examination with great difficulty and had endured many years as a teacher, just give up?

He forced himself to remain calm and asked the county magistrate curiously, "How did Zhao An become a professor at the prefectural school?"

The county magistrate snorted, "It's still about negotiating the fine for the crime!"

Even at this point, he still can't guess that it was the result of the one thousand taels of silver for the crime. All these years of serving as an official have been in vain.

"So the story about the criminal silver is true? The Emperor promoted Zhao An five levels just for that one thousand taels?!"

Teacher Song was so shocked that he couldn't close his mouth, and his face was full of regret. If he had known that paying one thousand taels could get him promoted five levels, he would have sold his wife and children to raise ten thousand taels as a filial gift to the emperor.

"Alas, that bastard Zhao An got away with it!"

The county magistrate sighed repeatedly, feeling regretful, angry, and at the same time having the urge to slap himself twice.

Missed it, missed it.

If he had known that Zhao An's one thousand taels could produce such a miraculous effect, he would have joined in no matter what.

Unfortunately, the halo of this number one person is gone.

Right now, his top priority is how to solve the troubles brought about by Zhao An’s promotion.

Teacher Song was optimistic, thinking that the fact that Zhao An's identity was fake might not be discovered by the higher-ups. After all, they didn't know what the real Zhao Youlu looked like.

“If the people above don’t know, won’t the people below know too?”

The county magistrate was clear-headed. The professor of the prefectural school was a prominent figure in the Yangzhou officialdom, and his exposure rate was extremely high. With a high probability of exposure, the possibility of being discovered was naturally high.

Putting aside other things, how many people in Ganquan County School know the real Zhao Youlu?
"this,"

Teacher Song thought so too, he couldn't kill all the students who knew Zhao Youlu.

How to do?
The county magistrate and the teacher sat there in a daze, vaguely feeling that a huge crisis, the most severe in their careers, was approaching them step by step.

But the two of them tacitly agreed not to mention surrendering themselves, because surrendering themselves would also be the end of it.

But it wouldn't be right to just pretend nothing happened. After a long while, the teacher said quietly, "There's only one way to save us right now."

"What method?"

The county magistrate stretched his neck and looked at the instructor with anticipation.

"Let's pay the fine quickly."

Teacher Song, with a helpless look on his face, raised five fingers and said, "It won't do to pay less. I've thought about it and will go back to collect 5,000 taels. Your Excellency must collect at least 10,000 taels."

"So much?"

The county magistrate felt a pang of pain. He had only been in office for more than a year, and had encountered floods, the emperor's birthday, and the levy of taxes and grain for the army. After adding up all the factors, his "net profit" was only a few thousand taels.

If I want to pay 10,000 taels, I can only borrow money at high interest rates.

It's not that I don't know why Song Jiaoyu asked him to pay so much. He wanted to spend money to avoid disaster. If the truth comes out, at least he can save his life.

"There is no other way."

Teacher Song was also feeling the pain.

The county magistrate was unwilling to accept this. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He slammed the table and said, "This is all caused by that bastard Zhao An. Even if we have to spend money to eliminate the disaster, it doesn't make sense for us to pay for it. Let's go find this bastard!"

At the provincial school, Zhao An was collecting his salary in the accounting office.

Last month’s salary was three taels and four cents, plus thirty kilograms of rice.

After receiving his salary and counting it to confirm it was correct, he casually put it in his pocket, picked up the rice bag and put it on his shoulder, and was about to go home. When he reached the door, he remembered something and asked Ma Xuezheng, who was sitting in the house and was in charge of distributing salaries, "Sir, when will my official uniform and official certificate arrive?"

"You donated money to get into the academy, so the Imperial College needs to send the application to the provincial education bureau. It should be soon. Wait a little longer. Next one."

Without even raising his head, Ma Xuezhen signaled the "cashier" of the provincial school to distribute the monthly allowances to the scholar teachers queuing outside.

Seeing that the master was busy, Zhao An didn't say anything more. He carried the rice bag and went to the door. Unexpectedly, the director of studies, Tong Xundao, was running towards the accounting office, panting all the way.

Zhao An thought the other party had something to ask Ma Xuezheng, so he tactfully stepped aside. Unexpectedly, Tong Xundao threw up his sleeves and knelt on one knee in front of him, saying with a smile, "Your humble servant greets Professor!"

"."

Not to mention the confused faces of the teachers queuing up to receive their salaries, Zhao An, who was holding a rice bag in both hands, was even more confused: "Master Tong, what are you doing?"

"Your humble servant greets you, Professor!"

Tong Xundao's face was as bright as a peony. As he stepped forward to "snatch" the rice bag on Zhao An's back, he said attentively, "Look at how foolish I am! My lord, you don't even know this! News has come from the government that Professor Jiang has been promoted to a county magistrate in another place, and the court has promoted you to be the new professor of this government!"

"I'm a professor?"

Zhao An stood there stupidly as if he was petrified, and a group of scholars who were queuing up to collect their wages were also collectively petrified: How could Zhao Youlu, a student of the Imperial Academy, become a professor!

"My lord, my lord?"

Instructor Tong thought Professor Zhao was too happy and was afraid something might happen, so he quickly put down the rice bag and supported the young professor who was about to faint.

"Ah? Ah, I'm fine, I'm fine."

Zhao An, who had come out of his trance, didn't know what to say or do for a moment. Purely out of instinct, he looked towards the room: "Who is that?"

"The subordinate is here!"

Ma Xuezhen flashed faster than the speed of sound.

"Ah, it's okay. You go about your business. I want to be quiet."

Professor Zhao really needs to be quiet because he doesn't know how to be a principal.

(End of this chapter)