I, Sun Shan, and the Imperial Examination

Sun Shan thought that if he had forgotten to build such an important thing as a granary, perhaps he had forgotten something even more important.

First, ask Master Zhang.

Zhang, the clerk, said with difficulty, "Sir, this is my first time being a clerk, and perhaps there are many things I haven't considered."

As Sun Shan's personal secretary, Master Zhang also bears responsibility for this matter.

He said with great remorse, "Sir, why don't we summon our subordinates and hold a meeting to discuss this matter?"

Sun Shan slapped his thigh and nodded: "Master's suggestion is good. If there is anything else that has been forgotten, we will all share the responsibility."

Master Zhang: ......

That wasn't his original intention; he hadn't thought that far ahead.

Just thinking of the saying "three cobblers are equal to one Zhuge Liang" and "many hands make light work," we gathered everyone together to pool our wisdom and learn from each other's mistakes.

The master is right; the blame should be shared, not borne alone.

So Sun Shan quickly summoned his subordinates to the meeting room to collectively recall what else needed to be done but hadn't been done yet.

When Wu, the clerk, heard Sun Shan's sinister diss of Magistrate Wang, he couldn't help but wipe the cold sweat from his forehead.

I tried hard to recall what tasks I hadn't done, but after thinking and thinking, I still couldn't think of anything, so I put them aside without any burden.

Fortunately, I haven't been drafted recently, so there's no issue with my household registration, which has saved me from being scolded.

Sun Shan said to Inspector Liang, "Inspector Liang, the summer harvest is over, and the people's granaries are full. Tell the people to be careful to prevent their grain from being stolen."

He paused, then continued, "Tell the village heads and wardens of each town to be on the lookout for suspicious individuals and to guard against bandits coming down from the mountains to rob people."

He then added, "We also need to increase patrols in the city, especially targeting unfamiliar faces and those who don't speak the local accent. We've worked hard for half a year to grow crops, and we're finally getting a harvest. We absolutely cannot let outsiders take it away."

Sun Shan was afraid that someone would rob the granary, so he had to guard against theft, fire, and mountain bandits.

Inspector Liang felt a bitter taste in his mouth. It wasn't that he didn't want to work hard, but the yamen was just a small place. They could only intimidate ordinary thugs. If they really encountered bandits, how could they possibly win?

Lord Sun is truly out of touch with reality and doesn't understand the brutality of mountain bandits.

The bandits of Wuling Mountain, in particular, were so ferocious that people couldn't even hide from them, let alone dare to confront them head-on to suppress them.

Seeing that Inspector Liang hadn't responded, Sun Shan frowned and asked, "Inspector Liang, what's the problem? If so, feel free to tell me."

There really was a problem, but Inspector Liang dared not say it.

Looking around, he asked, "Sir, we don't have enough men on our side. Could you send some more over?"

In one county, the patrol and inspection department has only 10 officially employed staff members.

Inspector Liang has 30 people under his command, 20 of whom are temporary workers.

You get paid once you do a job; if you don't do any work, you don't get paid.

Since Sun Shan arrived, things have improved slightly. The 20 temporary workers have also gained semi-official status, and their wages are half of those of the officially employed workers.

And so, his underlings were already very happy, at least they could be guaranteed to have enough to eat and not starve.

But when it comes to fighting bandits, let alone temporary workers, even permanent staff might not be able to step up.

It's one thing to patrol the city normally, but Sun Shan's idea is to wander around the countryside. That's really going to be very difficult.

It wasn't that the work was tiring, but I was really afraid of encountering bandits, and I was really afraid that the entire patrol and inspection team would be wiped out.

Considering that the Sun family guards were experienced in many battles, capturing and killing bandits, and that Lord Sun's mission could not be ignored, it would be best to involve the Sun family guards in the mission.

Sun Shan looked helplessly at Inspector Liang, and from his pleading expression, he knew what Liang was thinking.

No one was specifically named or assigned, but besides the Sun family guards, where else could the yamen have manpower?

The yamen runners all need to collect grain, and it's already generous enough that they don't ask for more manpower, so there's simply no way to spare manpower for the patrol and inspection offices.

Xia Dianli immediately said, "Sir, we don't have enough manpower here, so we can't mobilize any more."

What could Sun Shan say? He could only helplessly reply, "I understand."

Turning around, he said, "Inspector Liang, I will arrange for the Sun family guards to patrol in coordination. Starting today, they will patrol the entire county to ensure the safety of the people and their food supplies."

Inspector Liang was overjoyed and bowed respectfully, saying, "Thank you, sir."

After the meeting, everyone went about their own business and got busy with their own things.

Before we knew it, it was mid-June. After a flurry of activity, Magistrate Wang had finished collecting the grain tax for the entire county.

A lack of enthusiasm for tax collection indicates a problem with the official's conduct.

To get rich, you have to collect taxes.

Hehe, all I see are taxes; if I don't collect them, I'll be struck by lightning.

County Magistrate Wang's face was tanned dark from the sun; he was really working hard on the front lines to collect taxes.

Wu, the clerk, was equally busy, following behind. He wasn't fat to begin with, but after a month of running around, he became even thinner.

Sun Shan stared wide-eyed at the grain presented by Zhang Shiye and asked in surprise, "Is this summer grain?"

Magistrate Wang thought something was wrong, that Sun Shan had discovered his embezzlement, and tentatively asked, "Sir, what's wrong? Is there a problem?"

In fact, when it came to collecting grain taxes, the county magistrate would usually lead the team to collect them personally.

If someone performs a "sweeping kick," the grain that comes out belongs to the county magistrate.

Now that Sun Shan isn't going to collect it, hehe, such a good thing naturally belongs to Magistrate Wang.

If Sun Shan knew that Magistrate Wang was thinking this way, he would definitely roll his eyes at him frequently.

Does Sun Shan not know about "Linjian Tidou"? Does he not know how to seize the opportunity to make a fortune?

In particular, there was a group of young and strong men from the Sun family, which made it even easier for them to embezzle.

However, Sun Shan has always been timid and valued his life. What if he went to the front line to collect taxes and a quarrel broke out, or if the people acted impulsively and slashed him with a knife?

Being short of money is one thing, but risking one's life to earn money is absolutely unacceptable.

Moreover, Sun Shan was unsure of the extent of tax resistance among the people of Yuanlu County. What if the people of Yuanlu were as unruly and disobedient as the people of Guangnan?

In Sun Shan's memory, there was never any tax resistance in Sunjia Village, entirely because there was a good official named Lord Wei who governed for more than ten or twenty years.

He does things properly and never takes shortcuts or crooked paths. He pays only what is due and follows the rules.

The situation in the neighboring county was different. The account books had long been altered into a mess by clerks and grain officials, and whoever owned the land could decide for themselves.

Unjustified tax quotas were imposed on them, forcing people to band together as a clan to resist the taxes.

When the grain tax collectors came, they would hide in the mountains, or the entire village of several hundred people would fight back against them.

Some villages are even "professional tax evaders," having never paid taxes in thirty years.

Collecting grain is a labor-intensive task; it's not something that can be done by simply posting a notice and expecting the people to hand it over automatically at a certain time.

To collect taxes, one must outwit and outmaneuver the people.

The first tax collection in Yuanlu went smoothly, but this time it's different. There's a bumper harvest. What if the people don't hand over the harvested grain in proportion?

So Sun Shan decided to hide and let Magistrate Wang be the first to try something new, so that he would suffer the consequences if anything happened.