Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

There weren't many drugstore owners here today, but there were still hundreds of them.

Chen Shao walked into the lobby and sat at the counter. All the shopkeepers immediately stopped talking and lined up neatly to greet her.

Chen Shao didn't say anything. He scanned everyone one by one and asked the Seventh Master who followed him, "There are so many medicine shops in Hongyuan County?"

The Seventh Master looked back at the shop owners and said, "Not all of them are shop owners. Many of them are doctors in the town and the village. They heard that you are going to open a second or third Huimin Pharmacy, so they came to me and wanted to come here so that you can assign them a job."

Chen Shao looked at the shopkeepers and doctors, and they bowed to her again.

After asking Fu Jiu to bring a chair out for Master Qi, Chen Shao slowly spoke: "Since everyone has understood the purpose of coming here today, I won't waste any more words. I'm sure you've all heard about what happened here yesterday. For today's discussion, I don't have any big requests, but only one small request: feel free to raise any questions. But if you want to take advantage of the opportunity, I've already confirmed the minds of so many people, and I don't mind confirming a few more. Do you understand?"

Amid the crowd's "understanding", Chen Shao continued: "The content of today's discussion is very simple. There are too many and too diverse medicine shops in Hongyuan County. I need to carry out a major integration. The purpose of the integration is twofold. One is to bring most of the medicine shops into the official system, and the other is to sell a small number of medicine shops to the outside world. The medicine shops that are brought into the official system will be one level lower than the Huimin medicine shops. In other words, they will be subject to the supervision of the Huimin medicine shops, which includes the appointment of shopkeepers, doctors, and shop assistants, as well as the payment of monthly salaries. Of course, since they are labeled as official, I will also issue official appointment documents later. As for whether there will be a rank, I will have to discuss it with the emperor before making a decision."

Looking at the crowd that was instantly excited, Chen Shao picked up the gavel, knocked it twice and said, "Don't be too happy yet, listen to what I have to say."

After everyone quieted down, Chen Shao continued: "Although most of the pharmacies in Hongyuan County will be incorporated into the official system, it does not mean that you will still be the shopkeepers. Of course, I will not fire you immediately after the pharmacy is incorporated into the official system. I will use half a year or a year to conduct a comprehensive investigation of you, the doctors and shop assistants in your pharmacy. After the investigation period is over and you meet my minimum requirements, you will get the official appointment documents. Otherwise, you will be eliminated."

The words were cruel, but they still did not reduce the excitement of the crowd.

Chen Shao picked up the gavel and knocked twice again, then continued, "These are the general requirements for the medicine shops that are included in the official list. For the medicine shops that sell a small number of medicines, it is first come first served. I will arrange for people to appraise the medicine shops that are not included in the official list. After the appraisal, I will hand it over to Master Qi, who will post it at Huimin Medicine Shop. Anyone who wants to buy can go directly to Master Qi."

It seemed that the money from the sale of the medicine shop would be put into the account of Huimin Medicine Shop. Qi Ye had come here to join in the fun and prevent the incident of yesterday from happening again. He had never expected to have such an unexpected surprise. The smile on his face instantly became brighter than a flower.

"Okay, these are the general directions." Chen Shao knocked the gavel twice and said, "Now if you have any questions or ideas, feel free to ask and speak up."

As soon as she finished speaking, a short, thin middle-aged man came up to her and asked, "Excuse me, sir, what are the criteria for being included in the official pharmacy?"

The others also looked at Chen Shao nervously.

Chen Shao looked at them and smiled, "The criteria for inclusion in the official drugstores are very simple. I will randomly select 300 to 500 people within ten days and ask them to rate your drugstores. Ten is the full score, six is ​​a pass, and drugstores with six points or above can be included in the official list. Today is October 13th, so let's set October 26th as the deadline. I will post the list of official drugstores to Huimin Drugstore on October 26th."

Seeing their surprised looks, Chen Shao smiled: "The original intention of opening the Huimin Pharmacy is to allow all the people to see a doctor. Since it serves the people, it is natural that the people have the final say. I am not afraid to tell you the truth. After your pharmacy is incorporated into the government, whether you can enter the government with your pharmacy will be largely determined by the people's evaluation."

Another middle-aged man stepped forward, bowed and asked, "What if the common people give malicious ratings?"

"Whether now or in the future, the people who give scores are randomly selected," Chen Shao said. "Since it is randomly selected, there may be people who give scores maliciously, but it is impossible for everyone to give scores maliciously, right?"

Another middle-aged man stepped forward and asked, "May I ask, sir, after passing the probation period and getting the official appointment documents from the government, will the monthly salary be paid by the government or by Huimin Pharmacy?"

Chen Shao did not answer but asked: "Is there any difference?"

The middle-aged man said, "There is really no difference in general. It's just that it's distributed by Huimin Pharmacy, which means that the profits of other pharmacies need to be handed over to Huimin Pharmacy. Is it appropriate to hand over such a big power to them? Since we need to examine whether we can do the job, shouldn't they also examine it with us?"

Many people looked at the Seventh Master.

The Seventh Master's face didn't look good, but he still said: "He has a point, for show..."

"I don't have the habit of burning bridges after crossing them, that's the first;" Chen Shao said calmly, "Seventh Master and the doctors and clerks in Huimin Pharmacy are not in office for the first day. How well they do, although it is not appropriate to describe a pharmacy as 'crowded with customers', but the facts cannot be denied, that's the second; the reason why I want to set a probation period for you is because I don't want to judge your character and ability based on the actions of the Wen family, the Zhu family, the Gu family, etc. In other words, you need to use actual actions to prove that you are different from them, that's the third; handing such a large power to them is indeed risky, but this risk should be borne by me because I appointed them, that's the fourth. Any other questions?"

The middle-aged man said with a stiff face: "Your Excellency means that if they commit a crime in the future, they will also be punished, right?"

Chen Shao nodded: "Of course."

After a pause, he continued, "This is supposed to be a matter for the future, but since you asked, I might as well briefly explain it. The doctors at Huimin Pharmacy are the same as the doctors at your pharmacy after the probation period. They will have relevant assessments every three months or every six months. If they meet the assessment standards, they will continue to be employed. If they do not meet the assessment standards, they will be demoted, for example, from the main store to the second-level pharmacy. If they still do not meet the standards, they will be demoted to the third-level pharmacy, and so on. At the same time, doctors with excellent assessments will be promoted from the third-level pharmacy to the second-level pharmacy, or even to the main store. This is true for doctors and shopkeepers."

The middle-aged man couldn't help but say "Great".

The others echoed.

His expression was even more excited than when he first learned that he was recruited.

After a moment of excitement, an elderly man stood up and said, "May I ask, sir, are these assessments still based on the ratings of the people?"

Hearing the hidden meaning in his words, Chen Shao asked, "Do you have a different opinion?"

"No," the elderly man said hastily, "it is fairest to let the people judge."

Chen Shao smiled and said, "It seems that you have suffered losses in this regard before."

The older man quickly denied it.

Chen Shao encouraged: "Don't hide it. The assessment standards are related to the interests of each of you. Only when you speak out can I make the assessment standards as perfect as possible as to what can and cannot be done. If you don't speak out now, it will be too late when you suffer a loss. It is not easy to make rules, and it is not easy to change them either."

The older man had experienced a lot after all. After hearing her words, he hesitated for a moment, and finally plucked up the courage to speak out: "Letting the people rate will stop those who take shortcuts by relying on festivals and birthdays and various tributes. Only then can the selection and assessment be fair and just."

The so-called three festivals and two birthdays, the three festivals refer to the New Year, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival, and the two birthdays refer to the birthdays of officials and their wives. There are all kinds of filial piety money, including signing money, farewell money, charcoal money, ice money, levy money, disciple money, etc. Chen Shao has heard or seen these, but what she heard and saw were all in the officialdom. They were just the shopkeepers of the medicine shop, and they also had these?

Facing Chen Shao's question, the elderly man smiled bitterly: "There are still various managers and people around the masters and young masters who need to be taken care of in the medicine shop. These managers and people around the masters and young masters may not be able to manage the medicine shop, and may not be able to make us look at us differently from the nobles, but a few slanderous words from them are enough to ruin our years of hard work."

Many shopkeepers nodded in agreement, and many of them brought up things that happened to themselves or people around them to prove that what the older man said was true.

"Besides that," after saying this, another shopkeeper spoke up, "Shouldn't everything involving money, such as monthly salaries, be distributed directly to everyone instead of being passed down through layers of government?"

This time, there were inexplicably fewer shopkeepers who agreed.

The shopkeeper who mentioned this immediately looked at the crowd. Seeing that everyone was avoiding his gaze and continuing with the previous topic, as if they had not heard what he said at all, he could not help but sneer: "When it comes to your own interests, you are so fussy! When it comes to the interests of others, you turn a deaf ear to them. You are really a bunch of mean people!"

"You can't say that," someone immediately became unhappy when he heard him making accusations. "Huimin Pharmacy is already very busy managing the talent selection and daily affairs of each branch. If the monthly salary has to be distributed to everyone in person, wouldn't that add to their burden?"

"As a person, you can't just think about yourself, you have to think about others too."

"Don't cause trouble to others for no reason just to appear nice in front of adults."

Not many people agreed, but the voices of accusation were overwhelming.

The shopkeeper who raised the issue was so angry that his face turned red and his neck became thick, and he was so angry that he was fuming. He no longer cared whether he was in the prefectural mansion or whether Chen Shao was there, and immediately started arguing with everyone.

Looking at the chaos in the lobby, Chen Shao did not try to stop it. Instead, he looked with interest at the shopkeeper who was able to raise a topic that most people did not agree with, standing alone against ten thousand men.

The argument lasted for almost two cups of tea before it ended.

End the four-hit combo with the shopkeeper who raised the topic:

"You don't agree with Huimin Pharmacy distributing monthly salaries to everyone, just because you want to exploit them!"

"You don't want to exploit us, so why don't you agree?"

"Whether it's troublesome or not is up to the adults to decide. The adults haven't said anything yet, so why are you making such a fuss? Aren't you just trying to exploit me?"

"You don't want to exploit us, so why don't you agree?"

Looking at the angry crowd and the shopkeeper who raised the topic with disdain for being with them, Chen Shao smiled and comforted them: "Since it is a discussion, it is a good thing to have a dispute. The more you argue, the clearer the truth will be. We will work together in the future, so there is no need to get angry over such a small matter."

After he finished speaking, he looked at the shopkeeper who had raised the topic and asked, "What's your name? Which medicine shop are you from?"

The shopkeeper who raised the topic said frankly: "I am Liu Chengxi, and I am responsible for the shopkeeper of Jishiditang."

"It's the Zhu family's pharmacy." Quan Shuyu said without Chen Shao asking.

Someone in the crowd muttered in a moderate voice, "A shabby pharmacy with no business."

"What happened to the broken medicine hall..."

Seeing that the quarrel was about to break out again, Chen Shao knocked the gavel to stop everyone, and said to Liu Chengxi: "Congratulations, Jishidi has been selected as an official pharmacy."

Liu Chengxi was stunned at first, then he immediately bowed his hands and said loudly: "Thank you, sir!"

"Thank yourself." Chen Shao said, then turned his head and told Fu Jiu, "Go and bring a chair out for Manager Liu."

Fu Jiu brought out a chair, and Liu Chengxi thanked her and sat down. After he sat down, he did not do anything, but the people who had argued with him before all bowed their heads.

"Okay, let's continue." Chen Shao said.