The Daily Life of a Rich Peasant's Boy in the Imperial Examination

When Sun Shan saw the 500 taels of silver in the letter, he was very anxious. He felt relieved just by seeing the number. He had to hold it in his hand offline to feel that it was real money.

Sun Shan searched the envelope again and found a few thin sheets of paper. He counted them and found that there were five in total.

Emma, ​​this is a banknote.

I carefully checked the numbers on the banknotes again. Each one was worth 100 taels. There were five of them in total, just as the letter said, taels.

Sun Shan was so happy that the corners of his mouth could no longer be suppressed and curled up.

Unexpectedly, this time, the prefect Liu was so generous and gave a full five hundred taels. It can be seen that the three prisoners were really, really, really serious criminals.

Sun Shan asked the question in his mind: "Captain Zhu, how should the reward money be..."

Why are there so many?

After giving him a look that said, "You know what I mean," Captain Zhu explained, "The reward from Changde Prefecture is 300 taels, another 100 taels is from the government office, and the remaining 100 taels is a private reward from the prefect. We were able to apprehend the thief so quickly this time, thanks to the great assistance of Lord Sun. The prefect is very pleased."

The prefect was indeed very happy that the criminal was captured so easily without any soldiers being involved.

When this news was delivered to Changde Prefecture and Changsha Prefecture, the prefects were very proud.

It has never been so refreshing to be the center of attention in front of all the prefects.

The last time Sun Shan suppressed the bandits, due to some unspeakable reasons, the credit was given to the garrison. This time, 99% of the credit for catching the real culprit went to the prefect.

Spending 100 taels is still very cost-effective.

Besides, 100 taels was nothing to the prefect. He was a son of an aristocratic family and had lived a life of luxury since his grandfather was conferred the title of nobility. 100 taels was nothing to him.

That’s right, this time Magistrate Liu still took credit for the achievement himself, and mentioned Sun Shan briefly in the official letter he submitted.

Haha, when subordinates do things, the credit naturally goes to their superiors. This is the unspoken rule in official circles, and of course, Prefect Liu is no exception and does things according to this unspoken rule.

When Sun Shan heard that it was Prefect Liu who had given him so much on purpose, he thanked him sincerely.

He cupped his hands, tilted his head 45 degrees and said, "Captain Zhu, I am very grateful for the prefect's reward. When we return to Chenzhou Prefecture, please give my regards to the prefect."

Sun Shan had long anticipated the so-called "unspoken rules", so he appeared very calm.

Captain Zhu readily agreed: "Sir Sun, I will."

Then he continued, "I heard someone was injured during the arrest. The prefect is very worried. I wonder how the injured officer is doing now?"

Sun Shan smiled and said, "Thank you for your concern, Prefect. The injured officer is now fine."

Captain Zhu nodded and said, "It's good that nothing serious is wrong. The prefect is relieved."

Then he looked at the five naked silver notes and said, "This time, the criminal was caught, thanks to the yamen officials. The prefect is very pleased with the yamen officials' bravery, selflessness, fearlessness of danger, and their constant protection of the people's safety."

Sun Shan understood what Captain Zhu meant: he wanted him not to take the 500 taels for himself, but to share some with the servants in the yamen.

The purposeful mention of the injured officers and their contributions was in the hope that they could be rewarded according to their merits, so that the officers would know that their superiors were rewarding them.

Sun Shan nodded repeatedly. "Our officers have put in a lot of effort to apprehend the criminal this time. The injured runners should be rewarded accordingly."

After a pause, he continued, "Captain Zhu, I understand what the prefect means."

Pointing to five silver notes, he said meaningfully, "These will be rewarded according to merit."

Captain Zhu smiled with satisfaction.

After two brief encounters, I discovered that Mr. Sun in front of me was a smart man who understood things quickly.

This time, the prefect specifically reminded Sun Shan to share some with his subordinates, which was for Sun Shan's own good.

Only when there is meat to eat will subordinates work hard next time.

You want the horse to run but don't want it to eat grass. How can you have both in this world?

Prefect Liu made some suggestions because Sun Shan brought him two "good things" as soon as he arrived.

I hope Sun Shan will continue to do good things for him in the future so that his resume will be filled with glorious deeds.

Sun Shan chatted with Captain Zhu for a while, and then it was noon, so he asked Master Zhang to accompany Captain Zhu for lunch.

The chef this time is still Aunt Wang, and the portions are still generous and filling.

There is fish, meat and soup. Although the ingredients are sparse and ordinary, they are well cooked and quite delicious.

As soon as Sun Shan and the others left, he immediately ran back to the backyard, took a closer look at the five hundred taels of silver, and only after confirming that the goods were genuine did he breathe a sigh of relief.

Gui Ge'er said excitedly, "Brother Shan, the government is so generous this time, they actually gave us a reward of 500 taels. Oh my god, if we catch a few more prisoners, wouldn't we have an extra 500 taels?"

Looking at the light five hundred taels, Gui Ge'er's eyes sparkled, just like Sun Shan's, both showed their love for money.

Sun Shan was also very happy and could no longer hold back his laughter: "Hahaha... this time they are really generous, actually giving so much money. Hahaha..."

Gui Ge'er asked, "Brother Shan, what are we going to do with this money? Are we going to distribute it to the yamen runners? Or..."

What I actually want to say is: it’s still embezzled.

Of course, it was difficult to say such words out loud, so Gui Ge'er glanced at Sun Shan and gave him a look that said "you know what I mean".

Not long ago, we were worried about the guano fertilizer workshop running out of supplies, but now, Chenzhou Prefecture has sent us a "timely rain".

Sun Shan thought of "seizing" the money and embezzling it to the workshop first, and then rewarding the people according to their merits after the summer harvest and the workshop returned the money.

The government office has no worries about food and drink, but it would be unfair to owe the workers and suppliers money.

Sun Shan planned to create some time difference and slow down the process, and the workshop would be much better.

After Captain Zhu returned to the post station, Sun Shan called County Magistrate Wang, Chief Secretary Wu, Inspector Liang, Clerk Xia, Captain Yang, Sun Dali, and the only injured Xiao Wuzi to come over for an impromptu meeting.

Sun Shan handed the five hundred taels to County Magistrate Wang.

County Magistrate Wang's sharp eyes immediately noticed the banknote, and he took it and took a closer look.

Green Bean's eyes lit up, and he said in surprise, "Sir, is this a reward from Chenzhou Prefecture?"

Don’t ask why County Magistrate Wang knew this, the government office is just a leaky wall.

Captain Zhu from Chenzhou Prefecture came over one second ago, and the next second County Magistrate Wang knew what had happened.

I just didn’t expect that the reward this time would be as much as 500 taels.

Emma, ​​so excited, so trembling.

Sun Shan nodded. "Last time, we apprehended a roving murderer. The higher-ups were very pleased and gave us a generous reward."

The composition of this reward was also explained.

He smiled and said, "The prefect has praised us highly. Let us continue our efforts to protect the safety of the people."

After County Magistrate Wang looked at the banknote, he passed it on to Chief Clerk Wu, and they passed it down one by one until it finally reached Sun Shan.

Sun Shan handed it to Master Zhang, who immediately put the banknote into the small wooden box, closed the lid and locked it tightly.

Everyone looked at the wooden box in surprise, then looked at Sun Shan who was sitting upright, and really couldn't understand why the banknotes were locked up.

Aren’t we asking them to come here today to give them a reward?

Is it just to let them satisfy their desire to do something?