Qin Chuan entered the county government office, went to his assigned back room, changed into his official robes, and then went to the signing room to check in.
However, they discovered that the county magistrate, the county assistant magistrate, and the registrar had not yet arrived.
He then asked the head constable, Zhao, "Is the magistrate here to take attendance?"
Zhao Bantou told him that the county magistrate would not arrive at the county office until the end of Chenshi (7-9 AM), and there was no need for roll call; he could simply sign the roster.
This surprised Qin Chuan slightly; was the discipline of the county government really that lax?
The county magistrate openly led the way in being late for work, and all the public officials falsified their attendance records. The officials here really have it better than the emperor.
Is this what they mean by "the mountains are high and the emperor is far away"?
Thinking of this, Qin Chuan said nothing. After signing the roster, he went directly to the interrogation room to retrieve the case file of the Hangzhou dike breach.
However, it was shocking to discover that the number of people who drowned due to the breach of the dike recorded in the dossier was sixteen, which was far different from the truth of more than eight thousand people investigated by Censor Lai.
Qin Chuan thought to himself, "It seems that at the county level, they've already started covering up the truth."
Although we don't yet know why they're covering up the truth, there must be some unspeakable secret behind it.
With this in mind, Qin Chuan closed the file, intending to investigate it slowly later.
By the time the sun was high in the sky, at the very end of the Chen hour (7-9 AM), the county magistrate Hong Ying, the county assistant Lin Shaotang, and the registrar Zhao Wenkai finally arrived at the signing room.
After greeting Qin Chuan and exchanging a few pleasantries, Magistrate Hong Ying went to the main hall, and Registrar Zhao Wenkai went to the Household Registration Office. Only Qin Chuan and Lin Shaotang remained in the signing room.
"Clerk Qin, I forgot to tell you yesterday, we can just come here at the end of Chenshi (7-9 AM) in our county office," County Magistrate Lin Shaotang said to Qin Chuan.
"Aren't you supposed to be here at exactly 5:00 AM? Aren't you afraid of being investigated by your superiors?" Qin Chuan asked.
Lin Shaotang chuckled and said, "Who will investigate? The inspection team sent by the imperial court? Heh heh, let alone knowing in advance that the inspection team is coming, even if we don't know, so what? We are only guilty of dereliction of duty, not embezzlement. At worst, we'll just get a beating."
At this point, Lin Shaotang patted Qin Chuan on the shoulder: "Brother Qin Jiang, coming here as a clerk will not only guarantee you wealth, but your life will be even more comfortable than that of an official in the capital..."
"That would be the best, thanks to the Second Master for taking care of me." Qin Chuan smiled sheepishly.
"Hehe, we're all in the same boat, so if we're talking about taking care of each other, then of course we should take care of each other!"
The county magistrate is the top leader in the county, the county assistant magistrate is the second-in-command, the registrar is the third-in-command, and Qin Chuan, this lowly clerk, is the fourth-in-command. Right now, the county assistant magistrate Lin Shaotang really treats him as "one of his own".
After telling him so much, and still saying we're "in the same boat," that's quite interesting.
Thinking of this, Lin Shaotang suddenly said, "Qin Dianshi, there are some gentry and wealthy families in this county that we need to visit. Prepare some gifts and I will take you to meet them."
"We county magistrates, when we meet with gentry and wealthy families, do we have to give them gifts?" Qin Chuan asked directly, somewhat puzzled.
Lin Shaotang said with a smile, "Brother Qin, it's obvious you're new to officialdom. You really don't understand the ins and outs of this..."
"Uh... I hope Magistrate Lin will give me more guidance."
Qin Chuan bowed to Lin Shaotang.
Lin Shaotang smiled mysteriously and patted Qin Chuan on the shoulder: "I'll tell you slowly later. You should go prepare the gifts first. You can go tomorrow, it's up to you. But since you've just taken office as a county magistrate, you should visit these local gentry and wealthy families as soon as possible."
"Alright, let's go today."
Qin Chuan was speechless. As an official in the county, he actually had to curry favor with the local gentry and wealthy families.
However, in order to understand the complex network of relationships and the transfer of benefits involved, he held back and called Zhao Bantou and several constables and yamen runners to go to the street with County Magistrate Lin Shaotang to buy some gifts. Then, they went to the homes of those local gentry and wealthy families.
Along the way, County Magistrate Lin Shaotang introduced to Qin Chuan: "In Yuhang, we have three prominent surnames and more than a dozen large clans. The three prominent surnames are Liu, Yang and Xie. I won't introduce the more than a dozen large clans to you one by one. In short, you must remember these three prominent surnames."
"Yes, I will follow your teachings, Second Master."
Lin Shaotang was quite satisfied with the attitude of the "Qin Jiang" brothers.
After visiting the heads of the three families, Qin Chuan and Lin Shaotang returned to the county government office in the afternoon.
As the sun set, Magistrate Lin told him he could go home.
Qin Chuan experienced a day as a clerk and never expected that becoming the fourth-ranking official in the county would require him to curry favor with the three most prestigious families. According to Lin Shaotang, it seemed that all three families had high-ranking officials in the imperial court...
"To become a high-ranking official in the imperial court..."
Qin Chuan suddenly remembered, "The Minister of Works, Yang Weicong, is from Hangzhou. So the biggest background of the Yang family here is this guy..."
As for the Liu and Xie families, he couldn't recall any of the officials in the six ministries and nine ministers of the court who were surnamed Liu or Xie.
After a long day's work, when he came out of the county government office, Xiao Yue, Jiang Lianyue, Zhang Cheng, Li Aniu and two others were already waiting for him at the entrance.
Without being too conspicuous, Qin Chuan walked back to the Lotus Pond Courtyard with the four of them.
"Brother-in-law, is there any progress?"
Xiao Yue knew what Qin Chuan wanted to do, and asked as she walked alongside him.
Qin Chuan glanced at her and said, "Do you know? There is a family here surnamed Yang, who are relatives of Yang Weicong, the Minister of Works in the imperial court."
Xiao Yue asked, puzzled, "What does the breach of the dike have to do with the Yang family?"
Shaking his head slightly, Qin Chuan slowly said, "I'm still not clear about the connection between these things. I'll probably have to go deeper into the villages another day, especially the ones where the Yang family's influence is entrenched, to investigate thoroughly..."
"Yes, brother-in-law, if you feel tired, just send the Imperial Guards."
Qin Chuan thought for a moment and said, "Since I've come here in person, I want to find out the truth myself. Once the Embroidered Uniform Guard appears, they will have a countermeasure, making it difficult to find out the truth."
"Okay, then I'll dress up as a man and keep you company."
Qin Chuan looked at the sky ablaze with the colors of the sunset and said, "It's very hot now, you'd better not go."
"Brother-in-law, I'm worried about your safety. If anything happens to you, my sister won't forgive me either," Xiao Yue whispered to Qin Chuan.
Qin Chuan glanced back at Li Aniu and Zhang Cheng, and said to Xiao Yue, "You've finally recovered your fair complexion, don't get tanned. I'll have Aniu and Zhang Cheng go with you."
Hearing him say that, Xiao Yue smiled slightly, "My brother-in-law actually cares about me now. Why didn't you ever care about me before..."
Qin Chuan took her hand and said, "Who told you to be my wife..."
Xiao Yue snorted: "Hmph, you've got a sweet tongue..."
After going to bed that night, Qin Chuan secretly went to Xiao Yue's room, and Xiao Yue indeed did not bolt the door.
Holding Xiao Yue in his arms, Qin Chuan said breathlessly, "Yueyue, last night wasn't enough, tonight we must be..."
In the darkness, Xiao Yue suppressed her panting, her voice trembling softly, "Husband, be gentle, be gentle..."
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