Chapter 35 Senior Brother's Way, Sister Su's Domineering Style (Please read on and vote!)
Auditing accounts is not a simple task.
Moreover, in this era of outdated arithmetic, accountants can only rely on the abacus to assist in calculations.
Although Ouyang Rong knew some advanced mathematics, he wasn't exceptionally gifted. He wasn't more capable than accountants and clerks who made a living by doing bookkeeping, able to pick up an account book at a glance and spot the loopholes, and then lead his men to ransack the house.
He only received basic education, while this person is a professional who makes a living.
Fortunately, Ouyang Rong cultivated a team that was familiar with and comfortable with the tasks.
When he first took office, he decided to implement the work-for-relief program and asked Magistrate Diao for manpower. At that time, most people in the county government thought he was just acting on a whim and was busy doing nothing. Not many people were willing to go with him to the outskirts of the city to work themselves to the bone for the disaster victims who had no income. It was a thankless task. The magistrate might be seeking fame, but these old foxes were not.
However, Ouyang Rong was still a county magistrate, and in the local area, a higher-ranking official could easily bully others. County Magistrate Diao had no choice but to obediently find people for him and arrange for a group of idle clerks from the six departments of the government office to go and cause trouble for him.
When Ouyang Rong first saw this group of clerks, he knew they were all unpopular in the county government—either young and inexperienced or old and frail.
However, later in the suburbs, Ouyang Rong led them to count the refugees' household registrations and food supplies every day and set up relief camps along the way. After some adjustment, Ouyang Rong was surprised to find that they were doing a pretty good job.
That's true. A greenhorn clerk may lack experience, but he is highly malleable and full of energy. In addition, Ouyang Rong is also an old pie-in-the-sky type, so he can give you plenty of motivation.
The elderly clerks who are still marginalized in their seventies and eighties are mostly not lacking in ability. On the contrary, they are quite capable and experienced. The reason they are marginalized by their superiors and colleagues is because they do not flatter their superiors and are stubborn and eccentric.
Hilarious! I don't know if Magistrate Diao did it intentionally or unintentionally, but the two types of people he sent to deal with Ouyang Rong were quite complementary, and both were among the most capable in the county government...
Old Cui was such an old clerk. Ouyang Rong met him when he was preparing to build a disaster relief camp and gathering the clerks for a meeting.
When Ouyang Rong took office, he enthusiastically proposed a grain distribution plan that now seems too idealistic in practice. The other clerks present nodded in agreement, but only this thin, pointed-chinned old man, Cui, disregarded the new magistrate's feelings and calmly pointed out that this method of grain distribution would create a bottomless financial hole, and the more than 10,000 shi of rice in Longcheng's granary would not be enough to fill it.
Ouyang Rong wasn't too annoyed. He immediately consulted the old man, Cui, and was convinced by his reasoned arguments. Later, he directly put the old man, Cui, in charge of managing the finances of the twenty-four disaster relief camps in the suburbs, along with six new clerks.
Ouyang Rong later learned that the meticulously detailed annual financial ledgers of Longcheng County were made by this old man, Cui. Although he was not the head of the household affairs department of the county government, he was specifically responsible for "stamping the ledgers".
Right now, when they opened the east warehouse to do the accounting, Ouyang Rong politely declined the officials in charge of household registration and granary affairs under Magistrate Diao, and instead sent a group of clerks from the disaster relief camp, led by Old Cui, to replace them...
As the sun began to set, Longcheng County, which had just begun to recover from the flood, was shrouded in darkness, as if it had fallen asleep with the setting sun.
Looking down from the sky, only the scattered lights of wealthy families' courtyards could be seen; poor families did not light their lamps immediately in the evening, but would quickly finish their meals in front of their doors and go to sleep under the hazy sky in the distance, thus saving a lot of lamp oil.
Normally, the county government compound on Luming Street would be dark and closed for the day, but now it was brightly lit. In particular, the east warehouse, which was usually deserted except for rats, was heavily guarded outside, while clerks were busy at their desks inside.
Ouyang Rong then dismissed the inarticulate and probing Magistrate Diao. He and Yan Liulang, who was carrying a full set of lunch boxes, returned to the east storeroom.
The East Warehouse was a warehouse-like building with thick walls on all four sides and only a skylight in the roof the size of a human head, which was also tightly closed. So as long as the gate was guarded, not even a fly could get in.
After delivering a box of dinner to Commandant Qin, the guards pushed open the heavy gate. Ouyang Rong glanced at the group of people who were focused on calculating accounts at several tables, then silently stepped into the house. He tiptoed around and stopped behind Old Cui to take a look.
This old clerk, who was not well-liked in the county government, was actually not that old; everyone just called him Old Cui.
He wore a melon-shaped cap, his graying hair was neatly combed, and he seemed to have poor eyesight. He strained his thin face to get close to the pages of the ledger, as if he wanted to stick his pointed head into the book.
However, the old gentleman's small regular script was indeed elegant and lively, with a lot of charm.
Ouyang Rong sighed slightly, and seeing that it was almost time, he personally placed the lunchbox on the table in front of Old Cui, the head clerk, and said with a smile:
"Let's eat first, then we'll talk. I'll have to trouble you all tonight."
Everyone else agreed to stop writing, but Old Cui didn't even look up until he finished his work. Only then did he leisurely put down his pen and get up to eat.
Ouyang Rong, huddled among the others eating, asked curiously:
"Sir, are you a local?"
Old Cui shook his head, "He came here to escape famine."
"Never thought about going back to your hometown?"
"I have no ties, there's nothing to go back to."
"I heard from Liu Lang that you adopted a pair of orphans at the disaster relief camp."
Old Cui paused with his chopsticks. "They gave it to another family to raise; their conditions are better than mine."
Ouyang Rong nodded and didn't ask any more questions.
After finishing his meal with the accounting clerks, he asked as he collected the lunchboxes, "How quickly can the Liu family's accounts be settled?"
The other young clerks all looked at Old Cui.
The latter calmly replied, "I won't sleep tonight; I'll finish the investigation tomorrow morning."
"Alright, then I'll have to trouble you all tonight."
Ouyang Rong nodded, then stopped bothering everyone, helped pack up the lunch boxes, and left the East Treasury with Yan Liulang.
He went back to Meiluyuan, explained the situation to his aunt, and then, under her worried gaze, carried a quilt back to the county government office.
Upon seeing this, Yan Liulang asked in surprise, "Minister, what are you doing?"
Inside the main hall, the young magistrate spread the bedding out on a long table and carefully laid it out. "Make the bed."
"Um, I'll accompany you, Your Excellency."
"No, you take men to the Deer Park and protect your aunt."
"Then, Your Excellency..."
“Junior Sister and General Qin are both here, so it’s alright. Besides, I am an official appointed by the imperial court. If any family dares to take the risk… that’s perfect. We don’t even need to settle accounts; we can just go knock on their doors and offer our help.”
"Alright, Your Excellency, please be careful."
"Go."
...
Deer Street, a simple mansion without stone lions at its gate.
Xie Lingjiang, dressed in dashing men's attire, naturally pushed open the door and entered, passing through winding corridors and various elegant gardens with ease. However, as he passed a quiet pavilion in a certain garden, he happened to catch a glimpse of a familiar figure.
"What is Sister Su looking at?"
Su Guo'er, with her eyebrows painted with wet red plum blossom makeup, sat leaning against the veranda, enjoying the gentle evening breeze, reading a book, while a round-faced maidservant held up a lantern to illuminate her reading.
"Tao Yuanming's poems." He didn't even look up.
"Tao Yuanming?"
"Um."
"Hmm, I remember this person was a famous scholar during the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Right, wasn't he a county magistrate several hundred years ago, for how many days...?"
"Eighty-one days, and then he resigned from his post." He recounted the events with great familiarity.
"Yes, I think I heard my senior brother mention it."
Su Guo'er, who had only been perfunctory, suddenly closed the book and asked, "Sister, you come from a prominent scholarly family in Jiangzuo. Longcheng County is also considered part of Jiangzuo. Has the Xie family of Chenjun collected any of this person's scattered poems over the past hundred years?"
"Poems by Tao Yuanming?"
The stunningly beautiful woman, exuding a cool and aloof air, who was reading under the eaves at night, suddenly straightened her slender waist, leaned forward slightly, and gazed at her, saying:
"Yes, for example, a short poem called... 'Returning Home'?"
Xie Lingjiang thought about it carefully and shook her head:
"I loved poetry when I was young, and I often flipped through some rare poetry collections in the Willow Catkins Pavilion at home, but I don't recall ever seeing this 'Returning Home' before. Why is Sister Su suddenly interested in this?"
Su Guo'er's bright eyes dimmed slightly in the reflection of the lamplight.
She didn't answer, but instead casually asked, "Sister Xie seems quite happy, is there some good news?"
Little did they expect that this would hit Xie Lingjiang's sweet spot in their conversation.
The noble lady from the Xie family didn't mind Su Guo'er changing the subject. She smiled and recounted her senior brother's actions that day, adding a final remark:
"Rest well tonight, we'll be raiding your house tomorrow."
When Su Guo'er heard about the young magistrate's plans, she couldn't help but glance in the direction of the county government office, quite surprised, and silently began to reflect on certain things...
However, after hearing Xie Lingjiang's last enthusiastic remark, she looked up at this Sister Xie and gently shook her head.
Su Guo'er lowered her eyes again and began to read.
Xie Lingjiang frowned slightly. "What does it mean when Sister Su shakes her head?"
"It doesn't mean anything, it's just..." Su Guo'er said softly, "Sister Xie, you should be careful these days, and also, go out less."
Why?
The young woman in plum blossom makeup on the veranda tried her best to be tactful: "Even a mighty dragon can't suppress a local snake. Do you know why, sister?"
"explain."
"Because of arrogance."
Xie Lingjiang said coldly, "Sister Su, how dare you call others arrogant?"
"no the same."
"It's the same."
“There are different kinds of arrogance. For example, I might be arrogant towards the Liu family, but I won’t be arrogant.”
"So you're not the senior brother."
Xie Lingjiang shook his head. "Senior brother only does things uprightly, because justice can only be obtained uprightly. If he were to seize power and confiscate people's entire families without explanation, how would he be any different from a local bully? He would just be a bully of a higher level, disguised as justice."
"Your senior brother's so-called fairness is truly arrogant."
“Those who use force to feign benevolence become tyrants, while those who practice virtue become kings.” The woman dressed as a man, wearing a crown and carrying a sword, raised her head and touched her sword: “This is not arrogance, senior brother, this is the way of the king. But you, sister Su, are the way of the tyrant.”
"Your senior brother will definitely suppress you," she said confidently.
"Even the most powerful rulers need a destined one to succeed. No one in this world understands the meaning of 'the victor is king, the loser is villain' better than us."
Su Guo'er murmured softly, then stubbornly shook her head: "Anyway, Sister Xie should stay home as much as possible these next few days, so she can spend more time with my mother..."
Before she could finish speaking, she realized that the noblewoman Xie in front of her had disappeared. She looked up and followed Cai Shou's curious gaze:
Xie Lingjiang, who seemed to have returned to rest, decisively turned back the way she came and went out again...
Su Guo'er turned around and said, "Sister Xie is even more stubborn than my brother."
"..." Colorful ribbon.
Actually, you're the same way, Miss.
Here comes the fencing!
(End of this chapter)
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