Chapter 332 Dilemma 1
The servant bent over and peeked at the noble young man. It was obvious at first glance that he was no simple person. He thought to himself, could it be that the new judge has a backer or connections?
It was not until they walked up the corridor and entered the official room of the new Lord Su that he clicked his tongue, straightened his back, and looked up at the sky. The weather was hot, the ground was white from the sun, and it was so hot that it was unbearable. Even those who worked in the yamen had a hard time, not to mention the lower-class people. I heard that many people fled to the outside world, and the entire Songjiang Prefecture had lost a lot of population!
There was a pile of official documents left by his predecessor on Su Yanli's desk. Not only that, the clerks and accountants also moved the official documents belonging to the prefect and the associate prefect to his desk.
"Sir, Lord Shao and Lord Zhi, one is sick at home, and the other has gone to the countryside to clean up the river. So the documents submitted by the county government and the townships have been waiting for a few days. They are so anxious. Please arrange for them to be handled so that they can start their work."
Whether it is Tongzhi or Tongpan, they are all assistants to the prefect.
The Tongzhi was in charge of supervising grain production, catching thieves, coastal defense, river defense, water conservancy, etc., and was a fifth-rank official.
The Tongpan assisted the prefect in handling government affairs. All public affairs such as military and civilians, money, household registration, taxes, labor service, and lawsuits must be signed by the Tongpan before they can take effect. He also had the power to supervise officials and was of the sixth rank.
If Songjiang Prefecture was not a prefecture but a county, and he was the county magistrate, then no matter how many official documents there were, Su Yanli would have finished them even if he had to work overtime. But now... he is only the third in command of Songjiang Prefecture. Some of the documents on his desk require the signature of the prefect, and some require the signature of the co-magistrate. It is quite a headache for him to hold the pen.
"father!"
His daughter's crisp voice interrupted Su Yanli's sad expression. He raised his eyes and said, "Ajin, Jinzhi..."
Su Ruojin walked in and said, "Dad, it's getting late. It's time to go off duty."
"What's the point?" Su Yanli pointed to the pile of documents on the table, "Although I can't sign them, I have to read them all." Only after reading them can I understand Songjiang Prefecture and know how to deal with it later.
Su Ruojin asked back, "Dad, in three days, you must have read through the pile of documents, right? You also have a general idea of what needs to be handled, right?"
Yes, indeed.
Su Yanli nodded, put down the pen in his hand, stood up, and stretched his hands and feet while talking. He had been sitting for a whole day and didn't even notice that his butt was numb.
Zhao Lan asked, "Teacher, if there is anything you need Jinzhi's help with, just let me know." Even if it was like killing a chicken to scare the monkey.
Su Yanli pursed his lips and said, "Not like before..." He used to be the biggest boss in the county and he could do whatever he wanted. But now the whole Songjiang Prefecture is a mess and he doesn't know where to start.
Su Ruojin and Zhao Lan looked at each other, and she advised, "Dad, let's go back to dinner first. If there is anything, we can discuss it after dinner."
Su Yanli thought about it, nodded, and went home with his daughter and Zhao Lan.
Su Ruojin asked, "Dad, where is Brother Fan?"
"He had just finished his shift before you came."
Su Ruojin asked someone to find Fan Yanjia and Ningning to come over for dinner.
After dinner, the group sat in the study and reviewed what they had seen and heard in Songjiang Prefecture.
Su Yanli said, "My first priority is to ensure that the people of Songjiang Prefecture have food to eat. Second, I need to call back the people who have fled to other places. Otherwise, there will be no manpower for farming or repairing canals."
Su Ruojin asked, "Then how can Dad ensure that the people have food to eat? Open a granary like the one in Weizhou County before?"
Su Yanli shook his head: "The granary in Songjiang Prefecture is empty. There is not a single grain. We can only rely on external transfers or merchants in Songjiang Prefecture to open shops for business."
Fan Yanjia said, "Teacher, through my inquiries over the past two days, all grain merchants in Songjiang Prefecture, whether they have grain or not, are closed for business. There is basically no grain to buy in the entire Songjiang."
Su Ruojin had a deep understanding of this. When distributing porridge in Wujing Village, the rice had to be bought from Pingjiang Prefecture. Many people in Songjiang Prefecture also went to other prefectures and counties to buy grain, causing the price of grain outside to remain high. Many civilians in Songjiang Prefecture sold their children just to have a bite to eat. Because of this, the human trafficking in Songjiang Prefecture was rampant. At least one-third of the documents on Su Yanli's desk were about such cases.
Su Yanli said, "Because of the incident in Wujing Village, I looked for the grain account for disaster relief from the imperial court on my first day in office, and it showed that all the grain had been distributed to the people."
Su Ruojin sneered, "Dad, after you left, I went to Wujing Village and asked the people who flocked to it from other villages. Except for the days when the village was flooded, the county government and the town hall distributed food twice, and there has been no distribution for more than a month. Many people either went to Pingjiang Prefecture or peeled tree bark and grass roots. They have been suffering until now. If there is no food again, they will either starve to death or there will be a civil uprising."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
