There have been two famous long plank bridges in the world.

One is the Changban Bridge in Dangyang, but unfortunately it was broken by Zhang Fei, a man from Yan, and now it no longer exists.

Another place is the Changban Bridge in front of the Confucius Temple in Jinling, where the water is emerald green and the willows are lush and green, and it is adjacent to the old courtyard where the most famous Qinhuai ladies lived.

The 'Changqiao Old Courtyard' that all men in the world yearn for refers to this area.

An exquisite pleasure boat shrouded in green gauze cuts through the emerald green Qinhuai River and slowly passes under the long plank bridge.

The boatman wearing a straw raincoat and hat stood at the stern, rowing rhythmically.

Whenever the bronze paddle blade slowly hit the water, the emerald river water would slowly ripple, and then be broken into pieces by thousands of raindrops.

There was an exquisite banquet in the cabin, but there was no standard female historian or singer. There were only three men, one old, one young and one middle-aged, sitting opposite each other.

The old man sitting at the head had a flushed face and was sitting comfortably beside a large pillow.

He looked through the green gauze on the door fan at the stone road under the willows by the river.

The pairs of talented men and beautiful women who shared an umbrella, either strolled hand in hand or leaned on the railing and talked with laughter to the sounds of pipa and flute.

Calm and sweet, not avoiding the gazes of others.

"The Qinhuai River is a must." The old man was too relaxed and his accent was revealed. "A gentle place, a hero's grave, I'm here to relax and enjoy myself."

It turned out to be Zhang Dongguan, the magistrate of Shangyuan, who never accepted bribes.

The other two are Zhao Hao and Zhao Shouzheng, father and son.

Today, Zhao Hao specifically made an appointment with County Magistrate Zhang for one purpose only, which was to teach his father how to be a county magistrate.

Although Mr. Zhao can say something, he has only seen pigs run, but has never been a pig. It is more appropriate to ask the old senior to speak from his own experience.

The reason why he asked Zhang Dongguan instead of his own father was because Zhao Liben had worked in Beijing for more than ten years and was directly transferred to Changsha as the prefect, and he had never been a people-friendly official. The prefect and the county magistrate were very different.

Secondly, the old man was still angry with his father. If Zhao Shouzheng had not passed the imperial examination and become the top scholar, my grandfather would probably have severed the father-son relationship with him.

How can I ask my dad for advice? I guess I will just get scolded.

~~

In the cabin of the painting boat.

Zhao Hao was in charge of pouring the wine, while Mr. Zhao was in charge of accompanying the guests. What was surprising was that he remained calm and showed no signs of being drunk.

Hearing County Magistrate Zhang praising the Qinhuai River, Zhao Shouzheng began to recount many anecdotes of the old courtyard in a vivid way, as if he had been there in person.

As he was talking, he suddenly remembered that his underage son was still there. Mr. Zhao stopped talking and said, "I heard this from Fan Datong. I have never been to that kind of place..."

"Alas, I have never been there either." Magistrate Zhang said quietly, "Although the old courtyard is in Jiangning County, there is no guarantee that someone will recognize me. I would be embarrassed."

As he spoke, the old man glanced at Zhao Hao and said with some regret: "If Zhao Hao was not too young, wouldn't it be nice to invite a few ladies to come on board to serve wine?"

"Let's do it another day. I won't bring him next time." Zhao Shouzheng said, then changed his words: "I mean, let Fan Datong help you arrange it..."

"Yes, my father will be going to Kunshan in a few days." Seeing that County Magistrate Zhang's conversation was always about that, Zhao Hao knew that he had drunk enough. He picked up the wine pot and filled the two of them, ready to get down to business.

After all, the truth comes out when you're drunk.

He glanced at his father and thought, "You haven't drunk a drop of wine, how come you look drunk? Is there a leak in my Yin-Yang pot?"

"This is my first time serving as one of the parents. I feel really nervous. Do you have any advice for me, senior?" Fortunately, Zhao Shouzheng did not forget the agreed signal, so he asked County Magistrate Zhang for advice.

"It's not really about giving me advice, but I'm grateful that you, the number one scholar, think highly of me. So I'll just tell you about my experience as an official over the years." This was something they had agreed on, and County Magistrate Zhang took a sip of wine and started talking.

"First of all, you have to understand that the officials of our Ming Dynasty were all appointed from other places. But the clerks and runners were born in their native place and passed down from father to son from generation to generation."

Magistrate Zhang held up two fingers and said with a big tongue, "Take my county office for example. Half of the clerks were from the Hongwu era and their families were in this business. Their sons are all founding heroes! Do you think we should mourn for them?"

"Hahaha..." The three of them burst into laughter.

"They are from the same hometown, with many people and strong connections; we are unfamiliar with the place, alone and powerless, and will be gone after a few years. They have been doing the same job for several lifetimes, but we have only been officials for a few years? So, brother, always remember one thing."

After laughing, County Magistrate Zhang said to Zhao Shouzheng in a deep voice: "So, brother, remember this first sentence: 'No matter how clean your official position is, you can't beat the officials who are as slippery as oil.'"

"Yeah." Zhao Shouzheng nodded quickly and took note of it.

"What should we do now? You have to find helpers to help you watch over them. Of course, you can't find such helpers locally, otherwise they will be sold and you will have to help weigh the silver."

Zhang Dongguan added, "You have to find someone from outside the area, preferably someone from your hometown, someone who is related to you and you know him well."

"Yeah." Zhao Shouzheng nodded again and took note. "How many people are you looking for?"

"It depends on financial resources." Magistrate Zhang said, looking at Zhao Shouzheng with envy, "With your financial resources, you can naturally recruit troops like Han Xin, the more the better."

"Usually, when a governor takes office, he has to bring 50 family members with him. The governors of provinces and prefectures have to bring 40 attendants with them. The governors of prefectures and prefectures have to bring 30 attendants with them. For people at our level, we need at least 20 family members to guard the place and barely keep an eye on it."

"Twenty, so many people?" Although Mr. Zhao was not short of money, he was still shocked.

"Are there many? Let me count for you. There are two gatekeepers, one draft signer, and nine signatories. In addition, there are people who do dry land duties, work at the docks, work at the warehouses, collect grain, manage the horse and personnel numbers, work in the prison cells, work in the provincial government, manage the kitchens, and serve as assistants... at least ten people. I said at least, you should bring more to feel at ease." County Magistrate Zhang sighed and said:

"I was poor at the beginning. I only brought ten attendants with me to Nanjing to take up my post. I was almost killed by those local tyrants."

"Now that you mention it, twenty people are not a lot." Master Zhao thought to himself, then maybe double it to forty?

But this was not something he should worry about. He looked at his son, meaning, "Yanei, listen to me."

Zhao Yanei was indeed aware of this and immediately took over the conversation and asked, "These servants can't just be anybody, right?"

"Of course." Magistrate Zhang picked up a piece of salted duck, chewed it carefully for a while, and then slowly said: "These long-term servants I'm talking about are not ordinary servants. Being able to read and write is the most basic, and they must also be familiar with what comes first and what comes second in officialdom, what benefits the people and what hinders the officials... This is just a rough outline, and each position has different requirements."

"It's like the two gatekeepers who are in charge of the government affairs. They have to be knowledgeable and experienced, and they know all the affairs of the government and the rules of the government. When a guest comes, they know the status, and when there is an errand, they know the importance and can handle it properly. This is not only about the master's face, but if it's not handled properly, the master will suffer."

ps. First update, the next two updates are under review...