Before dawn on the 21st day of the first lunar month, bang bang sounds were heard in the Kunshan County Government Office.

The sound was not harsh, but it was very penetrating and could be heard in every corner of the yamen, including the chief clerk's house.

Bai Shouli was too tired from building the Great Wall last night and was sleeping with his head covered. He was awakened by the soul-calling voice and poked his head out in annoyance.

"What's the noise, the tofu seller?!"

"How can a tofu clapper be so loud?" His wife sat in front of the dressing table, drawing her eyebrows and hair, and said casually: "To me, it sounds more like the sound of the cloud board in the government office in the past."

"What do you mean by 'seems'? This is absolutely true!" After the Chinese New Year, the chief clerk turned back into a fat white man. After his wife reminded him, he immediately jumped out of bed as if stung by a bee, saying, "Official robes, official robes, the master has to go to the court. If you are late, you will be punished!"

"Ah? Has your master ever been to the yamen?" His wife didn't even have time to dress herself up, and hurried to find him an official robe, black gauze hat, and official boots.

He also called his concubine to help him dress up as quickly as possible. Bai Shouli rushed out of the bedroom like a cannonball.

"Wait, belt, belt!" His wife chased out with a black horn belt.

Listening to the rapid and life-threatening sound of the cloud board, Bai Shouli seemed to see the gloomy face of the master.

The fat white man didn't even bother to look back. He grabbed the belt and ran forward like a relay race.

When he left the house, he almost followed the county magistrate He who lived across the street and pretended to be full of it.

"You forgot too?" He Wenwei asked while buttoning his official robe.

"When was the last time I had a meeting? I can't even remember." Bai Shouli fastened his belt and asked, "The day when the master took office?"

"That's about right." County Magistrate He said with a wry smile.

When the two assistants hurried to the second hall, they saw a group of miscellaneous officials, clerks, and yamen runners all coming in a panic. Some even wore boots on one foot and sandals on the other. Some even didn't wear official hats.

The second hall was noisy, like a bathhouse. Only Xiong Dianshi was neatly dressed and stood there calmly.

"Oh my god, Old Bear, do you still remember to line up for the yamen?" Bai Shouli tied his belt and stood opposite him.

"Today is the first day after the Lantern Festival. Even if the master doesn't schedule a visit, I still plan to discipline the third shift of yamen runners." Xiong Dianshi said calmly.

"You are so cruel." Bai Shouli curled his lips. Widowers are perverts.

~~

After the second gong was struck, everyone lined up and stood in line. Then they heard Fan Datong shouting at the top of his lungs, "The master is here!"

All the officials bowed together to welcome the county magistrate to the court.

Zhao Shouzheng was wearing a black gauze futou and a blue robe with a round collar and right side. The patch on his chest was not the same as the one worn by ordinary county magistrates, but the heron patch that represented the sixth rank.

This was the result of Suzhou Prefecture writing to the Southern Ministry of Personnel to request a promotion for him in order to commend him for his contributions to flood control after the flood last autumn...

Because Zhao Shouzheng was demoted by Emperor Longqing himself, the Southern Ministry of Personnel did not dare to take the initiative and passed the ball to the Ministry of Personnel. The Ministry of Personnel asked the emperor for instructions. Finally, Longqing personally wrote in red:

"He's been promoted after only a few days? Isn't this killer going to become more and more arrogant? At most, he can be restored to his original position and stay in Kunshan for three years. Let's see."

Before Zhao Shouzheng was demoted, he had just been appointed as a sixth-rank Hanlin editor, so the Southern Ministry of Personnel gave him a heron-shaped patch and asked him to change it himself as a reward.

Although all the officials in Jiangnan were indignant for him and said that the emperor was targeting him, but fortunately, Mr. Zhao was very open-minded. What rank or no rank, this official just wanted to serve the people!

So on the first day after returning from the holiday, Mr. Zhao was determined to turn over a new leaf, sweep away the idleness and laziness of this period, and devote himself wholeheartedly to the construction of the new Kunshan!

This is the first time in a leap year but not a leap month that the cloud board of the government office has been struck...

Sitting down behind the big case, Zhao Shouzheng looked coldly at the officials in dishevel.

"How disgraceful! Go back and put on your clothes before coming back!" Master Zhao snorted, and several officials hurried away in a hurry.

"Do you think that once the levee is repaired, everything will be fine? We can finally put our weapons into storage and let our horses go to the mountains?" Zhao Shouzheng said, sternly addressing the crowd:

"Look at you guys, the way you spend the New Year is inappropriate!"

The officials lowered their heads in shame.

"It's almost the end of the first lunar month, haven't you had enough vacation yet? I'll give you another ten days!"

After the New Year, the two people in the family showed their true colors again, and once again made Mr. Zhao feel very upset. He vented here, which was beneficial to his physical and mental health.

The officials under him were all in a good mood. After all, they had just received a lot of reward money from the master, which might include money for being scolded. Let him scold as much as he wants, it won't cost him a tael of silver anyway.

When the officials came back dressed, Mr. Zhao stopped scolding them and asked sternly, "Have you all reflected on your actions?"

"We have reflected on it, deeply reflected on it." The officials wanted to wag their tails and beg for mercy.

"Do you know what's wrong?" Zhao Shouzheng asked while holding his head.

"We've been slacking off." County Magistrate He said with a look of self-blame, "It's far from time to relax."

"Yes, the master scolded us well. We have forgotten the earnest expectations of 300,000 Kunshan people." Bai Shouli quickly replied.

"Humph, that's more like it." Zhao Shouzheng's expression eased a little and he said, "My son said... well, my son knows even at such a young age that grades only represent the past, and pride will ruin the good situation we have worked so hard to achieve."

"Yes, yes, yes." Everyone said respectfully. "We will follow the master's teachings and will never forget them!"

"Now that the water conservancy project is repaired, we can finally get back to our main job and make up for the things we missed in the past six months as soon as possible!" Zhao Shouzheng waved his arms and said decisively: "Everyone, please report what work you have left on hand."

The hall was quiet.

The officials looked at each other, but no one spoke.

"What? You even forgot what your job is?!" Zhao Shouzheng was annoyed again.

"Master, please calm down." He Wenwei quickly explained, "It's true that there is not a single piece of backlog in the government office."

"Ah?" Zhao Shouzheng didn't believe it.

"Really, sir." Hu Sili from the household department nodded and agreed, "My office is the busiest, so I worked from the sixth to the tenth day of the first lunar month, thinking I could handle as many things as I could. But when I opened the storage room, I found that all the files from last year had been processed and filed away. I didn't have any work for this year, so I had nothing to do during those days..."

"Yes, sir." Xing Sili from the Criminal Department also said, "All the cases in our department have been concluded, even the cases that were backlogged many years ago have been concluded. For this, the Southern Ministry of Personnel has specially issued a commendation."

"Oh?" Mr. Zhao's eyes widened. "How come I didn't know about this good thing?"

ps. This is the third update. Please give me your monthly votes. There is one more update to come!