Fu Changfeng and his group went directly to the county government's inn to stay. When the innkeeper heard that they were the new magistrates who were going to take up their posts in Shaoming County, he did not dare to neglect them. After settling them in, he ran to the county government to report the situation to Bingming, the magistrate of Pingnan County.
"I understand. You go back first. I'll go and take a look after I've dealt with things here." The magistrate of Pingnan County was a little old man who had been serving in Pingnan County for five years. Normally, most officials would report on their performance every three years, and if they did well or had connections in the court, they could be transferred.
Unfortunately, he was also from a farming family and had no connections. He was nearly forty years old when he passed the exam and didn't have much ambition, so he settled down here.
"Sir, I've heard that the new magistrate of Shaoming County is a young man in his twenties. He's probably a spirited and fearless fellow." The clerk told him what he knew. They all knew when the magistrate of Shaoming County was going to be replaced. Now that they were all colleagues, they naturally wanted to find out what kind of person the new colleague was so that they could get along with him in the future.
“Then we can offer some pointers. It will be a favor in the future. He is a talented person to have passed the imperial examination at such a young age.” The magistrate of Pingnan County nodded.
As dusk approached, the magistrate of Pingnan County finally arrived at the post station. Fu Changfeng was somewhat puzzled to hear that the magistrate had come to see him. The magistrate was being too enthusiastic; he had planned to visit him the next day, but the magistrate had come today.
"This junior greets you, sir. It is an honor to have you all here." Upon seeing his age, Fu Changfeng immediately addressed him as a junior.
"Sir, you are too kind. From now on, we will be colleagues. I am not worthy of being called an elder. How about we address each other as brothers? My surname is Zhang and my given name is Huizhi. You can call me Brother Zhang. I came here today to tell you about the situation in our Juzhou. I suppose you are not very familiar with it."
"Oh, that's wonderful, thank you so much, Brother Zhang. My surname is Fu, my given name is Changfeng, and my courtesy name is Wanqing. You can call me Changfeng or Wanqing, Brother Zhang. This is my nephew, this is my brother-in-law, and this is my good friend and the advisor I brought with me, Zhao Yuping. It's rare that you would personally come to give me guidance. Originally, I should have been the one to come and pay my respects."
Fu Changfeng introduced the group to Zhang Huizhi one by one. Zhang Huizhi said with a smile, "It's rare to find such talented young people. With the addition of these young people, Shaoming County will surely prosper. It's good to be young. I was so dull back then that I only managed to get the title of Jinshi when I was over forty."
“Brother Zhang, you are too modest. Every year, countless people take the imperial examinations, but how many can truly leap over the dragon gate? I am young, but I lack experience. There are many things I need to learn from seniors like you. To be honest, I am quite nervous about taking over as the head of a county. I am afraid that I will be ignorant and make a fool of myself. But it would be a big deal if I harmed the interests of the people. I am truly grateful for your guidance, Brother Zhang.”
Fu Changfeng, of course, did not take Lord Zhang's modesty as the truth, and began to talk about his own shortcomings.
"Hey, Brother Fu, you're too modest. Come, come, let's have a good chat. I'll also tell you about some special circumstances in Juzhou."
Zhang Huizhi then began to tell him about the differences between Juzhou and other places. Lord Lu had told him some of these things before, and he had also read some of the official gazettes about Juzhou. But now, listening to Lord Zhang talk about it, Fu Changfeng realized that it was not ordinary.
"As you all know, Qianzhong Road was once part of the territory of the Southern Barbarians. It was only from the reign of Emperor Shun of the previous dynasty that this area was brought under the jurisdiction of our Great Zhou. Originally, this area was under the jurisdiction of the Tusi (local chieftains). The Tusi had the most power, and the people were all under their control. Therefore, these Tusi selectively listened to the imperial decrees. Whether they wanted to do them or not was their own business."
It was because the emperors of this dynasty saw this phenomenon, and there had been previous examples of chieftains rebelling, that they sent local officials to suppress the arrogance of the chieftains and bring the entire Qianzhong region under their control, so that they would no longer be bound by the chieftains.
However, this matter is simple to say but not easy to do. You must know that most of those people are from other ethnic groups. Even if they are governed by the chieftains and oppressed even more severely, they will not seek justice from the imperial court.
After all, many ordinary people know that most of us officials are transient. If we offend the chieftain, then our next generation or even several generations of our family will probably be retaliated against by the chieftain.
So although we have the title of county magistrate, we don't have that much power. The people will rarely listen to your advice, so you should be prepared.
One more thing, I advise you not to go against those chieftains. Their status in these places is so high that they can command a great deal of influence. If you offend them, you may face retaliation. In Shaoming County, there is a chieftain named Long who is the most powerful. I heard that although he does not commit any evil deeds, he controls the discourse power of the entire Shaoming County.
And these people mostly speak their local dialect, not the official language. To integrate, one must be able to understand their dialect, but the accents can vary greatly every ten miles, so this won't be easy and will require a lot of adaptation.
Lord Zhang's words were sincere and earnest. Fu Changfeng and Xichun, upon hearing them, understood the gravity of the situation. Now that he was about to enter Shaoming County, their anxiety deepened considerably.
"Thank you for your honest advice, Brother Zhang. I am truly grateful. I did not expect the situation here to be so complicated. It seems we must proceed with caution."
"That's right. But since you've just arrived, there's no need to be alarmed. Even the entire Juzhou is governed by larger chieftains. Even the prefect of Juzhou, Lord Ma, has a headache. So as long as there aren't any major disagreements, Lord Ma won't put any pressure on you. Just do your job well, and when the opportunity arises, try to get an official position in a prosperous place."
"The day I passed the imperial examination, I thought about how to help the people of this region. So I haven't considered finding a good job yet. However, I think I should keep in touch with Brother Zhang so that we can communicate more if there's anything I don't understand."
Having just taken office, he dared not speak carelessly, especially about securing a good job. Even if Lord Zhang meant him no harm, walls have ears. If the prefect found out, he would likely face repercussions. Fu Changfeng was particularly cautious in these matters.
Lord Zhang nodded in satisfaction upon hearing this, and the two chatted for a while before Lord Zhang took his leave.
The following day, Fu Changfeng led everyone to bid farewell to Lord Zhang. This time, they continued their journey, which would take another four or five days to reach Shaoming County.
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