Chapter 14 Chapter 14 Principal
After the Mid-Autumn Festival.
As the wheat and other crops ripened one after another.
Su Qing was no stranger to this.
She grew up in the countryside, and at this time of year, she would go with her grandmother to various villages to treat patients.
Su Qing was following behind the grain truck, picking up wheat. She would gather a bundle and exchange it with the villagers for pears.
Looking at the autumn harvest scene now, I feel especially good.
Besides the county seat of Nanjiang County, there are twenty villages below it.
The village is divided into three classes—upper, middle, and lower—based on population and land ownership, and the tax revenue from each village must be checked multiple times.
In other counties, this would always be a difficult task.
But this is Nanjiang County, and after the previous distribution of porridge and medicine, the villagers have great faith in Manager Su.
Especially after dealing with Wang the gentry, all his ill-gotten gains were recovered, and now all the wealthy families in various places are very well-behaved.
For this reason alone, they would all obey Steward Su's orders.
"The total land tax from various regions amounted to approximately 17 million catties of grain."
"After deducting the amount returned to the Ye family, there is still around 16 million left."
Gu Congsi continued, "According to custom, 60% is given to the prefectural government, and the remaining 40% is the revenue of the county government."
Upon hearing the preceding figures, Su Qing was still marveling at the solid foundation laid by Magistrate Su.
But then they heard the last sentence: "Half of it must be handed over to the government office?!"
That would be over nine million catties!
Converted to silver, it was approximately 70,000 taels of silver.
The government office does nothing, yet they want to take away so much money from them?
You're dreaming.
Gu Congsi already understood Su Qing's thoughts and said directly, "This is an annual practice, and the government office also has to allocate a portion to the imperial court."
Su Qing remained silent, clearly showing some resistance, but she also knew that not giving it to her was definitely not an option.
How much she gives depends on her.
Su Qing said, "Let's do the math again and deduct the expenses that should be deducted."
“We have so many things to do in our county, how can we give them most of the profits?”
This was naturally wrong in Gu Congsi's eyes.
Loyalty to the emperor and love for the country, and loyalty to the court, were principles he learned from a young age.
Moreover, the imperial court is facing a crisis, while the situation in Nanjiang County is better, so they should contribute more.
Su Qing was unaware of his thoughts; she was already calculating the cost of distributing porridge and medicine, and she wanted to add that expense to her calculations.
They dredged the silt, repaired the dock, built houses, and bought farm tools.
In short, add everything that can be added.
In the end, it was calculated that more than nine million catties of grain should have been handed over to the government.
Only 1.2 million remained.
Even so, Su Qing was still heartbroken.
"These were all grown with great effort by the people of Nanjiang County. It would be a real shame to hand them over."
Taxes definitely need to be paid.
However, it depends on the situation.
Government offices like this, which are completely unable to provide support to the local area, need to be re-evaluated.
It was rare for Gu Congsi to have a disagreement with Su Qing.
Su Qing pretended not to know and instructed Constable Wu to arrange for people to deliver the autumn tax to the prefectural city.
"After you submit it, there's no need to rush back."
"Let's gather some information in the city and see what's going on outside."
Upon receiving the order, Officer Wu dispatched several of his most astute subordinates.
After the grain transport team set off, Su Qing offered Gu Congsi a rare moment of comfort: "Our Nanjiang County has already sent quite a lot of grain."
"If you don't believe me, you'll see when they come back."
It's so chaotic outside.
Providing some autumn tax would be a great honor for the prefectural city.
Everyone's too busy sweeping the snow from their own doorstep to have this kind of free time.
Furthermore, given that the prefectural government office had been abandoned by the prefect, Su Qing did not believe that the grain would actually reach the people.
"It's still too much," Su Qing finally remarked.
Gu Congsi didn't respond, but simply said he was going back to the county school.
Things at the yamen gradually became more organized, and Gu Congsi no longer needed to stay there.
Su Qing didn't mind at all and nodded with a smile.
Seeing that Su Qing did not try to keep him, and even said to Yun Xi and the others, "We still have too few people. If there are suitable candidates, we can recommend them to the yamen."
"It's best if they've been to school and can read."
"A scholar? A scholar is the best."
There were no more than six clerks and twelve runners in the yamen.
At most, they could add a gatekeeper and attendant named Yunxi.
There was also Liu Xiaomei, who helped pour tea and grind grains. She was the daughter of the deceased registrar. Keeping her around to do chores was also to pay the Liu family the registrar's salary; otherwise, the mother and daughter would have a hard time making ends meet.
Therefore, the government offices were already short-staffed, and with the departure of the grain transport teams, their numbers became even more pitiful.
Now I finally have some money to spare.
Hiring!
We absolutely need to hire someone!
After all, she wasn't the type to exploit her employees.
When the news of the recruitment spread, everyone in the government office was overjoyed.
Very good.
We've finally hired someone.
Heaven knows how many tasks each person had to handle under Chief Su's supervision.
I get up before dawn and go to bed after dark every day.
Of course, the same goes for Chief Su; many times, even after they left, he was still reviewing official documents.
Besides, there's a sense of accomplishment in working under Manager Su.
That's what she said anyway.
Now, when people see them, they are all very polite.
This is different from the previous politeness, which was more or less accompanied by fear. Now it is out of genuine respect and gratitude that I am being polite.
This feeling is so different.
Anyone who has experienced it once will never forget it.
To their even greater surprise, Steward Su said, "Six people, just enough to be assigned to the six departments of Personnel, Revenue, Rites, Military, Justice, and Works."
Su Qing read out several names, among which Wei Lai, the most impartial clerk, was appointed as the acting head of the clerk's office.
She didn't have the authority to directly appoint them as heads of their respective households, so she added the word "acting" to indicate that they were not in charge.
"As long as I am here, if you do your jobs well, I will not treat you unfairly."
Upon hearing this, the six clerks were naturally delighted.
Wei Lai had the brightest eyes. He was just an average scholar who hadn't even passed the county-level imperial examination.
Many people say he's too straightforward and difficult to get along with.
Unexpectedly, at over forty years old, I had this opportunity. I immediately thanked Steward Su and was eager to fulfill my duties.
The remaining five clerks were each assigned a task.
Their positions were all assigned based on their personalities and abilities.
One of the clerks, Luo Feiyue, followed the grain transport team to the prefectural city.
He was unaware that he had become the acting head of the household registration office.
Upon finding out, they will surely be overjoyed.
Of the remaining twelve constables, four went to the prefectural city together.
Su Qing and Constable Wu both had arrangements for them.
The head constable was Wu, who was in charge of the constables. He was then divided into three shifts of constables.
The fast squad was responsible for apprehending thieves, the strong squad was responsible for guarding the warehouse and criminals, and the black squad was responsible for standing guard and carrying out executions.
Each shift has one head constable, with varying numbers of subordinate officers.
In other words, three constables were selected from these twelve people.
The three selected were naturally diligent in their work and quite capable.
First, establish the framework of the government office.
Then, we recruited people according to the needs of each department.
Inside the main hall of the yamen, everyone was engaged in a lively discussion.
When ten-year-old Liu Xiaomei came to deliver tea, she thought everyone was arguing.
Su Qing pulled her along with a smile, saying, "Sit down and watch the show."
In the end, the discussion concluded that each of the six departments would hire two clerks, and the third department would hire four bailiffs.
There are also gatekeepers; at least four need to be hired.
There are a total of 28 people.
Su Qing immediately calculated the monthly salary required.
Oh no, I'm starting to regret bringing up the hiring idea.
"Should we reduce it again?" Su Qing said, "We can't even afford to pay the monthly allowances anymore."
The yamen initially had a dozen or so people, and while there have been some changes in their positions, their salaries have certainly increased.
In total, they would receive more than twenty taels of silver a month.
This doesn't even include the usual food expenses.
Hiring another 20 or 30 people now would double the expenses.
The thought of the government office doing nothing while incurring a net expenditure of hundreds of taels of silver every month pained Su Qing deeply.
Maintaining the operation of the government office is extremely difficult.
Su Qing held the account book and nodded with tears in her eyes.
never mind.
Considering there will be even more work to do next, I'll just have to hire him.
Another sum of money was deducted from the ledger.
Before Su Qing could even feel sad, she saw an unexpected person at the yamen.
Gu Jiaoyu, the head of the county school, was the father of Gu Congsi.
If I had to say, it might be her future father-in-law.
Normally, when there's nothing to do, Instructor Gu doesn't come to the yamen.
He spent most of his time reading at the county school.
Speaking of which, if he hadn't held the library at all costs when the rebels entered the city, the county school's collection of books would have been burned down.
Therefore, Su Qing still respected him.
When he came over, Su Qing asked him what had happened.
Gu Jiaoyu was a little embarrassed; he opened his mouth for a long time but couldn't get his thoughts out.
When Gu Congsi arrived, he said directly, "It's about the children's examination next year."
The preliminary examination, also known as the county-level examination, consisted of three main parts.
It is divided into county examination, prefectural examination, and provincial examination.
This first major event is held in each county every February.
The specific arrangements will depend on the situation in each county.
Generally speaking, preparations should begin in August or September of the previous year.
Before November, the message must be communicated to all parts of the county so that candidates who want to take the exam can come and register.
Registration will close by mid-December.
All that's left is to wait for the exam next February.
Instructor Gu's purpose in coming was to tell Su Qing that she needed to prepare for the county examination.
Su Qing realized that what Instructor Gu was reluctant to mention was not the county examination.
Instead, they held county-level examinations, which cost money.
They've come to ask for funding.
Actually, Su Qing hadn't forgotten this matter.
It's just that we didn't treat it as a serious matter.
In her view, given the current situation, the county examination could be temporarily postponed.
There is still fighting on the other side of the river in Nanjiang County, and Guangyue Prefecture is far from peaceful, with no prefect in sight.
In this situation, even if the county examination is held, there is no chance of passing the subsequent prefectural and provincial examinations.
Su Qing gave a proper explanation to Instructor Gu, clarifying the situation.
Instructor Gu frowned, clearly not accepting this reasoning. He looked at Gu Congsi, wanting his son to put in a good word for him.
Gu Congsi's opinion was naturally the same as his father's: "The imperial examination is a major event in the court, how could it be suspended?"
"His Majesty also attaches great importance to the selection of talents through the imperial examination."
Su Qing had heard about it to some extent, but she still said, "I'm afraid it's a waste of time."
At this point, Gu Congsi could understand.
However, Su Qing subconsciously added, "The yamen is already short of money, there's no need to waste silver."
Upon hearing this, Su Qing knew something was wrong.
That sentence hit Gu Congsi's sore spot perfectly.
He was a most orthodox Confucian student, advocating loyalty to the emperor and love for the country, and abstaining from the taint of money.
This person has been causing trouble lately because of the grain tax issue at the government office.
Now he's using money to tarnish the imperial examination system he values most.
As expected, Gu Congsi looked unwell, and Instructor Gu was speechless.
"How can you say that!"
"Which is more important, money or education?"
Su Qing thought to herself, "The imperial examination and studying are two different things."
She didn't want to add fuel to the fire at that moment, so she just smiled and said, "The grain tax delivery team will be back from the prefectural city soon."
"Why don't we wait for their news and see what the city looks like now?"
That eased the tension a bit.
However, Gu Congsi became increasingly reluctant to come to the government office.
I am indeed angry.
Remembering Gu Congsi's previous help, Su Qing asked Yunxi to send over some pastries made by her mother.
They did collect the money, but the people still wouldn't come to the government office to work.
"It's okay to throw a tantrum, but you can't just not do the work."
Su Qing sighed.
It's a pity there's one less person willing to do errands for free.
September 3rd.
The grain transport team, led by Luo Feiyue, a clerk from Nanjiang County, finally returned to Nanjiang County.
Another person returned with them.
Luo Feiyue's expression was strange as he glanced sideways at Su Dianli, his expression one of utter speechlessness.
When the incident happened in Nanjiang County, this person ran away very fast.
If it weren't for the fact that he was Su Qingsu's uncle, no one would have paid him any attention.
Unexpectedly, the Su family of three stuck to them and insisted on coming back with the grain delivery team.
Back at the yamen, Luo Feiyue looked at Su Qing with deep remorse.
Because everyone knows that Su Dianli's return is definitely not for good purposes.
Su Qing ignored all of that and said with a smile, "Manager Luo, take a rest first. You've all had a hard time on this trip."
What is the acting head of affairs?
The clerk, Luo Feiyue, was completely bewildered.
Other colleagues said, "We've all become acting managers. You're in charge of the household registration office, so we can recruit two more people."
“We had already recruited, and we were willing to help. But Manager Su said that since you're in charge of the household registration department, you have to recruit yourself!”
I'm back from a business trip.
He got promoted!?
Of the remaining four constables, one was promoted to head constable and the others became constables; their monthly wages all increased.
Immediately, cheers erupted in the courtroom.
Promotion!
A raise!
It's a great thing no matter where you put it!
It would be strange if I were unhappy!
Su Qing, sitting in the superior position, smiled and slowly stared at her own uncle, Su Dianli.
Ultimately, it was his nominal position as a clerk that was most useful.
She's the one who has real power and is the most useful.
At this moment, it goes without saying.
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