Chapter 327: The Carnival of Clerks and Yamen Runners

When the bigwigs of the empire were obsessed with the struggle for peak power.

Those government clerks, who are the largest in number and the most inconspicuous in their daily lives, are maintaining the same old practices and continuing the unspoken rule of striving for excellence.

Shuntian Prefecture, Shunyi County.

It is located on the northeast side of the capital, sixty miles away.

As the capital city, the presence of the counties under Shuntian Prefecture has always been very low.

Regardless of whether they are officials, they have long kept a low profile and acted as invisible figures.

After all, the capital area is different from other local governments, and the most important thing is to have nothing to do.

But recently.

There are a lot of things happening in Shunyi County.

The Shuntian Prefecture above waved its hand and conscripted one-third of the households in the county to perform labor service to participate in the construction of the canal from Changping to Tongzhou, so as to expand the original small river into a canal that could accommodate official ships of a capacity of 1,000 tons.

Digging a canal.

Things are complicated.

Especially a big thing that involves one-third of the households in the county.

Fortunately, Shuntian Prefecture was particularly merciful this time. Although there was still no salary, the people who were able to serve on the canal did not need to provide their own rations as usual. Instead, the Shuntian Prefecture government sent people to distribute them.

I just heard that the Changping Public Security Bureau next door will pay wages to the people under its jurisdiction who participated in the excavation of the canal.

But when people from Shunyi went to ask, the people of Changping were vague and talked about this and that, and no one could get the details.

Although the people of Shunyi were unwilling to perform corvée labor, the Shuntian Prefecture showed them special favor this time, and it became something that everyone was scrambling to do.

The Shunyi County Government has also been particularly busy recently because of this incident.

Just like other government offices in the world.

The Shunyi County Yamen also had a configuration of a chief official, assistant officials, six rooms of clerks, and three shifts of yamen runners.

recently.

Although the work became increasingly busy due to the canal excavation, the clerks and runners of the Shunyi County Government were all beaming with joy.

Digging the canal was of no importance to them. Even if there was work to be done, it was the common people who did it.

And even if the food rations this time are supervised by people from Shuntian Prefecture, the people of Shunyi County can still benefit greatly from this matter.

Especially the clerks in the county government's official office, household office, and workroom were caught up in the carnival.

The Lifang was similar to the Ministry of Personnel in the imperial court, and was responsible for the appointment of personnel in a county. The Hufang was in charge of the county's money, grain, taxes, expenditures, and savings. The Gongfang was responsible for the maintenance of the county's warehouses, roads, and bridges.

This time, Shunyi was assigned to perform corvée labor, and the third branch was the busiest.

The threshold of the third room is almost being trampled down by the endless stream of people.

This day.

It's already past noon.

Three men in black clothes, drunken faces, walked in from outside and returned to the county government office.

The three of them entered the county government office and went straight to the Hufang Public Office.

The three people were Zhang Qi, a clerk in the Clerk's Office of Shunyi County, Wu Zhuang, an accountant in the Household Affairs Office, and Sun Zhaodong, a mechanic in the Workshop.

Entered the government office.

Wu Zhuang, the accountant in the household department, burped loudly and then took out a bulging purse from his pocket.

"There are 32 shares of upper and lower wages from Baimiao Village, and 7 shares of lower wages. Each share is 3 cents. The three of us will each take 5 shares, and the remaining 19 shares will be presented to the chief clerk and the registrar as usual."

Zhang Qi and Sun Zhaodong looked at each other and nodded, agreeing to the allocation plan.

So Wu Zhuang took out all the 32 upper industrial and commercial banks and 7 lower industrial and commercial banks and distributed them one by one.

There was a pile in front of him, and one pile each in front of Wu Zhuang and Sun Zhaodong.

After the rest was divided equally, they were carefully wrapped in two pieces of red paper. These were to be given to the chief clerk Wang Qiang and the registrar Wang Zhengfei.

As for the county magistrate and the second county magistrate?

They are not from Shunyi County. They are just officials sent by the imperial court in the past two years.

Not a group of people.

Seeing that Wu Zhuang had divided the silver, Zhang Qi and Sun Zhaodong hurriedly put the silver in front of them into their bulging purses, then weighed the purses with looks of satisfaction.

Wu Zhuang narrowed his eyes and said, "There are people from Shiqiao Village coming tonight. We will give them three taels of silver as usual. Will you go with us?"

Zhang Qi and Sun Zhaodong both smiled and nodded repeatedly.

"Go together! Go together!"

The so-called three cents of silver for work was actually the silver that the common people had to give to Wu Zhuang and the other two in order to earn a living by working on the canal.

As for the labor silver, that is naturally the silver that the people who are unwilling to serve on the canal need to pay.

Regardless of whether the canal is dug or not, the five cents of silver must be paid.

Otherwise, you won’t be allowed to go where you want to go, and you will be forced to go even when you don’t want to go.

Sun Zhaodong in the workshop poured himself a cup of tea, drank it down ravenously, and wiped his mouth.

Then he glared fiercely and said, "There are some problems in Xiaoying Town. Many people are secretly colluding and are unwilling to pay this salary."

Zhang Qi from the clerk's office frowned immediately and said, "Then tell them clearly that it doesn't matter if they don't pay the money. The government office is short of people recently. This year, the umbrella bearers, sedan bearers, bell bearers, and drum bearers in this county will be assigned to Xiaoying Town as assistants. Those who are disobedient will take turns to be assistants."

Wu Zhuang, the household manager, slammed his palm on the table and said with a glare, "Go to the morgue over there to check the body!"

The so-called joint service.

In order to maintain stability under its jurisdiction, local governments issued documents to recruit common people to work for them.

to be honest.

It means that the people have to provide their own dry food and work for the government for free.

And these servants are divided into high and low levels, good and bad.

Bringing your own dry food to hold an umbrella and carry the sedan chair for the county magistrate, or to ring the bell in the morning and evening and keep watch at night, naturally there would be little profit.

However, the runners like the soap squad, the fast squad and the arrest squad in the county government could make more money.

If a yamen runner is familiar with Zhang Qi, Wu Zhuang and Sun Zhaodong, he can get a blank ticket without an official seal through them.

Then these yamen runners would take the white-label tickets to the countryside and extort money from the common people who did not know the laws and criminal codes. They could often get more than ten or twenty taels of silver after just one round.

There is a saying among the people: one ticket means a few years' life.

It is said that these yamen runners colluded with each other in the yamen, and if they got a piece of white-headed banknote, they could extort enough money to live a carefree life for several years.

And that's why.

Recently, not only the people of Shunyi County are making huge profits because of the competition between digging a canal or not, but also these clerks are making huge profits.

And those who have vision.

He also went around to various places just to be able to enter the yamen and work as a yamen runner in the third shift.

The purpose is to take advantage of the current situation to make more money.

At this time.

Zhang Qi from the Lifang Office also took out a few pieces of paper from his sleeve.

Each piece of paper has a name on it.

Under the watchful eyes of Wu Zhuang and Sun Zhaodong.

Zhang Qi smiled and said, "These people have asked someone to give them money to work in our government. See if there are any of them you know. If you know them and can trust them, take the money and bring them into the government so that we can make money together."

Wu Zhuang and Sun Zhaodong were not shy either. They took the stack of papers with names on them and looked at them one by one.

Wu Zhuang lowered his head, looking at the name, and asked, "How much money are you willing to pay?"

Zhang Qi smiled and said, "The highest bidders were willing to pay ten taels of silver, and the lowest bidders were all willing to pay five taels of silver."

Wu Zhuang then pushed the paper with the name on it in front of him back to the year before Zhang Qi bought it.

"Don't take the ones who offered 10 taels or 5 taels, just bring in the rest."

Zhang Qi smiled slightly: "That's exactly what I thought."

Sun Zhaodong glanced over and said, "So what should we do?"

Zhang Qi nodded: "Let's do it."

Wu Zhuang coughed lightly.

"As for the recruitment of new personnel into the government office, which is currently at the center of controversy, this time we will give 70% to Wang Zhubu and Wang Dianshi, and the remaining 30% to the three of us."

This is what it means to share risks and take the lead.

The other two didn't think much about it. They had been doing this for many years, so they nodded in agreement.

But Sun Zhaodong from the workshop was a little hesitant and whispered, "The second master just came this year, so there's no need to worry. But the first master came at the beginning of last year, so we'd better be careful recently. Otherwise, if he's reported to the higher-ups, we'll all be in big trouble."

"Say it to the higher-ups?"

Zhang Qi from the clerk's office sneered, "Don't you see what this old master is doing now?"

As soon as these words came out.

Wu Zhuang burst into laughter.

Seeing Sun Zhaodong's puzzled look, Wu Zhuang said with a smile, "Since last year, our master has been hanging out in Miss Zhao's room in the east end of the city all day long. How can he have time to care about these things?"

"Does he dare to manage it?"

Zhang Qi shouted coldly, with murderous intent in his eyes.

Wu Zhuang and Sun Zhaodong's eyes suddenly narrowed, and the room fell silent.

Zhang Qi restrained his expression, smiled and clasped his fists, saying: "We in Shunyi County still have to follow the wishes of the two gentlemen!"

The "big master" they were talking about was actually the magistrate of Shunyi County.

The second master is the county magistrate.

As for the two uncles Zhang Qi mentioned at the end, they were the chief clerk Wang Qiang and the registrar Wang Zhengfei, both of whom were from the Wang family in Shunyi County.

A county administration.

That's how it works.

These low-ranking clerks and yamen runners maintain the unfair but thousand-year-old operating model of the county. No matter what the court does, they can thrive like fish in water.

And in the court.

But just one word or one thing can cause a huge storm and implicate countless people.

The memorial from Xu Ge Lao, the Second Assistant of the Cabinet.

Finally, the news spread in the court.

Xu Jie's suggestion that Wenyuan Pavilion should promote one more person has become the most concerned issue in the court at the moment.

According to Xu Jie, the court is currently handling several major events at the same time. The matters are complicated and involve many people, but the court is currently showing signs of administrative chaos.

and so.

The cabinet should have one more person so that the situation in the court can be stabilized.

After all, the emperor originally summoned Zhang Juzheng back to Beijing a few years ago in order to allow him to return to the cabinet and take charge of the many current affairs of the court.

But who would have thought that before Zhang Juzheng even returned to Beijing, the memorial proposing reform had already entered the city.

Then came the now well-known result.

Zhang Juzheng was expelled from the cabinet, leaving only the title of Dongge Grand Secretary, and was demoted to the governor of Shuntian.

If there is one person missing from the cabinet, it would only be natural for another person to join.

At least officially, Xu Jie's advice was for the country and the people, fully demonstrating the duties of a cabinet minister.

But in private.

The emergence of a new cabinet minister will inevitably bring about a new major change in the court structure.

Everyone is guessing who the new cabinet minister will be.

At this time, the emperor's decree to summon the cabinet and officials from the six ministries, five temples and three judicial departments to the palace for discussion was also announced.

Early.

Lights were lit in the Wanshou Palace.

Jiajing looked refreshed and put on his Taoist robe with the help of Lu Fang and Huang Jin.

The Taoist robe is newly made.

Now that the palace has become more well-off, although the emperor still does not wear the imperial crown, there are always some new Taoist robes prepared for him.

After breakfast, Jiajing looked outside.

The sky has brightened.

Jiajing sat on the Taotai and began his morning prayers, waiting for his ministers to arrive.

After the morning class.

As usual, Lu Fang brought tea to the emperor to moisten his mouth.

Had tea.

Jiajing looked at Lu Fang with a gloomy gaze: "The court, after all, still employs people..."

Lu Fang bowed and nodded.

The emperor's words should never be taken at face value.

Jiajing waved his hand.

After a while.

He then said in a low voice: "I will fulfill his wish."

Done.

Jiajing snorted twice.

And outside Xi'an Gate.

A horse-drawn carriage had early entered the sight of the officers and soldiers guarding the palace.

The Yan family's flag was clearly displayed on the carriage.

The officers and soldiers immediately took action, removed the roadblocks outside the palace gate, and opened the palace gate.

But the carriage stopped at the palace gate, contrary to its usual practice.

The officers and soldiers looked puzzled.

Yan Shaoting walked out of the carriage first, stood by and waited for Old Yan to come out, then he reached out to support him and took the carriage.

Yan Song clasped his belt with both hands and looked up at the Xi'an Gate in front of him.

He smiled and said, "Today we are going to the Wanshou Palace."

Yan Shaoting smiled and nodded happily: "The Taiye Pond in the West Garden is full of mist and trees, it's a good place for a stroll."

Under the watchful eyes of numerous officers and soldiers, the grandfather and grandson walked through the Xi'an Gate and into the Xiyuan.

Entered the West Garden.

The two of them strolled along the bluestone road.

Yan Song really appreciated the exquisiteness of the Western Garden.

Perhaps because he had always focused on state affairs in the past, Yan Song rarely had the opportunity to appreciate the scenery of the Western Garden.

Looking back now.

It's surprisingly pleasing to the eye.

He glanced at Yan Shaoting, who was frowning slightly, and smiled: "What's wrong? Isn't the beauty of Xiyuan enough for you?"

Looking at the appearance of his eldest grandson, Yan Song couldn't help but think of himself when he was young.

The first time I walked into this Western Garden, and every time I walked into this Western Garden afterwards, I was like the eldest grandson, with no intention of admiring the scenery, and all I thought about was the country and the people.

Yan Shaoting turned around and smiled, "I just can't figure out who Lord Xu is targeting."

Yan Song shook his head: "Since you can't think of it, then don't think about it."

Yan Shaoting paused for a moment, and then said: "Although I know that the emperor will agree to whoever Lord Xu recommends this time, I still want to know who will be added to the cabinet."

Yan Song couldn't help but narrow his eyes.

"Do you really want to know?"

Yan Shaoting nodded.

This is the emergence of a new cabinet minister. How could I not want to know?

But soon.

He looked at Old Yan with a frown on his face.

Yan Song burst into laughter.

The laughter startled the birds in the surrounding woods that had not yet woken up, and they flew up to the sky, chirping and cursing.

The laughter gradually died down.

Yan Song then said, "If Grandpa's guess is correct, the Minister of Rites Yan Ne will be the one recommended by Elder Xu."

"Yan Ne?"

Yan Shaoting looked puzzled, but soon understood.

Now let’s calculate it.

In fact, only the Minister of Rites Yan Ne is most qualified to be promoted to Cabinet Minister.

Yan Shaoting immediately said, "Is it so easy to let Yan Ne join the cabinet?"

Yan Song put his hands behind his back. As it was still early, he walked towards the Wanshou Palace leisurely.

After a while.

Yan Song then spoke.

"Someone will take action."

"We two...are here to watch the fun today."

…………

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(End of this chapter)