However, for Niu Shouli, the magistrate of Poyang County, there is nothing more surprising/frightening than going out in person to urge the summer grain to be put into the warehouse, and unexpectedly finding a dozen armored soldiers waiting in the office. At this moment, his mind even flashed through his various consequences.
For example, the accumulated arrears and bad debts left by your predecessor can no longer cover the incident? Or was someone reporting him for misappropriating the proceeds from the Academy and the Official Sacrifice Field? As an affiliated county of Raozhou Prefecture, Poyang County Magistrate can only be regarded as a middle-to-lower position with few channels for making money.
There are also Shangguan officials such as the governor of Raozhou who are watching over him. Whether it is the Yongping Qianjian built around the three local copper pits or the rich tea and white porcelain in Fuliang and Yugan counties, they have nothing to do with him. There is no way to join hands. So we can only make money from these inconspicuous corners.
However, Poyang County School, which was established in the Western Jin Dynasty, has actually declined long ago; it gave way to private schools/academies established by local celebrities and scholars in Donghu, Zhiyang, Fuzhou, etc. This is also a common phenomenon in various states and counties in the south, that is, government schools cannot run private schools among the people.
Because behind these prestigious private schools are often the sponsorship and support of local wealthy families, wealthy businessmen, and famous families; compared with government schools that have become rigid over the years, they have more resources and are more flexible. measures to recruit outstanding students at all costs.
Just to expand the potential influence of the local school, township party and family. Therefore, the Niu Shou Li's private activities were just scraping the flesh from mosquitoes' legs with three melons and two dates; the real profitable activities had long been divided up by the state government; Fuguo County had no chance at all.
Otherwise, he would not have to go to the countryside in person to urge the summer tax money and grain to be put into the warehouse with the dignity of Bailihou. Just because in this process, the customary filial piety from those town tax collectors and township chiefs is indispensable. In addition to the subordinates' share, the little bits and pieces also add up to hundreds of pockets.
This is one of the few ways he can make a lot of money throughout the year. Of course, there are some incomes with more income, but he really doesn't dare to ask for them; considering Niu Shouli's origin, qualifications, and background, being able to survive the past few years of his term safely is a great thing.
In the mainstream sense, he did not come from an academic class affiliated with two major universities or three affiliated schools in the capital, nor did he come from a private school in a well-known local academy; nor did he come from a local official school background that connected the Imperial College and Imperial College. It is a special case of people who passed down the farming education and then passed the provincial examination, state examination, and Peking University examination, which are extremely rare in the world today.
In the end, the emperor specially opened Enke's six ancient studies (Guozixue, Taixue, Four Schools, Legal Studies, Calligraphy, and Arithmetic), and was qualified to be at the bottom of the list. After "body, speech, calligraphy, and judgment", he was able to interpret After the trial, he was appointed as the captain of Shidi County in Fengzhou, the Annan Protectorate, and finally returned to Jiangxi Province.
As long as he stays in office until the end of the year without any illness or disaster, he can naturally be transferred to other wealthy counties closer to his hometown in the Central Plains according to certain conventions; he does not have to worry about being transferred back to the Annan Protectorate to fight against the vassal division. Zhou Xuan has to do everything by himself, planting rice, feeding mosquitoes and disciplining the natives.
Of course, Niu Shouli's background is in the traditional sense of farming and reading heirlooms/wild town as a topic writer; compared to Shouxuan (nepotism), Zhengpi (fortunately), Menyin (rich and wasteful) and other miscellaneous backgrounds , the upper limit for official positions is still slightly higher, and at least there is a hope of staying in the Tao/provincial province for the rest of one's life.
In fact, since the reform of Taixin and the great expansion of the country more than a hundred years ago, many things in the Tang Dynasty have undergone subtle and huge changes. For example, as the territory of the world continues to expand and expand, there are more official positions in the Tang Dynasty, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to fill them.
The good thing is that with the current abundant financial and material resources of the current dynasty, officials, whether they are elected or miscellaneous, now have a certain number of long-term officials who can be brought to their posts and enjoy subsidized salaries; however, the specific candidates must be Study in the official school and pass the corresponding qualification examination.
In this way, even after taking office, he will naturally have a corresponding and justifiable team to compete and compete with the local cunning subordinates and wealthy families; he will not be ignored or deceived by others. Therefore, in It is undoubtedly much easier to work as an official.
But on the other hand, the imperial court was much more thorough and strict in its examination system for officials. Not only are there delivery receipts for major matters, but there are also specific deadlines and rewards and penalties for overdue assessments. Even promotions and moves to the left are based on the reputation of superiors, subordinates, and people.
Although this still cannot eliminate some of the remaining shortcomings and crux of the officialdom, it has been relatively successful in providing a lower limit. In other words, except for some well-educated idlers, it is difficult for someone who is too much of a loser to achieve success through unilateral support.
Another example is that local government officials and wealthy households with the surnamed Hao really did not dare to bully the common people or exploit them too much. They even had to restrain themselves from arbitrage loans. Because although these oppressed villagers did not dare to resist the government and subordinate officials, they could flee to other places.
If you fled in the past, you would have fled, but now there are many overseas vassal princes, waiting to absorb the exiled population from the middle-earth; with all kinds of money and interests to open the way, they have penetrated almost every corner of the mainland, Even more profit-seeking businessmen are concerned about it.
Not to mention, there are also some fellow villagers who have prospered overseas. After returning to their hometowns with good reputation and honor, they use the excuse of support to pull away many villagers from their neighbors. Even the government and big households cannot openly obstruct them, because This generation often has corresponding official status and knighthood.
Therefore, if there is excessive exploitation and oppression in a place, or if people are forced into desperation by using compound interest, the worst case scenario is to leave their fields and debts behind overnight and hide away with their families. In severe cases, those who are instigated by overseas compatriots rise up to cause trouble. In the end, the gains outweigh the losses in the game.
Whether it is the abandonment of land or the loss of household registration, in the end the court's fault will still fall on these parents and officials who do not manage well. For large households with the surname Hao, whether there is no one to work the land to collect tenants, or debts that have been released for many years and cannot be recovered, they will all suffer huge losses.
Coupled with the dumping and impact of large amounts of cheap food and products from overseas princes and vassals, even if the country encounters a famine, the probability of large-scale starvation is low. It also forced the wealthy surnames who once dominated the countryside and controlled people's livelihood to make changes and compromises in order to maintain the status quo.
Therefore, in his hometown with small land holdings, Niu Shouli relied on the fetters of friendship he had known for many years, and his reputation as not being too aggressive in collecting debts, to retain a group of tenant farmers and maintain the last bit of dignity of the farming and studying family. He then took a deep breath and tried to force out a smile:
"I wonder, officers and men, is there anything that requires my cooperation?"
However, the leading sergeant wearing large armor did not say anything and directly handed him a piece of writing approved by the state government: "...I order all the people in Poyang County to fully cooperate with the relevant departments within the jurisdiction of Shangxian, and there must be no mistakes... …”. Seeing this, Niu Shouli couldn't help but feel bitter in his mouth.
This is obviously because the state government did not dare to take up the problem, and directly kicked Cuju to him, the magistrate of Fuguo County. You must know that as a local official, he has received a lot of greetings and deliveries; but under normal circumstances, it will not fall directly on him, the Fuguo County Magistrate.
Because of the importance of corresponding identities, they are also divided into three, six or nine levels according to officialdom rules. Among them, the most common and the most common is that subordinate officials sent by the three divisions and four envoys of the Taoist order to suppress the autumn wind in disguise, as long as they maintain their integrity, treat each other warmly, or communicate with each other in a calm manner, it actually does not hurt.
Then there are the various imperial dispatches from the capital, mainly from the Shangshu Province; among them, the dispatches from the Ministry of Personnel are the most relevant, the dispatches from the Ministry of Works are the most troublesome, the dispatches from the Ministry of Punishments are the most trivial, the dispatches from the Ministry of Rites are the most pragmatic, and the dispatches from the Ministry of War are the most straightforward. …
Of course, if the other party dares to claim that he is sent by the Political Council or the Privy Council, the local magistrate can arrest him without hesitation and torture him for interrogation. Because of the dynasty's system, the Political Hall and the Privy Council were in charge of military and state secrets, but they could not go beyond the Shangshu Province to issue orders to local governments.
In addition, there are all kinds of palace envoys, palace and market envoys, and other envoys from Ouchi. The local officials can ignore it, but if they take the initiative to please and flatter the other party, they will be despised by the scholarly officialdom. If they seize the opportunity and teach them a lesson, they will be praised.
In addition to the Shangshu Province, those who are eligible to request local cooperation or designated assistance include the Sansi Yuan, which is in charge of national finances, the General Affairs Department, which is in charge of the dissemination of national information; and the Zongfan Yuan, which mediates internal and external vassal princes. , as well as the headquarters of the sixteen guards under the jurisdiction of the military government...
The next most important are the five eunuchs of the Nine Temples, the most important of which is the Taifu/Sinong Temple, which is in charge of grain storage, warehouse management, and the supply of rice to officials in the capital. The most important one is the treasure trove. Shaofu Temple, as well as the Capital Water Supervisor in charge of river water conservancy and Guanjin Bridge Crossing...
But we can only ask for local cooperation, but cannot force it. Therefore, when he saw the title of censor of "distinguished patrols across the Yangtze River", as well as the monogram of Zhengshi Hall and the seal of Shangshu Province, Niu Shouli almost blacked out and fainted on the spot. Because the other party's background is too big.
As the saying goes, "Among the ten palaces of Yama, the censor is the most annoying." This is the situation described. If we rank the dispatches from the three provinces and six departments in the central hall of the capital according to the seating order of Yama in the ten palaces, the most important ones are undoubtedly the Ministry of Personnel and the Third Academy, but the most troublesome one is the Yushitai.
Within the Yushitai, there are three, six or nine levels according to the degree of trouble; among them, the supervisory censor directly under his own authority is relatively simple; because he has many daily supervision tasks, from the third division and fourth envoys at the same level to the deputy governor of each state; As one of dozens of county magistrates in the state and county, it has received limited attention.
The second more troublesome thing is that those censors who are regularly assigned to practice in their profession are mostly young people who have just joined Xantai. They also have the ability to secretly visit the people and investigate rumors in secret, so they are eager to find out something at the local level. What is it, as a stepping stone on the road to advancement.
Although these censors do not have the expediency to make immediate decisions, once they are caught with something, they still have to investigate and even keep it in the evaluation. Therefore, although there are occasional people pretending to be Yu Shilixing to cheat, it is inevitable that some parents and officials will lose money and be embarrassed.
Then, what is even more troublesome is the special censor from Beijing; there are two types of situations. Either based on local sudden major cases, important cases, or extremely serious complaints, a small third division was formed with the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple; they went to the local road to review and verify the case.
That often means a big earthquake in the officialdom along the way. Even if the final review and investigation remain the same, there will still be many unlucky people who lose their official titles or heads as a result. Either it is a temporary and targeted dispatch, such as regular supervision related to transshipment, transportation, salt and iron, and water conservancy.
And this censor, who patrolled various roads across the river, was obviously the latter. But just the words Zhengshitang, Shangshusheng and Yushi superimposed together were enough to make him unable to lift his head. However, Niu Shouli noticed the words "Beasts, monsters, chaos and strange news, be hunted", and he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Literally speaking, this obviously does not involve much of his daily duties; if you want to force a connection, it means that these occasional rumors of monsters and alien infestations have to some extent led to the abandonment of local production and the delay in summer collection; This is why he personally went to supervise the inspection.
Then, he couldn't help but cautiously spoke again: "I will do my best to follow you. May I ask if you have any instructions?"
"Have you ever been familiar with the Jingjiang Liu family under your rule?" The sergeant nodded slightly and said:
