Idle courtiers

Chapter 28
Just as he was depressed, the Shizhi County inside spoke to several masters again: "I came to Anton three years ago as an official close to the people. I have weathered the wind and rain in my tenure, thinking about what the people think, and worrying about the people's worries. What I think What I think is nothing more than serving as an official, benefiting one party, and serving the emperor and the court. However, Anton is located in a remote place, with insufficient products and poor people. Unfortunately, the three-year period of external inspection by the imperial court has come, and everyone has to come up with a charter for me today, so that I can explain to my superiors."

Hearing his words, Zhou Nan sneered in his heart, and he was still fighting against the wind and rain, purely doing nothing to rule it!This county magistrate is a mediocre official who eats and waits to die. He knows how to lie down and sleep soundly in the yamen all day long.It's all right now, the fire is burning to the eyebrows, I'm afraid this official will not be able to do it.To say that Anton is located in a remote area and the resources are not abundant, isn't that lying with open eyes?If this place was poor, there would be no rich places in the entire Ming Dynasty except Suzhou and Hangzhou.

It turned out that there was a strict system for the appointment and removal of officials in the Ming Dynasty.Regardless of whether you rely on Zhongjinshi to be sent to the local area as a seventh-rank county magistrate under the six ministries for three years, or you are elected by the candidates, the term of office is only three years.At the end of the three-year period, the imperial court will ask your superiors to evaluate you and send it to the six ministries and the cabinet for review. If you pass the review, you can continue to work for another three years.Three years later, reassessment.

The three-year assessment is called the quiz, and the six-year assessment is called the big test.In addition, there will be a general examination in the ninth year.

In addition, this kind of assessment is divided into Beijing inspection by Beijing officials and external inspection by local officials.

What Shi Jieren was facing this time was the three-year quiz in the foreign inspection. Zhou Nan was a liberal arts student, so the so-called liberal arts and sciences were not separated.On weekdays, he also has a keen interest in history.Hearing that the matter was being discussed inside, this is the living historical material for studying the history of the Ming Dynasty nearby, so I immediately became interested and looked inside.

Hearing the county magistrate's question, a teacher said with a bitter face: "Xianzun, no matter whether it is the Beijing inspection or the foreign inspection, the evaluation of the performance of local officials is nothing more than four criteria and eight methods, which are the standards for officials' promotion. "

"The so-called four categories are Shou, Zheng, Talent, and Year. Each category is classified into three grades: Competent, Diligent, and Serving. Those who are all first-class in the three categories can be promoted and used in a limited manner." Shou refers to the local security situation.The county magistrate, Bailihou, is the herdsman on behalf of the emperor, and he has the responsibility of guarding the land.Politics refers to whether the administration is appropriate; talent refers to whether one has the ability to handle local government affairs;After a certain number of years, you have to promote others. You can't let them work as magistrates for the rest of their lives and prevent them from progressing, right?
"The eight rules are greed, coolness, inaction, indecency, old age, illness, impetuousness, and weak talent. After inspection, they are divided into three grades: ordinary, competent, and incompetent. Those who are incompetent will be removed from office." The eight laws refer to people who are not suitable for being an official. They are corrupt, ruthless in politics, mediocre, careless in doing things, too old to last a few seconds, impetuous and impulsive, and have no sense of being an official. understand.

This is new knowledge, Zhou Nan listened with gusto.It's a pity that this thing is common sense to the ancient Shi Zhixian.

Shi Jieren was immediately dissatisfied: "Dianli Wang, I asked you how to deal with this year's exam. What are you doing with these useless things?"

Master Wang is an old rotten scholar, so he didn't see the displeasure on Shi Zhixian's face.Still stroking the goatee on his chin, Zhizhu was holding it and talking eloquently: "In the past, during the Hongwu Dynasty, Ma Liang, the magistrate of Rizhao County, Juzhou, passed the exam. The achievements are better than supervision and transportation. Emperor Taizu Gao instructed that agriculture and mulberry are the foundation of clothing and food. Schools are the source of weathering. A county magistrate does not set up farming and mulberry schools, but engages in supervision and transportation. Do you not do your job properly? It is better to demote him so that he will be punished.’ In this way, Mazhi County was dismissed from the post of magistrate. It can be seen that the achievements of the people-friendly officials must start from two aspects: farming and mulberry and education.”

Shi Zhixian nodded: "Go on."

Master Wang: "The annual examination held every three years is very important to the future of officials. Therefore, unless the magistrate has committed an unforgivable mistake, generally speaking, the superior will give a passable assessment and is happy to be a favor."

"That's what I said, let's not care about enlightenment. In terms of taxes alone, my county didn't collect all of them last year. What should I do?" Shi Zhixian's face was gloomy.

Another master interrupted: "Master Xian, how about this, merge the summer grain that was not collected this year into last year, and deal with it first, that is, change the number with a pen."

The other two nodded slightly, saying that was the only way to go.

Shi Zhixian was annoyed, and shouted: "Last year we should have paid 1 shi in tax and grain, but we only collected [-] shi, leaving more than [-] shi. The uncollected summer grain was moved to make up for the shortfall. Where do you come to find a way to solve the gap. How can you make up for it, and you want to harm my officials?"

He also felt unlucky, the imperial grain had to be sent to the capital every year for tax payment, so there must be a lot of consumption on the way.In addition to the transportation costs of migrant workers, all these have to be paid to the local government.Therefore, there is not a small gap every year, and the amount owed in half a year is an astronomical sum.However, these problems were left behind by his predecessors. He flung his sleeves and left after his term of office was over, but in the end he was asked to take care of this mess and be the scapegoat.

Hearing what he said, the three masters have nothing to do with it.Year-old examinations and foreign inspections, such as culture, education, and public security, can still be dealt with in a way. They must be empty tasks.But taxes are numbers with no room for change. If you don't pay enough money and food, you have to speak out.

After a long time, Master Wang sighed: "The fortune of the county magistrate is also too bad, not as good as the previous county magistrate!"

Shi Zhixian asked: "What happened to the previous magistrate? I think the previous one had a lot of debts. How did he pass the exam after the new year?"

Master Wang replied: "Master Wang, I have looked through the files of previous years. In the 30th year of Jiajing, the Huaihe River flooded and washed away tens of thousands of acres of fertile land in our county. It happened to be the New Year's Examination, and the county magistrate went to the memorial. , asked the imperial court to reduce or exempt the county’s taxes. So, that adult successfully avoided the annual examination, and was later transferred to Shaanxi to serve as a general judge because of his meritorious service in helping the victims." After finishing speaking, he continued to sigh: " Why didn't the county venerable come to such a good thing? If there is another flood in our county, why should the county lord be so troubled?"

This person's luck is also very good, and Shi Jieren was very envious.But what's the use of your Master Wang saying these things, just to get angry with the official?
Is it possible to ask someone to dig up the Huaihe River and let the water flush the ground?
This……

This terrible thought flashed in his mind, Shi Zhixian shouted angrily: "What nonsense are you talking about, as a printing official, how can you expect disasters for the people under your jurisdiction?"

Just as the outbreak was about to happen, Zhou Nan's voice came from the door: "My lord, although we can't expect disasters in the county, we can still do something. If the natural disasters can't wait for the lord, we might as well do our best."

"Who is it, you bastard, the officer is discussing something, what are you eavesdropping on?"

Zhou Nan made a bitter face: "The county magistrate punished me to stand for an hour. What the old man said just now is so powerful and deafening. It's hard for me not to hear it."

Shi Zhixian was at a loss for words for a while, and continued to curse: "What personnel matters, what high opinion do you, a lowly subordinate, have?"

He scolded Zhou Nan as a subordinate official, and the three masters in the house felt embarrassed.They are all locals. Although they have become pawns now, they have become competent officials in the Ming Dynasty system, but who didn't come out of the humble yamen servants back then?

Zhou Nan: "Although the young one has studied for several years and has traveled thousands of miles, I dare not say that I have any high-level opinions, but I still understand some things. Yes, as far as it is now, the county's shortfalls will be filled for a while. No. Besides, the Grand Master is a clean and honest official and naturally he refuses to extort money and increase the government. In my opinion, no matter what we do now, it will be useless. Just think about sex. Just think about how to pay off the debts from previous years once and for all. Obliterate and eliminate future troubles forever."

"What do you know?" Shi Zhixian was about to continue yelling, when his heart suddenly moved. Zhou Nan was also a scholar before this week, and he also entered the county school, and he was also a smart person.He has been a prisoner for ten years, hanging out at the bottom, maybe he has some tricks up his sleeve, he and his father-in-law got rid of Zhan Zhongcheng and played very well: "If you have something to say, let me listen to your nonsense today .”

"My lord, I've never worked in the yamen before, so I may not be able to understand the joints. However, when I was studying, I went to the examination room several times, and I encountered an examiner who specially asked out-of-the-ordinary questions to make things difficult for the candidates. .When encountering such a problem, no matter what you do, you can’t please it. It’s refreshing to just tear up the paper. The flood in the 30th year of Jiajing seems to be tearing up the paper. We just need to do something to make it easier. The boss can’t and has no time to assess it.”

Shi Zhixian: "How do you say?"

Zhou Nan took a deep breath, moved the traveler to know Dafa, and replied: "The young man has been working as an errand in the government for the past few days. When I have nothing to do, I have read through the previous years' newspapers. It issued a decree to reward farming and mulberry, which said that the local officials should encourage the people to grow more mulberry trees and raise more silkworms.”

Shizhi County: "Long mulberry is the foundation of the country, and the imperial court has not issued a decree for half a year to urge local officials to be diligent in government affairs and rest with the people. What you are talking about is nonsense."

"My lord said that every year the imperial court encourages farming and mulberry, but this decree is unusual from a young person's point of view." Zhou Nan continued: "Jiangsu and Zhejiang are tax-heavy places, and all the wealth in the world comes from the southeast. The land is the main production area of ​​grain and silk, so there is no need to issue a decree to discuss this matter at all. Don't the county officials find it strange? Also, last month, an edict was issued today to change the six departments of this year. The allocated funds are only [-]% of previous years, which is worth pondering."

Although Shizhi County is lazy in politics, but no one who can pass the imperial examination to be an official is an idiot these days, and he still has a basic sense of politics. He paused: "What does this decree have to do with His Majesty's imperial decree?"

"Let's talk about the imperial decree today. The financial appropriation of the six ministries has decreased by [-]% compared to previous years. What does this mean? It means that the national treasury is already empty. Otherwise, the country's annual financial plan will be planned by the cabinet members at the Spring Festival meeting. Why? It can be easily changed. What should the country do if it has no money? How can it come from other places.” Zhou Nan used the traveler’s foreknowledge of history to analyze with Zhou Zhixian: “How do you think about this rut? There is a saying that says, The wealth of the world has its own fixed number, and the amount of grain that can be harvested in the field is basically the same. After reducing the expenditure, it is natural to increase the source of income. Didn’t I open the sea last year? The emperor wants to follow the example of Emperor Yongle, and trade raw silk and red hair Enrich the national treasury. Once the sea ban is lifted, a large amount of raw silk will be exported. Jiangsu and Zhejiang are close to the sea, so the imperial court ordered to encourage mulberry farming and let the people grow mulberry trees."

When he said this, Shi Zhixian suddenly realized.The ban on opening the sea is fine, anyway, whether the sea is open or not has little to do with everyone.As for cutting the national budget and encouraging agriculture and mulberry in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, he just let it go and didn't let it go in his heart.Now listening to Zhou Nan's analysis, these three seemingly irrelevant decrees are actually related to each other as cause and effect.

This Zhou Nan is quite talented, not a down-and-out scholar who only knows how to compose poems and compose lyrics.

"What do you think this matter has to do with the officer's annual exam this year... Come in and talk."

"Yes, my lord." Zhou Nan walked into the house and said in a low voice: "The deep meaning of the thing that the imperial court ordered to encourage farming and mulberry is to let the people change farming into mulberry. Think about it, the county lord. After half a year, there is only four or five shi of grain, and the tax collected by the court is only five or six dou, which is not worth a lot of money. If the farming is changed to mulberry, the output of silk alone will be more than ten times that of grain. The only concern is , the people don’t grow food anymore, once the price of food soars, it will hurt the people. Therefore, a decree was issued to see the reaction of all parties.”

He didn't wait for Shi Zhixian to speak, and said in a fast voice: "Let's not care about the success or failure of the transformation of agriculture into mulberry, the elder just took advantage of this east wind to dare to be the first in the world, so he gave a memorial, saying that our county has initially completed the mulberry field this year. Renovation. Because the mulberry tree has just sprouted and there is no output for a while, please forgive the tax for the next two years. In this way, the hole in the arrears of the old man will be closed. As long as you pass this hurdle, you can return to Anton Afterwards, the Elder Master can quickly send people to Jiangning Mansion and Suzhou Mansion to buy mulberry seedlings for replanting, so as to have an explanation to the superiors."

"Wonderful, this is a wonderful thing, county lord, you might as well give it a try." Wang Shiye applauded: "This is a very good discussion from the leader of the Zhou Dynasty, and it is a good strategy."

Shi Zhixian's eyes also lit up, thinking that this method is feasible.However, he still has concerns: "This hurdle has passed, but once the mulberry tree survives, the imperial court's taxes will not escape. On the basis of the two taxes in summer and autumn, adding another mulberry silk will make the burden on the people even heavier. , when the time comes, where will I change the raw silk to pay the tax?"

Zhou Nan couldn't help but roll his eyes: "It will take three to five years for the mulberry seedlings to grow into trees, and to feed silkworms and spin silk. By then, the old man will have already been promoted." Yes, this question can be left to the next generation. A county magistrate.Even if there is a flood after I die, you should take care of yourself first!
Shi Zhixian thought for a while: "You go down first, and I will discuss this matter with a few pawns." After finishing speaking, he sternly shouted: "You stay in the post house for a few days, and the case of Mei's daughter-in-law's disappearance continues to be investigated. From my point of view, no matter whether she was abducted or ran away from home, she will probably be hiding in Huai'an City. If you have to be honest, I will probably stay in Fucheng for three to five days. If you can't solve the case by then, I will No mercy."

"Yes, yes, my lord, I must be brave enough to solve the case as soon as possible." Zhou Nan wiped his sweat, and finally passed this test.

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(End of this chapter)