Qing Yao

Chapter 125 "Good Guy" Zhao Shaojun
Suddenly becoming the "Young Master" out of nowhere, Zhao An must be a bit slow on the uptake.

Actually, this is not surprising at all, because things are valued for their rarity.

The Green Gang has produced Li Wei, the behind-the-scenes governor and leader, and even Emperor Qianlong, but it has never produced a cultured scholar who passed the imperial examination.

The million members of the gang were not uneducated. When Li Wei reformed the Green Gang, he even built several free schools for the gang members to support their education and take the imperial examinations. However, after decades, the highest level of education they achieved was only that of a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial-level imperial examinations).

Now things are much better. The Green Gang, whose members generally have low levels of education, suddenly has a member who is a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations). From the old master of the Four Temples to the ordinary members, who doesn't feel proud?

Although this Jinshi degree holder's credentials are questionable, his diploma is real, and he is a genuine senior master of the prefectural school and a seventh-rank official of the imperial court!

When the news reached the old master of Zhu Temple, he was so pleased that he bestowed upon him the treatment of a "young lord".

The happiest person was Zhang Baofa, the cheap master. He pulled the still somewhat bewildered Zhao An to offer incense to the Third Ancestor, but this time he didn't bring out the portrait of the old master's dragon head cane.

After completing the formalities, Zhang Baofa handed Zhao An a green rectangular bamboo plaque with the six characters "Jianghuai Siyangzhou Tou" engraved on it, along with a small flag that looked like a triangle.

The reason why it was a bamboo plaque instead of an iron or bronze plaque is probably related to the fact that the Green Gang was involved in canal transport and boating, and it meant not forgetting their roots.

This token is the command token of "Shaojun," the second-in-command of the Yangzhou branch. With this token, Zhao An can theoretically command the members of the Green Gang in the Yangzhou branch to do things for him.

However, with Zhang Baofa, his "uncle," around, Zhao An felt that his title of "Young Master" was probably similar to that of "successful candidate in the imperial examination," purely an honorary title, and he couldn't be the head of the Yangzhou branch.

Indeed, even if the old masters of the Four Temples were happy to have a college graduate in their gang, they would never let a college graduate with no experience be the head of a branch, especially since this college graduate was nominally an academic official.

For the sake of this college student's career and for the future of the Green Gang, the old masters could not allow this college student to actually take charge of gang affairs.

Everything should be avoided.

After all, Emperor Qianlong disliked the Green Gang's "high-profile" behavior for more than thirty years, to the point that he did not even allow the Green Gang to elect its leader.

If the old man knew that Zhao Youlu, whom he had specially granted an official title, was a member of the Green Gang, wouldn't he be furious?
If things go wrong, we might have to deal with the Green Gang again.

That would turn a good thing into a bad thing.

Which of the old men of the Four Temples isn't a shrewd and capable person? Would they make such a basic mistake?

From Zhao An's perspective, his title "Young Master" truly meant he was an honorary member of the Green Gang.

Face is more important than substance.

Watching his disciple, a scholar who had just finished offering incense to the three ancestors, respectfully dove incense, "Uncle" Zhang Baofa was overjoyed. Those in his gang who didn't get along with him were filled with envy and jealousy upon hearing that he had taken a scholar as a disciple. The old men, in particular, praised him to the skies, saying that he might even be able to challenge for the position of Vice Minister of the Six Ministries next year.

After the ceremony, he remembered something and asked Zhao An, "By the way, Zhi'an, is your name Zhao An or Zhao Youlu?"

This matter is confusing. When Zhang Baofa first heard that the emperor had specially granted Zhao Youlu, a professor at the Yangzhou Prefectural School, the title of Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), he didn't take it seriously at all, because it had nothing to do with him and he didn't know who Zhao Youlu was.

Unexpectedly, news came from the dock a few days later that Professor Zhao from the prefectural school wanted to see Sun Rui.

Which Professor Zhao?
Zhang Baofa, who was unaware that Zhao An had been promoted from school clerk to professor, was completely bewildered and couldn't understand how Sun Rui had become a professor at the prefectural school. Out of curiosity, he sent someone to inquire about it.

It turned out that the professor of the prefectural school who had been specially granted the title of Jinshi by the emperor was none other than Zhao An, the academic official who had delivered the invitation to him. Overjoyed, he quickly reported this as his "achievement".

When talking to Zhang Baofa and his gang, Zhao An would never tell them that he had two ID cards. He would only explain that both were his names, but Zhao Youlu was his formal name.

You can interpret it as either a formal name or a nickname.

This explanation makes sense; that's what Zhao An said to Sun Rui back then.

"I see. The Ministry of Revenue should continue using your name, Zhao An. Changing it back and forth is too much trouble."

Without much thought, Zhang Baofa pulled Zhao An to the center of the incense hall, nodded to the group of gang members, and immediately the gang members, including Sun Rui, bowed and saluted Zhao An: "Your subordinates pay their respects to Young Master!"

A dark mass.

This club-like atmosphere made Zhao An, who had always been a teacher at the school, feel a little uncomfortable. He didn't know whether to tell everyone not to be polite or what he should do.

Fortunately, we have Zhang Baofa, this cheap but reliable mentor.

"Have you all seen what the young lord looks like? You all know what to do when you encounter him in the future, right?"

Like a matchmaker introducing a young man, Zhang Baofa practically made Zhao An walk around three times to let the gang members see him clearly.

That's to be expected. If you don't recognize what the young master looks like, what if you bump into him and beat him up next time?

After introducing Zhao An to several branch leaders, Zhang Baofa asked Sun Rui to take Zhao An to the back hall first.

The large number of people gathered at the incense hall today is not merely to welcome Zhao An, the young lord, but to discuss important matters concerning the branch headquarters.

This matter not only involves the government, but also affects the livelihoods of the 60,000 members of the Yangzhou branch. Zhang Baofa alone cannot make the decision; he must convene all the dock managers and leaders to discuss it.

Although Zhao An is the young ruler, the old master has instructed that Zhao An should not be involved in the affairs of the gang, so as not to let anyone in the officialdom talk about this matter and affect Zhao An's future.

In addition, Zhao An didn't understand gang affairs, so Zhang Baofa naturally didn't need to involve him.

It also means protecting Zhao An.

It's not a good image for a dignified scholar to associate with gangs.

Zhao An, who was curious to hear what was going on, felt embarrassed to stay, so he went to the back hall with Sun Rui, took a stool and sat down casually, asking, "Senior brother, why did it take you so long to escort the grain this time?"

Sun Laosi gave a bitter laugh: "Now that you've become the big boss of this gang, I won't even have a seat in front of you anymore. How can I dare to accept you calling me 'senior brother'?"

"Great guy?"

Zhao An laughed. In Yangzhou dialect, "好佬" refers to someone who has outstanding skills in a certain area, and is a "person of note" in a social setting.

It can also be understood as a capable and competent person.

"大好佬" means "extremely awesome".

"Senior brother, please don't tease me. If it weren't for you guiding me to become your disciple and submit my application, I wouldn't be the young lord I am today."

Zhao An stood up and pulled Sun Rui to sit down.

The most important thing in salt trading is that transportation and logistics must be smooth, and the Green Gang is currently the largest logistics group. It would be foolish not to use a ready-made logistics group.

Zhao An didn't want the salt trade to become a revenue stream for the Yangzhou branch; he only wanted to get Sun Rui to help him run the business behind the branch's back, so that the profits wouldn't have to be shared with the branch.

No matter what kind of business it is, no matter how profitable it is, it can't withstand a large number of people sharing it.

However, this matter needed a good starting point. We couldn't just bring it up with Old Man Sun right away, so we started talking about transporting grain.

Unexpectedly, the moment the topic of transporting the grain was brought up, Sun Rui was full of bitterness, and said angrily, "Damn it, this grain transport was a huge loss. Not only did the brothers not earn a single penny, but they also lost a lot of money. Some of the brothers will have to sell their wives and children to make up for the losses when they come back!"

Zhao An was a little puzzled by what Sun Rui said. "Your Green Gang is in charge of transportation. You just deliver the goods to the destination, collect the freight, and leave. How can you expect to lose money?"

He became interested and inquired in detail about the canal transport.

Don't ask, don't know, I'm startled when I ask.

That canal transport was absolutely inhuman!
The Green Gang were not truck drivers who transported goods at will, but rather units designated by the Qing government to manage the grain transport, which were public institutions fully responsible for the transport of grain.

If something went wrong, the Qing government would directly hold the Green Gang accountable, specifying which gang of ships was responsible. Those on that gang, along with the Green Gang's canal workers, would be beheaded at worst and imprisoned at best.

The transportation process is like Tang Sanzang's journey to the West, involving eighty-one tribulations.

Firstly, the grain shipments were subject to exploitation by local officials, who charged a fixed tribute of 25 taels per ship.

If you don't pay this money, you won't be able to complete the task of transporting goods by the canal. If you can't complete it, you'll have to consider the consequences yourself.

After the grain was given as a tribute, it was loaded onto a truck and headed north, first passing through the Huai'an Grain Transport Office for inspection.

"They weren't inspecting grain at all, they were inspecting silver!"

Sun Rui said angrily, "Once the boat docks at the canal transport office's wharf, no matter if we're in the right or not, we have to pay a landing fee first. Those grain inspectors also have to give them a discount before they'll board the boat to inspect it, and after the inspection, we still have to pay them an inspection fee."

According to Sun Rui, in Huai'an alone, the canal transport authorities charged the canal boats more than twenty different fees, which amounted to at least forty taels per boat.

Moreover, this money was not some exorbitant tax, but a legitimate fee recognized by the imperial court, officially called the "Soldier Comparison Fee".

"Huai'an is alright, but Tongzhou is a real hellhole! Once your cargo ships reach the area, you have to wait for inspection and storage. When to inspect and when to put them into storage is all determined by money. Even if you put a pile of sand into storage, as long as the money is right, it will be top-quality white rice!"

Whether they're officials or errand runners, they all treat us like pigs. Damn it, the brothers aren't running this grain transport boat to make money, they're running it to avoid losing money! Sun Rui was really angry. The reason he was delayed for so long to come back this time was because he was stuck in the hands of a grain broker surnamed Bai in Tongzhou.

Grain brokers were not officials, but clerks recruited by the Grain Inspection Office in Tongzhou. These clerks were all very capable, because they were all relatives of officials in the Grain Inspection Office.

He had more people under his command than the county magistrate, ranging from seven or eight hundred to over a thousand.

What are these people kept for? They're just there to make things difficult for the grain transport boats.

If you don't offer any benefits, they'll just send over a hundred people to stand at the bow of your ship, without fighting or making a scene, just to prevent you from inspecting the grain.

There was no other way; in order not to miss the expiration date, they could only let the grain brokers extort them.

Sun Rui was extorted for 2800 taels of silver by the broker surnamed Bai before he was able to successfully put the ship he was leading into the warehouse for inspection.

In other words, every step of the grain transport process—from collection and exchange to transportation and storage—provided fertile ground for officials to line their own pockets. All the relevant government offices involved in the grain transport, as well as the local governments along the route, took a share of the profits, forming a complete parasitic bureaucratic chain that depended on the grain transport system.

The consequence was that for every kilogram of grain transported to Tongzhou, the people actually had to bear the burden of three kilograms.

Where did the extra two pounds go?
Officials at all levels ate it.

Clearly, canal transport was a life-or-death ordeal for the canal workers, a business that made absolutely no money. So why did millions of canal workers make a living from it?

Zhao An thought of this problem and asked Sun Rui, "Senior brother, we're all from the same gang, let's not beat around the bush. I don't believe the brothers don't carry anything with them when they're on the boat?"

"Bring it? How could I not bring it?"

Sun Rui told the truth that it was permissible for grain transport boats to carry local specialties from the south to the north to sell and subsidize expenses, and the imperial court allowed this, although it was stipulated that each boat could carry a maximum of 180 shi of goods.

This local specialty clearly includes smuggled salt.

However, transport workers often overloaded their ships to make money, which frequently resulted in shipwrecks and loss of life in the event of a sudden storm. Moreover, even if they managed to smuggle contraband, they would ultimately make little to no profit.

There's no way around it; the banks of the Grand Canal, stretching over a thousand miles from Yangzhou to Tongzhou, are teeming with "vampires."

Even those who pass through the dam at the sluice gates will charge you a hefty sum.

How did the Green Gang operate without making money yet manage to stay afloat?

The reason is simple: the Qing government tacitly allowed the entertainment industry along the banks of the Grand Canal to be operated by the Green Gang.

If these entertainment projects hadn't brought the Green Gang huge profits, how would they have filled the deficit in the Grand Canal transport?

To put it bluntly, the only people who truly profited from the canal transport, besides the low-ranking officials and clerks, were the management of the Green Gang.

The lower-level henchmen are just free laborers, laborers who won't starve.

If everyone can make money, then it will be hard to make money.

Just as he was trying to entice Sun Rui into doing salt trading with him, his cheap master Zhang Baofa and a steward from the detachment came over. Zhang Baofa seemed very unhappy.

"Uncle,"

Sun Rui quickly got up.

Seeing this, Zhao An was about to stand up as well, but Zhang Baofa patted him on the shoulder, indicating that he didn't need to.

The person in charge who came with them, as Zhang Baofa had just introduced to Zhao An, was Ding Jiu, who was in charge of the branch's accounts and affairs. Zhao An understood him to be a novice.

Whether he held any official rank or not is unclear.

"Uncle, the canal transport authorities have asked us to cover a deficit of 60,000 taels, but the second and third groups in Yangzhou are unwilling to pay it. We can't expect the first group to pay it, can we?"

The Yangzhou Second, Yangzhou Third, and First Gang that Ding Jiu mentioned were grain ships controlled by the Yangzhou branch of the Green Gang. Each gang consisted of about eighty ships.

In addition, each guild also has incense boats, passenger boats, and several small boats used for inland waterway transportation.

"The canal transport authorities have gone too far this time. Every year, our tribute is no less than that of other departments, so why should we have to pay so much? Uncle, we can't give them this money!"

The speaker was Sun Rui, who had personally experienced the hardships of transporting grain.

"No?"

Ding Jiu shook his head and gave a bitter smile: "Old Sun, if we don't give you this silver, do you believe that the Canal Transport Office can make tens of thousands of us starve?"

"He dares to do that? Does he really think our Green Gang is made of paper? Even a clay figure has some backbone!"

Sun Rui's rascal nature was clearly on full display, probably because he had just complained to Zhao An.

Indeed, someone who was very influential in Yangzhou was easily brought to his knees by a random uniform outside of Yangzhou. It's no wonder he felt resentful.

"The common people can't fight against the officials. What do you have to fight against the canal transport authorities? They hold our rice bowl in their hands. Sit down!"

Zhang Baofa gave Sun Rui a disapproving look.

Ding Jiu, standing to the side, turned his gaze to Zhao An and hesitated before saying, "Young Master, this matter shouldn't be discussed with you, since you are an official. However, the Grand Canal Administration's demand for 60,000 taels is indeed too much, and our department simply cannot afford it right now. As a professor at the Yangzhou Prefectural School, I wonder if you could step in and speak to the Grand Canal Administration on our behalf?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Baofa glanced at Ding Jiu with displeasure: "You already said that Shaojun is an official, how can you let him handle this kind of thing?"

"Uncle, there's nothing else we can do about it."

Ding Jiu sighed. In previous years, the canal transport authorities would find various reasons to make them pay money after the canal transport ended, and they would always grit their teeth and accept it. But this time, for some reason, the canal transport authorities actually asked the three gangs in Yangzhou to pay 60,000 taels of silver.

This is far too much money; the company really can't afford it.

greet?
Zhao An felt that Ding Jiu overestimated him, because he didn't know anyone in the Grand Canal Administration, and no officials' children studied at the Yangzhou Prefectural School, so he, as the principal, couldn't share power.

Seeing Zhao An's troubled expression, Ding Jiu knew that this was a bit of a stretch, but the 60,000 taels that the canal transport office wanted was really too much, and he was at a loss for what to do.

Zhang Baofa thought for a moment and said that if all else failed, he could borrow some money from the Huai'an branch to deal with the situation for now.

"master,"

Zhao An spoke up, not to lend money to Zhang Baofa to appease the Grand Canal authorities, but out of curiosity to ask whether the 60,000 taels was ordered by the Grand Canal Governor through an official document or by some official from the Grand Canal authorities.

There is a difference between the two.

If it's the former, there's basically no room for maneuver.

The latter statement is open to discussion.

Ding Jiu informed him that it was not the Governor-General who issued the document, but rather Wu Desong, the Canal Transport Commissioner within the Canal Transport Office.

The Grand Canal Commissioner was a fifth-rank official, three ranks higher than Zhao An, and was the second-highest-ranking official in the Grand Canal Administration after the Governor-General.

The second-in-command's order for the Yangzhou branch of the Green Gang to cover a deficit of 60,000 taels of silver is very likely the Governor-General's intention.

Therefore, neither Zhang Baofa nor Ding Jiu believed that privately pleading with Councilor Wu would yield any good results.

Zhao An nodded: "Did the canal transport office also charge this fee in previous years?"

"If you want it, it's not as much as it is this year. Last year it only cost 16,000 taels. I don't know what happened this year, but it has increased more than three times."

Zhang Baofa was in a real bind, not knowing where he had offended the canal transport authorities, as he had followed all the proper procedures.

Even his uncle couldn't do anything, so what could Sun Rui do? He couldn't win against them, so he could only sulk.

At this moment, Zhao An, the "good guy" next to him, offered a bad idea: "Master, I think it would be better to find a few brothers to find out where that councilor lives, how many wives and children he has, and where his children study and work. We don't need to really touch them. We can just hang around near his Wu family's house. Whenever his wife and children come out, we brothers will follow them."

"."

Zhao An's terrible idea made "Uncle" break out in a cold sweat.

Mr. Ding was also taken aback; he never expected that a professor from the prestigious academy would be so audacious.

Sun Rui was also shocked: "Good sir, if you do this, won't Lord Wu fight you to the death?"

"With tens of thousands of members like us, who would he fight to the death with?"

Zhao An didn't quite understand the three men's thinking: We're a gang, can't gangs disregard the rules?

(End of this chapter)