Qing Yao

Chapter 178 Can I go to this occasion?

This is just believing rumors and joining in the fun. A little education would suffice. Why send someone to the authorities?
The charge of treason would scare those three young men to death.

Zhao An felt that Ren Chaoyang and his group had gone too far, so he stepped in to intervene.

Ren Chaoyang was somewhat surprised by Shaojun's sudden appearance; he had thought Shaojun had been with Mr. Ding in the incense hall the whole time.

Zhao An did not explain why he was there, but only asked Ren Chaoyang why he had sent the person to the yamen.

Ren Chaoyang chuckled and said, "Young Master, it was the yamen that told us that as long as we send over a rebel, they will give us brothers three taels of silver as a reward."

"The government office? Which government office?"

"The Ganquan County Government Office."

Zhao An was taken aback: "You mean the people from the Ganquan County government ordered you to do this?"

"Yup!"

Ren Chaoyang nodded, and seeing that Shaojun didn't seem to understand the ins and outs, he quickly whispered, "Shaojun doesn't understand, does he? Those people in the yamen are making money off this. Just say that if these three guys are sent over, they won't get out unless each of them pays ten or eight taels. The more we send over, the more those people in the yamen will earn."

"."

Some people profit from national disasters, some from wars, and some from natural disasters. What kind of profit do they make?

Zhao An was speechless, wondering why Lao Ding would condone the constable Ban Zhuang's money-making scheme.

For ignorant people who are unaware of the truth, education should be the primary approach, with punishment as a secondary measure.

As long as there is no actual vandalism or looting, it's like not wearing a seatbelt in a car; a verbal warning is enough.

Now, things have gotten out of hand; the effort to stabilize the market has become an opportunity for constables and yamen runners to make money off the city. It's both laughable and pathetic.

But Old Ding was wronged.

Or rather, even Lao Ding couldn't control it.

Because this is the legitimate income of those working in government offices.

It's important to know that the salaries of yamen runners were very low. In Yangzhou, a relatively wealthy area, the salaries were considered high. The county government paid only seven or eight taels of silver a year, which was better than the poor laborers of the canal transport gangs.

What to do if your salary is low?
They can only make money through shady means.

Those with higher ranks collect protection money from the entertainment industry, while those with lower ranks collect protection money from street vendors. They find all sorts of ways to extort money, and even legitimate investigations require payment.

The happiest thing is when a murder occurs, because once a murder occurs, the people near the body have to pay money. If they don't pay, they will take them to the yamen as suspects and falsely accuse them of murder. In the end, they will have to pay a large sum of money to get out.

As a result, in many places, when people discovered a body, their first instinct was not to report it to the authorities, but to quickly and secretly transport the body to other places, otherwise they would definitely be extorted by the officials handling the case.

With things going like this, where will the government offices find the time to solve cases?

These days, the homicide clearance rate is only slightly better than zero.

There was no other way. In the Qing Dynasty, only the county magistrate, the registrar, and the assistant county magistrate were paid salaries. All other officials, including clerks, were paid by the county magistrate. How much could the county magistrate earn in a year?

So, we can only accept the mess they're making.

If Old Ding really acted like an incorruptible official and kept a close eye on his subordinates, he, as the county magistrate, would probably be driven to suicide by debt collectors.

Because he couldn't offer high salaries and benefits that would guarantee the constables wouldn't misbehave.

If even the county magistrate Lao Ding can't manage this, how can Zhao An?
It's no use if he goes to talk to Lao Ding now and tells him that the lower levels can't be allowed to act so recklessly. There are always countermeasures to policies from above. At worst, instead of sending the person to the county jail, he can just take them to their home and demand money.

"Young Master, you don't need to worry about this, you can't control it anyway. The officials get all the meat, and we brothers just get a little soup too." Ren Chaoyang grinned, then suddenly added, "Young Master, you can't go out alone anymore!"

"how?"

Zhao An was puzzled.

“The Jiao family suffered such a huge loss at the hands of our shipping gang. Do you think they can accept it? Even if they don’t dare to cause trouble for our shipping gang openly, who knows what they might be thinking behind our backs. Better safe than sorry. Although they don’t recognize you, Young Master, you can’t let your guard down. If necessary, I’ll take a few brothers and follow you.”

Ren Chaoyang's reminder was correct: it's easy to dodge a spear in the open, but hard to guard against an arrow in the dark.

The Jiao family doesn't dare to confront the Canal Gang directly. They just spend money to hire a few assassins to kill the leaders of the Canal Gang. What can the Canal Gang do then?
When Uncle died, Young Master led everyone to work; when Young Master died, who would lead everyone to work?

Even if the Jiao family doesn't have the guts, you still have to be wary of other forces.

After all, the canal gang has cut off many people's source of income this time.

After Ren Chaoyang said that, Zhao An felt that he should assemble a private bodyguard team for himself, the kind that provides 24-hour protection in three shifts.

However, Ren Chaoyang and his gang of thugs were not suitable to be bodyguards, so they planned to find some fearless and capable fighters from the lower-level members of the second and third gangs to serve as guards.

The county government was behind this, and the canal gang members also benefited. Moreover, this matter was also intended to stabilize the situation in Yangzhou. Even if there were some side effects, it was better than having rumors flying all over the city.

Helpless, Zhao An had no choice but to have Ren Chaoyang and the others take the person to the county government office, while he went to find his two friends from the Sihai Inn on his own.

Those three young men were truly wronged, crying and shouting that they hadn't rebelled, but no matter how wronged they were, it was useless now.

If you enter the government office and don't pay money, through a series of tricks, you'll be the one who came up with the plan to bombard the Forbidden City.

Bao Dawei and Yang Xiaoshuan handled things well. Xinglonghao's business license was obtained from the Ganquan County Tax Office. The registration fee was not much, only two taels and six qian, but the red envelope fee was more than ten taels.

The rented shop was in Dongguan. The two men led An Ge to see it. It was a shop in the front and a house in the back, and it was several hundred square meters in total. The rent was 260 taels a year. The contract was for five years, and the rent for the first three years was paid in advance.

It turned out that the person who rented the shop was selling rapeseed oil, so the first thing you smelled when you went in was the aroma of oil.

It's a good omen; there's money to be made.

"You two tidy up the back rooms, then cancel your stay at the inn and stay here from now on. I'll find some people to help you. Xinglonghao will open after the New Year."

As they were talking, Zhao An suddenly remembered that he hadn't yet gone to the Salt Administration Office to collect the extra three thousand salt permits that Old Wu had obtained. He quickly told Dawei and Xiaoshuan to get things done first, and hurriedly called a carriage to head to the Salt Administration Office.

As soon as they arrived at the main gate of the Salt Administration Office, they saw a large number of officials rushing out of the office in a hurry, some in sedan chairs and some in carriages, heading south.

Just as Zhao Anzheng was wondering what was going on, someone called out to him, "Committee Member Zhao!"

Turning my head, I saw that it was none other than Wu Desong.

"Committee Member Zhao, why are you only arriving now?"

Wu Desong looked very anxious. "You can come back tomorrow about the salt permit. Right now, I have to go with Master A and the others to pick up Master Kui."

Zhao An asked curiously, "Which Lord Kui?"

"It is General Kui Lun of Fuzhou. Lord Kui was ordered to return to the capital for questioning. Who would have thought that the official boat he was on when crossing the river a few days ago had an accident and he spent three whole days in Guazhou to recover. Now that he has recovered, he has come to Yangzhou. When the magistrate learned that Lord Kui was coming, he asked all of us salt officials to go and welcome him."

Wu Desong was in a hurry to leave and didn't want to explain too much to Zhao An.

Zhao An grabbed the other man and asked with a questioning look, "If you salt officials can go to welcome Lord Kui, can I, an academic official, go?"

(End of this chapter)