Qing Yao

Chapter 21 The student has a bad idea

The county magistrate destroyed the family and the prefect exterminated the family.

Is there anyone who doesn't take the county magistrate seriously?!

The person in charge of the Ganquan County Cloth-making Guild gave Zhao An, who was doing actual work in the government office for the first time, a setback. He had no temper at all. Firstly, he had no official title and always felt insecure; secondly, the other party looked very powerful and there might be an official higher than the county magistrate standing behind him. Otherwise, a businessman would not dare to speak like that even if he had ten times the courage.

Since ancient times, who has fought against officials and had a good ending?
Unable to grasp the other party's confidence, Zhao An, a newcomer in the workplace, certainly couldn't do anything rash. Therefore, he simply emphasized, "This is the county's decision. If you have any opinions, you can report them to the county. Of course, you can also tell me, and I will report to the county."

As he spoke, he picked up the notice that the person in charge had thrown on the table in front of him and handed it over in a dignified manner.

The person in charge ignored Zhao An, who looked like a servant, and snorted: "I said, the county's words don't count. If you want us to pay, we need the order from the government."

After saying that, he walked away with his hands behind his back, leaving Zhao An, who represented the county, there.

Zhao An was naturally furious. Even if he was a temporary worker, he was a temporary worker who came here on behalf of the county to make the notification. As the head of the guild, no matter how much objection you had to the county's decision, you shouldn't give him the cold shoulder.

Every wrong has its perpetrator, every debt has its creditor. Turn left and look for your leader.
He was so angry that he was about to go back and add fuel to the fire. Just as he turned to leave, another person in charge of the cloth-making guild came over with a smile on his face, holding him back. He said very embarrassedly, "Don't be angry, young man. Our Xu Xingtou has this temper. Sometimes when he gets angry, even ten cows can't hold him back."

The person in charge is the deputy head of the cloth-making association. His surname is Zheng and his name is Quanli. Zheng's Cloth Shop on Caiyi Street is his family's business. His family also runs two other workshops and employs more than 300 workers. In terms of scale, it is second only to the head of the cloth-making association, Xu Youshou's family.

This is also the old rule of the guild. The chief and deputy chief of the guild must be the two largest ones in the industry.

Zheng Quanli is obviously a veteran. As soon as Xu Youshou finished playing the villain, he started playing the hero.

First, he complained to Zhao An about the current downturn in the cloth industry and the lack of business. Then he said it was not that the guild refused to agree to the inspection, but that the inspection fee was a bit excessive.

If you pay according to the notice issued by the county, the minimum amount will be five hundred taels and the maximum will be one thousand taels.

"There are over 200 cloth-making workshops in this county, large and small. Only 20 or 30 of them can be considered large-scale. The rest are small workshops. Many are run by a family, with only two relatives employed at most. These workshops only earn a few hundred taels of silver a year, yet the county wants to charge them a 500 tael inspection fee. Do you think that's reasonable?"

Zheng Quanli was quite good at speaking. He did not say at all that the big workshops were unwilling to pay. He just kept speaking for the small workshops. Finally, he hoped that Zhao An would go back and report the actual situation to the county and strive to reduce the inspection fees.

Then he would discuss it with the head of the gang, Xu Youshou, and he would not let the county be embarrassed no matter what.

Zhao An said calmly, "Boss Zheng, how much do you think the county should charge?"

"This is it,"

Zheng Quanli pretended to think for a moment, then said in a negotiating tone, "If the county only charges fifty or one hundred taels for the inspection fee, I think those small workshops should be able to afford it and not go bankrupt."

"That's fine, Boss Zheng, don't worry, I will report this to the county government truthfully."

Zhao An nodded, without giving any response to what Zheng Quanli said, and left the cloth-making guild directly. However, he did not rush back to the county government office to exaggerate the case against the cloth maker Xu Youshou, but instead found Xu's Cloth Shop, which was located in the most prosperous area of ​​Dongguan.

Just now Zheng Quanli said that this cloth shop is the property of Xu Youshou's family.

As expected of a business owned by a guild master, Xu Ji Cloth Shop covers a large area, faces south, and has four entrances. From the outside, it looks even more imposing than the county government office. There is a constant stream of customers coming in and out, many of whom are merchants with foreign accents.

Zhao An didn't go in. Instead, he looked around and found a snack stand opposite the cloth shop. He went over and ordered a bowl of noodles from the stall owner. While eating, he chatted with the stall owner for a few words. Then, with a look of curiosity on his face, he asked the stall owner, "Why is the cloth shop across the street doing so well?"

The stall owner, a native of Yangzhou, cheerfully said while serving food to other customers, "Young man, don't you see where this is? The rent alone is several thousand taels a year. If Mr. Xu's business wasn't doing well, how could he afford to rent such an expensive place to open a cloth shop?"

Zhao An was also surprised when he heard this. "Who is this Boss Xu? How can he rent such an expensive house in Yangzhou City to do business?"

"I heard that my hometown is Gaoyou, and I opened a cloth shop here more than 20 years ago."

The stall owner was also a talkative and gossipy person. While chatting with Zhao An, he was also joking with other customers.

Zhao An said, "Oh!" "Then Boss Xu is quite good at business."

"Of course, how could one build such a fortune without knowing how to trade?" The stall owner came over to clear the dishes. He glanced at the cloth shop across the street and said in a low voice, "Boss Xu's business is huge. All the weaving factories across the river have business dealings with him."

"Weaving Bureau?"

Zhao An had an idea in his mind. No wonder Xu Youshou was so arrogant and didn't take the county magistrate seriously. It turned out that he had climbed up the high branch of the Weaving Bureau.

The Weaving Bureau was the livelihood of the Imperial Household Department. The person in charge was called the Weaving Bureau, but in reality he was the emperor's confidant and eyes and ears. Cao Yin, the Weaving Bureau Director of Jiangnan during the reign of Emperor Kangxi, was a major spy sent by the Qing court to Jiangnan.

This was during the reign of Emperor Qianlong. The Weaving Bureau was probably not as powerful as during the reign of Emperor Kangxi, but it was certainly more than enough to intimidate the local county magistrates.

Then he became confused again. It was impossible for Master Ji to be aware of Xu Youshou's background. If he knew it, why would he provoke this person?

Puzzled, Zhao An returned to the county government office and told the story. He not only told them that Xu Youshou refused to cooperate with the government office, but also told them the news he had heard.

"Does Xu Youshou have any dealings with the Jiangnan Weaving Bureau?"

Master Ji was really unaware of this matter. He had only been in Ganquan County with County Magistrate Ding Chengen for over a year, and he didn't understand many things.

He suddenly felt that this was a difficult situation, but it was he who came up with the idea of ​​charging inspection fees from the cloth workshop, and there was no way he would give up halfway. If he really stopped this matter, what would the county magistrate think of him?

After thinking it over, he took Zhao An to the back court to find County Magistrate Ding, and Zhao An told him the matter again.

Unexpectedly, County Magistrate Ding dismissed the question and said, "What's there for the Weaving Bureau to be afraid of? This is our county's territory, and whatever we say is final. If the Weaving Bureau dares to interfere in our affairs, we will report it to the provincial government and accuse them of interfering with local affairs!"

Zhao An was stunned after hearing this: Mr. County Magistrate is like a newborn calf who is not afraid of a tiger. Doesn’t he know how terrible spies are?
In fact, things were far less complicated than he thought. The Weaving Bureau used to be powerful and prestigious, but after the successive attacks on the Cao family during the reigns of Yongzheng and Qianlong, the Weaving Bureau had long since declined into a purely profit-making official commercial "organization". As such, local officials were no longer afraid of it.

"That Xu guy is too arrogant. Does he really think this county has no temper? Sir, please take this county's sign to the prison to mobilize some people to close down Xu's cloth shop and workshop."

County Magistrate Ding Chengen was really angry. Xu Youshou said that their guild had to get permission from the government before they could pay the money. What did that mean?
Could it be that he, the county magistrate, is nothing but shit in the eyes of these profiteers!

This is another big deal involving tens of thousands of taels, so we have to kill a few monkeys to scare the chickens.

Not to mention connections with the Weaving Bureau, even if someone had connections in the government office, Ding Chengen wouldn't be afraid.

After saying this, he was still furious and continued, "Oh right, have the guards tell that Sun Lao Si to get some people to go to Mr. Xu's house and make some trouble. I want to see if Mr. Xu really cares about me!"

Seeing that the county lord was truly furious, Master Ji quickly agreed. After a moment of hesitation, he asked, "What if someone from the Xu family resists?"

"Resist? Just tie up the one who dares to disobey orders and bring him back to the yamen. If Mr. Xu runs away, bring back his parents, wife, and children. If he still dares not pay, set fire to one or two rooms in his house to let Mr. Xu know how powerful this county is."

Just like buying vegetables at the market, the county magistrate settled the matter with just a few words.

Then he thought of something and added, "But be careful, before you set the fire, go into the house and see if there are any sleeping children or large pieces of furniture. If there are any, move them out first."

"Okay, I'll do it right away!"

With the support of the county lord, Ji Bochang had nothing to worry about. He was about to mobilize people. At this time, Zhao An, who had been silent all the time, spoke up. He stepped forward and bowed, saying:

"Your Excellency, I think this approach is somewhat inappropriate. First, it's detrimental to your reputation. Second, if someone takes advantage of this opportunity to incite the monks to cause trouble, it will also be troublesome for you. Therefore, I think it's better to lure them with benefits rather than use force. This will prevent the situation from escalating while also collecting money for the county. Isn't that the best of both worlds?"

"Instead of using force, why not lure them with benefits?"

County Magistrate Ding and Advisor Ji were both captivated by Zhao An's statement. Magistrate Ding looked at Zhao An in confusion, "What do you mean? Explain it to me in detail."

"Your Excellency, there are over 200 cloth mills in this county, large and small. Merchants from other places come to buy cloth, and each one claims that theirs is the best, but there's no fair judgment. So, I think it would be better to organize a competition among the cloth mills under the name of the government. If the cloth is indeed of good quality, the county would award it a plaque for a famous product, or perhaps a plaque for a well-known trademark."

At this point, fearing the magistrate wouldn't understand what he meant, Zhao An explained, "The two titles are awarded to the highest bidder. Renowned is five thousand taels per piece, and renowned is ten thousand taels per piece."

(End of this chapter)