Qing Yao

Chapter 239 Do you all want to be officials?
Listen and listen.

What do you mean by "It doesn't matter if you can't pay back the money, as long as you have the Emperor in your heart"?

Without a doubt, Zhao An knew that Fu Chang'an had already set his sights on him, the Grain Bureau Chief who hadn't even taken office yet. Otherwise, the kid wouldn't have been so kind as to offer him a family loan package.

How could a grain bureau chief be favored and treated with such special care by the Grand Secretary who was in charge of state affairs? Was it really because Director Zhao's abilities were so outstanding that even the Grand Secretary had to bow down and worship him?

The answer is clearly no, because what the Grand Secretary valued was the grain, not the department head.

This is indeed the case.

Last year, Anhui province collected 180 million shi of grain for the imperial tribute. In a normal year, the price of one shi of grain is about one liang and three qian. Therefore, the value of the grain collected by Anhui to the imperial court last year was about 230 million liang.

However, the actual amount of grain collected in Anhui was double that of the grain tribute. The extra grain all went into the pockets of local officials, who used methods such as skimming the grain, falsely reporting losses, and extorting money.

The 180 million shi of grain transported to the capital was like the flesh of Tang Sanzang. Along the way, checkpoints extorted money, and officials of all ranks embezzled. Coupled with the losses incurred during transportation, the cost of transporting the grain to the capital tripled. This is what is known as "one shi of grain to the capital, nine dou into the pockets of thieves".

The grain tribute, valued at 230 million taels, was actually worth as much as 700 million taels when the accounts were finalized. However, the imperial court only received grain tribute worth 70 taels, and the rest of the grain tribute and its value simply vanished into thin air.

This was true not only in Anhui, but in all provinces involved in the Grand Canal transport.

Such a huge piece of fat meat, the Grand Secretary Fu, who lived in the imperial court, naturally wanted to take a bite, but the Grand Secretary disdained to nibble on the scraps downstream. He wanted to bite off a large piece of meat and bone directly upstream.

To get to the upstream of the grain transport, one had to rely on the grain transport authorities who had the power to allocate and distribute grain.

The greatest power of the grain transport officials was "issuing orders."

In fact, the product of grain transport has a great resemblance to a specific economic system in later generations.

Therefore, "strips" were like salt certificates, and they were hard currency comparable to gold. With "strips" you had money.

As long as Zhao An cooperated and used his authority to continuously "approve documents" for Fu Zhongtang, intercepting the grain that should have been sent to the capital and giving it to "Fu Ji Company," Fu Zhongtang could easily make hundreds of thousands of taels of silver a year.

risk?

What risks?
Those bastards in Gansu fabricated a drought and embezzled relief grain worth tens of millions of taels of silver. If it weren't for a minor accident, who would have known?

Besides, this is Fu Zhongtang's business; who dares to interfere?

Once you understand this crucial point, you'll realize that Fu Zhongtang isn't a good person, but a rotten, rotten bastard.

A credit loan of 100,000 taels is nothing compared to the lucrative grain transport quota.

But since Manager Rendu has already said so much and his meaning is very clear, what can Director Zhao do?
Do it!

What else can we do if we don't comply?
I'd even sign a loan agreement for 100,000 taels of usurious interest. Like I always say, if you dare to lend, I dare to borrow.

"Since Lord Zhao is so generous, I cannot fail in my duty. Please rest assured, Lord Zhao, I will do everything I can to help the Grand Secretary."

Manager Du Man's salesmanship was excellent, and with the 1,000 taels of silver he received as a kickback, he would surely sing Director Zhao's praises once he returned to the capital.

This isn't called returning a favor; it's called exchanging favors.

The next day, accompanied by Vice Principal Ma, Guard Ha visited famous scenic spots in Yangzhou. These were all artificial new attractions hastily built by local salt merchants during the old master's several southern tours. Some of them were even completely modeled after the gardens in Beijing. Guard Ha was amazed by what he saw and lingered there, reluctant to leave.

The next day, I returned to Beijing satisfied with a large truckload of local specialties. This business trip was definitely worthwhile.

Zhao An personally saw him off out of the city, and presented him with a golden rat as a farewell gift, which greatly excited the guard.

According to the notification from the Ministry of Personnel regarding Zhao An's appointment, brought by Imperial Guard Ha, Zhao An's departure date for Jiangning was the 28th day of the first lunar month.

The reason it was at the end of the month was not because I wanted to consult a feng shui master, but because all the government offices in Jiangning opened on the 20th of the first lunar month.

In addition, the current Jiang'an Grain Commissioner Zhang Pangui's transfer of the local government to Zhao Anteng also required the approval of the Ministry of Personnel.

After the Lantern Festival, the Grand Council had to formally report to the old master about "Zhang's escape to Zhao".

It's just a formality; nothing unexpected is expected.

The old master's hands are now trembling, his eyesight is failing, and he is deaf and his speech is slurred. He can no longer review memorials on his own, so he can only let Heshen handle the memorials from all over the country for him.

This is also the origin of Heshen's title of "Second Emperor".

Some ministers who disliked Heshen, such as the chief military advisor Agui, submitted a memorial to the emperor requesting that one or two princes be selected for "training." They hoped that the emperor would allow the princes to handle imperial edicts and memorials on his behalf, so that whichever prince became the future crown prince would accumulate enough experience in governing the country and would not be caught off guard during the handover.

However, even a high-ranking official like Agui dared not presume to ask the emperor to establish a crown prince, because a few years ago a scholar named Jin Congshan blocked the road on the way back to the capital and wrote a letter requesting the emperor to establish an heir as soon as possible.

Although the old master acknowledged that Jin Xiucai's words made sense, he executed Jin Xiucai on the spot for "interfering in the affairs of the emperor's family." After this incident, no one dared to say a word about establishing a crown prince in front of the old master.

The old master did give Agui face, and in recent years he often trained several princes, but he just wouldn't let the princes replace Heshen's work.

It's unclear whether he genuinely trusted Heshen or was simply wary of his sons staging a power struggle for the throne.

All the reports were approved by Heshen on behalf of the old master, and the memorials submitted to the old master were also selected by Heshen. The appointment and removal of a mere fourth-rank Jiang'an Grain Commissioner certainly did not need to alarm the old master.

Let alone He Zhongtang, Fu Zhongtang could approve it.

The officialdom in Yangzhou has been anything but calm these past few days. The news of Zhao An, a mere seventh-rank official, being suddenly promoted to the fourth-rank position of grain commissioner was simply too explosive. So explosive that the first thing officials asked each other when they met for the New Year was, "Did you know that kid got promoted again?"

The second sentence is: "How exactly did this kid get promoted?"

How did you get promoted?

Zhao An knew or not.

This sounds contradictory, but it's not, because he genuinely doesn't know how he got promoted.

To be precise, I don't know why that kid Fu Chang'an took a liking to him. Is it just because he is He Zhongtang's lackey?
Zhao An couldn't care less about what people were saying outside, nor was he interested in it. These past few days, besides being busy dividing up the stolen goods from the anti-crime operation, he was also making arrangements for things in Yangzhou before leaving.

The first matter concerned the successor of the prefectural school, for which he submitted a memorial to the old master. After briefly recounting the breakthroughs and achievements of Yangzhou's education since he took office as a professor at the Yangzhou prefectural school, he proposed that since he had been promoted to the position of grain commissioner of Jiang'an by imperial grace, he should resign from his position as professor at the Yangzhou prefectural school according to regulations. Therefore, he recommended the current vice principal of the prefectural school, Ma, to succeed him as professor.

The reason, of course, is that Vice Principal Ma is responsible in his work, conscientious in his duties, and actively promotes various matters related to the reform of the prefecture school. He is a pragmatic official who can be boldly promoted and given free rein.

At Lao Ding's prompting, Zhao An again asked in his memorial whether the court intended to remove or retain his two concurrent positions as Jiangsu Provincial Education Commissioner and Imperial Censor, given that he had already assumed the post of Jiang'an Grain Commissioner.

Old Ding estimated that his grandson-in-law's position as the Imperial Censor of the Grain Transport Commissioner would most likely be abolished, since the Grain Transport Commissioner's duty was to supervise grain transport, and there was no need to add the title of Imperial Censor.

Analysis suggests that the imperial court might retain the position of Jiangsu Provincial Education Inspector, since Heshen was still relying on him to promote the practice of sending students to schools throughout Jiangsu Province. Moreover, the economic value of the education industry in Jiangning Prefecture was no less than that of Suzhou, and if fully exploited, it could bring considerable revenue to the Imperial Household Department.

Even if we were to withdraw, we would have to wait until Zhao An had fully commercialized education in Jiangning. If we withdrew now, Zhao An, as an official from Anhui, would no longer be qualified to interfere in Jiangsu's education sector.

Zhao An agreed with Lao Ding's analysis. After finishing the memorial, he handed it over to the messenger to be sent to the capital by express courier. He then told him about his intention to invite his father-in-law to Jiangning to help him handle official business.

Because of the Chinese New Year, he didn't tell Wanqing about his uncle Ding Ping's opium addiction. He planned to bring it up before leaving to avoid any more chaos in the Ding family during the New Year.

“Now that you’ve been promoted to the position of grain commissioner, you’ll need someone trustworthy to help you. But your Zhao family doesn’t have many people on their side, so only my Ding family can provide the assistance.”

Old Ding readily agreed to let his eldest son and his grandson-in-law go to Jiangning to take up their posts. This not only showed that the Ding and Zhao families were inseparable allies, but also helped to secure a government position for his eldest son.

The Grain Transport Office was a fourth-rank unit. Ding Tai also had the title of Xiucai (a scholar who passed the imperial examinations), so he couldn't be directly appointed as an official. However, he could easily become a clerk.

The son-in-law is the top official in charge of grain transport. In a year or two, wouldn't it be easy for him to recommend his father-in-law for an official position without any assessment?

If it weren't for his youngest son's insistence on taking the orthodox path of the imperial examinations, Old Ding would definitely have let his youngest son take this shortcut to officialdom as well.

In order to help his grandson-in-law and eldest son's family adapt to Jiangning as soon as possible, Lao Ding offered to send a few more relatives with them.

"Thank you, Grandfather!"

Zhao An was naturally delighted and also told Lao Ding about the two young men from Xinglong Company who were in charge of salt trading. He asked Lao Ding, the county magistrate, to take good care of them, since Bao and Yang had never done business before. With Lao Ding, the county magistrate, acting as their "protector," they could even start with small-scale operations.

The main goal is to familiarize ourselves with the business and understand the ins and outs of salt trading, and then invest resources to expand and strengthen the business once Zhao An has established a firm foothold in Jiangning.

The matter of his grandson-in-law is the matter of the Ding family, and there is no reason for Old Ding not to respond. He might as well find a few shrewd people from the household registration office and the third shift to help Bao and Yang at Xinglong Store.

The affairs of the underworld were handled by the Canal Gang, while the official matters were handled by Old Ding, the county magistrate.

Zhao An had no objections, but told Lao Ding that he must get the water conservancy project started this year, and not just talk about it without delivering results, leaving it as an unfinished project, because it was related to the governor's recommendation of him.

"Grandson, this Jiang'an Grain Commissioner is an official from Anhui. Although he is stationed in Jiangning, I'm afraid I'm powerless to help with matters in Jiangsu. Grandfather, you should make more contact with the Prefect, and make sure to take care of all the necessary favors from the provincial government offices. Don't be stingy."

Old Ding has some money on hand, so there's no need for Zhao An to leave him any. Once Xinglonghao and Xianfenghang are established, a large amount of social capital will concentrate on the "small loan gang," and Old Ding can simply transfer money internally when he needs it.

According to Zhao An, the idea was still to buy a substantive official post after the Ministry of Personnel's list of donations came out in April, without going through the connections of the governor or Heshen and Fu Chang'an.

The reason is that Zhao An has already been regarded by outsiders as Heshen's lackey, and now he has also made connections with Fu Chang'an, and is even closer to Governor Fu Song, which means he is playing both sides.

Therefore, Lao Song no longer needs to make connections with anyone; he can simply confront them head-on and use money to his advantage.

He also asked Lao Ding to clean up the patrol and inspection office after the county government was officially established. He planned to transfer some capable subordinates from the canal gang to fill the patrol and inspection office, so that a group of key personnel could be trained in the name of the government.

The patrol inspector was a ninth-rank official, and the number of patrol soldiers under his command ranged from two or three hundred to only a few dozen.

They are usually used for cracking down on smuggling and theft. When the government has something to do and the yamen runners are unable to suppress or maintain order, the patrolmen of the patrol office will be dispatched. If the patrolmen and yamen runners are not effective, then the garrison troops can be dispatched.

Similar to local security forces.

Ganquan County is a populous county, and its patrol office has 250 patrolmen. Zhao An wanted to keep the original roster unchanged, so he privately added 100 more people, making it a total of 350.

All expenses were to be covered by the "small loan party" themselves, since the county magistrate was responsible for the expenses of the patrol office anyway, and it did not involve the Qing government's "military funds".

Old Ding understood the principle that only a knife handle could deal with debt collectors, and without hesitation, he made it the top priority of his work this year.

After arranging these matters, Zhao An took some time to visit the canal gang and inform Ding Jiu and others that he would be taking up a post in Jiangning. Everyone congratulated him upon hearing this.

"I plan to take some people with me to Jiangning, otherwise I won't be able to get by without someone to do things for me there."

Zhao An gave Ding Jiu a list of twenty people, including Baili Yunlong, Zhuang Yingjiu, and Ren Chaoyang, and asked Ding Jiu to recommend several gang members with the titles of Xiucai and Tongsheng to go to Jiangning with him.

This is a plan to replace the original staff of the Grain Transport Office with their own people and turn the Grain Transport Office into a stronghold.

Another task was to ensure that Ding Jiuwu implemented the benefits that Zhao Shaojun had previously set out, so that he wouldn't leave the gang members with a negative image of someone who only boasted and didn't deliver.

"Young Master, rest assured. Jiangning is only a river away from Yangzhou. You will be the first to know if anything happens in the helm. If you need anything, just give me a message, and tens of thousands of brothers in the helm will cross the river overnight to support you!"

The speaker was Xu Lin from the second gang.

Zhao An was amused by Xu Lin's words: "With tens of thousands of you crossing the river, won't you scare the Eight Banners officials in Jiangning to death? The imperial court will really think that our canal gang has rebelled again."

"Let them rebel! As long as Young Master can make the brothers live well, none of them will be bad!"

Xu Lin had barely finished speaking his arrogant words when Ding Jiu gave him a stern scolding. Zhao An, standing to the side, shook his head and smiled bitterly. He told Ding Jiu about the possible "reorganization" of the patrol office in Ganquan County, suggesting that Ding Jiu select some strong and capable gang members to "work" at the patrol office, thus providing the brothers with more ways to make a living.

After saying that, he glanced at Xu Lin and said, "I have a good relationship with Lord Ding of Ganquan County. When the time comes, the guild will spend some money to get you a patrol inspector position. You can't embarrass the guild and me and make Lord Ding laugh at you."

"Me, the inspector?"

Xu Lin was stunned. "How can someone like me, who can barely read, become an official?"

"As long as there's money, that's fine."

Zhao An patted Xu Lin on the shoulder, then glanced at Ye Zhigui, Jiang Xijian and the others, and said very solemnly, "This year, in addition to leading everyone to live a good life, I, as the young lord, also plan to get everyone a few sets of Green Standard Army official uniforms to wear. What do you think?"

(End of this chapter)