Qing Yao

Chapter 327 Is he really that good at fighting?
Anhui, he can't have the surname Ai, he has to have the surname Zhao.

Therefore, anything related to love is not allowed to exist in Anhui.

However, Zhao An was unable to effectively distinguish who had love in their hearts and who did not, so he could only make a blanket decision.

Anyone who speaks with a pure Beijing dialect will not be hired.

That is, people from the city surrounded by the poverty belt around Beijing, regardless of whether they were Manchus, Han Chinese, or bondservants, were not allowed to serve as officials in Anhui.

It's not discrimination, it's just a preventative measure.

Anhui, like Yunnan and Guizhou, was a "low-lying area" for Manchu bannermen. Apart from Zhao An, the acting governor, there were no Manchu bannermen in Anhui. Therefore, Zhao An was targeting Han Chinese officials from Beijing.

These native Beijingers are mostly descendants of the Han Chinese Eight Banners. Their ancestors' traitorous acts have likely made them even more loyal to the Qing court than the lower five banners. This will inevitably affect Zhao An's "de-Ai-ization" policy that he is about to implement in Anhui.

To ensure that the policy remains unchanged and is not criticized or attacked, we have no choice but to ask these Beijing bastards to get lost.

However, Zhao An could not directly announce that anyone whose ID card belonged to Shuntian Prefecture of Zhili would not be employed, as this would easily lead to unfounded speculation. Therefore, he could only dismiss personnel for various reasons, even if they were absurd.

For example, when I was speaking just now, why did your eyes gleam and your face show arrogance? Could it be that you want to replace me?
For example, wasn't my speech just now brilliant? If it was brilliant, why didn't you applaud?

Not clapping means you're dissatisfied with me. If you're dissatisfied with me, does that mean you're dissatisfied with the Emperor? Dissatisfaction with the Qing Dynasty?

Or perhaps when I was speaking just now, you were confused at times, or suddenly realized something. Did you think you were Mary?
In short, one word—Get out!

Due to Zhao Anyi's inexplicable actions, two-thirds of the more than one hundred staff members of the Fuya government office in the hall disappeared instantly, leaving less than forty people.

These days, there's no such thing as severance pay when you're fired; it just means pack your bags and get out.

It only works if the governor is in a good mood; if he's in a bad mood, he'll investigate you for thirty years and you'll definitely end up in jail.

Even Zhang Dequan, a sixth-rank official, was in the same situation, even worse than the clerks, because Zhao An would definitely add a disgraceful comment to his personnel file.

This assessment will remain relevant throughout his career. Unless the court eradicates Zhao An's pernicious influence, Zhang Dequan will never be able to clear his name in this lifetime.

There was nothing that could be done; after all, Zhao An was now the governor.

The acting governor was also a powerful regional official!
With so many staff members dismissed at once, how can the governor's office maintain its daily operations?
The answer is yes.

The officials who were retained were like chickens pecking at rice, practically patting their chests and assuring the governor that they would definitely complete the task.

Zhao An was very satisfied, calling it "streamlining administration and eliminating redundancies," which would reduce the financial burden on local governments and alleviate the pressure on ordinary people at the grassroots level.

With such a righteous cause at hand, even if everyone knows that Zhao An is eliminating the poison of his predecessor, who can say otherwise?

Previously, Lao Song had been sent to the provincial governor's office to "seize power," and now the governor's office was also under Zhao An's control. It was impossible to let Lao Song act as the office director of both the provincial government and the provincial court.

We're too busy.

Zhao An wanted to arrange for his father-in-law to serve as the director of the provincial government office, but his father-in-law was only a scholar, and his diploma was not enough to directly serve as a sixth-rank official in the provincial government. He could only accumulate qualifications in the grain transport office first, and then arrange for him to donate to the provincial government to make up for his lack of diploma. In this way, his promotion would be in accordance with the Qing Dynasty's personnel procedures.

The office director was fired, and this position is crucial to the operation of the entire system, so it can't be left vacant.

After much deliberation, Zhao An issued an official document to the Jiangning Grain Circuit Office, directly promoting Zheng Fuyang, the Grain Supervisor, to the position of Director of the Governor's Office.

Both the Grain Management Assistant Magistrate and the Clerk are sixth-rank officials. However, if a Clerk in the Governor's Office serves for a year or two and is then transferred to a local post, he can become a fifth-rank Assistant Magistrate. If he has a close relationship with the Governor, he can also ask the Ministry of Personnel for a special promotion to Prefect. This is far more promising than Zheng Fuyang's current position as Grain Management Assistant Magistrate.

The appointment and removal of officials of the fourth rank and above were directly under the responsibility of the Ministry of Personnel. This meant that when there were vacancies for officials of the fourth rank and above in local areas, the local governors and viceroys had the right to recommend candidates but not the right to appoint or remove them. The Ministry of Personnel could give the local officials face or not; ultimately, it was the Ministry of Personnel that decided who would take office.

However, the appointment, removal, and transfer of officials below the fourth rank carried immense weight with the words of local governors and viceroys. Once a governor or viceroy spoke, the Ministry of Personnel had to give them face, otherwise it would break the long-standing "rules" between the two sides.

Zhao An is currently concurrently serving as the Jiang'an Grain Commissioner. As long as the imperial court does not order him to resign, he will still be in charge of the grain commissioner's affairs. It would not be a problem to transfer Zheng Fuyang to the Anqing Governor's Office as the office director, and have his father-in-law Ding Tai preside over the operation of the grain commissioner in Jiangning as the director.

After all, the officials in the grain transport office had been dealt with quite a bit, and they had all written a lot of letters of repentance. Who would dare not take the governor, who addressed him respectfully as "Mr. Ding," seriously?

However, the root cause is that Zhao An has too few capable people around him and lacks a large number of pragmatic and professional officials. This has led him to consider setting up a specialized administrative school in Anqing after the New Year to train professional personnel, and also to set up a military academy to cultivate military talent.

It's not his fault; after all, he rose to fame so quickly that it's normal for him to lack a solid foundation.

Of the Anhui officials Zhao An has met so far, only three officials and one clerk seem decent to him. The three officials are Dai Zhiyuan, the prefect of Sizhou; Yan Kun, the prefect of Chuzhou; and Cui Yinghuai, the magistrate of Huaiyuan County. The clerk is Fan Tao, the postmaster of Dingyuan County.

In the memorial submitted to the old master requesting commendations, Dai Zhiyuan, the prefect of Sizhou, and Yan Kun, the prefect of Chuzhou, were awarded second-class merit, while Cui Yinghuai, the county magistrate, and Fan Tao, the postmaster, were awarded third-class merit. The reason given was their active participation in disaster relief and their meritorious service in supervising the transport of grain and fodder.

If the old master approves this petition for merit, Zhao An can appropriately adjust the positions of these people. It's not to purge Zhu Gui's faction of officials, but simply because he values ​​their practical abilities.

In Luojiaji, some are happy while others are sad. The officials who stayed behind are naturally overjoyed, while those who were forced to resign, though not exactly crying out in despair, are certainly cursing Zhao An and his women in their hearts.

Fortunately, Zhao An didn't care, because they were cursing Zhao Youlu, which had nothing to do with him.

To prevent these bastards from damaging "public" property in their departure to vent their personal grievances, Zhao An instructed Ye Zhigui and his team to arrange for people to follow them, assigning each of them two "security guards" who were only allowed to take their own belongings and were not permitted to touch anything else.

This made the governor's residence almost like an office that had just been closed.

Vice Minister Zhu, who had been "temporarily detained" by Zhao An, had already met with several groups of his staff and students who came to say goodbye.

Seeing these familiar faces who had come with him to Anhui to take up their posts leave one by one in sorrow, Zhu Gui must have felt terrible. But he himself had to leave, so he could only offer a few words of comfort to everyone.

Wang Zhaoxing, along with Zhu Gui's son Zhu Xijing, and Xiao Langzhong of the Ministry of Personnel, were doing the final handover and inventory work. There was actually nothing to inventory, such as seals, documents, treasury funds, soldiers and military equipment, and files. It was just for show, since the governor's office was in Anqing and the governor's residence had limited inventory space.

Zhu Gui was a well-known incorruptible official, so it was impossible for him to have embezzled public funds or committed other corrupt acts. Not to mention Xiao Langzhong admired this leader of the upright officials, even Zhao An did not expect to find any economic problems in Zhu Gui.

Even if he wanted to set a "landmine" for Zhu Gui, it would be Zhao An himself who would be blown up, because he was in charge of the Anhui provincial treasury. If there were any major deficits in the treasury, it would be him, the acting provincial governor, who would be the first to bear the brunt.

After a symbolic inventory check that lasted an afternoon, Physician Xiao handed over all the sealed files and records from the military headquarters to the personnel sent by Zhao An, and presented Zhao An with a detailed list.

Zhao An glanced at it briefly, but did not make things difficult for Zhu Gui. After signing his name, he looked up at Physician Xiao and said, "Lord Zhu, you may leave now."

Zhu Gui really left. There were three carriages. One carried him and his son Zhu Xijing. Another carried Wang Zhaoxing, the only advisor who had accompanied him back to the capital, as well as the old steward who had always been with him and his son. The third carriage contained the ancient books and scrolls that Zhu Gui always carried with him wherever he went.

Ming Antai and Xiao Jinglun had finished their work and returned to the capital with Zhu Gui. Zhao An naturally went to the town entrance to see the two "imperial envoys" off.

The heavens were especially kind to us this time; not only did the rain stop, but a rare sunset also graced the sky, making Zhao An feel warm and cozy.

After exchanging pleasantries with Ming and Xiao, Zhu Gui's entourage slowly approached. Ming Antai thought Zhu Gui would stop, but unexpectedly, the Vice Minister Zhu had his driver drive right past them, making Ming Antai feel a little embarrassed.

Xiao Jinglun smiled but felt no dissatisfaction; he could understand Lord Zhu's feelings at that moment.

To Xiao Langzhong's surprise, Zhao An also smiled without any annoyance, and even chuckled and said, "Lord Zhu should shout like the Big Bad Wolf."

"Grey Wolf?"

Ming Antai asked curiously who this Grey Wolf was.

"Well"

Zhao An didn't know how to explain, so he mumbled a few words to change the subject. Watching Zhu Gui and his entourage leave, he sighed, "With Lord Zhu gone, the people of Anhui are saved."

"Ok?"

Even though Ming Antai was thick-skinned enough in the capital, he felt that he was no match for the newly appointed acting governor.

Xiao Jinglun shook his head inwardly, thinking to himself that those who donated their way into the academy were indeed inferior to those who obtained their positions through legitimate means. Even if he disagreed with Lord Zhu, he shouldn't have said such things.

After exchanging a few perfunctory pleasantries, Ming Antai and he mounted their horses and headed back to the capital.

The capital city also experienced two rain showers in the past two days. Since the temperature in the north is already lower than in the south, the weather in the capital suddenly turned cool after the two rain showers.

According to past practice, the old master will probably return to Beijing in the next few days.

The Imperial Household Department is busy organizing people to clean up the water in the Forbidden City and to clean all the palaces so that the old master can have a pleasant surprise when he returns.

At the Grand Council, Fu Chang'an was lazily dozing off on the couch. As the Grand Councilor who stayed behind in the capital, he really had nothing to do.

Just as he was dozing off, a messenger rushed in, carrying a document in a great hurry: "Your Excellency, good news!"

The shout startled Fu Chang'an. When he heard it was a victory report, he thought it was from his elder brother Fu Kang'an. He jumped up from the bed, grabbed the report from Zhang Jing, tore it open, and read it. He was stunned after reading it and said in disbelief, "Damn it, Zhao Youlu is even better at fighting than Hailancha?"

(End of this chapter)