Qing Yao

Chapter 340 A Promising Talent!
Because the officials below dared not give him gifts, he resorted to special means to investigate them, which made Zhao An seem a bit unreasonable.

In reality, it's just being unreasonable.

Or rather, Lord Zhao wanted to use this as an opportunity to clarify "who is on my side and who is not."

On a "political" level, it is necessary to take this opportunity to purge Zhu's faction and other potential dissenting voices; otherwise, some of Zhao An's policies would be met with indirect resistance from below, with officials paying lip service while secretly opposing them.

The White Lotus Rebellion broke out in the first year of the Jiaqing reign, which meant that Zhao An only had three years. If he could not build Anhui into an impregnable fortress within three years, many things would not be able to proceed smoothly.

Whether governing a country, a province, or even a school, the key is to govern people well.

Those who obey are promoted, and those who disobey are dismissed, ensuring that one's own will is carried out—this has been the way of things throughout history.

The so-called "unity of mind between ruler and minister," "harmony between general and minister," and "harmonious team" are essentially all about letting the disobedient go and letting the obedient stay.

Given the uncertainty of who will follow and who will not, launching a large-scale anti-corruption campaign across the province is the most effective approach. After all, the victims of this major disaster in Anhui have suffered immensely, and the officials may not necessarily be left behind.

A prefect in office can amass 100,000 taels of silver.

According to the clues currently available, Li Yuan, the prefect of Fengyang who died at the hands of Ebilun, had embezzled no less than 150,000 taels of silver. Previously, Fengyang had already arranged for someone to go to Li Yuan's hometown of Taizhou to recover the stolen goods.

Even if all eight prefectures, five directly governed states, and fifty-one counties in Anhui are not investigated, investigating just one-third of them, the confiscation of their property alone could bring Zhao An an income of over a million taels.

Aside from the portion that had to be handed over to the old master, he could still pocket at least three or four hundred thousand taels of silver. This way, he could ensure that his image as an upright official wouldn't collapse, and he could also get some real benefits. Why not?

If all the officials in the province were investigated one by one, it might be possible to uncover Anhui's annual tax revenue.

As a poor province, Anhui only had 1.9 million taels of land tax revenue per year. Including grain tax, salt tax, miscellaneous taxes, customs duties, and other income, the total annual revenue was only about 4 million taels.

Four million taels of silver isn't much for the officials in Anhui.

In short, reforming the officialdom would not only provide Zhao An with a large amount of embezzled funds, but also allow him to install his own people in the process, and win praise from the court and the people, making his image as an upright official more convincing.

Two days later, Anqing, the power center of Anhui Province, located north of the Yangtze River, came into view.

Anqing became the seat of the Anhui governor in the sixth year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign. However, the Anhui provincial administration office was located in Jiangning at that time. It was not until 31 years ago, in the 25th year of the Qianlong Emperor's reign, that it was moved to Anqing, thus ending the century-long situation in which the Anhui governor was located in Anqing and the provincial administration office was located in Jiangning.

In addition to the governor's office and the provincial administration office, the other two provincial-level agencies in Anhui, the provincial judicial commissioner's office and the education commissioner's office, were also located in Anqing. This made Anqing a leading city in terms of scale and economic development in the entire Anhui province, truly making it the eldest brother of Anhui.

In Zhao An's previous life, Hefei, the eldest brother of Anhui Province, was called Luzhou at this time. Its economic development was at a mid-level, not even as good as Huizhou, another major economic prefecture in Anhui Province.

Previously, the staff of the governor's residence had already sent out a document announcing the date of the acting governor's arrival in Anqing. The Qing Dynasty officialdom was very strict in its etiquette, and there was a clear unwritten rule for welcoming the new provincial governor (acting governor): all officials in the provincial capital whose rank was lower than that of the provincial governor had to be present to welcome him.

According to this unwritten rule, the officials who lined up at the gates of Anqing to welcome the guests should be led by the provincial governor and the provincial education commissioner, two of the four top officials. In addition, the prefect of Anqing, the salt commissioner, and officials from all the government offices in the city should be present. Including the "masses" welcoming the guests, there should be at least a thousand people.

However, the procession welcoming the newly appointed Provincial Governor Zhao at the North Gate of Anqing was extremely quiet. There was no gong and drum commotion, nor a gathering of officials; only a few hundred people were waiting there.

This contrasts sharply with the two to three thousand elite soldiers accompanying Zhao An, and many staff members at the governor's headquarters have begun to whisper among themselves.

A clerk in the workshop whispered to the official in charge of issuing documents, "What's going on? The provincial judicial commissioner and the education commissioner haven't received the documents?"

The official in charge of the ceremony whispered, "How did Anqing Prefecture know that the lord arrived today if they hadn't received any official documents?"

The workshop clerk couldn't help but wonder: "Then why are neither the Provincial Judge nor the Provincial Education Commissioner here? This is not in accordance with the rules. Lord Zhao is the Provincial Treasurer who is acting as the Governor. Those two should not be treated so lightly."

"Who knows."

The staff member in charge of the ceremony shook his head. "Forget it, it's a battle between gods, so we fish and shrimps shouldn't bother with it."

Upon hearing this, the workshop clerk remained silent.

Zhao An was unaware of the unwritten rules for welcoming the provincial governor. At this moment, he squinted from his carriage and recognized Old Song in front of the welcoming crowd. Next to Old Song stood a middle-aged man in the robes of a fourth-rank official, who was probably the prefect of Anqing.

The headquarters had a roster of all civil and military officials in Anqing and their detailed resumes. These were public information, but only superiors knew about their subordinates; subordinates could not possibly know the detailed resumes of their superiors.

It's somewhat similar to alumni directories in later generations.

Zhao An had looked it up before and knew that the prefect of Anqing was named Song Jiawen.

This person was a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in the 36th year of the Qianlong Emperor's reign. He was very young when he passed the examination, only 23 years old. He worked his way up to the fourth rank after 20 years at the grassroots level. His progress was not fast among his fellow Jinshi, but it was by no means slow either.

Moreover, at over forty years old, he is very competitive in the officialdom, just one step away from moving from the department to the ministerial level. If he behaves himself and doesn't make any major mistakes, he will definitely be able to retire with a provincial-level position in his old age. If he is lucky, he may even get to experience what it's like to be a regional governor.

At this moment, Zhao An, who was unaware of the rules, did not notice the strange expressions of the staff around him, and slowly arrived at the city gate in the carriage.

"Lord Zhao has arrived!"

As the flag-bearing guards at the front set up their regalia amidst shouts, Anqing Prefect Song Jiawen, along with Old Song and a group of officials from the prefectural, county, provincial, and governor's offices, stepped forward and knelt on the ground.

They were all low-ranking officials, below the sixth or seventh rank.

Old Song, a sixth-rank official in the provincial administration, was able to stand alongside a fourth-rank prefect because of his position as the office director.

This position, also known as "chief secretary," is reserved for trusted confidants.

"No gift!"

Zhao An got off the carriage with a smile on his face. After saying a few polite words in public, Old Song approached quietly and whispered, "Sir, the one from the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner said he is ill, and the one from the Education Commissioner's Office went to Huizhou Prefecture yesterday under the pretext of supervising education."

"Oh?"

Zhao An knew that Lao Song wouldn't bring this up on purpose, but he was still curious.

Old Song then realized that Zhao An might not know the relevant situation, and hurriedly said, "Sir, you are unaware of this. You are a second-rank provincial governor and also the acting governor. According to the rules, those two should have brought their subordinates to welcome you. However, they did not come. This shows that they do not respect you!"

Upon hearing what Lao Song said, Zhao An frowned slightly, realizing that this was a serious "political" incident. The current Provincial Surveillance Commissioner of Anhui was Zhang Chengji, a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) from the thirty-fourth year of the Qianlong Emperor's reign. His publicly available resume showed that he had served as a principal clerk in the Ministry of Revenue for many years, and later as a military commissioner in Guizhou, where he was quite skilled in martial arts. At the beginning of the year, he was transferred from Guizhou to Anhui as Provincial Surveillance Commissioner.

Judging from this resume, Zhang Chengji should have no connection with Zhu Gui and cannot be considered a "legacy of poison" from Zhu Gui.

If that's the case, why would they rather break the rules than come to greet you?
Is it a disease, or is it a ghost?

Xu Ligang, the educational commissioner of Anhui, was a second-class Jinshi in the fortieth year of the Qianlong reign and was appointed as a compiler in the Hanlin Academy. He then participated in the compilation of the Siku Quanshu. Judging from his work experience alone, he was a very pure civil official, so it is understandable that he looked down on Zhao An, a "fortunate" person whose academic qualifications were questionable.

However, Zhao An was certain that this Master Xu had some connection with Zhu Gui, simply because he was a man of integrity.

Zhu Gui was precisely the leader of the Qingliu faction.

Therefore, it's highly likely that Master Xu refused to come and pick him up because he felt indignant on Zhu Gui's behalf.

However, this person was troublesome because he was the educational commissioner of Anhui, since the matter of the Imperial Academy student diploma that Zhao An planned to request for temporary donations required the cooperation of the educational commissioner's office.

Sure enough, Old Song then said that Xu Ligang strongly opposed the donation of official titles and refused to cooperate at all. On the contrary, Song Jiawen, the prefect of Anqing who came with him to pick up the provincial governor, was very enthusiastic about the matter.

However, even if Zhao An were to become the governor in name only, he would not be able to push this matter forward unless the education administration department gave its approval, because the relevant student records and certificate filings were all under the jurisdiction of the education administration department.

"If the provincial judicial office and the education office oppose you, sir..."

"We'll talk about this later."

Zhao An's expression remained unchanged as he slightly raised his hand to stop Old Song from speaking. The Provincial Surveillance Commissioner and the Provincial Education Commissioner, one in charge of criminal matters and the other in charge of education, held positions second only to the Governor and the Provincial Administration Commissioner. In particular, the Provincial Education Commissioner was not under the jurisdiction of local officials, making it very difficult to bring them down.

The only advantage for Zhao An was that the administrative funds for these two government offices were allocated by the provincial treasury, and even the salaries of the two officials were paid by the provincial treasury.

But you can't really use the suspension of salaries and the company's operating funds to withhold people's money, can you?

It's a bit too rough.

We really need to think about this carefully.

Without making a sound, Zhao An approached Song Jiawen, the prefect of Anqing. Upon seeing this, the latter quickly stepped forward, bowed, and said, "My lord, you must be tired from your journey. I have prepared a small banquet at a restaurant in the city to welcome you and wash away the dust of your journey. I hope you will do me the honor of attending."

A welcoming banquet is also a regular occurrence, but normally it is hosted by a higher-ranking official than Song Jiawen, such as the provincial governor or the provincial education commissioner, rather than by him, the prefect of the provincial capital.

Unfortunately, the provincial governor and the provincial education commissioner were absent, so the prefect had to take charge.

Although the local officials along the way were very unruly, Zhao An was a law-abiding person. He didn't talk about being honest and upright, but directly approved the welcoming banquet.

The banquet was held in the back garden of a private club in the city. The waiters' manners and behavior showed that they had been trained. The banquet was not ostentatious. Apart from Zhao An and Lao Song, there were Ye Zhigui, Xu Lin and others designated by Zhao An, as well as several officials from Anqing Prefecture who accompanied them.

The dishes were exquisitely prepared yet not at all extravagant, clearly indicating that Prefect Song had carefully considered Zhao Anshang's frugal preferences and knew that this upright official disliked wastefulness.

After several rounds of drinks and several dishes, the atmosphere at the table was harmonious, and most of the conversation consisted of trivial matters.

Zhao An was completely unpretentious and acted very "friendly to officials," occasionally making lighthearted remarks that drew smiles from everyone.

Song Jiawen's words were also respectful, and his flattery was quite skillful. He hid all his praise for Zhao An in his concern for the people's livelihood, which pleased Zhao An and left him with a good impression.

Anqing is not only the provincial capital, but also the strongest prefecture in Anhui. According to Zhao An's previous life's ranking habits, this Prefect Song should be given a "Chang" rank, as he is a member of the voting committee. It is reasonable to pay more attention to him, especially since he is particularly good at interpersonal relationships.

At this point, Zhao An no longer expected to receive any gifts; he simply wanted to see how much "support" this Prefect Song had for him, the newly appointed Provincial Governor, and what his attitude was towards Zhu Gui's departure.

Unexpectedly, as the banquet was drawing to a close, the waiters quietly came over, cleared away the tableware, and served fragrant tea.

Then Prefect Song gave a wink, and the officials sitting with him immediately understood and excused themselves to change clothes or attend to official business, bowing and taking their leave.

Seeing this, Lao Song gave Xu Lin and the others who were accompanying him a wink, and the group quickly said their goodbyes and left the room.

Only Zhao An, Song Jiawen, and Old Song remained in the pavilion.

Zhao An held the celadon teacup with a smile on his face but remained silent, though a little excited was in his heart, because Prefect Song looked quite promising.

Sure enough, the prefect took out a flat brocade pouch from his sleeve. It was not a wooden box for holding silver, but a writing bag made of fine Suzhou embroidery.

There was not a trace of flattery on his face. Instead, with the earnestness and solemnity of scholars, he presented the brocade pouch to Zhao An with both hands and said very sincerely, "Sir, you have just arrived in Anqing and there are many things to be done. Within the government office, hiring instructors, rewarding staff, printing documents, and responding to correspondence from all sides all require expenses. This is not just a matter for one person, but for the reputation of the entire province!"

At this point, Prefect Song paused briefly, and seeing that the young provincial governor's expression had not changed, he continued, "According to the unwritten rules of Anhui Province, subordinates and colleagues are required to contribute a sum of money for the newly appointed governor's writing materials, specifically to subsidize these miscellaneous official expenses. Therefore, I humbly offer to help you with some of your expenses, and I hope you will not refuse."

These words immediately warmed Zhao An's heart: That's right, that's more like it! It's not that he, as the provincial governor, insists on accepting gifts, but rather that he, as the provincial governor, is the face of the entire province!
Damn it, do honest officials have no shame?
Those bastards only looked at the surface of things, and each of them only thought about themselves. None of them really considered the balance in Lord Zhao's bank account!
Upon receiving the brocade pouch, he felt its slight weight, knowing it contained more than just a few silver notes. Opening the ribbon, he found no silver notes inside, only a gift list on gold-flecked paper and a carefully copied manuscript of poems.

The gift list contained a line written in neat small regular script: "Presented a volume of 'Ode to Plum Blossoms' for Your Excellency's leisurely enjoyment during your official duties."

What do you mean?
Didn't you say you'd prepared a gift of ink and paper for me?

Where's the money? Where's the money?

Old Song explained with a smile, "My lord, you may not know this, but there are different kinds of etiquette in officialdom. If it is just a small gift of eight or ten taels, then the poem will only be an eight or ten-line plum blossom poem, just to be appropriate. If it is a gift of several dozen taels, then several dozen lines will be written to show sincerity."

Having said that, he pointed to the beautifully bound manuscript of poems, "Prefect Song has the utmost respect for you, which is why he presented this manuscript of poems. Every word is an admiration for your noble and pure character, like a plum blossom in winter."

While the words sounded like flattery, they were actually telling Zhao An that this scroll of poems represented not a small amount, but a huge sum of money.

How much money is it?

With a casual flick of Zhao An's finger, a silver note worth ten thousand taels appeared before his eyes. Even though Zhao An was mentally prepared, his eyes still flashed. He then said calmly, "It is rare for Lord Song to be so thoughtful. I will accept this book of poems. I will read it carefully in my spare time and may even present a poem to Lord Song in the future."

I couldn't help but think to myself: Anhui still has promising talents!
(End of this chapter)