Qing Yao

Chapter 363 No Money, No Life

No matter what official position you hold, what good will it do to offend Lord Zhao?

The best way to fight is to utilize the power provided by the "system," rather than resorting to crooked methods.

Such as not solving the problem, but punishing the person who raised the problem.

Zhao An's method for solving problems is to raise new problems and use them to cover up the old ones. If the new problems still cannot solve the problem, then he will raise new problems again.

If there are too many problems to solve, then there are no problems.

A solution that is full of philosophy and logical thinking.

It's useless for you, a student from National Chengchi University, to talk to me about morality, etiquette, academic qualifications, background, or resume. I won't talk to you about any of that. I'll just talk about integrity.

Auditing accounts is a form of devastating attack!

No matter how clear your accounts are, it's useless because auditing is just a process.

This process can be very short or very long.

When it ends depends not on the auditor, but on the person being audited.

Soon, the audit documents from the provincial governor, bearing the official seal, were formally delivered to the Ministry of Education.

"audit?"

The well-read academic official had worn out the Kangxi Dictionary, but still couldn't figure out where the word "audit" came from or what classic interpretation it had.

However, the purpose of the audit is clear.

"This Zhao Youlu is using the pretext of auditing accounts to stop my government's expenses. He is clearly putting personal interests before public ones and seeking revenge!"

Enraged, the provincial education commissioner declared he would submit a memorial impeaching Zhao Youlu.

The question is, under what pretext did he impeach Zhao Youlu?

The document clearly states that the Provincial Treasurer's Office also has the right to audit the public expenses of the Education Bureau. After all, all the funds for the Education Bureau are allocated by the Provincial Treasurer's Office. If the Provincial Treasurer is responsible to the court, why would he check the accounts?
The problem arises when there's no investigation!
In the past, because your educational administration office was prestigious and respected, the provincial governor didn't investigate you out of courtesy. Now, investigating you is simply part of your duties, so what's there to complain about?

As for "temporarily suspending the disbursement pending verification of the accounts," that is the legitimate power of a provincial governor and is beyond reproach.

If the provincial education commissioner submits a petition opposing the audit, does it mean that there are serious problems with the public expenditures of the provincial education commissioner's office?

Clearly, this is a blatant attempt to cover up the truth.

It's not something I can easily object to.

Once he calmed down, the education commissioner quickly adjusted his mindset. He believed that he had not embezzled anything during his tenure, that he had managed his subordinates in the government extremely strictly, and that he had carefully audited the government's expenditures every month. Therefore, he was convinced that Zhao Youlu was just trying to retaliate against him, and that it was absolutely impossible for him to find any evidence against him in the accounts.

Investigate! The more thoroughly you investigate, the more it proves my incorruptibility!
The Provincial Education Commissioner remained as steady as Mount Tai, but the reality was not as optimistic as he had imagined. With the arrival of the Provincial Treasurer's working group, a series of problems followed one after another.

First, the suspension of government expenses and salaries for officials and staff during the winter caused the lives of the lower-level staff of the Education Administration Office, namely the clerks and yamen runners, to instantly enter a "winter".

These low-level workers are not as affluent as the students of the National Chengchi University; their families depend entirely on their meager wages for a living.

Despite being staff members of the provincial education administration and appearing to be from the province, their actual income is far lower than that of staff members in prefecture and county governments.

One reason is that the provincial education commissioner's office was a powerless and ineffective government agency;

Secondly, the provincial education commissioner's office did not have much interaction with local education commissioners, which meant that local education officials did not tend to bribe the provincial education commissioner's office, resulting in almost zero gray income for lower-level staff in the provincial education commissioner's office.

They live off their fixed salaries. In contrast, lower-level staff in counties and prefectures, who deal directly with students and parents, often have a fair share of illicit income.

This is similar to the idea that low-ranking officials working in various departments in Beijing were all "poor devils".

There's no way around it; the local official is more powerful than the distant one.

Now that their salaries have been stopped so easily, these low-level staff members of the provincial education bureau are immediately facing financial hardship.

For the first few days, they could manage with their savings and thought the audit would be quick. But after seven or eight days, the provincial treasurer was still auditing the accounts, and there was no sign of wages. People's hearts began to waver.

"Lord Wang, there's still no news from the provincial treasury regarding this month's allowance?"

Several clerks went to Wang En, the official in charge of education, to inquire about the situation.

Wang En also looked distressed. What could he say?
Having spent over twenty years in officialdom, how could Wang En not know that this audit by the provincial governor was entirely the fault of his own family's education commissioner?

The old master has really offended people, which is why they are making things difficult for the government under the pretext of auditing the accounts. Judging from the attitude of the provincial treasurer's audit team, the accounts probably won't be settled by the end of the year.

How can you pay me if the accounts can't be verified?
Unable to tell the real reason to those below, he could only vaguely say, "Uh, we're calculating it, we're calculating it, please wait a little longer, please wait a little longer."

"I can't wait any longer! My husband keeps saying, 'Sir, our rice jar is almost empty!'"

"Yes, my mother is almost out of money for medicine."

"It's going to get really cold soon. Adults can handle it, but kids can't."

"."

The clerks' complaints solved nothing, because the money wasn't in Wang En's hands. The only result was that the complaints from the education office buzzed like mosquitoes in every corner.

The consequences of the suspension of salary payments are becoming increasingly apparent every day. The first consequence is a sharp decline in office efficiency. Clerks who used to copy official documents quickly are now dawdling and can barely write a few words in half a day.

Can you blame them?
With no food in your stomach, no strength in your hands, and a lot of resentment in your heart, who has the mind to work?
Secondly, even the yamen runners who were there to maintain appearances for the government were listless and lacked their former imposing presence.

As the provincial treasurer continued his audit, officials in various departments and instructors, who were of official rank, began to complain. It wasn't that these people were short of money; after all, they were officials, so how could they not have a family fortune?

The main problem is that I can't save face.

It's utterly ridiculous that a high-ranking official of the imperial court would have his salary suspended!
The most fatal thing is that the news that the provincial governor had sent people to the education office to investigate the accounts had already spread throughout Anqing City, so now no official or gentry in Anqing City dared to approach anyone from the education office, for fear of getting into trouble.

For officials, not having anyone to interact with means not having social obligations.

Without social engagements, where would they get extra income?

Gifts such as "ice money," "charcoal money," and money given on festivals and birthdays were an important supplement to officials' income and also key to maintaining interpersonal relationships. Although educational officials could not compare with local officials with real power, they usually received gifts from students' parents and local gentry. Now that the educational administration office has become a troublesome place in the eyes of the provincial gentry, who would dare to make such gifts?
Almost all the "charcoal tribute" that the school officials were supposed to collect at this time of year has been gone, which is a minor problem. The biggest problem is that they can't even get their public expenses reimbursed now.

There's no money in the account!
Yesterday, Instructor Zhang, who was in charge of the provincial capital, hosted a banquet for several outstanding students from the prefectural school, spending three taels of silver. As is customary, after they had eaten and drunk their fill, they came to the yamen's accountant with a receipt to get reimbursed. However, the accountant shrugged and said, "Sir Zhang, do you think I have a place that would accept three taels of silver?"

What if the accountant refuses to reimburse me?
The accountant meant that Instructor Zhang would cover the costs himself first.

"Padded, padded my ass!"

Instructor Zhang was furious; he had already taken the hits several times!

The accountant returned to his office in a huff. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. However, he was not angry that the provincial treasurer's office was deliberately making things difficult for them, but rather that the education commissioner was making trouble for no reason and causing them to suffer this misery.

If you don't have money, what are you complaining about?

(End of this chapter)