Qing Yao

Chapter 39 The young man knows how to handle things
The governor kept his word and really rewarded Zhao An.

It was not the academic qualification and formal job in the mansion that Zhao An had always dreamed of, but three hundred taels of silver.

A big deal.

It is equivalent to Zhao An’s official salary for ten years.

For the prefect, exchanging three hundred taels for the great titles of "Ten Perfect Martial Achievements" and "Ten Perfect Old Man" was not only a sure win, but a huge profit.

The two chief advisors unanimously agreed that as long as the memorial was submitted, the Lord of the Mansion would be promoted without having to wait until next year.

The governor-general level governor dare not even think about it, that is too high and unrealistic.

It was not an ideal position to be the governor-general who was in charge of the military and civilians of a province, but it was possible to be the governor-general of the provincial government or the censor-general of the provincial examination office. At the very least, he had to be promoted to the prefect of the circuit court.

However, the prefect was not very interested in being promoted to the position of Daotai, Neitai or even the governor of a province. What he wanted was the position of the Lianghuai Salt Administrator.

That position may not seem to be of high rank, but it is very important. Even if you serve as a governor for one term, it will not be as good as what others can do in one year.

The current Lianghuai Salt Administrator, Akedang'a, came from the Imperial Household Department, which was controlled by Heshen and Zhongtang. So even though he had earned a reputation for being efficient by confiscating salt merchants, and had the support of his son-in-law, the Jiangning General, the prefect still felt that he might not be able to match Akedang'a.

If the emperor is the sun of the Qing Dynasty, then He Zhongtang is the moon of the Qing Dynasty.

The moon is above, no matter how big your dreams are, you cannot fly freely.

However, things are different now. With this amazing birthday poem that can be said to be the best in history, the chances of becoming the governor of Lianghuai Salt Administration are 50-50.

Even if I still can't get what I want, it will be worth it to be able to sit in the top position in the province.

When he was happy, he gave three hundred taels as a reward. In the eyes of the prefect, three hundred taels was just two or three cents.

Where else can you retain an outstanding talent with just two or three cents?
If it weren't for the consideration of the Ganquan County Magistrate's face, the prefect might have directly "detained" the person, instead of having someone coordinate the relationship between the prefecture and the county through the Experience Office as previously said, while the main work still focused on the county.

Zhao An, who received the reward, was actually very sad. "The Ten Perfect Old Man" and "Ten Complete Martial Achievements" were the evaluations Qianlong gave to himself, and also the final verdict on his life.

In order to fulfill this wish, the dying Qianlong put a lot of thought into it, but even Heshen, who was a cunning person, could not guess his thoughts. In the end, he had no choice but to shamelessly call himself that.

Now someone has accurately grasped Qianlong's pulse in advance and pinpointed his restless heart. It's like he's itchy, and someone has sent medicine to relieve the itch in time. Do you think Qianlong is happy?

How will he look at the person who helps him relieve his itch when he is happy?
How could Zhao An not feel regretful when he gave away such a good opportunity that could have made him successful?

There was no way, since he was just a small clerk with no rank or official title. Even if he became a seventh-rank county magistrate, he could not directly flatter Emperor Qianlong.

There are thousands of ways to flatter in the world, but not everyone is qualified to do it.

To put it bluntly, even if it is treason, it is not Zhao An's turn to be accused of treason.

On second thought, compared to a seventh-rank county magistrate, the future of a fourth-rank prefect is undoubtedly much brighter. If the prefect is promoted to the provincial level thanks to this unexpected opportunity, can't he also follow him to the provincial capital?

No matter how ungrateful the prefect is, he should at least give his "benefactor" a position as director of a provincial street office.

When Zhao An returned to the Experience Department again, he did not come empty-handed, but brought in a lot of gifts in large and small bags.

He had specifically asked for leave from Governor Cui to go outside and buy them. There were 59 people on and off duty in the Experience Office, and each person received a copy, each worth two taels and six cents. He was quite good at handling things.

This caused quite a stir in the Experience Department. Everyone praised the new clerk Zhao, and Zhao An kept saying, "I'm new here, so I hope you all, my colleagues, will take good care of me! If there's anything I don't understand or have done wrong, please feel free to correct me and give me some pointers."

The one you are referring to is a ninth-rank governor, while his colleague is a clerk who has no rank and is not even considered an official.

Don’t hit someone who smiles at you, and don’t hit someone who gives you a gift.

Zhao An, who was so sensible, naturally won the recognition of everyone in the Experience Department. In addition, when people heard that the prefect had rewarded this kid with three hundred taels of silver, many people thought that Zhao An's backer was the prefect, and they were extremely polite to him.

It's completely different from the attitude of the people in the county government.

It really proves the old saying that the higher you sit, the friendlier you are to others.

This is the case for officials, clerks, and those who do their work.

The prefect's current main task is to celebrate the emperor's birthday. In addition to sending Zhao An's epic play to the capital to be presented to the Ministry of Public Security, he is also said to have spent a large sum of money to invite the famous Sanqing Huiban troupe from Yangzhou to come to Beijing to perform for the emperor for three days and three nights.

After hearing this, Zhao An thought about it and estimated that the arrival of the Huiban troupe in Beijing might give birth to the famous Peking Opera in his previous life.

I'm not interested in asking about related matters because he has too many things to do.

The activity of awarding outstanding merchants with famous and high-quality products has officially started, which was assigned by the Yangzhou prefect, coordinated by the prefectural experience department, and hosted by Jiangdu County and Ganquan County.

The activities were mainly based on the report submitted by Zhao An, and the government made some appropriate improvements.

The main focus was on improving the selection criteria and prices for famous and high-quality products. In addition, at the suggestion of the prefect, the scope of activities was expanded from the cloth-making industry submitted by Ganquan County to all industries except the salt industry.

The prefecture and county unanimously agreed that the price of Yangzhou's famous and high-quality products was 10,000 taels, and the price of Yangzhou's well-known trademarks was 30,000 taels.

The former is temporarily granted to thirty companies, and the latter is temporarily granted to ten companies.

The prefecture takes 60% of the certification funds and the county takes 40%.

That is to say, out of the total certification fees of 600,000 taels, the prefecture has to pay 360,000 taels, and the county can only pay 240,000 taels, which means that the two counties each have to pay 120,000 taels.

It was a bit shady, but the higher the official, the more powerful he was, so the county had no choice but to admit it.

Based on the principle of voluntariness, Jiangdu and Ganquan counties organize personnel to notify major guilds, and then merchants register, the county government verifies qualifications, and finally the government office selects the final selected merchants.

Zhao An is specifically responsible for the affairs of Ganquan County. In addition to spending an hour every day at the Prefecture Experience Office to report on the situation and understand the relevant developments, he also organizes personnel from the County Certification Office to notify every household door to door, patiently explaining in detail the relevant spirit of the prefecture and county and the benefits of this matter to businesses.

Everything in the world is bustling for the sake of profit. Just as Zhao An expected, after hearing that the government was going to organize a selection of the province's specialty and high-quality products, the major guilds, with their quick minds, immediately saw business opportunities and were very enthusiastic about participating.

However, I cannot accept the certification fees set by the government because they are too expensive.

The result was a situation that no one wanted to see: many businesses registered, but not a single one paid.

You look at me, I look at you, both waiting for the government to lower the price.

(End of this chapter)