Qing Yao

Chapter 42: Admission to the Imperial College
In Yangzhou, the prefect handed the matter over to Ganquan County, which actually meant that he asked Zhao An to handle it.

No one else can do it except Zhao An, because the whole thing was planned by him, and no one knows the details better than Zhao An.

The prefect had spoken, and the two county magistrates naturally agreed unconditionally, and the matter was settled.

County Magistrate Ding was not qualified to submit a birthday memorial to the emperor, and he did not know that Zhao An had written a miraculous memorial for the prefect that could change his destiny. After returning to the county government office, he asked Zhao An to establish that "model household" as soon as possible, so as to encourage those big merchants who were waiting and watching to pay the honor certification fee quickly to solve the urgent needs of the prefectural and county governments.

Zhao An's method involves many departments, first of all the three shifts of the law enforcement department. Without dispatching these uniformed officers, how can they effectively attract business for the "typical households"?

No matter when, people in official uniform always speak more confidently than ordinary people and are more worthy of the trust of outsiders.

In the past, didn’t merchants in mountain cities hire people to pretend to be security guards and recommend which hotpot restaurants were the best to tourists from other places?

No matter how things change, the essence remains the same.

The second thing is to coordinate with the Yangzhou Customs to exempt "typical households" from customs duties on cargo ships (cars). Zhao An does not need to do this personally, as long as the government sends a document to the Customs.

Yangzhou Chaoguan is an agency under the jurisdiction of Yangzhou Prefecture.

After that, it was necessary to coordinate with the largest logistics and transportation unit of the era - the Qing Gang, and then some manpower would be needed to advertise for the "typical households".

There are many things involved in this matter, and there must be someone with a certain status in the county government to coordinate. Otherwise, it would be difficult for Zhao An, the so-called ambassador of the Certification Department, who is actually a clerk with no rank or honor, to mobilize the relevant departments.

Even if the heads of those departments agreed to Zhao An for the sake of the county magistrate, it would be difficult to avoid lip service to their promises in actual work.

After all, Zhao An became rich too quickly, and many people in Ganquan County Government were jealous of him.

It would be best if the County Magistrate and the Chief Clerk, two high-ranking assistant officials, came forward to coordinate. However, County Magistrate Ding was obviously unwilling to let these two get involved in this matter. The remaining coordinator was Zhao An's mentor, Master Ji. Unfortunately, Master Ji would take more than a month to come back after collecting taxes in the countryside, and he could not make it back in time.

The county magistrate was also considering the candidate issue. Zhao An thought about it and recommended someone.

It was Sun Rui, a member of the Qing Gang.

Although this guy is a clerk in the household department like Zhao An, his background in the gang organization means that he has a lot of connections in the government office and outside.

"Sun Lao Si? He's certainly someone who can get things done."

The county magistrate still had some impression of the black gloves he had used several times before, so he ordered someone to call Sun Rui and instructed him to coordinate the various departments and offices in the county to jointly carry out the tasks assigned by the government according to Zhao An's instructions.

Now that we have selected candidates for each department, the next step is naturally to find the best partner, who is also a role model that the prefecture and county will focus on establishing.

The partner Zhao An found was Zheng Quanli, the deputy head of the cloth-making guild, who was more tactful than the head Xu Youshou.

After hearing what Zhao An said about the arrangement, Zheng Quanli, who had heard that the government was going to organize a certification for famous and high-quality products, agreed without hesitation. Anyway, the county would not charge him the certification fee for the time being.

If the effect is really as immediate as Zhao An said, then it’s not too late to pay the money later.

Soon, after some behind-the-scenes maneuvering, Zheng's Cloth Shop became the first Yangzhou merchant to bravely take the plunge, fully passing both prefectural and county-level approvals and certifications, earning the city's first plaque for a famous and high-quality product. To this end, Zhao An allocated several dozen taels of silver from the Certification Bureau to hire a group of musicians to bang gongs and drums all the way from the county government office to Zheng's Cloth Shop, even stopping in Jiangdu on the way. This caused a sensation throughout Yangzhou.

Under the coordination of Sun Rui, other relevant departments also quickly "entered the scene". On the day when Zhengji Cloth Shop hung up the plaque of famous and high-quality products, big red banners were hung on the major roads, checkpoints and docks in Yangzhou. With the vigorous publicity of the government officials, Zhengji Cloth Shop became famous overnight and became more famous than Xuji Cloth Shop owned by the head of the business Xu Youshou.

Merchants who came to Yangzhou to buy cloth from all over the country were immediately impressed by the officials as soon as they got off the car (boat) that "if you want to buy cloth, go to Zhengji". All they saw along the way were banners celebrating Zhengji Cloth Shop's award for being a famous and high-quality product of Yangzhou Prefecture. Whether they were curious or not, they instinctively wanted to go to Zhengji's shop to take a look first.

Don’t underestimate the word “first”. In just three days, this word “first” increased the turnover of Zhengji Cloth Shop seven or eight times, and the owner Zheng Quanli was so happy that he couldn’t stop smiling.

The customs office, after receiving documents from the government, granted tax exemptions to Zhengji Cloth Shop's cargo ships. The Qing Gang loading and unloading at the dock even gave priority to loading Zhengji Cloth Shop's goods. All these tactics made other cloth shops complain bitterly.

Especially the head of the cloth shop, Xu Youshou, was extremely anxious. He tried every possible means but still could not change the fact that all the merchants were running to Zhengji. Finally, under the suggestion of a "smart man", he went to the government and paid 10,000 taels of certification fee. Only then did the downward trend in Xuji Cloth Shop's sales be stopped. Afterwards, relying on its strong strength, Xuji went against the wind and fought Zhengji again.

Word spread from one person to ten, and from ten to a hundred. Half a month later, the honorary titles of famous products and well-known trademarks were "snapped up" by big players from all walks of life, and the certification fees of 600,000 taels of silver were deposited into the warehouse.

Seeing that the money came so easily, many people in the prefecture and county thought of selling dozens more honorary products, and some even thought of obtaining the Jiangsu Famous Trademark. However, Zhao An dissuaded them from doing so on the grounds that the honorary title had just undergone the first batch of certification and it would take some time for another certification.

If everyone really rushes in, it will be a one-time deal.

After half a month, Zhao An was so tired that he lost several pounds. Fortunately, he finally fulfilled his mission and successfully collected the money.

The price is that Yangzhou's "small and micro enterprises" will face unprecedented market tests, and a wave of bankruptcies is expected to come soon.

Who made Zhao An associate privilege with fame and honor?

All we can say is that progress doesn’t always bring positive effects, and the pain brought by side effects will eventually come.

But this has nothing to do with Zhao An. He is not the deputy prefect in charge of Yangzhou's economy. He should first protect his own clay Buddha.

Besides, among the officials of the Qing Dynasty today, which one understands economics, values ​​economics, and promotes economics?

Aren't you all busy fishing?

Sun Rui came to find Zhao An and said that his "uncle" had returned from Jiangnan and wanted Zhao An to go to the incense hall to observe the rules.

Zhao An thought it was okay, and since he also wanted to infiltrate, utilize and reform the Qing Gang, he readily agreed to go to Xiangtang with Sun Rui. However, as soon as he arrived at the gate of the county government office, a clerk came running to him, panting, and said that the county magistrate wanted to see him.

"What does the County Master want me to do?"

Zhao An didn't know, Sun Rui didn't know, and neither did the clerk who brought the notification. They could only go to the county magistrate to find out the truth. The county magistrate immediately handed Zhao An a large gift package and said with a smile, "The prefect is very satisfied with your performance this time. He has instructed the county to guarantee you a place as a student."

Jiansheng are students recommended by local authorities.

The target of admission is the Imperial College.

(End of this chapter)