Qing Yao

Chapter 78 Principal Zhao's First Fire
Many things can be accomplished if you broaden your horizons and dare to think and act boldly.

There is great potential to be tapped in the field of education.

It's a very real thing. No matter what year it is, which father doesn't care about his child's future?

If you care about the children, you have to care about the principal.

It's important to know that Principal Zhao is not only the principal of the key high school in the prefecture, but also the chief instructor of the prefecture's education system.

A genuine seventh-rank official.

Who gets promoted and who gets demoted, who's capable and who's not—sorry, Principal Zhao has it all in his mind.

Although the prefect was the chief examiner for this prefectural examination, he did not actually oversee education and only made an appearance during the examination. Therefore, the fate of Yangzhou scholars was in Zhao An's hands.

If I say you can, you can; if I say you can't, you can't!

In short, Zhao An was no good at cultivating talent for the Qing Dynasty, but he was good at maintaining good relationships with students' parents.

This is called leveraging external forces.

Use other people's influence to do your own thing.

This approach has truly unlocked the value of the professorship, a position that inherently lacks sufficient authority, and has completely opened a door to a new world for Zhao An.

As long as you don't lose your mind, there's always a way to overcome difficulties.

Following this line of thought, we can get a general understanding of the situation of the children of officials in the prefectural school, and then, at a good time, organize a parents' get-together. After a few drinks and some cigarettes, and with a few prostitutes around, we can become brothers.

Once you've become brothers, you'll naturally help each other.

If I help your child get through a difficult time, shouldn't you also help me get two people out of trouble?

The Chinese value etiquette above all else, and education is the embodiment of etiquette. Therefore, no matter how high-ranking an official is, the person sitting in the chief seat must be Zhao An.

There's nothing we can do about it; after all, he's the epitome of "etiquette" in Yangzhou.

Academic officials are highly respected and respected.

Moreover, he was the highest-ranking academic official in the area.

"grown ups!"

As Zhao An was conceiving his grand plans, Ma Xue, who was in charge of faculty and staff personnel at the academy, gently knocked on the door.

Ma Xuezheng came to ask when the new principal would move in and about the new office. He said that the old principal's office was almost ready and the new principal could move in at any time.

However, the house that the academy arranged for the former principal will not be available for a few days, because the former principal has not yet left.

"We'll talk about the house after Lord Jiang leaves office. As for the duty house, I'll move in tomorrow. There's no need for much trouble. Just leave it as it is."

Zhao An is a reasonable person and wouldn't force Professor Jiang to vacate the house right now, but he's quite curious about the conditions of the house allocated to the professor.

The instructor system is somewhat unique, unlike the powerful officials like prefects and county magistrates who have a combined "official residence and home," meaning their offices are located in front of their offices and their residences are in the back.

The instructors lived in public housing; both county schools and prefectural schools had corresponding staff dormitories.

Previously, Zhao An lived in the dormitory of Ganquan County School, which was just a small bungalow with an area of ​​at most twenty square meters.

It's very inconvenient for a family of three to live here. The noise they make at night disturbs the neighbors' sleep, which makes him feel a bit uneasy.

Now that he's the head of the prefectural school, he naturally cares more about his living environment.

If this is still a small public housing unit, it would be too degrading.

Fortunately, the dormitories where the professors of the academy lived were detached and had six rooms, as well as a separate bathroom (outhouse).

From a modern perspective, it was equivalent to a small villa in the city center.

"Okay, just look at the arrangements."

Zhao An was very satisfied with the accommodation and gestured for Ma Xuezheng to go about his business. However, Ma Xuezheng did not leave and quietly took out a one-hundred-tael silver note from his sleeve and placed it on the table.

He smiled obsequiously and said, "This is a small token of my appreciation; please accept it, sir."

Zhao An accepted the money without any hesitation, and even did so with a sense of entitlement!
Why?

Because this is his legitimate income, a "regulation for taking office" permitted by the imperial court. Even if you don't accept it, people will assume you have.

So why not accept it?

Ma Xuezheng was just the ringleader; barring any unforeseen circumstances, all the faculty and staff of the academy would have to come and give him money over the next two days.

This includes those scholars who became teachers.

Not delivering the goods is not only against the rules, but it can also lead to being fired.

You should know that these teaching positions aren't guaranteed. A professor can hire you if they want, or you can pack your bags and leave if they don't.

That afternoon, Professor Jiang, the former professor, sent a servant to deliver six silver notes worth a total of five thousand taels to Zhao An. The reason he didn't come in person was that he was busy collecting money.

Just as Zhao Anxin had his "rules of conduct" upon taking office, Professor Jiang, upon his transfer, also had his "farewell greetings."

However, compared to the "farewell gifts" received by the former prefect who was promoted to the provincial level and became a judge, the "farewell gifts" received by Professor Jiang, who was transferred to another province to become a county magistrate, were definitely far inferior.

In total, they only received a few hundred taels, including fifty taels from Zhao An as per the rules.

When Zhao An returned and told Chunlan about becoming a professor at the prefectural school, she immediately pounced on him without him even having to undress, her service more enthusiastic than ever before.

It seems that power is a potent remedy for men, and equally powerful for women.

If not all of his thoughts were on Zhao An, then at least six or seven parts of his attention were on him.

The transfer order from the Ministry of Personnel arrived on the third day. Accompanying the Ministry of Personnel personnel to the prefectural school to announce the transfer order was Lord Cui, the Assistant Prefect of Yangzhou.

This is to be expected; without local officials accompanying them, who knows whether the people coming from above are genuine or not?

The professor of the prefectural school is a seventh-rank official, and there is certainly no need for the prefect to come.

In fact, officials from the provincial education commissioner's office should have accompanied them, but since the education commissioner's office was located in Jiangning Prefecture in the south of the Yangtze River, while Yangzhou was in the north, and the officials from the Ministry of Personnel came from the capital, there was no need to go to the education commissioner's office again. They only needed to send a "copy" of the transfer order.

The official from the Ministry of Personnel was a low-ranking clerk. At Ma Xuezheng's suggestion, Zhao An gave the clerk a red envelope containing one hundred taels of silver, while the attendants who came with him each gave him thirty taels.

Market price, industry standard.

There's definitely something else going on in Yangzhou Prefecture, and as for how Professor Jiang arranged things, that's none of Zhao An's business.

After the transfer order was read out, the official from the Ministry of Personnel was invited to the prefectural government office by Assistant Magistrate Cui.

Zhao An changed into his seventh-rank official robes and began the handover with his predecessor, Professor Jiang.

Jiang Xuezheng handled all the formalities; Zhao An, the successor, and Professor Jiang, the predecessor, only needed to sign different "documents."

The prefectural school's deficit wasn't too large; there were still 3,500 taels of silver in the books. However, it owed more than 5,000 taels outside, so the deficit was only a little over 1,000 taels.

Zhao An didn't care about this shortfall. After the handover was completed, Professor Jiang handed over the official seal of the prefectural school, which he had been keeping, to Zhao An.

Looking at the large seal in the box and his brand-new official certificate, Zhao An felt an indescribable sense of accomplishment.

In less than a year, he went from being an ordinary citizen to a county-level official. Who wouldn't be proud?
Professor Jiang quietly left, officially handing over the stage where he had worked for many years to Zhao An.

Next comes the inevitable scene for a new official taking office—the faculty and staff meeting.

Surrounded by Ma Xuezheng, Tong Xundao, and others, Zhao An entered the hastily arranged meeting room, where hundreds of staff members of the prefectural school were whispering and discussing among themselves.

A student who had recently been granted a place in the Imperial Academy suddenly became the professor in charge of the prefectural school, surprising and despising everyone there.

Especially those scholars and teachers.

Zhao An noticed that many of the old scholars looked at him with disdain. He could understand the feelings of these frontline education workers. If he were in their shoes, he would also feel that the court was unfair, that fate was unfair, and what a load of crap this world is!
But he's not here to show off or to put down the faculty and staff; he has something important to announce.

The first thing a new official does upon taking office.

"Starting next month, the monthly allowances of all teachers in this academy will increase by 50%, and the monthly allowances of all other staff will increase by 30%."

After making the announcement, Zhao An waved his right hand: "The prefectural examination is imminent, so I won't keep you any longer. Please continue with your business."

After saying that, he walked away.

(End of this chapter)