Qing Yao

Chapter 93 Teacher Zhao is in the news
"Being an official?"

The idea of ​​asking Zhao An to come to the attention of the Wang family father and son surprised one of them, and left the other stunned.

"That's right, let my cousin become an official. These days, only by becoming an official can you avoid being bullied."

Zhao An smiled and affirmed.

To solve the Qian family problem once and for all, either the three Qian brothers must be eliminated, or they must be made to have a sense of awe towards their honest brother-in-law.

Where does the greatest reverence in the world come from?

Of course, it's the official uniform.

There's no need to kill anyone, so let's get my cousin an official hat to wear, as a way of repaying my uncle's great kindness to me.

Looking at his honest son and then at his "out-of-the-box" cousin, Wang Defa shook his head and said decisively, "No way. Your cousin hasn't even been to school for many years. He's not cut out to be an official. Wouldn't that make us a laughingstock?"

"What you're saying, sir. I haven't read many books either, but now I'm a seventh-rank professor in charge of scholars, and nobody dares to laugh at me."

Academic qualifications have never been a standard for Zhao An in appointing people.

I learned it from my grandfather.

"This"

Wang Defa was at a loss for words. The facts were right in front of him, and these facts had overturned his preconceived notions about being an official.

Six months ago, he would never have imagined that his cousin from Xinghua would have such great fortune!

If it weren't for this cousin who somehow became a seventh-rank official, who knows how far the three Qian brothers would have gone, and how could the father and son be sitting here drinking?

In this world, anything is possible.

With this thought in mind, he couldn't help but look at his honest son again: Could Wan Quan really become an official?
"Sir, don't overthink it,"

Zhao An stood up and poured wine while saying, "Actually, becoming an official has nothing to do with whether you've read books or not. It doesn't matter if you can't read, because anyone can become an official."

He poured another drink for the stunned Wang Wanquan and casually asked, "What kind of business did you do before, cousin?"

"what?"

Coming to his senses, Wang Wanquan hurriedly said "Oh": "I used to work in Dongguan making barrels and sharpening scissors for people. Later, the county forced us craftsmen to get some kind of certification. I didn't want to pay that unnecessary money, so I went to Jiangdu to weave baskets and hampers for people."

"."

Zhao An's cheek twitched involuntarily at his cousin's words. He coughed lightly and said, "Alright, cousin will report to the prefectural school tomorrow. But for now, you'll have to work as a school clerk in charge. I'll pull some strings to get you a ninth-rank official position later. Take it slow, it's fine."

School officials were clerks, just like clerks, scribes, and encyclopedias. They were low-ranking officials, but they had real power and were officials who dealt directly with the people. Therefore, in the common people's eyes, a clerk was actually an official.

The kind that's at the stock/technology level.

Given Zhao An's relationship with Ganquan County, if he directly arranged for his cousin to become a clerk in the county government, County Magistrate Ding would definitely help. However, this cousin was indeed too honest and knew nothing about the affairs of the government. He probably wouldn't last long there. So Zhao An thought of arranging for him to work in his own unit, so that he could teach him and take care of him nearby.

After working for half a year, Zhao An, as a professor, would also help his cousin secure a student status in the Imperial Academy, and then recommend his cousin to the provincial education office for the position of registrar.

In this way, one can achieve a magnificent transformation from a citizen to an official.

The operating mode is the same as before, and there are no problems with the process.

The clerks in local government offices were appointed by the local officials themselves, and similarly, the appointment of clerks in prefectural schools was decided by the professors.

The only drawback was that the Qing Dynasty stipulated that the sons of officials were not allowed to participate in the imperial examinations. Therefore, becoming an official was the first step, and the second step was to find a way to change from an official to a full-fledged official.

Otherwise, it will affect the next generation.

Unless Zhao An, this "cousin," becomes the one who can change the rules.

"."

Looking at Zhao An's serious face, the Wang father and son didn't know what to say; all they felt was gratitude.

Cousin Wang Wanquan was so excited he couldn't speak.

Yes, if he really becomes an official at the prefectural school, would the Qian family still dare to bully him?
Zhao An always acted quickly, and since it was his cousin's matter, he couldn't afford to be negligent. The next day at work, he called Ma Xuezheng, the vice principal in charge of faculty and staff personnel, into the principal's office.

"There's something I've been thinking about all day,"

Zhao An didn't want to directly talk about arranging for people to be admitted, so he first mentioned the matter of the dormitory for temporary students.

After explaining the general plan to Ma Xuezheng, he said solemnly, "You will also be in charge of this matter. You must make it clear to the brokerage that this is a major event concerning the imperial examinations of scholars in Yangzhou, and it is also a matter of great importance to the province, prefecture, and county. There must be no mistakes, otherwise I will make sure that brokerage is in deep trouble!"

"Yes, yes, sir, rest assured, I will handle this matter personally, and there will be absolutely no mistakes!"

Ma Xuezheng agreed readily and enthusiastically; how could he not be enthusiastic about making money? "You have served as an official in the prefectural school for many years and are more familiar with all aspects than I am, so there are some things I can only entrust to you. I really don't trust anyone else to do them."

After fully demonstrating his high level of trust in Ma Xuezheng, Zhao An asked seemingly casually, "Has anyone entered the prefectural school in the past few years?"

"Bring in people? What does Your Excellency mean?"

Ma Xuezheng didn't understand what the principal meant.

"My idea is that the temporary study program should be established as soon as the prefectural examination is over. By then, there will be many more students studying, and the current staff of the prefectural school will not be able to manage them all. Therefore, I plan to add a few new clerks to the prefectural school and recruit some clerks and general laborers to avoid being overwhelmed and delaying the students due to insufficient manpower."

As he spoke, Zhao An pulled out the official document form of the prefectural school and wrote as he spoke: "I will submit a written application to the provincial education office for this matter, but you don't need to wait for the province's approval. Get things done first. Sharpening the axe won't delay the work of chopping wood."

Upon hearing that it was good news to recruit people for new official positions, Ma Xuezheng immediately perked up, craning his neck and nodding repeatedly: "The prefectural school is currently very busy and should have had more staff a long time ago. If Your Excellency hadn't mentioned it, I would have been planning to."

He was secretly plotting something. His brother-in-law had been idle at home all day, so why not take this opportunity to get him into the prefectural school and get a government job?

Also, it seems that my third aunt's cousin is not planning to work at the grocery store anymore, so let's hire him too, so that my third aunt won't keep saying that she doesn't help her relatives.

"Education and academic pursuits are of paramount importance to the imperial court and are the responsibility of us instructors. Next year is the year of the provincial examination. Whether our students from Yangzhou Prefecture can make a name for themselves in this examination depends not only on their own hard work but also on the dedication of us instructors."

At this point, Zhao An looked at Ma Xuezheng like a teacher setting a question, "Tell me, how do you use the mental technique?"

"Uh?"

Ma Xuezheng was about to express his opinion, but the words that came out were: "This humble official is confused, please enlighten me, sir."

"In short, it's all about providing full support! Only by ensuring students have no worries can they fully dedicate themselves to their studies."

After tapping his right index and middle fingers together on the table several times to indicate that this was the most important point, Zhao An clarified that there were only five new official positions, twenty clerks, and fifty miscellaneous servants.

That means a total of seventy-five positions are available for employees to work at the company.

Ma Xuezheng had no objection to this, and even if he did, it wouldn't matter; all matters of the prefectural school were subject to the professor's opinion.

"The newly appointed clerks can be selected from the existing staff of the prefectural school, or they can be recruited from outside. However, all selected clerks must first pay three hundred taels of silver, and clerks must pay one hundred taels. As for the miscellaneous servants, they don't need to pay. Lord Ma, what do you think?"

Zhao An looked exactly like a good leader who was asking for his subordinates' opinions.

Well?
Ma Xuezheng's smile gradually froze, but his eyes betrayed him, as if silently shouting, "Your Excellency is wise! Your Excellency is wise!"

It was truly brilliant; it solved both the problem of insufficient manpower at the academy and the immediate financial crisis facing the academy.

Is there another professor like him in the world?
Zhao An is naturally immune to flattery because he is the best flatterer himself, and he has yet to find a worthy opponent.

Having finished explaining the matter, there wasn't much else to say. He casually picked up the latest official gazette from the government office on the table and began to read it.

Seeing this, Ma Xuezheng understood that the principal wanted him to leave, so he quickly and respectfully took his leave. But when he got to the door, the professor called him back and said, "By the way, if someone named Wang Wanquan comes looking for you, just process his school official paperwork directly. As for the money, you don't need to take it."

"Yes, my lord!"

After responding, Ma Xuezheng, as if possessed, asked another question, "I wonder what relationship this Wang Wanquan has with you, sir?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao An put down the official gazette in his hand, glanced at Ma Xuezheng who looked curious, and said with some displeasure, "Does Lord Ma know how to be a good and competent subordinate?"

"This humble official is dull-witted and begs for guidance, sir!"

Knowing he had spoken out of turn, Ma Xuezheng bent over several degrees, inwardly cursing himself for being so talkative. He should have just done what the professor instructed, instead of making trouble for himself.

Seeing that Ma Xuezheng's attitude was good, Zhao An's expression softened slightly. He picked up his teacup and said calmly, "I'll give you six words: kowtow more, speak less."

After saying that, he continued reading the newspaper.

The newspaper carried a bombshell: Yin Zhuangtu, a Grand Secretary of the Cabinet and Vice Minister of Rites, after conducting an on-site investigation, took the initiative to write to the emperor, saying that he had previously relied on hearsay and had disrespectfully disregarded the emperor's wishes, regarding the beneficial system of fines for punishing crimes as a disastrous act that deserved punishment, and requested the emperor to imprison him.

The court originally intended to sentence Yin Zhuangtu to death and carry it out immediately, but the old master was magnanimous and only issued an edict to verbally criticize Scholar Yin and demote him to the position of Reader in the Cabinet as a lenient punishment.

He was demoted from a second-rank official to a sixth-rank attendant, which is a demotion of six ranks.

This matter was the headline on the front page of this issue of the official gazette.

Below the headline is an official "report" about Zhao Youlu, a ninth-rank scholar in Yangzhou, who was promoted five ranks to become a professor.

It also clearly states that Zhao Youlu voluntarily paid one thousand taels of silver as a penalty for his crime.

The "editor" in charge of the official gazette did not comment on the matter; he simply copied the original text, leaving the reader to interpret the gist of it.

The rest of the news was about the special imperial examinations and how local governors celebrated the emperor's birthday, all of which were very boring.

(End of this chapter)