White-robed Minister

Chapter 137 0135 [Infamous: Tiger Xu]

As October arrived, Xu Lai became very free.

The autumn tax collection has entered its second phase, with the main pressure resting on the county magistrates, while the prefectural government is simply waiting to receive and transfer the taxes.

The "service period" has ended, and the government is reopening civil cases. However, these cases can be handled by the respective counties themselves and do not need to be submitted to the judicial authorities for review. This is unless someone petitions a higher level of government!

Xu Lai shifted his focus to conscripting and dispatching constables.

He was to assist the prefect and the vice-prefect in formulating a plan for the autumn and winter corvée labor in Yingtian Prefecture.

Xu Lai's elder brother died because of a forced labor, so he naturally took this matter even more seriously.

A meeting of three people was held in the east hall of the government office.

Zhuang Gongyue voiced his question: "After the flood receded, the government used laborers and soldiers to repair roads, post stations, and bridges. This winter, we should be calming things down, only needing to routinely reinforce the dikes and ensure the smooth transport of autumn grain. Why then should we burden the people and waste resources by conscripting laborers to repair the city walls and officials?"

Yes, Xu Lai did not advocate "rest and recuperation," but instead wanted to expand the scale of corvée labor to repair the city walls and official buildings.

Gong Dingchen also looked at Xu Lai curiously, wanting to know why he made such a suggestion.

Xu Lai said, "I have reviewed the official records of Yingtian Prefecture. Prefects and sub-prefects are usually transferred after one year, and very few serve a full two years. Both of you are good officials who love the people like their own children. Why not take advantage of your tenure and finish all these tasks?"

Gong Dingchen and Zhuang Gongyue immediately understood.

Xu Lai wanted to take advantage of the prefect's highest prestige to quickly complete those wasteful and burdensome projects, lest a new official take over and recklessly disregard the lives of the people.

The city walls of Yingtian Prefecture's counties have not been repaired for more than ten years, and they are indeed due for maintenance.

If we do our best to do things well this time, we can ensure that we won't have to do it again for the next twenty years—frequent fortification is a crime punishable by impeachment.

Xu Lai continued, "We strictly supervise the management of money, grain, materials, conscription, and relief, and order the officials of each county not to act recklessly. In winter, I will go to each county to inspect and investigate, so as to minimize the trouble for the people."

"Wouldn't this be too disturbing to the people?" Zhuang Gongyue didn't want to be accused of disturbing the people and was worried that it would damage his reputation as an official.

Xu Lai said, "If you formulate a strategy in advance and then strictly implement it, there will be no problems."

Gong Dingchen then asked, "With seven counties working together to repair the city walls, are there enough funds, grain, and materials?"

Xu Lai said, "It's enough, there's a surplus."

Gong Dingchen and Zhuang Gongyue were at a loss for words, neither laughing nor crying.

After the regular taxes are collected, the excess is called surplus. Officials would privately divide some of this surplus among themselves and then put it into the treasury as the prefecture and county's own revenue.

This year's tax reform resulted in the dismissal of a large number of officials, and most of the surplus summer tax revenue that had been distributed was returned. The government not only recovered the surplus but also confiscated the property of many civil officials.

As for the surplus from the autumn tax, it is estimated that the counties will not dare to act rashly.

These surplus and confiscated assets are just right to be used to repair the city walls of various counties!

Xu Lai had long coveted the money, grain, and supplies, and planned to use them for important business as soon as possible. He was afraid that these things would be wasted by officials after he left office.

Just like when he applied to abolish Xie Enyin, he still used all kinds of resources to the limit.

Xu Lai continued, "The materials used for repairing the city walls will not be requisitioned from the people this time. The prefectural government will send special personnel to each county to supervise the county officials in using the funds for procurement. Before construction begins, the materials consumed will be strictly assessed. After construction begins, personnel will be sent to verify and inspect the work."

It's just repairs, not building a city out of thin air. We don't need that many materials; the government's procurement is enough.

Xu Lai had already discussed the matter with the officials and clerks of the prefectural government, seeking their opinions as professionals. The result of the discussion was:

feasible!

Gong Dingchen couldn't help but exclaim, "He is truly a capable minister."

Zhuang Gongyue also praised him, but inwardly he resented Xu Lai for making things too complicated. Why did he insist on doing something so troublesome, potentially disturbing the people and damaging his reputation?

"I suggest that Judge Xu take full responsibility for this matter," Zhuang Gongyue said, relinquishing his post. He wasn't going to care about anything anyway; let Xu do whatever he wanted.

Xu Lai immediately stood up and bowed: "Since Magistrate Zhuang trusts me so much, I will certainly do my best."

Zhuang Gongyue laughed and said, "Hehe."

Gong Dingchen was getting on in years and didn't want to go through such trouble, so he said to Xu, "You can freely dispatch the officials in the prefectural government. The premise is that the collection and transportation of autumn grain cannot be delayed."

"I will certainly live up to the trust placed in me by the Prefect!" Xu Lai gladly accepted the heavy responsibility.

"Go ahead and get busy," Gong Dingchen said.

Xu Lai said goodbye and left.

After he left, Gong Dingchen couldn't help but sigh, "It's so good to be young; you have the energy to do anything."

Zhuang Gongyue was speechless for a moment, because he was also very young, only in his early thirties.

In his early thirties, he became the Vice Prefect of the Capital, a position that could be described as having a bright future!

If we don't compare him to Xu Lai, Zhuang Gongyue was actually a competent and good official in the Song Dynasty.

Later, when the Song Dynasty was at war with the Western Xia, he was responsible for supplying provisions to the Fuyan Road. When the war broke out due to a lack of provisions, the chief commander, Wang Zhongzheng (a eunuch), blamed him for the trouble.

The final investigation revealed that Zhuang Gongyue had ordered the requisition of forty days' worth of provisions, but only half a month's worth had been delivered before the eunuch commander-in-chief was eager to set off. Zhuang Gongyue's attempts to dissuade him were unsuccessful, so he could only try to delay the inevitable and secretly requisitioned another eight days' worth of provisions.

Even if it is verified that he was meritorious and not at fault, Zhuang Gongyue was still demoted one rank.

Where to go to reason?

That damned eunuch knew absolutely nothing about military affairs, yet he was appointed as the chief instructor. Setting out on campaigns when supplies were insufficient was just the beginning. During the march, fearing discovery by the enemy, he frequently ordered fires to be extinguished before the food was cooked, leading to massive illness and attrition among the soldiers.

Xu Lai, who was originally quite free, has become unusually busy by deliberately creating trouble for himself.

The seven newly appointed county magistrates, registrars, and county constables, as well as the newly promoted senior clerks of the county government, were all suffering greatly at Xu Lai's hands.

They had to collect the autumn taxes, formulate a plan for the repair of the city, and Xu Lai also had to send people to inspect it.

Coming to this place to serve as an official and encountering a superior like this is simply the worst luck imaginable.

But no one dared to be perfunctory or take the opportunity to make money. Even the powerful families kept a low profile for the time being, hoping that Xu Sanlang would be transferred away from Yingtian Prefecture as soon as possible.

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I can't take it anymore!

The common people were equally resentful, complaining about the inexplicable repairs to the city walls and the officials, which led to many families being conscripted for labor. The only relief they received was that no supplies were requisitioned this time, and meals were provided during their service.

Bu Chao ran back in the evening and said, "My lord, you have a nickname now."

"What nickname?" Xu Lai asked.

Bu Chao said, "Xu the Tiger. People say that oppressive government is more ferocious than a tiger."

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Xu Lai laughed loudly.

Seeing that Xu Lai wasn't in a hurry, Bu Chao became anxious instead: "Someone is ruining your reputation, and you can still laugh?"

Xu Lai explained, "The counties levied corvée labor to repair the city walls and paid the officials accordingly. How would the common people know that I suggested it? It must have been someone in the government spreading the word. The officials and gentry in each county took advantage of the people's resentment and took the opportunity to publicize this matter. The more they publicized it, the more it proved that I made them uncomfortable. But they couldn't do anything about it, so they could only secretly ruin my reputation."

"You care about the people, but now they resent you. They even call you 'Tiger Xu.' Aren't you aggrieved?" Bu Chao asked.

Xu Lai said, "A person who is praised throughout the world will inevitably be slandered throughout the world. What is this little show of force? In the future, the whole world may be cursing me."

Bu Chao's understanding was limited, and he couldn't comprehend what he was saying.

Seeing Bu Chao lost in thought, Xu Lai said, "You'll understand in the future."

Bu Chao scratched his head.

Xu Lai entered the inner courtyard, and Yu'er immediately came to greet him, asking him to try on the winter clothes that had been prepared in advance.

After dinner, Xu Lai went to his study.

He has memorized the "Song Xing Tong" perfectly and is currently studying the "Zhou Yi Zheng Yi" in his spare time.

In the Northern Song Dynasty, those who studied the Book of Changes split into two schools.

One school is the school of moral philosophy. They regard the Book of Changes as the ancestor of all classics and study its philosophical thought and ethics. They also use the theoretical framework of the Book of Changes to reconstruct the Confucian worldview, theory of human nature, and political philosophy in order to counter the influence of Buddhism and Taoism on society.

One group is the Book of Books faction. They admire the Hetu and Luoshu diagrams and study the hexagrams, numbers, and diagrams of the I Ching.

Xu Lai is temporarily an apprentice of the Yili School.

Xu Lai opened the book "Zhouyi Zhengyi" but hadn't had a chance to read it yet when he remembered the private message he received on his way home from get off work.

It was sent by Shen Kuo, Su Song, and Lin Yi. It is estimated that they sent them at the same time, and the three letters arrived in Yingtian Prefecture together.

The contents of the three letters were all related to the adoption of "Mathematics" and "Geometry" as official textbooks. They were extremely excited about this and wrote to Xu Lai immediately to share the good news.

At that time, the official arithmetic school was only established in Tokyo, with a very small teaching scale, and it did not enroll students every year.

Students with excellent graduation grades were directly assigned to institutions such as the Three Offices and the Imperial Observatory to work in finance, astronomy, and calendar systems.

In other words, students who have studied mathematics and geometry will be quickly assigned to departments such as the Three Offices and the Imperial Observatory.

Shen Kuo also said that he had secured a part-time position at the Hanlin Astronomical Academy, which allowed him to stay overnight in the capital every few days to observe celestial phenomena.

Xu Lai suddenly had a wicked sense of humor and wrote back a star map of the solar system, adding the annotation that it revolves around the sun due to gravity.

He was very curious to know how Shen Kuo would react to the painting.

The first reaction is definitely surprise and confusion.

Because from the Tang Dynasty onwards, astronomers all believed in the Hun Tian theory: the universe is like an egg, with the Earth at the center, and the sun...

The moon and stars revolve around the Earth.

This theory has its own logic, its own models and mechanisms, and can explain various astronomical phenomena.

The heliocentric model depicted in Xu Lai's drawing was something that the astronomers at the time could neither verify nor disprove.

The telescope had to be improved to observe the phases of Venus in order to prove that the heliocentric theory was correct. Historically, this work was done by Galileo.

Galileo used a 30x glass telescope.

If crystal is used to make the lens, the magnification would probably need to be increased; a 30x crystal telescope would be insufficient for observing the phases of Venus.

Unless you get your hands on a flawless, top-quality crystal.

After writing his reply and putting it in the envelope, Xu Lai picked up "The Correct Meaning of the Book of Changes" and began to read.

A thorough understanding of history and classics is an essential skill for anyone aspiring to lead a reform movement.

In recent years, Wang Anshi has been studying intensively to elevate himself to the level of a great Confucian scholar, so that he would be qualified to lead the Xining Reforms.

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