Chapter 27: New Official Takes Office
A farewell banquet is being held at the Changshou County Yamen.
Shen Li, the magistrate of Changshou who had "shine brightly" in the smuggling salt case not long ago, has received a new appointment. He will be transferred to Jingzhou, which is under the jurisdiction of Huguang Provincial Administration, to serve as the co-magistrate of the prefecture. His official rank will be raised from the seventh rank to the sixth rank.
There was only one table for the banquet, with ten people sitting around it, six of whom were officials from the county government and three were local gentry.
The "welcoming banquet" when Shen Li took office in Changshou County was much more grand than the one now.
The atmosphere at the table was depressing.
"Come, let us congratulate Magistrate Shen on his promotion."
But there was someone who was ignorant enough to stand up and toast to Shen Li. He was the instigator of the previous smuggling salt case - Zhu Wanjian, the second son of the Zhu family.
Everyone around looked at Zhu Wanjian with strange eyes. This kind of "promotion" talk was really not suitable for today's dinner table, because everyone knew that Shen Li was tripped up by Huang Zan, the Left Governor of Huguang. He was transferred to the remote corner of southern Hunan to be a provincial adjutant by means of a promotion in public and a demotion in private. Not only did he have no real power, but his dream of returning to Beijing to be an official was becoming increasingly unattainable.
From being the magistrate of a county in a remote city, he was transferred to be the deputy magistrate of a remote prefecture...
Jingzhou is a damn place, right next to the territories of various chieftains in southern Hunan and Guangxi ...birds wouldn't even bother to shit when flying over it.
"Second Master Zhu, I'm not saying that I have to show off by not drinking your wine, but I just want to ask, doesn't the Zhu family have any opinion on this matter?"
Shen Li felt really aggrieved.
In his opinion, the Zhu family, a Jinyiwei thousand-household family that is highly respected by the royal family, can be considered a "wealthy and powerful family" with a certain influence in the court. Although I messed up what the Zhu family asked me to do, how should I deal with the consequence of offending my superiors and being promoted in name only and demoted in reality?
Not only did your Zhu family not help out in the court or say a word for me, but now you are running to the farewell banquet to make sarcastic remarks?
Promotion?
Raise your mother's eggs!
Seeing the unfriendly expressions of the people around him, Zhu Wanjian shook his head and put down his wine glass: "Shen Zhixian, no, now I should call you Shen Tongzhi. The most important thing for an official is to share the worries of the emperor and the court. Go wherever there is a shortage of people , so as not to disappoint the emperor's grace."
The expressions of the people around him became more and more strange, and their eyes were like they were looking at a monster.
It's not enough to just make sarcastic remarks, are you trying to turn black into white?
"For example, my Zhu family could have stayed in the capital and lived a stable life, but we chose to settle in Anlu Prefecture. What was the purpose? Wasn't it to do something practical for the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty? Do you think this is the truth?"
reason?
What kind of bullshit logic is this? The Zhu family is one of the thousands of households of the Jinyiwei. It's so stupid.
Others sneered, but Shen Li frowned , vaguely hearing something else in Zhu Wanjian's words.
Shen Li ignored the clichés like "go wherever there are difficulties", but he understood that Zhu Wanjian was clearly telling him that if our Zhu family really had connections, wouldn't we be exiled to Anlu by the court?
Shen Li almost wanted to hold his head and bang it hard, thinking: "Why didn't I think of the connection... Jinyiwei Qianhu is nothing. If he is really capable, would he need a small county magistrate like me to run around? He is really too greedy!"
Unfortunately, it was too late for Shen Xiang to realize this. He was now stuck in a quagmire with no way to reverse the situation. He could only go to Jingzhou to reflect on himself and try not to make the same mistake again.
…
…
Shen Li ended his term as magistrate of Changshou County less than two years later, leaving the position vacant, and the court did not temporarily assign a new candidate.
In many cases, this kind of local official selection does not need to go through the Ministry of Personnel, especially when the position of county magistrate is vacant during the term of office. For example, in the event of the current county magistrate's sudden transfer or sudden death, or mourning, the Huguang Provincial Administration Office can temporarily appoint a new magistrate and report it to the Ministry of Personnel for filing.
There was still more than a year left in the term of the county magistrate, and the position could be appointed by the provincial government. No one was interested in being the magistrate of a county in the inner city, so finally a scholar who had served two terms as a county magistrate and was currently unemployed at home was transferred from Jingzhou Prefecture to serve as the county magistrate for more than a year.
Jingzhou Prefecture borders Anlu Prefecture. When Shen Li stepped down from office, the acting county magistrate who had received the transfer order had already embarked on the journey to take up his post and would arrive at Changshou County in no time.
Originally, Shen Li could have completed the handover with the new magistrate before leaving, but he was not in the mood for that. After the farewell banquet that night, he left in a hurry with his staff.
Coincidentally, the day after Shen Li left Anlu, a new county magistrate took office and the local gentry formed a team to welcome him.
No matter how long the new magistrate has been in office, or what his abilities are, for at least the next year or so, the gentry and common people will have to rely on the new magistrate for their food, so a welcoming banquet should still be held, and all the necessary courtesies should be performed. Merchants in the city should also unite to give gifts, hoping that the new magistrate will not exploit them too much.
Whenever a new official takes office, the state capital becomes bustling with activity, just like a festival.
"Mom, that County Magistrate Shen... the man who made things difficult for us several times has been transferred. It's really a relief!" Zhu Hao gloated.
Outside, the sound of gongs and drums could be heard. It was the gentry and merchants who formed a team to welcome the new magistrate at the city gate, hoping to leave a good impression on him.
Zhu Niang didn't say anything.
Aunt Li said, "It is said that County Magistrate Shen has been promoted to the position of Provincial Governor, and he is still in our Huguang area. Will it affect our business?"
Zhu Hao laughed and said, "Aunt, you don't understand this. The position he holds now is nothing. He didn't offend us, but the most powerful official in Huguang, Huang Fantai. It's good enough that he didn't get fired directly. It will take a long time for him to deal with us."
Zhu Niang rolled her eyes at Zhu Hao and said, "It's never a good thing to offend people in the government. The new county magistrate may learn from his mistakes and make things difficult for us... It's not a good idea to always rely on Su Dongzhu. He may have some crooked ideas to seize our salt drying method."
Zhu Hao was relieved to see that his mother had a sense of crisis.
"Mother is right. We should find a more powerful backer. I think... Prince Xing's Mansion is very good. If we can gain the respect of Prince Xing..."
“Crackle…”
Suddenly someone outside set off firecrackers, interrupting Zhu Hao's speech.
Zhu Hao leaned over to take a look and saw firecrackers being set off in front of Qian Chuanzi's shop diagonally across the street.
Aunt Li covered her ears and walked to the door. After the other party finished setting off the firecrackers, she said disdainfully: "Today is not a festival, why is Qian Chuanzi so crazy about setting off firecrackers?"
Zhu Hao said, "You don't understand this, Auntie. The new magistrate will pass by our door when he comes to the city. If the new magistrate sees the firecrackers set off in front of his door and the red confetti all over the floor, and thinks that he spent a lot of money to express his welcome, will he look at him differently?"
Aunt Li immediately understood what she meant and looked at Zhu Niang: "Sister, should we also buy some firecrackers to set off?"
Zhu Niang took this matter lightly: "The family hasn't celebrated the great festival yet, how can we arrange a happy event casually? What will outsiders think? Besides, we should try to avoid dealing with the government in the future..."
Obviously, Zhu Niang also knew that what she was doing was almost a private salt business, and she had to avoid the government as much as possible. How could she dare to come forward with such a shameless attitude?
"Xiaohao, I bought you a few books. Go back to the backyard and take a look. If there's anything you don't understand, I'll teach you later. It's noisy outside, so don't come out!"
Zhu Hao stood guard at the door: "I want to see what the new county magistrate looks like."
Zhu Niang rolled her eyes at her son and said, "You went to the backyard with Xiao Ting to teach your sister how to read. You don't act like a brother at all. How are you going to support the family business in the future?"
Zhu Hao touched his nose when he heard this.
Have I behaved badly recently? Now the business of the shop is stable, and the monthly income is probably something I couldn't even imagine before. Is this still called being a brother?
But towards my sister...I did care less about her.
"Then I'll go teach my sister..."
After saying that, Zhu Hao took Zhu Ting's hand and went to the inner courtyard.
…
…
Activities to welcome the new magistrate are still ongoing.
Almost all the local gentry came out.
The new magistrate's surname was Jing. He was not very old, only about thirty years old. He came to take up his post with his wife and children. There were two horse-drawn carriages in front and behind. Besides his family, there were only two coachmen and a few attendants.
This acting magistrate, who was a juren (a successful candidate in the imperial examination), had once been a teacher at the Confucian Academy and had later served twice as county magistrate in Huangzhou Prefecture in Huguang and Changsha Prefecture. His total official experience was no more than five years, so it was not easy for him to be promoted to the magistrate of Changshou.
Apparently, the magistrate of Jing had not expected that the people of Anlu would welcome him so grandly. He almost leaned half of his body out of the carriage and waved frequently to the gentry and common people on both sides of the street.
When the group arrived at the door of Zhu Niang's rice shop, the carriage suddenly stopped.
Qian Chuanzi thought that the firecrackers he had set off had worked, so he hurried over to greet the new magistrate. However, after getting off the carriage, the new magistrate ignored him completely and walked straight to Zhu Niang's rice shop across the street.
When the new magistrate arrived, there were already many onlookers following him. When they saw the new magistrate going straight to Zhu Niang Rice Shop, people suddenly became excited as this shop had been the cause of a lot of trouble in the past period of time.
Zhu Niang was originally concentrating on doing the accounts behind the counter, but she was very puzzled when she heard Aunt Li say that the new magistrate was coming to the shop.
When she reached the door, the new magistrate was only a few steps away from the shop.
"This must be the widow of General Zhongyi, Madam Zhu San!"
The magistrate of Jing bowed to Zhu Niang, and Zhu Niang hurriedly returned the greeting.
The magistrate of Jing said, "I am from Jiangling, Jingzhou Prefecture. My surname is Jing and my courtesy name is Zhongkuan. I have long heard that General Zhongyi is loyal, filial, and fraternal. Mrs. Zhu San has supported her husband and raised her children, and has maintained the family business. I came here because of your reputation. I am here to show my courtesy."
The crowd originally thought that the new magistrate and Zhu Niang were old acquaintances, but after hearing this, they realized that it was because Zhu Niang was "famous."
Zhu Hao heard that it was very lively outside and could not help but jogging to the curtain door at the back of the shop to watch the fun. He happened to hear the ceremonial words of County Magistrate Jing and laughed in his heart, "Are you trying to find out how your predecessor fell? Are you planning to get up from where you fell?"
You, as a parent official, are quite scheming!