Women Wearing Men: The Growth Path of the Bastards of the Aristocratic Family

After briefly talking about some data on the summer grain collection, Yan Zhengqian said: "After the tax collection is completed, it will be transported to Chengdu Prefecture to report the situation to the Chief Secretary. This time I plan to go with Mr. Chen, and Mr. Gu will stay. In the government office, the affairs of the state government, large and small, are temporarily left to Mr. Gu to take care of."

Within a state capital, the prefect is the highest chief executive, and the tongzhi is the deputy to the prefect, assisting the prefect in managing the government affairs of the state. The tong magistrate has both the responsibilities of co-ordination and supervision, helping both the prefect and the tongzhi manage the government affairs within the state. , and also formed a check and balance between the two.

Generally speaking, when going to the Chief Secretary to pay grain taxes, either the first-in-command goes to the prefect, or the second-in-command goes with the prefect, or the prefect and the magistrate go together. It is rare that both the top two go, leaving only one third. Handle the situation in the government office.

Gu Yunji guessed that Yan Zhengqian and Chen Xunzhou were going to the Chief Secretary together this time, maybe to make some small moves, such as filing a complaint against him.

However, he was too lazy to care about it, and he didn't want to care about it. His communication with the chief envoy was very few, and they were basically limited to writing.If the other party is a sensible person, he will naturally not listen to Yan and Chen's slander against him. If the other party is the same as them, then it will be of no use to him.

It is a waste of time and energy to focus on people like Yan Zhengqian and Chen Xunzhou. At the moment, Gu Yunji still wants to do practical things, such as continuing to promote Yangtao, such as handling daily criminal matters... and so on.

Therefore, Gu Yunji did not raise any objection to this. After a few hasty remarks, the tax and food matter was considered to be discussed.

Next, the three of them went to do what they should do. Gu Yunji continued to handle daily official duties, while Yan Zhengqian and Chen Xunzhou went to Chengdu Mansion, the seat of the Sichuan Chief Envoy's Office, to report the results of the summer grain collection to the Chief Envoy. .

When the Chief Secretary of Sichuan heard that the summer grain tax of Xuzhou Prefecture had levied more than [-] shi, the chief envoy Pu Tingnan was surprised and said: "So many? You must know that other state capitals generally only have [-] to [-] shi, and the highest one is only [-] shi." Shi, among all the lower-level prefectures in Sichuan, your Xu Prefecture deserves to be the one that pays the most food this time."

Yan Zhengqian acted like a dog-legger in front of the superior officer, and smiled extremely flatteringly: "Master Pu, I am overly complimentary. I heard Master Pu say that we should try our best to collect grain. The subordinate did not dare to neglect, and we collected all the grain that could be collected. We I didn’t expect there to be so many. This is all due to your good teaching and good management.”

Pu Tingnan felt comfortable physically and mentally by his flattery, but he still did not forget to say seriously: "It is very important to collect the summer grain tax and complete the tasks assigned by the court, but other than that, the livelihood of the people is more important. Don't do it for If you collect taxes and grains, you will blindly persecute the people. If a riot breaks out, it will be serious."

Yan Zhengqian said hurriedly: "Please rest assured, Mr. Pu, we all know this. I can assure you that during this summer grain collection, the officials of Xuzhou Prefecture did not do any violent tax collection. All tax grains will be collected." It was collected in accordance with the law and regulations.”

"Really?"

Pu Tingnan knew very well the virtues of these officials, and he doubted the authenticity of these words. He raised his eyebrows and asked: "This year, most areas in central Sichuan have suffered from drought, and other state capitals are crying to me, saying that grain production has been seriously reduced. , taxes are not coming in.”

"Is Xuzhou Prefecture so amazing? It can have a good harvest even under severe drought, so that Lord Yan can collect all the taxes and grains without any effort?"

"Of course it's not as easy as Mr. Pu said. We still put in a lot of effort."

With that said, Yan Zhengqian pulled out Chen Xunzhou who was following him, brought him to Pu Tingnan and said, "Especially Mr. Chen, our Dai Tongzhi in Xuzhou Prefecture. His family has a lot of land in Xuzhou Prefecture. This time he will collect grain." When he runs before and after, he contributes more." After all, Chen Xunzhou was not from a serious imperial examination background, and his knowledge was limited. It was okay in Xuzhou Prefecture. When he arrived at the Chief Secretary and saw the highest official in Sichuan, the Chief Envoy, he I couldn't help but feel weak, my movements were timid, and I didn't even dare to say a word.

Throughout Daxia officialdom, there were many chains of contempt. The most typical example was that officials in the capital looked down on local officials, and official officials in the imperial court looked down on the low-level officials at the bottom of the yamen.Within the imperial examination system, shuji scholars looked down on ordinary scholars who had not entered the Hanlin Academy. Ordinary scholars looked down on candidates who were candidates for official positions, and judges looked down on nominal supervisors and related household officials who were not from the imperial examination.

Chen Xunzhou was not born in the imperial examination, and he originally only had the reputation of being a scholar. Later, he spent a lot of money and donated a lot of money to become a nominal supervisor, so he could only serve as a "dai tongzhi" in a low-level state capital like Xuzhou Prefecture.

If one ignores official rank, Chen Xunzhou is simply at the bottom of the contempt chain in the entire officialdom. He possesses all the despised elements.When he was in Xuzhou Mansion, Chen Xunzhou was a co-president of the same government. Except for Yan Zhengqian who occasionally showed a little contempt for him, no one dared to look down on him.

But once he left Xuzhou Prefecture and came to Chengdu Prefecture, any official had a higher background than him. Even a ninth-grade official in the Chief Secretary was an upright judge, and the Chief Envoy in front of him was even more upright. Born as a second-class Jinshi, Chen Xunzhou felt that he was a head shorter than others when he walked on the road, and he couldn't help but reveal his inferiority complex.

Being pulled in front of the Chief Envoy by Yan Zhengqian, Chen Xunzhou was so nervous that his palms were sweating, and he said nervously: "... Next, Chen Xunzhou, the deputy governor of Xuzhou Prefecture, has met the Chief Envoy."

"Chen Xunzhou..." Pu Tingnan looked at him carefully, with a warm expression, "I have an impression of you. Although you are not an official of the imperial court, you have been a fellow coffin in Xuzhou Prefecture for several years, and you are older than Magistrate Yan. Now, the prosperity of Xuzhou Prefecture cannot be separated from your efforts."

Chen Xunzhou was even more at a loss and said hurriedly: "I'm just trying my best. I don't dare to praise you as an adult."

Pu Tingnan is a veteran in officialdom. He has dealt with Yan Zhengqian many times, and he knows best the character of Yan Zhengqian.In the past, he came alone for grain tax reports and other matters. This time he brought Chen Xunzhou here for some other purpose.

Thinking of this, Pu Tingnan sat back on his chair, took a slow sip of tea, and calmly tried to say:
"Although I asked the state governments to collect taxes as much as possible before, I didn't expect that the Xuzhou government actually collected [-] shi of grain. This amount has almost caught up with the good weather in previous years. This year's drought is so serious, although the imperial court has not yet issued an order , but thinking about it, tax cuts are already a certainty, it’s just a matter of how much.”

"As for the extra grain that Xuzhou Prefecture paid, in my opinion, it will be troublesome for you two to transport it back by then. It is better to keep an account with me first and transfer part of it to the autumn tax. Wait until the autumn tax is collected. , Xuzhou Prefecture just needs to pay less, what do you two think?"

Even though Yan Zhengqian understood what he meant, he immediately said: "Look at what Mr. Pu said, summer tax is summer tax, autumn tax is autumn tax, how can we confuse the two and use summer tax to pay autumn tax? "

"Of course, due to the severe drought in central Sichuan, other state capitals have been affected to varying degrees, and it is very difficult to collect taxes and grains. If only Xuzhou Prefecture pays a lot of food and pays it in full, it will definitely let the brother prefectures It will make us look bad, and it will also make our Xuzhou Prefecture a target of public criticism."

"But since the grain has been shipped, there is no way to transport it back..."

Yan Zhengqian paused, glanced around subconsciously, stood up and approached Pu Tingnan, smiling flatteringly: "How about - this extra food should be regarded as the filial piety that Chen Tongzhi and I dedicate to you, Sir, to repay you for these things." The grace of teaching us over the years.”