Eagle-eyed and wolf-watching

Chapter 1692 Follow the rules! Don't make mistakes! Be a good person!
"Father, how could the yamen not have the money to pay the runners' wages!" Jingren said in disbelief.

Ye Mingsheng smiled and said upon hearing this:

Why should the government be obligated to pay the runners their wages?

"I heard from Mr. Gu that all the government offices in the Great Qian Dynasty pay their servants on time!"

"Jingren, Gu Sansi is telling you about the situation after the reforms, but I'm talking about the Great Zhou Dynasty twenty years ago!"

"Jingren, each county has at least a hundred jobs, including clerks, constables, runners, jailers, and so on. If you include the patrol battalion, that's at least two to three hundred people!"

"The wages of three hundred people, plus the expenses for maintaining the normal operation of the yamen, even if we don't count embezzlement, there are other irregular expenses, which amount to at least 1,500 taels of silver a year!"

"It can be said that 1,500 taels of silver is the bottom line. Without that amount, a county government simply cannot maintain normal operations!"

"But twenty years ago, many counties in the Great Zhou Dynasty could only collect between one thousand and two thousand taels of silver in taxes a year. This was considered a year of good weather and no disasters!"

Upon hearing his father say this, Jingren quickly replied:

"With an annual tax of one to two thousand taels of silver, that should cover a minimum expenditure of one thousand five hundred taels of silver. How could there be no silver to pay wages?"

"Jingren, that's a good question, but the taxes collected might not all stay in the local area. Didn't the Great Zhou royal family need money for food, clothing, entertainment, and palace repairs? And wouldn't the prefects and heads of the provincial administration offices take a cut?"

Hearing his father say this, Jingren was somewhat bewildered. Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng earnestly advised him:
"Jingren, as I just told you, both the Great Zhou and Great Qian systems are hierarchical. Compared to ordinary people, your superior is the one who has more power to determine your future and fate. Therefore, this leads to the fact that government employees often give in to their superiors' demands!"

“Every year, the bulk of the tax revenue is taken by the higher-ups, leaving only a small portion for the county government, and that's hardly enough to cover the expenses!”

"Therefore, in order to maintain the normal operation of a county government, the magistrate must have his own means, or borrow money from the local gentry. Of course, it is said to be borrowing money, but in reality, most of the time it is just asking for money, without even writing an IOU, let alone repaying it!"

"Because of the reforms implemented in our Great Qian Dynasty, wealth has been redistributed, and all gentry are required to pay taxes, the situation of county governments in various places has improved significantly, and income can now cover expenses! Therefore, we are now able to pay wages on time!"

"But under the circumstances at the time, it was very difficult to pay wages on time!"

Hearing his father say this, Jingren seemed to be deep in thought, and then seriously asked a question:

"Father, what will happen if we can't borrow the money?"

Ye Mingsheng smiled and said upon hearing this:

"Under those circumstances, if the county magistrate asked you to borrow money, it most likely meant that he had investigated your background and knew that you had no powerful connections or influence, and that he could easily take advantage of you!"

"So in this situation, you'd better take the initiative, or even be generous and say that the money was donated and doesn't need to be returned..."

"It's hard to accomplish anything in this world, but it's very easy to find fault and nitpick, especially when you're at the mercy of others!"

"Alright, let's get back to the main topic. Jingren, you have two choices. Which one do you choose?"

"I choose the second option. Although it's not as safe as the first one, I can only do my best since I don't have the money!"

Seeing his son's serious expression, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but tap him lightly and then said:

"wrong!"

Although he didn't know why he was wrong, Jingren still said with a puzzled expression;
"Then let's go with the third option. Something is better than nothing, it's better than doing nothing at all!"

Upon hearing this, Ye Mingsheng shook his head and said:

"Jingren, if that's what you think, you won't even know how you died on the G field!"

"Huh? Why do you say that, Father! I want to choose the safest option, but I don't have the money!"

Seeing Jingren still struggling with the plan, Ye Mingsheng solemnly instructed him:

"In the Great Zhou court, the most important thing is not what you do, but to follow the rules! Don't make mistakes, and know how to conduct yourself! If you can do these three things, you will be able to rise rapidly in the imperial court!"

What are rules?

"For example, take this multiple-choice question I'm giving you: the dike your predecessor built is at risk of collapsing. Your first priority shouldn't be to find a way to repair the dike and reduce the risk of collapse, but rather not to repair the dike at all!"

"Huh? Why doesn't Father repair this dike? If the dike collapses, won't the people suffer?"

"Think about it: this dike was built by your predecessor, not during your tenure. This means that if the dike collapses due to quality issues, it's your predecessor's fault; you're only partially responsible..."

"But if you repair the dam, but it still collapses in the end, then that's your problem, and you'll be the one who suffers. You'll bear the main responsibility!"

"So you only have two choices: either do a good job and prevent the dam from collapsing, or don't repair the dam and let your predecessor take the blame so you can get away with it!"

"So the correct approach to this multiple-choice question is to write a report to the higher authorities requesting funding for the safest option, and ask them to approve the funds to repair the dam!"

"If the higher-ups approve the funds, then you should focus on repairing the dikes. If they don't approve the funds, then you should just drag things out. At most, when the risk of the dikes collapsing comes, you should evacuate the people. That would be considered a good job!"

His father's words deeply shook Jingren. He looked at his father in disbelief, and after a moment, he spoke:
"If Father does this, what will happen to the people? Won't they all perish when the flood comes?" Ye Mingsheng said, patting Jingren's head.

"Mencius said, 'When poor, one should cultivate one's own virtue; when successful, one should benefit all under heaven.' It's difficult for one person to change the rules of the game in this world, so when danger strikes, it's best to shift the blame and protect oneself..."

Hearing his father's words, Jingren fell silent again. After a long while, he finally looked up at Ye Mingsheng and asked expectantly:

"Father, the Great Zhou's gambling dens are so dark and corrupt, our Great Qian isn't like that, is it?"

Feeling his son's expectant gaze, Ye Mingsheng really wanted to give his son a positive answer, but after hesitating, Ye Mingsheng hardened his heart and wanted him to face reality!

Therefore, under Jing Ren's unwavering gaze, Ye Mingsheng shook his head with a wry smile.

Seeing this, Ren asked in great confusion:
"Why? You've implemented so many reforms, why are you still the same as the Great Zhou?"

Faced with Jingren's question, this time it was Ye Mingsheng's turn to remain silent.

After a moment of contemplation, Ye Mingsheng slowly spoke:
"If we compare the system to a tree, the reforms I've made are merely pruning the branches, not touching the roots. So these reforms are ultimately just treating the symptoms, not the root cause; they're just changing the name without changing the substance!"

Upon hearing this, Jingren asked in even greater confusion:
"Dad, why don't you use the tree roots to make specimens as a side job?"

Upon hearing this, Ye Mingsheng pointed to himself and said:
"Because I, the emperor, am the root of the tree!"

"what!"

Seeing Jing Ren's bewildered expression, Ye Mingsheng smiled and said:

"The twenty-four histories of the Central Plains can be described as twenty-four stories of falling into the same latrine!"

"But why do people keep rushing to jump into this latrine?"

"This is the charm of Q-Power. When you feel the wonder of Q-Power, you will want to possess it for a lifetime. Anyone who tries to control you or hinder you will be your mortal enemy!"

"Human nature is nothing more than this. So, although our Great Qian Dynasty seems to have changed a lot compared to the Great Zhou Dynasty, it is actually just a change in name only. Without making fundamental changes, it will eventually follow the same old path as the Great Zhou Dynasty..."

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Yijing South City
At 3:45 PM, a carriage, escorted by a patrol battalion, headed towards Chongli Street in the south of the city.

At this moment, Chu Zhiyi, who was serving as the Inspector General of Youyan, was resting with his eyes closed in the carriage.

After Chu Zhiyi was transferred from his position as Provincial Surveillance Commissioner of Yunbing to Left Censor-in-Chief, the Ministry of Revenue arranged a large three-courtyard mansion for his family in Yijing East City. However, Chu Zhiyi resolutely refused, because the mansion arranged by the Ministry of Revenue was simply too luxurious.

Despite the Ministry of Revenue's statement that everything was done according to the rules, the Left Censor-in-Chief was a high-ranking official in the court, a Grand Secretary, and one of the most powerful people in the Great Qian Dynasty, and should therefore enjoy the highest treatment.

However, Chu Zhiyi still couldn't hold on, so after consulting with Ye Mingsheng, the Ministry of Revenue arranged a two-courtyard house for Chu Zhiyi in the southern part of the city.

Although he still felt that the two-courtyard house was very luxurious, with all kinds of furniture and maids and servants to serve him, Chu Zhiyi could only reluctantly move in with his family under Ye Mingsheng's orders.

Because this two-courtyard house was of the rank of Provincial Treasurer and Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, it was a lower rank compared to Chu Zhiyi's status at the time. Therefore, even after Chu Zhiyi left his position as Left Censor-in-Chief and was transferred to the position of Provincial Surveillance Commissioner of Youyan, his family continued to live in this two-courtyard house in the southern part of the city...
Chu Zhiyi, while working at the Provincial Surveillance Commission, implemented a series of measures to reduce expenditures in response to the imperial court's call.

While this did reduce the expenses of the yamen, it also created some difficulties in the convenience of the yamen's work.

For example, the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner's Office currently only has five official carriages. If, according to normal regulations, the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner and the Deputy Provincial Surveillance Commissioner each have their own dedicated carriages, then the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner's Office would only have three official carriages available for official business.

For this reason, Chu Zhiyi took the lead in canceling his own private carriage and avoided using it unless absolutely necessary, wanting to leave the carriage for staff who needed it more.

Chu Zhiyi's idea was good, and at first he even wanted to walk to work, but unfortunately he overestimated himself.

The Provincial Surveillance Commissioner's Office was located in the eastern part of Yijing, while he lived in the southern part of Yijing. The two were about half the length of Yijing, which meant that if Chu Zhiyi walked, his commute would take nearly half an hour a day.

Doing so would undoubtedly consume a lot of Chu Zhiyi's physical strength and energy, increasing the burden on Chu Zhiyi as the Inspector of Youyan. Therefore, in order not to affect his normal work, Chu Zhiyi had no choice but to take a carriage to and from get off work every day, persuaded by his colleagues.

The security in Yijing was not bad, but Chu Zhiyi's upright and incorruptible personality offended many people in the G field. Therefore, in order to prevent anyone from retaliating, Chu Zhiyi's mother, Chu Wangshi, and wife, Chu Zhaoshi, also strongly required Chu Zhiyi to have the patrol battalion guards escort him when he went to and from get off work every day.

At first, Chu Zhiyi was unwilling, feeling it was a waste of resources. However, after repeated persuasion from his mother and wife, he had no choice but to accept it.

After a stick of incense had burned, Chu Zhiyi returned to his residence without incident. As soon as he stepped off the carriage, he noticed another carriage parked in front of his house.

Upon seeing this, Chu Zhiyi realized that guests had arrived at his home, and his brows furrowed. He then looked at the license plate of the carriage.

Because of its economic prosperity, many people in Yijing can afford horse-drawn carriages. As a result, the large number of carriages has led to traffic problems. In order to facilitate management and prevent traffic tragedies, Ye Mingsheng implemented a license plate system to limit the number of horse-drawn carriages in Yijing.

Therefore, in Yijing, license plates were also a symbol of status and identity. The identity of the carriage owner could be seen through the license plate. For example, the "A" in the license plate meant that it was a public carriage.

B is the license plate for civilian vehicles in Yijing, and C is the temporary license plate for carriages from other places entering Yijing.

At this moment, the license plate of this carriage begins with "丙"!

Although Chu Zhiyi had not yet entered the house and met the person, he already knew who the person was!
After all, it's not easy for out-of-town carriages to get temporary license plates in Yijing. Many out-of-town carriages that can get temporary license plates are public carriages of local government offices. Even if they are civilian carriages, the owners must be of very high status!
Upon entering the house, Chu Zhiyi heard his wife's voice.

"Grab your things and hurry up! My husband is different from those government officials you know. He doesn't like giving gifts or pulling strings. He'll be home from get off work soon, so you'd better hurry..."