No war in the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 67: Everything is difficult at the beginning (more)
Su Ze also inquired about the situation of the store and house affairs in advance. The store and house affairs supervisor was the official who originally belonged to the store and house affairs.

These three people should be the senior clerks in charge of store and house affairs.

As expected, the three of them saluted Su Ze and said:
"The store and house officials, Sun Dayou, Wei Tong, and Feng Youcai, greet Su Tiju!"

Surrounded by a group of people, Su Ze felt a little dizzy. No wonder everyone wanted to be an official.

Su Ze was assigned to be the official in charge of the left and right wing store and house affairs, not the supervisor of store and house affairs, but he was an official of a higher rank. Besides, there was no supervisor of store and house affairs, so Su Ze did not correct his title.

"Let's go to Mingtang first."

Surrounded by the crowd, Su Ze led the officials to the Mingtang. A large group of officials in black official uniforms filled the Mingtang.

In addition to the store and house affairs officials, there are also fifty officials who are in charge of collecting money and handling marriages. They are all officials at the level of bailiffs.

From the name, we can tell that the job of these fifty people is to collect rent from tenants.

However, the official in charge of plundering money and marrying people has his own office in the city of Bianjing. On weekdays, he has to inspect the properties of the store and house affairs office to collect rent. It was only today when Su Ze took office that he squeezed into the store and house affairs office.

The shop's office hall, which was already a bit crowded, was now so crowded that there was barely enough room to stand. Led by three officials, everyone saluted Su Ze in unison.

Su Ze was not overwhelmed by the excitement. He followed Cai Xiang's instructions, first verified the official seal according to the procedures, and then began the procedures for taking over the office.

The predecessor, Lu Gongbi, was arrested, so no handover documents were left. Fortunately, Feng Shiyuan had worked in Kaifeng Prefecture and was familiar with the official procedures.

With the assistance of Feng Shiyuan, Su Ze counted the account books in the warehouse and distributed the squeezed documents. After a whole morning of hard work, he finally completed the handover procedures.

Su Ze looked at the many people working in the store. He took out a note from his sleeve, handed it to Feng Shiyuan and said:
"Let's go to Daxiangguo Temple and buy some food. We'll stay in the government office today."

The fat clerk named Sun Dayou stepped forward and said to Su Ze:

"Su Tiju, how can we let you pay for this? The store and the house are also funded by public funds, and this money will be paid from the public treasury."

Public funds refer to the office expenses of government offices, but government offices at the level of stores and houses naturally do not have much funds.

Therefore, the so-called public funds mentioned by Sun Dayou were most likely the slush fund for store and house management.

Su Ze thought of Cai Xiang's teachings again. This small treasury left by the predecessor cannot be used immediately. The account book must be checked first to see if there is any illegal income. It can only be used after it is confirmed to be safe.

Moreover, public funds must be used for public affairs, otherwise someone will find fault with you.

As expected, there are pitfalls everywhere in the officialdom. Su Ze still said to Feng Shiyuan:
"Let's use my money. The officials have come to see me today and they must have been exhausted. Shiyuan, take some more people with you and buy some delicious food."

Su Ze felt secretly distressed. He had to bear the cost of meals for dozens of people at once. Each person's meal cost about one hundred coins, so for these dozens of people, he spent five strings of coins.

Feng Shiyuan took the Jiaozi and immediately ordered a few people to go to Daxiangguo Temple.

Su Ze started chatting with Sun Dayou and others again.

As the three officers in charge of store and house affairs, they also have their own division of labor.

Sun Dayou was the official in charge of renting out houses. He was responsible for renting out vacant properties. It was one of the few lucrative jobs in the store and house affairs, so he was the fattest.

Wei Tong was an official in charge of maintaining property, and he was in charge of 500 "left and right wing store and house repair commanders", but he looked like a skinny contractor.

I heard before that the maintenance team of the store and house services were often dragged into work by the powerful and wealthy. Now it seems to be true. This is a role that pays little but does a lot of work and is often scolded. No wonder Wei Tong looks so haggard.

Feng Youcai was the official in charge of collecting rent, and the fifty officials who collected money were his subordinates. However, the rent collected by the shops and houses was insufficient all year round, so Feng Youcai was under great pressure and became very thin.

Through chatting, Su Ze also discovered that Sun Dayou was the most agile among the three, no wonder he could eat so much.

Wei Tong kept his head down, looking very honest. Feng Youcai wanted to curry favor with Su Ze, but he was too tongue-tied to speak.

However, these are just appearances, and Su Ze still needs to observe for a while before making any decision.

According to Cai Xiang, it is best for a newly appointed official not to rush to replace the old officials under him.

Although officials have great power and can almost take whatever they want from their subordinates, officials have to do things, and everything needs people to do it.

These veteran officials are often familiar with the operation of the department and know many minefields and tricks. If they are dismissed, the entire government office will be paralyzed.

Therefore, Cai Xiang suggested that he should first find out the truth, understand the character of his subordinates, and become familiar with the affairs within the office. After he had a clear understanding, he could deal with the cunning officials who caused the most public resentment.

Su Ze couldn't help but sigh that Cai Xiang's practical manual for new officials was indeed mature and prudent. This was also the golden advice he summarized after working in the Court of Justice.

Su Ze continued:

"The Municipal Exchange is an institution appointed by the government. My work these days will be focused on the Municipal Exchange. I hope the three of you will continue to take care of the store and house affairs."

Hearing this, the expressions of the three people changed again.

The fattest Sun Dayou showed a look of joy on his face. It was obvious that as the official in charge of renting out properties, he had considerable power. He was naturally very happy to hear that Su Ze asked him to continue doing his job.

Wei Tongze looked frustrated. It was obvious that being in charge of the store and house affairs for the construction team was a very tiring job.

Feng Youcai's expression remained normal, and he was the most cunning of the three.

Su Ze said again:
"Also, I'll continue to review the store and house account books. If you have any difficulties with your work, you can tell me."

At this time, Wei Tong struggled for a moment, opened his mouth and said:
"Su Tiju, the repair commanders of the store and house affairs are often dragged out to repair the house, and they are seriously in arrears. What do you think?"

Su Ze already knew about this matter, and he said to Wei Tong:

"So, from now on, if anyone wants to transfer Xiuxuan Command to do some work, they should come to me. Without my order, they are not allowed to do it, no matter whose order it is."

When Wei Tong heard Su Ze's words, he said with joy:

"Thank you Su Tiju!"

At this time, Feng Shiyuan had already brought lunch back with his men, and Su Ze also ate with many officials.

I have to say, these bald donkeys in Daxiangguo Temple really know how to do business. The takeaway lunch boxes taste really good. No wonder the government offices in Nan Ya all order food from here.

However, Su Ze had his own ideas. He didn't know how many people the Kitchen God Boy in Peach Blossom Spring could cook for. In fact, apart from those officials who plundered money and married people in various places in the city, not many people ate at the shops and houses. Instead of letting these bald donkeys make money, it would be better to let the Kitchen God Boy cook.

In addition, the old accounts of the store and house affairs should also be brought to the accountant for review so that the real situation of the store and house affairs can be understood.

The most important thing is the matter of the Municipal Exchange. If the Municipal Exchange wants to play a role, it must form a scale. It must persuade some workshops to join as soon as possible to open up the situation.

It is true that there are so many things to do and everything is difficult at the beginning.

　Now that I've finished writing it, I'll post it all together. I'll add more to it at night so it's more convenient to read.

　　In the Song Dynasty, parents were indeed simply called "adults". I got used to it as I was writing. I would like to thank some readers for correcting me.

　　The minor officials called Su Ze "Su Tiju", which was the name for the head of a department in the Song Dynasty.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)