Miao Chu

Chapter 177: Complaint
Before Chief Ding had even left, upon hearing this, he immediately rebuked, "The road isn't even open yet! I've personally spoken to all the grain shops in the city, so where did this 'full of grain' come from? You must be dreaming, spouting nonsense here!"

The clerk wished he could grow mouths all over his body so he could help explain. He hurriedly said, "I saw it with my own eyes. The grain-carrying team is incredibly long, and there are people everywhere outside—the captain will see for himself when he goes out!"

Ding, the head constable, was still somewhat skeptical, but he turned to Qian Zhongming and said, "Clerk Kong, could it be that someone secretly sold grain?"

Qian Zhongming's face darkened.

Although I didn't see what happened with my own eyes, Han Li had only been gone for two days, and the roads were blocked everywhere. I figured the grain he brought back must have been obtained by tricking people into giving it to him in some county or town.

He had long ago declared that no one was allowed to sell or lend grain, whether inside or outside the city. Now, whoever was secretly selling grain was either unable to resist the lure of profit or was being coerced into rebellion.

If such a person is not made an example of, others will follow suit, and how can the person establish authority?

He snorted coldly and said, "Have someone investigate which family sold it. Find a pretext to arrest the person in charge and make the family owner come to me!"

He then said to the clerk beside him, “Go and inform Judge Cen that I am busy recruiting laborers and have many other miscellaneous tasks, so I am really overwhelmed. Now that Han Li has brought back some grain, tell him to find someone else to count the amount and arrange the warehouse.”

Given the current state of the government office, if he says he won't take charge, no one else will dare to get involved.

Without anyone around, let's see how Cen Dezhang, a magistrate who only knows how to talk, will get things done!
A student from the capital, barely out of his teens, dares to expect to be ordered around to do work? He's dreaming!

That's a simplistic way of thinking. Do they really think that having grain means everything will be fine?

When the grain arrived, they found no one to receive it and nowhere to store it. They also found that they couldn't cook properly afterward. Even if they could cook, they couldn't find anyone to eat it. At this point, they naturally realized that without him, the old official, and his group of junior officials, the Huazhou government office simply couldn't function!
***
After dismissing his subordinates, Qian Zhongming went to the side hall to meet the so-called shipping officer.

After waiting for a while, when the person who came arrived and heard him state his name and identity, Feng, the official in charge, immediately frowned in displeasure and asked, "Where is Cen, the Prefect of Huazhou?"

He added, "We sent your prefectural yamen runners to put him in shackles, and he didn't even show his face for such an absurd thing?"

Qian Zhongming was worldly-wise. As soon as he saw the person sitting opposite him, he knew that he would not be easy to deal with. While he was secretly annoyed by the man's aggressive words, he was also flexible and knew how to bend and stretch. He smiled and said nice things, saying that he had no idea what was going on. In front of the cadre, he shouted loudly, "Someone come here!"

As soon as someone entered, Qian Zhongming angrily shouted, "What's going on? How could you have offended Vice-Minister Wang Fa, who is staying at the official post station? Send someone to report back!"

Then a yamen runner came in, looking trembling with fear, and said, "I need to inform the clerk that some people have come to report that someone outside the official post station is impersonating the Director of Waterways, recruiting people and swindling them out of money. Zhang and the others responded to the report and went to arrest the person, but I don't know how this unexpected thing happened. I'm afraid we made a mistake somewhere?"

Qian Zhongming then said, “The prefect has been too busy lately, busy with digging canals and repairing irrigation ditches. Now another batch of grain has arrived, and he doesn’t know what to do with it. He’s not in the yamen right now; he’s out on official business. It wouldn’t be good to keep the deputy prefect waiting. So, I’d like to go and apologize on the prefect’s behalf. When the prefect returns, I’ll have someone inform him and ask him to come and apologize.”

This combination of offense and defense would have been effective against an ordinary person.

However, Feng Ganban came here solely to curry favor with his superiors. He originally intended to bring back a sub-prefect to save face for Wang Shuji. Now that the sub-prefect had not arrived, he had brought back a mere clerk. In his eyes, this was not saving face at all, but rather losing face!

He sat still, but looked Qian Zhongming up and down and asked, "What is the surname of the Prefect of Huazhou?"

Qian Zhongming was taken aback, feeling puzzled, but quickly said, "Prefect Cen's surname is Cen."

Officer Feng sneered, his expression immediately turning hostile. He snorted, "So you know the surname is Cen? Is your surname Cen? If not, why are you babbling on?"

He slammed his cup on the table and cursed, "I'm a proper official, a real clerk. Why would I come here to ask a lowly clerk to go back home? You think you're worthy?!"

He then said firmly, "Since Magistrate Cen is busy, I will wait here until he is finished before I come to settle this matter!"

Perhaps he had suffered some humiliation in his youth, but ever since he saw off several local officials, Qian Zhongming had been able to get whatever he wanted. When had he ever suffered such a great disgrace?
He was so angry his teeth hurt!
But seeing that this man was no pushover and could not be dismissed in a short time, and knowing that if things went wrong, it might cause trouble, he hurriedly ordered his subordinates to arrange a banquet, and suppressed his anger, trying his best to persuade that cadre Feng.

***
Not to mention that Qian Zhongming was both angry and resentful and busy, in the back office, upon learning that a lot of grain had arrived, Qian Zhongming abandoned his load, while the magistrate Cen Dezhang was both anxious and busy.

At first, he just thought it was troublesome, but after calling several groups of people, one said he didn't know where to put so much grain, there was no suitable warehouse, another said that all the people he had on hand had been dispatched, there were many refugees recently, the city was in chaos, and there was also the matter of recruiting laborers, so everyone had already been arranged, and yet another said that the previous magistrate wanted to intensify the patrols, so they had sent many officials out to patrol the streets, and so on, and they couldn't be called back for a while.

Cen Dezhang was just a little weak-willed, but not stupid. He could easily tell that Qian Zhongming was bare-chested and drawing his bow to show him the rock-hard flesh.

It is said that the most frightening thing is when an honest person is pushed to the limit.

He was a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations) in two separate examinations and had served as an official in other provinces. He also had several advisors under his command. This time, Wu Gongshi and Han Li were working together. One of them had been squatting in the river valley outside the city from morning to night studying the terrain and water lines in order to draw the best route for digging a new river. The other had been making repeated trips, and even though the roads were impassable, he still tried his best to find grain from outside.

Even at this point, Cen Dezhang wasn't one to be ungrateful.

He gritted his teeth, ignoring his subordinates' excuses, because he couldn't persuade Qian Zhongming, and knew to fight them off separately.

After more than half a year, Cen Dezhang had a general impression of the people in the yamen. He found the most timid and ostracized person and personally summoned him to his presence, asking him to conduct a survey of the various warehouses.

The clerk turned pale with fright and hurriedly said, "Prefect, it's not that I don't want to do it, but those warehouses are in different places. Running to each one and checking the inventory would take ten or eight days, let alone half a day! Besides, I'm all alone right now..."

This time, however, Cen Dezhang was not as easily dismissed as before. He said, "I'll transfer twenty students from the state school for you!"

He immediately instructed his staff to issue a mobilization order.

The minor official knelt down with a thud. After thinking for a long time, not knowing what to do, he collapsed to the side, seemingly unconscious.

He fell to the ground rather awkwardly, and before he fell, he let out an overly deliberate "ah" from his throat, which was obviously a fake fainting.

But since things had come to this point, Cen Dezhang really couldn't force anyone anymore.

He suppressed his anger, both at his own inability to stand up for himself and at the group of cunning and treacherous officials. In the end, he could only say one thing to his retainers: “That’s enough. Find someone to send him back. If all else fails, find a doctor to take a look.”

The retainer had been working under Cen Dezhang for a long time. He had tried to persuade and reason with him, but since he was just a retainer, he was too lazy to argue anymore. He went out and called a servant, who helped the man away.

But when he returned after seeing the man off, he couldn't help but say to Cen Dezhang, "My lord is too kind! He clearly knew that the fellow was just putting on an act, yet he still gave him such face—as soon as he was taken back to his room, before the doctor was even called, he said he was much better, drank a cup of tea, and now he even has the mind and leisure to eat fruit!"

Cen Dezhang also said helplessly, "There's nothing I can do. If I push too hard, everyone will think I'm a mean-spirited superior, and it won't be good if the inspectors hear it..."

"If everyone pretends to be unconscious, does that mean no one has to work? The grain has already entered the city, and Han Li sent someone to ask where to put it—he instructed me before he left, and I also told the officials a couple of days ago to urge them to vacate the warehouse. Now two days have passed, and the people and grain will arrive in the blink of an eye, but there's nowhere to put it! If Han Li finds out, even if he's not angry, won't he feel disheartened?"

Cen Dezhang was speechless for a moment, and only said awkwardly, "It was arranged, because I thought that most of the time they wouldn't be able to find much grain, and that putting it in the back office would be enough, so I didn't urge them too hard. I also thought that even if there was a little more, it would be enough to make temporary adjustments. Who would have thought that these cunning officials wouldn't be willing to put in any effort at all..."

The retainer didn't even want to say another word.

This official is actually very good in ordinary times, but once something happens... Cen Dezhang quickly reassured him, "Once this matter is over, I will definitely do my best to deal with it!"

"If you don't rectify this now, how will you rectify it later?"

Cen Dezhang knew he had gone too far, but he still had some pride, so he had to say, "When things come to this, a crackdown is inevitable, and there will be some turmoil. When that happens, everyone should put the big picture first!"

Just then, they heard a person walk into the room from outside and ask, "What do you mean no one is doing anything and the overall situation is more important?"

The retainer looked up and saw the person entering through the door. He immediately stood up, called out "Young Master Han," and without giving Cen Dezhang any face, recounted everything that had just happened. He then said, "I was just worried about where to put all that grain—but I don't know how much you raised this time, or where you are now?"

After listening, Han Li pondered for a moment, first reported the number, and then said to Cen Dezhang, "I am impatient and cannot wait. The grain will be delivered in succession, but we cannot wait. If the prefect does not mind, I will make the trouble. I just need your approval."

Cen Dezhang had no reason to refuse and immediately agreed.

Han Li continued, "We don't know the situation in the warehouse yet, so we can't count on it for the next two days. Because we wanted to create a stir, the grain delivered today was accumulated over a day before being transported to the city in a line. This was to let the grain merchants and people in the prefecture see it clearly. In that case, there's no need to send it to any large warehouses or storage facilities."

He paused for a moment and asked, "I saw a Mingfu Temple on Zhenjiu Street. I heard it was built during the Chu Dynasty. The temple is very large and there are many buildings. Why don't we temporarily requisition the buildings and the monks inside? After this matter is over, I would like to trouble the prefect to report the merits of the abbot to the court. I wonder if there will be any difficulties?"

But what's so difficult about writing a memorial?

Cen Dezhang immediately agreed, a smile spreading across his face. "That's it! Mingfu Temple occupies a lot of land and has many monks. If we transport the grain there, we can get them to help count it too!"

Han Li then said, “If we don’t trust others, please have the magistrate write a document and arrange for our own people to go—in addition to the monks, we also need ten students. When we count the officials and constables, we will count them in groups of three to avoid any misunderstandings.”

Cen Dezhang dared not delay and immediately wrote a conscription order, summoned a staff member, and sent someone with the order.

After finishing this matter, Han Li didn't waste any time. He first obtained the roster and today's duty roster from the yamen, then immediately rang the bell to summon several servants and instructed them: "In addition to those working in the previous yamen, there are also Clerk Qian and Chief Constable Ding..."

He rattled off three or four names in one breath, all of whom were Qian Zhongming's confidants. He then said, "Besides these people, summon all the others who are on duty today. Tell them that the prefect has important matters to assign. If they don't come within an hour, they don't need to come tomorrow!"

He added, "Make sure to inform everyone properly, even the doors to the outhouses must be opened and checked one by one."

These words clearly did not come from Cen Dezhang.

Upon hearing this, Cen Dezhang felt extremely uncomfortable. Just as he was about to speak, a retainer grabbed him, shook his head, and made him shut up again.

Han Li turned his head and said, "I would like to trouble the magistrate to light incense."

Cen Dezhang was indeed easy to manipulate; he obediently went to light the incense.

Before long, officials who had obeyed the orders began to arrive one after another.

Han Li held a pen in one hand and pressed the roster with the other. He would ask the name of each person and circle the corresponding name.

The visitors came in twos and threes, and upon entering, they first bowed to Cen Dezhang.

Someone pressed him for details, asking what was wrong. He replied that he had a lot of work piled up and was in a hurry to get back to work.

People were whispering to each other, making a buzzing sound.

Some people craned their necks, seemingly looking for someone, walking from one end of the large room to the other.

But gradually, because Han Li remained standing without saying a word, not only him, but also Cen Dezhang, who was usually easy to talk to, also remained silent, and the guest next to him was even more silent. Then someone pointed something, and everyone noticed that there was an incense burner on the table in the hall, with a stick of incense lit inside, which had almost burned out.

The noise inside the room finally subsided.

When the incense burned out, Han Li, who had remained silent, turned to Cen Dezhang and said, "Prefect, it's time."

Cen Dezhang quickly agreed, saying, "Just do as you said before."

Han Lixian pointed to the names of the eight people who were not on the roster and asked them where they were one by one.

Three of them were on official business and were away on duty, which was routine. Another person had taken leave because his wife was giving birth at home. The whereabouts of the remaining four people were unknown.

Han Li then said to the two servants standing outside the door, "I would like to trouble you two to go and look for it."

A moment later, two people finally arrived in a hurry.

Find a reason to enter.

He said he had a stomachache, went to the outhouse, and squatted there for almost half an hour. He didn't hear the announcement for a while, so he missed it.

The one who said he had something to do was looking through last year's accounts in the archives.

Han Li ignored what the two said, but pointed to a chair next to him and said, "Thank you both for your hard work. Take off these clothes—you don't need to come tomorrow."

The two men took turns protesting their innocence, each one louder than the last.

Han Li said, "What? Just now, three of us went to the outhouse to look for someone, and even though we pushed the door open, there was clearly no one inside—where did you spend half an hour squatting in the outhouse?"

He then said to the other person, "Complete accounts and files require two people to be present before they can be retrieved. If you go alone, who will supervise you? You've already broken the rules, so don't make a scene here!"

The man's face turned pale and then purple. He wanted to argue, but if he said he wasn't in the warehouse, then where was he and why hadn't he come?

If one says they are in the warehouse, that would be against the rules.

It's true that whether I'm here or not, it's not okay either; it seems that after today, I can never wear this outfit again.

　It's almost the end of the month, and I'm asking for monthly votes again! If any of you foodies have extra monthly votes and don't have any special plans, could you please give them to Xiaomiao? Thank you so much!

　　(End of this chapter)