Top Scholar

Chapter 617 Qi Yu, what's wrong with you?
Back at Dongguitang in the afternoon, Su Lu continued the meeting, assigning tasks to each group:

"The Silver Dollar Issuance Office must expedite the preparations for the Shuntian Prefecture pilot program, and make sure to streamline the exchange rate and exchange process before the tax season, and prepare all contingency plans."

"I will personally serve as the director of the Water Conservancy Project Department. Starting tomorrow, we will do our best to prepare for the commencement of construction, and construction will begin immediately after the Lantern Festival."

"The Maritime Preparatory Office will be concurrently headed by Brother Shunyu. He will first take the lead in investigating whether there are any shipyards in Tianjin that can build ocean-going ships, as well as the skill level of the craftsmen."

We can't count on places any further away right now. The Dengzhou-Laizhou area certainly has established shipyards and shipwrights, but Shandong is currently experiencing a banditry crisis…

"In addition, the imperial shops should also start operating gradually after the New Year, prioritizing the circulation of silver dollars and doing a good job in silver dollar exchange."

"Ah..." Xia Bangmo's eyes were wide open on his first day of work. Last year he did the work of three people, but this year he's doing the work of four.

"No, I can always transfer a few more people to you." Su Lu was a little embarrassed.

"There's no one left to transfer," Zhu Zihe said speechlessly, flipping through the roster.
"Sir, you can treat us like livestock, but you can't treat us like gods."

He paused, then added, “Besides our regular duties at the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, we also have to handle all kinds of documents for the Grand General’s Office, coordinate the logistics of the three major camps, ensure the daily operation of the Imperial Capital Committee, and have special groups to monitor disasters and civil unrest in various places, as well as special commissars to receive secret reports with silver seals… With our limited manpower, we have to split it in two.”

He chuckled and said, "I wish we were earthworms..."

The group burst into laughter, which eased the atmosphere considerably.

Su Man seized the opportunity to speak: "Hongzhi, the various tasks are numerous and increasing every day. We are already severely understaffed. Everyone is barely able to perform their duties, let alone deal with emergencies. In my opinion, we should select a group of students from the Imperial Academy to share the burden."

“Yes, brother, please give us some more manpower.” The other peers also pleaded, “We don’t need any scholars or those who have passed the imperial examinations, just find us some young and sensible scholars who can write and calculate. They are all quite smart and can get started with a little teaching.”

The dull-witted scholar is only an older scholar; young scholars are not stupid, otherwise, after only ten years of hard study, they would not be able to pass the exams as well as a group of senior scholars who have studied for twenty or thirty years.

Su Lu frowned slightly. Last year, he had already asked his master for help and recruited twenty students from the Imperial Academy to assist. In addition, ten outstanding professionals were retained after the "Six Roots Purification" campaign.

We added thirty more assistants, but it still wasn't enough at the start of the year. Is this because the organization has expanded too quickly, or is there a need to improve our work methods?

After a moment's thought, he felt that both reasons were valid, so he slowly nodded: "If all else fails, we'll have to go to the Imperial Academy again to look for someone..."

~~
The meeting was chaotic, with departments scrambling for resources and manpower, everyone blushing and swearing, completely forgetting their camaraderie as classmates.

They argued for the entire afternoon, and the distribution wasn't finally completed until it was almost dark.

Although Su Lu could decide how to allocate resources based on his authority, ensuring no one would dare to object, he remained silent throughout, allowing each department to compete for human resources based on its own abilities…

Only after they finished arguing did he say in a calm tone, "Alright, since we've made a decision, let's stop arguing. Starting tomorrow, we still need to unite and fight side by side."

"Yes!" the officials replied in unison, then took their leave.

After finishing his work, Su Lu left Dongguitang with his elder brother and the others, preparing to go home for dinner.

"Hongzhi, why didn't you say a word this afternoon?" Su Man walked beside him and asked in a low voice, "It was as if you were just letting them argue back and forth..."

“It’s good to have a bit of a heated argument. Just like the army can’t be all harmony, the same goes for government offices,” Su Lu said softly.

"In our Court of Imperial Sacrifices, we are all colleagues and born in the same year, so we are very tolerant of each other. Therefore, we don't voice our opinions or grievances, and we only think about not ruining our relationship. If this continues, we will soon become lukewarm and perfunctory in handling official business, shirking responsibility and just getting by. Before long, we will all become old hands."

As he spoke, he raised his voice slightly and said, "The officialdom is like a battlefield. The same methods used in the military work just as well in the government. So we have to get everyone fired up and motivated so that they'll roll up their sleeves and get to work, instead of just coasting along!"

He held nothing back from these trusted brothers, paused for a moment, and then smiled slightly:
"Furthermore, that's human nature—things are only good if they're earned through struggle. If I just distribute them directly, they'll be picky and won't appreciate them at all."

"Goodness, you've really mastered the art of managing subordinates." Lin Zhihong said with utmost admiration, "When we were in school, I thought your greatest strength was your academic ability, but now I realize that's not the case at all."

Su Lu smiled faintly: "We all learn by doing, but no matter what we do, the principles are the same—discipline, fighting spirit, and direction. If you grasp these three points, you can't go wrong."

As they spoke, the group left the leopard enclosure, where the escort convoy was already waiting at the gate.

Just as Su Lu was about to get into the carriage, Song Xiaoyi leaned over and whispered, "Sir, I've caught another beggar spying on you." "What, is he my uncle again?" Su Lu was a little tense.

“No, no,” Song Xiaoyi quickly shook his head. He was specially trained and didn’t usually laugh. “He insisted that…you are his godfather and that he came to the capital to seek refuge with you.”

"Oh?" Su Lu raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, guessing that someone from his hometown had come. But he had too many adopted sons and didn't know which one it was, so he asked, "What did he say his name was?"

Song Xiaoyi quickly shook his head: "He wouldn't say, but he did speak Sichuan dialect, and he said he studied with you since he was a child... We dare not make decisions on our own."

Su Lu knew immediately that it couldn't be wrong, since all his adopted sons were his classmates. "Let's meet them, where are they?"

“Here.” This time, Song Xiaoyi didn’t lead the person to the carriage, but instead brought Su Lu to the base of the wall next to the palace gate.

There squatted on the ground a beggar, dressed in rags, with disheveled hair and a face so dirty that his features were unrecognizable.

Hearing footsteps, the beggar slowly raised his head. Upon seeing that the leader was Su Lu, his eyes immediately reddened, and he began to sob aggrievedly.

"Godfather, I've finally seen you, sob sob..."

Upon hearing that familiar voice, Su Lu's eyes widened slightly, and he stepped forward in shock: "Qi Yu?! What happened to you?"

That filthy beggar was none other than Li Qiyu! He scrambled to Su Lu's feet, grabbed his leg tightly, and cried even harder, "Godfather! Waaah, I thought I'd never see you again in this life!"

Su Lu's heart skipped a beat. Seeing Li Qiyu reminded him that six months ago he had written to his classmates back home, asking if they were interested in developing their careers in Beijing…

He sighed, gently patted Li Qiyu's back, and said with a hint of guilt, "I didn't receive your reply, and I thought that with the war raging, no one would be willing to risk coming to the capital. I had already given up hope, but I didn't expect you to come in person."

Li Qiyu wiped away his tears, his face even more streaked with tears, and choked out, "How could we possibly refuse our godfather's summons? We were all incredibly excited and agreed to come to the capital to be with our relatives. We replied immediately, so it seems the messenger had an accident on the way, perhaps killed by soldiers, which is why our godfather didn't receive it."

"Sigh, very likely." Su Lu nodded, then asked in shock, "Did many of you come? It wasn't just you alone?"

"No, we all think this is a great opportunity, so it's not just me, but also all my classmates from Taiping Academy, and my godfather's classmates from Heshan Academy, about fifty people in total, everyone who could come came!" Li Qiyu said somewhat nervously.
"As my godfather said, the more the merrier. Of course, we also want to take this opportunity to come to the capital and try our luck, to see if we can make a name for ourselves."

Most scholars were self-aware enough to know that by simply following the examinations, they would never be able to attain an official position in their lifetime... they could only rely on 'the skill outside of poetry'.

“Of course, the more the merrier. I can manage as many people as I want.” Su Lu said, then asked in return, “But what about the others? Why are you the only one?”

“They’ve all been arrested, sob sob…” Li Qiyu cried again.

"What?!" Su Lu's expression changed, and he said in a deep voice, "Get in the car and we'll talk about it!"

"Sigh." Li Qiyu said, trying to stand up, but perhaps he stood up too quickly, and his vision went black, and he collapsed to the ground.

~~
On the carriage, Li Qiyu held a donkey meat sandwich in one hand and a bowl of spicy soup in the other... These were bought for him by his guards; he had just fainted from hunger.

In modern terms, it's called hypoglycemia.

He quickly cooked a bowl of soup over two large fires, then let out a satisfied burp, wiped his mouth haphazardly with his sleeve, and continued:
"We thought that with more people, we'd be safer on the road... Normally, among our fifty or so people, the lowest-ranking one is a scholar, and there are a few candidates who have passed the imperial examinations. We're carrying official permits for taking the exams, so who would dare to mess with us? And there really were..."

At this point, Li Qiyu's expression darkened, and he said with a pained look, "When we were halfway there, chaos broke out everywhere. Now someone really dares to mess with us! We were on tenterhooks the whole way, and when we finally entered the territory of Beizhili, we thought we were finally safe. Who knew it would be even more chaotic here!"

"On New Year's Eve, we stayed at Bazhou Post Station. In the middle of the night, we heard the neighing of people and the shouting of horses outside. We climbed over the wall and saw a large band of bandits. Deng Dengying shouted to them that he was a scholar who had been ordered to take the imperial examination and asked them to leave immediately. But when they heard that, they got even more excited, broke down the gate, and arrested us all!"

"Then they took everyone else away, and only let me come to the capital to deliver the message," Li Qiyu continued.

Zhu Zihe, who was standing nearby, was furious and immediately interjected, asking, "Is this kidnapping for ransom?!"

“At first, we also thought they were after money,” Li Qiyu shook his head and said, “but later we found out that in addition to the ransom, they specifically asked for one person—Zhang Mao!”

(End of this chapter)