Transmigrated into a minor official in a county government, with children at home waiting for rice t

In the afternoon, when Fang Zhong'an delivered the paper, ink, and wine to the household office, Zhang Sanlang was organizing the registers on his desk.

He placed the items on the corner of the table, relayed Feng Jian's words verbatim, and then added dryly, "Zhang Qianxing, congratulations."

As soon as he finished speaking, he turned and went back to the clerk's office, walking faster than usual, as if he felt uncomfortable standing in the household office for even a moment longer.

Zhang Sanlang picked up the jar of Baihuachun tea and examined it. The clay seal bore Feng Jian's private seal, and a finger-width note was stuck to the bottom of the jar, on which were written four characters in tiny regular script: "Brewed as before."

The ink was freshly added this morning, and the corner of the paper was trimmed meticulously. He peeled off the note and tucked it into his attendance book, arranged the paper and ink, straightened his clothes, and headed towards the clerk's office.

The door to the official's office was open.

Feng Jian was sitting behind his desk reviewing the month-end attendance reports from various departments when he heard footsteps. He looked up, his round face breaking into his usual smile, and brought the teacup to his lips.

"Zhang Qianxing is here. The autumn taxes were just settled, and he hasn't even had a chance to sit down at his desk in the Revenue Department, yet he's already running over here." He put down his teacup, his gaze lingering on Zhang Sanlang's face for a moment. "How's the handover going with Zhou Qianxing? Is the Revenue Department job going smoothly?"

Zhang Sanlang stopped and bowed to Feng Jian. "Thank you for your guidance over the past few years, Clerk Feng. I'll take the paper to the household office. I'll grind the ink today. We can save the Hundred Flowers Spring tea for the rest of the week."

He then pulled the note out of the attendance book and placed it on the corner of Feng Jian's desk. "It's as good as ever, the meaning is good and the handwriting is even better. Feng Jian's regular script is modeled after the classics, upright and vigorous, no one in the county government can match it."

"I'll keep this piece. If you ever have some free time, could you please give me a large piece of calligraphy to frame and hang at home so I can practice copying it in my spare time?"

Feng Jian picked up his teacup, a smile spreading from the corners of his mouth to his eyes. "Your mouth has really picked up a lot of words since you were transferred to the household registration office. Writing a few words is nothing; I'll definitely write you a large calligraphy piece when I have some free time."

"Since you're here, I'll give you a few words of advice. The Household Registration Office is not the same as the Personnel Office; it manages the county's finances, with thousands of strings of cash coming in and going out, and the amounts cannot be the slightest bit off."

"Tao Yashi is meticulous, so you should listen carefully and ask questions while working under him. If you encounter any difficulties, the door to the clerk's office will still be open to you."

"Understood. I will study the duties of the Household Department diligently from now on and live up to the clerk's expectations. If there are any documents in the Clerk's Office that need to be compared with old files, have someone pass on a message and I will come over to help on my ten-day weekend."

Zhang Sanlang quickly replied with a smile, "I've also left a message with the Fangtie Division. If they're too busy with the end-of-month inventory of the granaries, I'll come over and lend a hand after my shift ends."

"It's good that you have this intention. Fang Zhong'an is probably a bit resentful that he didn't make up for the missed gift-giving ceremony this year. I'll talk to him about it later." Feng Jian nodded and steadied his hand holding the teacup.

Emerging from the clerk's office, Zhang Sanlang walked along the corridor toward the household affairs office. Before he even entered, Zheng Tiesi leaned halfway out of the office and beckoned to him, "Tao Yasi wants to see you. He's in the inner room."

Zhang Sanlang straightened his clothes and pushed open the door to the inner room.

Tao Cheng sat behind his desk, with several pages of account books spread out in front of him.

Seeing Zhang Sanlang enter, he pulled a note from the corner of the desk and pushed it in front of him. "Registrant Gu has approved ten jars of official wine and ten shi of new rice for the Household Department as a reward for this year's autumn tax."

"You've done a great job this time, and you've been promoted again." He pointed to the note, "This is the approval document. Go to the granary and collect a jar of Autumn Dew White wine, two bushels of new rice, and two bolts of fine linen. You can use the rice and cloth for your own purposes, and save the wine for your ten-day break."

The ink on the note was half-dry, and it read neatly: "Respectfully submitted by Zhang Shouli of the Household Department, this note contains one jar of autumn dew, two shi of new rice, and two bolts of fine linen. Please present this note to collect the goods." Tao Cheng's personal seal was affixed at the end.

"Thank you, Clerk Tao." Zhang Sanlang was overjoyed, took the note with both hands, folded it carefully, and put it in his pocket.

"Go ahead. The people in the warehouse should all be here by now." Tao Cheng picked up his teacup, indicating that he could leave.

The county granary was located at the westernmost end of the county government office, right next to the lumberyard of the workshop.

The granary was an independent, open building, made of rammed earth and covered with straw to keep out the damp. Stacks of rice and millet sacks were piled on the ground, and wooden signs next to it clearly listed the new autumn grain and the grain stored from previous years.

Next to the granary were the salt warehouse, miscellaneous warehouse, instrument warehouse, and charcoal warehouse, each with its own door lock and floating sign records.

Zhang Sanlang went to the grain depot first.

Yan Shizhong, the clerk of the warehouse, was sitting behind his desk, looking through the entry and exit registers submitted by each warehouse, with an old porcelain teapot next to him.

Hearing footsteps, he looked up and recognized Zhang Sanlang. His gaze fell on the note in Zhang's hand. "Zhang Qianxing, are you here to collect the allowance from the household registration office?"

His voice was not loud, and it was a little hoarse.

Zhang Sanlang quickly nodded with a smile and handed over the note.

Yan Shizhong took the note, unfolded it, read it through, placed it on the corner of the table, took a warehouse entry and exit register from the shelf, turned to a new page, and picked up a pen.

"A jar of autumn dew. Two bushels of new rice. Two bolts of fine linen." He read and wrote, his handwriting slow but steady, each character falling precisely in the center of the grid.

"I've seen a few pages of the draft of the Autumn Tax Register. Did you come up with the classification method? In all these years, this is the first time I've seen the Household Department make the land tax register so neat and organized."

"There are still a few baskets of good charcoal at the charcoal warehouse. I'll take two baskets later and deliver them to your house along with rice, cloth, and wine. The household rations aren't much. If you ever have any difficulties in the future, just come to the warehouse for some daily necessities."

After Yan Shizhong finished writing, he put down his pen and glanced around. Liu Da, the storekeeper who was standing by, quickly called on several servants to move things from the various warehouses according to the numbers on the note.

Before long, a jar of Autumn Dew White rice, two bushels of new rice, two bolts of fine linen, and two baskets of silver bone charcoal were stacked at the entrance of the grain depot. The fragrance of the new rice seeped through the burlap sacks, and the fine linen was dense and thick.

Zhang Sanlang clasped his hands in a fist salute to Yan Shizhong: "Thank you, Clerk Yan. The order only mentioned rice, cloth, and wine; this charcoal is an extra subsidy from you. I've noted it down."

"A few baskets of charcoal are nothing. The autumn tax inventory is done smoothly, and the warehouse's inventory verification has been much easier. These few baskets of charcoal are a token of our gratitude from the warehouse."

Yan Shizhong waved his hand and called out, "Liu Da, go to the backyard and hitch up the mule cart. Take all these things to Zhang Qianxing and deliver them to the Zhang family's old residence in Kujing Lane."

"Place the charcoal basket at the bottom, stack the rice bags securely against the cart, stuff the wine jar in the middle of the rice bag and tie it twice with hemp rope, and put the cloth on top, being careful not to get it dirty."

Liu Da responded and went out, calling out the handyman, Old Huang.

Old Huang was in charge of the livestock shed in the backyard year-round, and he knew the way well how to hitch up the cart. Liu Da and several other servants carried the things up and stacked them up.

After loading the cart, Liu Da turned around and asked Zhang Sanlang how to get to Kujing Lane. Zhang Sanlang gave him the location, and Old Huang Tou, along with two laborers, drove the mule cart out of the back gate of the county government office with a creaking sound.

Zhang Sanlang smiled broadly: "Yan Yasi is busy, so I won't bother him any longer. In the future, if there are any discrepancies in the tax registers at the county granary, just send someone to call me."

Yan Shizhong nodded, picked up the register again, and turned to the next page.