Chapter 40

(Seeking recommendations!!!)

Wang Xian, being a reincarnated soul, was well-versed in the art of workplace politics. He knew that the workplace was like a battlefield, and newcomers would inevitably encounter various forms of dissatisfaction, such as a boss who nitpicks every little thing. When bullied too much, one might naturally think of retaliating, but such retaliation often ends in failure nine times out of ten, and the remaining one time ends in mutual destruction.

The direct victors in such struggles are never newcomers. Challenging a superior as a newcomer would inevitably give the impression of being overly aggressive and disrespectful, making it hard for anyone to work with you or speak up for you at critical moments.

Therefore, one must either endure and wait to become a veteran, or learn more advanced political tactics—leveraging power. In any workplace or government office, due to limited resources and vested interests, conflicts are inevitable. Especially between the chief and deputy, they may appear as close as a married couple on the surface, but deep down, they wish the other would trip and fall as soon as they step out the door.

Leveraging power has the advantage of not requiring personal involvement in the conflict, thus avoiding becoming a sacrificial pawn and preserving one's reputation. In both the workplace and government offices, ability is not as important as reputation...

However, leveraging power is an art. One must protect oneself while providing enough ammunition to ensure the person being leveraged has the confidence and ability to win the battle. Even when you are certain of victory, you must always remember not to compromise your integrity. Once your integrity is tarnished, even if you win in the short term, you will surely lose in the long run...

Therefore, these days, Wang Xian has been putting on a face of "enduring endless abuse from the clerks, yet treating them like a first love," to build his reputation. After all, as a newcomer, he has no accumulated reputation and can only rely on this method to evoke sympathy.

No matter how careful he is, he cannot hide his actions. What kind of place is a government office? It is a den of seasoned officials where no deceit can go unnoticed. Therefore, he can only use overt tactics, making everyone see that he has no choice but to fight back. At such a time, even if it seems like he is overstepping, no one will criticize him; instead, they will praise him for his courage and spirit!

The subtlety and skill required to handle such situations are only mastered by seasoned officials like Wang Xingye or reincarnated souls like Wang Xian. For those of us without such experience, it is best to endure and wait to become a veteran.

Seeing his son naturally grasp such profound knowledge, Wang Xingye was overjoyed, "Indeed, a hero father begets a hero son..."

Wang Xian sweat-dropped, "Dad, you never miss a chance to praise yourself..."

"But it seems something is still missing..." Wang Xingye scratched his foot and rubbed his cheek, "What strategy did Zhou Gongjin use before borrowing arrows from Cao Cao's ships?" Dad's favorite was the Three Kingdoms, and most of his wisdom came from it.

"The flesh-wounding strategy," Wang Xian said, looking at his father, "What do you mean, Dad?"

"I mean, you are already miserable enough, but not miserable enough," Wang Xingye switched to the other foot, "You need to be even more miserable to use this strategy. Zhang Hua, though my old subordinate, is just an ordinary man. You can't rely on him to protect you; you must protect yourself."

"How so?"

"Place yourself in a position where you have no choice but to fight!" Wang Xingye clapped his hands and gritted his teeth, "Only then will there be no lingering problems!"

"..." Wang Xian grimaced, "It's just a job, is it worth such a sacrifice?"

"Wrong, it's not just a job, it's your life!" Wang Xingye glared at him, "You will work in the government office for the rest of your life. If you start off on the wrong foot, your whole life will be ruined!"

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Thus, Dad postponed the plan to deal with Chao Tianjiao and had Wang Xian perform the flesh-wounding strategy first.

Among all strategies, the flesh-wounding strategy is the least technical. As long as you are stupid enough, you will always have a chance to be beaten.

Any public duty assigned by the government office is not just a task but must be completed within a set deadline. If not completed on time, the superior will punish the subordinate with a beating, known as "chasing and comparing"...

Li Sheng, wanting to deal with Wang Xian, naturally used the strictest deadline of a beating every three days and a comparison every five days! Wang Xian made daily trips to Shangxin Township, returning each time with a dirty face. Five days passed quickly.

Seeing Wang Xian return empty-handed, Li Sheng flew into a rage, "The deadline for the five-day comparison has passed, and you have nothing to show for it. Clearly, you are slacking off and not taking your duties seriously!" He immediately signed a ticket and sent it to the criminal department.

In the morning, the same clerk from last time came and took Wang Xian to the criminal room. Li Guan said, "Second Brother, I let you off last time, but I got a scolding from the magistrate. I can't show favoritism this time, so bear with it."

"Ah..." Wang Xian nervously asked, "Can't you just make it a formality?"

"No." Li Guan had a carpet laid on the ground and ordered Wang Xian to lie down. Four clerks held his limbs, and Li Guan nodded to two constables.

The two constables bared their yellow teeth and grinned, "Sorry, Second Brother." They then raised their boards and struck Wang Xian's white buttocks.

With the sound of the boards, Wang Xian screamed in agony, and the clerks in the six departments heard it clearly, all looking at each other in shock. Who was being beaten?

Soon, the twelve boards were finished, and the two constables used a wooden board to carry Wang Xian out of the criminal room. It was lunchtime, and over a hundred clerks from the six departments saw Wang Xian, his buttocks covered in blood, his white official uniform torn into bloody strips, a sight that was shocking.

"This is too cruel." Seeing Wang Xian unconscious, the clerks shook their heads, "Is Li Sheng even human?" "Indeed, it's too much. Wang Xian is a good young man, and he's being killed by this!" "We can't stand it. Let's ask the magistrate to transfer Wang Xian to the rites department tomorrow..."

The whispers reached Li Sheng's ears, and his face darkened. He thought the people in the criminal room would either protect Wang Xian or just go through the motions, but they actually beat him!

'Beating him like this, it's too passive...' Li Sheng thought, clenching his teeth, 'One more comparison, and I can fire him. Let them talk...' He pretended not to hear and went to the cafeteria for lunch.

After lunch, a few clerks from the same room brought food to Wang Xian. Before entering the official dormitory, they heard him groaning and cursing, saying, "Everyone else's dad is a problem, but my dad is always the one causing problems..."

The clerks thought he was talking about the grudge between his father and Li Sheng, and they all shook their heads. Inside, they saw Dr. Wu wrapping Wang Xian's buttocks in a bandage, with blood seeping through the white gauze...

"Father, is he okay?" Wu Wei asked, looking at the pale Wang Xian.

"Ah, it's too cruel," Dr. Wu shook his head, "His buttocks are all bruised, but at least the bones are not broken..."

"Ah..." Many of the clerks had been beaten before, but it was usually just a formality, and they could walk the same day. None of them had been beaten so severely. They suspected that Li Sheng had bribed the constables.

Wang Xian's injuries and the clerks' suspicions quickly spread throughout the six departments, leading to more discussions about Li Sheng's viciousness...

In the afternoon, Clerk Zhang visited Wang Xian's dormitory and brought him some red sugar eggs. Seeing his former superior's son in such a state, Clerk Zhang didn't know how to comfort him...

Before he could speak, Wang Xian started crying, "Wah, Uncle Zhang, is Magistrate Li trying to kill me?"

"What are you saying..." Clerk Zhang was awkward, "Magistrate Li is just strict, he treats everyone the same, not just you."

"But why am I the only one beaten like this?" Wang Xian cried, "They say Magistrate Li bribed the constables."

"Don't say that," Clerk Zhang said sternly, "If that gets back to the magistrate, you'll get another beating!"

"Wah, I can't take it anymore..." Wang Xian sobbed, "From the first day I entered the office, he has been bullying me. I treated him as my superior and didn't say anything when I found problems, but he wants to kill me..."

"What problems?" Clerk Zhang frowned.

"When he asked me to verify the accounts from the fifth year of Yongle, I found that the county allocated nine hundred pounds of grain per person per month to the clerks' and officials' canteens. The leftover food per person was only thirty pounds. So each person could eat twenty-nine pounds of rice a day."

"Also, the warehouse allocated one hundred feet of cloth per person in the spring and one hundred and fifty feet in the autumn for the clerks and officials to make clothes!" Wang Xian said, "And the ink, paper, candles, and cooking oil were also allocated in such a way that each person could get the amount for ten people!"

"How did you discover this?" Clerk Zhang's eyes widened.

"I listed all the expenses separately from the accounts, and the results were clear," Wang Xian said matter-of-factly, "The magistrate asked me to verify the accounts but didn't tell me how. I had to figure it out myself, not sure if it's correct."

"..." Clerk Zhang was sweating. "Old Liu, Old Liu, an eighty-year-old woman is still being tricked by a child. You've been faking accounts all your life, and a layman has exposed them with such a simple method." He looked at Wang Xian carefully, "Why didn't you say anything earlier?"

"Because the accounts were fabricated by Magistrate Li..." Wang Xian said softly.

"Is that so?" Clerk Zhang's eyes lit up, "Don't tell anyone about this!"

"Okay, I'll listen to Uncle Zhang..." Wang Xian nodded obediently.

"Rest well, I'll leave now." Clerk Zhang left the dormitory but did not return to the office immediately. Instead, he paced around the flower garden. Having worked in the household department for a few years, he understood the situation Wang Xian described—Li Sheng, as the clerk in charge, had inflated expenses to siphon off funds. The problem was, he had no idea about it! This meant Li Sheng had been secretly enriching himself at everyone's expense!