Chapter 54

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Wu Wei and Shuai Hui left, leaving only Wang Xian and Sima Qiu in the inner room.

"Xian nephew, what’s your plan?" Given Sima Qiu’s age, calling Wang Xian "Xian nephew" was appropriate, but when did their relationship become so close?

"I am now implicated, and I can barely take care of myself." Wang Xian got up to pour tea for Sima Qiu and said, "I still need to seek your help, sir."

Sima Qiu knew this guy was good at taking advantage of situations. He took the teacup and said, "Don’t worry about that. You are becoming increasingly important to the magistrate. As long as you work sincerely, the magistrate will protect you."

Wang Xian thought to himself, "You’re just fooling around. The magistrate probably doesn’t even know who I am."

Dependency is a terrifying habit. Wei Zhixian now has "problems, seek Sima," and Sima Qiu now has "difficulties, find Wang Xian"... If Wang Xian can’t come up with a good solution, Mr. Sima will likely be at a loss too.

"Is there really no way?" Seeing him silent, Mr. Sima became anxious and said, "Just speak your mind. Whether right or wrong, it’s all out of loyalty, and the magistrate will be pleased."

"May I ask, sir, how did things come to this point?" Wang Xian asked instead of answering.

"Since you are now one of the magistrate’s trusted aides, I will speak frankly. In fact, this situation ultimately stems from the magistrate’s mistake as an official." Sima Qiu sighed, "‘An official should not offend the local gentry and powerful families.’ This is a lesson learned by state and county officials over thousands of years. I repeatedly warned the magistrate, but he, being young and ambitious, refused to listen, and ultimately caused this disaster!"

The so-called gentry and powerful families are none other than officials and wealthy landlords. These people have great influence and wealth in the locality, and their connections can reach the provincial and even the imperial level. When they get serious, a county magistrate like Wei Zhixian is no match for them.

"As the saying goes, a strong dragon cannot suppress a local snake, let alone when the local snake has someone above it. When they respect you, they call you ‘father and mother,’ but when they are angry, they can trip you up, give you a hard time, or even make you pack your bags and leave." Sima Qiu was full of grievances, "When the magistrate took office, I advised him to visit the local gentry and wealthy families, but he, considering his dignity, refused to lower himself. Thus, from the beginning, his relationship with the gentry was not handled well."

"However, we can’t entirely blame him, because the situation in Fuyang County was too infuriating at the time. As you know, for nearly two years, Fuyang had no magistrate. Although County Magistrate Jiang was in charge, he lacked the authority and was unwilling to offend future magistrates. During this period, corrupt officials and local tyrants had a field day, colluding to enrich themselves at the expense of the public and committing all sorts of crimes!" Sima Qiu looked righteous, but in his heart, he was shouting, "Why wasn’t I included?"

"When the magistrate took office, he discovered that Fuyang County had severe land consolidation, unequal tax and labor services, and lost national taxes, causing great suffering to the people!" Sima Qiu continued, "It’s obvious that this was the result of collusion between the gentry and the county officials. At first, they tried to bribe and win over the magistrate, but since he was deeply grateful to the emperor and determined to serve, he refused to be corrupt. As a result, they obstructed him at every turn, and after half a year, he was almost completely sidelined."

"Later, through the Lin family case, the magistrate received commendation from the court and gained a reputation among scholars. This gave him hope to turn the situation around." Sima Qiu looked at Wang Xian and said, "To be honest, it was all your fault."

"How was I supposed to know it would turn out like this?" Wang Xian smiled bitterly.

"I was just joking." Sima Qiu took a sip of tea and said, "But the magistrate did indeed use this case to establish his authority, suppress the opposition, and begin to reorganize the county office." He paused and said, "To deal with external threats, one must first stabilize the internal. Without removing the officials who collude with the gentry, how can one talk about reorganizing taxes and suppressing the powerful?"

This was clearly Sima Qiu’s plan. He was so flattered by the magistrate calling him "a match for Zhang Liang" that he worked tirelessly to come up with an action plan.

The first step was to target the household department. The so-called collusion between officials and gentry mostly happens in this department. Li Sheng, the clerk in charge of the household department, was the link between the officials and the gentry. By removing him, the connection between the inside and outside could be severed. Then, the magistrate could take the opportunity to suppress the powerful and reorganize the taxes, sweeping away the corrupt atmosphere in the county!

The magistrate had high hopes for this plan, and at first, it went smoothly with Li Sheng being taken down. However, when it touched the fundamental interests of the gentry and powerful families, it finally provoked a strong reaction. The mobilization of over a dozen students to file complaints was a direct challenge to the magistrate!

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After listening to Sima Qiu’s account, Wang Xian secretly regretted. No matter how skilled his father was, he was still just a clerk by origin and lacked strategic vision. He failed to detect the intentions from above in time, resulting in being used by Wei Zhixian. He should have listened to Wu Xiaofat’s advice and feigned illness at home, letting Wei Zhixian deal with Li Sheng on his own, and then wait for the situation to stabilize...

Unfortunately, there is no medicine for regret. At the age of sixteen, he had already been branded as the magistrate’s aide, and there was no way to avoid it...

"Currently, those gentry are working to force the magistrate to reappoint Li Sheng..." Sima Qiu looked at Wang Xian and said somberly, "If there’s no good solution, the magistrate will have to make a concession to ensure the autumn grain is stored on time."

"..." Wang Xian looked at Sima Qiu with a resentful expression, knowing he was using Li Sheng to scare him, "Aren’t the grain collectors afraid of missing the deadline and being punished by the court?"

"Although the autumn grain should be collected by October, it can be delivered to the capital by February of the following year. From Fuyang to Nanjing, it’s a 600-mile waterway, and it can be done within a month. So they still have time." Sima Qiu smiled bitterly, "Even if the deadline is missed, as long as they have someone in the court to speak for them, they can easily shift the blame to the magistrate. So they are not worried at all."

"To fight over 2,000 dan of grain, they are really desperate!" Even Wang Xian, who was usually unimpressed, found the actions of the local gentry despicable, "How much can each family get if it’s divided?"

"2,000 dan is just a pretext; this is a showdown between the local gentry and the magistrate." Sima Qiu said solemnly, "If the magistrate loses, he will be completely sidelined, and no one in Fuyang County will listen to him anymore."

"What if he wins?" Wang Xian asked somberly.

"If he wins, the magistrate’s authority will naturally increase..." Sima Qiu looked at Wang Xian’s piercing eyes and said somewhat dejectedly, "But the gentry will not give up and will likely continue to fight until he leaves office..."

Sima Qiu was very disheartened. He had wanted to prove himself and thus formulated this plan without Wang Xian’s help. Who knew it would lead to a conflict between his master and the local gentry, causing future troubles. Faced with a harsh lesson, he finally realized that he was not cut out for making plans. He looked pitifully at Wang Xian and said, "Xian nephew, help me think of a good solution to get the magistrate through this crisis."

"Sir, you said that even if he wins this time, it won’t necessarily be good for the magistrate." Wang Xian sighed, "So why not take a step back and live in peace?"

"Ah, do you think I haven’t advised him that way?" Sima Qiu said with a bitter face, "To be honest, the magistrate feels deeply humiliated and wants to submit a memorial to the court, exposing the truth of the hidden household registration in Fuyang County, requesting the dispatch of an imperial envoy to supervise the re-verification of household registers. According to the regulations of the Hongwu era, if there is any concealment or fraud, the head of the household will be executed, and the family will be exiled to the frontier..."

"Will the court listen to a seventh-rank county magistrate?" Wang Xian said disbelievingly.

"He is prepared to die in protest..." Sima Qiu said with a complex expression, "In his memorial, he says that if the verification results differ from the household registers by no more than 10%, he will die to atone for his sins!"

"Ah!" Wang Xian’s heart was shaken. He never expected the seemingly gentle Wei Zhixian to be such a resolute man. It seemed he had underestimated the scholars of the Ming Dynasty. "Has he already submitted the memorial?"

"No..." Sima Qiu thought, "If he had already submitted it, why would I be here talking to you? I would have packed my bags and fled long ago. The memorial is already written, and after much persuasion, I convinced him to delay its submission."

Saying this, he stood up and bowed deeply to Wang Xian, "Xian nephew, I know you are from Fuyang and don’t want to offend your neighbors for the sake of an outsider. But the magistrate is a good official. Without officials who are loyal to the emperor and willing to offend others, what is the difference between the Ming Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty?"

Seeing Wang Xian still silent, Sima Qiu’s face showed disappointment. "I must be getting senile, talking to a young man about how terrible life was under the Yuan Dynasty. You wouldn’t take it seriously." He laughed self-deprecatingly, "You only know how to protect your own family and clan, but do you know that the first thing to protect is the Ming Dynasty established by others..."

Saying this, Sima Qiu turned around dejectedly, ready to leave the room.

His hand was already lifting the curtain when he heard Wang Xian say, "I’m thinking of a solution, I didn’t say I wouldn’t help..."

"Uh..." Sima Qiu quickly withdrew his hand, turned around, and sat down, holding Wang Xian’s hands, his face breaking into a smile, "I knew you were different from them!"

Seeing him go from being righteous to his usual sly self, Wang Xian helplessly pulled his hand away and sighed, "I’m going to be ruined by you, sir."

"I will never let you down!" Sima Qiu said with a grin.

"Actually, the magistrate’s approach is correct, but you are too timid, sir." Wang Xian lowered his voice, "I read in the official gazette that the court is building the Beijing residence, reconstructing the Grand Canal, and the Yongle Emperor has just personally led a campaign to the north. The Duke of Britain and the Duke of Guizhou are fighting in Jiaozhi, and Zheng He’s fleet is still sailing to the Western Seas... What do you