Chapter 62

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In the end, Wang Xian still worked in the original public office. Although it was cramped and small, with the plaque 'First Clerk of Jiangnan' hanging behind him, it was still enough to dazzle the eyes of visitors.

A young man who had only been in the yamen for a little over a month could change from a white robe to a blue one and then become the acting head of the Revenue Office. How could those old clerks, who had been waiting for years to get a blue robe, not be envious?

But there was nothing they could do. With Zhou Netai's inscription, who dared to say a word of complaint? Was it that the 'First Clerk of Jiangnan,' personally appointed by the cold-faced and iron-hearted Zhou Netai, could not even wear a blue robe? Could he not even manage the Revenue Office?

Actually, County Magistrate Wei was also hesitant to entrust the crucial Revenue Office to a newcomer. Although he did not doubt Wang Xian's ability, the affairs of the Revenue Office were far more complicated than those of other departments, and without years of experience, it was impossible to handle them.

However, the clerks of the other five offices, as well as the chief clerks, were all unwilling to take on this mess. They said they were not familiar with the Revenue Office's affairs and could not handle them, and that with Zhou Netai calling him the 'First Clerk of Jiangnan,' they would be trembling in fear just to be on the same level, let alone above him.

The real reason was that no one wanted to be Wang Xian's superior. Recently, for some unknown reason, he had earned the nickname 'Superior's Nemesis.' It was indeed strange. The clerical staff were the most stagnant, often staying in the same position for decades until they were old. But in just one month, the three main officials of the Revenue Office had all fallen, while Wang Xian had risen rapidly. Wasn't that strange?

Clerks were the most superstitious. In every office, there was a statue of the Immovable Buddha, and they hoped to stay in their positions for life. Li Sheng had even gilded the Buddha, but even that couldn't break Wang Xian's evil spell. Who would still dare to believe in this evil?

Of course, the old men didn't have good intentions. They were waiting for Wang Xian to mess up, be transferred out of the Revenue Office, and then they would snatch this lucrative position.

To put it bluntly, this office managed the county's civil affairs, finance, taxes, land, grain collection, disaster relief, and more, taking up most of the county's affairs. And it had been stagnant for almost a month, with a mountain of backlogged work. It was originally agreed that Zhang Hua and Xun Dianli would return to handle it, but they never came back, and in the end, it fell to him.

Worse still, the tax collection deadline had already passed, and only two-tenths of the autumn grain had been collected. If it was not delivered to the capital by February next year, heads would roll.

The most critical issue was that during Li Sheng's tenure, the Revenue Office's problems had grown larger, and he had only managed to cover them up by robbing Peter to pay Paul. Now that this big hole had been exposed, County Magistrate Wei was hesitant to pursue Li Sheng, so the responsibility for fixing it fell on the successor. If he failed, he would not only catch no fox but also get himself into trouble. Who would want to take on this mess?

To put it bluntly, everyone was waiting to see Wang Xian's failure, even hoping for it. As the saying goes, 'The higher you climb, the harder you fall.' It would certainly be true!

Unfortunately, Wang Xian's 16-year-old body housed a 30-year-old soul, and he was particularly skilled in risk management. The affairs of the Revenue Office, though complex, could not compare to those of a modern listed company. Since he could monitor a listed company's finances and management from both the accounts and various processes, he could naturally see through the affairs of the Revenue Office as clearly as if they were in broad daylight.

He first combined his ideas with his observations over the past month to formulate a detailed and feasible plan, which he wrote down and presented to County Magistrate Wei for review. County Magistrate Wei already had a high regard for this young man, but after reading Wang Xian's proposal, he had to look at him with new eyes.

County Magistrate Wei had long been deeply troubled by the inefficiency and redundancy in the yamen and had been trying to reform it. He had previously thought that it was due to his lack of authority, which prevented him from controlling the corrupt officials and clerks. But now that he had established his authority and had the final say in the yamen, the situation of shirking and inefficiency had not improved.

After reading Wang Xian's proposal, he suddenly realized that having determination and authority was not enough; he also needed methods!

County Magistrate Wei was so impressed by Wang Xian's management methods that he wanted to implement them immediately! But Wang Xian advised him to first pilot the methods in the Revenue Office. If they were successful, they could be rolled out more widely, reducing resistance. If they failed, it would be his responsibility alone, without damaging the magistrate's authority.

County Magistrate Wei was displeased and said, "Am I the kind of person who would let my subordinates take the blame?"

"Of course not!" Wang Xian denied it outright, but he thought of Zhang Hua and Xun Dianli... he wondered what they had on their backs. "But this method has never been used before, and we don't know if it will work. It's better to be cautious." He paused and added, "Even if it is implemented in the Revenue Office, it will require the magistrate's strong support. Otherwise, with my low status, I cannot succeed."

"Alright then." County Magistrate Wei was convinced. "But if we implement it now, will it affect the tax collection? After all, time is very tight."

"Sharpening the axe does not delay the chopping of wood!" Wang Xian said decisively. "Precisely because time is tight, we need to implement it quickly!"

"Fine." County Magistrate Wei nodded. "What support do you need from me?"

"In the future, I will report directly to the magistrate, and no one else will need to be involved," Wang Xian said solemnly. "Apart from that, I have no other requests."

"Heh heh..." Sima Qiu was not impressed by the two young men's bold actions, but he knew that the magistrate now trusted Wang Xian more, so he had not spoken. Hearing this, he could not help but laugh. "You, you have plenty of tricks up your sleeve!" Clearly, he at least approved of this.

County Magistrate Wei also understood and said with satisfaction, "Approved!"

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With the full support of the magistrate and without the interference of other officials, Wang Xian began a major overhaul of the Revenue Office.

He first changed the old habit of handling everything at once and divided the Revenue Office into departments. In addition to the Grain Department, which handled grain taxes, he set up the Tax Department, Civil Affairs Department, Household Registration Department, and Archives Department, categorizing various complex tasks and clarifying responsibilities.

He further detailed the tasks to each individual, specifying which clerk was responsible for 'quota comparison,' which for 'ledger establishment,' which for 'flow ledger,' which for 'daily report ledger,' and so on, making it clear and unambiguous, leaving no room for shirking or敷衍.

But Wang Xian knew that no matter how detailed the rules were, without enforcement, they were useless. Relying on these old clerks, who were used to slacking off, to work diligently and follow the rules was a pipe dream.

But that was not a problem. He was very familiar with modern company management and could easily apply a few methods to control these people. The first method he used was the most familiar to him: accounting. Wang Xian ordered the clerks to list their tasks for the next ten days in a register, in duplicate. One copy they kept, and the other was given to Wang Xian.

At the end of the ten days, if the tasks were basically completed, it would be considered competent. If too many tasks were not completed, then there would be no points for that month...

The so-called 'points' were Wang Xian's second method. He assigned different point values to the tasks based on their difficulty. For example, 'supervising tax collection' and 'land measurement' were clearly more difficult than 'flow ledger' and 'daily report ledger,' so they had higher point values.

If you could basically complete the tasks for the ten days... at least 90%, you would receive points for the tasks you handled. In the small world of the Revenue Office, points were everything. For example, in each department, the person with the highest points would be the department head, the second highest would be the deputy head. If your points were surpassed by someone else, you would have to step down... With two vacant positions in the Revenue Office, becoming a department head was the best chance to change from a white robe to a blue one!

In addition to these benefits, Wang Xian also collected all the 'customary fees' of the Revenue Office and distributed them uniformly!

The Revenue Office dealt with money and grain, and every transaction inevitably left a feather. These fees, known as 'customary fees' or 'fixed income,' were considered legitimate income. Just the openly collected fees included the money for the village head's service, the money for the yellow register, the money for the grain head's service, the money for collecting and delivering silk, the money for agricultural and sericulture silk, the money for autumn grain, the money for conversion, and so on. Additionally, for every tax collection, a one-thousandth of the amount could be taken as a customary fee, and for every labor tax, a one-hundredth could be taken, and so on, totaling dozens of items. This was all considered legitimate, no wonder the Revenue Office was so lucrative.

But not every clerk had the opportunity to collect money, and even those who did had varying degrees of profit. Therefore, the clerks used to compete fiercely for the more profitable positions, and once they got them, they would exploit them to the fullest. Those who had no chance to make money would naturally be resentful, work passively, and even sabotage others.

The relationship in the Revenue Office was always the most difficult to manage, mainly because of the severe inequality. So Wang Xian decided to collect all the customary fees and distribute them himself, but he could not equalize the income, or everyone would work the same regardless of their performance.

What to do? Use points! The person with the highest points for the month would get the most, followed by the others in descending order. Those with zero points for the month would only get the basic salary. This way, even if you were assigned the least profitable task, as long as you worked hard and completed it well, you could still be at the top and earn the highest income.

Under Wang Xian's sharp gaze, no one could play tricks. Anyone who tried to embezzle the customary fees or cheat would be caught. The former would be expelled from the yamen, and the latter would have their points reset to zero and start over...

The old clerks were subdued and could only secretly curse, "Is this guy a demon reincarnated?"

However, most people supported Wang Xian's reforms from the heart. Although he had many rules, they were surprisingly simple and clear when applied to each individual. For the clerks of the Revenue Office, if you wanted a higher income, if you wanted to be a department head, if you wanted to change from a white robe to a blue one, then work hard and earn points! Here, everything was open and transparent, with clear standards. What you got depended on your points and your work performance. Everything else was just talk!

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