Chapter 33

Hearing Shen Shiyeh's hesitation, Lin Yanchao had an idea.

"Shen Shiyeh, I am from Hongtang. This time, on my way to the provincial capital, I passed by Hongtang City, which is truly very prosperous."

"Hongtang City, Zhongting City, and Tanwei City are all market towns outside the county seat, where the provincial capital's taxes are collected," Shen Shiyeh explained to Lin Yanchao.

"Yes, I remember there is an inspection office and a tax office in Hongtang City. I wonder if they need a chief? Or perhaps a postmaster at the post station would be nice?" Lin Yanchao asked, negotiating.

Hearing this, Shen Shiyeh rolled his eyes. This was simply asking for too much. The heads of the inspection office, tax office, and post station, though minor officials, were not easy to enter.

Such departments were either places where officials were demoted and sent to, or they had powerful backers. For example, Wang Yangming, after being demoted from the capital, served as a postmaster in Longchang. If it were an ordinary official, without great effort, how could they easily enter such positions?

Moreover, the county magistrate Zhou could not even place someone in the inspection office or tax office in Hongtang City.

These were all lucrative departments. The inspection office and tax office in Hongtang City handled thousands to tens of thousands of silver taels each year, while the post station's officials, with their constant comings and goings, could claim expenses of two to three thousand taels a year, which was normal.

"Who says the inspector of the inspection office, the commissioner of the tax office, and the postmaster are not ranked? They are all ninth-rank miscellaneous officials. Even if it were possible to get a position, it wouldn't be for a local person," Shen Shiyeh scolded.

Lin Yanchao felt embarrassed. He was indeed still an outsider. He laughed dryly and said, "I was just suggesting it, Shen Shiyeh. You can just listen. Isn't being an official also about being close to home?"

Close to home? Being an official is just to be close to home?

Shen Shiyeh immediately changed his opinion of this young prodigy. What nonsense about not underestimating a poor youth—this was just a lazy, comfort-seeking person.

"Fine, if there isn't, then there isn't." Lin Yanchao was also weighing the pros and cons in his mind. Being a clerk, though lucrative and powerful, was low in status. Besides, he was on the path of the imperial examinations. If his grandfather had been a clerk, it would not be good for his reputation. A phrase like "from a clerk's family" could become a laughingstock among the gentry.

If not a clerk, then a miscellaneous official. Miscellaneous officials were the so-called lower ranks, not ranked in the official hierarchy. But even if they were not ranked, they were still officials, with a higher status than clerks and commoners.

As the saying goes, ask for the sky and pay for the earth. Lin Yanchao's suggestion gave Shen Shiyeh a good idea of his expectations.

This young man really dared to ask. Did he really not take the government seriously? Shen Shiyeh recalled what County Magistrate Zhou had said and couldn't help but think, "What do you mean, 'how much do you want?' Why don't you try it yourself, Your Excellency?"

With County Magistrate Zhou not present, Shen Shiyeh was wiping his sweat, realizing that he couldn't just fool around. It was time to get to the bottom line.

Shen Shiyeh said, "You want to be close to home, right? Well, there's a vacancy for the gatekeeper at Xiadu."

"What does that do?" Lin Yanchao, though he had been in the Ming Dynasty for some time, was still unclear about some departments.

"Responsible for the gate and dam, opening and closing, and water storage and release!"

Lin Yanchao, I...

"This is really difficult. Well, let me think. Ah, the Leize Garden... you don't know? It's a good position!" Shen Shiyeh clapped his hands.

The caretaker of a mass grave? A good position? Isn't this too much?

Lin Yanchao chuckled.

In the end, Shen Shiyeh said irritably, "Fine, the position of chief of the River and Lake Office has been vacant for a long time. I can't do anything else. Young man, you should know your limits."

Lin Yanchao asked, "Shen Shiyeh, what is the River and Lake Office?"

Shen Shiyeh, no longer interested in beating around the bush, said, "In the early Hongwu period, Japanese pirates were rampant at sea, so the court strictly controlled fishermen, organizing them into households and appointing leaders, under the River and Lake Office. The office mainly collects fish taxes and other items like fish oil, feathers, and fish bladders. The chief of the office retired three months ago, and no one has been in charge."

"The best part is, because Fujian is remote, the court allows the chief to be a local official. As long as the taxes are collected, no one will bother you. If you can't collect the taxes, it's not a big deal. A mere two hundred taels of silver, no one in the county really cares. It's a good position, even a prince wouldn't exchange for it."

Hold on! Even the Leize Garden was called a good position by Shen Shiyeh. Lin Yanchao decided to ask more clearly.

"What are the specific benefits?"

Shen Shiyeh, though a criminal law expert, was also well-versed in the county's finances. He listed them like a treasure: "According to the law, the River and Lake Office collects less than a thousand stones of rice, so it only has one official, a miscellaneous official. There is also one clerk and eight patrolmen, with five donation ships. The chief of the office is given a horse and a groom, and later, a woodcutter and a servant. The chief's salary is three stones of rice per month, one stone in kind and two stones in cash, with no extra silver in leap years. Of course, this is just on the surface."

Lin Yanchao remembered that his grandfather, when he was a clerk, had an annual salary of only nine and a half taels, slightly more than the seven and two taels of a regular clerk.

The River and Lake Office was far inferior to the inspection office and the post station, but it was much better than the express post office. Moreover, it was a real power position. It seemed this was the best he could get for now. Being too greedy would result in getting nothing. Better to know when to stop.

So, Lin Yanchao bowed to Shen Shiyeh and said, "Since County Magistrate Zhou and Shen Shiyeh have spoken, I can't be ungrateful. It would be too disrespectful. I'll discuss it with my grandfather and give you an answer tomorrow."

"Fine." Shen Shiyeh wiped his forehead, relieved. He thought, "Finally, the matter is settled. This young man is not easy to fool. If I had a son as shrewd as him, I wouldn't worry about anything in the future."

After sending Lin Yanchao out of the county office, Shen Shiyeh solemnly warned, "Today's matter, between you and me, is known only to heaven and earth, you and me. Remember, do not tell a third person."

Lin Yanchao understood and said, "Shen Shiyeh, I will remember."

Shen Shiyeh smiled, relieved.

Lin Yanchao left the county office. With five taels of silver in his pocket, he didn't have to walk for two hours to get home. He decided to indulge himself and hire a small boat.

Thinking of this, Lin Yanchao headed north to the Antai River, found a boatman, and hired a small boat for a hundred coins. On the way back, the news of the granary opening for disaster relief had spread, and people were carrying grain bags, lining up at the Changfeng Granary in the west of the city.

Along the river, people with grain bags, their faces full of happiness, were walking.

A husband carried a grain bag and supported his elderly mother, while his wife carried a child. The family, each touching the grain bag, was overjoyed. The husband, with a full grain bag on his back, and the children, were all in tears of joy.

An old man with white hair and patched clothes, holding a child, took a step and looked at the grain in his hand.

"Child, we can live! We can live!" The old man, tears streaming down his face, said to the child in his arms.

"Mother, with the grain, you won't have to sell me to a wealthy family as a maid, right?" a young girl asked her mother.

"Child, I'm sorry to you! I won't sell you anymore."

The girl, with a sweet voice, called out, "Mother, when we get home, I'll make wild vegetable porridge for you and my brother!"

Such scenes were everywhere.

Seeing this, Lin Yanchao felt tears well up in his eyes.

When planning with County Magistrate Zhou and Shen Shiyeh, he had only cared about what benefits he could get for himself and his family. But now, seeing the hungry people, their humble hopes, and their simple desire to survive, he felt narrow-minded.

He remembered his early ambitions when he first entered the bureaucracy in his previous life, and how they had been eroded by disappointment and fatigue, leaving him only to seek a comfortable life and his girlfriend's happiness.

Reading is not just for a living. He couldn't do that now, but if he became an official in the future, he must not forget what he had seen today!

Lin Yanchao clenched his fist and silently vowed to himself.

PS: Second update, please give me a recommendation!

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