On a street in Qingyang County, Chizhou Prefecture, a policeman in public uniform was walking down the street in despair. He had long lost his former air.
"Xu Tou, why haven't you left yet?"
"It's coming, it's coming."
Facing the inquiries from familiar vendors along the street, the catcher could only force a smile and speak casually.
The catcher's name was Xu Fu, a small catcher in the county government. After the implementation of the New Deal, he was awarded the rank of ninth-rank official. After the cabinet's transfer order came, Xu Fu, like other officials, resisted very much.
Even after the second strict order from the cabinet, Xu Fu still refused to give up and wanted to find the magistrate to convince him to stay in Qingyang County, for which he spent a lot of money.
But at the beginning, the magistrate accepted the money, and he usually regarded Xu Fu very highly, so he agreed without hesitation. Later, his attitude became colder day by day, so much so that he just disappeared today, which made Xu Fu's heart sink to the bottom.
What made him even more anxious was that most of the familiar people in the yamen had left long ago, and all the people who came were unfamiliar faces. Today, his position was occupied by a newly arrived head catcher.
In addition, there were only ten days left until the end of April. Xu Fu had completely given up. He knew that he had been deceived by the magistrate and could not delay any longer.
"Master, why are you back so early today? Has there been a reply from the magistrate?"
As soon as Xu Fu returned home, a pregnant woman came to him.
Immediately, four people, old and young, came out of the house.
As soon as we entered the courtyard, there were three main rooms and two side rooms. Although they looked a bit crude, they were kept quite clean and the family looked good.
Although he was not considered a wealthy family, it was indeed very rare to have such a place to settle down in troubled times.
Looking at the expectant looks in the eyes of his elderly parents, young brothers and sisters, and his wife who was six or seven months pregnant, Xu Fu also sighed.
"Forget it, the magistrate has not been seen at all today. He has probably been tricking me all along. Today another headhunter came and took my position."
"What, what should we do?"
"There is no time. We must sell all the fields and houses outside the city as soon as possible and set off immediately, otherwise it will be too late."
"But my body is inconvenient, and my father's legs and feet are not good. I heard that Dingyuan County is hundreds of miles away from our Qingyang County."
"Son, the dozen acres of farmland we have are all good farmland. Why don't we just stop working in the yamen? We can live on guarding the dozen acres of farmland."
"Yes, brother, I left my hometown and went to Dingyuan County. I don't know what will happen to me in the future."
The family was obviously reluctant to sell their land and house, and the old father and his wife had difficulty moving. This was why Xu Fu wanted to stay in Qingyang County even if he took out all his family savings.
"What you said is nice. Without this skin, who will take me in their eyes again in the future?"
Xu Fu was angry. He knew that without the errands in the yamen and the connections he had in the yamen, life in Qingyang County would only be more difficult in the future, and the more than ten acres of fertile land would definitely not be preserved.
"But when we arrive in Dingyuan County, we are unfamiliar with this place. Where will our family live?" The pregnant wife looked worried.
"There must be a road before the car reaches the mountain. After all, I am now an official of the ninth rank. As long as I have an official status, it is better to go to a new place than to stay here. Besides, don't I still have a monthly salary of five taels of silver?
Even if I don’t have a field, I can still feed you.”
"Come on, you've been working as an official in the government for so long. When did you get a salary?" His wife rolled her eyes at him.
"Although there is no salary, the money distributed every year is not less than the salary. Okay, that's it. You guys hurry up and clean up. I'm going to find someone now..."
No matter how reluctant the family was, they had no choice but to go back to the house to clean up. Xu Fu went to the Yamen again. Although many large merchants had approached him recently, the prices offered were too low.
So he wanted to go to the Yamen and ask if any of the new arrivals wanted to buy land or a house.
As a result, he went to the Yamen to inquire, and a group of civil servants almost broke their heads. In the end, the land and the house were sold for more than two hundred taels for more than ten acres.
The next day, a large family hired two carriages and set off for Dingyuan County in Fengyang Prefecture.
There are many deceived petty officials like Xu Fu, but few of them were deceived into waiting until April 20th. Most of them woke up soon after being deceived by the county magistrate.
Dingyuan County is located in the south of Fengyang Prefecture. The county magistrate is Wu Hong, a new scholar who just took office not long ago.
At this time, he looked at the chief clerk and asked: "Master Wang, today is the end of April. Have all the staff of the county government offices arrived?"
"My lord, except for Xu Fu, the ninth-grade head catcher in Qingyang County, who has not yet arrived, the others have all taken office." The chief secretary hurriedly replied.
"Humph, today has not come yet, and I don't think I will come. I will prepare the official document tonight, I will check it and seal it, and send it to Nanjing immediately tomorrow morning!"
Wu Hong snorted coldly, then waved his hand and ordered.
"It's your lord, I'll go get ready now."
Originally, the county magistrate should be personally responsible for verifying the official documents of county government personnel, but Wu Hong pushed it to the chief clerk, who did not dare to refuse.
"Prince Wang, I have heard that the atmosphere in the yamen is very bad recently. Don't blame me for not reminding you. As the saying goes, the one who takes advantage of others is short of hand, and the one who eats is short of mouth.
Both His Majesty and Mr. Magu attach great importance to this new deal. If something goes wrong, it may not be as simple as being dismissed from office."
"I understand, sir. Don't worry, my lord. Brothers all know the importance. These are some of my brothers' wishes. I hope your lord will accept them."
The chief clerk also understood that the county magistrate was jealous of the large number of people accepting gifts from big merchants these days, so he quickly took out the filial piety gift list that he had prepared in advance.
Wu Hong took the gift list and looked at it, then threw it on the table. He couldn't see the reaction on his face. He just said in a cold voice: "I will take it as you wish. As for the money, you don't need it."
"Sir, this..."
The chief bookkeeper was a little surprised when he saw that he didn't accept it.
"Back off."
"yes!"
After the chief clerk left, Wu Hongcai sneered.
These guys have collected money from those big families, and they will definitely do something wrong when the land is measured.
If he accepts their filial piety money now, if the matter is exposed and found out, he will definitely be dismissed and investigated.
And if you don't accept their money, then you will at most make an oversight and be reprimanded.
If he could hide it in the end, he would have plenty of ways to make them respect him again, so there was no need to be so anxious.
There is no way, both His Majesty and Nama Shiying attach great importance to this new policy. If you are not cautious, sooner or later you will follow in the footsteps of his predecessor.
at the same time.
Xu Fu and his family hurriedly hurried outside the city gate, and finally arrived outside Dingyuan City. Seeing that the city gate was closing, Xu Fu hurriedly shouted and rushed forward.
"Wait...wait a moment..."
"Damn it, where did this bird man come from? He's looking for death."
When Xu Fu rushed to the city gate, the gate had been closed to allow only one person to pass through. When the officials and soldiers guarding the gate saw someone making trouble and preventing the gate from closing, they drew their swords and glared at each other.
"Misunderstanding, misunderstanding. I am Xu Fu, the county government chief who just took office. I was delayed on the way. I would like to ask my brothers to make it easier and do me a favor. I will treat you all to a drink someday to say thank you!"
Xu Fu hurriedly laughed and explained, and also took out his badge and official documents.
Sure enough, when the clerks and the soldiers heard that this guy was the new head catcher, they immediately became friendly with him.
"It turns out to be Brother Xu, disrespectful, disrespectful, little brother Liu San..."
After a polite introduction, the soldiers opened the city gate again, and at this time the carriage also drove closer.
Xu Fu also breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing their attitude, he knew that he made the right choice to take office.
After inquiring about some information with these soldiers and making an appointment for a treat, Xu Fu took his family members to an inn. After settling in, he immediately rushed to the county government office in a hurry.
It was getting dark at this time, and Wu Hong was about to go to sleep. When he learned that Xu Fu, who was late, finally came to see him, he was furious, but he still ordered someone to take him to the study.
"Xu Fu, the lower official, meets the magistrate."
Although Xu Fu was already an official, he still knelt down and bowed.
He knew whether he could take office now depended entirely on the words of the county magistrate. He had just inquired about it, and the chief clerk had already written the official document and stamped it with a big seal. It would be sent to the Nanjing Ministry of Civil Affairs tomorrow morning, but there was nothing on it.
There is no name for him.
"Get up, Xu Fu, why did you arrive today? Don't you know the deadline set by the Ministry of Officials?" Wu Hong said coldly.
"My lord, my wife is pregnant, and my father has difficulty with his legs and feet, so he was delayed on the road. I would like to ask your lord to be accommodating. I am very grateful."
Xu Fu did not hesitate, gritted his teeth and took out one hundred taels of silver. He knew that if the magistrate really didn't want to give him a chance, he would not receive him.
"Well, it turns out that's the case. It's understandable. You arrived today after all, and it's not considered late. Anyway, I'll just draft another official document. You can go back and settle down first!"
When Wu Hong saw this guy taking out one hundred taels of silver in one breath, he nodded with satisfaction, his tone became gentler, and he waved his hand after speaking.
He felt at ease with this money. With this hundred taels of silver, it was not impossible for him to rewrite the official document himself.
"Thank you, sir. I will take my leave now."
Xu Fu hurriedly thanked him, his heart ached to the point of dripping blood, and his intestines were filled with regret. If he had directly chosen to take office from the beginning, he would not have been involved in more than two hundred taels.
After Xu Fu arrived, more than 120 minor officials and civil servants with high grades in Dingyuan County also arrived, and obviously none of them was willing to give up their official status.
After the official document was sent to the Nanjing Ministry of Civil Affairs, in the following days, the county magistrate Wu Hong and all the officials were waiting for the imperial court to issue an order to implement the new land policy.
Gentlemen and landowners everywhere are also waiting. Obviously everyone wants to know what the new land tax policy will be.
But seven days later, instead of waiting for the government decree regarding land, everyone waited for the announcement of salary distribution.
What surprised all the officials was that this time the imperial court actually wanted to pay out salaries, and they had to go to the bank in the county to open an account in order to receive the salary every month.
