White-robed Minister

0012 [The Conflict Between Civil and Military Officials]

The magistrate of Qingyuan County was named Shen Zhi, courtesy name Shouzhong.

He was a fourth-class Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) last year and was initially appointed as a county lieutenant on a trial basis. After passing the selection process, he also used some connections to officially take up the post of acting magistrate of Qingyuan County.

As the development of Guangdong and Guangxi has deepened, the number of positions for acting magistrates has become increasingly scarce, making the acting magistrate of Qingyuan County a relatively good substantive post.

Shen Zhi had only arrived in Qingyuan in early summer this year, and before he could even settle in, he encountered such a major event as the robbery of the imperial convoy.

In the second hall of the county government office, Shen Zhi sat anxiously waiting.

Wang Houzhi, the acting registrar, strode in, his face grim. "My lord," he said, "the archers I sent to search for treasures found a packet of spices in the countryside, but they were stopped by the patrol soldiers."

"Such a thing could happen?" Shen Zhi was extremely shocked.

This is tantamount to openly turning against the county magistrate; the military officer of the patrol office is far too audacious!

"The maritime trade convoy was robbed; those military men have gone mad. What wouldn't they do to atone for their crimes and recover more treasures?"

Wang Houzhi explained in detail: "The patrol soldiers blocked the waterways, bridges, and ferry crossings, so even if the archers found the treasures that the salt bandits had abandoned in the countryside, they couldn't bring them back."

Shen Zhi asked, "Do they still dare to rob us?"

Wang Houzhi nodded and said, "They've already taken action. Liu Yuan, the head of the county's archery unit, was beaten black and blue by the patrol soldiers for refusing to hand over the packet of spices. If it weren't for the large crowd of onlookers, Liu Yuan might have been beaten to death."

Shen Zhi's face flushed red and then turned pale; he was so angry that he couldn't speak.

Wang Houzhi was the acting registrar and acting county lieutenant of Qingyuan County. The county lieutenant's office under his command was equipped with archers and was responsible for maintaining order in the city and its suburbs.

The archer is similar to criminal police, police officers, firefighters, tax police, and urban management officers in urban and suburban areas.

The convoy of salt shipments was robbed within the territory of Qingyuan County, and both Shen Zhi and Wang Houzhi bore joint responsibility. However, their crimes were minor; simply capturing a few salt bandits and recovering a small amount of valuables would be enough to atone for their offenses.

Civil officials, after all.

Even the lowest-ranking official is still a civil servant.

However, the patrol officers prevented them from gaining merit, directly controlling the waterways, ferry crossings, and bridges, and seizing the bandit corpses and treasures being transported to the county town.

Why is that?

Because the patrol inspectors were responsible for maintaining order in rural areas, villages, passes, and waterways, they were directly responsible for the robbery of the maritime trade vessels at Yinsha Port, and all the patrol inspectors would be held accountable.

For every salt bandit captured or every box of treasure recovered, the inspectors could reduce their punishment by a small margin, and they would never allow the civil officials to steal it!

In border areas, the county magistrate often concurrently served as the military commander of the county, making him the direct superior of the patrol and military officer.

But Qingyuan County is not a frontier area, and there is no direct subordinate relationship between the two sides, so the patrol inspector is not afraid of offending the county magistrate at all.

This led to a situation where civil and military officials vied for credit!

The civil officials couldn't compete.

Shen Zhi sat listlessly in the second hall of the county government office, sighing from time to time. How could he, a newly appointed Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination), be so unlucky? If this incident affected his promotion, his entire career would be ruined.

Wang Houzhi was even more desperate than Shen Zhi.

Wang Houzhi wasn't even a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), but rather a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial imperial examinations) from Guangxi who had passed the provincial examinations multiple times. Due to the court's preferential policies towards scholars from Guangdong and Guangxi, he only had the opportunity to become the acting official of Guangnan after being eliminated in the palace examination.

He has already served three terms as regent, and as long as there are no problems in his fourth term, he will be able to successfully transfer to the position of selection official. At that time, he will be entitled to the same treatment as the last-ranked scholar in the imperial examination.

But now a problem has arisen!

If he cannot atone for his sins through meritorious service, Wang Houzhi's term as acting official will have to be recalculated, and he will have to serve for more than ten years before he can be selected as a candidate for official service.

"Report! Report! Report! There are... there are righteous people who have captured and killed salt bandits, and they are carrying... carrying treasure chests into the city!" A subordinate official came running up to report the news.

"What?"

Shen Zhi and Wang Houzhi were both surprised and delighted. They ran outside without caring about anything else, and their subordinates hurriedly followed after them.

Shen Zhi ran wildly through the streets for a while, then saw a large crowd of people ahead. He quickly asked in broken Cantonese, "I am the magistrate of Qingyuan County. Who captured the salt bandits? And how much treasure have been recovered?"

Xu Lai stepped forward from the crowd, bowed respectfully, and said, "This humble commoner, Han Li, pays his respects to Your Excellency!"

Seeing that the young man, though dressed in rags, was polite in his speech and manners, addressing him as "County Magistrate" instead of "Superior," Shen Zhi's impression of him improved even more: "You've been to school?"

Xu Lai replied, "My family is poor and I have no money to go to school. I often follow my father and brothers to gather firewood and carry it to the county town to sell. Occasionally, when we pass by a school, I will eavesdrop on the teacher's lectures. I don't understand much of the profound principles in the books, but I know that the sages taught that one should be loyal, filial, and righteous."

"Haha," Shen Zhi laughed twice and said to Wang, the registrar, "Even a country boy like you knows about loyalty, filial piety, and righteousness."

Wang Houzhi quickly flattered, "This is all thanks to Your Majesty's teachings."

Xu Lai began to fabricate a story: "A few companions and I were carrying firewood to the county town to sell when we encountered two salt bandits on the way. We were so scared that we wanted to run away, but we remembered that the county magistrate and the registrar usually encouraged the people to be loyal and righteous, so we mustered up our courage and killed the salt bandits. Three other companions were injured and had to return to the village first."

Shen Zhi laughed even harder, stroking his beard and saying, "A truly righteous citizen!"

Wang Houzhi then asked, "Did you encounter any archers?"

Xu Lai replied, "The county's archers and an elder escorted us into the city."

He doesn't mind others taking credit; he believes it's better to share the joy than to keep it to himself. In fact, the more people who share the credit, the more solid the achievement becomes.

Just don't steal the credit!

The archers and elders were all under the management of Wang Houzhi.

As long as the archers and elders are confirmed to have rendered meritorious service, Wang Houzhi can also claim credit for himself.

As a result, Clerk Wang became happy.

Shen Zhi first examined the salt bandits' corpses, then asked, "Where is the treasure?"

"here!"

Bu Chao and Li Tian carried the treasure chest forward.

Wang Houzhi bent down to take a look, then returned to Shen Zhi and whispered, "Sir, it's five hundred taels of silver. The box hasn't been opened."

The two immediately praised the archer and the elder, and then ordered the officials to take Xu Lai and the others to bathe and change clothes.

The men had been conscripted for over half a month, and their bodies reeked of blood and were infested with lice. They had also been stained with blood during the fight the previous night. When they swam across the river, they were soaked to the bone, and although their clothes dried from their body heat as they walked quickly, they still carried the smell of the river.

The stench was so strong that you could smell it from three feet away, so naturally you had to take a bath and change clothes first.

Xu Lai was overjoyed to be sent to take a bath.

This means you have to change into clean clothes before seeing the magistrate; otherwise, you would have been rewarded directly without needing to take a bath.

The two civil officials, carrying the bandit's corpse and the treasure chest, returned together to the inner office.

Wang Houzhi dismissed the officials and consulted with Magistrate Shen, saying, "We can't rashly return the silver to the cargo ship; otherwise, it might be robbed by the patrol soldiers again. Let's send a letter directly to the Guangzhou Maritime Trade Office and ask them to send someone to take it over."

"Wonderful!" Shen Zhi clapped his hands in praise.

Why is it so wonderful?

Because the position of Maritime Trade Commissioner of Guangzhou was concurrently held by Yu Jing, the Prefect of Guangzhou.

Even the treasures on the ships of the maritime trade were personally selected and dispatched by Yu Jing.

The two sent a letter directly to the Maritime Trade Office, which would certainly reach Yu Jing. They could both curry favor with Yu Jing and take the opportunity to complain about the patrol inspector to him.

Turning a funeral into a celebration is a good thing, and it can even put a bad word on the inspector!

Shen Zhi paced back and forth with delight: "Those righteous people must be richly rewarded."

He then asked in confusion, "There are patrol soldiers everywhere, and even the county constable's archers can't get through. How did they manage to evade the patrol soldiers and bring the bandit corpses and the silver to the county town?"

Wang Houzhi emphasized, "They were escorted into the city by archers."

It must be.

No, not at all!

Shen Zhi said, "I understand what you mean. I'm just wondering how they got here?"

Wang Houzhi analyzed and speculated: "These people are carrying broadswords and smell terrible. They don't look like villagers who have come to the city to sell firewood. They are probably conscripted able-bodied men who were organized into local soldiers by the patrol office. Last night, they were routed by the salt bandits, and they killed any lone salt bandits they encountered to show off their merits."

Shen Zhi nodded and said, "Most likely."

Wang Houzhi laughed and said, "They are really clever. If they had handed over the bandit corpses and treasure chests to the patrol office, they would have gotten nothing. They actually knew how to avoid the patrol soldiers' interception and deliver the goods directly to the county town."

This was so bizarre that the two civil officials marveled at it.

It seems simple, but it is actually difficult.

First, one must have the courage to fight the salt bandits to the death, which is extremely rare when the entire army is in defeat.

Secondly, we need someone with a quick mind to come up with ideas and know where to attribute the credit.

Third, they also had to avoid waterways, ferries, and bridges, and bypass the strict guards of the patrol soldiers.

Only when all three conditions are met can this matter be accomplished and the two civil officials be saved from misfortune!

Shen Zhi said, "It was probably that boy's idea. This child eavesdropped on the village school teacher's lecture and actually understands the principles of the sages. His wisdom has been awakened; he is no ordinary commoner. How should we reward him?"

Wang Houzhi thought for a moment and said, "Give them ten strings of cash and let them distribute it as they see fit. Also, exempt their families from three years of corvée labor. Select one or two of them to serve as archers and give them the positions of deputy captain and ten generals."

The head archer of the county command was selected from brave and strong men in the countryside; strictly speaking, he was a minor official. For example, Wu Song in "Water Margin" held this position.

The head of the patrol office, however, was a proper military officer, mostly of the ninth rank.

Why did Wang Houzhi select one or two people from Xu Lai's group to serve as archers? Of course, it was to solidify the archers' reputation for meritorious service.

The archers are under the command of Chief Clerk Wang, and any meritorious service performed by the archers is considered meritorious service by him!

This achievement gives Xu Lai hope for the future.

Uncle Zhang and Bu Chao, those two formidable men, could probably get into the county command as archers, and even hold official positions.

In the early and mid-Northern Song Dynasty, ordinary archers were mostly sons of respectable families from the third-class households. They brought their own weapons and provisions, working for the government for free.

However, archers with official positions were different; they were hired by the government and received a salary.

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(Note: In many lower-ranking counties during the Northern Song Dynasty, the positions of Registrar and County Commandant were often understaffed. It was possible that the Registrar concurrently served as the County Commandant, or vice versa. This was mainly because there wasn't much official work, and one official could handle it all.)

(Counties were also ranked. For example, Qingyuan County was a medium-ranking county, and the magistrate of Qingyuan County was a third-rank magistrate. The regular salary of a third-rank magistrate was only 3 shi of rice per month, plus some government allowances.)

(The head of a high-ranking county is the magistrate, while the head of a low-ranking county is the county magistrate. Take the two counties attached to Guangzhou as examples: the magistrate of Nanhai County was appointed by an official from the capital, while the county magistrate of Panyu County was appointed by a selected official.)

(Moreover, the magistrate of Panyu County was often an acting magistrate, usually a newly appointed Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination). For example, Xiao Zhu, who had distinguished himself eleven years earlier, was then serving as the acting magistrate of Panyu. He broke through the siege to the seaside to recruit suicide soldiers and boats, and took advantage of the typhoon to sail his ships and defeat Nong Zhigao's navy.)

(Xiao Zhu was thus recommended by Di Qing and directly promoted from acting magistrate to prefect. After Di Qing's death, Xiao Zhu's career was fraught with difficulties, and he was demoted to deputy military commissioner. Later, Xiao Zhu was reinstated and transferred to the Northwest, where he also helped Wang Shao plan the expansion of the border. However, before the expansion could be successful, Xiao Zhu was transferred to Guangxi to quell a rebellion.)