Chapter 24: The Food Problem (Seeking Recommendations!)

  This man is about forty years old, tall and thin, with sparse whiskers, a pale yellow complexion due to malnutrition, and an air of weariness that cannot be concealed. His clothes are very old, with several patches visible, standing out like a crane among chickens in the crowd of refugees. Although his clothes are tattered, others can still tell that he is a fallen scholar, which makes people involuntarily keep their distance from him. After all, this is not yet an era where "everything is inferior except for money". The poor and humble commoners at the bottom still have a deep-seated respect for scholars.

  Pang Gang also noticed this situation and quietly asked Wang Zhi Dao: "Where did you find this person?"

  As soon as he heard his own elder mention this person, Wang Zhi couldn't help but smile and say: "Sir, this man was picked up by me when I was leading the refugees out of Qingzhou City. At that time, he had already fainted from hunger on the side of the road. It was I who took pity on him and fed him a few mouthfuls of rice porridge to revive him. Then..."

  "So you deceived him?" Pang Gang interrupted Wang Zhi before he could finish speaking.

  Looking at Pang Gang's ambiguous expression, Wang Zhi hastily said: "Sir, heaven and earth are witnesses, how dare a humble man like me deceive people? He voluntarily enlisted in the army, I absolutely did not cheat him."

  "Alright, I believe you then." Pang Gang couldn't help but burst out laughing, patted Wang Zhi's shoulder and walked towards the scholar.

  The crowd in the queue saw Pang Gang walking towards them in his official uniform and quickly made way, revealing a space, but the middle-aged man was still standing there motionless.

  Pang walked up to the middle-aged man and smiled as he asked: "You see that I, an official, am not bowing to you, it seems that you have some honor and prestige on your side."

  The middle-aged scholar bowed his hands to Pang Gang and said, "I dare not, I have met the hundred officials before! Let the adults see the joke, I am just a poor Confucian scholar, if it were not for the kindness of the adult's subordinate to save me, I would have starved to death on the side of the road long ago, how could I be presumptuous in front of the adults?"

  Pang Gang asked sternly with a thoughtful expression: "I heard that you are willing to join the military and settle down in Wanghai Fortress, is that true?"

  "Exactly!" Hua Yan said with a bitter smile: "I'm now without a steady income, if I don't join the army, I'll probably starve to death in three days. How could I not accept your offer, sir?"

  "Hmm!" Pang Gang nodded in satisfaction, observing that although this monk's clothes were tattered and worn out, his attitude was neither arrogant nor humble. He had already made up his mind to keep him around, so he said with a smile: "It's truly fortunate to have Mr.'s help. From now on, Mr. will stay within the walls of Wanghai Fortress. I, as the official, am willing to treat Mr. as a honored guest. Every month, I will provide Mr. with his stipend in full, without any deductions or delays. What do you think?"

  Hua Yan's face flashed with a hint of joy, he was now in a state of destitution, and being able to become a minor official after arriving at Wang Hai Fortress was an unexpected delight. He bowed his head and saluted Pang Gang: "Your subordinate has seen the Hundred Households' Lord!"

  In ancient times, officials and clerks were not the same thing. Officials were all appointed by the central government, so those who held official positions were called "court-appointed officials", while clerks did not enter the mainstream and were summoned by their superiors, and their status was still that of ordinary people. In other words, bureaucrats were "state cadres", while clerks could only be considered as "workers replacing cadres".

  Their identity is no different from that of yamen runners (such as genghu, bailiffs, and prison guards), except that the latter may perform labor or military service, while shulishi provide intellectual services. Therefore, the status of shulishi is extremely low (often referred to as "dog officials"), and their treatment is also very poor (often unable to receive a salary). In addition, there is another rule, which is that shulishi cannot serve as imperial censors (supervisory officials) or take the imperial examination. Officials and clerks are like heaven and earth.

  However, although this position is inconspicuous, their power is not small. In ancient times, there was a saying that "the hundred officials are nominal, and the ones who hold the country are the clerks."

  In the Ming dynasty, officials were divided into several ranks: zhǎn diǎn, sī lì, diǎn lì, and lìng lì. Zhǎn diǎn was the lowest rank among them. In the Ming dynasty, promotion of officials was extremely difficult. If everything went smoothly, after serving as a zhǎn diǎn for three years, one could be promoted to sī lì, then another three years later to diǎn lì, and finally, after another three years, to lìng lì, the highest rank among officials. However, even lìng lì was still a minor official who did not enter the mainstream. Fang Zhen was given the lowest rank of zhǎn diǎn by Emperor Yongle.

  But Huayan was still very happy about it, because no matter what, from now on he also had a formal job, which for him who had nothing to eat or wear was absolutely a great thing.

  After carefully sizing up Hua Yan, Pang Gang ordered Da Zhuang to bring over the registration book and pen and paper, and handed them over to Hua Yan, saying: "Mr. Hua, after those refugees finish their porridge, you will start registering them in the book, one original and one copy, and in the future, the account books for money and grain will also be handled by you. As long as you do a good job, once we recruit enough people, I will promote you to be an official clerk. You must do well and not disappoint me!"

  In front of the donkey pulling a mill, hang a carrot to make the donkey pull hard is an eternal method in officialdom. Later generations, Pang Gang was also summoned by his leaders in this way, and now he has brought it out unchanged, but it seems that the effect is not bad.

  Hua Yanxing took over the registration book with a smile, and Pang Gang also breathed a sigh of relief. Although he had handed over some things to Hei Tie and Li Xian during this time, since both of them were illiterate, those registration and accounting tasks could only be done by himself, which made him feel frustrated.

  Smiling as he watched the refugees enthusiastically drinking their rice porridge, Pang Gang nodded to himself. These refugees were mostly young and strong, it seemed that after the planting season was over, he could start selecting some of them for training. After all, time waits for no man, the earlier the garrison is trained, the safer Wanghai Fortress will be.

  He beckoned Wang Zhi over and asked, "Dazhuang, do you know if there are any good swimmers among our military dependents or refugees who can fish?"

  "Sir, are you going to send someone to fish?" Wang Zhi asked.

  Pang Gang sighed, "Yes, now that so many people have been added all at once, our foundation is too shallow. If we don't find something to fill the gap in food supplies ourselves, we'll really be facing a food shortage!"

  "Your Honor, I reckon it's likely that there are indeed people who do this. Although the Great Ming has long since issued a ban on maritime activities, there are still many who will secretly go out to sea and fish. After all, when people are hungry, they'll do anything. I think this matter shouldn't be too difficult."

  "That's good!" Pang Gang patted Wang Zhi on the shoulder and said, "I'll leave this to you. Tomorrow, start recruiting people, weaving fishing nets, and get it done as soon as possible. Also, remember, we can't let them have nothing to do. Our Wanghai Fortress doesn't raise idle people!"

  "Yes, sir, I'll definitely get this done properly." Wang Zhi patted his chest with a loud thud...