Chapter 21: Abandoning the Lower Limit

  Lu Haoshan was worried about raising funds, while in the house, Chen Gui was also worried about money and silver, but unlike Lu Haoshan, he was worried about how to divide the silver.

  As the county lieutenant for three consecutive terms, not only did he firmly secure his own position, but also integrated the Jiangyou County government into a solid entity. Chen Gui had his own set of methods, which was to concentrate all the benefits and then reward them according to merit. This way, he avoided the clerks from fighting each other for money and silver, ultimately benefiting outsiders. As for the extra benefits that came in, Chen Gui adopted the method of small allocations every month and a big division at the end of the year. Before long, it was approaching the year-end again, and the time to divide the profits had arrived.

  Those underlings, runners and slaves have been waiting with bated breath, but Zhou Dayuan, the clerk in charge of finance, remains unmoved, delaying the distribution. The reason is simple: his superior, Chen Gui, the de facto ruler of the county government, has not yet decided how to divide it.

  "Sir, the people below are urging every day, and many brothers are waiting for this money to buy New Year's goods." Zhou Dàyuan reminded in a low voice.

  Chen Gui squinted and said: "Are those accounts all settled?"

  "Alright," Zhou Dàyuan said in a low voice, "following the usual practice, we'll first set aside 30% for the superior, and then divide the remaining 70%. Don't worry, sir, the accounts have been cooked to perfection, and no one except us will be able to find anything out."

  This is an unwritten rule, Chen Gui's rule, others have to follow his rules, but as the maker of the rules, he can bypass these constraints. He instructs his confidant Zhou Dayuan, every time before dividing the money, first deducting 30% into his private pouch, and then dividing it again. At that time, proactively divide a little less, not only did the money not decrease, but also gained a good reputation in the county government, which is a win-win situation.

  What's bothering Chen Gui now is that he has this silver in his hand and doesn't know how to divide it. In fact, he can't make up his mind about how much to give the new county magistrate. Even dividing the silver requires skill. If he gives too little, he fears that if Lu Haoshan finds out about this matter later, he'll be in trouble. If he gives too much, he's afraid that Lu will be insatiable and never satisfied, which wouldn't be fair to his subordinates either. After all, the new county magistrate only arrived in October and has been on sick leave for over a month. Now he's directly plucking the biggest and best peaches, which makes people a bit resentful.

  It's not easy to develop into one's own person, so naturally you can't afford to lose face. The money has to be spent, but grasping the degree is a very important issue.

  "No rush, I'd like to think this over a bit more, and it's just as well to temper their will." Chen Gui said slowly.

  "Yes, sir." Zhou Dàyuan had always been obedient to his superior and answered without hesitation.

  The household registration, land tax, financial tax, and marriage of a county are all handled by the Household Department. It's no wonder that they can get rich easily. As a clerk in the Household Department, Zhou Dàyuan must have gotten a lot of benefits and wouldn't want to distribute them quickly.

  Two men were negotiating, a bookkeeper knocked on the door lightly: "Sir, is County Magistrate in?"

  "Come in." Chen Gui replied, letting Shu Bang enter.

  "I have seen County Magistrate, Zhou Siyi." The clerk hastily paid his respects.

  Chen Gui disliked being disturbed when he was in a private conversation, and everyone in the county government knew that. At this time, Shu Ban came to knock on the door, definitely something big had happened.

  "Magistrate, sir, the county head invites you to go to the side hall immediately and discuss important matters with you."

  County Magistrate looking for himself? Chen Gui was taken aback, although it had been nearly two months since County Magistrate Lu took office, this was the first time he had actively sought him out. Upon hearing this, he didn't dare to be slow and hastily went to the side hall to find Lu Haoshan.

  As soon as he saw Lu Haoshan, Chen Gui immediately bowed and said: "Sir, I don't know why you summoned me, what are your orders?"

  Lu Haoshan didn't speak immediately, but instead made a gesture to sit down, letting Chen Gui take a seat. After Liu Jinzhu presented the fragrant tea, he slowly and clearly said: "County Magistrate Chen, now we can consider ourselves as one of our own, right?"

  "Yes, it is an honor for me that Your Excellency has taken notice of me."

  No matter what, this is how far it's gone, and no matter what, you have to say it's good.

  Lu Haoshan smiled, but his face soon turned serious. He spoke directly and to the point: "County Magistrate Chen, according to my teacher, apart from salary, there are also fire expenses, grain expenses, filial piety silver, and interest on idle funds that come into the county government. I've been here for almost two months now, but I haven't seen a single penny of these?"

  "Ah..." Chen Gui's heart skipped a beat, thinking that this guy had changed his tune quickly. Just now he was so upright and honest, how did he bring up these gray income matters? However, he reacted quickly and responded: "In response to your question, sir, indeed there are such income, which is used to supplement the county government's expenses. Every year before the Spring Festival, it will be distributed as welfare to the people of the county government to reward their hard work for the past year. However, since you were not feeling well recently, I didn't submit it to you. Just now, I was in the Ministry of Revenue, urging Zhou Siyi to quickly finalize the accounts and submit them to you for approval."

  "Oh?" Lu Haoshan said with a curious face: "How much is this silver?"

  Chen Gui hesitated for a moment and said ambiguously: "Sir, the accounts are still being calculated, but according to the old rules, it's usually around 1,000 taels or so per year. Although this is a disaster year, the county government has been working hard, and I believe the income and expenditure will not be greatly different."

  "How much can this official be divided?" Lu Haoshan said directly.

  "According to the rules, adults can get two and a half percent."

  "Two successes and half?"

  "Yes," Chen Gui nodded and said: "This silver is called a split, five-fifths are divided, the official occupies five-tenths, the clerk, the runner, and the slave together occupy five-tenths, among which the master gets half, leaving two-and-a-half tenths, the county lieutenant and the chief clerk each occupy one-tenth, while the historian only has half a tenth. If the master feels that the division is not even, this matter can be discussed further."

  It's indeed a windfall, and if he didn't ask, Chen Gui might not have said anything. Lu Haoshan was secretly delighted in his heart, as this 2.5% would bring him more than 200 taels of silver. The amount of silver wasn't the most important thing; what mattered was that he could formally integrate into their group, and this was a good start.

  Lu Haoshan said straightforwardly: "Let's just follow the old example, it's not easy these days."

  "Yes, sir, it's still the kindness of adults." Chen Gui hastily expressed his gratitude.

  Lu Haoshan paused for a moment before continuing: "County Magistrate Chen may seem strange to you, but the truth is that I have my own reasons for doing this."

  "Sir, these are what you deserve," Chen Gui hastily said. "I wouldn't dare to be suspicious. However, sir, you mentioned there's something behind this. If it doesn't bother you, I'd like to hear more about it."

  "This official used to be somewhat stubborn and unyielding, which led to poor relationships with others and a bad reputation. It wasn't until after taking office and experiencing many things that I finally understood the kindness of my former teacher. To be honest with County Magistrate Chen, Lu obtained the position of county magistrate solely due to the face given by his former teacher. If not for that, even if he had waited several more years, it would have been impossible to achieve this position, and at most, he would have been relegated to a remote and unimportant post just going through the motions. The experiences here have made me suddenly realize my mistakes and decide not to give up on the wealth and glory that is about to come."

  As soon as he heard the two words "wealth and nobility", Chen Gui's spirit was shaken, as if a bee had smelled honey, and he immediately came to his senses. He asked: "Sir, I don't know what kind of wealth and nobility you are talking about, can you tell me?"

  Lu Haoshan smiled slightly: "Ren Fang brother is also one of us, when the official was ill and resting, he managed the county government in an orderly manner, without seeking credit or being arrogant, and even gave a beautiful maid as a gift. The official has already introduced you as a close friend, so there's no need to hide anything. Master said that now the rebels are rising up everywhere, the war situation in Liaodong is dire, the national treasury has been empty for a long time, and the Emperor only pressures the Ministry of Revenue. The Ministry of Revenue has no way out, and after repeated pleas to the Emperor, finally reached an agreement with the Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs: officials who are enthusiastic about donating and have good conduct will be given priority in allocations."

  "My benefactor said that as long as I raise 20,000 taels of silver, he will help me get a promotion to the position of prefect. At first, I thought this was not in line with moral principles, but now it seems like a shortcut for advancement. In any case, only a bigger stage can better display one's ambitions."

  "Are you really sure about this, Master?" Chen Gui said with some disbelief.

  "It won't be wrong, my benefactor is the Minister of Justice...". Lu Haoshan coughed twice and then said casually: "This topic has gone off on a tangent, let's not talk about this. County Magistrate Chen, you now know why I'm in such a hurry to raise funds, don't you?"

  Lu Haoshan said half, suddenly shut his mouth, as if he had a warning, but heard Chen Gui's ears, his heart was shocked. He secretly said in his heart: I didn't get to the bottom of it, and it turned out that this Lu Haoshan's backer is from the Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs. No wonder he is so confident. After careful consideration, it is indeed the case that people like him can get official positions, and the power behind them cannot be small. As for the empty treasury, Chen Gui had long heard about it. Those soldiers on the border were born to die, but the court often delayed their pay, one delay was several months, could the soldiers not afford to eat? The matter of delaying pay, Chen Gui had heard of it several times. It is said that someone bought an official position, this is no longer news in the official circle.

  Always sitting in the county magistrate's position, looking up to the county magistrate's nose, Chen Gui suddenly felt that on the road ahead with thick dark clouds, a bright and beautiful ray of sunlight suddenly shone through the gap. To be honest, the Chen family was not short of money, but lacked a way out.

  People go to high places, water flows to low places. Chen Gui was a die-hard official fan, and as soon as he heard the words, his heart moved.

  "Old man" Chen Gui rubbed his hands and said: "Your salary is not high, and those tributes are not that many every month, in a year it's just that little silver, far from 20,000 taels. This method is just, I'm afraid by the time you collect that 20,000 taels, the Huang Hua vegetable will be cold."

  Lu Haoshan shook his head: "Don't worry, in extraordinary times, take extraordinary measures. It's just taking from the people and using it for the people. Master said that as long as you don't pierce the sky, he has a way to suppress it."

  "Your Excellency, the population of Jiangyou is only over 500,000 people. It's hard to raise 200,000 troops in a short period of time. If we don't hurry up, others may seize the opportunity first. As the saying goes, 'opportunities are fleeting and cannot be missed.' However, if we rush too much, it will also greatly damage your official reputation and hinder future promotions."

  "What's to be done? Such a good opportunity would be wasted just like that?" Lu Haoshan said with feigned difficulty.

  Looking at Chen Gui's eager face beside him, Lu Haoshan felt that Chen Gui had already been lured by the bait he had thrown out and was slowly falling into his trap.

  Who cares, in this chaotic world where the law has collapsed, except for strength, everything is empty. Anyway, his own identity is also fake, so what if he abandons his bottom line and makes a run for it? Lu Haoshan decides to abandon his limits and use any means necessary to achieve his goal: within the shortest time possible, on one hand, he will strive to gain absolute control over Jiangyou County, while on the other hand, he will accumulate strength in every way possible. This so-called "strength" refers to two things: first, wealth and resources; second, talent. The wealthy Chen Gui is Lu Haoshan's first target.

  In short, you're done for, and before moving this stumbling block away, his money has to be squeezed out first.