jdhmnovel Chapter 40 Recruiting Yamen Runners
Chapter 40 Recruiting Yamen Runners
Chapter 40 Recruiting Yamen Runners
After finishing his lunch, Wang Wenzhou took Wang Qiang to the county government office. He rarely went to the county government office these days, and there were no major events in the county. He left the minor matters to Li the clerk, and Wang Wenzhou became a hands-off manager.
Wang Wenzhou was still seething with anger after being beaten again today. These yamen runners were outrageous! The security in Hanshan County was terrible! For a county magistrate to be beaten up in his own shop—nobody would believe it!
Wang Wenzhou glanced at the head constable and asked coldly, "What kind of constable are you? There are thugs and ruffians all over the streets, and you don't even bother to arrest them! I was beaten up, and I sent people to the county government office to find the constables, but there were only four of them? There are more than thirty constables, and only four of them are on duty during office hours?"
"Sir! We really haven't been slacking off! These days, a lot of outsiders have come to Hanshan County! People are getting into trouble every day—petty theft, fights, brawls. We've been working non-stop these past few days, barely having time to eat. We're dealing with these things every day." Ma Bantou bowed and explained with a wry smile. In his heart, he cursed One-Eyed, "You bastard, how dare you hit Lord Wang and cause me trouble! You just wait, see how I deal with you!"
Ma Bantou glanced at Li Shuli, wanting Li Shuli to help him explain.
Clerk Li nodded and said, "Sir, Chief Ma said I know a bit about the situation. I just checked the records of good citizen certificates, and many people from other places have found locals to vouch for them and obtained good citizen certificates. Currently, there are a total of 28,920 people who have obtained good citizen certificates."
"Haha!" Wang Wenzhou laughed loudly, "So many people! The cost of materials alone is two thousand taels of silver!"
"Yes! Yes!" Clerk Li laughed, "Your method is truly excellent! Before, Hanshan County's total annual tax revenue was only a little over two hundred taels of silver. You've only been here for less than a month, and the yamen's public accounts have already increased by more than three thousand taels of silver!"
"Huh? More than three thousand taels? That can't be right! Where did the other thousand taels come from?" Wang Wenzhou asked.
"Your Excellency, didn't you say that the revenue from the city's entrance tax should first be included in the public account, and then withdrawn from the public account when needed?" Clerk Li replied.
"It's only been a little over ten days, and the city entry tax has already exceeded a thousand taels?" Wang Wenzhou was somewhat surprised, not expecting that the city entry tax could be so high.
"The huge prize of one thousand taels of silver is displayed at the city gate. Not only the people of this county, but the entire prefecture is in an uproar. Now, at least three to five hundred people from other places are applying for good citizen certificates every day," Clerk Li replied with a smile. He really admired Wang Wenzhou. The magistrate was simply a god of wealth who could turn stones into gold.
Wang Wenzhou nodded with satisfaction, then tilted his neck and pulled at his wound, causing him to cry out in pain.
Wang Wenzhou frowned and said irritably, "But the security in the county is terrible! Chief Ma, you'd better tell me what you've been doing as a chief?"
"Sir! We really don't have enough manpower!" Ma Bantou said with a long face and a bitter smile.
These days, Chief Ma is having a very tough time. Every day before dawn, he has to run laps around the county town twice before going to work. He has a lot of official business to do every day, but he also collects a lot of small bribes! These days, the yamen runners in Hanshan County are embarrassed to greet their colleagues if they don't collect ten or eight taels of silver a day. Not to mention him, the chief who holds so much power.
“Yes, sir!” Clerk Li chimed in, “There are more and more people in the county, and with only thirty-odd yamen runners, Headman Ma and the others are really too busy to handle it all.”
Wang Wenzhou curled his lip and said, "If you don't have enough manpower, then hire people! It's not like the yamen is so poor that it can't pay salaries. Clerk Li, immediately write a notice to recruit a hundred yamen runners first, and if that's not enough, then recruit more."
"Yes, sir!" Clerk Li nodded.
"Thank you for your understanding, sir!" Ma Bantou thanked him quickly and happily. As the head of the squad, he had more power because he had more people under his command.
“Recruit another fifty female constables, um… no, female constables will be called female police officers from now on…” Wang Wenzhou said, explaining his plan to recruit some female mounted police officers to patrol the streets on horseback.
"My lord, this... I'm afraid it's not a good idea! How can a woman show her face in public!" Clerk Li advised.
"Equal pay for equal work! If there's money to be made, why wouldn't people come? Why do you care so much? Are you the county magistrate, or am I?" Wang Wenzhou said irritably.
"My lord! I'm just worried that we won't be able to recruit enough women for the police force! I didn't mean anything by it!" Clerk Li smiled bitterly to himself. His godfather, Lord Wang, was a genius, but sometimes he was just plain frivolous. A police force? How could women be yamen runners! This was absurd!
“I don’t believe it. Money can’t buy jobs! Just recruit people! Female police officers will be paid the same as male constables!” Wang Wenzhou said.
"Yes, sir!" Clerk Li replied hastily.
Wang Wenzhou thought for a moment and then said, "Head of the Ma Squad, you'll be in charge of training the recruited constables. If there are too many men, Li Hechen will be your deputy to help you manage them."
Li, the clerk, smiled happily and quickly winked at his nephew, "Silly child, what are you standing there for? Hurry up and thank the adults!"
"Thank you, sir!" Li Hechen quickly knelt on the ground to express his gratitude.
"By the way, how much is the monthly salary of the yamen runners?" Wang Wenzhou asked.
"Your Honor, ordinary yamen runners like Li Hechen receive three taels of silver per year!" Li the clerk replied.
Damn! Only three taels of silver a year, so little! Wang Wenzhou laughed and said, "Starting today, the yamen runners' salaries will be doubled. If they do well in the future, their salaries can be increased again!"
"Thank you, sir!" The constables below were overjoyed. Following Lord Wang was great! There was money to be made! Although each of them had been earning a considerable amount of money in private these days, they were also afraid that if the money ran out, they would have to live a hard life like before.
"Thank you for your consideration for your subordinates, sir!" Ma Bantou quickly expressed his gratitude.
Wang Wenzhou thought for a moment and said, "After recruiting the horse captains, get to training them as soon as possible. The crackdown will begin next month!"
"Sir, what does the crackdown mean?" the head stableman asked.
“The county’s public security is so bad that even the dignified county magistrate was attacked in the street by thugs. How are ordinary people supposed to survive? Arrest all those scoundrels who don’t have proper jobs and cause trouble all day long and lock them up in jail!” Wang Wenzhou said coldly.
"Your subordinate obeys! Sir, you can rest assured, your subordinate will definitely seize the time to train your men!" Ma Bantou hurriedly replied. He was overjoyed. His superior wanted to "crack down," which meant he could collect a lot more money. He could arrest whoever he didn't like! Even if something went wrong, he wasn't afraid, because he had his superior's orders.
"Li, go and write the notice. We'll start recruiting yamen runners tomorrow! There's nothing else to do today, I'm going home!"
After finishing his business, Wang Wenzhou waved to Wang Qiang and said, "Qiang, let's go back to Zuihualou!"
Li, the clerk, smiled wryly. Lord Wang, indeed a descendant of Yangming, was exceptionally talented, but he was often utterly unreliable. His daily habit of sleeping in the Drunken Flower Pavilion had become the talk of the town. At first, the people cursed Lord Wang as a fool and a corrupt official, but ever since he began collecting taxes in the city, they all called him "Lord Wang the Upright Official." Anyone who dared to utter a single word against Lord Wang would be drowned in the spittle of the people.