jdhmnovel Chapter 236 It's more satisfying to be bossed around like a dog than to boss around Old Deng!
Chapter 236 It's more satisfying to be bossed around like a dog than to boss around Old Deng!
While all the officials in the Ming Dynasty court were suffering because of the "Wangtian System," Yang Shaofeng was all smiles as he looked at the herds of cattle and horses in front of him.
Look, look at these cattle and horses before us. There are twenty-nine scholars dressed in Confucian robes and more than three hundred craftsmen dressed in coarse cloth short shirts. Moreover, all these scholars and craftsmen have brought their relatives with them.
If their relatives are also included, the number would be around a thousand.
In other words, from the moment they arrived in Ningyang County, the population of Ningyang County increased to more than 3,000, a sudden surge of one-third.
The key is the identities of these people.
Among the twenty-nine scholars, three were successful candidates in the county-level imperial examinations. These three were undoubtedly the best candidates to serve as assistant officials.
The remaining twenty-six were all students who had passed the imperial examinations, and these people were undoubtedly the best candidates for the positions of clerks in the Six Offices.
As for those craftsmen...
My goodness! More than three hundred craftsmen, covering almost all the industry categories in the entire Ming Dynasty.
With them, Ningyang County instantly gained the resources to transform from an agricultural county into an industrial county.
While Yang Shaofeng was sizing up the more than one thousand cattle and horses in front of him, the same cattle and horses were also secretly sizing up Magistrate Yang.
For the three scholars and twenty-six students, the incredibly young county magistrate was a source of deep resentment.
If it weren't for Yang the Madman, they could have been chanting slogans like "Serve the Great Yuan" and "A loyal minister does not serve two masters" while comfortably enjoying the preferential treatment given by Emperor Zhu and the Ming Dynasty.
If it weren't for Yang the Madman, we could have been chanting slogans like "Serve the Emperor like Yao and Shun" and "Loyalty to the Emperor and Love for the People" while simultaneously seizing the land from those peasants.
Now things have turned out really bad. Just because Yang Dianfeng suddenly went mad, all the preferential treatment people received has been gone. Those who acquired the land of the peasants now have to pay high taxes. The once high-ranking scholars have been instantly brought down to the mud.
As for the more than three hundred craftsmen and their relatives, the ridiculously young county magistrate was the culprit who forced them to leave their homes. Who knew what kind of trouble this county magistrate would cause in the future? And how he would treat them?
After a long silence, the three scholars who were the leaders among the twenty-nine scholars reluctantly stepped forward. The one in the middle was the first to bow to Magistrate Yang and say, "Student Wu Yanhu greets Your Excellency."
As Wu Yanhu finished speaking, the other two scholars had no choice but to bow and greet Magistrate Yang, saying, "This student, Chen Mo, greets Your Excellency."
"Student Lü Peng pays his respects to the County Magistrate."
After Wu Yanhu, Chen Mo, and Lü Peng paid their respects to Magistrate Yang, the remaining twenty-six students also announced their names to Magistrate Yang and bowed respectfully.
The blacksmith, who was the leader among the 318 craftsmen, followed closely behind and bowed to Magistrate Yang, saying, "This humble subject, Shen Ji, pays his respects to Your Excellency, Magistrate."
"..."
After everyone had given their names, Magistrate Yang first led the twenty-nine scholars to register with a smile. Then, without any politeness, he instructed the three scholars, including Wu Yanhu, "Then I will trouble Brother Wu to temporarily serve as the Assistant Magistrate, Brother Chen to temporarily serve as the Registrar, and Brother Lü to temporarily serve as the Clerk."
"Of course, the classes at the academy cannot be neglected. Tomorrow I will take the three of you to the academy for a tour so you can get familiar with the situation."
"As for you..."
Magistrate Yang glanced at the remaining twenty-six students and then instructed them: "You should all prepare yourselves. In a couple of days, you will be assigned to the six departments. Also, if you aspire to an official career, be prepared to continue your studies at the academy. When the academy examination is held, you can take the exam to obtain the title of Xiucai."
The three scholars, along with twenty-six students who had passed the imperial examinations, were in a state of utter confusion, much like a slap on the wrist.
Before you came, you said you wanted to be a teacher, right?
How come everything has changed now?
The three scholars, while teaching, also had to serve as assistant officials such as county magistrate, registrar, and clerk. The twenty-six scholars inexplicably became six clerks.
Faced with this sudden turn of events, the twenty-nine scholars looked at each other, and in the end, they could only obediently bow and agree.
It's so frustrating, so incredibly frustrating! But now that they've settled in Ningyang County, they're all like fish on a chopping board, and it's too late to regret it!
What these twenty-nine scholars never expected was that Magistrate Yang never disappointed in his lack of humanity.
Yang Shaofeng first summoned a yamen runner and instructed him, "Have the farm slaughter pigs and chickens, and prepare a few tables of food and drink. I want to entertain all the people present today."
After the yamen runners left with their orders, Yang Shaofeng directly instructed Chen Mo, who had been appointed as the chief clerk, "Brother Chen, please select a few students and help them register their household registration."
Immediately afterwards, Yang Shaofeng instructed Lame Wu: "Go and bring over the household registration books and such that I made earlier, so that Registrar Chen can take a look."
"..."
As a series of orders were issued, Chen Mo and the others obediently bowed and agreed. Magistrate Yang couldn't help but say that it felt so damn good to be ordered around like this!
It's much better than secretly ordering Old Deng around!
As for whether these scholars might secretly engage in any underhanded tactics, whether they might feign compliance while secretly resisting, or even collude to undermine the magistrate's authority...
Magistrate Yang was not worried at all.
Generally speaking, there are only two possibilities for the assistant officials and clerks to collude to undermine the magistrate: either the magistrate simply doesn't understand how a county government should function properly, or they have a deep network of connections in the local area, making it impossible for the magistrate to perform his duties without their support.
However, in Ningyang County, neither of these two roads is feasible.
The former usually appears during the Qing Dynasty, because those who were sent to serve as county magistrates during the Ming Dynasty basically had rich practical experience in learning odd jobs in the Six Ministries. The intrigue and deceit they had seen were many times more sophisticated than those of assistant officials and clerks.
During the year and a half that Yang Da served as the magistrate of Ningyang County, he also served as the county magistrate's assistant, registrar, clerk, and secretary. He single-handedly kept the entire Ningyang County government running smoothly for half a year, and he knew the entire Ningyang County like the back of his hand.
In addition, before transmigrating, he had watched a lot of TV dramas and other random movies and TV shows. He thought he could bully Magistrate Yang because he didn't know how the county government should operate.
As for the second option, that's even more nonsense.
What kind of connections could Ningyang County possibly have?
Even if there is a network of connections, it is the network of connections of Magistrate Yang. Magistrate Yang can still perform his duties normally without these assistant officials and clerks, but these assistant officials and clerks will find it difficult to move an inch after leaving Magistrate Yang's network of connections!
Furthermore, Ningyang County has more than just these assistant officials. The heads of the eight communities and sixteen neighborhoods inside and outside the city are the most basic servants under Magistrate Yang, and they are also the tentacles and networks through which Magistrate Yang controls the entire Ningyang County!
After arranging the twenty-nine liberal arts students, Magistrate Yang turned his attention to the three hundred and eighteen engineering students.