Early Tang Dynasty: forge ahead

Chapter 100

Zheng Rong was confused when he looked at the hoe and shovel.

He looked at Lei Xin in front of him with disbelief in his eyes, and he screamed in his heart, you are the chief bookkeeper, the chief bookkeeper of a county, in charge of accounts and household registration, how can you do such manual work?
Suppressing his restless heart, Zheng Rong squeezed out two words: "Shovel!"

Compared to a hoe, a shovel should be easier to use.

Lei Xin handed the shovel to Zheng Rong, with a smile on his rough and honest face, and said: "Today's task is not heavy, it is to clean up the slope north of the market. After the erosion of the spring rain, there are already signs of collapse. . Taking advantage of the good weather now, we hired a few people to go to the river to get some sand and tamp the ground to prevent problems from happening and hurting people."

Lei Xin skillfully invited a few laborers in the market, and patiently said to Zheng Rong: "The busy farming season is over, and the summer leisure season is the most suitable for doing this kind of work. Labor is easy to find, and our county is under County Magistrate Chen Under the leadership of the company, it has developed extremely well, but there is a shortage of labor.”

Zheng Rong felt his scalp numb when he saw that the county's Dian Shi was also skillfully recruiting labor.

He is also well-informed, but this situation is really his first time.

On the way to the river, Zheng Rong couldn't help but said: "Master Lei is the chief clerk of a county, but you have to do such hard work. Don't you feel aggrieved?"

Lei Xin looked at Zheng Rong with a strange look on his face and said: "Why do you say you are wronged? Someone has to do things. If we don't do it today, Magistrate Chen will do it tomorrow. Qingxi County is our home, Chen The county magistrate is a county magistrate and a foreigner, so he cares about us so much. What else can we locals care about?"

Zheng Rong was speechless for a moment, recalling the memories in his mind, with deep fear in his eyes. These officials in the county government are all the village chiefs and village chiefs of the villages in Qingxi County. They are all recommended by the local people. , has an inseparable relationship with the people in each village.

Chen Qingsi has such prestige in the hearts of the people. If they do anything treacherous, they will definitely be stabbed in the back.

If there are not enough benefits, it will be difficult to win over them.

Don't speak easily.

Zheng Rong was thinking about it in his mind, but said: "Master Lei has misunderstood. What I am talking about is the job of the master. This master should not be responsible for managing household registration, writing documents and other tasks. Master Lei spends his time In addition to handling these non-duty tasks, will it delay my main work? I am a newbie here, and I don’t understand the situation in the county.”

Lei Xin was a little suspicious of Zheng Rong, but after hearing his explanation, he felt that he was paranoid. He explained: "The county magistrate does not understand the situation in the county. When the county magistrate came, the former chief clerk made trouble and brought chaos to the county. The atmosphere is chaotic and there is no structure within the county government. It depends entirely on the county magistrate to gather all the people in the villages in the county together, promote the village leaders and village magistrates, and barely maintain operations. In that situation, the county magistrate does not know us, and we do not know the county magistrate. , all seemed at a loss.”

"Take me for example. It is a great joy to be promoted from Ichimura Masaru to chief clerk. But I have never done anything like a chief clerk. How can I do it?"

"He is still the county magistrate, and he carries everything on his shoulders. He arranges tasks for us every day, and all the details are on him. It was not until the situation in the county improved recently that he handed it over to us. Matters in small counties It’s not much, and there are reliable people, so within my ability, it’s better to do more.”

When Zheng Rong heard this, his face was ashen.

Lei Xin led Zheng Rong to the river. He first directed the hired laborers to work, and then said to Zheng Rong: "The county magistrate will shovel the gravel in the river ashore. I will dig some sand here."

Zheng Rong looked at the hoe in Lei Xin's hand and the shovel in his own hand, which were messy in the wind.

Wei Hao patrolled the west side of the county yesterday and took a tour around the east side today.

Returning to the official office, I heard the familiar snoring sound again.

Wei Hao raised his eyebrows and walked into the hall. As expected, he saw Zheng Rong sleeping on the mat in his office again.

Another kick, this time harder.Zheng Rong shivered in shock.

Wei Hao said: "Are you addicted to sleeping?"

Zheng Rong glanced at Wei Hao, surprised. He didn't complain at all, but his eyes were full of helplessness and unwillingness.

Wei Hao was very attentive and noticed that Zheng Rong seemed to have changed his clothes and asked, "What happened?"

Zheng Rong spread his hands and said, "While fetching gravel from the river, I accidentally fell."

Wei Hao was about to ask in detail.

Zheng Rong said: "This is a trivial matter, don't mention him."

Wei Hao's heart sank, and he strode out of the house. Seeing no one around, he said, "What's wrong?"

Zheng Rong paid the most attention to appearance and was proud of being the Zheng family of Rongyang. If it was a small matter to be in such an embarrassing situation, then it would really be a big deal.

"Chen Qingsi is far more powerful than we thought. We may not be his opponents."

When Zheng Rong said this, his words were full of bitterness.

He remembered how steadfastly he had vowed when he came, and how much he had trampled Chen Qingsi under his feet, letting the world know that he only had poetic talent and literary talent, and could write beautiful articles, but had no strategy for governing the country.

It turns out it’s only been two days…

Wei Hao has learned more about Chen Qingsi's actions in Qingxi County in the past two days. He is also full of tangles and hesitations about cooperating with Zheng Rong to deal with Chen Qingsi, not knowing which side to take.

Now he didn't know how to speak, so he waited quietly.

Zheng Rong raised his head and said with a bit of disappointment: "Brother Wei, does he know what arrangements Chen Qingsi made for the various departments of the county government? He disrupted the tasks of the heads of each department and trained and supported the minor officials himself. The chiefs of the various departments of the county government and the minor officials were actually two different people. Group of people. The chief was promoted by Chen Qingsi, and the minor officials were also trained by him. The chief and minor officials supported each other, and both parties only listened to him, and there was a relationship of interest. If we touched any one, we would be checked and balanced by the other. Qing The people in Xi County respect Chen Qingsi like a god, and the entire county government is in his hands. As the county magistrate, if I don't work according to the tasks assigned by him, I can only sleep in the county government office. There is no chance at all..."

Wei Hao said seriously: "Are you saying that if Magistrate Chen arrives early in the morning, you will target him?"

"How is that possible?" Zheng Rong said angrily: "At that time, the "Three Character Classic" had not yet come out, and His Majesty's focus was still on Shangguan Yi in the imperial examination. None of the five surnames of us have ever looked at him, how could he count these things?"

He said in a fierce tone: "This person must have absolute confidence in himself and believe that he will be able to turn decay into magic. He knows that he has a low status and is worried that someone will compete with him for credit, so he left behind early. Chen Qingsi is thoughtful and deep. , The layout has been planned for a long time, but in just two days, the situation I am facing is already disappointing. He... hasn't taken action yet!"

He said with a bit of self-deprecation: "I'm not afraid of Brother Wei's jokes, but I'm a little scared. I'm afraid that I'm not his match, I'm afraid that he can really grow into the existence that threatens us..."

　Brothers who can subscribe to the new book will do their best to do so, and those who have votes will also support it!Thanks!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)