Rebirth: From being expelled from the imperial court to becoming a high-ranking official

The days before the New Year returned to their previous tranquility. Apart from teaching Yuger and playing with his daughter, Qin Yunhe continued to work hard to prepare for the imperial examination.

Then, every few days, I would go to the county town to consult my teacher. The teacher and student would discuss the examination questions of previous years, the methods of solving policy essays, etc.

Near the end of the year, Qin Yunhe received his first salary and bought some cloth to make new clothes for his family.

Qin's mother was very happy. Now she was completely proud of herself. Everyone in the village looked up to her. She was more enthusiastic about preparing New Year's goods every day than in previous years.

Now that Qin Yunhe has become a juren, the villagers are reluctant to ask him to write Spring Festival couplets, so apart from writing couplets for his own family, he only wrote some for his neighbors the Feng family and Chen Er.

On New Year’s Eve, people make dumplings and stay up all night, and then they visit relatives and friends to wish them a happy new year, just like in previous years.

It was lively until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, when peace returned to normal.

On this day, Qin Yunhe was teaching Yuger when his elder brother Qin Chong came to find him.

Qin Yunhe let Yuger recite it by himself before going to the main hall to sit down with his elder brother.

"Brother, what's the matter?"

"Today the village head came and said that the county magistrate issued a notice that the land reclaimed on the riverbank will be closed. If you want to keep it and cultivate it yourself, you will have to pay two taels of silver per mu, and the land tax will be calculated according to the lower grade of land. I came to ask what you think."

Perhaps because Qin Yunhe had become more steady in his work in the past two years and had passed the imperial examination, the first thing Qin Chong wanted to do when he received the letter was to discuss things with him.

In this county, first-class land generally costs seven or eight taels of silver per mu, and second-class land costs four or five taels of silver. Two taels per mu is really a good deal, and the land tax is low, not to mention that the land there is very suitable for growing sweet potatoes.

Once such a move is made, I am afraid that all those who have land will scramble to buy it and grow crops on it.

But Qin Yunhe knew that although the land was cheap, there would be endless troubles later. He had already decided that he must stop his elder brother and others from buying it.

"Brother, I don't recommend you buy it. This land does look like a good deal, but it has a problem."

"what is the problem?"

"The current county magistrate has served two terms here. According to the rules, he will leave office at the end of this year. What can we do if the new county magistrate refuses to recognize the regulations he issued next year? What if he even forcibly collects river trespassing fees in the name of occupying the river?"

"The county magistrate sold the land on behalf of the court, so how could the new magistrate not recognize it?"

Qin Yunhe also wanted to know why the next county magistrate would not acknowledge it.

But the reality is that not only did he not admit it, he also collected a lot of money for river encroachment.

Qin Yunhe also didn't know why the land sold by the county magistrate on behalf of the court was still subject to river invasion fees.

"There are many cases of changing orders every day. What can ordinary people do? Brother, you should think about it carefully. You have a lot of land over there. There is really no need to keep such a piece of land with hidden dangers."

After hearing what Qin Yunhe said, Qin Chong fell into deep thought and spoke again after a while.

"Then would it be safer if I put this piece of land in your name? You are a juren now, so you will have some respect in front of the county magistrate."

Qin Yunhe smiled bitterly.

After he passed the imperial examination, theoretically, he and the county magistrate could be on equal terms. However, that was only theoretically speaking. In fact, he had no official position at the moment, so he had no qualifications to be friends with the county magistrate.

Although he had indeed met the county magistrate once when he passed the imperial examination, and several other scholars were invited to be his guests, it was just a formality.

"Brother, you flatter me too much. Not to mention that I don't have much friendship with the county magistrate, the current county magistrate is really not that easy to get along with."

When Qin Chong heard what Qin Yunhe said, he finally began to waver.

"Brother, didn't you say before that you wanted to collect the land tax from the past two years?"

"Ah, yes, the village head said that he would not collect the land tax from the past two years."

"Even if we don't plant it now, there's actually no loss. After all, we've been planting it for two years."

Qin Chong still hadn't made a final decision. After all, he had opened up five or six acres of land in this life, unlike before when he only had a few acres. If he didn't want it, he didn't want it.

"Brother, how about this? I'm going to the county town to find a teacher tomorrow and then I'll ask for his opinion."

Mr. Gu once served as a prefect, so his opinion was certainly more convincing. When Qin Chong heard what his brother said, he quickly agreed.

The next day, when Qin Yunhe arrived at Mr. Gu's house, he chatted with his teacher as usual, and then discussed the key points of a policy paper that Qin Yunhe had recently written.

After they finished talking and the teacher and student were having dinner together, Qin Yunhe brought up the matter of the river beach.

Mr. Gu did not express his opinion first, but asked Qin Yunhe: "What do you think?"

Qin Yunhe said, "I feel that the current county magistrate will soon be out of office. What if the new county magistrate next year does not recognize the purchase of land? In recent years, the court has been clearing the land that has encroached on the river. Many river beaches have been levied for encroachment. Who knows if they will be able to earn this much next year."

Mr. Gu nodded with satisfaction, and seemed very satisfied with Qin Yunhe's opinion.

"You're right. It's highly likely that the new county magistrate will not approve the land purchase, and as for collecting river trespassing fees, that's almost inevitable."

Qin Yunhe was puzzled: "Why is it inevitable?"

Mr. Gu looked at his student deeply, as if he was thinking about what to say next.

After a while, Mr. Gu said, "You must know that there are many problems in the officialdom, and there are many unwritten rules that everyone acquiesces to. Many county magistrates often take the opportunity to make a fortune before leaving office, and then leave, leaving behind many holes.

There is an unwritten rule that the next county magistrate must fill the gap. Since the new county magistrate cannot pay for the gap himself, they often get money from everywhere. They either make up excuses or collect money on a large scale, in short, they try their best to fill the gap left by the previous magistrate.

And this river beach is a very convenient reason to make money.”

Qin Yunhe had no idea about the officialdom before, and was stunned when he heard his teacher's words.

Mr. Gu saw his student like this and knew that he might not be able to accept it for a while.

But he also knew that since his students were going to pursue a career in politics, they would definitely have to know these things and would most likely have to experience them.

"Hasn't anyone ever reported it?"

“Because this is a tacit agreement, no one will report it. The new county magistrate will not report it because the previous magistrate will usually be promoted after completing his term. Even if he is not promoted, the previous magistrate has been here for many years and the clerks in the yamen have long been one with him and cannot be separated from him. How can the new county magistrate, who has just arrived, offend him?

Even if the common people report something, as long as it is not too extreme, it will often be left unresolved, because many government officials have gone through the same process. Even if they did not go through this process, because of the complicated connections in the officialdom, they will often just choose to turn a blind eye. "

Qin Yunhe was shocked and deeply shocked after hearing what his teacher said.

"Is this what all officials should do?"

"Of course, it's not possible for everyone to be like this, but most people have to accept this. For those who don't want to be like this, their careers may be more difficult."

Qin Yunhe was silent for a long time, then asked hesitantly and with difficulty: "What about the teacher..."

Mr. Gu patted his student on the shoulder and said, "To be honest, I didn't know anything back then. I didn't know the rules when I first entered the officialdom. As soon as I took office, I thought I was upright and reported the previous county magistrate to my superiors. As a result, my superiors and the previous county magistrate had extensive connections, so I offended my superiors as soon as I took office."

Mr. Gu couldn't help but smile bitterly when he recalled the past.

Qin Yunhe knew that his teacher later became a prefect, which meant that this incident did not have much impact on his teacher, so he cheered up a little and asked his teacher: "How did you solve it later?"

"Oh, ha ha ha," Mr. Gu laughed a little proudly this time, "I am lucky. It happened to be the time when the new emperor ascended the throne and rectified the administration of officials, so he rectified Shangguan and his gang."

"However, he was still afraid of his new superiors and was not promoted for many years. So, I don't recommend you to be so reckless. In fact, there is often room for maneuver. If you want to be a good official, then first you must be able to hold the position, and then how to do it."

Qin Yunhe couldn't help feeling discouraged when he heard this.

Mr. Gu naturally knew how he felt at the moment, so he said, "You don't have to be too discouraged. There will always be a way out when you reach the mountain. Don't hesitate before you reach the mountain. As your teacher said, there are still many good officials who are honest and upright and will not go along with the corrupt. You may not encounter such a thing."

He knew that the teacher was telling him all this so that he could better enter the official career in the future, and he certainly didn't want him to be discouraged, so he forced himself to be energetic and said, "Student understands, thank you for the advice, teacher."