Under the clear sky and the eyes of everyone, the selection examination for the six-room scribe of Jingyang County was held on the street outside the county office. Each candidate had to copy a book of accounts, and whoever copied it quickly and well had the opportunity to become the first official to be hired.

In front of so many people, it is impossible to cheat, you can only come to the real thing, so you can make a judgment. It turned out that there were more than 100 scribes in the county government, and more than half of them were indiscriminate, and even more could not even write, but were inserted by virtue of their connections, and they usually did not do any work, and they would receive their salaries for nothing.

But as soon as the exam was taken, these people were revealed. Some thin-skinned ones, knowing that they have no hope of mixing it up again, simply smear oil on the soles of their feet; And more people are chasing ducks to the shelves, copying account books. Some people can't even hold a brush well, and they copy it more like a ghost drawing, which makes people laugh.

But among so many scribes, after all, there were also twenty or thirty skilled clerks. They pride themselves on their proficiency in pen and ink, and they are no strangers to the contents of the account books. Seeing that the transcription was almost finished, the young talent Wang Wenbin suddenly took the lead in shouting: "My lord, the student has finished copying!" ”

All the scribes didn't expect to be preempted by this poor show, and they all glared at him in shock and anger. Zhu Youzhen took Wang Wenbin's manuscript with a smile, took a cursory look, and saw that the fly-headed little Kaijuan was neat and neat, and there was no trace of alteration, and he secretly admired it in his heart.

But he still asked quietly: "Copying is not slow." But did you find any mistakes in this book? ”

Wang Wenbin smiled slightly and said: "My lord, this account book belongs to the household, and the content is the record of the salary of the officials and officials last month. There are many blackened places inside, presumably to hide the traces of human alteration. But the changer is really sloppy and forgets to change the total amount, so it is bound to not be reconciled.

"And most of the changes are concentrated in the scribes of the household, as long as the changed figures are accumulated, and then compared with the original total amount, you can know that the salary of the household scribe has all increased, as little as five taels, as many as dozens of taels, but somehow."

"Oh?" Zhu Youzhen asked with great interest, "Who was in the house, can you stand up and explain, what is the situation?" ”

The scribes of those houses turned pale at once, but no one dared to say a word. In fact, they took advantage of their positions to change the account books and give themselves more silver taels whenever they paid salaries, which was an open secret in the county government for a long time.

The total amount is not that I forgot to change it, but that the household originally had to prepare a fake account book to cope with the inspection of the superiors. It's just that as soon as Sun Chuantingfu took office this time, he immediately sealed all the account books and files of the six rooms, and this original record has not had time to be destroyed.

The scribes of these households were still holding a fluke mentality, feeling that there were thousands of account books in the sixth room, and Sun Chuanting had only been here for a few days, so he didn't have time to check them at all. He can't do everything as a county magistrate, and sooner or later he has to use a scribe. After returning to the house, he will find an opportunity to secretly destroy the account books, and he will be able to get through the chaos.

How did they know that Sun Chuanting had been sleepless all night in the past few days, and first reviewed all the account books. This original record was found out first because the problem was too obvious, and it was used by Zhu Youzhen at this time.

Zhu Youzhen proudly held the account book and shouted loudly: "Why, didn't the scribe from the household come?" I shouted three times, if no one came forward, it meant that they had given up on the selection. One, two, three! ”

Let Zhu Youzhen shout, those scribes have ghosts in their hearts, who dares to talk to them? They all know that it is a violation of the criminal law to change the account books privately, and if they don't do it, they will lose their heads, which is much more serious than losing their jobs. The lesser of two evils is chosen, and I have no choice but to pretend to be deaf and dumb.

Zhu Youzhen saw that no one dared to answer, so he announced with a spring breeze on his face: "In this round of selection, Wang Wenbin has the best results, and he is hired as the chief scribe of the household, with a monthly salary of eight taels!" Because you find the mistake well, the county magistrate will reward you with another twenty taels of silver! ”

Everyone was in an uproar again, but they didn't expect that the chief scrivener of the household, who was extremely powerful in the county government and was known as the 'six-room uncle', really gave this poor talent Wang Wenbin.

Wang Wenbin was also in ecstasy. He studied hard for more than ten years, but he failed repeatedly, and he couldn't help but be a little discouraged. Today, I became a scribe, don't look at the salary, which is only eight taels a month, and this silver is enough to make the whole family worry about food and clothing. Coupled with the additional reward of twenty taels of silver, it is worth a few months' expenses.

He was busy kneeling down for Sun Chuanting and Zhu Youzhen, and kowtowed again and again: "Lord Xie Zhixian!" Thank you, Master! Xiaosheng must do his best to do a good job of this scribe! ”

Zhu Youzhen picked up Wang Wenbin with a smile and said, "That's right, I'm afraid that you look down on the work of a scribe, and you just want to participate in the scientific examination!" There is a saying that 'all things are knowledge', and the work of this scribe is not simple, and it cannot be done by just reading the books of the sages. In the future, you will have to learn to do it, and learn by doing! Don't think that a scribe is not an official position, and a husband can't just do things for fame. Doing your best for the people is what a true hero does! ”

Wang Wenbin listened to Zhu Youzhen's impassioned speech, and couldn't help but bow deeply and said: "Students remember Mr.'s teachings!" ”

Zhu Youzhen also breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, secretly thinking that this set of words was thought out by Sun Chuanting, and he memorized it several times before he could barely remember it. If you can't drag two sentences, you really can't deal with these people who are full of money!

The chief scribe of the household was elected, and Zhu Youzhen thought that the next selection would be very smooth. But those officials and officials were not fuel-efficient lamps, and seeing that such a selection was very unfavorable to them, they exchanged glances at each other, so they withdrew from the crowd together and did not participate in the selection.

At this time, Zhu Youzhen was also a little anxious. He knew that these grassroots office workers were indispensable despite their humble positions; Without them, the yamen would not be able to function.

It's okay to say that this official needs a certain level of education to be competent. And in Jingyang County, there are too few such people. These people collectively pick and choose, and they obviously know this very well, so they are quite coercive.

But at this point, it is obviously impossible to retreat, otherwise it will be a complete failure. Zhu Youzhen immediately announced: "The selection of the scribes is suspended, and the selection of the three classes of officials will be carried out below!" Recruit 30 station class soaps, responsible for guarding the county government, assisting in the court trial, with a monthly salary of four taels; Catch almost 30 people on the team, responsible for catching thieves and thieves, maintaining order, with a monthly salary of five taels; There are 30 Zhuang people in the Zhuang class, who are responsible for guarding the city gates, prisons, warehouses, and other miscellaneous chores, with a monthly salary of three taels; The monthly salary of the team leader is doubled! As long as you have the strength and feel that you have two hits, you can sign up! ”

As soon as the words fell, the crowd of onlookers immediately became commotion, and many people were eager to try. The selection of scribes just now doesn't seem to have anything to do with the common people, and everyone is just watching the excitement; But now recruiting officials is a real temptation.

You must know that in the past, when the yamen was short of manpower, they would also temporarily conscript people to serve as government servants in the name of conscription, and then send them home after being busy for a while, but they would not be given a penny. Now that there is no more conscription, and they are doing the same work as in the past, but they can get the silver for nothing, who is not tempted?

Finally, a tiger-headed young man couldn't help but jump out and said, "I, Zhao Er, want to sign up to be a catcher!" I've studied martial arts, and I'm much better than those old officials! ”

As long as there is one who takes the lead, those who follow the trend will also come one after another. Many women also rushed to tell each other, calling their men or brothers to come over. Originally, only 90 officials were recruited, but in the end, more than 400 people signed up, which was simply crowded.

Zhu Youzhen was overjoyed and immediately divided these people into groups of four or five, a total of 90 groups, and held a group competition on the spot. Whoever can beat the others will be elected.

These lads are all here for the money, who will be humble? Immediately, they did their best, and the streets outside the county government suddenly became a mess.

As the saying goes, there is no first in literature, and there is no second in martial arts. The kung fu under this hand cannot be faked at all, and in a short time, ninety young men, including Zhao Er, stood out.

Zhu Youzhen saw that Zhao Er's kung fu was really good, so he appointed him as the head of the capture team. The other two sturdy young men, Feng Wu and Pang Jian, served as the leaders of the station class and the Zhuang class respectively.

After that, professional and technical personnel such as men and servants were recruited, and Sun Chuanting's county government finally began to take shape.

At this time, he didn't realize that the sun was setting, and Zhu Youzhen was grunting in his abdomen, only to remember that he had been busy all day and hadn't taken care of eating. He hurriedly instructed the gang to start a gang immediately, so that all the staff of the county government could have a full meal together. Because of the spring famine, many people have not eaten enough these days, and at this time they are in high spirits, gearing up, and want to do a good job.

Sun Chuanting called Zhu Youzhen aside and whispered: "Your Highness, isn't the monthly salary we set a little high?" I also knew before that even in large counties, ordinary officials only have six taels of silver a year, and even fewer in small counties and poor counties. The monthly salary you set is at least three taels, which is a big burden for the county government! ”

"You don't have to worry about the money, I'll pay if it's not enough!" Zhu Youzhen said with a smile, "You don't want to think about it, six taels of silver a year, only half a tael a month; The current price of rice is one stone and four taels, and one stone is one hundred and twenty catties, and a family has to eat these grains almost a month. Half a tael of silver, you can't even buy 20 catties of rice, isn't this forcing the servants to knock on the bamboo poles of the common people? Therefore, I would rather pay a higher monthly salary, as long as I become a servant, to ensure that he has no worries about food and clothing; But if there is any more oppression of the people, we will not tolerate it! ”

Sun Chuanting suddenly realized, and praised: "Your Highness has far-reaching thoughts, and the ministers can't reach it!" ”

Zhu Youzhen smiled, thinking that he was just moving the modern "high-salary pension" over. In fact, he didn't believe that a high salary could support his integrity, but the salaries of the officials were incredibly low, and he only corrected it slightly.

After dinner, the officials were just about to leave, but Zhu Youzhen said loudly: "Everyone, if anyone stays and works overtime tonight, they will be paid 200 wen for the night shift!" ”

Lin Youkun said in surprise: "Your Highness, you should also rest!" ”

"I can't take care of it!" Zhu Youzhen smiled, "There are still a lot of things to do tonight!" ”