Zhao Mingming worked hard with outstanding performance and soon stood out in the household department. Not only did the assistant magistrate know of her, even the county magistrate knew of her.
Didn’t the assistant magistrate want to advance further?
Didn’t the county magistrate want to be promoted?
Having a capable subordinate, they were naturally pleased. Zhao Mingming wasn’t truly a hothead. As a subordinate, her achievements were the assistant magistrate’s achievements, and the assistant magistrate’s achievements were the county magistrate’s political achievements.
Moreover, after Zhao Mingming truly placed herself in the position of a junior clerk and became modest and cautious, she was quite capable of winning people’s hearts.
The population and land census wasn’t yet complete when the summer harvest ended and the yamen began collecting summer taxes.
Coincidentally, tax collection also fell under the household department’s responsibility and similarly required cross-departmental cooperation. By this time, Zhao Mingming had become the most valued deputy to the assistant magistrate. Even Fan Lianyin and Zu Daozhong, due to their outstanding abilities, were valued by their respective superiors. They were assigned more and more responsibilities, increasingly important ones.
After the establishment of the new dynasty, to coordinate with the equal-field system, the state implemented the rent-corvée-tribute system for tax collection, to some extent continuing the tax collection policies of the Wei and Jin periods, but optimizing some details. For example, the tax rate was lowered from the previous ten-to-one ratio to thirty-to-one. Commercial tax and detailed taxation regulations for craftsmen were added. Rent, corvée, and tribute were collected in two stages, reducing the burden of citizens paying too much tax at once, while also allowing for beneficial tax policies to be issued based on different seasons in summer and autumn.
Since the establishment of the new dynasty, the court had reduced and exempted taxes and corvée every year. Different regions had different exemption policies.
In the past, common people avoided government offices. Now, the announcement walls in front of government offices and schools had become the common people’s favorite places.
Every day at noon and evening, after eating, everyone would go to the announcement wall to take a look. Anyone who came to the county town for market day, no matter how busy or tired, would make a trip there before leaving.
Since starting work, Zhao Mingming, whenever she had time, would also wander around the announcement wall.
Not only to see the information on the announcement wall, but also to communicate with people who came there.
The county magistrate saw this and was very satisfied with her. He said to the assistant magistrate, “She’s quite enterprising. I think we should also let her be responsible for the announcement wall.”
The assistant magistrate smiled and agreed. “This subordinate has seen her calligraphy. It’s excellent. Having her in charge of the announcement wall is quite suitable.”
The county magistrate stroked his beard with regret. “It’s a pity her family circumstances are poor and she couldn’t continue studying. Otherwise, with her talent at this age and her drive to improve, she could completely try for the national examination.”
The assistant magistrate immediately said, “It’s not impossible. I’ve been to their rental house and saw books like the Spring and Autumn Annals and many commentaries on their desk. Clearly they haven’t given up on studying. Perhaps in the future they’ll take the provincial examination again.”
The court’s age limit for the national examination was fifty years old, and there were no status restrictions. That is to say, even if she was working as a clerk in the county yamen, if she wanted to take the exam, she could, as long as she passed the provincial examination.
This was also one of the reasons the assistant magistrate was willing to mentor Zhao Mingming.
Young, talented, ambitious, persevering—he felt she had a high probability of taking the provincial examination and national examination again, and a high probability of succeeding.
So he mentored her, befriended her, and also had an investment meaning in it.
Adding flowers to brocade was easy; sending charcoal in snowy weather was difficult. The assistant magistrate believed he was now sending charcoal in snowy weather.
If Zhao Mingming could pass the national examination and enter office in the future, her starting position would be county magistrate, with the upper limit being prime minister!
If he could register in her mind, in the future not just him, even his son might be able to exchange a few words with her, having a connection of incense and affection.
The county magistrate had similar plans, so he was very willing to assign important matters to her.
For example, this year’s tax revenue increase—Zhao Mingming was promoted to team leader, leading people to verify the tax grain submitted at the county yamen.
Zhao Mingming wrote up this year’s tax policy for their county and then took it to paste on the announcement wall.
The county magistrate was already meeting with the village heads from each ward, explaining this year’s tax policy.
Their county was a poor county in Xuzhou. The disadvantages were obvious—poverty.
The advantage was that every year on the list of counties receiving tax reductions and exemptions from the court, their county was always on it. This year was no exception.
The court ordered that this year their county’s adult tax would be collected at half the rate, there would be no national corvée, and field rent would be forty-to-one, quite a bit less than the neighboring county’s thirty-to-one.
Their county’s soil wasn’t good, and grain harvests always couldn’t compare to the neighboring county.
Many people knew that recently was the time for the new year’s tax policy announcement, so there were quite a few people lingering in the square.
Seeing Zhao Mingming arrive with yamen guards to post the announcement, everyone immediately gathered around.
After posting the announcement, Zhao Mingming didn’t leave. She stood to the side and read it aloud for everyone, while answering people’s questions.
When everyone heard that this year’s adult tax was still being collected at half the rate, and even the field rent was less, they were delighted and immediately said, “We’ll go back right now to prepare the grain tax.”
They left as soon as they said they would, heading home after confirming the news.
An old man looked at the characters on the announcement wall and sighed. “Good, good. This year the family can store more grain.”
Hearing this, Zhao Mingming asked, “Won’t you sell it? If grain is stored until next year, it becomes old grain.”
The old man smiled and said, “We’ll sell some, but we also need to store it. No matter what, we need to store enough grain until August next year. Otherwise, if the summer harvest isn’t good, won’t we go hungry?”
Actually, his family would store a year and a half’s worth of grain. He had lived through times of war and famine. Only storing grain until May of the following year made him feel anxious. He preferred to store grain until the third year’s early spring.
That way, even if next year’s harvest wasn’t good, his family wouldn’t go hungry and could have a year to recover.
So even if new grain was expensive and old grain was cheap, he was willing to lose this money, always storing grain until the third year’s early spring.
He wouldn’t sell the old grain until after avoiding disasters.
Zhao Mingming chatted with him. “So how much money can your family earn each year?”
“We earn quite a bit. If we’re not called up for corvée, my several grandsons all go out to do short-term work. They’re people of the new dynasty, all literate. Whether going to brick kilns to make bricks or running errands delivering things in the county town, it’s easy. I have a granddaughter who was fortunate to learn the skill of tailoring. She can operate a sewing machine very fast. Working at a clothing shop for just four months each year, she can earn back three strings of cash.”
Zhao Mingming was amazed. “That’s more than an adult man earns!”
“Exactly. She’s more capable than her brothers,” the old man laughed heartily. “So at home she’s quite feisty and has the final say.”
He laughed happily, his face full of wrinkles, and said to Zhao Mingming, “Every year, the children in the family can earn this amount for the family. With this money, our family is about to build a brick and tile house. Otherwise, relying only on farming, what we can exchange for money each year isn’t even two strings.”
They were reluctant to sell grain, and with grain prices not being expensive now, what they could earn was limited. Now it was more profitable to go out and do short-term work. If the children could find stable long-term work, that would be even more profitable.
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