Chapter 280: 6. Jiangzhou Sima

6. Jiangzhou Sima

The warm sun shone on the ancient flying eaves of the Jiangzhou Main Hall.

Ouyang Rong turned over and dismounted.

He touched the mane of this mount and handed the reins to the long-term attendant.

"Feed it some better forage."

"Yes, Master."

The long-term attendant prepared to lead the horse to the trough, touched the dark red slippery skin of this horse, his eyes were envious, and he hesitated before turning back to ask:

"It's a divine horse, Master, don't you give it a name?"

Ouyang Rong, who was tidying up his official uniform, turned back and looked at this horse that was taller than the young long-term attendant next to him.

This horse was the celebration gift given to him by Li Xian and Wei Mei, and Ouyang Rong was not polite.

He hadn't paid attention to it these days, and after leading it back, he just rode it to work.

Perhaps it was the legacy of the Northern and Southern Dynasties where Han and Hu were mixed, both Gan people and Zhou people loved horses, and most officials loved to ride horses when going to court or going anywhere, which was the fashion of the time.

It was almost like the car lovers of Ouyang Rong's previous life.

"Is this horse rare?" Ouyang Rong asked casually.

The long-term attendant nodded vigorously, his face full of envy:

"Master, this is a Dayuan horse from the Western Regions. Dayuan has many good horses, and the horse sweats blood... This divine horse is also outstanding among the Dayuan horses."

Ouyang Rong carefully looked at this dark red-skinned horse.

The body shape was tall, the limbs were slender, the head was thin and the neck was high. Well, among the horses, it could indeed be considered a handsome man. No, it seemed to be female, so it was a beautiful girl.

"Sweat like blood?" Ouyang Rong muttered: "Isn't this a sweat-blood treasure horse."

The long-term attendant was curious: "Sweat-blood treasure horse? What is this name, it is indeed appropriate."

Ouyang Rong shook his head: "Just talking nonsense, it's okay, if you want to name it..."

A certain name-waste rubbed his chin and pondered:

"People say Lu Bu among people, Red Hare among horses, so let's call it..."

"Red Hare?"

Ouyang Rong nodded: "Lu Bu."

Long-term attendant: "..."

Ouyang Rong suddenly laughed: "Just kidding, let's call it 'Winter Plum'. Sweat like blood, fresh like red plum, and it's almost New Year's Day and Winter Solstice."

After speaking, Ouyang Rong walked directly into the Jiangzhou Main Hall.

The long-term attendant led "Winter Plum" to the stable.

A new day, Ouyang Rong went to work as usual.

The Jiangzhou Main Hall was the main hall of the Jiangzhou government office. The bright mirror hung high, allowing aggrieved people to beat drums and go to the hall to open the government and judge cases.

However, the specification of the Jiangzhou Main Hall was higher. On weekdays, it was mostly a place for officials such as the Jiangzhou Cishi and Chief Clerk to work, and rarely judged cases.

Unless it was the Rice Case of the Relief Granary, or major cases and pending cases that could not be handled by the counties below.

However, after looking at the grievance drum that was pressing on the dust, Ouyang Rong shook his head. He had been working here for a month and hadn't encountered a single case. His biggest feeling here was... idle.

The officials in the Jiangzhou Main Hall were all salted fish, one more idle than the other.

"Where is Lord Wang?"

Not seeing the figure of a certain Jiangzhou Cishi in the main hall of the office, Ouyang Rong stopped a green-clothed petty official and asked.

The green-clothed petty official replied: "The Jiangzhou Cishi is in the Relief Institute in the back house, summoning two famous scholars from Mount Kuanglu to discuss the mountain and river scenery of Jiangzhou and show concern for the people's feelings."

Kuanglu refers to Lushan, adjacent to Xunyang City.

The beauty of Kuanglu is the best in the world, and literati love to run around there. In the words of Ouyang Rong's previous life, it is the internet-famous check-in point of this era.

Famous scenic spots are all over the place, countless literati and famous people have left calligraphy and paintings on this mountain, and there are quite a few free spirits living in seclusion, including those from Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism.

Ouyang Rong nodded, expressing agreement:

"What a concern for the people's feelings, Lord Wang is really busy every day."

He sat down in the empty main hall in the upper seat. His office position was on the left hand of the Jiangzhou Cishi, because the Chief Clerk was nominally the first deputy official of the Jiangzhou Cishi.

Hearing this, the green-clothed petty official didn't dare to make a sound, pretended not to hear, and retreated with a dry laugh.

In his seat, Ouyang Rong's face was calm, he opened the piled-up documents, and started a new day of "accounting".

Speaking of which, Jiangzhou is indeed a good place.

Bordering the Yangtze River in the north, leaning against Mount Kuanglu in the east, and facing the Yunmeng Marsh in the south, the great river, the great lake, and the famous mountains are all gathered in one place. Looking at the whole country, it is unique.

It is said that the eyebrows are affectionate and the eyebrows are beautiful, so the reputation of Xunyang City in Jiangzhou as "the land of eyebrows in the world" comes from this.

It is a pity that the political and cultural center of the Great Gan and Great Zhou Dynasties is in the Guanzhong two capitals in the north, so this beautiful Jiangzhou Xunyang City has become a good place for demoted officials.

Officials in the court, demoted to this place, can also visit mountains and waters. It is not bad for lost people to go to relax, so a very unique... demotion culture has formed in Xunyang City.

Well, this is a new word he summarized recently.

"Heh." Ouyang Rong laughed and shook his head.

The atmosphere created by the demotion culture inside and outside Xunyang City is interesting. The common people and officials are all salted fish.

And there are many monks and Taoist priests walking around in Xunyang City, all of whom like to visit Mount Kuanglu. The style of pure talk of Buddhism and Taoism is prevalent and is highly respected by the scholars and people of Jiangzhou.

After all, brothers are all frustrated in life and demoted, so stop deceiving brothers, mention less of the Confucianism that actively enters the world, worship Buddhism, recite Taoism, practice out of the world, and get a trace of comfort, which is also good.

The atmosphere of salted fish roughly comes from this.

But to say that you don't want to be promoted at all? Don't want to lift the demotion and return to the Divine Capital?

That may not be the case. In the poetry and elegant collections that came out of Xunyang City every night, which one didn't have the sour allusion of Yang Yi not meeting and Zhong Qi meeting?

Expressing the regret of not being appreciated and having ambition but no way to ask for a request.

"Groaning without illness."

Ouyang Rong curled his lips, buried his head in the documents, and continued to work hard.

The sun outside the main hall gradually rose to the middle of the sky, and the morning of winter passed quickly.

Ouyang Rong splashed ink and waved his brush, solving today's official document tasks with extremely high efficiency.

He put down his brush, pushed away a set of counting rods on the table, twisted his wrist, leaned back against the back of the chair, and exhaled a long breath:

"Small meaning, done. Turn back and split a bamboo in Yinbing Zhai to make an abacus. These counting rods are too troublesome and backward. But I heard from my mentor that the officials of the imperial court like Master Di also use these counting rods to account. Tsk tsk, should I send a set back?"

Ouyang Rong muttered for a while, turned his head and looked at the sundial on the corridor.

It was an hour and a half before noon for dinner.

Ouyang Rong turned his head and looked at the empty seat opposite his seat.

"It's one thing for Magistrate Wang not to come, but what about you, Registrar Yuan? You don't even show up for roll call—are you that confident?"

Ouyang Rong sighed.

He is the Jiangzhou Chief Clerk. The position opposite his seat, that is, the seat on the lower right of the Jiangzhou Cishi, should be the office position of the Jiangzhou Sima.

Jiangzhou Sima can also be considered the deputy official of the Jiangzhou Cishi, but the position is lower than the Chief Clerk, and it is only nominally the third in command of the prefecture.

But what is more unlucky than the Chief Clerk is that because of historical legacy, the position of Sima, which should manage the troops of a prefecture, has gradually lost military power and is a position with position but no power. It is a recognized local leisure position in the Great Zhou officialdom and a popular option for demoted officials.

This current Jiangzhou Sima is named Watching Yuan Huaimin, and it seems that he is a person from the Jingzhao Prefecture of Chang'an.

This "Yuan" surname, I heard that he is from a certain aristocratic family, but I don't know why he was demoted to Jiangzhou.

Since Ouyang Rong took office, the number of times he has seen him does not exceed two hands.

Since Ouyang Rong took office, the number of times he had seen him could be counted on two hands.

Then he saw him less and less, often late and leaving early on the grounds of "minor illnesses and pains".

Then, he became increasingly elusive, frequently using "minor illnesses and pains" as an excuse to arrive late and leave early.

Absent for one day, deduct half a stone of salary.

Ouyang Rong's face was expressionless, he took out a roster, dipped his wolf-hair brush in ink, and added a stroke.

He stood up, held the roster, held the brush, left the empty Jiangzhou Main Hall, and went to the surrounding subordinate government offices to start patrolling one by one.

This can also be considered one of the daily tasks of the Jiangzhou Chief Clerk.

Except for Wang Lengran, who is the superior of the Jiangzhou Cishi and has the excuse of "showing concern for the people's feelings", which Ouyang Rong can't manage much.

The Jiangzhou Main Hall, including the Jiangzhou Sima, and a group of officials, are all under his supervision and management.

Ouyang Rong strolled around the government office and found that it was still okay today. The number of people who came was seven or eight more than yesterday.

In other words, the number of people who asked for leave due to illness was seven or eight less than yesterday, which is gratifying.

Of course, except for Jiangzhou Sima Watching Yuan Huaimin, who was absent without asking for leave.

Strange, where does this sense of gratification come from?

Ouyang Rong lowered his head to record, and the corners of his mouth twitched.

If this kind of thing of asking for leave and leaving early and completing tasks happened in Longcheng County, where he was in charge, the salaries of County Assistant Diao and the others would have to be fined.

It's just that right now, the nominal chief of the Jiangzhou Main Hall is Wang Lengran, and he takes the lead in doing so, so naturally, the superior follows the inferior, which is difficult to eradicate.

And when Ouyang Rong reported this matter a few days ago, he suggested establishing a fine mechanism to restrain subordinates from asking for leave and leaving early. As a result, Wang Lengran, the Jiangzhou Cishi, just smiled and nodded, and laughed it off.

And he said it nicely, saying that he would let Ouyang Rong, the Jiangzhou Chief Clerk, handle it entirely, and he fully supported it, letting him let go and do it, do it vigorously.

How could Ouyang Rong not know the trap of this old Jiangzhou Cishi.

He remained unmoved and did not act as a villain for the time being.

Ending the patrol, Ouyang Rong returned to the main hall, still not seeing Watching Yuan Huaimin's shadow.

He looked around the empty main hall.

"Absurd." Ouyang Rong shook his head slightly and threw the roster on the table.

It is now late December, and the New Year's Day and Winter Solstice holidays are about to be ushered in.

Logically speaking, the end of the year should be the busiest time.

As a result, it's better now, the people in the Jiangzhou Main Hall are not complete.

Ouyang Rong often doubted recently whether he was the only "honest man" in the Jiangzhou Main Hall. Well, he was the only one who came to serve as an official, and the others were here to live in Jiangzhou and visit mountains and waters.

Right now, most of the people's livelihood affairs in the city have fallen on Ouyang Rong's desk, piled high.

Except for the fat job of the Shipping Department of Xunyang Ferry managing trade, others seem to be unwilling to do other affairs.

Or rather, those who want to do it don't have enough official position, and those who have enough official position don't want to do it and can't do it.

The former are the slippery petty officials under the Jiangzhou Main Hall.

The latter are reading scholars like Wang Lengran and Watching Yuan Huaimin who were born in imperial examinations or were officials by shade.

Ouyang Rong finally understood why the more than 100,000 shi of grain in the Jiangzhou Relief Granary was moved away by a few big mice like Yu Gong moving mountains.

It is mainly "governing by doing nothing".

The "sojourning officials" of the Jiangzhou Prefecture seem to be less enthusiastic about the affairs in Xunyang City than those shrewd merchants who gathered from other places.

It's just that this situation of doing nothing and being lazy seems to be beneficial to Ouyang Rong?

A Jiangzhou Chief Clerk who is willing to take things on and take them on vigorously naturally has great power in Xunyang City, and the finance and people's livelihood are in his hands.

Especially Wang Lengran, who doesn't seem to care that Jiangzhou Prefecture's purse falls into Ouyang Rong's hands.

It seems quite stupid, but if you think about it carefully, it is normal.

In this era of feudal imperial power, in the eyes of arrogant nobles and officials, scholars, farmers, industry, and commerce, merchants are ranked last, their status is not as good as craftsmen, and they are as low as actors.

What purse, that's called an ATM.

Ouyang Rong estimated that in Wang Lengran's eyes, it might be enough to hold the military power of Xunyang City and the nearby Zhechong Prefecture tightly.

Wang Lengran covered everything involving the gun tightly and didn't let Ouyang Rong touch it at all, especially the guards near the Liang Wang Fu, which was actually almost the same as semi-imprisonment, reporting the trend to Wang Lengran every day.

Ouyang Rong laughed, continued to bury his head in the documents, and carefully accounted for the upcoming Buddha casting.

About an hour later, the bell at noon came, and Ouyang Rong put down his brush.

"Go out of the city in the afternoon, go to choose the site..."

He muttered a sentence and left the main hall.

First, he summoned the long-term attendant and went to the stable together, preparing to lead "Winter Plum" away.

Just as Ouyang Rong arrived near the stable, his face was stunned.

I saw a green-clothed man of about twenty-seven or eight in the stable ahead, circling around "Winter Plum", touching it from time to time, with a foolish look, and even ran to stick out his butt to change the feed in the manger.

"Winter Plum" avoided impatiently, snorted, and suddenly kicked back with two feet, scaring the green-clothed official to fall backward, climb up from the ground, straighten his hat, touch his body, and breathe a long sigh of relief.

Fortunately, he wasn't kicked, otherwise the first case after someone took office would be fresh out of the oven.

"Watching Yuan Huaimin, what are you doing?" Ouyang Rong frowned and approached.

"Ah, Chief Clerk."

A certain Jiangzhou Sima was startled and asked with a shy face: "This... is this your mount?"

"Mm." Ouyang Rong nodded: "Named Winter Plum, why, did it offend your male horse?"

"No, no." Watching Yuan Huaimin's spirit was lifted, pointing to Winter Plum, and said seriously: "This is a good horse, can Chief Clerk lend it to me?"

"What are you doing?" After a pause, he reminded warmly: "It is a female horse."

"Such a good horse, it should be written as a poem. The subordinate wants to take it back to observe it carefully, wash it first, um, it's also good to draw a picture of a good horse bathing."

Ouyang Rong led the horse and walked away without looking back: "Stay away from Winter Plum, it doesn't want to see you."

Winter Plum immediately snorted, and the horse head rubbed against the master's shoulder, as if it understood human nature and was grateful.

Horse lover Watching Yuan Huaimin immediately followed, begging bitterly: "Chief Clerk, fulfill this wish of the subordinate..."

Watching Yuan Huaimin, a horse enthusiast, immediately followed, begging bitterly: "Commandant, please grant this subordinate's wish..."

Ouyang Rong suddenly turned his head: "You didn't show up for roll call—could it be that you've been harassing it all morning?"

"You really have it." He nodded in praise, and changed his face in the next second, saying calmly:

"Absent for one day, deduct half a stone of salary."

"Alas, alas, Chief Clerk, don't be angry, can you not record the name? The subordinate's salary is about to be fined, and I will eat snow on New Year's Eve..."

Watching Yuan Huaimin suddenly covered his stomach: "Ouch, the subordinate has a stomach ache today, Chief Clerk, ask for leave for one day, ask for leave for one day..."

How could it be so unreliable?

Ouyang Rong straightened his face and left.

You deserve to be Jiangzhou Sima.

(End of this chapter) ===== CHAPTER 281 =====

(End of chapter)