Chapter 89: Working the Bench

"Willow Tree Village Tax Household Wang Quan, approach the bench!"

Before the Eight-Character Wall of the county yamen, two tables had been set up spaced apart, each with a large chest placed beside it; quite a few peasants waited on both sides, waiting to pay the autumn tax.

Both of the villages currently collecting taxes had been assigned to Pang Yu, because working the bench came with some perks, so every office wanted to claim a few benches under the pretense of assisting; of Tongcheng's forty-seven villages, Tang Weimin had expended considerable effort and only managed to secure three for Pang Yu.

But after Yang Erming's night inspection, each office that had left its windows open had one village docked, so Tang Weimin helped Pang Yu squeeze out one more village, nominally to supplement the Fast Squad's funds.

Today was the day for Willow Tree Village and one other village to pay the autumn tax; it should have been completed by early September, but first the civil unrest delayed it, then the county magistrate handover, and finally the Household Office changed its Clerk, severely impacting Tongcheng's autumn tax collection, which by the late twenties of the tenth month was still not finished.

Pang Yu had first been busy arresting people after the unrest was quelled, then busy receiving officials, and finally busy with Zhuang Squad matters, so he had basically been pushed to the very end. Now that he had finally waited until tax collection began, Pang Yu naturally wanted to come and observe.

The Tax Household whose name had just been called hurried to the table and presented several pieces of broken silver before He Xianya; the Silver Head and Tax Register Clerk from Willow Tree Village standing nearby handed over a section of a tax receipt stub.

He Xianya checked that section of the stub against the section in his own hand; after confirming the Tax Household was correct, he pressed it down with the broken silver, then casually picked up a piece of silver and turned it before his eyes. Pang Yu knew he was checking the purity; confirming the purity of broken silver was very difficult, especially when it required both parties to the transaction to agree.

"Seventy percent purity."

The Tax Household cupped his hands in salute. "I beg you, sir, the grain shop Shopkeeper told this humble one it was ninety percent purity."

He Xianya said peremptorily, "Then this official tells you it is seventy percent purity. Once you're at the yamen, you listen to the yamen. Why drag in what some grain shop Shopkeeper said?"

"But this silver is clearly eighty percent at least." The Tax Household grew anxious and involuntarily grabbed He Xianya with both hands. "I beg you, sir, count it as more; this humble one simply cannot produce any more."

Two Runners behind him charged over with short sticks. He Xianya shook off the Tax Household's hands with disgust and cursed, "If you dare grab me again, I'll throw you in the lockup today."

The two Runners struck the Tax Household several times on the legs; the Tax Household retreated repeatedly to dodge.

He Xianya snatched up the silver and handed it to the clerk on his right. "Silver purity uniformly sixty percent. If he can't make up the difference, put him in the standing cage."

The clerk brought out a steelyard to weigh the silver pieces. A steelyard is a precision measuring tool, mainly used for weighing silver and medicinal powder; some famous doctors would use ebony for the steelyard beam to make themselves appear more refined.

The Tongcheng County yamen's steelyard, however, had a beam and pan made of bronze, which looked finely crafted and reliable.

But Pang Yu knew that the weights and pan had all been tampered with; during the weighing step alone, the Tax Household would have to pay at least twenty percent more silver. Combined with the purity just undercounted, he would likely have to pay sixty to seventy percent more in taxes — and that was not yet counting the large scale used by the grain shop and the overcounted silver purity there. These two transactions involving silver would force this Tax Household to pay nearly double the grain.

The clerk's movements were practiced; he took the silver piece, placed it in the pan, lifted the third string, and weighed it with lightning speed. Before the peasant could even see clearly, the clerk had already set the steelyard down again, then clicked away on the abacus, converting the result at sixty percent.

"You still owe two Mace, three fen, and eight li." The clerk reported the figure directly without even glancing at the Tax Household.

The Tax Household had originally wanted to question it, but after a look at the Runners nearby, he pulled out a bit more broken silver with a deeply worried face.

He Xianya shot him a glare; he had dealt with these farming households for a long time and knew how to handle these peasants.

The clerk, having confirmed the silver was sufficient, handed it to He Xianya. He Xianya wrapped it in one section of the tax receipt stub, personally went to drop it into the silver chest, then returned to his seat, wrote a receipt on the middle section of the stub, and gave it to the Tax Household as proof of tax payment.

The last remaining section of the stub also had to be recorded, to be kept in the yamen archives.

Pang Yu watched that Tax Household called Wang Quan; he held that section of the tax ticket and stood dazed for a long while. In his despondency, there seemed also to be some relief — this year's main taxes were all paid, and he could catch his breath for a while, but it was not everything; before the Spring Festival, he would still have to prepay part of next year's taxes. Busy from the start of the year to the end, and all it amounted to was feeding his family.

Pang Yu shook his head. The land tax was the mainstay of state revenue before the industrial age, but the collection efficiency was indeed low. And from his observation this time, the greatest losses peasants suffered during the payment process lay in the two transactions involving silver — one facing the grain shop, and one facing the yamen.

It was not that He Xianya deliberately wanted to undercount the Tax Household's purity, but that he had to, because after he collected enough to fill the silver chest, he still had to pay the county yamen's Silver Husband, who would separate the tax silver and the regular silver from these funds.

The regular silver was formerly called fire consumption, a surcharge collected in the name of losses during the Silver Husband's smelting process. Later it went from an unspoken rule to an open rule; people stopped pretending and just called it regular silver. A Nanzhili county magistrate could receive over a thousand taels of regular silver a year; every official and office below had their own regular silver, each with different direct sources, but the ultimate source was always apportioned within the land tax.

Even the regular silver for officials in the Anqing Prefecture was collected in full by each county and sent up. Being within this system, there was not much room for choice. So even if Pang Yu were the Chest Attendant, he would still have to suppress the purity and tamper with the weighing; otherwise, not only would he not earn any silver, he would not even be able to fulfill his duty.

Leaving the crowd at the Eight-Character Wall behind, Pang Yu strode into the county yamen. According to his daily plan, no matter how busy he was, he had to report to the leadership, lest he grow distant from them.

By this time, the morning session had already adjourned. Yang Erming was generally either in Tuisi Hall or the Second Hall; the Second Hall was usually used for receiving official guests and also for meetings requiring confidentiality, and its conditions were somewhat better than Tuisi Hall.

The moment Yang Erming saw Pang Yu, his face lit up with a brilliant smile. Although the vile old society had forced him to become a county magistrate at such a young age, compelling him to feign depth and losing much of his childish joy, he was still a youth after all and would unconsciously reveal an innocent side.

"I hear the Zhuang Squad is drilling with firearms at the North Arch Gate today, and many commoners in the city have gone to watch the excitement."

Pang Yu quickly responded, "This subordinate was just coming to report to Your Excellency. Firearm weapons must be drilled so they can be used freely when facing the enemy. The north gate was chosen because there are few passersby there, but disturbing the people was still unavoidable; this subordinate is ashamed."

Yang Erming waved his hand. "This is a matter of protecting and benefiting the people; how can it be called disturbing them? The Zhuang Squad is newly established and everything awaits revival; it has been hard on Pang Squad Leader. Last time you mentioned that a few Guards had run off; I wonder how that was finally resolved?"

"Two have already been captured and are confined in the Ye Family Old Residence. One more is still at large; Zhuang Squad's Constable Yao Dongshan has been keeping watch alone outside that man's home for three days. This subordinate believes he will certainly bring the deserter back. Aside from Constable Yao, everyone else is continuing to practice city defense tactics. This subordinate plans to resume recruiting Guards from the start of the eleventh month, and to recruit a full complement of one hundred ninety-two men before next spring begins."

Yang Erming said with some excitement, "With the Zhuang Squad, I am much more at ease. The contents of your tiaochen are very comprehensive, and the later supplements are also excellent. When we have some free time, we shall implement them one by one, and we will certainly be prepared for any eventuality."

Magistrate Yang finished speaking, put away his smile, looked around mysteriously, then pulled Pang Yu close and asked in a low voice, "Pang Squad Leader, you said last time that one must eat more eggs to grow taller; that perhaps has some reasoning. But you also said one must get more sun and exercise more; this official has pondered it a hundred times and still cannot fathom it."

"I… this… it is like this, Your Excellency. Your Excellency is in the prime of youth, at the peak period for growth. The first priority is sufficient nutrition; eating rice alone is not enough. Eggs have balanced nutrition; one a day is indispensable. Once nutrition is sufficient, you must also promote calcium absorption, because growing taller is growing bones, and bones are primarily calcium. And can sun exposure absorb calcium? No, but it can produce vitamin D3, which helps absorb calcium. Once calcium is absorbed, it still needs to be added to the bones, which requires exercise to stimulate the cartilage — in this way, you can grow taller."

Yang Erming listened, utterly baffled. He stared blankly at Pang Yu for a long while. Pang Yu spread his hands. "I know it is not easy for Your Excellency to understand, but you must trust me on this matter. Your Excellency is only fourteen, and can probably still grow for about four more years. As long as you eat and train according to the method this humble one has described, in four years you will certainly be tall and robust."

Yang Erming asked in surprise, "I only want to grow taller; why must I also grow robust? This official does not need to do those shoulder-bearing, load-carrying tasks."

"Being robust is better than being thin and weak. Your Excellency, look at Sun Lin — he is also a scholar, yet he is tall and robust. With the realm in turmoil these days, being robust is never wrong; at the very least, you will be less prone to illness."

"That is true, but my father says that a strong body does not mean one will not fall ill; one must also rely on nurturing it."

Pang Yu laughed. "I heard that Your Excellency was drinking wine again yesterday; that does not much resemble nurturing."

Yang Erming slapped his forehead in frustration. "Yesterday it was a Prefect from the Jiangxi Provincial Administration Commission, passing through Tongcheng on his way north to the Capital to serve as a Censor. Mr. Sun said we absolutely had to send a gift of gift money, and naturally we had to host him as well. I was forced to drink a little; my wine capacity is still somewhat lacking."

Pang Yu knew that Yang Erming had likely spent quite a bit of silver again last night. Such passing officials were also governed by unspoken rules in the late Ming; for an official rising from the provinces to become a Censor in the capital, one had to offer at least two hundred taels or more. This was mainly not to curry favor, but simply to ensure one did not offend him.

The advantage of Tongcheng's location was that its economy was decent; the disadvantage was that it was a thoroughfare connecting nine provinces. Passing officials were as numerous as carp crossing a river; in any case, there were at least several every month, and sometimes there would be Assistant Officials or clerks from the Anqing Prefecture, the Branch Surveillance Circuit, or the Fenshou Circuit coming down on official business. The county magistrate's reception duties were extremely heavy.

"Your Excellency has worked hard; this humble one admires you."

"This… ah, there is nothing to admire. In short, this county magistrate post is somewhat different from what this official previously imagined." Yang Erming finished, then suddenly pointed at Pang Yu. "There is another passerby tonight; Pang Squad Leader must join this official in receiving him."

Pang Yu did not fear drinking, but under normal circumstances, a yamen runner foreman like himself was not fit to appear on such occasions. He asked, puzzled, "May I ask which honored guest it is, and whether it is appropriate for this humble one to attend?"

"Today's person is this official's fellow Presented Scholar of the same year, and coincidentally a native of Tongcheng's Zongyang. This time he has been appointed to fill a vacancy as County Magistrate of Rongchang County in Sichuan, and left the capital somewhat later than this official. He specifically reported to the Ministry of Personnel that he would stop by his hometown on the way, so this official naturally must receive him. He heard about the civil unrest incident back in the Capital and specifically asked this official to invite Pang Squad Leader."

Pang Yu frowned and said, "That Tongcheng Presented Scholar of this year — I saw the announcement of his passing the exams at the Eight-Character Wall. I think his name was Guang…"

"Exactly, Guang Shixiang!"