Volume I: Water City Tune Chapter 65: Establishing Rules

After the five-day holiday came to an end, Fang Zhiyuan and the other two returned to the county office.

Having caught wind of certain news, their mindset at this moment was entirely different from five days ago. Gone was the pride of being irreplaceable. Upon stepping into the signing room, they even appeared somewhat restrained. Seeing Li Ling seated upright behind the desk at the upper seat, the three hesitated briefly before stepping forward to offer their greetings in unison: "Subordinates pay respects to Chief Clerk Li."

After scratching and scribbling some notes on paper, Li Ling finally raised his head and swept a half-smiling gaze across them. "Are all your family matters settled? Do you need me to grant you a few more days off?"

"No, no."

"This humble subordinate has already settled everything at home, and my mother's condition has stabilized. Please feel free to assign any duties you see fit, Chief Clerk Li."

The men hurriedly expressed their stance, even flashing flattering expressions. They had already learned that the young man before them was far more formidable than they had imagined. A task that would normally take seven or eight men nearly ten days to complete had been flawlessly accomplished by him in just four days. Such capability made them no longer dare to underestimate him.

Li Ling nodded. "That is good. Otherwise, I wouldn't know how to treat the three of you next."

"What does Chief Clerk Li mean by that?" The men felt a chill in their hearts and hurriedly asked.

Instead of answering immediately, Li Ling turned his head to look at Lin Qing beside him. "Go and post that on the wall, so they can also understand the future rules of our Revenue Department."

Rules? The men grew even more puzzled, only to see Lin Qing acknowledge the order, pick up a sheet of paper several feet long, and paste it straight onto the adjacent wall. It featured ten horizontal and five vertical sections—a large table, with the names of the five members of the Revenue Department, starting from Li Ling downward, written neatly on the extreme left. The rest was completely blank, and its purpose remained unclear.

Just as the three were feeling baffled, Li Ling spoke leisurely. "Considering that my Revenue Department is the core of the county office, even the slightest mistake could affect the livelihoods of countless common people. Ever since the county magistrate promoted me to Chief Clerk of the Revenue Department, I have been walking on thin ice in my heart, never daring to slack off even a fraction.

"Therefore, over the past few days, I have been pondering how to make everyone in the Revenue Department more dedicated to their duties and set an example for the entire office. Now that we finally have a preliminary concept, since everyone is here today, I shall establish the rules first."

As he spoke, he had already stood up, walked over to the chart, and pointed at the grid squares one by one. "You can all see this. Behind each person's name is a grid, which means the total number of mistakes you are allowed to commit within a quarter. No matter who it is, once you have filled your quota of mistakes, you will be punished. The light punishment is a deduction of salary, and the heavy one is expulsion from the county office. After all, we shoulder the livelihood of tens of thousands of people in the entire county, so naturally we cannot take this lightly."

The expressions of Fang Zhiyuan and the other two shifted rapidly, and the sense of unease in their hearts grew increasingly intense. Yet at this moment, they could not come up with any excuse to oppose Li Ling, especially since he was their superior and inherently had the authority to formulate rules. Still, Zhou Linyuan could not help asking, "According to Chief Clerk Li's intentions, what constitutes a mistake?"

"Oh, there are plenty of examples. For instance, if a task entrusted to your hands gets botched, that is a mistake. Or if a task assigned to you remains undone upon expiration of the deadline, that is also a major mistake," Li Ling said casually, his expression suddenly turning stern. "And another thing: unexcused absences, leaving early, and arriving late are also mistakes.

"Take you three for example. Failing to show up for the previous five days was a mistake, and handing over tasks that should have been handled collectively entirely to me and Lin Qing was an even graver mistake. However, considering that this is your first offense, we shall simply record five mistakes for each of you."

At this point, Li Ling cast a glance, and Lin Qing promptly understood, picking up a small seal, dipping it into the red stamp pad on the desk, and pressing it onto the chart. In the grids behind the names of Zhou Linyuan and the other two, he stamped them *pa, pa, pa*, and fifteen clear red marks were instantly imprinted upon it.

Initially, they had only felt a mild sense of unease, but upon seeing the sudden appearance of five red stamps in the grids representing their mistakes, the three men felt their hearts skip a beat. Zhao Han could not restrain himself from speaking out, "Chief Clerk, our absence from the county office for five days was not an unexcused absence; we asked for leave from you, and you approved it at the time. How can you hold it against us?"

"Indeed, and such rules have no precedent, nor has any official written notice been issued by the county office. It is truly hard to accept!" Fang Zhiyuan raised objections directly.

Li Ling looked at him and said, "There is something I believe you haven't figured out yet. This is the Revenue Department, and I am the current Chief Clerk of the Revenue Department! In other words, within this division, I have the final say. Whatever I say, you subordinates ought to comply. If you are unwilling to obey, fine—you may leave the Revenue Department and leave the county office right now!"

Young though Li Ling was, his imposing presence was absolute, instantly suppressing Fang Zhiyuan, who still wished to argue, leaving the man's face pale. Not finished yet, Li Ling turned his gaze to Zhao Han. "What you said is correct. I did approve your leave, and furthermore, there are leave slips as evidence from that day!"

"That settles it then. Chief Clerk Li, you surely cannot go back on your word?" Zhao Han felt a slight surge of confidence in his heart and seized the opportunity to speak. Whatever else could be discussed later; right now, he absolutely could not admit fault.

Li Ling curled the corner of his lips. "Take a look at these leave slips. It is written clearly in black and white why you asked for leave on those days. You asked for leave because your mother was ill and you needed to take her to the prefecture city for treatment; you asked for leave because you were feeling unwell and needed to recuperate..." As he spoke, he pulled out the leave slips and slammed them onto the desk.

Only then did he fix a burning gaze upon the three men. "Yet what were you three doing during those past five days? Day before yesterday, you were spotted at Qingfeng Tower. And the day before that, you, Zhao Han, were gambling at Jixiang Gambling House... Does this really look like what you claimed—that you had family matters to attend to, needed to accompany your mother to the prefecture city, or needed to recuperate, and therefore couldn't come to the county office?"

The series of remarks instantly turned the three men's faces ashen white, leaving them gaping without a word of sophistry to offer. At the same time, a wave of deep chill struck their hearts; their whereabouts over the five days had apparently been mastered by Li Ling long ago. Had he premeditated this? Right from the start, he must have seen through their little schemes, deliberately letting them sign and seal the leave slips precisely for today's showdown.

This was merely a young man under twenty years of age, yet his seasoned methods surpassed even those of seasoned, slippery clerks who had spent years in the office. The petty, self-righteous tricks of the three of them were completely inadequate before him; he had them completely cornered!

The more they thought about it, the more panic gripped the three men, to the extent that cold sweat broke out on their foreheads. "Li... Chief Clerk Li... we..."

"You don't need to bother with those excuses; even if you spoke them, I wouldn't believe them," Li Ling interrupted their rhetoric immediately, giving a cold hum. "I am only giving you a chance because you are veterans of the county office. Otherwise, your behavior over these past five days alone would be enough for me to expel you from my Revenue Department, or even ask the magistrate to dismiss you entirely. Do not think the Revenue Department cannot function without you; leave aside the three of you, even if every single clerk and runner in the county office were replaced, it would only cost a little extra effort.

"Now, I want to hear your stance. If you know you were wrong, obey my rules obediently from now on without any further mistakes, and do not think of seeking any powerful backing. Your only backing now is myself, the Chief Clerk of the Revenue Department, and no one else! If you still refuse to reform, then please leave."

Seeing the men trembling in fear yet displaying awkward expressions, Li Ling added, "I wonder if you have heard of the current predicament of the former criminal law clerk Zhang Wu? Ever since he was stripped of his clerkship by the magistrate, people have gone to harass and retaliate against his household every single day—those are the old grudges he harbored previously. Naturally, no one dared to seek revenge while he was a clerk at the county office, but once he lost that official skin, his situation became truly precarious."

These words truly served as a wake-up call for Zhao Han and the other two. Jolted violently, they rushed to pledge their stance: "What Chief Clerk Li says is right. From now on, we will strictly follow your rules and dare not harbor any other thoughts."

"Chief Clerk Li, this humble subordinate admires capable people the most. The fact that you were able to clear up complex accounts in just a few days is something ordinary people could never accomplish. I am utterly and thoroughly convinced by you."

"Chief Clerk Li, this humble subordinate..."

Seeing that they were still launching into endless flattery, Li Ling impatiently waved a hand. "Save your breath for official duties instead. I, Li Ling, am skilled at reckoning accounts and only recognize numbers. As long as you diligently attend to your duties from now on, past matters can naturally be written off. But remember, you have already committed five mistakes this quarter; commit five more, and severe punishment without leniency is guaranteed."

"Understood, this subordinate has noted it." Utterly subdued by him by this point, the five men immediately responded with solemn expressions.

"Very well. I have twenty more account books here; the three of you divide them among yourselves and inspect them. Remember, if any flaws or leaks appear..." Seeing his gaze fall back onto the chart, the spines of the three men tightened instantly, and they cried out in unison, "Rest assured, sir, we will examine the accounts carefully and will not make the slightest error!" Their forms of address had unconsciously shifted as well.

"Hmm, remember to submit them to me by noon tomorrow. Also, I am accustomed to arriving at the county office by the hour of *chen* [7:00 AM]. If any of you arrive later than I do, it will be counted as tardiness, which is likewise a major mistake."

A bitter expression crossed the faces of the men once more. Accustomed to freedom in the past, they truly found it somewhat difficult to adapt to arriving at the office this early every day. But having no choice left at this moment, reluctant as they were, they could only accept the mandate: "This subordinate will strictly obey your orders, sir."

Only then did a hint of a smile appear on Li Ling's face. He waved his hand to signal that they could return to their respective desks to work, and the three of them breathed a slight sigh of relief before turning to head to their respective posts. Yet when their gazes fell once more upon the blindingly red stamps on the adjacent chart, their expressions tightened again, lingering with lingering fear.

None of them could have imagined that Li Ling would manage to seize complete control of the Revenue Department in just five days. Facts proved that accomplishing great things required both capability and means, and fortunately, he possessed both in full measure!