Chapter 37: So Weary at Heart

Throughout the entire county yamen, among the three civil officials, only Magistrate Wang was truly looking at the big picture, racking his brains for the future of the common people.

His two colleagues, however, were increasingly unreliable.

Magistrate Wang felt furious, even deeply humiliated. The Registrar was as spineless as if he were made of dough; he could not shoulder any responsibility, and his abilities were barely on par with a low-level clerk. When faced with trouble, he would only deflect and hand over power to the Vice Magistrate. If the Vice Magistrate spoke a harsh word, he would bow and scrape, completely incapable of holding his own. Both in ability and character, he was utterly unsatisfactory. The only real purpose of his existence was to occupy the position so that someone even worse did not take it. While he was practically a useless man, at least his thoughts were not deep, and he lacked any ambition, meaning he was unlikely to cause any major catastrophe—except for that public kneeling incident the other day.

As for the Vice Magistrate, he was a direct descendant of a deep-rooted, powerful clan. Having been steeped in the vat of political maneuvering since childhood, he had seen countless schemes and ploys, yet he always wore a harmless facade. He operated only from behind the curtain, never allowing the flames to singe him, to the point that no one could fathom his true intentions.

Magistrate Wang already had a rough theory as to why Vice Magistrate Huang was trying to trip him up at this moment. Within a county, the Vice Magistrate is the legitimate assistant to the Magistrate, but often possesses the authority to act on his behalf. Conflicts and grudges arising from differences in opinion were common. After all, the imperial court had designed this local power structure specifically to keep the chief official in check.

For the past few years, beyond investigating the people’s conditions and the local geography, the most frequent task Magistrate Wang had performed was tirelessly petitioning the imperial court for funding. He had sent document after document, each one carefully worded, with arguments and phrasing that were beyond reproach. Yet, the convoluted bureaucratic system provided immense resistance, especially regarding matters of money.

Within the county, however, the attitude toward him was not as exclusionary as it was among his superiors. Since he was soliciting imperial funds, it would not offend anyone in the yamen. Everyone felt that this was a project from which they could benefit, and they were quite willing to cooperate with Magistrate Wang’s measures in various affairs. After all, political achievements were the strongest leverage when applying for grants.

Now, the funding had arrived and had been disbursed to the Yongshun County Yamen. But Magistrate Wang’s crackdown on corruption had not only forced the clerks to spit out their ill-gotten gains—leaving them empty-handed and worse off than before—but it had also left the yamen officials in a foul state. They had gained no substantive benefits and, conversely, Magistrate Wang had played a game of "strike one, pull another," weakening the Vice Magistrate’s power base.

Since he had already offended the Vice Magistrate to the core, he could not expect the man not to retaliate. Moreover, a person like Vice Magistrate Huang would never swallow such an insult. There was no such thing as "colleague camaraderie" in the officialdom; they were already political enemies. The actions of the man known as Sixth Master Huang were simply the first move in the Vice Magistrate’s counterattack.

Having realized this, Magistrate Wang calmed down. At times like these, one must not lose one's footing, lest a moment of haste lead to an error that ruins the grand design. He looked around and said to the worried Zhao Jin, "We must immediately find out exactly what Sixth Master Huang has said to the merchants and what he intends to do."

"If that man truly has the audacity to act so recklessly, then do not blame me for weeding out the evil to restore the peace of mind of the people!"

"A man who could be a wealthy gentleman refuses to do so and instead insists on being someone else's dog—truly, he lives up to the nature of a merchant!"

What angered Magistrate Wang most was not the Vice Magistrate’s schemes, but the reality that he had once again witnessed the true nature of merchants. Given this, was it really possible, as Chen Ping had said, that they would donate large sums of money and grain for the sake of reputation?

With this question in mind, Magistrate Wang looked at the composed Old Master Ye and the silent Chen Ping. Old Master Ye was well-versed in the ways of the world and knew that such grand undertakings rarely went smoothly; encountering setbacks or sudden changes was perfectly normal. There was no need to be impatient; one simply dealt with problems as they arose.

Chen Ping, however, furrowed his brows. He still felt that the matter was shrouded in doubt. Were merchants in ancient times always this bold? Could they be incited to stir up trouble just by a few words from the Vice Magistrate? In the academy, he had never heard of the Yongshun merchants ever doing anything of such magnitude.

Instead of fretting alone, Chen Ping voiced his confusion: "Could there be a misunderstanding in this matter? Has that Sixth Master Huang ever dared to interfere in government affairs so casually before?"

Prompted by Chen Ping’s question, Zhao Jin, who was more familiar with the situation among the local merchants, immediately saw the crux of the issue. He turned toward Magistrate Wang and said bluntly, "Your Honor, please calm your anger. This matter may truly be a misunderstanding—at the very least, it is a misunderstanding on the part of Sixth Master Huang."

Under normal circumstances, such a remark would be dismissed as mere flattery to appease the Magistrate. But with no outsiders present and the situation being critical, Zhao Jin surely had his reasons. Everyone looked at him, wondering how he could be so certain.

Could it be...? Sensing their strange gazes, Zhao Jin felt a tighten in his chest. To avoid being suspected of colluding with Sixth Master Huang, he quickly summarized the man’s history. Regardless, Sixth Master Huang was not the Vice Magistrate’s servant; their relationship was more of a partnership. Since it was a partnership, why would Sixth Master Huang take the lead and risk offending the Magistrate, who held the real power, so thoroughly? Was he really prepared to burn his bridges? This did not fit the image of the calculating Sixth Master Huang.

When things are abnormal, there must be a demon at work! After some deliberation, they guessed the key: perhaps the message the yamen had sent out had not reached Sixth Master Huang accurately.

Vice Magistrate Huang had secretly twisted the narrative, keeping both Sixth Master Huang and the other merchants in the dark. Such things were not uncommon. Because merchants like Sixth Master Huang, despite their wealth, were socially inferior to officials, their channels for contacting yamen officials remained narrow. In the absence of official documents or a direct meeting with the chief official, any news Sixth Master Huang received from the yamen would inevitably pass through the hands of the Vice Magistrate.

In this way, there was far too much room for manipulation. The most dangerous thing was this kind of rumor, half-true and half-false, which sounded logical and fit the facts; outsiders would be very likely to believe it implicitly. This gave the Vice Magistrate his opening.

Magistrate Wang sat in deep thought, unsure if things were as simple as he hoped. Just as everyone hesitated, Chen Ping stepped forward again: "Right or wrong, wouldn't it be clear if we met him in person and questioned him directly? Sixth Master Huang is in the county; it wouldn't take long to summon him."

As soon as Chen Ping spoke, Magistrate Wang raised an eyebrow, about to give an order, when Zhao Jin quickly waved his hand. "Absolutely not! If we were to drag him in, and word got out that we treated a local wealthy merchant so brutally, it would make everyone fear for themselves. The road construction donation would almost certainly fail."

Chen Ping was stunned by the dialogue between Zhao Jin and the Magistrate. *Drag him in? Who said anything about dragging him in?* After a moment of confusion, he looked at Magistrate Wang’s expression and immediately understood. Magistrate Wang, as the chief official of the county, was a standard scholar of this era. He had never even considered the possibility of negotiating with merchants on equal terms. The yamen only invited scholars, officials, or members of the gentry. To have the Magistrate lower himself to invite a merchant to the yamen for a discussion to clear up a misunderstanding? That option simply did not exist in Magistrate Wang’s mind!

*Sigh, how exhausting.*

It seemed that to facilitate the road construction donation, one not only had to consider the mindset of the merchants and guard against the interference of the Vice Magistrate and his clerks, but also had to slightly shift the perception of the Magistrate himself. At the very least, he had to temporarily bridge the gap between him and the merchants; otherwise, even if they survived this storm, it would leave behind obstacles or hidden dangers for future negotiations.

Chen Ping sighed inwardly, stepped forward with resignation, and bowed deeply to Magistrate Wang. "Your Honor, I believe that before we invite Sixth Master Huang, we must confirm one thing. That is: if we lose Sixth Master Huang and his fellow merchants, does Your Honor have any other way to raise the money and grain for this road? If not, why not grant them a little bit of face for the time being?"

Chen Ping looked up, his eyes meeting those of the standard Confucian official of the Great Yu Dynasty with a look of pure sincerity.