The Way of the Righteous

Jiangzhou Prefecture yamen.

The Great Song official system—each prefectural yamen had one prefect, of the Principal Fifth Rank, who served as the chief official of the prefecture. In addition, there was one Sixth-Rank vice prefect, who served as the prefect's deputy.

The clerks in a prefectural yamen were mainly divided among six offices: Personnel, Revenue, Rites, War, Punishment, and Works. The chief officers of each office were all Principal Eighth Rank officials.

There were also such posts as the Post Station Assistant, who managed relay stations; the Academic Director, who oversaw the prefectural school; the Patrol Inspectorate, which handled arrests and banditry; the River Levy Office, which collected fishing taxes; the Monks' Registry Office, which managed monks; and the Daoists' Registry Office, which managed Daoists... Their chief officials all held official rank, at the very least Subordinate Ninth Rank.

In a county, these offices actually all existed as well, but their ranks would be lowered by one or two grades, and some posts would be reduced to mere clerks.

In short, though the sparrow was small, it possessed all five organs.

Trim it down a little further, and it became a county administration. Expand it upward again, and it could govern a province—or even control the entire realm—with no great difficulty. It was a condensed version of a small imperial court.

Aaron watched outside the prefectural yamen for a while. He had little fondness for those fierce-looking yamen runners and had only come to read the official documents and notices.

Seeing his Daoist attire, people took him for half a member of the privileged class. Since he could read as well, no blind fool of a yamen runner or hanger-on came to drive him away.

With a hurried glance, Aaron saw several notices demanding payment of the Flower-and-Bird Levy and