"Oh, Chen Qing... no, Lord Chen, only just getting back?"
At the prefectural yamen gates, an exhausted, bleary-eyed Chen Qing had finally made it back with Old Meng, the coachman. After two days of travel there and back, he could barely keep his eyes open, but the sight of a cluster of familiar faces sitting at the entrance eating congee instantly drove away his sleepiness.
"Gu the First-Place Laureate, when did you all get here?"
Gu Beiquan's face twitched slightly at being addressed as the first-place laureate. He set down his bowl and rose. "This subordinate greets the prefect."
Though reluctant, the others also set down their bowls and saluted one after another. "Greetings, Prefect."
"Oh, please, we were all classmates. There's no need to stand on ceremony..." Chen Qing smiled until his eyes narrowed to slits, mouthing pleasantries.
Watching so many scholars salute Chen Qing, Ma Erniang could not help thinking, That son of the Chen family has really made something of himself. He's become a prefect outright! Looks like he's finally made it through to the good days. Unlike that wretched boy of mine, who can't make head or tail of his studies and has picked up his dead father's rotten gambling habit...
As she thought, she hurried to ladle out a bowl for the young prefect. "Here, here, freshly cooked meat congee. I added ginger, just the thing to drive out the chill."
There were so many officials here; she had to seize this chance to get acquainted. Perhaps she could secure good positions for her two sons.
The smell whetted Chen Qing's appetite, and he hurriedly got a bowl each for himself and Old Meng.
"Our Prefect Chen certainly keeps busy." The first-place laureate watched Chen Qing gulp down his congee like a starving ghost, disdain flashing in his eyes. "I hear you reached Liuzhou City several days before us, yet nothing here has changed. Just what has kept you so busy, Prefect?"
Chen Qing kept eating, barely inclined to acknowledge him. With Liuzhou City in this sorry state, I could give you a whole month to work-let's see you change it.
"You've seen the current situation, Lord Chen. Have you any thoughts?" another upright young scholar asked leisurely over his tea.
Without even raising his head, Chen Qing recognized the voice of Shen Yuan, the newly appointed second-place laureate, and immediately felt annoyed...
These fellows have filled their own bellies, and now they can't bear to let me have a mouthful of congee?
Even the coachman beside him felt uncomfortable listening. Though he, too, thought his master somewhat unserious, the man had at least been running about for Liuzhou's sake, traveling all night. What had these fine gentlemen done? Such a racket...
"Daddy, what smells so good?"
Inside the carriage, Ghost Child had clearly been tempted by the aroma and sleepily pulled open the curtain.
What an adorable child!
Everyone froze at the sight. The child poking his head out of the carriage looked like a porcelain doll enshrined in a temple, stirring their affection. Gentle smiles appeared on the faces of the otherwise disgruntled jinshi.
They all thought that while Chen Qing himself looked utterly ordinary, he had fathered a beautiful child...
Whoosh...
Suddenly, the morning breeze blew the carriage curtain wide open.
The smiles froze on everyone's faces!
So big...
Even Ma Erniang, a woman who had borne two children, blushed at the sight. What's going on with this child? How old can he be? How is he so magnificent down there? What has he been eating?
"Ahem!" Chen Qing choked on his congee, hastily set down his bowl, and went over to pull the curtain shut. "Ahem... Ma Erniang, do you have any loose-fitting children's clothes? Give me a couple of pieces for the child to put on first."
"Oh, oh... huh? Chen Qing? You have a child?"
Chen Qing laughed evasively and was just searching for an excuse to brush it off when an enormous turtle head poked out of the carriage.
"Holy crap..."
Ma Erniang stumbled backward in fright, and the others jumped as well.
"What is that?"
"Ah... this... ahem..." Chen Qing cleared his throat and explained, "It's just a mountain tortoise. According to some of the common people, it's an auspicious creature. Since... well, Liuzhou just suffered some unspeakable demonic incidents, I thought I'd bring an auspicious creature over to reassure the people."
Pfft!
Several of them promptly choked on their congee. At their head, Gu Beiquan, the first-place laureate, sneered repeatedly. "So our prefect has been nowhere to be found these past two days because he was busy with this?"
"Chen Qing..." Another familiar, middle-aged face beside them finally spoke. "His Majesty entrusted you with great responsibility because he values you. All the more reason not to fail his imperial grace. You..."
Chen Qing knew who it was without looking. Who besides Liu Yiqi loved speaking in that senior's tone?
He was in no hurry. He knew why these jinshi refused to accept him. Back when he, a code monkey from a third-tier college, had been recruited by Tencent as an executive, few of those graduates from Tsinghua, Peking, Fudan, and Shanghai Jiao Tong had accepted him either.
But at least those top graduates had solid technical skills and wrote good code. Arrogant as they were, they got things done. What damned use did he have for this bunch holding forth on how to run the realm? He could not be bothered wasting effort on them...
"Now that you gentlemen have seen the situation here, do you have any thoughts?" Chen Qing leisurely turned the question back on them as he rinsed his mouth with clear tea. "If anyone has an excellent idea, I certainly won't steal the credit. I'll submit a memorial vouching for you at once and yield this prefect's position to someone worthy. The court needs capable people right now. As long as you dare pledge on pain of military punishment that you can resolve Liuzhou's predicament, I imagine the court would make an exceptional promotion. Well? Which of you gentlemen would like to try?"
At those words, the jinshi who had been chattering incessantly fell utterly silent.
Chen Qing watched them for a moment, then sneered. "Oh, so after all that, you have no ideas either?"
"Lord Chen!" Gu Beiquan snapped indignantly. "Do you take the arrangements from above for child's play? The court has already made the proper appointments. Naturally, we must each perform our assigned duties!"
"Oh, so Gu the First-Place Laureate does acknowledge the court's arrangements..." Chen Qing set down his teacup, his smile disappearing. "In that case, how this official conducts his affairs is hardly yours to criticize, is it?"
"You..."
Gu Beiquan flushed scarlet with anger, and the other jinshi looked equally displeased. Only Shen Yuan, the new second-place laureate, merely sneered faintly, his eyes as aloof and proud as ever.
"Since we're each to perform our assigned duties, let's go by the court's documents." Chen Qing glanced at the dumbstruck Ma Erniang and the coachman beside them, then smiled. "There are no outsiders here. Let's discuss it right here."
Chen Qing took out the document. "It states here that Gu the First-Place Laureate is to serve as administrative judge, and Shen the Second-Place Laureate as associate prefect... hmm?"
Chen Qing paused, finding it rather unreasonable. Why was the runner-up's position a full rank higher than the first-place laureate's?
Many jinshi without influential backgrounds were also puzzled by this inconsistency, but Gu Beiquan merely snorted and said nothing more. He did not even dare show displeasure toward the new second-place laureate beside him.
That was because he knew the man's background.
Shen Yuan came from the sorcerer academy. Against that background, taking first place ten times would do him no good. In Great Jin, sorcerer civil officials and non-sorcerer civil officials were as far apart as heaven and earth. Were sorcerers not so scarce, ordinary people like them would never have had a turn at holding office.
Chen Qing did not dwell on it for long and continued, "According to customary practice in the prefectures, the administrative judge and associate prefect may be posted elsewhere or work in the same city as this official. If you choose to work here with me, you will be responsible for such matters as grain transport, criminal apprehension, river defenses, and agriculture and sericulture."
"Liuzhou is one of Jiangnan's principal trade routes, making river defenses particularly important. Now that the court has withdrawn the navy, we can only rely on assistance from the two neighboring prefectures. Rebuilding our river defenses and attracting merchant ships back are urgent matters. Which of you two would be willing to take this assignment?"
"Well..." Gu Beiquan choked. He had not expected this mud-legged fellow surnamed Chen, who had received no training in government affairs, to speak so cogently right from the outset.
He even knew to toss out the most troublesome mess.
Everyone knew river defenses involved major interests. One had to register and manage shipping cargo while also dealing with the regional commander responsible for deploying troops. With civil and military officials currently unable to stand each other, the hardest assignments were those requiring dealings with military officers. A non-sorcerer jinshi like him lacked the confidence for that.
He immediately said glumly, "This subordinate has little talent and shallow learning. I fear I cannot handle government affairs of such importance. Perhaps... Lord Shen might consider it?"
Shen Yuan was a sorcerer, so presumably he would have more confidence.
Shen Yuan frowned at this. He did want to compete for responsibility over river defenses, which offered not only great merit but plenty of fat to skim. However, he was better informed than Gu Beiquan and had known who the new regional commander was before leaving the capital.
Anyone else would have been fine, but the man coming this time was that madman from the Yuchi Household. He truly felt somewhat wary.
After considering it, he said, "Lord Chen, Liuzhou is currently short of officials. Having all three of us govern here in the prefectural seat would be something of a waste of manpower. Why not... post us elsewhere?"
He had thought it through. If he could not contend for river defenses, the remaining matters of grain transport, criminal apprehension, and agriculture and sericulture all took longer to yield returns. Especially with Liuzhou in its current state, the duties Chen Qing offered were all thankless toil. Rather than fight for authority amid this mess, he might as well take an outside posting as chief administrator of an important county.
Not only would he be free of restraint, but it would also be easier to produce political achievements.
Gu Beiquan's eyes lit up at this, clearly having reached the same conclusion, and he hurriedly said, "Lord Shen has a point. With manpower so short, outside postings would be best..."
Chen Qing curled his lip. He had known they would answer that way.
When he left the capital, Wei Gongcheng had already told him that Liuzhou's new regional commander appeared to be Yuchi Peng's eldest concubine-born brother, an extremely troublesome man. As long as the first- or second-place laureate had any connections and information, neither would think of competing against the Yuchi Household's madman.
But he was not having it. Madman or not, he had to keep all of Liuzhou's government affairs in his own hands. City defenses or river defenses, he would allow neither to fall into anyone else's hands. This concerned his subsequent god-investiture plan.
Even if the Heavenly King himself came, he would still fight for it!