Chapter Forty-Two: County Magistrate An’s Methods

Page 1 of 3

The Great Yan dynasty forbade court officials from engaging in commerce.

But where there were policies above, there were countermeasures below.

An official himself might not be allowed to do business, but there were countless families who used his influence to make their enterprises flourish.

Those “two-faced men” who shouted every day in court that the government must not compete with the people for profit and must not open the seas to trade often possessed tens of thousands of acres of fertile land and fleets of merchant ships.

The “people” whose interests they claimed the government must not challenge were, in truth, themselves and the interests of the gentry class they represented.

“A magistrate who remains clean for a year may still amass a hundred thousand taels of silver.”

A high-ranking court official would, of course, never be satisfied with a mere hundred thousand taels.

Often, in no more than a decade or so, the family behind him could leap to become one of the great clans of the region.

They truly had “more splendor than they could display, more power than they could wield, more delicacies than they could eat, more money than they could spend, more songs of praise than they could hear, more gifts than they could collect, more wealth and honor than they could enjoy, and more New Years than they could celebrate.”

Thus, An Xin also intended to become a “proper” official of Great Yan.

If he wanted to open up a new avenue for making money through foreign trade, the only person he could think of was Wu Lijun.

Weaving was highly developed in Wuren County. An Xin happened to possess a devastating weapon like the spinning jenny, so entering the weaving industry was only natural.

“Since Ma, the head of the weaving guild, doesn’t know how to behave, I’ll raise up the Wu family instead. Once I take Wu Lijun as my wife, the Wu family and I will naturally have another layer of intimacy between us.”

Whether because of Ma, the guild head, or because he wanted to enter the weaving industry, the Wu family had caught An Xin’s attention.

He wrote two words on the paper: “The Wu family.”

“Among clothing, food, shelter, and travel, clothing comes first. Winter is nearly upon us. Although the course of this world’s history has diverged, its natural environment is much the same as that of the world I came from.

“The present corresponds roughly to the period between the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. We are in the midst of a Little Ice Age, with extreme cold and severe weather occurring frequently. It affects not only agriculture, but also the stability of the northern frontier. Because of the bitter cold, the nomadic peoples beyond the passes raid the border with increasing frequency.

“Last year, because of the wars on the frontier, the imperial court imposed additional levies for military pay and punitive campaigns. It is more like a vicious cycle.

“Viewed from the grand scale of history, Great Yan may look as though it is thriving in the heat of the moment, but in truth, even a cure as drastic as scraping poison from the bone might not be enough to save it.

“I, An Xin, am merely a county magistrate. Can I really remake Great Yan?”

When his thoughts reached this point, An Xin felt a slight ache in his shoulders. Perhaps this was an early symptom of having the entire realm of Great Yan resting upon them.

He gathered his thoughts and took out a fountain pen, writing and sketching across the paper.

“Looking through Wuren County’s records from the past several years, I find that every winter, large numbers of commoners freeze to death. If I can manufacture the spinning jenny before winter arrives, reduce production costs, and produce a large quantity of fine yet affordable cloth, perhaps I can not only make money, but save many lives as well—and gain enough of the dynasty’s fortune to aid my cultivation.”

An Xin, too, had his own theory of winning.

Page 1 of 3

Page 2 of 3

Just as he was silently calculating how many times he could win, a series of knocks sounded at the door.

“Master.”

“Come in,” An Xin replied.

The door opened, and Wan Zewen entered carrying several case files.

“Master, these are the files collected on the last day when petitions were received. They are all minor cases involving domestic disputes, farmland, and property. I have already drafted the judgments.”

An Xin skimmed through them. Finding no problems when compared against the Great Yan Code, he stamped them and instructed, “Go and summon Wu Yin and Deputy Registrar Huang.”

“Yes.”

Wan Zewen answered, opened his umbrella, and went outside.

Soon, footsteps approached. Huang Shouyin, the deputy registrar, and Wu Yin, a clerk from the household office, arrived at the rear hall.

“My lord!”

The two men bowed respectfully.

“Sit.”

An Xin motioned for both men, along with his secretary Wan Zewen, to take their seats.

“Deputy Registrar Huang, I hear that Ma, the head of the guild, refused even to show you respect?”

Now that the training of the troops had been entrusted to Wei Shuye and Hu Changshan, An Xin had freed up some time and intended to deal with that guild head.

At the same time, by using him to establish his authority, he would extend his reach into the weaving industry and lay the groundwork for promoting cheap cloth and introducing new looms in the future.

Hearing An Xin’s words, Huang Shouyin, seated below, immediately flushed scarlet. He felt as though he had been slapped in the face.

As one of the county’s leading figures, he had always been proud. When he learned that the guild head had refused to show the new magistrate any respect, he had secretly laughed and confidently issued an order for the constables and the household-office clerks to go collect the money owed by the guild head.

The result, however, had been entirely unexpected. The men had arrived to find tea and pastries laid out for them, yet they had not even been granted an audience with Ma. Instead, a servant of the Ma family had sneered at them and called them beggars.

“Damn him!”

Huang Shouyin cursed.

“That Ma Wenbin has no idea how high the heavens are or how deep the earth is. He has attached himself to the eunuchs of the Weaving Bureau, and with a few filthy coins in his hands, he even bought himself the status of a licentiate. He’s become more and more swollen with pride, until now he dares not even take the Wuren County government seriously!”

He had secretly elevated Ma Wenbin’s refusal to show him respect into an insult against the entire county government.

An Xin narrowed his eyes and suddenly said, “Ma Wenbin stubbornly refuses to contribute military funds for the suppression of the bandits. Yet I hear that when the Ma family’s silk passed along the Tongshan and Baling Mountain routes, it suffered no attack whatsoever.

“The Qian family and the Zhao family were both robbed by bandits when their goods passed through. Only the Ma family emerged completely unscathed. You say there is nothing suspicious about that? I wouldn’t dare believe it.

Page 2 of 3

Page 3 of 3

“This Ma family—could they be in league with the bandits?”

At these words, Huang Shouyin’s eyes widened. Astonishment shone unmistakably in his gaze as he stared at An Xin.

This magistrate’s heart was truly ruthless!

After the shock came fear, and Huang Shouyin began to feel wary of An Xin.

He secretly decided that, in the future, he had best avoid offending the man unless absolutely necessary.

An Xin had already dismissed Wang Defa, the chief constable of the strong-arm unit, effectively removing one of Huang Shouyin’s most capable assistants. Most of the dozen or so unsalaried runners who had been dealt with were also his men.

Before this, he had harbored resentment and intended to find an opportunity to trip An Xin up in secret and repay him.

But after this shock, he felt that enemies were better reconciled than cultivated, and that harmony was the wisest course.

After all, Wang Defa had brought it upon himself. Before the magistrate had even taken office, he had already offended him. Being dealt with was merely the settling of an old score, and he had received what he deserved. He had only himself to blame for failing to recognize the danger.

“Wu Yin, starting tomorrow, take the men from the tax office and conduct a thorough audit of the Ma family’s weaving workshops and silk shops. Focus on whether they have paid their full commercial taxes and whether they have engaged in smuggling, tax evasion, or the concealment of taxable income.

“Deputy Registrar Huang, send people to keep the Ma family under control. Clear the way for the household office to inspect their accounts. At the same time, investigate whether they have been secretly colluding with bandits.

“If Ma Wenbin resists…”

An Xin tapped his fingers against the desk.

“Arrest Ma Wenbin directly under the Great Yan Code on the charge of obstructing official business.”

In dealing with Ma Wenbin, An Xin had carefully studied both the Great Yan Code and the administrative powers of the county government. He discovered that he had more than enough means at his disposal.

Even if Ma Wenbin had secured the backing of the Bureau of Manufacture, the eunuch in charge was not his father.

Simply sending people to conduct frequent surprise inspections of the Ma family’s weaving workshops under the pretexts of “safety hazards” and “labor disputes,” using the household and works offices to obstruct their access to raw silk and their operation of shops, or finding some excuse to seize their licenses in the name of “industry regulation”—any one of these would be enough to make Ma Wenbin suffer.

But An Xin intended to strike hard and strike deep.

If such a thorn were not crushed thoroughly, every wealthy landowner in Wuren County would follow his example. Once the people’s hearts scattered, the whole force would become impossible to command.

Following An Xin’s order, over the next several days Wu Yin personally led more than a dozen men from the household office, while the chief constable brought over fifty constables. They moved directly into the Ma family’s workshops and shops.

For a time, every weaving establishment in the county turned its eyes toward them.

Page 3 of 3