latelenovela Chapter 168 Receiving Gifts
Chapter 168 Receiving Gifts
"County Lieutenant Zhou is here!" Today, my second uncle was wearing a brand-new white robe, and his braid was neatly combed. He held a folding fan in his hand, and his smile never stopped.
"Lord Zhou, welcome, welcome!" Zhang Tieniu cupped his hands in greeting.
"Lord Shen, congratulations, congratulations! Please forgive my abruptness!" The county constable was very humble in front of Zhang Tieniu. As a commander himself, he naturally understood the significance of Zhang Tieniu's position as a regimental commander.
Lord Shen now attaches great importance to the new army, and their treatment has been repeatedly improved. This has made the local officials extremely envious, and naturally, they are even more eager to curry favor with him.
Over the years, Zhang Tieniu had encountered many local officials and was familiar with the ways of officialdom. He received everyone with neither servility nor arrogance, displaying humility and politeness, which earned him unanimous praise from the guests!
As noon approached, more and more officials and wealthy gentry arrived. The open space in front of the Zhang family's house was filled with carriages and sedan chairs.
The truck was surrounded by layers upon layers of people. Those who came to the banquet couldn't help but come to see what was so special, and they brought quite a few servants and sedan chair bearers with them.
There were simply too many unauthorized personnel, so Zhang Tieniu had to send two armed guards to stand in front of the truck to prevent it from being damaged.
The villagers of Zhangjiaba Village were truly amazed today; they had never seen so many officials before. Normally, these adults were all arrogant and haughty, but when they saw Zhang Tieniu, they all bowed and treated him like a subordinate.
The people of Zhangjiaba Village unconsciously straightened their backs a bit and spoke a little louder.
Today was the most glorious moment of my second uncle's life. He dragged Zhang Tieniu around, toasting everyone. His face was flushed, and he was even staggering as he walked!
The joyous banquet lasted for more than two hours before Zhang Tieniu saw off the officials and gentry who had come to the banquet.
"Come, husband, drink this hangover soup. You've had quite a bit to drink today!" The young woman was dressed in a brand-new official's wife outfit, her hair adorned with pearl and jade ornaments, and she had applied light makeup.
"Sigh! Let's not hold banquets like this anymore! It's too tiring!" Zhang Tieniu took a sip of hangover soup, shook his head and sighed.
"That means you! Those officials are practically throwing these kinds of parties every other day! Not to mention the 'promotion banquet,' there are birthday banquets, longevity banquets, full moon banquets, wives' birthday banquets, parents' longevity banquets, and so on—the list goes on and on!"
“Even when he resigns, he still throws a farewell banquet! Do you know why?” Second Uncle said as he walked over, shaking his head.
"Making money! Do you know how much money you received in gifts today?" Uncle asked, patting the ledger in his hand.
"Five thousand six hundred and fifty taels, not including silks, satins, jewelry, and miscellaneous gifts!"
"Ah! So much? This, this isn't right!" Although Zhang Tieniu was a regimental commander, he had never received so much silver before. Normally, the soldiers' pay was distributed directly to them by the quartermaster, never passing through the hands of the commanding officers.
Their regiment usually only has a few hundred taels of operating funds in its account, and any purchases require his, the deputy regimental commander, and the chief of staff to sign off.
"This is nothing! It's just that in our countryside, if you held a promotion banquet in the prefectural city, I believe it wouldn't be difficult to collect tens of thousands of taels of silver."
“Your current rank is almost equivalent to that of a prefect, but in the Marquis’s eyes, you should be even more important than a prefect. Look, the people who come all bring at least fifty taels or more, otherwise they would be embarrassed to come to your door.”
"Second Uncle, I've never experienced anything like this before. Is it really okay to keep so much money? Won't there be any problems later? Like, what if they want me to do them a favor in the future?" Zhang Tieniu scratched his head and said.
"Hey! This is just normal social interaction, an old practice in officialdom. I just looked closely, and the most they gave was only two or three hundred taels of silver, it's nothing! As for whether you want to associate with them in the future, that's up to you," Uncle said, shaking his head.
"No! Keep these silver and gifts safe and don't touch them! I'd better report this to my superiors first!" After thinking for a moment, Zhang Tieniu said with a serious expression.
The second uncle's mouth gaped open, but he didn't dare say anything. The young woman, though somewhat disappointed, remained silent. She had never seen so much silver and gifts before, and felt a little uneasy.
Zhang Tieniu immediately wrote down the details and sent a guard on horseback to deliver it back to the military headquarters.
The next morning, Zhang Tieniu got into a truck and took his family to Yanzhou.
His report was quickly delivered to Shen Lian!
"Is this Zhang Tieniu the company commander who was wounded during the attack on the Russian command post in Tianjin last time?" Shen Lian asked, looking at the report in his hand. Shen Lian had a fairly deep impression of this person.
“Yes, my lord! He is currently the colonel and commander of the 3rd Infantry Regiment!” the staff officer replied, stepping forward.
"I never expected that one of our regimental commanders would receive gifts worth seven or eight thousand taels of silver just for hosting a banquet back in his hometown. What does Mr. Wang think?" Shen Lian shook his head and turned to hand the report to Wang Kaiyun.
"This is normal! It's all just official business and social interactions, nothing special!" Wang Kaiyun took the report and looked at it. Zhang Tieniu had written it in great detail, including who gave how much silver.
“That’s normal, maybe! But corruption in officialdom often starts with these normal social interactions!” Shen Lian shook his head.
"He's just a regimental commander, and he's already taken so much money from one banquet. How many regimental commanders do we have? Hundreds of them, plus division commanders. Don't the battalion commanders, company commanders, and platoon leaders below them take gifts?"
“How many officials are there in Shandong? Hundreds, even thousands! How much in gifts and bribes would that add up to in a year? I can’t even imagine!” Shen Lian slammed his hand on the table.
"My lord, it's not that serious! Hasn't it been like this for thousands of years?" Wang Kaiyun said, puzzled.
"That's why there's corruption in officialdom! Officials get promoted and make a fortune, while ordinary people go hungry! In two or three hundred years, dynasties will change!"
"It all started in such a small place! If officials were exchanging gifts, wouldn't businessmen do the same? Surely even more would do it?"
"And where does this silver come from? When officials are short of money, they think of plundering the people and extorting merchants. And when merchants give generous gifts, they naturally want to get them back, and when officials accept gifts, they naturally have to do favors. It either harms the interests of the court or cheats the people."
"Mr. Wang, do you think I'm right?"
"Your humble servant is foolish! Your Excellency is insightful and farsighted. I never imagined that a small banquet could cause such great harm!"
Wang Kaiyun wiped the sweat from his brow. Although he considered himself a learned scholar, he was, after all, living in a feudal society and came from a well-off family. He simply hadn't realized the significance of such trivial matters.