Chapter 14
Chapter 14
Good news poured in from all over Anqiu County.
The harvest from the city, town, and five villages had improved significantly compared to last year.
This earned widespread admiration for Magistrate Ji’s promotion of fertilizer use.
Applying the right fertilizer and using it well had a tremendous effect on yield.
Ji Chu looked over the reported harvest figures and couldn’t hide his joy.
Though conditions varied by region, the highest yield per mu reached 360 jin, with average yields around 270 jin.
The actual average yield hovered around 340 jin.
By later standards, this might be considered a poor harvest, but in the current era, it was excellent.
Even within the favorable climate of Quxia Prefecture, Anqiu County’s harvest stood out.
Outsiders all knew that this year’s grain yield was quite good.
But was it truly that good?
Ji Chu raised an eyebrow but did not respond, instead instructing his subordinates to harvest the grain thoroughly before the rains arrived.
The entire county office united in their efforts, fully committed to the summer harvest.
Wherever they went, the joy of a bountiful harvest was palpable.
A good grain yield meant better living conditions.
By late May, every household’s grain was stored away, and the official fields under the county’s control were nearly finished.
The figures reported brought boundless joy.
The excited people rested briefly before turning their attention to the rapeseed fields.
Thankfully, rapeseed required little care and was easy to cultivate.
More villagers came to realize that Magistrate Ji had planned everything carefully.
First, he taught them how to use fertilizer to increase their staple crop yields, then carefully selected an easy-to-grow crop like rapeseed as a supplement.
It was visible to the naked eye.
If everything went smoothly this year, even with heavy land taxes, they would have enough food and drink and need not fear winter hunger.
Listening to such reports, Ji Chu sighed softly.
The common folk asked for very little.
However, the exact amount of land tax to be collected this year awaited news from Quxia Prefecture.
He had already written a report on Anqiu County’s summer harvest and submitted it to higher authorities.
After finishing, Clerk Li naturally was the first to review it. His eyes widened, yet he said nothing.
How could it be written like this?
But then, it seemed there was no problem with the wording.
What if the higher-ups investigated? Could it cause trouble?
Ji Chu replied calmly, “No. As long as it’s roughly accurate, no one will bother.”
Moreover, some feared inspections even more than he did; if they suspected anything, they would secretly intervene.
In any case, they would wait for Quxia Prefecture’s response.
For now, Anqiu County was harmonious.
Many commoners had eaten their fill a few times, feeling life was truly joyful.
Amid this atmosphere, a group returning dejectedly from the prefectural city seemed out of place.
The county school’s headmaster and his clerks reported to the county office and told Ji Chu, “Magistrate Ji, none of Anqiu County’s five candidates passed the prefectural exam this year. We feel we have disappointed your expectations.”
The arriving county school tutor sneered.
Since when had Magistrate Ji held high hopes for the local students? Disappointed? Not at all.
This outcome was no surprise to Ji Chu.
Given the local students’ level, failing the prefectural exam and not becoming licentiates was entirely normal.
Those five candidates returned crestfallen after traveling five or six days.
One of them was the tutor’s nephew.
The tutor, unable to bear seeing this, spoke up, “Magistrate Ji, since your arrival in Anqiu last November, it has been half a year.
The good weather and bountiful harvest throughout Anqiu County are all thanks to you.
But, but you cannot neglect the county school.
The famous exhortation to study by the ancestors of Pingling Kingdom is still fresh in our minds.
You, Magistrate Ji, also came through the imperial examination—why so little attention to the county school?”
These words, held back for months since last February’s county exam budgeting, were finally spoken outright.
Seeing the fields thrive under the magistrate’s guidance, expectations naturally rose.
Most importantly, “You came through the imperial exam! Don’t you care about education?”
Every day you run off to the fields; what use is that?
The tutor was anxious.
Their county had not produced a licentiate for years.
If this continued, would he spend his entire life here?
Yet he also noticed that Magistrate Ji considered whatever truly benefited the people; the county office was no one-man show.
“If the local imperial examination could improve, it would benefit the common folk.
Those who toil in the fields could have some of their land tax waived if their household produced a licentiate—wouldn’t that be wonderful?”
Ji Chu thought, at last, a critical point.
One of the candidates nodded.
He was from Weijia Town and studied hard to lighten his family’s land tax burden.
Many locals took the licentiate exam just to reduce taxes.
Ji Chu then replied, “Tutor, you are right. If the local imperial exams improve, it will indeed benefit the people.
When I became a licentiate, my family’s land tax was greatly reduced, benefiting my parents and siblings.
Here’s what we’ll do: you all return to rest; I’ll consider how to reform the county school.”
Really?
Not only the tutor but the master and students were all pleasantly surprised.
If Magistrate Ji took the initiative, there was no doubt it would succeed.
Everyone in Anqiu County knew of the magistrate’s abilities.
He either did something or didn’t—there was no question of ability.
After they expressed their gratitude and left, Clerk Li asked, “Sir, is it not yet the time?”
“Wait a little longer,” Ji Chu said. “Reforming the county school must come from themselves. If we act rashly, there will be resistance.”
The county school’s problems needed little explanation.
The summary: few students, poor teaching quality.
All because important positions were held by incapable people.
Replacing them was even harder than removing the previous steward Qian Gu.
Those working at the county school were usually rooted local gentry.
They controlled much of the local shop tax revenue and were the county’s backbone.
Take Weijia Town as an example—their power was evident.
To change county school quotas was to threaten their interests.
Therefore, reform required their internal consent and even initiative.
To Ji Chu’s surprise, their willingness to act was faster than he expected.
On the last day of May, the scorching morning sun rose as Weijia Town’s chief and others arrived at the county office, requesting an audience.
The failed candidates had been back less than three days, and they could not sit still.
Chief Wei wiped his sweat and saw the county magistrate’s nephew come to greet them, gesturing them inside.
Passing through, they overheard villagers remark, “This year’s harvest is truly good. How is your family’s?”
Chief Wei’s expression was unreadable, somewhat peculiar.
After meeting the tutor, he saw the same look on his face.
If Magistrate Ji had focused on the county school, their local students would not have all failed.
The Weijia Town chief and local elites had only one purpose:
To urge Magistrate Ji to pay attention to the county school!
Save the county school!
Meanwhile, Ji Chu was asking about the rapeseed—now sprouted—but cautioning about watering and sun protection for the nearby beehives.
His care for the farmland contrasted sharply with the neglect of education.
The difference was stark!
This was unfair!
After their long discussion, Chief Wei and the tutor asked, “We heard you intend to reform the county school. What plans do you have, sir?”
Ji Chu did not answer but asked, “Has the renowned master you wanted to invite to teach in Weijia Town arrived?”
“No! He thought he couldn’t teach well here and went to the neighboring county.”
Chief Wei was even mocked by locals.
Because of this, he knew Magistrate Ji’s willingness to reform the local imperial exams and came personally.
As Chief Wei voiced his grievances, Ji Chu controlled his irritation.
“Sir, you have real skill—please help the local students.”
“If the local imperial exams improve, we will support you in any way.”
At this point, Ji Chu nodded to Clerk Li, who handed over a county school enrollment document.
“Any student in Anqiu County aged twelve to twenty-five, regardless of background, may take the entrance exam.
The top seventy scorers will be admitted.
Admission waives tuition, book fees, and boarding.”
Chief Wei stood immediately.
Having passed the provincial exam in the twenty-third year of Anjian, he knew what this meant.
The magistrate planned to recruit based on merit alone, ignoring family status.
And waiving fees clearly targeted those who could not afford schooling.
After all, current county school students did not require free food or lodging.
The tutor was also stunned but thought better of commenting.
Chief Wei added, “Sir, my suggestion is to improve on the current foundation.”
“How?” Ji Chu asked directly.
“For years, the same group of students take the county and prefectural exams.
Then what? Maybe someone passes?”
Ji Chu was blunt: “It’s picking the general from among the dwarfs; the winner is still a dwarf.”
“If they want to be a small-time general locally, fine.
But when competing in the prefectural city against truly talented candidates, they are only fooling themselves.”
In other words, Anqiu’s students constantly compete among mediocre peers, producing mediocre results.
But others are not mediocre.
It’s no surprise they fail when competing in the prefectural city.
Their goal: to be a nominal top in Anqiu County or genuinely pass the licentiate exam?
If the latter, then new candidates must be brought in.
Chief Wei and the others well understood.
But if more students were admitted, their families might lose even the right to take the county exam.
Would Magistrate Ji allow poor students to replace their children and nephews?
That seemed unlikely.
Yet Ji Chu’s next words made them reconsider.
He was never one to think in absolutes or to create enemies.
He sought cooperation and mutual benefit.
“Disaster in the world does not arise from opposition but from complacency,” Ji Chu said.
“Are they not mediocre because it’s too easy?
Spending all day with mediocrities, even a genius becomes mediocre.”
“If there is competition and pursuit, even mediocrities will push themselves.”
“If you ask me, we should admit a group of poor but diligent students to spur the current students to strive harder and endure hardships.”
“Given their talent, being pushed will surely lead to improvement.”
“When Mencius’ mother moved three times, wasn’t it to provide a good study environment?”
“As parents, don’t you want your children to experience the hardship of striving, to develop a competitive spirit?”
If said to the students, they would jump up and protest.
Why suffer for study when all is fine?
But these words were for the parents.
Indeed, the poor performance of students was due to their environment.
Introducing poor students to compete would surely inspire them.
Chief Wei recalled his private school days.
A strong study atmosphere made even the worst students read more pages.
A lax atmosphere made the best students want to nap.
Was he recruiting poor students to be study companions? To motivate others?
Probably not.
Magistrate Ji simply wanted to admit poor students and, in the process, ignite the ambition of wealthy families’ children.
The former was sure to meet resistance.
But with the latter reason, parents nodded.
They knew well that those rare opportunities to study pushed students to work harder.
With such companions, their own children would improve.
Ji Chu smiled at the tutor. “What do you think?”
The tutor certainly wanted poor students admitted; they studied harder and had a better chance of passing.
But waiving food, lodging, and book fees?
Where would the money come from?
Did the county office have funds?
Of course not.
Ji Chu looked at the interested Chief Wei and local elites.
“If the fees can be covered, I can devote more energy to supporting the county school.”
He then handed out a daily schedule and school regulations.
“If these are followed, your children and nephews will have no trouble passing the licentiate exam.
Further improvements are also feasible.”
Seeing the rigorous schedule and regulations, the parents exchanged glances.
This was excellent!
Let’s do just that!
They immediately pledged donations.
As expected of Magistrate Ji—he had a plan.
Watching their expressions, Ji Chu thought: sorry, leisurely wealthy youths, but you’re about to experience the Hengshui-Huanggang model two thousand years early.
Whether they could persevere depended on individual ability.
But he believed truly poor families would succeed.
Who would be whose study companion was uncertain.
When the “parents” left the office, they were all refreshed.
Students of Anqiu County, you are in luck!
The county school enrollment would begin soon!
Shortly after the exam and enrollment announcements, official documents from Quxia Prefecture finally arrived.
This thin document stated how much land tax Anqiu County must pay this year.
Last year’s average yield was 280 jin per mu, with 168 jin paid per mu in tax.
What about this year?
Given the much higher harvest, how much grain was owed?
The previously excited people seemed to realize the issue.
Ji Chu smiled as he opened the document, which was filled with the superior’s displeasure.
Special approvals abounded.
While all of Quxia Prefecture had bountiful harvests averaging around 290 jin per mu, why did Anqiu County only have 250 jin?
Much less than last year and other places!
In short, the document ordered Anqiu County to pay summer tax based on 260 jin per mu and to deliver it on time.
Clerk Li understood immediately.
The registrar Xie was puzzled.
Hadn’t Anqiu County’s average yield been 340 jin?
Why only 250 jin now?
Ji Chu examined the data.
Statistics could be manipulated by changing the method.
He sought no false fame or appearances—only what was advantageous.
Since tax was to be collected on the official record of 310,000 mu, he must calculate average yield using that inflated number.
With that many mu on the books, total grain divided by the inflated acreage reduced the per mu average.
By this calculation, he had even overreported.
In the future, this might be called the marvel of statistics.
But here, it was life-saving.
And anyone who checked would find the numbers reasonably accurate.
Besides, given local conditions, would the higher-ups dare send inspectors?
Most importantly, collecting 60% land tax was effectively killing him.
Xie still couldn’t grasp it.
Clerk Li patted his shoulder.
“In short, collecting 30% land tax this year is enough to cover the summer tax.”
Thirty percent?!
Half of last year’s amount!
Is this really permissible?
How did you do it, Magistrate? Teach me!