The twilight resembled a layer of soft gauze, gently spreading over a village in Yingtian Prefecture, on a desk for tax collection.

This place was also beside a tea stall.

Li Xiwen, a forty-year-old newly appointed clerk, in this hazy light, was concentrating on verifying tax slips.

He was a poor family youth who had failed the scholar examination three times, and his sleeves still carried the lingering bitter scent of the medicine brewed for his sick wife at home, wafting around without dispersing.

Indeed, even Yan Shan, responsible for the Recovery Society's affairs, had not noticed the many invisible barriers now impeding entry into the society.

Connections, significant entry fees, and even whether one is a fellow townsman of Jiangning; these conditions stand like invisible barriers, continuously keeping people like Li Xiwen out.

Li Xiwen had always longed for the Recovery Society, yearning to be one of them but had found only insurmountable walls, leaving him with helpless sighs.

Fortunately, Xu Liushou implemented a clerk selection examination and a measure of convergence between officials and clerks, which undoubtedly shined a light upon the career path for individuals like Li Xiwen.

Otherwise, they might spend their entire lives without being able to step into officialdom even half a step.

Even though as a scholar, his status was significantly higher than ordinary farming folk.

But if he couldn't enter officialdom, life might go on, yet he would suffer deeply inside from unfulfilled aspirations, unable to realize his broader vision from studying, like a bird trapped in a cage with wings but unable to soar the skies.

Xu Qing once mentioned during lectures at the Recovery Society that people have two types of "nourishments," one material, indispensable for sustaining life; the other is spiritual, defining who you truly are and endowing life with unique significance.

Li Xiwen happened to hear this statement, like a person who had groped through darkness for a long time, suddenly finding a bright lamp, profoundly moved and unable to calm himself for a long time.

After successfully passing the clerk examination, Li Xiwen received an unexpected joy.

The Government Office empathetically arranged a simple job at a nearby workshop for his frail wife.

Though the pay was minimal, it precisely offset half of the monthly medical expenses. If purchasing medicine from pharmacies collaborated with the Government Office, one could enjoy even more discounts.

This was the welfare that Xu Qing meticulously prepared for the new clerks—addressing personal family difficulties through Government Office intervention.

With sufficient capacity, Yingtian Prefecture served as a pilot area to take on this responsibility.

After all, the cost of these benefits, when calculated in detail, was not much.

Moreover, for a clerk, if driven by improper thoughts to abuse their power, the private gains would far exceed these benefits.

Xu Qing had also specifically discussed this issue in the Inner Court.

He knew well that greed is a part of human nature, difficult to entirely eradicate, but the degree and manner of greed can differ drastically.

Some officials were not born without conscience, but pressured by family circumstances, occasionally forced to break the law under the weight of life. Once a bottom line is broken, they too might be dragged down step by step, colluding with wrongdoing.

This group is what Xu Qing aims to win over and make good use of, unable to let them be tainted and corrupted by the nobles.

Moreover, maintaining national stability relies crucially on the role of lower-level officials.

Ensuring their basic livelihoods is equivalent to consolidating the foundation of national governance.

As long as these individuals are properly reassured, even if nobles and dignitaries attempt rebellion, there would be no cause for concern.

"Stability above all else!" This is the core principle that Xu Qing adheres to in current governance.

The Great Yu Dynasty, now plagued with internal and external troubles, amidst an intricate situation, renders stability exceedingly precious, like a Sea Stabilizing Needle amidst stormy winds and rains.

Xu Liushou's methods were resolute, like a sharp blade, yet he was not a bloodthirsty person, not prone to misuse of power.

Therefore, once someone fell upon the point of his blade, they had better reflect well on what mistake they might have made.

Li Xiwen was among the many scholars who revered Xu Qing.

There were many scholars of humble origins like him, and after receiving the new clerk welfare, their reverence for Xu Qing grew day by day, like the roaring waters of a river, endlessly advancing.

In Li Xiwen's view, Xu Liushou never made empty promises of establishing an era of peace and prosperity nor confused the public with Confucian ideals of the grand unity and moderate prosperity.

He simply advanced the reform of the world steadily, one step at a time, with tangible actions.

Perhaps certain places would experience momentary chaos during the reform, appearing worse, but from a long-term and holistic perspective, society overall was moving steadily toward a better direction, akin to a massive ship navigating through the stormy sea, encountering waves yet persistently heading for the destination harbor.

"Elder, your family has five mu of paddy fields, according to regulations, it should yield one shí and two dǒu of grain, definitely not the two shí from last year's regular tax. With the Court's implementation of the Integrated Single Whip Law, equivalent to silver coin is..." Li Xiwen gently intercepted a trembling elderly farmer, with soft and composed gestures, endeavoring to appease the farmer's unease and fear.

He then carefully retrieved from his bundle a copy of the "Fish Scale Book Verification Technique" compiled by the Recovery Society, cautiously flipping it open, pointing to the attention-highlighted passage in red ink, patiently explaining, "Let me read it for you, here's the detailed account of your family's land, you see if it matches..."

Li Xiwen greatly cherished this opportunity to effectively perform his duties, leaving no detail overlooked, engaging fully in every exchange with the common people.

The "Fish Scale Book Verification Technique" distributed to new clerks by Xu Qing served as a compass guiding their conduct, a rule they must never violate.

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