Yanwang hao jian, xiaogui nan dang (阎王好见，小鬼难当) The King of Hell is easy to see, but his little devils are hard to deal with. The Handian dictionary explains that subordinates and staff are harder to deal with than the superior in charge. It cites the late Qing novel Officialdom Unmasked: “Even if you, my nephew, want no money, there are still the jailers and the others, and they may not be accommodating.”
The saying puts the obstacle below the top, among the subordinates and staff.