Chen Yuanzhi, who looked dissatisfied, could not persuade his father, so he had to take the appointment letter to report to the county government. He had already had dealings with people above him, so it was easy for him to get an official position, which was not a formal official position, but just a small leader among the militia.

At the beginning, Chen Yuanzhi was very cautious. He rushed to report every morning and stayed until the last one at night, even staying in the military camp. After a few days, he found that the militia in the county had long been rotten. There were only three people in a squad of ten people, and the remaining seven were just empty salaries.

People eat from above and scoop from below, and in the middle there are also wealthy people who have a hand.

Their Chen family was one of the vested interests. After realizing this, Chen Yuanzhi's mentality suddenly relaxed and he instantly turned into a seasoned man. He called his brothers to the barracks to play cards and drink, and sometimes he even brought women back to sleep with him, making the barracks a mess.

"Brother Chen, there is a girl coming to Yingchunfang today. I heard she is a daughter of an official."

In the barracks, Chen Yuanzhi and a few of his friends were drinking. The Wang brothers were also there. When they were young, they blew up the master's toilet together. When they grew up, they often hung out together. Both of them came from well-off families. They were good at boxing and were the kings of Bishui County. When the gangs in the city saw them, they would bow their heads and call them "masters". If the dogs passing by were disobedient, they would be slapped twice.

The two brothers did not feel ashamed of living such a ruffian life. Instead, they felt proud and believed that this was what being a man should be like.

"Miss of an official family?"

Chen Yuanzhi immediately became excited when he heard this.

He and his brothers had been to brothels before. At first, they were still a little bit fresh, but after a while, they lost interest. The women in brothels were well-informed, and they had no self-esteem there.

But the girls from official families are different. Not only are they of noble birth, but they are also very clean.

"Let's go! Let's spend the night at Yingchunfang."

Grabbing his saber, Chen Yuanzhi led his friends out of the barracks. The guard at the door was an old man with most of his teeth missing. He dozed off beside a pillar. He didn't even ask Chen Yuanzhi and others who came and went freely. He was just a decoration.

The streets are bustling with vendors.

There were people selling candy figures, people selling candied haws, and people performing juggling.

Chen Yuanzhi and his companions opened their clothes to reveal their strong muscles. They walked with swords on their waists, and wherever they went, people there made way for them, showing the typical bully style.

Fortunately, they did not bully ordinary people and went straight to Yingchunfang. As soon as they entered the door, they saw the madam coming out to greet them.

"Hey, isn't this Master Chen and Master Wang? I haven't seen you for a long time. Where have you been making money recently?"

"Mother Kong, we are here today specifically to look for Miss Cuiping."

Wang Dacai took out a bag of money from his pocket and started shouting that he wanted to call Miss Cuiping to drink with him.

"Miss Cuiping has already been invited by a nobleman. How about I ask Luoluo and the others to accompany you?" The madam did not dare to take the money and just said with a smile.

Bang!

Chen Yuanzhi was a little impatient and slapped the table next to him.

"What a mess of nobles, tell them to get out of here."

"Get lost now! Why don't you ask who is the boss of Bishui County?"

Seeing this, the brothers nearby immediately joined in the fun, shouting words like "the boss is so awesome". Chen Yuanzhi was delighted to hear this, and felt that he had reached the top and was a real man!

"Dacai, go call for help. Beat up anyone who dares to block the way."

"yes!"

Wang Dacai was filled with joy, and called a few of his brothers to go and grab the girl. The madam next to him turned pale with fear, and kept apologizing, hoping that they would show some mercy.

But Chen Yuanzhi had no intention of listening to their nonsense. Wang Dacai led his men up to the second floor and kicked the door open.

"Who are you? Who let you in?!"

"I'm your grandfather!"

Wang Dacai went up to him, grabbed the thin bamboo pole who was about to take off his pants, and slapped him twice with both hands.

"Why don't you take a piss and look at yourself? How dare you snatch my woman."

"You you you"

The man who was beaten was furious, but soon Chen Yuanzhi came up with a group of brothers.

After a group of hooligans gathered together, they caught someone and beat him up without saying a word, and then threw the person out like garbage.

"Then the music begins, and the dance continues."

Chen Yuanzhi, enjoying the admiration of his brothers, took out the silver from his arms and threw it on the ground, shouting to the shocked musicians and dancers beside him. A group of people occupied the highest private room in Yingchunfang, drinking and listening to music. Although they also paid, with this group of people around, no one else dared to come and spend money.

The madam was so worried that her face was full of misery.

No words were spoken that night.

Chen Yuanzhi's vanity was greatly satisfied. In the following months, he stopped training in the military camp and started to lead his brothers to "do justice". Because he was generous, a group of people quickly gathered around him. In the whole Bishui County, anyone who was involved in the underworld knew the name of "Boss Chen".

Fortunately, although Chen Yuanzhi likes to make trouble, he does not bully civilians. This is very different from Chen Luo's guess.

His vanity did not affect his true nature.

"Boss Chen, you only dare to pretend in front of ordinary people like us! If you really have the ability, go to the north and kill the Huns!"

"Why should we be afraid of the Huns? If they dare to come, I will kill them and show them who has the final say in Bishui County!"

Chen Yuanzhi stepped on a shifty-looking man and shouted loudly.

County government office.

Chen Luo and Magistrate Tan were playing chess in the backyard.

During this period, he sent a lot of silver to the county government because of Chen Yuanzhi's matter.

"It's too risky to spend so much money just to buy a military officer position."

Magistrate Tan put down a piece and spoke.

The two families were related by marriage, and a cousin of the Chen family was the wife of Magistrate Tan. Chen Luo was also Magistrate Tan's brother-in-law. It was because of this relationship that the two got along so harmoniously and dared to discuss the sale of official positions and titles openly.

"Yuanzhi can't read, so he has no choice but to take this path."

"The current situation is unstable, and being a military attaché is too dangerous."

Magistrate Tan was a serious imperial examination official. He had many connections in the court and knew a lot about changes in the country.

The news coming out of his mouth must be true.

"I just want him to be sensible, so that he won't be bullied when I'm gone in the future."

Chen Luo sighed, as if he was just an ordinary old father.

"There have been peace talks over the past few years, but the barbarians don't understand etiquette. A piece of covenant is just straw paper to them and they can tear it up at any time."

Speaking of state affairs, County Magistrate Tan also felt a little annoyed.

Bishui County is located in the north, and if a war breaks out, Bishui County will definitely not be able to defend itself. At that time, he will have no choice but to resign and run away.

There is no hope of winning.

The senior officials are already discussing moving south, so defeat is only a matter of time.

"We'll talk about it when that day comes."

Chen Luo did not talk about this topic. He had been observing Magistrate Tan these days. He felt a sense of familiarity from him, that was the breath of the "heart demon". The role played by Chen Luo in the last heart demon disaster of Elder Rong Ling was played by Magistrate Tan this time.

The inner demon will gradually lure the 'tribulation survivor' away from his original intention and slide into the abyss of desire.

As long as one's original heart is lost, then this time the 'calamity energy' will be considered a failure in overcoming the calamity.

"We are all family, and I can't just watch Yuan Zhi die."

Magistrate Tan sighed, threw away the chess pieces, and was too lazy to play. Chen Luo took the opportunity to get up, said goodbye, and returned home.

At home, the three ladies are still worrying about the children.

In addition to his eldest son Chen Yuanzhi, he also has two daughters. These two daughters are very obedient and their performance is very mediocre. They are usually afraid of Chen Luo and most of the time they take a detour.

"Jie has also appeared, what exactly is the inner demon?"

Chen Luo sat in the middle of the yard, thinking about the relationship between this 'heart demon calamity' and the 'heart demon'.

When Elder Rong Ling was going through the tribulation, his inner demon was fame and fortune, and his inner demon's goal was to lead him to greed for fame and fortune. This time, the one going through the tribulation was his son Chen Yuanzhi, and his inner demon was Magistrate Tan. It was just that it was really hard to connect the two together.

If it was "vanity", Magistrate Tan should have already started promoting Chen Yuanzhi. How could he discuss with him the fact that military officers have no future like he did today?

The inner demon only needs to lead people into disasters, and never cares about how they survive in the disasters. Not all people who stimulate desires can reach high places, and some people become useless people at the bottom.

Time flies, and three years have passed in a flash.

In three years, Chen Yuanzhi relied on the support of his family to be successfully promoted. The number of his brothers expanded to one hundred. He traveled with a large group of people every day, looking quite impressive.

"I've only been here for a few days, and I've been promoted again."

"It's good to have money at home. If you can't go to school, you can buy an official position."

"I just hope that Mr. Chen will not harm us ordinary people in the future."

Some people couldn't stand it and talked about it behind their backs.

But Chen Yuanzhi didn't take these words seriously.

The country is unstable.

The border was turbulent, and along with the cold weather, a coup d'état took place within the nomadic tribes in the north. The new Khan took office and was ready to march south. As Magistrate Tan had expected, the covenant they had signed in the past was torn up by them.

Bishui County is located in the north, and as soon as the news came out, unrest broke out in the county and many people were watching.

It was winter now, and it was freezing outside. If you ran away rashly, you would have no chance of survival. In this era, winter was full of dangers, harsh environment, roaming bandits, and hungry wild animals. Any one of them was enough to kill you. No one would choose to leave their homeland unless it was absolutely necessary.

The days go by.

Many wealthy families ran to the county government to inquire about the war in the north from Magistrate Tan, hoping that the north could withstand the frontal offensive of the Huns. As long as they could survive the winter, they would move their families in the spring of the following year.

However, Magistrate Tan himself was unsure. It was difficult to transmit information after the winter. The last message he received was from his mentor half a month ago. The message said that the war situation in the north was worrying and asked him to make preparations early.

"Sir, there are more and more bandits outside. I'm afraid there may be enemy spies inside."

An aide spoke up to remind.

County Magistrate Tan suddenly woke up. Even if he wanted to escape, he had to leave enough people behind. It would be best if he could find enough scapegoats. As long as there were enough of them, he could naturally divert the attention of the Huns, and then he could move south calmly. (End of this chapter)