Rong Bai was the one who received Master Sun and his companions. As soon as he saw them, he asked with a smile, "Oh, gentlemen, are you here to deliver military pay to the chief again?"
He craned his neck: "Is it silver or jewelry delivered today? Come and show me."
Master Sun: "..."
Where's your face?
Was it eaten by a dog?
"Rong Bai, don't play dumb with us. You've taken the goods, but what about our official positions?"
The others glared at him angrily: "Yes, we do what we're paid to do, that's the rule. You have to give us an explanation today."
"Everyone, this isn't my fault." Rong Bai pursed his lips and sighed, "I've almost worn my lips out these past two days trying to talk you all through thick and thin. Look here, look here."
He reached up and scratched his lips, revealing a few small blisters that had appeared from eating too much too much and getting a sore throat.
Sun and his companions had no time for idle chatter: "Alright, alright, just tell me the result."
Rong Bai regretfully put his hand down: "The result is... the people you recommended were too uneducated and did not meet the requirements of the leader, so they were not selected."
Master Sun: "..."
"You're talking nonsense. Not to mention the county magistrate and the county assistant, there are also the registrar and the secretary. I don't believe that my son has studied hard for more than ten years and can't even become a secretary."
"That's right. My nephew is renowned for his scholarship in Tongning County. Many scholars praise him highly. There's no way he wouldn't be selected."
"Yes, you must have deliberately not chosen them. You must give us an explanation today. We are not greedy, just give them a position as county magistrate."
A county magistrate? That's quite a thought!
Rong Bai rolled his eyes inwardly: "Anyway, he wasn't selected. If you want an explanation, don't come to me, go to him."
As Rong Bai spoke, he pointed to the corner over there.
Only then did Master Sun and his companions realize that Rong Bai wasn't the only one in the room; there was also a man in black sitting at the table with an expressionless face.
"Ninth, Ninth Master??"
What's that evil spirit doing here?
The group was so frightened that they even held their breath.
Jiu Xian glanced at the group, and Master Sun felt a chill run down his spine. Still unwilling to give up, he suppressed his fear and asked, "Ninth Master, what do you think of this matter…?"
“Simple.” Jiuxian lowered his head and rubbed his fingers together: “Fight me, and if you win, you’ll become the magistrate.”
Master Sun's lips twitched violently a few times: "Ninth Master, they are just scholars, they don't know martial arts."
This time, Jiuxian didn't say anything. He picked up a candy and threw it into his mouth, eating it with relish.
But the crunching sound made the hairs on the heads of Master Sun and his companions stand on end, as if he wasn't eating candy, but chewing their bones.
They dared not say another word and slunk away.
Looking at their disheveled appearance, Rong Bai laughed out loud: "As expected, the wicked will always be punished by the wicked."
"A villain?" Jiuxian looked up and glanced at Rong Bai.
Rong Bai's smile froze on his face: "I was just kidding."
Jiuxian didn't argue with him, stood up and walked outside: "Don't forget my reward."
"I know!" Rong Bai pouted.
This grown man talks about snacks all the time; I'm speechless.
Meanwhile, things went incredibly smoothly for Rosie.
Whenever they arrived with their troops, the county magistrates would either open the city gates and bow down in reverence or abandon the city and flee. Before they could even fight a few proper battles, the entire Nanyue Prefecture, except for the prefectural city, was already under their control.
Now, Luo Xi only needs to wait for Wei Qing and the others to come and take over before she can go back.
When the people learned that they would be under the jurisdiction of Chaoyang Manor, they were all overjoyed.
"Great! We were planning to secretly move to Tongning County, but now we don't even have to move. We've become bandits of Chaoyang Manor."
"Yes, I've heard that there are more and more people rebelling in various places now, and the imperial court will probably be conscripting soldiers again. Now that we've become part of Chaoyang Manor, we've managed to escape that situation."
"But Chaoyang Manor also needs an army, doesn't it?"
"Don't worry about that. I have a cousin who married into Tongning County. She told me that the soldiers under the chief are all volunteers, they won't be forcibly conscripted, and their treatment is excellent."
"Really? That's good, that's good. I only have one son left in my family, and I can't bear to see him leave."
However, while they were happy, they couldn't help but worry.
"Do you think the magistrate sent by the boss will be like the previous magistrates, only caring about his own enjoyment and not caring about our lives?"
The people looked at each other.
"Impossible. I heard that Tongning County is well managed by Lord Wei, and the people there are living a very comfortable life. And this time, the selection of officials is being handled by this Lord Wei."
"Yes, Lord Wei is a good official. He was even considered a traitor by the Tianqi court for the sake of us common people. The officials he chooses must all be good."
"It's true that Lord Wei is a good official, but I'm afraid those people will be outwardly compliant but inwardly defiant. And there's only one Lord Wei; how can he possibly manage so many people?"
"That's true." The people began to worry again.
Believe it or not, there really are such people. Dong Yue, the former magistrate of Cangfeng County, took advantage of his years as magistrate to bribe several powerful families in the county when Wei Qing came to inspect the area.
He also used coercion and bribery to coerce the people under his jurisdiction. When Wei Qing asked about it, all he said were words of praise for Dong Yue. He seemed like a good official no matter how you looked at it, so he was kept on and became the county magistrate.
Su Jing and Zuo Xun, two poor scholars, were also kept here and appointed as county magistrate and registrar, respectively, to check the county magistrate.
"I never expected that Lord Wei would entrust us with such an important position." Su Jing looked at the spacious and bright county magistrate's mansion in front of him and sighed with emotion.
“Yes.” Zuo Xun nodded: “We must do our job well and never let down the trust of the Boss and Lord Wei.”
"Come on, aren't they distributing relief food today? We need to keep an eye on it."
"OK!"
With great enthusiasm, the two headed to the granary. This grain had been transported from Tongning County by the strategist to help the people get through their temporary difficulties, so they couldn't be careless.
When the two arrived, Dong Yue was already there distributing rations.
Su Jing was filled with shame and quickly apologized repeatedly: "No wonder everyone says that Lord Dong is a good official. I am far inferior to him."
"It's alright, it's alright." Dong Yue smiled and said, "We're all working for the boss, so it doesn't matter if it's a little earlier or later."
The two had a better impression of him and praised him a few more times before starting to work.
But Su Jing soon realized something was wrong. He remembered that the document clearly stated that an adult would receive one dou of wheat and one dou of millet. Why was he only receiving one dou of millet this time? Where did the wheat go?
As soon as he discovered it, he naturally asked immediately.
Dong Yue glanced at him and laughed, "County Magistrate Su, have you been traveling too much lately and your eyes are playing tricks on you? It's clearly a peck of millet for an adult, look."
As he spoke, he opened the document and laid it out in front of Su Jing. It only stated that one adult should receive one peck of millet, and there was no mention of wheat at all.
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