Chapter 225 Wu Song Becomes an Official
This silver is indeed a good remedy for curing diseases. Ma Liu’s eyes were immediately fixed on the white silver.

Although Master Zhan has always been very kind to his servants, people like Ma Liu are not the ones who will ascend to heaven with Master Zhan, so it is impossible for them to achieve freedom in gold and silver. Their monthly wages are just a little higher than those of ordinary servants.

The total amount of silver ingots would be at least dozens or even hundreds of taels. Even if Ma Liu worked hard for ten years, he might not be able to earn so much money. No wonder he was jealous.

Seeing Ma Liu’s expression, Ximen Qing smiled complacently, tapped the table lightly to draw Ma Liu’s attention back, and then asked with a smile:

“I won’t ask you to do anything that is against the will of heaven and earth. I just want to know why Mr. Zhan came to Yanggu County this time.”

“As long as you tell me this truthfully, I will give you another box of silver!”

After hearing this, Ma Liu’s interest was immediately moved, but his eyes wandered on the silver and he never spoke.

Ximen Qing then tried to persuade him:

“I know that you are following Master Zhan now. If you betray your master, you will be despised by others. I am afraid you will even lose your job.”

“But you must also be clear that Mr. Zhan will return to Beijing sooner or later. Do you think he will take you with him?”

“In other words, even if he takes you back to Beijing, can you still continue to be the housekeeper?”

“You must understand that when the time comes, Mr. Zhan will most likely sell your contracts and return to Beijing on his own, and at most give you a severance pay.”

“So you don’t have to keep it a secret for him!”

“His master is only temporary and cannot control your life or death.”

“I can give you a promise here. As long as you tell the truth, I will buy your contract back in the future and guarantee that you will be a steward in my house.”

But when Ma Liu heard this, he turned bitter and said with a stammer:

“My Lord, it’s not that I don’t want to tell you, but I don’t know why my master came here!”

“I’m just doing some chores in the mansion, taking care of daily food, clothing and other expenses. I don’t know such secrets!”

After hearing this, Ximen Qing’s face darkened and he frowned and asked:
“Then doesn’t Mr. Zhan ever send you to inquire about some street news on weekdays?”

“No.” Ma Liu shook his head repeatedly. “Since the great master came to Yanggu County, he has been hanging out with a bunch of ladies in the mansion most of the time, or… well, he has been having fun at the home of the great master Hua. It seems that he has never done anything serious.”

“Hua Zixu…” Hearing this name, Ximen Qing felt unhappy and asked casually, “Then do you know whether Mr. Zhan has ever sent Hua Zixu to do anything?”

Ma Liu kept shaking his head, “I don’t know.”

Hearing that Ma Liu knew nothing about anything, Ximen Qing became angry, with murderous gleams in his eyes. Ma Liu’s heart skipped a beat and he talked hurriedly, not caring whether it was useful or not, he just spat out everything he knew.

“My master, my master took possession of Wu Da’s wife and gave Wu Da one thousand taels of silver…”

“Also, the wife of Mr. Hua is probably having an affair with my master. I’ve seen my master making advances towards her…”

“Also, also…the pair of sisters my master brought with him are actually mother and daughter. I heard the younger one calling the older one “mother…”

“And, and…”

Seeing that all this news was useless, Ximen Qing’s expression became more and more ugly. Ma Liu’s heart was beating fast. He didn’t care whether the news was true or not, and just told others some of his random guesses.

“And that Mr. Hua, I’m afraid he will soon become an official… and…”

“Wait a minute!” Ximen Qing raised his palm fiercely, interrupting Ma Liu’s words, and asked intently, “Where did you hear that Hua Zixu was going to be an official?”

Ma Liu hurriedly explained:
“That day when my master came back, I went to serve him and heard him chatting and laughing with Mrs. Yan. He mentioned something like, ‘The paper on the table is Hua Zixu’s resume, and he wants me to get him a military officer position.’ Mrs. Yan asked, ‘Master, will you agree to it?’ My master said, ‘It doesn’t matter who gets the position!'”

“So I think that Mr. Hua will probably become an official soon.”

Upon hearing this, Ximen Qing was stunned.

He was not a fool. He was just deceived by Hua Zixu’s lies before. Now that he had learned the result from Ma Liu, he only needed to work backwards to know the truth.

This really made him mad!

He kindly took his brothers to meet the great official Zhan, hoping to get promoted and make money together, but he was stabbed in the back by Hua Zixu in the end.

What’s even more hateful is that Hua Zixu actually succeeded in backstabbing!

He hasn’t figured out what’s going on here yet, but Hua Zixu is about to get the benefits. How can he tolerate this!

“Ri Xie Niang!”

Ximen Qing couldn’t help but get angry. He cursed loudly, slapped the table and broke it into pieces. He then stood up and walked quickly around the room.

The two big men outside the door heard the noise in the house and hurriedly pushed the door open to see what was happening. When they saw that nothing had happened, they immediately shrank back.

Ma Liu was also frightened by Ximen Qing’s appearance. He dared not sit still. He quickly stood up and knelt beside him, trembling and saying:

“I think that although my master has this idea, he probably hasn’t started to implement it yet.”

Ximen Qing suddenly stopped, turned around, looked around like a wolf and an eagle, and asked loudly:
“how do I say this?”

Ma Liu swallowed his saliva and replied in a trembling voice:

“Because, because I know everything that happens in the Zhan Mansion, and my master has never sent anyone to the provincial capital or Kyoto to deliver a letter, so I think, I think he has not taken any action yet.”

“Ah…” Ximen Qing suddenly realized and relaxed.

He has always had people keep an eye on the Zhan family’s movements, so if there is any movement, he will definitely know about it.

Now that he thinks about it, it is most likely that Hua Zixu has not yet satisfied Master Zhan, so he is still being held back by him. But so many days have passed, and Hua Zixu’s weight in Master Zhan’s eyes must have surpassed him. It would probably not be easy for him to catch up now.

If everyone continues to compete with each other, most likely in the end, the official position will still fall into the hands of Hua Zixu.

This is not possible!

The color on Ximen Qing’s face changed several times in an instant, and he made up his mind that he must not let Hua Zixu get away with it for nothing.

But what to do?

The final decision-making power lies with Mr. Zhan, and he has no way to change Mr. Zhan’s will.

Ximen Qing walked around a few more times, frowned, and asked:
“Then do you know what Mr. Zhan likes besides Su Dongpo’s calligraphy and paintings?”

Ma Liu observed the expression on his face and felt that this should be the key to his survival. He did not dare to neglect it. After thinking about it carefully, he shook his head and said:
“I don’t know anything about Su Dongpo’s calligraphy, nor have I ever seen my master appreciate any calligraphy or painting.”

“In my opinion, my master likes beauty the most. Not to mention that he brought a mother and daughter here, he forced the wife of Wu Da to come here as soon as he arrived. He must be a lustful man.”

“The reason why Mr. Hua was able to please my master is probably because of the matter of Mrs. Hua.”

“My master has a close relationship with the lady from the Hua family. They must be having an affair. And, and Mr. Hua probably knows about it.”

“What?” Ximen Qing was shocked at first, but then he figured it all out in an instant. He was so angry that he threw the teapot, “How shameless! Despicable villain!”

“I was stupid, too. I actually believed his lies. I really thought Mr. Zhan liked antiques and paintings, and I spent so much effort to dig out the treasures. But… you bastard, I will never let you go!”

After Ximen Qing threw a tantrum, he suppressed his anger, reached out to help Ma Liu up from the ground, handed the box of silver to him, and comforted him:
“Don’t let anyone know what happened today. I will definitely thank you later.”

Ma Liu finally felt relieved, knowing that his life was finally saved, and he swore an oath to express his loyalty.

“Don’t worry, sir. I swear to heaven that I will never dare to say anything nonsense outside.”

Ximen Qing comforted Ma Liu with a few words, then had him sent away. He sat in the room, his eyes flickering, in a daze.

After a while, he murmured to himself:

“Mr. Zhan said it well. It doesn’t matter who holds this position!”

“Without you, Hua Zixu, it’s naturally my turn, Ximen Qing!”

There was a sudden murderous intent in his words.

The reason why he became the overlord of Yanggu County was not only because of his great wealth and power, and his involvement in both law and law, but also because he had a group of desperate criminals under his command.

In the past, he was able to take on all the lawsuits, and his methods were nothing more than the following: first, he would bribe the officials to confuse right and wrong, and if the victims refused to accept their fate and wanted to sue, then the surrounding mountains were high and the forests were dense, so it was impossible to bury a few people without anyone noticing.

However, Hua Zixu is not an ordinary commoner. If you want to kill him, you will have to put in more effort.

Fortunately, the Hua family has long been in decline and has few connections. As long as they bribe the clerks and coroners in the government office and make good arrangements, and tell outsiders that it was an accident, there will be no worries about not being able to calm the situation down.

After thinking it over, Ximen Qing called his steward, whispered some instructions to him for a while, and then went out to the yamen to inform the relevant personnel first to avoid any misunderstandings in the future.

The people in the yamen are all shrewd and know all the rules well. There is no need to say too much nonsense. Just send some gifts in advance and when things really happen, they will naturally know when to turn a blind eye.

Sure enough, Ximen Qing walked around the yamen and took care of everything. Everyone was smiling, except for the magistrate Li Datian who asked him a few questions about Mr. Zhan, no one else said much.

Ximen Qing certainly would not tell anyone about Hua Zixu’s affairs, so he just made up an excuse:

“Don’t worry, County Master. Uncle Zhan has no ill intentions in coming here. It’s just that Uncle Zhan is very tight-lipped, and we haven’t found out his purpose yet.”

Li Datian was very satisfied with Ximen Qing’s successful relationship with Zhan Daguanren and his recognition of him as his uncle. He just smiled and said:
“Since you are lucky enough to be the nephew of Mr. Zhan, your future is limitless. You must be filial to your elders and never slack off.”

Of course Ximen Qing agreed with a smile, and patted his chest to guarantee that he would serve Mr. Zhan well. He also knocked on the corner, wanting to find out some information about Mr. Zhan’s background and why these big-headed men were so flattering to him.

But Li Datian only knew Mr. Zhan indirectly from Lin Chong, and he didn’t know who he really was. Of course, he couldn’t tell Ximen Qing, so he could only be vague and say some ambiguous words, which made Ximen Qing more anxious.

The two were exchanging witty remarks and testing each other’s ability when suddenly a man came in quickly and reported excitedly:

“County Master, the giant tiger on Jingyang Ridge has been killed!”

“The name of the tiger-fighting hero is Wu Song!” “Oh!” Li Datian exclaimed, and jumped up from his chair.

Ever since he heard the name of “Wu Song” at the banquet that day, he has been looking forward to it day and night, just waiting for Wu Song to come and fight the tiger so that he can have a chance to show his ability. Now that he heard that Wu Song was coming, how could he sit still!
He grabbed the county magistrate Le Hean who came to report the news and asked in a trembling voice:

“Where is that tiger-fighting hero now?”

Le Hean was also present that day, so he knew why Li Datian was so excited. He glanced at Ximen Qing and saw that there was an outsider present, so he said nothing more, only saying:

“I came here to report the good news to the county magistrate only after hearing the good news from the yamen runners. The tiger-killing hero should be on his way to the county yamen now.”

Li Datian immediately lifted up his clothes, walked out, and said:
“This county would like to take a good look at this kind of hero.”

After walking two steps, he remembered that Ximen Qing was still there, and he turned around and said with a smile:
“This Jingyanggang tiger has killed many people. I have been worried about it for a long time. Fortunately, it has been eliminated. I have to go to the hall to take a look.”

“Master Ximen, please make yourself at your leisure. We will invite you to dinner later.”

Although they used Ximen Qing to gather information about Mr. Zhan, they never really considered Ximen Qing as their own and never mentioned many things to him.

Ximen Qing was somewhat curious about his urgency, but he did not show it. He just smiled and bowed:
“The county magistrate loves the people like his own children. At this time, he should come forward to comfort the people. I will not delay the county magistrate’s work and will take my leave first.”

The two men parted ways. Ximen Qing went out but did not walk far. He found a private room in a restaurant next to the government office and sat down, waiting to see who the tiger-slaying hero was.

Soon, he saw a group of people rushing over on the street. He thought they were the tiger hunters, so when he stretched his head to look, he saw his sworn brothers, surrounding Master Zhan and Hua Zixu, and walking towards him.

Ximen Qing’s face darkened, and he looked very unhappy, but he immediately put on a smile, stretched out his hand and called out:
“Uncle Zhan, my nephew has taken a seat here. Please come and take a seat.”

When Mr. Zhan and his companions looked up and saw him, they smiled and waved in response, then went upstairs.

Ximen Qing hurriedly gave up his good seat by the window and said modestly:
“I heard that the big bug had been killed, and I thought my uncle would definitely come to watch the fun, so I went ahead and took a seat here. Sure enough, my uncle and all the brothers came.”

Mr. Zhan didn’t bother to be polite with him, so he sat down and looked out of the window.

Ximen Qing and Hua Zixu chatted with each other for a while, sitting on his left and right, with no sign of estrangement between them at all.

The innkeeper brought up the wine and had just filled everyone’s glasses when they heard the sound of gongs and drums and a group of people vaguely appeared at the end of the street.

Everyone quickly leaned over to take a look, and saw rows of hunters carrying red-tasseled spears leading the way, approaching in pairs, like a ceremonial procession.

Four big men at the back were carrying a door panel, on which was placed the corpse of a tiger. It was colorful, over a meter long from head to tail, with its ends hanging down and dripping with blood. It was scary to look at, but now it was covered with red satin, which showed that it was obviously dead.

At the end, there came a sedan chair carried by four men. Inside sat a strong man, seven feet tall, with an imposing manner and a dignified appearance. He wore a newly-made red silk jacket and a white Fanyang felt hat. He was about twenty-four or twenty-five years old. I guess he was the man who killed the tiger.

Mr. Zhan took a quick glance and saw the colorful light lingering around Wu Song. He was secretly delighted, knowing that this was another fulfillment of a destined event.

It’s a pity that only the clone is here now, and the blessed land has not come with him. I can’t kill people and take the stars, so I can only let it go for the time being.

Ximen Qing saw Master Zhan looking at Wu Song with a smile on his face, so he said in a playful way:

“This guy doesn’t look like an ordinary person. Uncle, do you want to recruit him?”

“If uncle is interested, I will invite him to my house for a drink.”

Mr. Zhan shook his head hurriedly. If they became friends, how would he have the nerve to kill them in the future?

Even if he is a stranger, we won’t care if we kill him. Just like that day in the capital, Lu Zhishen was a hero, but he was killed by Master Zhan without even a chance to speak.

But if Mr. Zhan were to kill Lin Chong, it would probably be difficult to do so.

He has already robbed someone’s wife, but he still wants to kill people for the star, which seems a bit uncultured.

Master Zhan had a simple idea at first. He just wanted to kill 107 people and take over the Demon Star. But after traveling around the world, he found that it is really impossible to do without subordinates. I can’t do everything myself, right?

Relying only on Xue Pan and Jia Rong, even if they are given the magic star in the future, they will most likely be useless.

Yang Yougong and others are quite capable, but there are too few of them and they are not enough!
Therefore, it is very likely that Master Zhan will recruit some more people in the future. Those who are willing to surrender will be accepted into the Immortal Palace, and those who are unwilling can be killed later.

Of course, those recruited may not necessarily be the heroes of Liangshan. Anyway, with the Magic Star in hand, it doesn’t matter who they recruit!
From now on, Master Zhan will have the final say on which heroes will be in Liangshan. If you don’t like him, just replace him!
You can come to the mountain to swear brotherhood, but after completing the “going up Liangshan” step, whether you can come down is hard to say!
Of course, that is a story for later. Now Master Zhan himself has not yet taken the position of the leader of Liangshan, so it is a bit early to say these things.

He just waved his hand and declined:
“This guy only knows some fighting and killing skills, but the way to be an official is not to fight and kill, but to know the human relations and worldly ways!”

“He is definitely not as good as you in this regard, so why recruit him?”

Everyone immediately showed joy on their faces, raised their glasses to toast Master Zhan, and flattered him in various ways.

“You are right, sir. This guy only has some martial arts skills. How can he compare to you, sir, who can destroy the enemy in a casual conversation in the temple?”

“Those who work with their minds serve others, and those who work with their bodies are served by others. A great official is a person who works with his mind, so of course he looks down on such a small person.”

Ximen Qing also echoed a few words, but he couldn’t help sneering in his heart.

If he hadn’t already known that Hua Zixu had gotten the chance to be recommended, now hearing Master Zhan’s words with obvious implications, he would probably have been as complacent as the other brothers!

Looking at Hua Zixu’s delighted expression, Ximen Qing became more and more annoyed and decided to speed up the process of killing him.

Hua Zixu still didn’t know that Ximen Qing was secretly fussing over something, and he just kept trying to curry favor with Master Zhan.

After Mr. Zhan joked for a few words, he looked out the window again, and everyone hurriedly shut up to avoid disturbing Uncle Zhan’s interest in watching the fun.

At this time, Wu Song had already arrived in front of the yamen. He got off the sedan chair, picked up the big tiger with one hand, and strode into the yamen.

Inside the yamen, County Magistrate Li Datian and others had been waiting for a long time.

If they hadn’t taken into consideration that Mr. Zhan wanted to keep a low profile, they would have probably gone out ten miles to pick up Wu Song.

Now seeing Wu Song coming in and kneeling to salute, Li Datian did not dare to be arrogant. He hurriedly put on an appearance of respecting a wise man and came over to help him up.

He didn’t know what the relationship was between Wu Song and Mr. Zhan, but he thought Mr. Zhan wanted to make Wu Song famous, so he deliberately asked:

“Please tell me in detail how the warrior defeated the beast.”

Wu Song had no idea of ​​the complicated series of events that followed. He just thought that the magistrate was a kind-hearted man, so he told him the whole process in detail. After listening to it, everyone in front of the yamen exclaimed in admiration.

After hearing this, Li Datian realized that no one saw the tiger-hunting process. When the hunter found it, the tiger was already dead. He became more and more convinced that there must be something fishy behind this matter.

But it’s good to have something fishy!
There must be something fishy going on, so he, the local magistrate, needs to come to the rescue and give final stamp of approval to the matter!
This was a great opportunity for him to make a contribution, how could he miss it!

Li Datian immediately cheered up, took Wu Song’s hand, and exclaimed:
“This fierce tiger has killed countless merchants and travelers in our county. Now the warrior has eliminated this harm for Yanggu County. This is a great merit!”

As he said this, he asked someone to bring some wine and toasted Wu Song to express his gratitude in court. He also asked someone to bring a reward of one thousand strings of cash and gave it to Wu Song.

Wu Song bowed and said:
“Thanks to your blessing, I was lucky enough to kill this big beast. It’s not my ability, how dare I accept the reward!”

“I heard that the hunters were punished by you because of this big beast, so why not give this thousand strings of cash to everyone?”

Li Datian felt very happy after hearing this.

You see, this is the material for being an official. He knows how to share the credit and let the county also get the credit for its good leadership.

As for distributing the reward money to many hunters, it was clearly an attempt to win people’s hearts. If he was not born into an official family, who would be willing to do so!
Li Datian immediately smiled and stroked his beard and nodded, “In that case, let the warrior follow his lead.”

Wu Song distributed the reward money to all the hunters in the hall, and of course everyone was happy.

Li Datian and the people behind him exchanged glances, then smiled and said to Wu Song:

“Although you are originally from Qinghe County, you are only a stone’s throw away from my Yanggu County.”

“How about I recommend you to be a county lieutenant in this county today?”

Originally in the book, the magistrate wanted to keep Wu Song as a captain, but now because of Mr. Zhan, of course the magistrate Li had to look up to Wu Song, so he raised his official position to county lieutenant.

There is a qualitative difference between the county lieutenant and the captain.

The Du Tou was just a minor official, not a military officer, and had no rank or class.

The county lieutenant was a regular military officer in charge of local public security and military affairs, and was a formal official of the ninth rank.

This is because County Magistrate Li does not have higher authority, otherwise he would dare to give it the eighth rank.

Of course, he only has the right to recommend people to his superiors, but ultimately, that decision must be approved by them.

However, military officers in the Song Dynasty are not very valuable. What is valuable is the recommendation of civil officials.

For such small officials, most of the higher-ups will give face to the local officials in charge.

Most of the village chiefs who committed murder and arson and were recruited by the government were at this level after the recruitment.

County Magistrate Li was not worried at all that the matter would be rejected after being reported. Mr. Zhan had already made all the arrangements so well, so what else was missing?

Is he taking on the responsibility?

No, he was clearly trying to do a favor and take credit for the work!

Hearing Magistrate Li’s praise, Wu Song was overjoyed, thinking that he had finally met his benefactor. He immediately fell to the ground and knelt to thank him:
“If I am blessed with this, I will be blessed for life.”

Li Datian was so delighted by the word “gracious minister” that he immediately reached out to help him up, then called the bailiff to write a document on the spot, and then promoted Wu Song to be the county lieutenant, and asked someone to send the document to the state capital for seal.

The people outside who were watching the excitement were also happy for Wu Song and came to congratulate him. They had no doubts about this on-the-spot promotion. Instead, they praised Magistrate Li for his ability to know how to use people and his unconventional approach, and were filled with envy.

After a long commotion, County Magistrate Li let everyone go, took Wu Song’s arm, and went inside to hold a banquet to welcome him. The county magistrate, the chief clerk, the registrar and other officials also accompanied him.

(End of this chapter)