Volume 1: A Stranger in a Foreign Land Chapter 20: Human Relations and Worldly Wisdom
Regarding martial arts training.
Yang Ge became more and more enthusiastic.
This may be because he is indeed very talented in martial arts, and even has the feeling that he can see the progress bar of his martial arts training.
Perhaps because the entertainment options in Wei were too scarce, he couldn't seem to find any other way to kill time except practicing martial arts.
Or maybe it's because of his current living environment that he really needs this skill to protect himself and make a living.
Or perhaps it was because his martial arts skills were becoming more and more advanced, and he had begun to appreciate the true charm of martial arts.
In short, practicing martial arts is gradually surpassing "courtyard renovation" and becoming his biggest interest and hobby in Wei.
It’s worth mentioning that…
Ever since he learned that the chief flag-fighter of the Embroidered Uniform Guard received a monthly salary of eight taels of silver, he had been planning to rent the uninhabited yard behind his house, renovate it, and build a small vegetable garden and raise some chickens and ducks. He had even drawn up a rough plan and was just waiting for the Embroidered Uniform Guard to pay his salary.
…
In the following days.
Yang Ge stayed in the small courtyard without leaving the house, concentrating on improving his martial arts.
Enhance internal strength.
Strengthen your muscles and bones.
Polish your leg techniques.
Correct the force.
He spent a lot of time researching and refining every aspect.
His previously somewhat messy and sloppy leg techniques gradually became crisp, smooth, and powerful as he devoted all his energy to polishing them.
Occasionally, when he was really tired and bored of practicing, he would pull out the vegetable garden sketch and continue to delete and revise it.
Where should the chicken coop be placed so that it is ventilated, shaded and does not affect life in the front yard?
What vegetables should be planted in the vegetable garden to ensure that there are fresh vegetables to eat in spring, summer and autumn?
Where does the water come from, and where does the drainage go?
He lived a boring life, but he enjoyed it.
During this period, there were guests coming to the courtyard every day.
Wang Dali came here once.
He complained to him that the price of grain in the market had risen again, the number of ships sailing on the Bian River had suddenly decreased, and the government had started to increase taxes. He said that his family could hardly afford to eat, the inn was closed, and his father was getting more and more annoyed with him...
In the end, he extorted steamed bread from them as usual and left satisfied.
Da Huang was so angry that he crossed his legs and scolded him for a full quarter of an hour at the gate of the yard... Those two steamed buns were originally his main rations.
This guy has been a family man since he was young, and he is also narrow-minded.
If someone brings something to the yard, it will grin with such enthusiasm that its tail will almost wag like a windmill!
But if anyone took something from the yard, it would rush up and bite if Yang Ge didn't stop it, and if Yang Ge tried to stop it, it would stand in front of the gate and curse!
And if you come back the next time, it will remember that you took something from the yard and will scold you before you even enter the door...
Liu Mang came here once.
This guy came in with a pair of unconvincing panda eyes, but he patted his chest and swore that he was about to defeat the old man. If the old man came to him at this critical juncture and asked him to support his idea of opening a martial arts school, as long as they passed this hurdle, the day when they could use their "punches and kicks" combination to punch the Nanshan Nursing Home and kick the Beihai Kindergarten would be just around the corner!
But it seems to Yang Ge...it's hanging!
Yuelai Inn is the lifeblood of the old innkeeper. Now that the inn has been renovated for almost a month, the old innkeeper never mentions the opening of the inn. It is obvious that he wants to defeat the prodigal Liu Mang and make him give up the hopeless career of running a martial arts school, and honestly inherit the Liu family's business and become an innkeeper who has no worries about food and drink.
Fortunately, although Liu Mang was a spendthrift, he was not too disobedient. Otherwise, with the old shopkeeper's body that made him gasp for breath even when climbing the stairs, he would not be able to beat this guy into a state of panda eyes.
Fang Ke has been here twice.
The first time I came back was to bring the personnel list to Yang Ge.
After carefully looking through everyone's resumes, Yang Ge selected four soldiers who could read and had served as squad leaders and sergeants in the border army. He appointed them as "trial small flag officers". Together with Fang Ke, the official small flag officer, they each led a group of strong men to pull the oars on the Bian River.
The second time he came back was to deliver the list of personnel added by the Embroidered Uniform Guard to Yang Ge.
After the second round of replenishment, Yang Ge's title of general flag can be said to be worthy of the title. Including his subordinates himself, there are a total of 51 people, and all of them are ruthless characters who have killed people and seen blood!
Yang Ge had already prepared himself mentally for this, so of course he didn't think it was a big deal.
But he didn't know that his situation was actually uncommon within the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
Under normal circumstances, the four levels of middle and lower-level officials under the Embroidered Uniform Guard, namely the small flag, general flag, trial centurion and centurion, all hold military positions, but most of the time they do not command troops.
Instead, each of them only led a few trusted confidants to patrol and arrest outside. Only when a large number of troops were needed for support would they apply for seals from above and temporarily deploy troops to carry out the mission. After the mission was completed, they would immediately return the seals and the troops.
It's a bit like a criminal police officer investigating a case and then calling the military uniform to arrest the suspect.
However, the task that Shen Fa gave to Yang Ge and his men was to establish a secret presence in Luting County, that is, to establish a "Luting County Intelligence Station". In the future, they will be stationed in Luting County and complete the entire set of tasks of the Embroidered Uniform Guard in Luting County, including investigation, support, arrest, etc.
That's why Yang Ge was given all the manpower at once, instead of having him bear the title of general and do the work of a constable!
This is certainly a good thing!
Someone who has power and territory does not need to break the law or accept bribes. He only needs to be a little flexible in his work and he can earn seven or eight mansions and seventeen or eighteen beauties a year, just like a piece of cake.
As for whether it is a good thing for Yang Ge...
Then only Yang Ge himself knows.
Of course, Shen Fa also wanted to know!
Three days after Fang Ke sent the complete list, he sent something else.
There were quite a few things to be delivered this time, some on the back and some in the hands, making a creaking sound as they walked.
When Xiao Huang saw him, his mouth was almost crooked with smile, and he walked towards him with a playful grin on his face, with his ears tilted.
But this time, Yang Ge didn't even let him into the house. He sat on the rocking chair under the grape trellis and raised his chin towards Fang Ke: "What is that? Open it and take a look!"
Fang Ke said with a shy smile: "General, I have come all this way, you can't just not give me a bowl of water, right?"
Yang Ge's face was expressionless, and his voice turned cold: "Open it!"
Fang Ke had no choice but to reluctantly put down the heavy cloth bag in his hand, take off the box on his back, put it on the ground and opened it carefully.
Then, a narrow-sleeved official robe with a black background and copper embroidery of koi fish appeared under the sunlight. The koi fish jumped out of the waves with wings on its back, looking lifelike, gorgeous and majestic!
Under the official uniform, there is a copper-patterned oxtail knife with a scabbard, a guard and a handle decorated with a large number of brass ornaments. It is not very different from the standard black-scabbarded oxtail knife of ordinary officials. The size of this copper-patterned oxtail knife is one size larger, and with a large number of brass ornaments, it looks luxurious and majestic and awe-inspiring!
Fang Ke smiled awkwardly and pointed at the official uniform and sword to introduce them to Yang Ge: "General, please look, these are your uniform and sword. They are engraved with your name and official title. If they are lost, the guards will track them down..."
"Stop talking nonsense!"
Yang Ge stared at the heavy bundle at his feet and raised his chin again: "Open it!"
"grown ups……"
Fang Ke looked around and said, "Let's go inside and talk!"
Yang Ge finally frowned: "You want me to do it myself?"
Fang Ke quickly bowed and said, "I dare not trouble you, sir."
He couldn't persuade Yang Ge, so he could only look at Yang Ge frequently and slowly untie the bundle.
In an instant, a flash of snow dazzled Yang Ge's eyes...
The bundle is full of silver ingots!
A piece of silver in the shape of a gold ingot, as big as an egg and of excellent quality!
That ingot weighs ten taels, and this big bag contains at least forty or fifty ingots!
The price of silver in the Wei Dynasty was stable, and one tael of silver was equivalent to more than 1,200 coins.
When Yang Ge worked as a waiter at Yuelai Inn, his monthly salary was 150 coins.
To save up this bag of silver, he would have to work at Yuelai Inn for at least three hundred years without eating or drinking!
Yang Ge slowly narrowed his eyes and looked at Fang Ke with a half-smile: "Fang Xiaoqi, what do you mean?"
Fang Ke forced himself to calm down, and said with a smile on his face, "Isn't this the first time that the Weili has distributed monthly allowances? The brothers are grateful for your life-saving grace, and we wanted to show our gratitude to you, so we chipped in... It's not much, and the brothers were a little worried. I stopped them, so it's just this little. From now on, we brothers will be a family behind closed doors, so please don't be so reserved with us, sir!"
In terms of seniority, he is actually not afraid of Yang Ge, his immediate superior.
But Yang Ge is a big shot in the eyes of the captain, how could he dare not curry favor with him?
Not to mention far away, can ordinary people see the files of the Northern Pacification Office outside the capital?
"Yeah?"
Yang Ge was still laughing: "Did the brothers really collect it on their own initiative? Didn't you little flag officers just snatch it from the brothers?"
He had looked at the salary standards of the Embroidered Uniform Guards under him: the monthly salary for the Tiqi was three taels, the monthly salary for the small flag officers was six taels, and the monthly salary for the general flag officers was eight taels.
Compared with the salary standard of Yuelai Inn, the salary standard of Xiuyiwei is of course three or four levels higher.
But considering the status of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the work they do, it is understandable that they have this salary standard!
After all, it's a job that could get you killed if you do it well or not...
Upon hearing this, Fang Ke immediately swore an oath, "My Lord, if I were to forcibly snatch even a copper coin from you, please chop off my head!"
Hearing this, the smile on Yang Ge's lips finally disappeared. He nodded and said softly, "I'll trust you this time, but you must take this as a warning and never make the same mistake again. From now on, we'll all be brothers wielding spoons in the same pot. If I take this kind of hard-earned money, the money that buys my life, won't you brothers stab me in the back?"
Fang Ke smiled awkwardly and waved his hands repeatedly, saying that he was worrying too much...
Yang Ge didn't bother to pay attention to him and waved his hand, saying, "I appreciate your kindness, brother. Please take their money back and return it to them, and thank them for me!"
"From now on, I won't allow such things to happen here. If anyone feels that I'm blocking their path to wealth, feel free to find another job. If you're not happy about it, you can just kick me out. I'll sincerely thank them!"
"But if anyone refuses to leave and secretly drinks the soldiers' blood... don't blame me for turning my back on you!"
Fang Ke's expression changed slightly, but he hesitated. He pondered for a long time before stepping forward and whispering, "Sir, the other lords in the guards actually do the same..."
Yang Ge interrupted him: "Master Shen also does this?"
Fang Ke quickly shook his head: "Master Qianhu naturally disdains to take such hard-earned money!"
Yang Ge pointed to the sky and said, "That's it. Lord Shen will take care of it if anything happens!"
Fang Ke was convinced. He turned around and grabbed the big bag of silver. He pulled up the hem of his clothes and counted out twenty ingots from it. Then he handed the remaining half of the bag to Yang Ge with both hands.
Yang Ge frowned again as he looked at the large bag of silver. "Isn't the amount wrong?"
Fang Ke quickly said, "Sir, these are yours. If you don't believe me, you can go back to Weili to check..."
Yang Ge laughed angrily: "Is it you who doesn't know how to count, or me?"
Fang Ke's face turned bitter when he heard that. He felt helpless and worried when he met this young and ignorant boss who didn't know the rules.
He grunted and held his breath for a long time before whispering, "Sir, this is all the ill-gotten gains our brothers collected while investigating cases. We don't know where the bulk of it went, but we brothers just eat the leftovers that others look down upon. Otherwise, the meager salary allocated by the Ministry of Revenue alone would not be enough for us brothers to repair our armor feed our horses!"
"This money is not only yours , all the brothers who handled it also have it, it's just a matter of more or less."
"If you don't take this money, who among the brothers below would dare to take it? Even if the elders above take it, who will feel at ease?"
After listening to his explanation, Yang Ge instinctively wanted to ask, their team hasn't even started business yet, where did the case come from?
But just as he was about to say that, he suddenly realized what was happening and asked, "What about the Xie family case?"
Fang Ke nodded slightly. "Although this case is still pending at the Three Courts, it's already a done deal. No one in the Xie family can escape. Just take this money and you won't have any future troubles!"
Yang Ge wanted to ask, "Does Lord Shen know about this?", but before he could say anything, he swallowed it back.
This kind of rubbish, where everyone involved tacitly scrapes off a layer of oil and knows that everyone is equally affected, what can Shen Fa do even if he knows about it? What can he do even if he doesn't know? Can he still block the financial path of all the Embroidered Uniform Guards?
He was silent for a long time before he uttered three words in a low voice: "How many?"
Fang Ke heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing this, and quickly replied, "That just makes up the entire amount for your monthly salary, three hundred taels!"
"What a perfect round-up..."
Yang Ge took the bundle speechlessly, counted out fifteen ingots from it, and stuffed them into Fang Ke's arms.
Fang Ke was horrified and was about to persuade him again when he heard Yang Ge say, "This money is for our banner's food expenses. Take it back and buy meat. From now on, the brothers in our banner will have meat for every meal!"
Fang Ke hesitated to speak again, hesitated for a long time, and finally bowed in admiration and said, "On behalf of my brothers, I would like to thank you for your generosity!"
Yang Ge waved his hand: "You're welcome. If you have nothing else, go back first!"
Fang Ke bowed and took his leave. Before leaving, he suddenly remembered something and said, "Sir, the files of previous years' inspections and arrests that you requested from the Captain have been delivered. I have sealed them at home and sent someone to guard them so that you can review them whenever you return home."
Yang Ge stood up and patted him on the shoulder: "You are really thoughtful. I will go home tomorrow!"
Fang Ke muttered to himself, "That's a file from the case library, how dare I not be considerate?", and bowed to take his leave.
