Chapter 1 End the Vacation

Leaving the main hall, Zheng Fan went to the registry office to register with the Chief Clerk. Since he was here, he might as well end his vacation. At the very least, he could collect a set of armor.

As for other things, Zheng Fan and his demon kings didn't have much expectation.

Fortunately, they were reborn into the world of the Yan Kingdom, not the Qian or Jin Kingdoms. The Jin and Qian kingdoms were both ruled by scholars, especially the Qian Kingdom, where the scholar-official class's control and wariness of military men had reached a state of paranoia.

This was because the founding emperor of the Qian Kingdom had come to power by bullying the orphans and widows of the previous dynasty. The succession of the Taizong Emperor, the imperial younger brother, also relied on the support of the army. Therefore, fearing that future generations would follow suit, they increased their vigilance and suppression of military men.

Only in the Yan Kingdom, and only on the northern border of the Yan Kingdom, could such a scene of warlords and fortresses still exist. Firstly, the emperor was far away, and secondly, the Yan court's control over the local areas was inherently low.

Therefore, Zheng Fan had the possibility and opportunity to slowly cultivate and train his troops.

In the registry office, Zheng Fan also saw the Chief Clerk Chen. It was he and a military commandant who had come to the inn to count heads back then.

To be precise, Chief Clerk Chen held a roster and counted heads all the way. Whoever he pointed at was likely to lose their head. Even the King of Hell's Book of Life and Death might not be as effective as his roster.

Now, the whole of Huto City was in mourning, with white sails and yellow paper everywhere. It could be said that it was Chief Clerk Chen's "imperial pen" that had outlined this scene. This kind of power to "decide life and death" was probably envied even by the emperor of the Yan Kingdom.

Of course, in fact, he couldn't really be blamed. Even if someone was to be blamed, he wouldn't be at the top of the list.

First, blame the eldest daughter of the Zhenbei Marquis's manor, who directly used civilians as bait to lure the Shatuo tribe's cavalry to kill them in order to end the war quickly.

Then, blame the damn labor service. Except for A-Ming, who was lying in a coffin, and Fan Li, who had run away in advance, Blindie and Three-Inch Nail, everyone else in the "Old Zheng Family" who looked like a normal person was dragged away.

Such a density of conscription was almost unbelievable in history books, but the fact that the central government's policies changed when they reached the local level was something that everyone had long been accustomed to.

Finally, he had to blame himself. If he had known that this was a bait plan and told the others in the logistics camp in advance, he might have been able to sneak out a few more civilians.

Blaming and blaming, it eventually came back to the systemic problem...

Chief Clerk Chen didn't remember Zheng Fan. He sat behind his desk, holding a writing brush in his hand, as if he was writing something.

Oh, right, Chief Clerk Chen was not the real Chief Clerk. To be precise, he was a minor official under the real Chief Clerk. However, business people like Si Niang would definitely call him Chief Clerk when they saw him.

It was the same principle as ordinary people calling any puppet soldier "Commander."

The real Chief Clerk's surname was Liu. Zheng Fan didn't know if it was Liu from the Beifeng Liu clan. He was as thin as a skeleton, and his eyeballs seemed to emit a green light in the dim registry office, like a silent tiger, and the registry office was his cave.

However, a fake commandant also had the benefits of a fake commandant. No one in the registry office reached out to Zheng Fan for money, which made the silver that Si Niang had prepared for Zheng Fan useless.

It wasn't because they were as clean as water.

Perhaps,

in their opinion, it was already very difficult for Zheng Fan not to beg them and hold their thighs, crying for military equipment and provisions. They were too lazy to squeeze any benefits out of Zheng Fan.

Chief Clerk Liu stamped Zheng Fan's documents and issued a token. From this day on, Zheng Fan was considered to have a secure job and become a member of the Huto City civil service.

Moreover, he directly entered a leisurely position where he only took money and did nothing, or rather, there was really nothing to do. It could be said that he had reached his destination in one step.

"Commandant Zheng, I hope you will be diligent in the service of the king, live up to His Majesty's expectations of you, live up to the people's hard-earned money, live up to... ah... achoo..."

Chief Clerk Liu sneezed loudly and seemed to have no interest in continuing the formalities. He simply waved his hand, signaling Zheng Fan to leave.

After Zheng Fan came out of the registry office, he went to the warehouse to collect his armor.

The warehouse manager, Zheng Fan didn't know what level of official he was, was particularly enthusiastic to him, serving tea and water, and even specially wrung out a hot towel for Zheng Fan to wipe his face.

At first, Zheng Fan was a little overwhelmed. This fake commandant was experiencing "official authority" for the first time today.

However, Zheng Fan quickly understood the key point. The current enthusiasm was because they were worried that he would ask them for things later.

Zheng Fan didn't take it to heart. He didn't plan to squeeze anything out of Huto City in the first place. So, after receiving his armor, he directly bid farewell, leaving the manager confused for a long time, sighing that a fool had come.

Originally, the manager was thinking that if it didn't work, he would give him some junk to get rid of him, but who knew that the man wouldn't even mention it.

Carrying the armor, Zheng Fan heard the noise coming from the main hall when he left the county office.

Everyone was very resistant to the matter of adopting orphans. If they were young adults, it wouldn't matter, but they were all little kids, and they had to sign a contract when adopting them. They were all orphans, and they were not allowed or convenient to resell them.

Zheng Fan didn't care about this and was too lazy to join the complaining conference of those commandant colleagues.

Leaving the county office, Liang Cheng, who had been waiting outside, led the horse over, and the two of them slowly rode back home.

…………

"So, this summons is because the magistrate wants to solve the problem of orphans?"

Blindie Bei asked Liang Cheng.

"Yes," Liang Cheng responded. "According to what the master said, he will probably be assigned one or two places. If a contract is signed, they will be our master's adopted sons. In the Yan Kingdom, adopted sons can inherit a portion of the property. We will also have one or two more young masters."

"Hehe," Blindie Bei sighed, while silently taking out a cigarette, inverting it in his palm, and poking it.

"The cigarette is made?"

"It's just a cigarette, rolled myself. The filter hasn't been made yet, but I still plan to let the master have a taste after class to relieve his craving."

"Hehe, you're thoughtful."

"It's nothing. I want to smoke it myself too. If you keep absorbing the baleful aura from the burial mound, it's not good for your body. Occasionally smoking a cigarette can relax your lungs."

"There's such a reason?"

"Made it up, hehe."

"How are the soap and perfume preparations going?"

"The first batch of goods is ready. We can prepare to go to Tuman City to find a merchant to distribute them in the near future."

"Aren't we responsible for transportation and sales ourselves?"

"That requires too much initial investment. We still want to make a quick buck so that we can start building the cavalry as soon as possible, saving our master from being an unwelcome fake commandant in the government office."

"Well, but I think our master doesn't care about this."

"That's because the master has confidence. If it were anyone else, with tens of millions or hundreds of millions in assets, they wouldn't bother to play office politics with their colleagues when they went to work for a company."

"It seems that it is indeed such a reason."

"By the way, I think we can reconsider the matter of adopting orphans."

"It's an assignment from above. Our master's quota should be the smallest. The magistrate should allocate it according to the influence and real power of each commandant."

"That's not what I meant. It's not that I don't want them, but I think there are too few."

"Too few?"

"Yes, one or two is meaningless."

"How many do you want?"

Blindie Bei stretched out his hand in front of Liang Cheng,

and slowly clenched his fist,

saying:

"I want them all."

"Are you sick?" Liang Cheng was amused by Blindie Bei, but he was just teasing. He knew that Blindie Bei would not do a losing business. Everything he did had a purpose.

"I'm thinking, if we take over these orphans, we can free up a house and build an orphanage, or simply use this as a condition to ask the magistrate for a piece of land in the city to build an orphanage."

"What's the benefit?" Liang Cheng asked.

"I said, why is this zombie of yours becoming so mercenary? It's just doing good deeds, accumulating virtue and doing good, why do you still want to talk about rewards and benefits?"

"It's not that this zombie of mine has become mercenary, but I don't think you would simply accumulate virtue and do good deeds for the sake of accumulating virtue and doing good deeds."

"You slandered my personality."

"I apologize."

"Hehe." Blindie Bei smiled and said, "I think, we always have to do some good deeds, right?"

"Really just for this?"

"Really."

"Why?"

A-Ming's voice suddenly came at this time: "Probably a sequela after 404."

Blindie Bei smiled without saying a word when he heard this.

Liang Cheng hesitated and looked at Blindie Bei, "Really?"

Blindie Bei nodded and said, "We always have to be a little sincere. We can't always be bad people. Occasionally, we have to pretend to be hypocritical."

"This is reality, not a manga."

"It's just a change of medium." Blindie Bei replied like this.

"If it's just this reason, it's a bit far-fetched." Liang Cheng still didn't believe it.

"Hey, let me put it this way. First of all, doing this can help us cultivate the next generation of manpower in a timely manner. It's really better to train defective products halfway than to cultivate them from scratch according to our ideas.

Secondly, since Huto City will be our base in the future, we have to manage the image of our Old Zheng Family well. Unlike Zhenbei Marquis, who needs to tarnish ourselves, we have to do things to win people's hearts from the beginning. Didn't Liu Bang also rely on a group of family members from Pei County to start his career?"

"I can understand your explanation." Liang Cheng agreed with this proposal.

Although this proposal would cost a lot of money and may even affect the cavalry team he wanted to build.

Blindie Bei bit the cigarette in his mouth, reached out and touched the fire starter, and said while lighting the cigarette:

"In fact, A-Ming is right. Sometimes, people really need to do some good deeds, otherwise you might be gone one day."

Saying that,

Blindie Bei took a puff of the cigarette, slowly exhaled smoke rings from his nostrils, turned his head to look at A-Ming, and asked:

"Why is your blackboard out?"

A-Ming shrugged and said, "I'll tell you good news. The master's talent is indeed good. Now, under Ding Hao's guidance, he can initially guide the Qi and blood in his body. According to Ding Hao, as long as he spends some time continuing to familiarize himself, it's like driving a car. First, drive slowly. When you are familiar with it, you can increase the speed.

However, Ding Hao doesn't intend to let the master directly attack the Half-Step Ninth Rank. This is too eager for quick success. According to him, it's like running. The rhythm of a marathon and a sprint are different.

Rushing to attack the Half-Step Ninth Rank will disrupt the inherent rhythm. When attacking the Ninth Rank, it will take more time to reorganize and familiarize yourself. Take it slowly and speed up little by little. In the end, it will be a natural success.

The circuit diagram on my body has been memorized by the master. It's not difficult to memorize in the first place. I don't think there's anything for me to do. I'm out. By the way, where's Si Niang?"

"What are you looking for her for?" Blindie Bei asked.

A-Ming put his hand on his chest with some sadness, bent down slightly, and brought himself closer to Blindie Bei, who was smoking,

word by word,

with a lot of resentment,

said:

"Looking for her to...remove the stitches for me!"