Chapter 67 - 64: Garrison Command Dark Guard

Chapter 67: Chapter 64: Garrison Command Dark Guard

Inside the Rejuvenating Building.

Zheng Jun sat at the head of the table. Seated before him were the Decurions and Crew Leaders of various ranks from the Black Mountain Guard. As for the ordinary soldiers, Zheng Jun had spent silver to treat them to wine and meat, allowing them to feast to their hearts’ content. After all, they would all need to work together in the foreseeable future.

Senior Brother Wang of the Shattered Jade Sect—who was also Bo Zhangjiu, a Dark Guard in the Garrison Command’s Government Office—had promised to use the bandits on Black Mountain to help him accumulate military merits. Although there had been no news yet, it was only a matter of time. Therefore, he still needed the soldiers to serve him well.

"A toast to Captain Zheng!"

The officers congratulated Zheng Jun in unison. He gave a slight nod and raised his own cup, downing it in one gulp before addressing them. "Everyone, alcohol should be forbidden in the army. However, since we are all gathered here today, we will limit ourselves to just this one cup. Do not overdrink."

Hearing his words, the officers turned serious. They immediately downed their cups, set their wine vessels aside, and began eating the food.

"What are your thoughts regarding the recruitment of soldiers?" Zheng Jun put down his chopsticks and tapped his fingers lightly on the table. He glanced at the surrounding Decurions and Crew Leaders, eventually resting his gaze on Vice Captain Yang Jun.

The Decurions and Crew Leaders were all Blood Refining Martial Artists, merely differing in their level of Blood Refining. Upon hearing his question, they immediately stopped what they were doing and looked at him, unsure of what he meant.

They wondered if Captain Zheng was unsatisfied with his current share of ghost soldier wages and wanted to pocket more. The Crew Leaders and Decurions exchanged bewildered glances, feeling somewhat shocked. This new Captain’s appetite was far too big!

"Reporting to the Captain, according to standard practice, we should recruit sons of good families from within the county. If there aren’t enough of them, we then recruit from the other counties within the Commandery," Yang Jun said after taking a deep breath. "When the former County Captain Lin led troops into Black Mountain, we suffered heavy casualties. We’ve already replenished the Black Mountain County Soldiers once, draining the county’s supply of eligible young men.

"Do you have a specific plan in mind, Captain? If you do, we can always discuss it, but the shortage is simply too large. We can’t just..."

The Black Mountain Guard consisted of full-time professional soldiers, unlike the Civilian Soldiers of the Strong Shift. The latter were merely under the command of the Strong Shift; there were only about thirty actual Black Officials in the Strong Shift, while the rest were conscripted Civilian Soldiers who farmed at home during peacetime and transported grain or dug trenches during wartime.

In contrast, the soldiers of the Black Mountain Guard had to train day and night. The primary requirement for selection was a burly physique that met the entry conditions for Blood Refining. Furthermore, they required recruits to have clean family backgrounds, strictly rejecting local thugs or those prone to senseless brawling. Only with such standards could these professional soldiers maintain their combat prowess and execute orders without hesitation in battle.

However, the Great Zhou dynasty had stood for eight hundred years. Interests across various regions were deeply intertwined, and pulling a few strings was no longer an issue. Yang Jun’s only concern was that if Zheng Jun claimed too many wages for non-existent soldiers, the resulting lack of actual manpower could cause chaos. Claiming the wages of exactly eighty-eight ghost infantrymen and one ghost cavalryman was the golden rule established by the predecessors of the Black Mountain Guard; taking even one more could lead to disaster.

Zheng Jun felt rather speechless, wondering if he was nothing more than a corrupt Captain who pocketed ghost wages in their eyes. He then said aloud, "No, I want to arrange for two Black Officials from the Strong Shift to enter the army. Aside from that, out of the remaining seventy vacancies, I also want fifty of them to form my Personal Guards."

Hearing this, Yang Jun immediately replied, "Please rest assured, Captain, that is absolutely not a problem. The Soldier’s Room can easily forge the records, and the Squad Commander and Captain at the Commandery level are all our own people."

Zheng Jun nodded. Suddenly recalling something, he added, "Oh, right, one more thing. This month’s Blood Nourishing Pills and Qi Storage Pills haven’t arrived yet, nor have my three Leopard Tendon Pills. Push them to hurry up."

Yang Jun paused for a moment before saying, "Rest assured, they will be delivered to your residence tomorrow."

"Good." Zheng Jun smiled, feeling very satisfied. Over the past dozen days, he had consumed all his Pills, to the point where he couldn’t even supply Zhou Pu with Blood Nourishing Pills anymore. He desperately needed new Pills to elevate his strength. He mused that he was simply popping pills to level up in the county town.

Just as Zheng Jun was about to ask for more information, he noticed a young servant in a short brown tunic pacing back and forth near the doorway. Though the man looked somewhat shifty, Zheng Jun recognized him at a glance—it was Sun Bu, his contact for the Garrison Command’s Dark Guards. Since the man was hovering around, he definitely had urgent business.

Zheng Jun stood up and addressed the seated Crew Leaders and Decurions. "I’m going out to relieve myself. You all continue."

The officers immediately stood up to escort him. Startled, Zheng Jun waved them off, signaling them to stay put, and walked out of the private room alone.

Sun Bu walked ahead, and Zheng Jun followed behind, pretending nothing was amiss. As they brushed past each other at a corner, Sun Bu feigned bumping into him. In that brief moment of contact, Sun Bu handed over a porcelain bottle and lowered his voice.

"This month’s Pill quota. From top to bottom, they are the Qi Storage Pill, Leopard Tendon Pill, and Blood Nourishing Pill. The silver taels have already been placed in the corner of your courtyard.

"Keep a close eye on Cai Xun’s abnormal activities. Recently, Cai Xun has been exchanging letters quite frequently with the Cai Family in Bozhou. It is suspected to be connected to the treason case involving the remnants of the Shattered Jade Sect.

"Also, there is County Magistrate Meng Xian. Zhang Heisan has observed that the Black Mountain County Magistrate Meng Xian has also been heavily involved in recent letter exchanges. His contacts remain unknown. Find a way to identify the people interacting with County Magistrate Meng Xian."

After rattling this off without a single pause, Sun Bu immediately put on a terrified expression. He began slapping his own face frantically right in front of Zheng Jun, crying out in panic, "This lowly one deserves death! This lowly one deserves death! Please forgive me, Captain Zheng, please forgive me!"

"It’s nothing," Zheng Jun replied, waving his hand magnanimously. He then headed downstairs to the latrine before returning to the banquet table. He began eating large mouthfuls of meat while pondering Sun Bu’s words.

Cai Xun’s frequent correspondence was likely because of him—first due to the Vast Sea Sect matter, and second due to the matchmaking proposal. But what was the deal with County Magistrate Meng Xian? Truth be told, if Sun Bu hadn’t suddenly mentioned County Magistrate Meng Xian, he would have almost forgotten the existence of this County Magistrate entirely.

Thinking of this, Zheng Jun couldn’t help but feel a chilling sense of dread. What a terrifying realization this was! The County Magistrate was the head of a county, a dignified Baili Marquis! One only needed to look at the structure of the County Government Office to understand. The County Magistrate position was equivalent to the county’s Prime Minister. The County Captain was equivalent to the county’s Grand Commandant. The Chief Clerk was equivalent to the county’s Imperial Censor. The Historian was equivalent to the Imperial Secretary. As for the Six Rooms, they were modeled after the Six Ministries of Official, Household, Ritual, Soldier, Xing, and Industry!

From this, it was evident that the County Magistrate’s status in a county should be supreme and unparalleled, echoing the identity of the Emperor, truly acting as a shepherd of the people on behalf of the heavens!

The only entity capable of restraining him was the Garrison Command’s Government Office. Moreover, a County Magistrate’s position in a county town was arguably more stable than an Emperor’s, because an Emperor had no superiors, whereas a County Magistrate did. Since that was the case, why had Meng Xian, the County Magistrate of Black Mountain County, been so quiet? Even if Cai Xun belonged to the Cai Family, upon arriving in Black Mountain County, a mighty dragon still shouldn’t be able to crush a local snake so easily. And even if he were suppressed, he shouldn’t be completely voiceless like he was now.

It definitely warranted some attention.

Feeling suddenly vigilant, Zheng Jun ate some more meat before bringing the gathering—held under the guise of celebrating his new home—to a close. Without needing him to pay, Vice Captain Yang Jun had already settled the bill early on, and the officers respectfully saw him out one by one.

After leaving the Rejuvenating Building, Zheng Jun walked down the street with his Beirong Saber in hand, deep in thought. The County Magistrate might be problematic, but he could just ask someone from the County Government Office about it later. For now, he needed to focus on his current situation.

[Currently advanced Martial Arts: Broken Jade Skill (794/3000), Wave-Treading Saber (3211/5000).]

Looking at the two advance progress bars displayed in small ink-like characters before him, Zheng Jun let out a long breath. Repaying the Broken Jade Skill was somewhat difficult, but the Wave-Treading Saber was decent; he could slowly improve it through actual combat. Especially against members of the Vast Sea Sect, his progress could be described as advancing a thousand miles in a single day. He even felt that once he finished repaying the Broken Jade Skill, he would likely be able to enter the Refining Gang stage of the Qi Storage Realm. Now that he had the assistance of Pills, his cultivation speed would surely be even faster.

Amidst these thoughts, Zheng Jun arrived back at his dilapidated shack.

Although County Captain Cai Xun had gifted him the headquarters of the Qingshui Gang, moving houses wasn’t something that could be agreed upon in the afternoon and completed by nightfall. He still had to wait and prepare properly.

As soon as he reached his door, he saw Zheng Ping and Zhou Pu standing together outside. They were constantly looking in the direction of his house, seemingly having waited for a long time.

"Huh?" Startled, Zheng Jun quickly stepped forward and asked, "Zheng Ping, Zhou Pu, what are you doing standing out here? The snow just stopped. Don’t catch a cold. Let’s go inside to talk if something’s up."

"Jun, it’s fine." Before Zhou Pu could speak, Zheng Ping preempted him, continuing, "The County Captain visited my house this afternoon, saying he wants to arrange a marriage for you. The woman is his younger sister..."

Hearing this, Zheng Jun frowned. He wondered if they were starting to target his only relatives since they couldn’t get through to him directly.

"Please don’t worry about it, Zheng Ping. Leave such a major matter to me," he said with a faint smile.

After urging her to return early and rest, he gave Zhou Pu three newly issued Blood Nourishing Pills. He then returned to his room, paying little mind to the matchmaking attempt. No matter who they tried to persuade, he still had to be the one to nod in agreement in the end. Whatever anyone else said was useless. Rather than worrying about this, he figured it was better to think about how to complete the Garrison Command’s assignment. After all, delivering intelligence to them truly yielded rewards, and the Garrison Command was incredibly wealthy and generous.

If there was anyone who deeply understood the County Magistrate... Zheng Jun thought it over and could only come up with two names: Chief Clerk Shen Yunyi and Historian Xu Heng. These two had always remained within the County Government Office. And one of them even held a grudge against him.

With this in mind, Zheng Jun immediately stood up and pulled a bundle from under his bed. He quickly took off his Official Robe and changed into a set of ordinary black clothes, donning a cloak. He fastened the Dark Guard mask over his face and secured his waist token.

Once everything was in place, he looked into the bronze mirror and found that he bore a striking resemblance to Bo Zhangjiu. Amused, he let out a standard villainous laugh: "HEHEHE." Having laughed a few times, he felt the mood was just right. He immediately vaulted out of the courtyard and headed straight for the Garrison Command’s Government Office.

Before taking action, he needed to switch his saber. Using his own weapon would be far too conspicuous. It would be best to use an Imperial Saber that matched the identity of the Garrison Command’s Government Office. After all, he was the only person in all of Black Mountain County who used a Beirong Saber. Although the cuts it made were similar, his target this time was Xu Heng, a Historian about to be promoted to County Magistrate. It wasn’t like dealing with minor Junior Officials like Zhao Da and Zhao Er. It was better to be cautious.