The Immortal Seeker: Legend of Bronze Mirror-Chapter 11 Qi Fortune

Dong Dahai had roots three generations deep in Qingshui County, and as he was always willing to spend money in pleasure quarters, his news network was naturally well-informed. After receiving directions from Li Gongpu yesterday, he promptly sought connections overnight and chose a suitable target to be the scapegoat.

It was Taohua Temple just outside the city.

Monasteries have always been places of tranquility and ideal for villains to retire in peace.

Lay down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha on the spot!

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Actually, it's still a matter of economics. Small temples with no capital can't find a powerful backer, so they naturally welcome these villains. After all, they can bring in funds to join the group.

Moreover, these people used to mingle among the various sects and could contribute significantly to the temple's development.

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Taohua Temple, built just twenty years ago, already had a small reputation in the county.

Also, due to the thriving entertainment industry in Jiangning Prefecture, the nuns in the temple were also doing sideline business in accompanying drinks, which resulted in even more prosperous incense offerings.

This reputation naturally spread.

In the past, County Magistrate Wu had turned a blind eye to this. But with the timing of a possible promotion, cracking down on a temple's den of vice would not only boost his reputation but also make money.

Of course, the most important point was that although Taohua Temple had provided some offerings in the city, it truly lacked a solid backer.

Bullying Taohua Temple was no different from bullying cotton.

Upon receiving reports from Dong Dahai about Taohua Temple, County Magistrate Wu and Master Qian immediately issued orders.

The crackdown on pornography and evil had to be swift, to prevent leaking of information.

Thus, County Magistrate Wu dispatched Li Gongpu with more than a dozen constables, a group of ununiformed laborers, and Dong Dahai along with warehouse workers directly to Taohua Temple.

Why not deploy the county's arrest officer?

Because the arrest officer was in charge of public security, and was essentially the umbrella protector of dens of vice like Taohua Temple.

In comparison, Li Gongpu had been strongly recommended by Master Qian, was a familiar and close Government Official to the County Magistrate, also being a Team Leader with followers under his command, making him the best candidate.

This time Dong Dahai was ruthless, bringing along his own brethren and relatives of other warehouse workers, even giving out Silver beforehand as if provisioning an army, boosting morale.

After all, Taohua Temple was nothing more than a group of nuns engaged in the flesh trade; they had never seen such a formation.

Even if they supported some local tenant farmers as thugs on regular days, seeing the officials' entourage made their legs turn to jelly. Those with courage wouldn't take action either, because risking their lives wasn't worth a month's single coin of silver.

The old abbess of the temple was arrested, her face the color of earth.

Unaware of exactly what crime she had committed.

Only to be dazedly taken to the Government Office, ascending the hall to meet the Old Master.

After all, under severe torture, any crime would be confessed to.

In the end, in Master Qian's final statement on the case, the old abbess was revealed to be a notorious female bandit who had caused a major stir in another place over a decade ago, nicknamed the Green-Eyed Vixen.

For over a decade, she had disappeared from the public eye, only to be hiding in Taohua Temple engaged in prostitution.

The details of the stolen treasury silver were also investigated.

As Taohua Temple sent benefits to Zhao Xiong, the arrest officer of the Government Office, annually, there were inside accomplices within the Government Office.

Zhao Xiong had been an arrest officer for generations, marrying the sister of a local Inspector, with deep roots and known as Zhao Batian.

County Magistrate Wu saw that Taohua Temple sent fifty taels of silver to Zhao Xiong every year, while he, as the County Magistrate and local parent, only received thirty taels.

He was almost enraged on the spot.

It was still Master Qian who calmed him down, asking County Magistrate Wu to discuss the matter after retreating to the back hall.

"My money." At that time, people in the public hall only heard phrases like "my money."

Later, the County Magistrate did not issue an order to arrest Zhao Xiong, but still took down several of Zhao Xiong's trusted henchmen. The charges were ready-made, conspiring with the Green-Eyed Vixen, stealing treasury silver.

The case was promptly turned into an ironclad one.

Although Zhao Xiong was a local tyrant, he couldn't overrule the County Magistrate and could only grind his teeth and endure.

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...

In the Li family's small courtyard, Xu Qing listened to Li Gongpu detailing the case from beginning to end, clasping his hands in salute: "Uncle, congratulations on your promotion to Archivist, truly becoming an official Clerk."

So it turned out that Li Gongpu had been effective in handling this matter and also helped County Magistrate Wu and Master Qian make a tidy sum. County Magistrate Wu thus decided to assign him a position as an official Clerk.

Of course, it was also because there happened to be a vacancy in the county. County Magistrate Wu was about to be promoted, and it would be a waste not to use his influence before it expired. So he simply gave the quota to Li Gongpu.

After all, he is the County Magistrate; he could just report it, and unless someone higher up really wanted to make an enemy of him, this kind of request would generally not be rejected.

Although Government Officials and Clerks are seen by scholars as Clerks, and collectively considered trash,

In reality, the status of a Clerk is incomparable to that of a Government Official.

Although Li Gongpu had held a position before, being a Government Official is essentially at the bottom of the Government Office hierarchy, and they are all looked down upon.

In fact, in the previous dynasty, there was no lack of people who rose from being a Clerk to a high official. But in the current dynasty, the status of Clerks has rapidly declined,

Now officers and Clerks are separated; once you become a Clerk, you can no longer become an official.

However, the families of local Clerks often have the power to hold on to the grassroots of local authority from generation to generation, so they have their gains and losses.

By striking at Taohua Temple this time, Li Gongpu was effectively aligning with the County Magistrate, but he offended the local bully Zhao Xiong. If Li Gongpu wasn't promoted to a Clerk, once County Magistrate Wu left, Li Gongpu would definitely face retaliation from Zhao Xiong's group.

If such an incident really happened, it would not look good for County Magistrate Wu's reputation either.

He still wanted to be an official, and if his reputation was tarnished, how would he find people to work for him in the future?

Moreover, with Li Gongpu becoming an Archivist in charge of arrest and imprisonment, he was essentially leaping several levels up, and would nominally be above Zhao Xiong. This position would facilitate him to help County Magistrate Wu keep an eye on Zhao Xiong, to prevent any mischief during the critical moment of County Magistrate Wu's promotion.

Additionally, as an Archivist, he was somewhat a leader among the County Government Clerks, basically the ceiling for ordinary people to become a Clerk; any higher and one could become an official.

In fact, this ceiling is impossible to break.

Even Master Qian, who holds the title of Scholar, would not stoop to becoming a Clerk, because once you become a Clerk, you can't take the Imperial Examination to become an official.

Although he is not young and often visits brothels, and has even married a concubine, he himself has not given up on the path of the Imperial Examination.

In the South Zhili area, many officials' staff generally share this mindset.

But once they get tainted by the bad habits of officialdom, where can they find the peacefulness of mind to study?

Unlike the child student test, the local exams truly test one's scholarship.

Because there are too many related people who can participate in the local exams, it is relatively fairer.

If the result of the local exam is obviously unfair, people will make a fuss. If a group of Scholars with connections started making trouble, not even the chief examiners could handle it.

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Qingshui County just happens to be under the jurisdiction of Jiangning Prefecture. It didn't take many days for the appointment letter to arrive.

On receiving this great news, Mrs. Zhou took half of the jewelry from her dowry to pawn, bought a full three taels of incense, and went to burn paper at the Li family's ancestral grave; thick smoke billowed, lingering for a long time.

This is called "green smoke rising from the ancestral grave"!

A man-made auspicious omen!

One can only say that this is the way of the world nowadays, not an exception.

On the other side, when Xu Qing's uncle's appointment came through, within the bronze mirror, the color of the "red" in the Qi Fortune section deepened significantly, and was mixed with some orange. According to past experience, this should be a sign that Qi Fortune is about to upgrade.

"This Qi Fortune must be related to status and position."

Indeed, being the nephew of an Archivist and the nephew of a constable are two different concepts.

Afterwards, the Li family organized a feast, making quite a lively celebration.

Dong Dahai, the Team Leader, even brought a group of treasury workers to offer congratulations.

One nominally in charge of the county's security supervision and the other a key player in the county's financial power, plus the presence of Master Qian. Li Gongpu's position was immediately solidified.

And the academy that expelled Xu Qing, on the very night that Li Gongpu's appointment was confirmed, immediately reinstated Xu Qing's name in the register overnight.

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"Brother Qing, being promoted and getting rich is indeed a delightful matter in life," Li Gongpu patted his nephew's back.

He, who had been an honest man for half his lifetime, saw his values shatter and be rebuilt in these few days.

"Uncle, as frost descends. Let's not forget about the matter with arrest officer Zhao," Xu Qing presented a prepared script.

Today, he found a strand of black qi in the Qi Fortune section of his bronze mirror, knowing that the hidden trouble from previous cases was about to come.

Luckily, he was not unprepared.

Besides, even though Li Gongpu now had a title, he still had to fight for his power within the County Government.

Power is also a fist!