Chapter 169: This Official Is Genuinely Busy, I Kid You Not

After hearing the numbers Zhao Xing gave, Ling Yuan calmed down instead.

Because it was simply impossible.

The numbers Zhao Xing gave not only exceeded Cloud City's historical standards, but also exceeded the regulations for a commandery-level county.

Even the cleverest housewife cannot cook without rice; if it can't be done, he couldn't very well kill himself.

Zhao Xing continued, "Given Cloud City's actual situation, I know these numbers put you in a difficult position."

"But the past is the past, and the present is the present."

"I dare guarantee that the Sky Workshop will receive full material allocations from now on. This is a major policy of the imperial court—anyone who dares obstruct it is a mantis trying to stop a chariot."

"Additionally, personnel will be reassigned. In the past, coming here was tantamount to exile. But now it's different—men of ambition will fight for the chance to serve as officials here!"

"If, with sufficient materials and personnel, you still cannot meet my requirements, then dismissal from office will not be the end of it."

Zhao Xing rose from the main seat and slowly descended the steps: "I have said all I need to say. You lords should go inquire where you need to, and go work where you need to. No need to see me out."

The officials present wore thoughtful expressions. Ling Yuan mulled it over briefly, then immediately trotted out to catch up with Zhao Xing.

When a superior says not to see him off, one cannot truly not see him off.

Besides, he still had something to say.

"Lord Ling, didn't I say not to see me off?" Though Zhao Xing spoke the words, his footsteps came to a halt.

"My lord, if materials and personnel are fully provided, this subordinate will cast himself into the furnace if needed, and still meet the numbers you require! Beyond satisfying the Agricultural Bureau's wartime needs, we could even fill the Agricultural Bureau's inner armory with a batch of equipment!"

"Oh?" Zhao Xing raised an eyebrow. Ling Yuan was quite sharp—he'd figured it out this quickly. "Weren't you just saying it was very difficult?"

Ling Yuan said quietly, "My lord, this subordinate has a matter to report."

"Speak."

Ling Yuan said, "Although Cloud City has suffered constant warfare, as you said, it has not been subjected to large-scale barbarian raids in the past ten years."

"Starting from the seventh year of Jingxin, although officials were transferred frequently and many people tried every means to leave, the various divisions of the Sky Workshop have mostly been near full strength, and materials have been issued in full."

"It's just that..."

"Just what?"

Ling Yuan said through gritted teeth, "It's just that the amount of materials that actually reached Cloud City averaged only one-third over the past ten years!"

"Those who came to pay respects to you today should have numbered forty-nine by rights, but in reality, including this subordinate, only fourteen are present. The rest are on other official business in Cloud City, having been sent to the Fengming Mountain Range for mining, and I cannot recall them."

"I understand." Zhao Xing waved his hand. "I'll give you seven days to audit the storehouse accounts. For anything before your tenure, I won't make demands. For your tenure, investigate thoroughly and carefully."

"Who can be used and who cannot—you should have a good idea in your heart. Immediately begin manufacturing equipment according to military administration regulations. Not only farming tools, but also weapons for defending the city and attacking the enemy. Use whatever materials you have first—get moving. In seven days, hand the accounts over to me."

Ling Yuan assented: "Yes, this subordinate will carry it out even if it costs his life! I'm only afraid that the lives of this subordinate and the other brothers won't be enough."

Zhao Xing smiled. Ling Yuan was still afraid and wanted to get some reassuring words from him.

He boarded the Arrowfish Flying Vessel and entered the small material hold on the vessel.

Ling Yuan was baffled, but seeing the vessel had not taken off, he quietly waited.

A quarter of an hour later, seven straw figures came down.

After that, straw figures continued to leap off the vessel in a steady stream.

Soon, fifty straw figures were standing around Ling Yuan.

"This is... Straw Figure Art?"

Ling Yuan was startled.

Because what Zhao Xing used was all good material—at least cut from third-tier plants, with some parts even using fourth-tier.

Zhao Xing jumped back down and nodded at Long Xiao.

The latter immediately understood.

Placing his hand on each straw figure's back, Long Xiao paused for at least half an incense stick's time at every one.

Twenty days had passed since Zhao Xing first saw Long Xiao at the Huai Willow Academy.

Along the way, Zhao Xing had been using Long Xiao to practice the progress of his Guardian Straw Figures, which had now reached the mid-tier seven-revolution level.

"These are all Flying Guardian Straw Figures that I created."

"The two arts combined, with superior materials, and paired with the sword cultivation art of Captain Long Xiao—protected by these straw figures, no one below seventh-rank can harm you."

"Even against seventh-rank, ordinary Refined-Fiend warriors—as long as they haven't exceeded his realm, being struck by sword qi means certain death."

Zhao Xing's Flying Art was at perfection. The power of Guardian Straw Figures mainly depended on the realm of the one storing the art. After seven revolutions, Zhao Xing could barely store two sword qi from Long Xiao.

Who was Long Xiao? One-in-ten-thousand among warriors! And a rare sword cultivator among warriors at that. The incomplete sword art he obtained from an ancient tomb—he comprehended and refined it himself, and later it became the famous Divine Firmament Sword Art, a top-tier absolute learning that warriors would fight tooth and nail to master.

Even using fourth-tier materials to craft the straw figures and practicing to seven revolutions, Zhao Xing could only store two ' Geng Metal Sword Qi ' from Long Xiao!

Combined with the Flying Straw Figures, they could both fight and run.

"What—even seventh-rank Refined-Fiend has to die?" Ling Yuan's eyes were filled with shock.

This exceeded his understanding, for he simply couldn't comprehend what heights those geniuses could reach.

Storing sword qi inside straw figures had already opened his eyes—after all, he had never even heard of Guardian Straw Figures before.

Isn't Straw Figure Art only supposed to scare away birds and beasts? What kind of Guardian Straw Figures are these, claiming to kill ordinary seventh-rank?

But looking at Zhao Xing and Long Xiao's demeanor, they clearly weren't putting on an act.

Because after Long Xiao finished infusing sword qi into the fifty straw figures, he was visibly much more listless.

"A small matter. Is this enough? If not, Lord Zhao and I will add a few more for you!" Long Xiao laughed heartily, though in truth the hand behind his back was trembling.

"Enough, enough." Ling Yuan hurriedly bowed and said, "This subordinate will not fail the trust placed in him!"

"Let's go." After giving orders to the Flying Guardian Straw Figures, Zhao Xing piloted the flying vessel away.

Mid-tier Straw Figure Art, especially Guardian Straw Figures, unlike beginner Straw Figure Art, has no distance limit and can be used even in an 'offline state.'

The Guardian Straw Figures Old Chen had given him back then could be preserved indefinitely, followed him on his countryside assignments, and were even later left for Gui Niang to use.

Of course, if the distance is too great, Zhao Xing's brain-machine cannot sense the condition of the Guardian Straw Figures—whether they are destroyed or still exist, he has to be within a certain range to know.

"Damn it, I'm exhausted." Long Xiao quickly rummaged through a bamboo box and pulled out a few fruits to replenish his qi. "You brat, just to show off in front of people, you've worn me out. Fifty guardian strawmen in one breath — you nearly drained me dry!"

Zhao Xing looked at Long Xiao's trembling hands and couldn't help but laugh: "Who was it just now saying, 'Want a few more?'"

After eating a few fruits, Long Xiao let out a satisfied sigh and sat leaning against the box: "You already said it out loud — could I possibly say no?"

"Even if I'm squeezed dry, I still have to do it."

"Damn, you're even more ruthless than Old Chen. At least he still treated me like a person. You bastard just treat me, this valiant Captain, like a draft horse."

Long Xiao cursed and grumbled.

He had thought that leaving Old Chen to serve as Zhao Xing's Dao Protector would be easier.

Crying to death — not a single bit easier at all.

"Calm down, I just figured big brother, you're so brilliant and mighty, you could totally handle it. Old Chen also said this kind of thing is good training for you."

"Hmph, of course I'm brilliant and mighty." Long Xiao said proudly, "You think just anyone deserves the title 'Valiant'?"

"As for training, well, I suppose so… it's just a bit grueling." Long Xiao sighed. How could there be no method in this world that doesn't tire you out yet lets you grow stronger quickly?

"Hurry up and recover. We're going to the county office again tomorrow." Zhao Xing said.

"What for?" Long Xiao asked.

"The only one who can pull people from Lingyuan's workshop without him being able to do anything about it is the Yuncheng County Magistrate or the County Commandant — though here the magistrate also holds the commandant's post."

"Lingyuan didn't spell it out, but the meaning was clear: it's the Yuncheng County Magistrate who reassigned the workshop people to do private work. And all materials going in and out of Yuncheng have to be reviewed and signed off by this magistrate — very likely he's been skimming."

Long Xiao said: "It's bizarre. Yuncheng, a county of prefecture rank, is constantly at war, yet the commandant post is vacant, and the magistrate holds both jobs. Who knows how much this bastard has had to skim to feed his superiors above, creating a situation where he rules alone."

Zhao Xing pondered: "I haven't met the man yet, so I can't say. Let's head back to the Agricultural Bureau first, and pay a visit to this Yuncheng County Magistrate tomorrow."

"The Yuncheng County Magistrate is named Shao Wanjie. He's a full Upper Rank 7 official."

"Originally a military officer — a Captain — he later transferred to become a civil official as County Magistrate."

"He took up his post in Yuncheng twelve years ago. At that time the commandant post wasn't vacant, and he was only a Lower Rank 7."

"But later he got promoted one rank every three years, all the way up to Upper Rank 7."

After returning, Zhao Xing first found Bao Wenshan for a chat.

As the saying goes, an elder in the house is a treasure. Bao Wenshan had held fast in Yuncheng for over a hundred years; he knew Yuncheng like the back of his hand.

Hearing his account of Shao Wanjie, Zhao Xing couldn't help but be curious: "Given Yuncheng's situation, how could he keep getting promoted? Three ranks in ten years, and he also holds the commandant post — he's headed for Rank 6. That's quite rare. Could it be that he made some great contribution to Yuncheng?"

Bao Wenshan scoffed: "Contributions? He did make plenty of contributions, all right — but those contributions were all made for his superiors above."

"The moment Shao Wanjie took office, he started skimming money. Of Yuncheng's five bureaus, aside from the Temple, there's not one he hasn't dipped his hand into."

"Whether it's the quotas dispatched from above or the taxes paid from below, he takes a cut of everything."

"At first it was just small graft, then it became big graft — he simply took the lion's share!"

"He also frequently reassigns personnel from the various bureaus to do private work, treating officials at every level as his personal soldiers!"

Zhao Xing flipped through the accounts Zhang Zhong had submitted, shaking his head as he read.

Among the shortfalls noted by Zhang Zhong, many entries were very off. One page showed full payment, the next showed a shortfall.

What was the reason?

The land taxes paid up by the Agricultural Bureau had to first be sent to the county office warehouses for storage, tallying, and review, then transported in bulk to Fucheng at year's end.

But the county office warehouses caught fire, suffered earthquakes, or got waterlogged every year.

Well, Yuncheng's terrain is treacherous, so that's explainable. After all, the city itself gets breached from time to time — a warehouse fire is no big deal.

Then there's the transport from Yuncheng to Fucheng, mostly by river. Every time Shao Wanjie sent people by waterway, there were losses every year.

Don't ask — ask and you'll hear the Canglan River shipwrecked, money and grain lost heavily, a natural disaster, no fault of any person.

So they say, but natural disasters, shipwrecks… isn't that just slyly shifting the blame onto the Agricultural Bureau and the workshop?

Thus Lingyuan, the workshop's chief official, should by rights also be Rank 7, but under Shao Wanjie's manipulation, he only made it to Upper Rank 8. The Agricultural Bureau also had several years where Rank 8 officials served as chief.

Then didn't the previous Waterway Magistrate and workshop Bureau Chief push back?

Pushing back was useless. Shao Wanjie's background is rock-solid — there's a whole chain of vested interests backing him.

If you can't solve the problem, can't you still solve the person who raised it?

So some were transferred out, some were demoted, leaving Shao Wanjie completely ruling alone.

After feeding his superiors above, he not only rose steadily but also nominally took on the commandant post, actually controlling four of the five bureaus aside from the Temple.

Once there wasn't much more fat to scrape in Yuncheng, this man began scheming every way he could to scrape money elsewhere.

The reason Lingyuan's workshop is short-staffed is because most of them were reassigned by this bastard to prospect for ore in the Fengming Mountains.

So the question is — just how solid is this man's background?

Bao Wenshan thought for a moment: "This old man heard him brag once. He claims to be a protégé of Liang Wang, and his direct superior is Upper Rank 5 Prefectural Assistant Liu Junliang. His many promotions were all recommended by Liu Junliang."

"Also, he was originally a member of Liang Wang's private army, the Black Dragon Guard. They say he rose to vice-commander, but I don't know if that's true."

Zhao Xing was taken aback: "Liang Wang? You're talking about Ji Mingxian, Liang Wang of Lüliang Prefecture?"

Bao Wenshan nodded: "Exactly."

"No wonder he's so arrogant." Zhao Xing realized, and the deeds of this Liang Wang surfaced in his mind.

Liang Wang Ji Mingxian was a rare first-rank imperial prince. He was the ninth son of Emperor Wen and the full-blood younger brother of Emperor Jing!

In the early Dingxin era, during the wars of territorial expansion, Liang Wang Ji Mingxian served for a time as Commander-in-Chief of the Three Armies near the war's end, and later personally oversaw the establishment of the Nine Heavens Response Origin Bureau.

He was deeply favored by Emperor Jing. The war was nearly over when they let Ji Mingxian become Commander-in-Chief, and then had him oversee the founding of the Nine Heavens Response Origin Bureau — such peach-picking moves, weren't they plainly selfish?

Yet this Liang Wang, laden with honors and outwardly modest and gentle, actually harbored secret ambitions. It was precisely because Divine Might Marquis Yang An cast a vote against Liang Wang Ji Mingxian's succession as Commander-in-Chief…

…that he picked the wrong side, and the consequences were severe. Originally, by merit, Yang An should have been promoted to first-class Divine Might Marquis — the central court's commendation had already been drafted. But after Liang Wang took office, he found a chance to deliberately make the Divine Might Army slip up, using it to strip Yang An down to a third-class county marquis. The Divine Might Army was disbanded, its core scattered, with only the name preserved.

Yet this Liang Wang, covered in countless honors and deeply beloved, for some unknown reason, in the final years of the Jingxin calendar, joined forces with the Southern Barbarians and sect monsters to rebel.

"Looks like this Shao Wanjie is a protégé who made it official, but he couldn't possibly have been a Black Dragon Guard commander — at most just a rank-and-file soldier."

Bao Wenshan asked in surprise: "What makes you say so?"

Zhao Xing said: "The Black Dragon Guard is one of Liang Wang's three elite forces. If Shao Wanjie retired from being a commander, there's no way he'd only be assigned a seventh-rank civil official, and sent to a godforsaken place like Cloud City."

Bao Wenshan cupped his hands and said: "Still, my lord knows a great deal."

Zhao Xing naturally knew a great deal. In his previous life, he had entered Liang Wang's Black Dragon Guard, and even followed this Liang Wang in rebellion. At the time, he didn't know what the situation was, and actually thought this lord was a true wise ruler. He joined Liang Wang's ranks with his brothers, wanting to take a shortcut and claim the merit of following a dragon.

He had thought this was a "Prince of Yan" type figure, but when it really came to fighting, this one turned out to be "Emperor Jianwen." In just two and a half years, the rebellion was crushed, and even the Fangwaizong Sect and the Southern Barbarians who had helped him openly called him a hopeless loser.

Looking back afterward, he realized Emperor Jing had been fishing, luring this little brother to take the bait—who would have thought he actually did rebel.

He really did catch one, and Emperor Jing was deeply grieved. Liang Wang's rebellion was also one of the important factors that led Emperor Jing to hastily end the Jingxin calendar and begin focusing on producing heirs.

"What does my lord plan to do? If Shao Wanjie doesn't leave, and my lord wants to manage the floods, it'll be like dancing in shackles." Bao Wenshan said.

"What to do? Of course, file a report." Zhao Xing picked up the account book and walked out.

Shao Wanjie was just a white glove, and couldn't be tied to Liang Wang by much. Once he got dirty, he could be discarded at will. Others might not be able to report him, but Lord Zhao was different.

He had originally planned to meet with Shao Wanjie face-to-face before deciding, but now it seemed there was no need for that meeting.

But just as Zhao Xing was about to write the letter, Shao Wanjie sent someone to the Director of Agriculture Bureau.

"The Magistrate was busy with official duties yesterday. Upon learning today that Lord Zhao has taken office, he immediately prepared a banquet at his residence to welcome Lord Zhao and wash away the dust of travel." A middle-aged scholar handed over the banquet invitation.

"I am also busy with official duties. Please reply to Lord Shao that I truly cannot go." Zhao Xing didn't even look up.

The middle-aged scholar said coolly: "Lord Director of Agriculture has just taken office, and probably doesn't even know everyone yet—where does this busy official duty come from? My lord's sincerity is genuine."

Zhao Xing finished writing the document, blew on the ink, and said quite sincerely: "I am truly busy. I'm not deceiving you."

"Look, the crimes of your lord—I can't even fit them all in one memorial."

The middle-aged scholar: "..."