Chapter 117: Paying to Work

Li Lin began to ponder the 'Stealth Technique'.

Now he already felt that the Stealth Technique could not keep up with his growth.

Now it was very easy for more powerful martial artists, and more powerful Spirit Hunters, to 'sense' him out.

Even if they could not see him, they could still know roughly which direction he was in.

So, the 'Stealth Technique' must be put back on the training schedule.

He made many attempts, such as running to the outskirts of the county town and squatting there.

The result was that he squatted all night, feeling the Desolate Wraiths floating around nearby, but the proficiency did not increase at all.

He guessed that the Desolate Wraiths were too weak in power, so he squatted again near the altar of Lady Tree Immortal.

The result was that Lady Tree Immortal looked at him with a very strange expression.

This made Li Lin feel somewhat awkward.

Finally, after thinking it over, he ran to the back of the Taowu Zhenjun Temple in the county town and squatted there.

This actually succeeded.

The proficiency was increasing at a good speed.

Although it could not compare to before, he also understood clearly that the more powerful a certain ability became, the slower the rate of strengthening would be.

However, overall, there was still growth.

He could feel it.

So during the day he spent half his time squatting at the back wall of the Taowu Zhenjun Temple; fortunately, there was much grass there, and once he squatted into it and entered the Stealth state, others could not discover him.

Why not squat at night... at night he still had to be intimate with Hong Luan.

After ten-plus days like this, he felt that his Stealth Technique seemed to have advanced to a higher realm.

The stealth ability was stronger, harder to be discovered, and additionally, it seemed a new ability had appeared.

It was just that there was currently no way to conduct experiments.

With the ability improved, Li Lin was naturally very happy, yet he did not slack off because of it; instead, he trained other martial arts even more diligently.

The time for the fist technique was cut in half, while the time for practicing the spear was greatly increased.

Additionally, he practiced with the short sword from time to time.

Time passed quickly, and a month went by.

Then, he assumed the post of County Captain.

It was simply a single appointment document, stamped with the seal of the Zhongshu Men.

Holding this document, Li Lin had a feeling... somewhat like a farce.

Although the County Captain was a minor official, it was still a public office.

It was an official post!

When Huang Yan handed the appointment document to Li Lin, he did not say any words of encouragement, because in his view, this position for Li Lin belonged to the category of using a large talent for a small job.

Once he had taken firm root in Jincheng and established a foundation, he would consider transferring Li Lin to Jincheng.

On the second day after receiving the appointment document, Li Lin came to the 'Military' Hall and saw that Fan Shan was also staying there.

Seeing Li Lin, he immediately ran over, clasped his fists, and smiled: "Congratulations, County Captain Li, rising step by step."

Li Lin waved his hand: "Brother Fan, why are you here?"

"The County Magistrate sent me," Fan Shan said very happily: "I am now a Squad Leader."

Li Lin remembered; Squad Leader Shi had already met with disaster.

Fan Shan had acted as an inside agent outside for ten-plus years; giving him the position of Squad Leader was indeed reasonable and appropriate.

"Squad Leader Fan, rising step by step."

"Good, good," Fan Shan said, his whole person overflowing with smiles.

Being able to return from a border village to Yulin County, and now becoming a Squad Leader, a minor clerk, Fan Shan felt his whole person had reached the peak of life.

Li Lin sat in the main seat and opened the roster book.

Now the entire county government office had fifty-three government office Runners; apart from the ten responsible for guarding the government office and handling miscellaneous tasks, the other forty-three were all under his management.

At the same time, there were about five hundred Township Soldiers whom he could mobilize, but every time he mobilized them, he had to obtain the County Magistrate's written order.

These Township Soldiers each received a monthly salary of three hundred wen.

Wait... Li Lin flipped back to the government office Runner roster; he searched for a while but truly did not see what the monthly salary of the government office Runners was.

He frowned, then asked: "Squad Leader Fan, what is the monthly salary of the government office Runners? Why is it not written clearly!"

"government office Runners have no monthly salary."

Li Lin was stunned.

"No monthly salary?"

Fan Shan smiled: "Li Xunshou, you probably never understood the government office Runners before, and you seem to not need to understand. The imperial court does not need to issue monthly salaries to the Runners."

"Then how do they live?"

"This requires another explanation."

Fan Shan told him some of the current situation regarding the 'Runners'.

It turned out that under the Great Qi system of 'Officials', 'Clerks', 'Soldiers', and 'Runners', the Runners were the lowest rank.

Not only was no monthly salary issued, but even the government office Runner's clothes had to be paid for and custom-made by themselves; truly paying to work.

So how did the government office Runners earn money?

The answer was very simple.

Collecting 'protection fees'.

With this 'skin' of a government office Runner, they would have some hidden sources of income; although not much, it was more than enough to live on.

After hearing this, Li Lin's face wrinkled up like a bitter melon.

No wonder the government office Runners' reputation has always been bad; with no monthly salary, they can only rob the common people, so it would be strange if their reputation were good.

Li Lin looked again at the register of officials in the county government office and found that the County Magistrate's monthly salary reached thirty strings of cash, about thirty taels of silver, fluctuating slightly according to the annual market rates.

However, generally speaking, the County Magistrate did not rely on that bit of silver to live; the imperial court also issued many physical goods as annual allowances.

Such things as silk, rice wine, and the like, plus subsidies such as "ice respect" and "charcoal respect."

All in all, for a formal Seventh Rank official like the County Magistrate, or an Eighth Rank "official," the salary was very high.

Next came the County Assistant and the County Commandant, two Ninth Rank petty officials.

Each also had five strings of cash, about five taels of silver, with "ice respect" and "charcoal respect" being relatively less.

After that came the Squad Leader, the Registrar, the Head Constable... and so on, one string of cash.

Soul Hunters also had no monthly salary, but they had Blood Rice; currently, there were seventy jin.

Judging by the exchange price of Blood Rice on the black market, a Soul Hunter's monthly income was equivalent to seventy taels of silver, higher even than the County Magistrate's official income.

This was also why the vast majority of Soul Hunters were willing to "work" for the government.

Truly very generous.

The Village Soldiers received a monthly salary of thirty copper cash.

In the Great Qi, the purchasing power of copper cash was still quite strong.

Especially since the Village Soldiers were provided with food and lodging.

But the government office Runners were truly miserable.

Seeing this, Li Lin let out a long sigh.

He walked outside the Military Office, where several government office Runners were chatting and joking.

Upon seeing Li Lin come out, these people lined up in a row and straightened their bodies.

When Huang Qi served as County Commandant, these people were not very obedient; they only listened because his father was the County Magistrate.

But Li Lin... was a Soul Hunter.

He possessed his own martial power.

Even if the government office Runners were inwardly unconvinced, they dared not show it openly.

"Which one is Head Constable Fang?"

"I am!" A middle-aged man stepped forward.

"Come in; I have something to discuss with you."

The two returned to the Military Office.

Fan Shan tactfully went out and even closed the door for the two of them.

Head Constable Fang felt somewhat nervous.

Li Lin smiled and said, "Head Constable Fang, how is the salary for the brothers?"

"The brothers have no..."

"I am talking about what you collect from the common people."

Sweat flowed down Head Constable Fang's face: "Commandant, this has always been permitted."

"I know..." Li Lin nodded: "I am just curious how much you can collect. Don't think of hiding it; as a Soul Hunter, I have many ways to find the true number, if I wish."

In fact, Li Lin would not do so, but that did not stop him from bluffing.

Head Constable Fang was filled with dread; finally, he said, "We can barely collect about two strings a month, for all..."

"So little!" Li Lin exclaimed.

Head Constable Fang explained, "The County Magistrate is very upright; the brothers dare not act recklessly."

(End of this chapter)