Chapter 514

Chen Wuji guessed Qin Feng could definitely see something; hearing that guy's strange tone, his heart settled.

After taking a sip of the tea Qin Feng poured, Chen Wuji smiled faintly and said, "Strange as it is, for now it seems nothing serious; just keep an eye out."

Qin Feng gave a slight nod, "With your words I feel relieved; otherwise my heart has been pounding, last night while sleeping I kept thinking something was off, and in the middle of the night I got up and wiped my sword."

Chen Wuji: ……

He gave Qin Feng a strange look, "Aren't you afraid Ruo Su will notice?"

"You forgot I know a bit of martial arts? If even that could be discovered by her, wouldn't my training be wasted?" Qin Feng grunted, saying with a bit of pride.

"Don't be so confident; what if she's also a martial artist, silently watching you wipe your sword—then it would get lively." Chen Wuji still added, "Although nothing serious should happen for now, you still need to keep that caution, don't be overconfident."

Qin Feng nodded, "Rest assured, I still have a sense of proportion; what are you going to do later?"

"After Hezhou's paper workshop was completed, today the first batch of paper is out; I need to go see it." Chen Wuji said, "Otherwise, there's nothing else—just the daily routine, endless paperwork."

"Since you want to do something, the tedious official duties are unavoidable." Qin Feng paused, then asked solemnly, "How do you plan to place me and Li Run?"

"I want to hear your thoughts first." Chen Wuji scooped a bite of vegetables and said seriously.

Qin Feng propped his chin, stared at Chen Wuji for a while, then said speechlessly, "In this world, who has a subordinate propose what office to hold? Don't mess around."

"Look at your subordinate—are you serious?" Chen Wuji glanced.

Qin Feng immediately straightened his expression and retorted, "I may be frivolous in character, but as your subordinate I am very conscientious—look at my work, where is there any perfunctoriness? When I was in Yunan, when did you ever worry about official matters?"

"As your lord, you can't lump my usual behavior with the fact of being your subordinate—that's not slandering me, is it? I tell you, I won't accept such a thing."

Chen Wuji smiled and nodded, "I know, but I still want to hear your opinion."

"I won't say!" Qin Feng crossed his arms, leaned back in the chair, and leisurely picked his teeth.

Seeing this, Chen Wuji had no choice but to give up on letting that guy speak up; while eating, he voiced his idea: "For now, in name we remain court officials—whether prefect or assistant magistrate, if we hastily decide on our own, it would be hard to justify nominally and would affect our future work; truly, if we were to take on the label of rebels, later that advantage would be hard to hold."

"My idea is to reference the old system, temporarily letting the Deputy Minister and Chief Clerk handle the prefecture's affairs. You as Deputy Minister manage grain transport, warehouses, household registration, etc.; Li Run as Chief Clerk manages the civil service bureau."

Qin Feng's eyes widened, "Former dynasty's old system?"

"You could say that, but before our dynasty, it had always been this system—not just the former dynasty's old system; Deputy Minister, Chief Clerk, and Commander are still used in the military today. One could say it's referencing the old system, or that we're using military organization to temporarily manage the prefecture's affairs." Chen Wuji said.

Qin Feng furrowed his brows, thought, then said, "Wouldn't this attract criticism? Your Chen family was the foremost military clan of the former dynasty; doing this does sound somewhat like a restoration."

"Then tell me your view—these positions of prefect and assistant magistrate, my idea is still to temporarily avoid them, but managing the prefecture's affairs via military organization could still be acceptable, right?" Chen Wuji said.

"Moreover, I must add, our Chen family wasn't just the foremost military clan of the former dynasty; we were also the foremost in the current dynasty. One could indeed stretch to link this to restoration talk, but it's actually a bit forced."

"Before our dynasty, the head of a prefecture was the Inspector, with Deputy Minister and Chief Clerk as deputies, plus a military officer who would handle affairs when there were military matters and idle when there were none—the blue-robed Commander."

"This system was used through several dynasties, only adjusted in our dynasty."

"In our dynasty, the prefect and assistant magistrate manage the prefecture's affairs, while the positions of commandery and prefecture were swapped, and the role of Strategist—a regional overseer—was added."

"Before our dynasty, the Inspector was the true regional overseer."

"Swapping the positions of prefecture and commandery is the most condemned and fantastical move our dynasty has made—so fantastical that even now, some remote villagers still can't tell whether prefecture or commandery is larger."

Qin Feng fell silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed, "I seem to have overthought it; we are rebels anyway—what difference would using the former dynasty's old system make?"

"Having me as Deputy Minister is fine, Li Run as Chief Clerk is just right, but those old-timers in the prefecture office probably won't welcome us two; I was just about to say this, but you interrupted and I almost forgot."

Chen Wuji: ……

"Do you want to hear what you're saying?"

"Those old-timers in the prefecture office have been working hard lately; I plan to take this opportunity to promote another batch. You don't need to worry about what you said—there shouldn't be any trouble, at most it'll test your two abilities." Chen Wuji laughed.

"Qin Feng and Li Run will be parachuted into the prefecture office; those old-timers in Hezhou's office will surely band together."

"Regardless of whether they had factions or connections before, once outsiders appear they will inevitably band together—this is quite normal."

"This can also be called an officialdom convention."

"These matters, Chen Wuji can only act as a mediator, a referee."

"Specifically, it really depends on Qin Feng and Li Run's abilities."

Qin Feng nodded, "Alright, my lord, with your words I feel at ease; then this Deputy Minister post of mine will need to prepare to take office. Honestly, I still like the Deputy Minister position; assistant magistrate is all that messy junk, and the Taizu Emperor just liked to tinker pointlessly."

"The former dynasty kept those rules for so many years without exposing any major problems; you say he had nothing to do, so he changed this thing? Purely just boredom."

Chen Wuji laughed and scolded, "I see you really now consider yourself a rebel, even cursing the Taizu Emperor? If this were in Zhongyuan, you'd lightly be dismissed from office, heavily you could lose your head!"

"Hey, we are rebels after all. Mainly, sometimes we absentmindedly forget, feeling the world isn't chaotic yet, that we're still living the old days. I just gave a deliberate reminder; now we should remember clearly." Qin Feng said, then suddenly raised his arm.

"Qin family rebel Qin Feng is here!"

"Don't be crazy, rest now; I'm leaving to go check the workshop!" Chen Wuji stood up, "As for the official seal and credentials and such, I'll later have someone look to see if we can dig something out from the antique pile for you."

"My lord, this is heartbreaking; can't you just make two more?" Qin Feng shouted.