Chapter 71

This official was fair-skinned, with a few fine whiskers, and smiled as he cupped his hands upon entering the room: "Sorry to keep the Immortal Wei waiting, I'm really sorry. However, County Magistrate Sun is currently in seclusion, so I will receive the Immortal on his behalf. I am the County Assistant of Quyang County, Ren Ren Youwei, I don't know what instructions the Immortal has for coming here?"

The County Assistant is high in rank but has no real power, belonging to a leisure official, equivalent to a candidate for County Magistrate. Don't look at this official's harmless appearance, he is also a Dao foundation cultivator.

Wei Yuan stood up and returned the salute, then went straight to the point: "I am here for the three hundred civilian braves in Shayang Village! They have been in the army for months, fought many bloody battles, and haven't seen a single tael of silver in military pay, not to mention pensions. I am here to ask where the grain and pay are, and where the pensions are!"

Ren Ren Youwei had a sudden realization, saying: "So that's what it is. Immortal, you don't know, grain and pay are the top priority, the imperial court has strict laws, no one can violate them. Civilian braves are not something anyone can form. If you want to train civilian braves, you must report to the imperial court and get the approval document before you can. Otherwise, if everyone can train braves, wouldn't the world be in chaos? The power of approval for civilian braves in this county is not in the county government, but in the hands of Assistant Regional Commander Liao. Actually, the civilian brave list reported by Mr. Fang was transferred to Assistant Regional Commander Liao long ago, but I don't know why it hasn't been approved for a long time. Without approval, how dare we allocate a single tael of silver? This is a matter of losing one's head!"

Ren Ren Youwei is an old fox, kicking the ball to Assistant Regional Commander Liao, and picking himself clean.

Wei Yuan was inexperienced and couldn't do anything about this slippery old oil. But he knew that if he left like this, he would fall right into Ren Ren Youwei's trap. So Wei Yuan sat still and said: "I will also visit Assistant Regional Commander Liao. Let alone grain and pay, thirty-seven people died in battle in the past few months, and they should be compensated. What example does Assistant Ren plan to compensate according to?"

Ren Ren Youwei looked troubled: "It is true that civilian braves who die in battle should be compensated, but first they must be on the register, and second they must die in the battles specified by the superiors to have compensation. Forgive this humble official for speaking bluntly, these people in Shayang Village, I'm afraid they don't meet either condition."

Wei Yuan added: "Some old people have starved to death in the village, the imperial court should provide relief. I won't make it difficult for you, just allocate some grain for emergency first, this is a matter of saving lives."

Ren Ren Youwei sighed long and said: "Someone starved to death, my heart also hurts, alas! Who let it be a troubled time now? Now it is wartime, our county is on the front line, according to the laws of the imperial court, all grain and grass are military supplies, and no one can move a grain without the joint order of the County Magistrate and the Assistant Regional Commander. Now even the pancake stalls in the county have been closed. As for allocating grain, I am really powerless."

Wei Yuan's anger began to rise, his face sank, and he sneered: "Assistant Ren pushes it really clean! The county government collects one Liao barbarian head for one tael of silver, and turns it into one thousand taels! But the civilian braves on the front line have no food or pay, and their families are starving to death. Can you sleep with this money?"

"Turn it into one thousand taels? How can there be such a thing?" Ren Ren Youwei looked surprised, "Magistrate Sun and I just saw that the common people defended the border with merit, and specially took out private silver to reward those with merit."

"What about those heads?"

"After collecting them, they were sent directly to the county town, and they were all collected by the Prefect, I don't know about the later things."

Ren Ren Youwei didn't know anything, and pushed everything clean, Wei Yuan became angrier the more he listened, slammed the table heavily, and shouted: "Assistant Ren! Do you need Wei to let you understand how many catties and taels your Dao foundation has?"

Ren Ren Youwei looked panicked, and said repeatedly: "This humble official has a little rough magic power, how can I withstand the destruction of the Immortal! If the Immortal must do it, then this humble official will die. But the Immortal must let this humble official die clearly, right? Is it possible that the Immortal of the Immortal Sect can kill people indiscriminately without reason?"

This was the first time Wei Yuan saw such a slippery person who couldn't be splashed with oil and couldn't be cut with a knife, and this guy put on a posture of not fighting back even if beaten to death, Wei Yuan really couldn't do anything.

However, the countless history books in his belly finally came in handy at this moment, Wei Yuan learned from the examples in the books and calmed down first. He was expressionless, just staring at Ren Ren Youwei, until his eyes flickered.

Only then did Wei Yuan say: "It seems that these things have nothing to do with Assistant Ren. No matter, then please ask Assistant Ren to tell Magistrate Sun, I, Wei Yuan, have been in the defense zone for two days, and only received ten garrison soldiers. According to the Tang law, someone has to lose their head for this, and not just one. So within two days, I want to see two hundred soldiers in my defense zone! I don't care what method Assistant Ren or Magistrate Sun uses, in short, not a single soldier can be missing! If it's really not enough, trouble Assistant Ren to use your concubines to make up the number, if that doesn't work, trouble Assistant Ren to make up the number yourself! If Assistant Ren is in trouble, then I will report to the True Person and ask the True Person to send Dao soldiers to guard."

Ren Ren Youwei's smile became somewhat unnatural. If this matter is pursued to death, someone will definitely lose their head, but it's hard to say whose head it is. Naturally, the True Person cannot directly send Dao soldiers, even if they are sent, they are sent to cut off heads.

Wei Yuan added: "Since Assistant Ren said that Assistant Regional Commander Liao didn't approve it, I have to trouble you to write a letter, and I will take it to ask Assistant Regional Commander Liao clearly."

Ren Ren Youwei had no other choice but to write a letter and hand it to Wei Yuan. Wei Yuan didn't stay long, stood up immediately, and said before leaving: "Assistant Ren, take care of yourself!"

Wei Yuan didn't entangle with Ren Ren Youwei anymore, left the county government office, added a "God-Walking Technique" to himself, and went straight to the military fortress outside the city. After a while, Wei Yuan arrived outside the military fortress.

The military fortress wall was two zhang high, mainly made of broken stones, bonded with grass pulp, which is a unique building method in the north, sturdy and easy to repair. The military fortress wall was not high, but when Wei Yuan arrived outside the gate, he immediately felt a few stings on his body, which were aimed at by the experts in the army with hard crossbows.

After reporting his identity, a few soldiers took Wei Yuan into the main military hall. A burly man sat at the head of the hall, with a knife scar on his face, short whiskers, eyes like an eagle, and a gloomy gaze. Wei Yuan knew the color of his clothes, this person should be the Assistant Regional Commander Liao Liao Jingwu.

Wei Yuan saluted and said: "I am Wei Yuan of the Grand Void Palace, here to visit General Liao!"

Liao Liao Jingwu's gaze swept over Wei Yuan, and Wei Yuan immediately felt a mass of scorching flames rolling over his body, his heart sank, knowing that this General Liao was not a newly entered Dao foundation, and had mostly entered the second realm. Liao Liao Jingwu was still an Earth-rank Dao foundation, which was a bit difficult to fight. Wei Yuan secretly evaluated that if he wanted to win, he was afraid he would have to empty his Dao power.

After the two sides met, Liao Liao Jingwu asked: "So it's the little immortal master of the Grand Void Palace, what is the matter for coming here?"

Liao Liao Jingwu's voice had a metallic friction hoarseness, which was very unnatural.

As a disciple of the Grand Void Palace, Wei Yuan naturally wouldn't fear other sect Dao foundations, even facing Dharma Forms, he was neither humble nor arrogant, this is the confidence of the Immortal Sect. And although Liao Liao Jingwu was an Earth-rank Dao foundation, Wei Yuan didn't fear him if they really fought. At the moment, Wei Yuan didn't beat around the bush, and stated his purpose, asking why the three hundred men in Shayang Village hadn't been listed as civilian braves until now.

Liao Liao Jingwu listened with a normal expression, let the captain bring the corresponding documents, and looked at them carefully in front of Wei Yuan. If Wei Yuan didn't know the ins and outs, just looking at the current performance, he would mostly think that Liao Liao Jingwu didn't know anything. This Assistant Regional Commander Liao, it seems, is also an old actor in the officialdom.

After looking for a long time, Liao Liao Jingwu put down the documents, asked the captain a few more details, and said: "Fang Hedong did report a list of civilian braves, but according to the investigation, the list reported and the actual personnel are inconsistent, this is the first point. The second point is that the list is full of old and weak farmers, suspected of falsely reporting the number of people and cheating for grain and pay. Now the war is in full swing, I am busy with military affairs, and I can't spare time to verify it myself, so I'll put it aside first."