Chapter 57: Ninth Rank Official, Salt Transport Commissioner of Zhu Niu Ji

Chen Mo looked at the appointment letter in his hand; this appointment letter was issued personally by his foster father, Sun Shouren, appointing him as the Salt Transport Commissioner of Zhu Niu Ji.

It is an Eighth Rank official position, with five hundred soldiers under his command.

Of course, it is written that there are five hundred men, but it is hard to say how many there actually are; the true situation will have to wait until he goes to see for himself.

It must be said that this official position is an absolute plum job; although it is only the Ninth Rank, in terms of power and benefits, I fear many Eighth Rank positions cannot compare to it.

The Salt Transport Commissioner is responsible for escorting the edible salt mined by the Imperial Court, as well as controlling the outflow of private salt and cracking down on private salt traffickers.

Edible salt has always been controlled by the Imperial Court; anyone who wishes to sell edible salt or open a salt mine must possess a Salt Permit issued by the Imperial Court.

Those who sell private salt without authorization receive fifty strokes of the heavy rod and are exiled three thousand miles, while those who privately open salt mines have the mastermind beheaded immediately, and the rest have their property confiscated.

Yet even so, the private salt business has always been impossible to prohibit because the profits are too great.

The cost to mine one jin of salt is only fifteen wen, while taking it out to sell can fetch at least one hundred wen or more, and one need not worry about sales, because official salt costs at least one hundred and thirty wen per jin.

Selling private salt is against the law, but buying private salt is not, because no private salt trafficker will say their salt is of unknown origin, and besides, such matters are impossible to investigate.

By sitting in this position, Chen Mo can not only embezzle the salaries of the soldiers under his command but also take a share of the profits from selling private salt.

The reason is simple enough; naturally, those private salt traffickers likely have connections with other Imperial Court officials as well.

But a magistrate is not as effective as the official currently in charge; even if Chen Mo cannot send them to prison, he can use a little effort to make it impossible for these private salt traffickers to sell salt in peace.

Moreover, he has a background behind him; with him sitting in this position, the connections of those private salt traffickers cannot get him replaced.

Under these circumstances, as long as those salt traffickers are smart, they will first send Chen Mo enough silver notes to make him turn a blind eye.

After reading the appointment letter, Chen Mo looked at his Xiucai Literary Disc; this document is equivalent to a travel permit that allows passage throughout the entire Great Gan.

With it, he is not breaking the law no matter where he goes.

If it were an ordinary commoner, without a travel permit, leaving the place of their household registration by more than one hundred li would be considered breaking the law.

Therefore, the vast majority of commoners have almost no opportunity to leave the county where they live throughout their entire lives, and some have not even left the township where they reside.

After putting away the appointment letter and the Literary Disc, Chen Mo rose to go find his foster father.

These items were delivered by his foster father's Personal Soldiers, who also instructed him to go see him after receiving them.

Walking all the way into the study, Xu Dabao and Sun Li had clearly also received their appointment letters and were now both there.

"The two of you, work hard at your posts, do not be slack in your cultivation, but also learn to manage your subordinates well." Seeing Chen Mo arrive, Sun Shouren gave the two a final instruction before waving them away, clearly having some private matters to discuss with Chen Mo.

Judging from his previous performance, he understood that Chen Mo, this foster son, was far more reliable than his own nephew and sister's son.

Furthermore, he had his foster father in his heart, which was quite good; even his own nephew might not necessarily be able to do that.

Therefore, there were many things he was now willing to entrust to Chen Mo.

"Salt Transport Commissioner, although the rank is not high, it is extremely important, as it can investigate the sale and mining of private salt.

But above you, there is the Salt Transport Chief Commissioner, and even more so the Head of the Salt Transport Department; that Head, Liu Mingqiao, is a distant relative of our Ding Prefecture's Prefecture Assistant.

Yet since I took office, he has not come to pay me a visit." Having said this, Sun Shouren's tone sank.

The profits from selling private salt are quite high, and most importantly, stable; by rights, as the Garrison Commander of Xingyuan Prefecture, he should receive a share of the profits.

Yet since he took office, that Head of the Salt Transport Department had not come to visit him; it seems he simply did not hold him in any regard!

"Then may I ask foster father, how should this child act when I go there?" Chen Mo asked in a lowered voice.

"You go there and take up your post steadily; within your jurisdiction, if any private salt traffickers send you money, you may safely accept it; do not concern yourself with anything else.

If that Liu Mingqiao is smart, he will naturally come to find me. If he is not smart, you wait for my news."

Sun Shouren spoke slowly; since it was Chen Mo, there was no need to be so cryptic about many things.

He was not an outsider; rather than letting him guess, it was better to explain it clearly to him so he would know how to handle it.

He sent Chen Mo there not to have him do anything, but just to give that Liu Mingqiao a reminder.

If the other party is smart, they will naturally come to offer an apology, and at that time, he would not pursue the matter further.

A Prefecture Assistant is, after all, a Fifth Rank Official just like himself; Sun Shouren did not want to casually make an enemy of the other party.

Of course, if that Liu Mingqiao, or rather the Prefecture Assistant behind him, refuses to show respect, he would have to find a way to discipline them.

At that time, even if it meant offending the Prefecture Assistant, it would not matter; since the other party is not afraid of offending him, why should he worry about offending them?

As a regional garrison commander, while the Prefecture Assistant does assist the Prefect in managing the affairs of the prefecture, he still cannot command a garrison commander who is appointed directly by the Imperial Court.

"This child understands." Chen Mo bowed to receive the order.

His foster father had explained it so clearly that even if he were duller, he could still figure this matter out.

In any case, he just needed to go there and take up his post steadily; all situations would depend on his foster father's subsequent arrangements.

"Alright, go back and pack up; set off to take up your post in three days. The Zhu Niu Town Military Camp is more than three hundred li away from here, and the road is not easy to travel.

Also, don't forget to take the horse you often ride in the camp with you when you go back." Sun Shouren instructed carefully.

He also gave Chen Mo some specific details about Zhu Niu Ji, so that he would be prepared when he arrived.

Only then did Chen Mo bow and slowly back out; he did not ask his foster father for men to help him.

If he were about to go to war, then of course he would need to take a few Personal Soldiers with him, so that with a few elite Personal Soldiers, he could better command his subordinates.

However, there was no war in Xingyuan Prefecture, so even if he took a few people with him, they would be of no use.

Because when the time really came to go to the border to fight, the soldiers under his command would also be conscripted from the border; the Xingyuan Prefecture Garrison Army could not accompany him to the border.

Under these circumstances, finding a few Personal Soldiers to train and restrain the new recruits was completely unnecessary, because once they reached the border, everything would have to start from scratch.

Conversely, if he really took a few people with him, the silver for the food, drink, and daily training of those Personal Soldiers would have to come out of his own pocket.

With that money, he would be better off keeping it to eat two meals of meat or buy a few packs of medicinal soup.

As for cultivating Personal Soldiers, it was an unnecessary expense for him at present.

With that silver, it would be better to hire someone to tailor a set of Heavy Armor for him, plus a weapon that was sufficiently sturdy and heavy.

Ordinary armor weighs at most ten or twenty jin; after all, one must charge and kill on the battlefield, and if the armor is too heavy, one cannot run very far.

But with Chen Mo's strength and recovery speed, even wearing fifty jin of Heavy Armor to fight would not be a big problem.

Even as his strength increases, he could have heavier armor made; spending money on this would cost less than cultivating two Personal Soldiers, and the effect on the battlefield would only be stronger.

Returning to his barracks, Chen Mo did not have much to pack, just a few pieces of clothing and some miscellaneous items.

He was in no rush to pack them; there would still be time to do this tomorrow.

Taking out two slices of Danshen, he chewed them up and swallowed, then Chen Mo looked inward at his Transformation Pearl, a faint smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

His Qi and Blood had accumulated to fullness, and he only needed to wait until the dead of night to undergo his next Mortal Transformation.

(End of chapter)