Inspection Bureau.
On the tower.
"Brother Ye!" Jiang Ning greeted as he ascended.
"Brother Jiang!" Ye Qiu smiled.
Ye Qiu looked down. "Brother Jiang, do you know the details of what's happening below?"
Jiang Ning shook his head. "Not really."
Ye Qiu explained, "Down there, there's an Inspection Bureau guard who passed the assessment yesterday. After drinking, he got carried away and killed a constable who had offended him in the past. But he didn't do anything wrong."
"Didn't do anything wrong?" Jiang Ning was slightly surprised.
"Yes, he didn't do anything wrong," Ye Qiu nodded. "The Inspection Bureau is newly established, and we need to establish our authority. Without authority, it will be difficult to carry out our work in the future. This incident is timely. Regardless of right or wrong, it's a perfect opportunity to use the county government to establish our authority."
Jiang Ning said, "Isn't this a bit inappropriate?"
Ye Qiu shook his head. "It's not inappropriate at all."
After saying this, he smiled at Jiang Ning and continued, "It's normal for Brother Jiang to think this way, as you were once an ordinary citizen."
"But from now on, Brother Jiang needs to adjust your perspective."
"For those high-ranking officials, the world is like a chessboard. Right and wrong, good and evil, none of that matters. What matters is that their will is carried out."
"The establishment of the Inspection Bureau represents the will of certain people. Our primary task is to execute their will. In the face of this, it is righteousness, because righteousness represents the interests of these people."
"In the face of righteousness, the interests of ordinary people can be completely sacrificed."
"The constable who died last night was unfortunate. He was the one being sacrificed."
"And the sacrifice of that constable can also draw the county government into the situation, making them the target of our authority."
"For the Inspection Bureau, we don't need to maintain good relations with local authorities. We just need to establish absolute authority."
"The mission of the Inspection Bureau is to suppress chaos through force!"
As he finished speaking, Ye Qiu looked at Jiang Ning with a meaningful gaze.
At this moment, Jiang Ning did not respond, quietly watching the battle between Liu Zhaonan and Xu Zhengnan below.
"The Inspection Bureau is indeed overbearing in its actions," Jiang Ning sighed inwardly.
At this moment.
Below, Xu Zhengnan was already spitting blood under Liu Zhaonan's relentless attacks.
"Stop!!" A loud shout suddenly came from the crowd.
As soon as the voice sounded, everyone's eyes turned toward it.
A man in plain clothes stepped forward.
It was clear that this man had been observing the situation for a while.
Only now, when Xu Zhengnan was struggling to hold on, did he step forward.
Seeing this man appear, Jiang Ning immediately recognized him.
This man was the County Magistrate, Shan Xiangxiong, an eighth-rank official.
In the county government, he was second only to the county magistrate.
"So it's Magistrate Shan!" Liu Zhaonan smiled and stopped his attack.
At this point, Xu Zhengnan finally had a chance to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth.
"You're not qualified. Have your superior come out!" Shan Xiangxiong said.
As he spoke, his gaze did not fall on Liu Zhaonan but instead looked toward the tower where Jiang Ning and Ye Qiu were standing.
He had already noticed Jiang Ning and Ye Qiu from the crowd.
He also knew that this matter was no longer just a personal grudge but a conflict between the Inspection Bureau and the county government.
On the tower.
"Let's go, Brother Jiang. Come down with me," Ye Qiu smiled and continued, "Prefect Hong has entrusted this matter to me. I can't mess it up."
"Alright," Jiang Ning nodded.
In the next moment.
The two turned and walked down the stairs.
Then they walked out through the main gate of the Inspection Bureau.
"Magistrate Shan!" Ye Qiu smiled.
"Commander Ye, Deputy Commander Jiang!" Shan Xiangxiong glanced at the two and greeted them.
Then he said, "What do you two think of this matter?"
Ye Qiu looked surprised. "Magistrate Shan, with both witnesses and evidence present, what more is there to see?"
As he spoke, Ye Qiu's gaze sharpened. "Magistrate Shan, are you trying to shield a member of the Heretic God Cult?"
"Commander Ye, are you going to go this far?" Shan Xiangxiong's gaze turned sharp as he looked at Ye Qiu.
Shan Xiangxiong's sharp gaze felt like a gentle breeze to Ye Qiu.
He smiled, walked up to Shan Xiangxiong, and lightly patted his shoulder.
"Magistrate Shan, don't make a mistake. This matter is not something I can decide."
Shan Xiangxiong's face turned red, and he looked at Ye Qiu with caution.
From those few light pats, he knew he was no match for Ye Qiu.
Coupled with Ye Qiu's words, he also realized that this was Prefect Hong's intention.
Thinking of this, Shan Xiangxiong took a deep breath.
"Fine!! Since Commander Ye has already investigated this matter, it seems that Tian Bo was indeed involved with the Heretic God Cult!"
"Magistrate!!" Xu Zhengnan immediately spoke up, his expression filled with dissatisfaction.
"Silence!!" Shan Xiangxiong turned and scolded Xu Zhengnan, the Chief Constable.
Then he looked at Ye Qiu. "I will remember this."
Ye Qiu smiled indifferently.
Then he waved his hand. "Take this old man away and throw him in prison."
"Yes, Commander!!" Zhao Hu, standing nearby, was visibly excited.
He reached out and grabbed the seventy-year-old man with a grip like a tiger's claw.
"Old man, don't worry! It won't be long before you can join your only son in the afterlife!" Zhao Hu sneered.
"The world is unjust!!" The old man howled in despair, his eyes filled with hopelessness.
Seeing this, Jiang Ning felt a pang of guilt.
"Commander Ye, why not let the old man go? At his age, it's unlikely he's involved with the Heretic God Cult."
Hearing this, Ye Qiu glanced at Jiang Ning.
Then he smiled. "Since Brother Jiang has spoken, we'll do as you say."
Immediately.
He looked at Zhao Hu. "Let him go!"
Hearing this, Zhao Hu reluctantly released the old man.
"Old man, you're lucky. You get to live and bury your son."
The old man glanced at the people present, his face filled with despair as he picked up the straw mat containing his son's body and walked away.
Even with the County Magistrate intervening, he couldn't get justice for his son.
What could an old man like him do?
He trudged out of the city, carrying his son's body, to find a good burial spot.
"Scatter! Scatter!!" After Jiang Ning and Ye Qiu entered the Inspection Bureau, Zhao Hu began dispersing the crowd at the gate.
Inside the Inspection Bureau.
Jiang Ning said, "Brother Ye, do I have the authority to recruit people into the Inspection Bureau?"
As soon as they stepped through the gate, Jiang Ning asked the question on his mind.
He had promised Cheng Ran that he would find a way to get him into the Inspection Bureau.
This was a good thing for Cheng Ran.
But it was also a good thing for Jiang Ning himself.
This way, he would have another trusted subordinate he could rely on.
This would be a great help for him in carrying out his duties in the Inspection Bureau.
As a deputy commander, if he didn't have a few trusted people under him, things would become very troublesome.
Many tasks would require his attention.
This would not only affect his progress in martial arts but also add unnecessary complications to his life.
Moreover, as a deputy commander, if he had no one to command, the position would be meaningless.
At this moment.
Hearing Jiang Ning's question, Ye Qiu stopped in his tracks.
Then he said, "As a deputy commander, Brother Jiang naturally has this authority. Any deputy commander has the authority to recruit up to four people into the Inspection Bureau and appoint one captain."
"Of course, Brother Jiang needs to be careful with the captain selection. Any captain will face an annual assessment. If their strength is insufficient, it will be difficult to pass the assessment."
"Understood!" Jiang Ning's eyes lit up.
One captain and four guards this was significant authority.
Just like Liu Zhaonan, who had confronted the Chief Constable Xu Zhengnan earlier.
He was only a captain.
Any captain was a ninth-rank official.
For ordinary people, this was like reaching the heavens in a single step.
But this position needed to be chosen carefully, as Ye Qiu had said.
Any captain would face an annual assessment.
If their strength was insufficient, even if Jiang Ning appointed them as captains, they would lose their position if they failed the assessment.
At this moment.
Ye Qiu spoke again. "Since this is Brother Jiang's first time at the Inspection Bureau, and I have some free time, why don't I show you around?"
"Then I'll trouble Brother Ye!" Jiang Ning clasped his hands.
Internal Affairs Office.
After arriving here, Ye Qiu left.
Jiang Ning then headed into the Internal Affairs Office.
The Internal Affairs Office was the logistics department of the Inspection Bureau.
Here, there was something everyone cared about the benefits of joining the Inspection Bureau.
The Inspection Bureau was overseen by the Martial Saint and backed by the entire Great Xia Dynasty.
Within the Inspection Bureau, one could obtain countless martial arts manuals and rare treasures.
From what Jiang Ning had learned earlier, whether it was low-tier, mid-tier, or high-tier martial arts, all could be obtained in the Inspection Bureau.
Even higher-level martial arts could be acquired.
In addition, methods to achieve the Grandmaster level and even the Martial Saint level could also be obtained.
There was even a chance to meet the Martial Saint in person and receive his guidance.
These were the reasons why the Inspection Bureau was so sought after.
And all of this was handled by the Internal Affairs Office.
Moreover, Jiang Ning had another important matter to attend to at the Internal Affairs Office.
That was to add his identifier to his deputy commander's token and receive one captain's token and four guard tokens.
These five tokens could be given to anyone. The recipient only needed to bring the token to the Internal Affairs Office to register and obtain the corresponding official position and identity.
Internal Affairs Office.
A graceful elderly woman took the token Jiang Ning handed over.
"So you're Jiang Ning?" the woman asked.
"I am Jiang Ning," Jiang Ning clasped his hands slightly.
Even though he didn't know who this woman was, Jiang Ning understood that anyone who could oversee the Internal Affairs Office was certainly not as simple as she appeared.
"Then I'll engrave the character 'Ning' on it. Is that acceptable?" the woman asked.
"Sure," Jiang Ning nodded.
The woman took Jiang Ning's token and began working on it.
After a short while.
"Done," the woman placed the golden token on the table in front of Jiang Ning.
Jiang Ning took the token and saw that the back now bore the character "Ning," which had just been engraved.
This character represented him.
From now on, anyone holding this token will be acting on his behalf.
Jiang Ning put the token away and said to the woman, "Senior, I need one silver token and four black tokens."
Clang
The woman immediately took out five tokens from the cabinet behind her and placed them in front of Jiang Ning.
"Keep them safe. In theory, anyone who obtains these unassigned tokens can come to me to register and become a member of the Inspection Bureau. Don't lose them."
"Understood," Jiang Ning nodded.
Then.
Jiang Ning stayed in the Internal Affairs Office for a little over half an hour.
During this time, he learned some general information.
In the Inspection Bureau, the salary he received was not in silver or gold.
But in contribution points.
Contribution points could be obtained in several ways.
One was by completing missions, and another was by exchanging salary or money for points.
As a deputy commander with an eighth-rank position, he could receive 100 contribution points per month.
What did 100 contribution points mean?
From what he learned from the elderly woman, if one wanted to exchange silver for contribution points, it would cost two taels of silver for one contribution point.
In other words, 100 contribution points would cost 200 taels of silver.
Conversely, exchanging contribution points for silver would yield one tael of silver per point.
In other words, his current salary was equivalent to 100 taels of silver per month.
This might not seem like much.
But in reality, it was an extremely generous salary.
From what he knew, the current purchasing power of one tael of silver was equivalent to about 1,000 yuan in his previous life.
So 100 taels of silver would be equivalent to a monthly salary of 100,000 yuan.
What did 100,000 yuan mean? In his previous life, that was the income of the elite class.
In the official system, such a salary would be impossible to have openly.
So from this perspective, his current salary was undoubtedly high.
But Jiang Ning knew that this 100 taels of silver was just his official income.
With his current position, if he wanted to make money, he could easily earn a hundred times his salary.
But there was no need.
Because he wasn't short of money right now.
Earlier, he had sold a shipload of iron ore to the weapon forge, earning over 10,000 taels of silver.
In addition, he had sold other spoils to Wanhua Tower, earning another 5,500 taels in silver notes.
Now, the total amount of silver and gold leaves he had was close to 20,000 taels.
To someone like Lin Qingyi, 20,000 taels might not be much, but for Jiang Ning at this stage, it was a considerable fortune.
With this wealth, he wasn't short of money for now.
But he didn't plan to donate this money to the Inspection Bureau in exchange for contribution points, as the 2:1 exchange rate was too unfavorable.
Earlier, he had also looked at the list the elderly woman had given him, detailing what he could access with his current authority in the Inspection Bureau.
Although the list was comprehensive and rich in variety.
With his current authority, he could exchange for any low-tier martial arts and even mid-tier martial arts.
As for high-tier martial arts, he didn't have access to them yet.
But Jiang Ning didn't have a strong need for martial arts.
What he wanted were medicinal treasures that could speed up his physical refinement.
Before the fifth rank, it was all about refining the body.
At this stage, many medicinal treasures could have a significant effect.
This was what he was after.
These medicinal treasures were listed in the catalog the elderly woman had given him, and they all required contribution points.
However, such items could also be purchased at Wanhua Tower, as long as one had money.
In addition to these, Jiang Ning also saw methods for refining tendons at the seventh rank, refining bones at the sixth rank, and even a method for internal refinement at the fifth rank.
The Five Qi Convergence Breathing Technique.
A mid-tier internal refinement method.
It was also the only internal refinement method he was qualified to access.
It required 50,000 contribution points to exchange.
According to the catalog, a normal mid-tier martial art only required 10,000 contribution points to exchange.
This showed just how precious internal refinement methods were.
And according to the elderly woman, this was a special benefit from higher-ups.
If not for this, this internal refinement method wouldn't have appeared on the list.
Nor would it have been available for just 50,000 contribution points.
Internal refinement methods were far more valuable than Jiang Ning had imagined.
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