Weird Cultivation, I have a five-organ temple

Chapter 120 Pension Silver

"Zheng Zhubu, why haven't the pensions for the yamen runners and local militiamen who died in the battle at Yunhua Mountain been distributed to this day?"

In the chief clerk's office, Shang Lu asked questions directly.

Upon hearing this, Chief Clerk Zheng Quan's first reaction was to get angry and tell Shang Lu to get out.

He held all the power in Luoshui County, and he was the one who questioned others. How could he have been questioned like this? Even the county magistrate did not dare to speak like this in front of him!
But when the words came to his lips, Zheng Quan swallowed them back.

Shang Lu is currently trusted by Feng Boyuan. If he offends Shang Lu, he will definitely suffer the consequences.

Therefore, even Zheng Quan, who was used to being strong, could only suppress his dissatisfaction, smiled and replied: "I was really too busy and didn't have time to take care of it."

"Really too busy?"

Shang Lu sneered, but didn't believe what he said.

Zheng Quan doesn't need to distribute the pension money personally. Even if he is very busy, can't he send a few people to distribute the money?

Those dead yamen runners and militiamen might have been waiting for this money to buy coffins for burial.

Shang Lu was very suspicious that Zheng Quan was really planning to take the money.

After all, he has a criminal record, and in order to make money, he did not hesitate to support the Black Wind Gang.

Now, Zheng Quan has spent a lot of money to clear himself from the case of tampering with the merit and demerit book and making false accounts, and he is short of money.

It is not impossible to take a risk and try to get the pension money.

“It’s really too busy!”

Regardless of whether Zheng Quan had any bad intentions, he would never admit it.

"You also know that because of the secret realm, the county government has been busy from top to bottom, so the payment of the pension has been delayed..."

Zheng Quan insisted that he was too busy and delayed the matter. Shang Lu had no evidence and it was not appropriate for him to be aggressive.

But he still warned: "Zheng Zhubu, don't let anything happen to the pension money. If the family of the deceased is so desperate that they come to the government office to ask for an explanation, and the witch officer or the superior from the county government sees it, you can't afford the consequences!"

Zheng Quan's face looked a little ugly, but he couldn't get angry. He nodded and forced a smile to thank Shang Lu for his reminder.

I can’t even describe how awkward the feeling inside my heart is.

Shang Lu changed the subject and followed Zheng Quan's words, saying, "Since Zheng Zhubu is too busy to spare time, just give the pension money to me. I'm going to inspect the county, and I'll take the money to the families of the brothers who died."

"This……"

Zheng Quan hesitated for a moment.

"Why, Master Zheng is reluctant to part with the money? Or is he worried about me?"

Shang Lu seemed to be joking, but his words were actually full of sarcasm.

How could Zheng Quan not hear it? He cursed in his heart, but still said with a smile: "Shang County Lieutenant, you are joking. Since you are willing to make the hard trip, it would be great."

He immediately summoned a clerk and ordered him to find the death list and hand it over to Shang Lu.

The list not only contains the name of the deceased, but also records the place of origin, address, and situation of relatives at home, so that the pension can be accurately distributed to the deceased's family.

Afterwards, Zheng Quan asked his servant to accompany Shang Lu to the treasury to collect the compensation money.

After Shang Lu left the chief clerk's office, the fire in Zheng Quan's heart burst out. With a "bang", he overturned the table, and the documents fell to the ground with a crash.

Upon seeing this, the clerks in the chief clerk's office all lowered their heads and kept silent, fearing that Zheng Quan would vent his anger on them.

At the same time, they couldn't help but communicate secretly with their eye contact.

After all these years, this was the first time they had seen the Chief Clerk so helpless and furious...

Outside the treasury, Jue Dian presented the approval document from the chief clerk, and only after the clerk had checked it and confirmed it was correct did he take out the pension silver.

After Shang Lu counted the amount and confirmed it was correct, he signed the contract.

It was said to be pension silver, but in fact there was not much silver, just strings of copper coins, which were packed in several bags.

With Shang Lu's strength, carrying these money bags is not a problem at all.

But now he had been promoted to county lieutenant, and he had to consider his dignity, so he asked Jue Dian to go to the third class courtyard and help him call Du Feng and Liu Zhi over.

Liu Zhi is Constable Liu. When he heard that Shang Lu summoned him, he immediately put down what he was doing and rushed over with Du Feng.

When Shang Lu saw the two of them, he didn't waste any words and asked directly: "I am short of people around me, so from now on, you two will stay by my side and do the work."

Du Feng and Liu Zhi were overjoyed, especially Liu Zhi, who said yes immediately and almost pointed to the sky and swore allegiance.

Working for the county lieutenant is a good thing that many people dream of, and it is much better than being a regular constable.

Shang Lu considered choosing these two people after careful consideration.

Although Du Feng's cultivation level is not high, he is loyal and many things can be entrusted to him with confidence.

As for Liu Zhi, he had cooperated well before. Moreover, Liu Zhi had been a detective for many years. He was not only careful, but also had rich experience in criminal investigation. He was a good deputy.

Liu Zhi was indeed a good judge of eyes. When he saw the bags of money on the ground, he immediately took the initiative to carry a few bags.

Du Feng saw this and carried the remaining bags. He asked curiously, "Captain Lu... no, County Lieutenant, what are you doing with so much money?"

Shang Lu replied: "This is the compensation for the deceased brothers. You will follow me to deliver this money to their families."

Liu Zhi hesitated for a moment and asked, "Sir, will you deliver it yourself? And deliver it to their homes?" "What, is there a problem?" Shang Lu asked back.

Liu Zhi shook his head quickly: "No problem, I just feel a little emotional. In the past, when brothers got into trouble, whether it was medicine or pension money, they had to come to the government office to ask for it themselves, and sometimes they were even made difficult by those clerks..."

Du Feng snorted, "The county lieutenant is one of our own. He is not comparable to those high-ranking officials."

Liu Zhi didn't dare to say such things in the yamen, but he nodded to show his agreement.

Shang Lu did not let them carry the money bags all the way out, but took the two of them to the stable in the county government office.

There were official horses in the county government, but because there were few of them and Shang Lu's rank was too low, he was not qualified to ride.

But now it’s different. He is the county lieutenant, the third in command of Luoshui County... one could even say the second in command, because the county magistrate has no say in anything.

Shang Lu could not only choose an official horse for himself, but also arrange one for Du Feng and Liu Zhi.

When Du Feng heard that he was going to be given a horse, he was a little worried: "I don't know how to ride a horse."

Shang Lu smiled and said, "I don't know how to do it either, but I can learn. It's impossible for Lao Liu and I to ride horses while you run behind us. Not to mention whether you have the strength to run fast enough, even if you do, you will be exhausted after running all the way."

Liu Zhi comforted him: "It's okay. The official horses in the county government are different from ordinary horses. You will understand when you ride one. It's very simple."

The three of them quickly arrived at the stable, and Shang Lu was shocked when he saw the official horses raised there.

It has been several months since he came to this world and he has seen many horses.

Whether it was the horses sold in the market or the horses ridden by Yuan Guilong and others from the Black Wind Gang, they were all similar to the horses he had seen in his previous life.

However, the official horses in the county government were taller and more majestic than those horses! One could even feel a strong aura from these official horses.

Sensing the approach of a stranger, the horses turned their heads and looked over at him. Their sharp eyes startled Du Feng: "Is this a horse or a beast?"

Liu Zhi knew more about the official horses and introduced them to the two: "These official horses have been cast spells by witches since they were young, and the feeding method is different from that of ordinary horses, so they can grow tall and mighty. They are not just for show, their speed and endurance are better than ordinary horses, and they are brave and capable of fighting. The most important thing is that these official horses are very spiritual and easy to control..."

At this time, the groom in charge of the stable also came out.

After saluting Shang Lu, he took over Liu Zhi's words and continued to introduce:

"Constable Liu is right. These official horses are one of the masterpieces of the Witch Academy. Lord County Lieutenant, you see, these witch patterns on the official horses allow them to better obey the riders' orders. When needed, these witch patterns can also make the official horses stronger. However, this will squeeze the life of the official horses, so don't use them lightly..."

With the introduction of the horse herder, Shang Lu and his men quickly selected the official horses.

The groom taught them how to use the witch pattern, and some skills on how to communicate with and control the official horses. Finally, he also gave them several bags of special feed for easy feeding on the road.

Just as Liu Zhi said, these official horses were extremely spiritual and had the assistance of witch patterns. Although Shang Lu and Du Feng had hardly ridden horses before, they mastered the method after a brief attempt.

It is still far from the state where man and horse are one, but there is no problem in riding a horse for transportation.

Shang Lu asked Du Feng and Liu Zhi to put the money bag on the horse's back, and then led the horse out of the county government together.

On the way, they met some yamen runners.

The bailiff didn't dare to talk to Shang Lu, so he quietly asked Du Feng and Liu Zhi where they were going with the money bag.

"Go and give compensation to the brothers who died in the battle!"

Du Feng and Liu Zhi shouted loudly: "The county lieutenant must go in person! He must personally hand out the compensation money to the families of the brothers who died in the battle!"

Hearing this, the yamen runners were both surprised and unbelieving.

The officials are all high and mighty. Would they personally distribute the pensions to their officials?

Some people followed Shang Lu and his team out of curiosity, watching them go to the homes of several deceased people in the county town, and also saw Shang Lu personally distributing the relief money to the families of the deceased.

Not only that, Shang Lu also took the parents of the deceased and said some words of thanks and comfort, and promised:
"If anyone bullies you in the future, come to the county government office and find me. I will take care of you!"

The yamen runners who followed him bowed to Shang Lu after seeing this scene.

Who doesn't want to be respected?

Who doesn’t want their family to be able to receive pension smoothly and not be bullied after they die?

Soon, this matter spread throughout the Luoshui County Government, and the prestige of Shang Lu, the new county lieutenant, continued to rise through word of mouth.

Shang Lu didn't know these things.

Because at this time, he had already left the county.

He first took Du Feng and Liu Zhi to Yunhua Mountain.

After the on-site inspection, they found some problems, which they recorded one by one and asked the police here to send someone back to the county town to call Niu Butou and others to come up with solutions as soon as possible.

After finishing the matters at Yunhua Mountain, Shang Lu took Du Feng and Liu Zhi to Shuanggui Village.

On the way, he also delivered pension money to two local militiamen.

There was no one at home of one of the militiamen.

After asking the neighbors, I found out that this family took a Feng Shui master up the mountain to look at the cemetery.

The three of them could only leave first and prepare to come back later.

However, just as they were leaving the village, they met the returning relatives of the militiamen, as well as a Feng Shui master who looked like an immortal.

(End of this chapter)