Daming: Internship also counts as work experience

Chapter 1 Huangluling Inspection Office

On May 29th, the first year of Hongxi, at the beginning of the hour of Hai.

Huangluling Inspection Office.

Under the cover of night, five clerks were conducting routine patrols in the mountains and forests.

That night, dark clouds covered the moon and it was extremely hot and stuffy. The five people did not bring torches. If it really started to rain, it would be troublesome to bring them. Anyway, they were familiar with the road and could walk back and forth with their eyes closed. They talked and laughed as they walked, and several birds were startled and flew up wherever they passed.

The Huangluling Inspection Office is a relatively special inspection office. Its special feature is that it is a remote and sparsely populated area with deep mountains and forests. The daily inspection range is relatively wide, covering several mountain roads in the mountains and forests. After passing this mountain range and walking another hundred miles or so, it is the territory of Cangzhou. At first glance, it does not seem remote.

The establishment and abolition of the Inspection Offices are all a matter of a word from the Ministry of War. They are established quickly and abolished quickly. Every year, dozens of Inspection Offices are abolished in various places and dozens of new ones are established. It all depends on the importance of the location and whether the fugitive thieves, spies, deserters, fugitives or smugglers have the opportunity to choose these routes.

The Huangluling Inspection Office was hastily built a few years ago.

Because it was built temporarily, the conditions are naturally simple and the houses are simple. In winter, the west wind is biting and the cold is bone-chilling. In summer, the sun is scorching and the heat is unbearable. Perhaps when it was first set up, the people who built it did not intend for it to stay long-term.

It is such a remote place, with few people passing through. When it was set up, the reason given was that the residents were scattered and could not defend against thieves.

There are indeed some scattered households outside the forest, but the Huangluling Inspection Office is located in the forest, so how can we take care of them?
There are no high mountains nearby, but only winding ridges and forests. The mountain roads among the steep mountains are rugged and uneven, with ravines crisscrossing. If someone is familiar with the road and wants to avoid the official road and travel secretly, this is indeed the first choice. But who would not take the main road and walk through the difficult dense forest?
There may be some in the storybooks, but I haven’t encountered any in recent years.

The five clerks were wearing blue cloth iron armor, also known as dark armor, which was similar to a padded jacket, with two layers of cloth inside and outside, with iron armor plates in the middle, fixed with rivets. It was very stuffy to wear at this time of year, but it was more comfortable than the previous lamellar armor.

The five of them formed a column, moving forward skillfully in the darkness.

The young man walking in front was tall and thin, with thick eyebrows and a straight nose, and a handsome face. He leaned on his sword and looked at a small hill not far away. In the darkness, the hill looked like a crouching tiger. He raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead and said, "We're almost there. We can go around Maoshan and then go back."

"It's hot even back home. The weather is like a steamer, and there's even a bit of wind in the woods."

"It's better than snowy weather. I don't know what I'm doing on patrol every day. In the first two years, I might have seen a wild boar, but now I can't even see a rabbit."

"That's right, otherwise where did you get all that fat?"

"What's the point of complaining? I heard from the inspector that our inspection office might be abolished one day. Then you will have to worry about where we will go. You won't even realize how shabby this place is."

"Alas, if the company is really laid off, it will be difficult for us to stay together."

"Oh, stop saying these annoying things, Jia Chuan. Let's read a passage from the book. Walking this way every day is so boring." The person walking in front was named Jia Chuan. He looked up at the inky sky and muttered, "They're trying to hold back the rain." Then he cleared his throat and said, "Where did we leave off in the last chapter?"

The men, who had been lined up in a long column, suddenly gathered around him. A short man hurriedly said, "Last time you said Wu Song accidentally killed Li Zaoli, Ximen Qing paid for it, and the magistrate accepted bribes, and wanted to sentence Wu Song to death. Oh, I'm so angry! Let me ask you, what happened to Wu Song in the end? You said he was exiled to Mengzhou Dao?"

Jia Chuan hummed, adjusted his tone, and said excitedly:
"Fortunately, Dongping Prefecture's prefect, Chen Wenzhao, was an honest official. Although Ximen Qing had bribed the county magistrate, Li Datian, his dirty hands could not reach Chen Wenzhao. Chen Wenzhao reviewed the confessions of the people and questioned Wu Song in detail. Wu Song naturally accused Ximen Qing of marrying Pan and having his brother catch them in the act. Later, when the county government refused to allow the complaint, he recounted the details. Chen Wenzhao saw that the report was very different from the one submitted by the county magistrate and realized there was another reason. So he re-examined all the people involved..."

"Then Wu Song can be given a lighter sentence?"

Jia Chuan sighed and continued:

"Ximen Qing couldn't reach Chen Wenzhao, but he could get news from the government office. Naturally, he was panicking. He had connections in the Tokyo officialdom, so he ordered his servants to go to Tokyo that night to find Admiral Yang. Admiral Yang then found Grand Tutor Cai. Grand Tutor Cai sent a secret letter to Dongping Prefecture and handed it to Chen Wenzhao. Chen Wenzhao was Grand Tutor Cai's disciple, so he had to repay this favor. Moreover, Wu Da was dead, and there was no body or wounds left, so there was no way to investigate. All he could do was to spare Wu Song's life, spare his forty strokes of the cane, tattoo gold characters on his face, and exile him to Mengzhou Prison. It was just like 'The prefect was fair and impartial, and Wu Song was dying but he still made peace. Today he is exiled to the prison, and the sick grass meets the warm wind.'"

After reciting these sentences, Jia Chuan raised his head proudly. He never expected that the book he studied the hardest when he was young and read secretly over and over again would become his magic weapon to gain a foothold here.

Three years ago, when he first came here and opened his eyes, his body was already on the verge of death. Who would be willing to say a word to him? When he regained some strength, he happened to tell a story about Ximen Qing and his women. He became a hot commodity in the Inspection Office, and everyone wanted to be in his group.

So Jia Chuan quickly recalled the story systematically, and then started from the first chapter "Xi Men Qing warmly made friends with ten brothers, while Wu Erlang treated his own brother and sister-in-law coldly". He did not tell the story every day, and he always stopped talking at the critical moment. It was unknown how long it would take before he would tell the story again. He would always have to get enough benefits before he would speak.

He didn't know why he started talking so easily tonight. Maybe he was really bored. Fortunately, he didn't say much.

"Alas, it's true that officials protect each other. Even if you are a good official, it's still difficult to be one."

"If Ximen Qing is willing to spend money, what can't he accomplish? Moreover, although his first wife died young, she left behind a useful daughter. Ximen Qing betrothed her to the son of Chen Hong, the relative of Admiral Yang, and he himself married the daughter of a thousand-householder as his second wife. This way, he has connections and influence with officials. Is it any wonder that he can interfere in the affairs of the county government?"

The four of them didn't mind that they hadn't said enough and couldn't help but start discussing.

"That Pan Shi made Ximen Qing go to such great lengths, which shows that she is a beauty. It is rare for Wu Erlang to be able to resist Pan Shi's teasing. If it were me, I would be sorry for my brother."

"If it were me, I would definitely avenge this, but I would have to plan it out in advance. How could I just chase him down in the street so openly? I should choose a dark and windy night..."

Having said this, the person who spoke suddenly stopped, and the others also stopped, and several of them looked towards the left front in horror at the same time.

(End of this chapter)