Royal Gold Magistrate

Lian Gui was getting impatient: “We’re not going home. Where would we put our faces if we went back?”

“Listen to me, and you won’t go wrong! Let’s take advantage of the chaos to grab some grain and leave. If we can save a bit, it’ll count as doing good deeds. We’ll have something to show for when we return.”

Xie Xian observed everyone’s expressions, suddenly locking his gaze on Wei Cai and Bai Rui.

“What if we steal instead? Digging tunnels to steal, is that feasible?”

Bai Rui shook his head: “It won’t work. The granaries are heavily guarded, and there will definitely be more people at this time. We can’t pull it off.”

Xie Xian said: “We’re going to steal from private warehouses, not government ones!”

“I can’t be sure, I haven’t scouted it out yet. Besides, it’s been many years since I’ve done this… I’m out of practice.” Bai Rui looked a bit troubled.

“And… I’ve never gone through tunnels before. I’m not confident about it!”

Xie Xian ignored him and turned to Wei Cai: “What about you? If we choose a spot outside the city, can you dig a tunnel to the granary?”

Wei Cai smacked his lips, thinking: “It’s possible, but it depends on the specific situation. I haven’t done it for a few years either.”

“The main issue is time… If it’s too close, it’s easy to be discovered. If it’s too far, who knows how long it’ll take to dig. And we need to consider the soil conditions.”

“We’d need to reinforce the tunnel with wooden beams, and someone would have to clear away the soil and rocks… To be honest, I’m not very optimistic about it, but it’s not impossible!”

Xie Xian pondered for a long time: “Alright, so now we have three options before us: rob, steal, or if all else fails, go home.”

“Everyone, let’s vote by show of hands. Those in favor of robbing grain, raise your hands.”

Seven or eight people raised their hands.

“Those in favor of stealing grain?”

Most of the people raised their hands.

“Those in favor of going home?”

Two or three people.

Xie Xian smiled helplessly: “Alright… everyone should be clear now. Those who want to go home can leave now.”

“For the rest of us, let’s prepare for both scenarios. If we can’t steal, we’ll take advantage of the chaos to rob grain!”

“We only have about twenty people now, which is severely inadequate. We need to recruit more hands.”

“Old Shen, you used to run a cult. If I give you money, can you go out and recruit some reliable refugees? Roughly how many people can you bring in?”

Shen Zhaoxuan thought for a moment: “Back in Hengjiang City, I recruited 300 people with 20 taels. I’m not sure about the current situation, but give me 500 taels, and I’ll bring you 2,000 reliable and useful people.”

“We’re not starting a rebellion… Why do you need so many! A hundred people would be enough.”

Shen Zhaoxuan sighed: “You don’t understand. In our line of work, once you start, you can’t stop. The people below spread the word like madmen, unstoppable.”

“Two thousand might even be an underestimate… I’ll try to restrain myself.”

Lian Gui grinned and laughed loudly: “Old Shen, why are you bragging? If you were that awesome, how could the Master have eaten you up without leaving even a crumb?”

Shen Zhaoxuan heaved a long sigh: “Compared to the Master, I’m just a disciple…”

“Actually, starting a cult is quite simple. Those commoners are so stupid, they’ll believe anything you say. Tell them you’re invulnerable to weapons and have three heads and six arms, repeat it a few times, and they’ll believe it. Other cults generally use these tactics.”

“The Master was different. He first used small favors to entice people, then pulled them in for classes. He had quite a few fortune tellers and magicians under him, using various tricks to fool people.”

“He also had a hierarchy for his followers, spreading downwards level by level, telling people every day that believing in him would make them rich.”

“Occasionally, he’d arrange for some divine manifestations for the followers. My people easily betrayed me… Sigh, I entered the wrong profession. I dare say the Master’s ideas were at least a hundred years ahead of mine!”

Xie Xian listened, scratching his head: “The Master was involved in a cult too? How come I didn’t know about this? Wasn’t it the Beggar Clan?”

“Sigh, he did, but not for long. It was because my people went to spread the teachings to the Beggar Clan and angered the Master.”

“But back then we had no money, and after those disciples got hungry enough, they all turned into beggars…”

Shen Zhaoxuan finished with a look of regret on his face, as if reminiscing about those times.

Xie Xian slammed the table after hearing this: “Alright! You take Lian Gui and a few others to recruit people first.”

“Wei Cai and Bai Rui, you go scout first. Within three days, I want the locations of all the wealthy households’ granaries in the city cleared up… See what their reputations are like, and we’ll decide when you get back.”

“Send out another group to purchase equipment, but be careful not to attract attention from watchful eyes.”

Xie Xian then gave detailed arrangements one by one.

After everything was arranged, Lian Gui stood up awkwardly: “Uh… Old Xie, if we really start robbing and something happens, I can’t control over a hundred people. I don’t have the experience.”

Xie Xian frowned: “You can’t even handle a hundred people? What kind of mountain bandit were you?”

Lian Gui complained: “Aiya, you’ve really been made stupid by all that reading! Have you read too many novels? Being a mountain bandit, a few people or a dozen is enough. When I was in the mountains, I only had about a dozen brothers. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been robbed by the Master.”

“You’ve only led about a dozen people, and you dare to talk about robbing grain in an unfamiliar place!” Xie Xian nearly choked with anger.

Everything had been arranged, but the main manpower was lacking. How could this be done now!

Since they decided to do it, it had to be arranged securely.

Xie Xian’s eyes scanned the crowd again, only to find that indeed no one was suitable.

“Since it’s come to this, we have no choice! We need to call someone in!”

“Who?”

“The Martial Arts Champion!”

“Tch~” Everyone made a disdainful sound.

Lian Gui questioned loudly: “I can’t believe you thought of him. Zhou Tie is nothing but a loser who does nothing but eat, drink, whore, and gamble, and gets beaten by Zhang Biao. Which idiot gave him the nickname ‘Martial Arts Champion’?”

Xie Xian smiled helplessly: “It’s not a nickname. He… really is the Martial Arts Champion, just of the Qian Dynasty.”

….

….

The air froze for a moment.

Everyone suddenly stared at Xie Xian in disbelief.

Lian Gui said incredulously: “Old Xie, you can’t joke about this…”

Xie Xian said expressionlessly: “I’m not joking. He told me himself when he was drunk.”

“Back then, after Zhou Tie became the Martial Arts Champion, he was sent to the battlefield before even entering the palace gates. In the first battle, he was thoroughly defeated by the current Emperor.”

“He escaped by playing dead. Later, I don’t know what he was thinking, but he crossed mountains and rivers, wanting to hide in the capital. He stopped to rest in Taoyuan County and was beaten by Zhang Biao.”

“Then he stayed. Not many people know about this, so don’t spread it around to avoid causing trouble for the Master.”

“He’s the only one in the county who’s fought in a war… We have no one else to use but him.”

Lian Gui sighed: “Good grief, he became champion but never won a battle, never won a fight either. Can he really do it?”

“I don’t think so. After Zhang Biao went to the capital, this guy goes around every day shouting that he’s invincible… He’s unreliable, unreliable…”

“I don’t think he can do it either. This fellow does nothing but whore and drink every day. As a constable, his performance is always at the bottom. We should still let Lian Gui do it.”

“He’s not even good at fighting! Zhang Biao beats him so badly, I can’t even bear to watch!”

“Nonsense, being able to fight Zhang Biao back and forth is already very strong!”

“You don’t know, that’s when they fight shirtless. If Constable Zhang wears clothes, he’d be down in less than three moves…”

“…………..”

Xie Xian took a deep breath: “Enough! Stop arguing! With no one else available, let’s call him in and then decide. Even if he’s useless, it won’t hurt. This matter is settled!”