Union

Chapter 21 Stupid is worse than a donkey?

When Fan Xuchang walked out of the back hall of the county government office, it was already past noon.

He walked out of the county government office at a leisurely pace, and when he reached the street corner, a carriage silently followed him.

Fan Xuchang boarded the carriage, where people were already waiting.

The man poured a cup of tea for Fan Xuchang and said jokingly, "I can smell no smell of wine or meat on you, sir. It's already this late, and our magistrate hasn't even prepared a banquet, let alone thought of offering you a few cups of wine. If he's so clueless, he won't be able to settle down in Yungui County. It's not our fault for not giving him face; it's just that our magistrate is too incompetent."

Fan Xuchang cast a cold glance at him, and the teasing voice immediately stopped. The speaker also lost his playful demeanor and became serious again.

He asked Fan Xuchang in a flattering manner, "You said you wanted to test this magistrate's abilities, has that been done yet?"

Fan Xuchang sipped his tea leisurely, scoffed, and said, "It's just a donkey theft case. As long as this gentleman isn't foolish or stupid, there's no reason why he can't solve it."

Is their newly appointed county magistrate a fool?

That's impossible.

If he were simple-minded, he would not have been chosen as the top scholar by His Majesty in this year's imperial examination, nor would he have been granted the title of Jinshi and entered the Hanlin Academy as a compiler.

If it weren't for his mentor's involvement, his refusal to distance himself from Grand Secretary Tong, and his repeated petitions to plead for his mentor, which angered His Majesty, he wouldn't have been demoted to this desolate and barren Yun Gui County as its magistrate.

Such a brilliant and talented person, if he hadn't fallen into misfortune, would have been harder to meet in this lifetime than climbing to heaven.

If such people are all foolish, then what should we call these ordinary, mediocre people? Uncivilized ancient people?

Fan Xuchang's expression gradually turned cold and somber. He said to the person opposite him, "Don't underestimate our county magistrate just because he's only just reached adulthood. He's seen things that we probably wouldn't see in several lifetimes. We should be careful from now on. This county magistrate is arrogant and would never associate with us. If he discovers our shady dealings, we'll be in deep trouble."

The man opposite him, however, was not afraid at all. He only showed a slick and mocking expression. "As the old saying goes, even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake. Let's not talk about whether this magistrate can be called a powerful dragon or not. As for us, Yun Gui County is as solid as iron. Our brothers are all tight-lipped. It's impossible for this magistrate to find out about our business."

He chuckled again, "He can't even outsmart you, so how could he possibly see through our secret? To be honest, you're the real master. With just the word 'water,' you've completely fooled this junior magistrate, keeping him busy with farm work. He still hasn't figured out the ins and outs of the county. If you don't become the magistrate, none of us brothers will accept it."

Fan Xuchang felt pleased by the flattery, but the thought of how many more years this magistrate would have to stay in this remote and impoverished place made him somewhat annoyed.

If he had stayed in Yungui County, wouldn't they have been able to continue their business?
The man on the other side had apparently thought of this problem as well, and asked Fan Xuchang, "The magistrate has told us brothers to keep a low profile lately, but we brothers also need to support our families. Without this source of income, how can we brothers sit idly by?"

Fan Xuchang: "What else can we do but continue to commit crimes under the cover of darkness? This official is not like the previous ones, nor is he someone you can bribe. We don't want him to use us as leverage and we to become his ladder to power."

The man opposite sneered, "Sir, you overestimate that kid. Although he comes from above and has considerable experience, this magistrate may not have seen the petty scheming and despicable behavior of those below. Besides, even if he discovers our schemes, so what? The emperor is far away, we can just kill him and call it an accident."

The moment this person uttered those words, you knew something bad was going to happen.

Sure enough, Fan Xuchang stared at him with cold eyes, "If you want to die, don't drag me down with you."

Fan Xuchang said sinisterly, "I may want to rise to the top, and I'm not afraid of getting my hands dirty, but it depends on whose life it is. I'll say it again, this man, you can't kill him! You're not allowed to kill him! Don't think that just because His Majesty dislikes him, you can do whatever you want with him. A fallen phoenix is ​​not as good as a chicken, but you should also consider the phoenix's background and whether he has any relatives or friends! As for Chen Yanzhou, not to mention that the disciples and students of Grand Secretary Tong will definitely take care of him, he is also the second son of the Duke of Rong. You dare to touch a hair on his head? The Duke of Rong may not be able to compete with His Majesty, but dealing with you is just a matter of lifting a finger. Don't let your momentary impulse lead you to get your hands dirty."

Fan Xuchang got off the carriage beside a secluded alley. After he walked away, the carriage moved forward for about a hundred meters, and then a middle-aged man got on the carriage.

The middle-aged man looked at Zhao Xiong in the carriage with a gloomy expression and asked, "How did it go? Did that old bastard teach you a lesson again?"

"Ha, you old bastard, one day I'll twist his head off and feed it to the dogs."

The man called Zhao Xiong was the same one who had spoken with Magistrate Fan earlier. He had sharp features, a dark complexion, and purple lips, making him appear as if he had been poisoned. In reality, however, this was merely a reaction to his anger.

However, this person's heart is more poisonous than deadly poison. Even long-term partners will be killed once they are no longer of use to him. He is ruthless and vicious.

This person is arrogant, vicious, and extremely vengeful. Many people know this about his temperament and would not easily offend him.

Fan Xuchang's words just now clearly offended him severely.

However, judging from Magistrate Fan's nonchalant appearance, he clearly knew that this man couldn't do anything to him, so he was fearless and didn't take the man's anger to heart at all.

Back inside the carriage, Wu Shixun, seeing Zhao Xiong's vicious expression, couldn't help but ask curiously, "What did he say that made you hate him so much?" Zhao Xiong chuckled, "Does calling me a rat in the gutter count? Damn Fan Xuchang, he was incompetent and got robbed, so he's taking it out on me. He thinks I'm his dog, that he can train me however he wants? That damn dog, if I didn't still need him, I would have stabbed him just now."

Upon hearing this, Wu Shixun's face showed a thoughtful expression.

Zhao Xiong continued angrily, "He even warned me not to kill indiscriminately, or I wouldn't even know how I died. Damn it, if I didn't have a few lives on my hands, how many days would I live? If I hadn't killed indiscriminately, Fan Xuchang would probably still be fishing somewhere right now."

Saying that Fan Xuchang was a fisherman is a bit of an exaggeration. After all, Fan Xuchang had studied for a few years. Even if he didn't achieve anything in the imperial examinations, his grandfather and father's abilities secured him a position in the River God's office.

The River God was in charge of collecting fishing taxes. Fan Xuchang was just an ordinary ambassador at first. The common people were still ignorant and would show some respect to officials. So, over time, they started calling him "Lord Clerk".

Fan Xuchang's true rise to power occurred after the Shang family, a powerful local clan, was wiped out. Fan Xuchang made a significant contribution to this case, and before the county magistrate was promoted, he was promoted to county assistant.

The county magistrate was a high-ranking official of the eighth rank, one of the few officials in a county who could be considered as having been appointed by the imperial court. The others were merely minor clerks and menial servants. To outsiders, this seemed prestigious, but in reality, it was nothing special.

Continuing with Fan Xuchang, after being promoted to county magistrate, he quickly cultivated good relationships with his colleagues through his smooth-talking skills. Furthermore, the newly appointed magistrate was old and had failing eyesight, a veritable idiot. Fan Xuchang flattered the magistrate, even buying him two concubines. In this way, he gained the magistrate's favor and was even allowed to act as magistrate when the magistrate was too busy to attend to other matters.

It was at this time that Fan Xuchang gained a foothold, and afterwards, his power grew larger and larger, and people's hearts became increasingly insatiable.

How insatiable is he?

Fan Xuchang wants to be the county magistrate!
According to the regulations of the Xia Dynasty, all officials at the county level and above were selected and appointed through the imperial examination or recommended by officials of the fourth rank or above.

Fan Xuchang had not taken the formal imperial examinations, nor did he have the ability to get a fourth-rank official to recommend him or for the Ministry of Personnel to write his appointment document. Therefore, he could only be a county magistrate.

But special cases should be handled specially.

Yun Gui County was too poor. For two years, no county magistrate had come to take office. Fan Xuchang thought that if the position of county magistrate remained vacant for a long time, he might have a chance.

But just as he was having a wonderful dream, Chen Yanzhou was demoted to be the magistrate of Yungui County.

Chen Yanzhou was demoted, but his low point was the peak of Fan Xuchang's life that he longed for, so Fan Xuchang naturally hated him with a passion.

But as Fan Xuchang said before, whether a fallen phoenix is ​​stronger than a chicken depends on its background. This new magistrate, having grown up in the mansions of nobles, frequented the imperial court and prestigious families. Even in his current predicament, how could they possibly bully him?
But I just can't swallow this insult.

Thus, today's "donkey theft case" came about.

Wu Shixun, who was obviously aware of everything, chuckled and comforted Zhao Xiong, "You've lost your mind. Why would you need to scheme against that old scoundrel surnamed Fan? Don't you know him? He's two-faced. Don't be fooled by his warnings against rash actions. He's probably thinking about how to deal with that new magistrate."

"It's hard to tell whether Chen Yanzhou has any skills or not, but I imagine the Duke's mansion will send someone to protect him. Fan Xuchang wants to take his anger out on him, but he might end up getting hurt."

"Just wait and see what happens. If you really can't swallow this, you can always have someone pass on a message to the new magistrate. This donkey theft case is quite interesting."

As he said this, Wu Shixun's meaningful smile grew wider and wider until it turned into uncontrollable laughter. "Fan Xuchang is truly cunning and vicious. What a 'stupider than a donkey, stupider than a donkey,' hahaha..."

Locals often say, "Stupider than a donkey," which is clearly an insult. And today, what was stolen wasn't anything else, but precisely a stupid donkey that only cares about its food and not its owner.

Haha, that old bastard Fan Xuchang, it seems he's been holding back for a while, which is why he caused this mess. Regardless of whether the new magistrate can deliver a verdict today, he's certainly vented half his anger.

However, how can the new magistrate handle local affairs if he doesn't learn about the customs of Yungui County? As considerate and thoughtful officials of Yungui County, they naturally have to keep the magistrate in mind in everything they do.

As for how the county magistrate would confront Fan Xuchang after learning about this, and whether Fan Xuchang would suffer an unexpected setback, they didn't care at all.

It's not that they didn't care about Fan Xuchang's life or death; it's just that they had too much faith in this old devil's abilities.

No matter how capable and promising Chen Yanzhou was, what could he do when he encountered the cunning and shrewd, or even worse, the ghostly, old Magistrate Fan?

The previous county magistrates hadn't been able to do anything to Fan Xuchang; in fact, he had caused them great trouble and even cost them their lives. Could this greenhorn Chen Yanzhou possibly manage to crush Magistrate Fan?
There's no need to worry about Fan Xuchang's death, nor about him falling into the hands of the new magistrate. So what is there to worry about?
Yun Gui County is too remote and too boring. They can't wait to see some fun, hahahahaha...

(End of this chapter)