Daming: Internship also counts as work experience

Chapter 33 Preparing to Suppress Bandits
Jia Chuan didn't expect that Dong Shuben would also retreat.

Shunzi also wanted to retreat, but before he could keep up with Dong Shuben's rhythm, Li Shun spoke, and he could only stand there.

"You three can all live in this courtyard. The servants can live in the front yard. I don't have that much to do, and I don't need anyone to wait on me. I'd feel uncomfortable if I had servants around."

Jia Chuan said without hesitation: "Okay, let's go to the wing room and take a look."

"Bring some dry clothes and come over to eat together when the meal is ready."

Jia Chuan took three sets of clean clothes and pulled Shunzi out of the room.

……

Dong Shuben's home is in Dongguan County. He followed Cui Youzhi out to ask him to ask the person who was going to Dongguan County tomorrow to help him bring a letter.

Cui Youzhi agreed, but Dong Shuben had not finished writing it yet, so he said he would send it to the county government office after it was finished.

So when Jia Chuan and Shunzi left the main room, Dong Shuben just happened to run back from the front yard in the rain.

The three of them went to the east wing first. It was fully equipped with everything, and there was a pot of hot tea on the table.

The three of them changed into dry clothes. Dong Shuben got pen, ink and paper and sat at the table to write a letter. Jia Chuan and Shunzi sat in the hall drinking tea, each with their own thoughts.

Shunzi was worried about having to be accompanied by a Jinyiwei all day long. He didn't know if he would be punished for his misconduct before any news came from the capital.

Jia Chuan’s concern is…if he dies, will he return to his previous life, or continue to travel through time?

Only Dong Shuben was in a joyful mood. The story of Huang Luling would sooner or later spread among the people. If his family didn't know that he was still alive, they would be heartbroken. He had wanted to send a message home for a long time, but he had never found a chance. Now that someone from the county government was there to deliver the message in person, how could he not be happy?

The letter was quickly written. Dong Shuben changed into the wet work clothes he had just worn, put the letter in his arms, and went to the door to look at the rain. It was already drizzling, so he ran out with his neck hunched.

Shunzi leaned over the table and asked Jia Chuan softly, "Why did that captain let the three of us stay here with him?"

Jia Chuan smiled and said, "If he could have locked us up, he wouldn't have gone to such trouble. But the three of us accompanied the Crown Prince through his final crisis. Without the Crown Prince's orders, he wouldn't dare do anything to us for now. But he's also afraid we might act restlessly, so he's just watching us this way."

"Isn't it to find an opportunity to find fault with us?"

"You think he's a big shot, but in the eyes of the Crown Prince, he's not even an ant. He said we were disrespectful and punished us. Do you think the Crown Prince can tolerate him? Don't worry, he knows exactly where to act like a grandson and where to be a grandfather."

Shunzi let out a long sigh and said, "Then I don't want to see him either."

"Then try not to see him."

"May I?"

"I'll deal with him."

……

Dinner was ready, Li Shun called out at the door, and a moment later only Jia Chuan entered the room.

"Where are they both?"

"Don't make it difficult for them. Even if Magistrate Cui were here, his calves would cramp if he ate with you."

Jia Chuan sat opposite Li Shun, picked up his chopsticks and started eating.

"Why aren't you afraid?" Li Shun asked puzzledly.

Jia Chuan snorted, thinking that if you had died once, you would know that there was no point in being afraid.

"If the prince believes me, what is there to fear? If the prince does not believe me, I am afraid I will be spared from death."

Li Shun looked at Jia Chuan inquiringly, trying to find some flaw in his expression. After watching for a while without interrupting Jia Chuan's meal, he asked sincerely, "Tell me the truth. Was there any deception in your previous words?"

Jia Chuan shook his head without hesitation and said, "Not a single word is false. First, have someone send some food to them, and then try to get them to talk."

The rain outside had stopped and the sky was dark, but Li Shun did not order anyone to light the lights. When Jia Chuan started eating, he could still see clearly inside the house, but when he was almost done eating, Jia Chuan could no longer see what Li Shun looked like.

"Why don't you let someone light the lamp?" Jia Chuan put down his chopsticks and asked in confusion, "Aren't you afraid of getting your nose eaten?"

"do not like."

"Then you can enjoy it alone. I'm going back to the house. There's no light at all. I can't stand it."

"Have you ever thought about life and death?"

Jia Chuan just raised his butt, then sat back down and asked, "Have you ever thought about life and death?"

Li Shun pretended to be nonchalant and said, "Everyone in the world will die one day."

"So, why think so much? If you don't think about it, why should I?"

"Perhaps I can save you..."

"Come on! To be honest, if it really comes to that... you can't save me, but I can pull you along."

Li Shun's face looked extremely ugly in the darkness.

Jia Chuan really couldn't understand why this captain was so perseverant. From dawn to dusk he had been thinking about how to make Jia Chuan submit to him. Was he really in need of younger brothers?
Jia Chuan said impatiently:
"The Crown Prince trusts me, so naturally, nothing will happen. Even if he doesn't trust me, he will still meet me before making a decision. If I die before the Crown Prince makes a decision, you will definitely be buried with me. You are just a centurion. You think you can have a say in front of the Crown Prince? It's a bit foolish. You can't imagine what happened between me and the Crown Prince. Don't try to do anything to me. Do you understand?"

After saying this, Jia Chuan stood up and left.

How could Li Shun not understand? It seemed as if Jia Chuan had seen through all his little thoughts. He was very unhappy. If Jia Chuan had not saved the prince, if it was anyone else, he would have dared to slam the table and glare at Jia Chuan, or even throw him directly into the cell.

But Jia Chuan chose to save the prince, and the prince was not someone who was easy to fool. If he dared to do anything, even Xu Gong would not be able to save him.

So he could only watch Jia Chuan get up and leave, and he couldn't say a word.

……

The next day, the weather cleared up.

It was a rare occasion for Jia Chuan to wake up naturally. When he got up, Dong Shuben was chatting with Shunzi in the hall, and they sounded in a good mood.

"Did the government send people to Dongguang County early this morning?"

Jia Chuan walked to the table, picked up the teapot, poured himself a cup, blew on it, and drank it.

"I heard that he left before dawn and sent a fast horse to report the news. I'm afraid he has arrived by now." Dong Shuben answered with a smile.

Jia Chuan thought to himself that maybe the messenger from the yamen would bring back someone from Dongguang County in the afternoon, and as for the news from the capital... Jia Chuan didn't think it would come soon. It wasn't that Zhu Zhanji would wait for Xu Gong to come back, but Zhu Zhanji also had to think about this matter before giving any orders.

He knew that the first group was from the Han Palace, the second and fourth groups were bandits, so who was the third group? Why did they want to massacre all the people from the Inspection Office?
Jia Chuan felt that he suffered from a lack of information and knew nothing about the people and things outside the mountains. His pitiful historical knowledge disappeared very quickly at the critical moment. Perhaps Zhu Zhanji knew who the third group was after reading his work report.

This third group of people was most likely wiped out, with no one returning to report. The people behind the scenes must be having a hard time these days, just like the King of Han.

Sure enough, at 3 p.m., the messenger returned with the county magistrate of Dongguang County. By the time Jia Chuan received the news, Cui Youzhi was already leading his men into the courtyard, demonstrating the influence of the Jinyiwei among the officials.

Although only the county magistrate came from Dongguang County, it was because the county magistrate was old and could not ride a fast horse, so he was now riding in a carriage on a bumpy road.

Dongguan County Magistrate He Zheng explained this matter to Li Shun when he met him.

Li Shun didn't waste any time. Seeing that the leaders of the working group were basically present, he convened the first meeting on the implementation of the bandit suppression measures. Jia Chuan, Dong Shuben and Shunzi attended the meeting.

During the meeting, it was first confirmed that there were indeed bandits on Xiaodong Mountain in Dongguan County. It cannot be said that there was no progress in Dongguan County's several bandit suppression efforts, but it can be said that nothing was accomplished. Every time, it was difficult to negotiate with the garrison, and the governor also agreed to allocate funds. However, as soon as the garrison troops arrived, the bandits would find a small path into the forest of Huangluling, and it would be difficult to find any trace of them. The garrison officers and soldiers and the people in the yamen did not have so much time to waste with them, so they withdrew after a pretense.

Fortunately, these bandits did not do anything evil.

Although Jia Chuan didn't understand what constituted a serious evil, he seemed to know why a patrol inspection office was set up in the Huangluling Mountains and forests. However, the cooperation between the various departments did not seem to have started.

During the meeting, Li Shun asked Jia Chuan for his opinion several times. It seemed that the conversation in the dark last night triggered Li Shun's deep thinking, but how could Jia Chuan have any idea about this matter?
He only knew that judging from the bandits' behavior, they were most likely the bandits from Xiaodong Mountain.

That night at the Earth God Temple, they were the second group to arrive. Although Jia Chuan had assumed they would disperse and search for clues, he later reflected that the patrol officers, familiar with the forests, were naturally bold in their actions. But how could outsiders dare to disperse in the dense woods? This was his first thought. Secondly, Jia Chuan reasoned that the bandits, searching for their accomplices on their errands, had found only rotting corpses, so they had killed the third group as enemies and stolen their weapons and bows and arrows. These were valuable items, and without a way to conceal their whereabouts, how could they escape safely?

If they were bandits from Xiaodong Mountain, this would make sense. They knew the small path back to the stronghold, and the journey was not too far.

From this, we can infer that the traitor was at least still alive when the bandits returned home. After all, he was a human being and could help carry a lot of things.

After listening to Jia Chuan's inference, Li Shun suggested discussing the bandit suppression plan directly. Cui Youzhi reminded him that this matter cannot be separated from the garrison...

Then, more yamen runners rode out of the city on horseback.

Jia Chuan reiterated to Li Shun that he had no idea about suppressing the bandits. He also reminded Li Shun that news from the capital would arrive within a day or so. While waiting for the news, instead of immediately thinking of ways to suppress them, it would be better to first find out the various situations of the bandits. As for what kind of situations they were, Jia Chuan didn't know.

When it was dark, Liu Yuan, the magistrate of Dongguan County, arrived trembling. It was said that the Tongzhi of the garrison would also arrive later. Li Shun thought that the house was not big and the second meeting was imminent, so he suggested going to the county government office to hold the second meeting on the implementation of the bandit suppression measures.

Jia Chuan refused to attend, and Dong Shuben and Shunzi were forced to attend.

Jia Chuan was puzzled by Li Shun's enthusiasm. If grassroots cadres were so enthusiastic about their work, shouldn't the prosperous scene of peace and prosperity be realized long ago?

He lay in bed and thought for a long time before he realized that this was an attempt to seek credit!

Li Shun knew clearly that no matter whether Jia Chuan was dead or alive, since Jia Chuan raised the possibility of bandits, it no longer mattered whether the bandits on Xiaodong Mountain were related to the Huangluling case. They urgently needed to find a mountain to kill them. If they killed them correctly, it would be a credit, but if they killed them incorrectly, it didn't matter either, as the credit would be smaller.

As for Li Shun, what he needed was to be able to report his work arrangements in a timely manner when the news came from above. Although he couldn't post on WeChat Moments due to overtime meetings, they had the mouths to speak. As for whether the bandit suppression could be successful...

Jia Chuan turned over a new leaf. No matter where he worked, his methods and approaches were similar. He held frequent meetings, worked overtime all night, overturned various proposals, and finally used the first version...

As he was thinking, Jia Chuan fell asleep.

……

The next morning, Jia Chuan was awakened by the sound of Dong Shuben and Shunzi entering the house. He looked at the two pandas, looking listless, and asked, "Have you come up with a solution?"

Dong Shuben shook his head.

Originally, there were east and west wing rooms in the yard, but these two people insisted on living with Jia Chuan. Jia Chuan understood, but it was impossible for three people to squeeze into one bed, and this was not a large bunk bed. So, Dong Shuben and Shunzi slept on the floor next to the bed, and they wanted to live together.

Today, Jia Chuan woke up, and the two of them put on their clothes and went straight to bed, and started snoring.

Jia Chuan was bored, so he went to the county government office after breakfast. He wanted to find Old Zheng to study the corpse, but he was blocked by Gao Yuntian in the front office.

"I was just going to find you."

"What do you want from me? Call me Master first."

"Don't make trouble!"

"Who's messing with you?"

"You know about the bandit suppression, right? You must take me with you."

Jia Chuan raised his eyebrows and asked, "Shouldn't you ask the county magistrate about this? What's the point of asking me?"

"Don't pretend! Everyone knows you have the final say in this matter!"

Jia Chuan was stunned.

"The county magistrate won't let me go. You must help me speak up for me no matter what. If it really doesn't work, then just order me to go."

"I give orders?" Jia Chuan looked around and frowned, asking, "Who listens?"

"The county lord will definitely listen."

"No, I just don't understand. You're on this life-threatening mission, and you're trying to take credit for it? But you're a constable, so what good would it do if you did something good?"

"Don't worry about that. Just tell me whether you'll help or not, okay?"

"Call me Master, please."

"dream!"

Gao Yunqi left with a snort.

Jia Chuan strolled to Old Zheng's yard and called out at the door, "Are you home?"

Old Zheng poked his head out and said, "If I hadn't answered you, you would have had to sit on the ground if there were any other sounds."

As Old Zheng spoke, he took off his overalls and gloves, went to the yard to fetch some water and washed them, then turned and asked, "Why are you coming to me instead of just resting at home?"

"boring."

"How can you be so bored? I heard we're going to suppress bandits? And we still have to obey your orders?"

"They let you sit in on the meeting?" Jia Chuan asked puzzledly, sitting on a small stool.

Old Zheng laughed and said, "This county government office is no different from the people in the streets. If something happens, it will be reported to me as soon as the wind blows."

"Don't they usually dare to get close to this place?"

"I can't help but go out for a stroll."

Old Zheng sat down next to Jia Chuan and asked in a low voice, "I heard... you'll be promoted soon?"

　Today is the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, let’s welcome the God of Wealth!

　　I wish you all great wealth in the Year of the Snake. May all five Gods of Wealth arrive together, and there will always be one that suits you!
　　Today is Monday, and what a coincidence, tomorrow is Tuesday. It is the day that determines whether there will be any recommendations for next week. I would like to ask everyone to lend a hand tomorrow and take a look at it when you have time. Here’s to February!

(End of this chapter)