What's wrong with me, a powerful minister, supporting a few female officials?

Chapter 12 Awakening
It was also easy to file a lawsuit in the Great Wu Dynasty.

The plaintiff and the lawyer's written statement constitute a formal case.

The government must handle this; otherwise, if the wronged party takes the matter to the prefectural government, even the county magistrate will be implicated.

"Has this guy gone mad? He actually dares to oppose the magistrate!"

Fan Anzhi cursed under his breath.

He took the petition with a gloomy expression and glanced at it.

He then handed them to Jing Cheng and coldly snorted, "Send them all to the Master!"

Afterwards, he carried the documents and files away.

In the interrogation room, Jing Cheng, San Shu, and others immediately started discussing it.

An old clerk chuckled and said to Fan Anzhi, "Those brigands have some nerve, daring to go against the clerk!"

"Isn't this looking for death?"

Fan Anzhi snorted: "Sometimes it's not what he wants!"

Old Jingcheng nodded: "What Clerk Fan said is right!"

"If we hadn't been forced into a corner, things wouldn't have come to this."

He listened with some resentment: "That Magistrate Ma is the same!"

"First a cult started causing trouble, then our own people started fighting. Isn't this just adding insult to injury for the big boss? Do they think we haven't been scolded enough?"

Fan Anzhi said earnestly, "This is a rare opportunity!"

On the surface, this is a feud between Su Mo and Zhou Meng, two white-collar workers.

In fact, the clerk and Chen Qian started fighting.

As fellow clerks in the criminal investigation department, they subconsciously favored Chen Qian.

"Fan Sili, do you think Chen Qian can defeat Ma Dianshi?"

Suddenly a voice broke in from the side.

Fan Anzhi turned his head and looked.

The speaker was Zhuo Lang, a veteran of the criminal investigation department for over ten years, whose prestige was second only to himself. He usually got along quite well with Chen Qian.

He said calmly, "The clerk is an official, Chen Qian is a clerk!"

"How could a mere official possibly win against a bureaucrat!"

"This time, he'll be lucky to escape with his life!"

Zhuo Lang chuckled: "I don't think so."

"Anyone dare to try something?"

A man nearby, holding a loose book, stared wide-eyed: "Zhuo Jingcheng, are you looking for death?"

"You dare to make fun of the affairs of the clerk?"

Zhuo Lang rolled his eyes: "So what if he's a clerk? It's none of our business!"

"Besides, who said we were going to gamble with the clerk?"

"I'm just betting on whether Chen Qian can escape this calamity!"

"Bet on Chen Qian and he'll be fined 10 times the stake; bet on Chen Qian and he'll be imprisoned 12 times the stake!"

"Those who are innocent must pay one tael of silver, while those who are imprisoned must pay twelve taels of silver!"

Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes lit up.

There's not much entertainment in the prison, but they do run a lot of gambling games.

Zhuo Lang, that old gambler, has the biggest gambling addiction and plays the most games!
The old clerk wasn't really afraid of a minor official with no real power. He could just throw a few coins at him and pull off a few tricks. Did he think he could take down the entire prison?

Does he think he's some kind of high-ranking magistrate?
Everyone started shouting.

"Bet on Chen Qian if nothing happens, pay out ten times the stake?"

"A twelve-for-one payout for jail time?"

Does death count?

"In the past, the maximum bet was 180 or 100 coins. Does Zhuo Jingcheng have enough money to pay out?"

Zhuo Lang chuckled and slammed the heavy money bag onto the table: "Of course it counts if he's dead!"

"Did you see the silver?"

"You'll win back everything you bet!"

"If I'm short even a penny, I'll cut off a piece of my own flesh to pay for it!"

The money bag slammed onto the table with a heavy thud, proving it contained at least twenty or thirty taels of silver!
The clerks in the torture chamber darted around with their eyes darting about.

Chen Qian's chances of winning are low, but the potential losses are high. If he bets one tael of silver, he'll lose ten taels!
The clerk has a high chance of winning, and there's a good chance he'll imprison Chen Qian or even kill him.

But they only lost one tael out of twelve taels of silver!
The wages of the clerks in the criminal investigation department were not even as good as those in the fast-track clerks, and they didn't have as many ways to make money as the fast-track clerks. They only earned a dozen or so taels of silver a year!
What if we lose? Wouldn't we have worked for nothing all year?
The clerk secretly began to make his own calculations.

Three shifts and six rooms, all full of shrewd people!
It was calculated very quickly.

Although the clerk was an official, he had only been there a short time and didn't have much of a foothold in the local area.

Chen Qian is ruthless and vicious, with a lot of tricks up his sleeve. If it really comes down to a fight, he still has a chance of winning.

Logically, a payout of 1 to 6 or 7 should be considered normal.

With a payout of 10, it's clear that we can win!
They all work at the bottom of the government offices; you might not see them today, but you might see them tomorrow.

If you manage to survive, and you buy him a place in jail, how will you get along with him afterward?

Furthermore, a clerk is a clerk, and an official is an official. If you buy the clerk's money, aren't you telling others that you're not on the same page as the clerk?

"Chen Qian is fine, thirty coins!"

"I'll also bet on Chen Qianying, fifty coins!"

"Chen Qian, add one more, and it's three hundred and eighty coins! I'll fight you to the death!"

……

Brothels and pleasure houses are among the oldest forms of entertainment.

The crowd scrambled to place their bets in a chaotic frenzy.

Zhuo Lang picked up his pen and wrote everything down.

Suddenly, a cold snort rang out: "What kind of people are you! Is this a torture chamber or a gambling den?"

The crowd fell silent for a moment!
Zhuo Lang looked up at the head of the criminal investigation department who had spoken, and said with a smile, "Clerk Fan, how about we try something out too?"

Fan Anzhi snorted coldly again, then said, "One tael of silver to secure Chen Qian's safety!" As he spoke, he took out one tael of silver and handed it over.

Zhuo Lang quickly pushed the silver back: "Clerk, you've forgotten, I borrowed one tael from you last time and haven't paid it back yet!"

Fan Anzhi slapped his forehead: "If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have completely forgotten about it!"

They took the opportunity to recover the silver.

But in his heart he was thinking, if Chen Qian were to win by chance, wouldn't he get ten taels of silver for free?

The clerk of the Criminal Division receives a salary of thirty taels of silver.

With some additional ways to make money, one could earn a hundred or eighty taels.

Unfortunately, he had elderly parents to care for, young children to raise, a wife and two concubines to support, and servants and maids to serve.

They are often taken advantage of by poor relatives from the same clan, and they have no choice but to accept it!

Gifts to superiors during holidays and social obligations among colleagues also add up to a significant expense.

They were really strapped for cash.

Ten taels of silver, don't say you don't care.

……

The government office is tiny.

The news of Chen Qian confronting the clerk quickly spread throughout the government office.

Not just the torture chamber.

The other five rooms and three classes also had many gambling games, and Chen Qian's odds were quite high.

Clearly, no one had high hopes for the old assistant.

Of course, take a gamble, and you might just turn a donkey cart into a horse-drawn carriage!
I'm definitely betting on Chen Qianying.

It's not that there weren't any minor officials like the clerks, but they were very few.

With such low odds, even if you win, you won't be happy. It's only enough to buy a few pieces of salt. Do you think you're a beggar?
……

The second hall of the county government.

With a lean face and a meticulously groomed short beard, the imposing County Magistrate Xue Shan was frowning as he reviewed the official documents and files that had just been delivered to him.

He has served in Changping County for six years!

Despite his youth and promising future in officialdom, he lacked connections and spent twenty years in the bureaucracy only managing to become a seventh-rank county magistrate.

Xue Shan was naturally unwilling to accept this.

This is a year of great exams. I originally hoped to get a mediocre or above-average evaluation, and then grit my teeth, take out my savings of many years, pull some strings, and move up the ranks.

Who knew that a cult would suddenly appear and cause trouble?

Xue Shan was naturally not in a good mood.

He finished reading the top few case files with a dark expression.

He then picked up a large pen.

He signed two arrest warrants, took the warrant, handed it to the clerk beside him, and said calmly, "Have the fast team arrest him!"

The advisor, Dong Yangrong, frowned: "Master Dong, this Ma Yingshi has ulterior motives."

"It is said that this person is a collateral branch of the Ma family and has some influence in the prefecture. If he gains a foothold in the county, he may become a threat!"

Having served Xue Shan for many years, he handled most of the affairs in the county.

Dong Yangrong immediately saw what Ma Yingshi was up to.

Normally, cases involving county officials like these would be reported to the relevant officials immediately.

If Ma Yingshi wanted to close the case, he could have simply given a heads-up, and the Sixth Division wouldn't have delivered it to the county government so quickly.

Xue Shan waved his hand: "This person is ruthless but lacks political acumen, so he is not a threat."

Dong Yangrong was somewhat surprised: "What do you mean by that, sir?"

Xue Shan said calmly, "It's nothing more than being unable to stand the loneliness and wanting to establish his authority by taking down two clerks."

"So be it."

“Even the concubine’s own brother was treated as a pawn and discarded at will.”

"With such a cold-hearted and short-sighted nature, how can one go far!"

A higher-ranking official can crush a person; no matter how much Ma Yingshi tries to rise to power, where can he go?
Dong Yangrong nodded: "What you say makes sense!"

"The students will immediately notify the accelerated class to apprehend the person!"

"Wait!" Xue Shan suddenly called out to him, "Has there been any news from the garrison?"

Dong Yangrong shook his head: "No news yet!"

Xue Shan frowned and muttered to himself, "The Embroidered Uniform Guard must know a great deal about cults!"

As he spoke, he looked up at Dong Yangrong and asked, "What are your thoughts, Mr. Dong?"

Dong Yangrong immediately became serious. After a moment of contemplation, he slowly said, "The Locust God Temple cult is capable of producing a corpse oil lamp ritual artifact. It is definitely not an ordinary cult. The style of the oil lamp is also from the previous dynasty, which may be related to the remnants of the previous dynasty."

"This is beyond the capacity of Changping County to handle."

He paused for a moment, then said, "Now that the Embroidered Uniform Guard has intervened, things are much easier."

"Lord Dong should remain calm and adaptable, appease the people, and order the three shifts of yamen runners, archers, and militia to be ready to cooperate with the Embroidered Uniform Guard at any time!"

Xue Shan shook his head with a wry smile: "I'm afraid the Embroidered Uniform Guard can't be relied on!"

"Their success in taking down the cult is a great achievement, and they need not concern themselves with the lives of the county's residents. But I, on the other hand, cannot do that!"

The two sides have completely different interests and positions.

He was the chief official of a county.

If the people under his rule suffer heavy casualties, even if the cult is eventually defeated and the Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards) claim the credit, the blame will fall on him.

Xue Shan pondered for a long time before finally waving for Dong Yangrong to leave.

I grind the ink, pick up my brush, and send a letter to the capital.

Let's see if we can get some information from the tutor of the Assistant Minister of Rites.

……

The county government office was bustling with activity.

Su Mo, who had been unexpectedly struck on the back of the neck by his uncle, finally woke up slowly!

(End of this chapter)