Gao Wu Da Ming: Starting as a military household and ascending to the rank of Martial Saint

Yu Shaowu explained, "When I said I was reporting to the authorities, I didn't mean to Hu Nan, but to Li Zhencai."

"Li Zhencai?" Ji Shouyi was even more puzzled. "How could a mere commander of a thousand men possibly be a match for the prefect?"

Yu Shaowu continued, "A few days ago, our garrison issued a notice stating that Commander Li is now in charge of investigating the case of collusion with bandits in Baode Prefecture. Any villagers who know of any bandits' whereabouts can report to him. Those two thieves in the trees in the distance are most likely bandits from the Lüliang Mountains. It is only right to report to Commander Li."

Ji Shouyi said, "I've heard a little about this matter, but in Baode Prefecture, the prefect is the most powerful. Even though the Baode Thousand-Household Garrison is under the jurisdiction of the Shanxi Military Command, it still has to obey the prefect's orders. What difference does it make whether you tell Li Zhencai or Hu Nan?"

Yu Shaowu smiled slightly and said, "Senior Brother is not a government official and does not know the intricacies of government affairs. In my opinion, this notice shows that Li Zhencai's investigation into Baode's collusion with bandits was not on Hu Nan's orders, but rather it shows that Li Zhencai and Hu Nan have fallen out."

"Oh?" Ji Shouyi inquired, "Why do you say that?"

Yu Shaowu said, "Firstly, according to official practice, this matter was not originally under the jurisdiction of the commander-in-chief, so Li Zhencai overstepped his authority. Therefore, there must have been an official of higher rank than Hu Nan who directly granted Li Zhencai this authorization. This official could be the Shanxi Provincial Military Commander, the Kelan Military Commissioner, or even the Governor's Office. They all have this authority."

Secondly, the notice from the Thousand-Household Office only contained the official seal of the Thousand-Household Commander, not the official seal of the prefectural government. Perhaps the junior official in charge, wanting to save trouble, didn't get the prefectural government's seal, but if that's not the case, it further confirms my conjecture. Therefore, I believe the most likely explanation is that Li Zhencai received the support of high-ranking officials in the province, which is why he dared to post such a notice.”

Ji Shouyi pondered for a moment and said, "But I know Li Zhencai. He's always been lazy and cowardly. Even if he received this news, would he really risk offending Hu Nan? After all, when Deputy Commander Chang Qi died, he didn't make any move."

Yu Shaowu said, "Senior Brother, as I said before, you don't understand the intricacies of government politics. When officials fight, they either don't act at all, or when they do, they're determined to kill their opponent. Since Li Zhencai chose to issue this notice, it means he's already fallen out with Hu Nan. Right now, what he wants most is a knife to keep Hu Nan pinned down. Therefore, he must be most interested in those two bandits."

Ji Shouyi suddenly realized something. If Hu Nan really was colluding with the bandits, then the two bandits in the tree might have had contact with Hu Nan. If they were caught, they would undoubtedly pose a huge threat to Hu Nan.

Yu Shaowu paused for a moment, then said, "The prefect actually colluded with bandits, intending to feed the people under his jurisdiction to wolves. This is simply outrageous. Even if there are many corrupt officials in our Great Ming Dynasty, there are always some people who care about the people."

Ji Shouyi also believed that those corrupt officials could not cover up the truth, so he said, "Junior Brother is right. I will go to the Thousand Household Office now and personally report this matter to Li Zhencai."

Yu Shaowu shook his head and said, "Since that scoundrel is monitoring outside the martial arts school, you and I have probably already become their prey. My suggestion is that the two of us should not act rashly. We should only send one or two trusted confidants to report according to the instructions in the notice. Li Zhencai is a shrewd man. When he sees that it is someone from the Juyi Martial Arts School who has come to report, he will certainly not ignore it."

Ji Shouyi thought it made sense and said, "Alright, then I will personally write a letter and have He Huan go to the Thousand Household Office to deliver it to Li Zhencai."

Yu Shaowu added, "Eldest brother, you must run the martial arts school as always, without alerting the enemy. You should also have your sister-in-law secretly gather all the women in the school and hide them in the cellar at any time, in case those two thieves suddenly attack."

"Okay." Ji Shouyi nodded and said, "Don't worry, brother, I'll take care of it."

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When Yu Shaowu came out, the two thieves in the tree were gone.

However, Yu Shaowu wasn't worried that they would suddenly leave. A hunter who has his eye on his prey won't give up easily, especially since he hadn't done anything to alert them.

Even with the intervention of the Thousand-Household Garrison, Yu Shaowu believed these men wouldn't leave easily. If the bandits of Lüliang Mountain were truly afraid of the Thousand-Household Garrison, they wouldn't have so frequently caused trouble in Baode Prefecture.

After He Huan left, in the evening, Yu Shaowu saw Li Zhencai personally leading the men of the Thousand Households Office, along with several government-owned hunting dogs, to the tree.

These hunting dogs, called scout dogs, are a type of spirit dog. They were trained by animal trainers who practiced Qi cultivation in the Shanxi Military Command and then sent to various thousand-household offices to perform official duties. They were used for delivering messages, reconnaissance, and spies.

In fact, there were not only spirit dogs, but also various other types of spirit beasts. It's just that the Baode Thousand-Household Office had a very low status, and apart from spirit dogs, there were no other spirit beasts available.

With the addition of these spirit dogs, the thieves' presence was practically impossible to conceal. However, since they could control wolves, they must also have extensive experience in animal taming and might have countermeasures in mind.

However, these were things beyond Yu Shaowu's control. Since the matter had already been handed over to Li Zhencai, whether he could succeed or not depended on Li's abilities.

For the next few days, everything at the martial arts school was normal. Ji Shouyi continued to teach his disciples diligently, while Yu Shaowu continued to practice diligently, making the most of every minute.

As time passed, the efficiency of both the government and the bandits slowed down, or rather, stagnated. Yu Shaowu knew that Li Zhencai's investigation must have encountered resistance; the higher-ups were scheming among themselves, and those at the lower levels could only wait idly.

Yu Shaowu ignored all that. With the panel's enhancement, he was now breaking through a meridian almost every five days. All his previous breakthrough experiences were etched into his mind, proof forever. The process was as smooth as Zhang Wuji learning the Great Shift of the Universe.

In just over a month, he had almost completed a full cycle of the twelve primary meridians. All he needed to do was open each meridian completely to be considered to have fully completed the cycle.

Establishing connections between meridians primarily relies on the control of the lungs and internal organs. Yu Shaowu's existing experience is ineffective, thus slowing his progress. Even so, his cultivation speed far surpasses that of ordinary geniuses.

At this point, he had completely surpassed Ji Shouyi. This senior brother had only taught Yu Shaowu for a little over two months, and then there was nothing more he could teach him.

Although Ji Shouyi did not yet know how far Yu Shaowu had progressed, he gradually began to realize that in some aspects of cultivation, he was actually inferior to his junior brother.

However, this was not a psychological barrier for either of them. Ji Shouyi was of a detached nature and had extremely high expectations for Yu Shaowu.

A master doesn't necessarily have to be better than his disciple. The faster Yu Shaowu practiced, the happier Ji Shouyi was.