Anti-fraud manual for the cultivation world

Li Gu never expected that Prefect Hong was actually a female poet, and quite talented at it.

The restaurant served the food and drinks. Niu Xin and Ma Zhi each poured themselves a glass of wine. Niu Xin drank one first: "This glass is punishment for offending Brother Li and Miss Zhang last time without distinguishing right from wrong."

Li Gu and Zhang Yi quickly replied, "It's nothing, no problem."

The following is omitted: a hundred million words of rambling...

After a few rounds of drinks, Niu and Ma were quite tipsy, and Li Gu finally asked, "Brothers, yesterday you took the mission from the Chief Constable to investigate 'shady dealings' at Yinglongmen Wharf. What did you find out?"

"Hey! Don't even mention it." Niu Xin looked annoyed. "Those damn Yangtze River Gang brought back a ship full of rotten medicine from Hankou, the kind that's all damp and moldy. This kind of medicine should have been burned long ago, but they transported it here like a treasure and piled it up at the dock. Anyone who eats medicine made from this kind of herbs will either die or vomit several pounds of blood."

Li Gu glared at him, thinking: I remember Niu Xin took money from the Thirteen Gang! Last time I went to Chuqimen to arrest the fake medicine dealers, he even made fun of me about it. So when he saw the Yangtze River Gang's ship full of fake medicine, he should have already figured out that it was a rival of the Thirteen Gang causing trouble.

He must have some ideas too!

Li Gu feigned a humble and eager-to-learn demeanor: "Brothers, please teach me, how should I handle this kind of case?"

"We can't handle it," Ma Zhi said unhappily. "The 'Law of China' doesn't have any provisions for 'transporting moldy medicine.' Even if there were, that's Yangtze River Gang territory. They'll insist that the medicine was fine when it was loaded onto the ship in Hankou, but got damp and moldy during transport, so they unloaded it from the ship and piled it up at the dock, not intending to sell it, and were just about to destroy it! What can we do then?"

Niu Xin was surprisingly frank, speaking directly: "I won't hide it from you two, the Thirteen Gang and I have a good relationship. They're not a gang, but a business guild, so I dared to take money from them before. This shipment of counterfeit medicine from the Yangtze River Gang was entrusted to them by the Hankou Gang, the Thirteen Gang's rival! I really wanted to do the Thirteen Gang a favor and burn this entire shipment of medicine. But I can't afford to offend either the Yangtze River Gang or the Hankou Gang, sigh!"

Li Gu gave an "Oh," his eyes darted around, and then a lightbulb went off in his head: "Brothers, do you really want to do something right, or are you just trying to make money?"

Niu Xin and Ma Zhi exchanged a glance, then said almost simultaneously, "We want to do something right..." They paused, then continued, "And also make money."

"So greedy?" Li Gu laughed.

The two men, Niu and Ma, shook their heads: "This isn't greed! Doing the right thing deserves a promotion and a raise, right?"

Of course you're right!

What are oxen and horses working so hard for? Isn't it all for a promotion and a raise?

People who don't even care about promotions and raises don't even deserve to be called oxen or horses; they only deserve to be called salted fish.

Li Gu said in a low voice, "Since you two want to do something right, that's good. I also want to do something right. Let's go and solve this case."

The two men, Niu and Ma, exchanged a glance and shook their heads. "It's not going to work. The three of us—oh, Miss Zhang, sorry, I forgot to count you—are all doomed."

Li Gu said in a low voice, "It won't just be the four of us. I think I can persuade Chief Constable Cai Xinzi, and even get Prefect Hong to stand up for us. When all the constables of the Six Doors are mobilized, the enemy's hatred will not fall on just a few of us, but will be shared by the entire yamen, and the enemy will have no target for revenge."

"what?"

The two men, Niu and Ma, perked up simultaneously: "You think you can persuade me?"

Li Gu said in a low voice, "I'm somewhat confident. Anyway, let's give it a try. It won't make me pregnant."

The two men, Niu and Ma, exchanged a glance, both showing excitement.

----

That night, before going to sleep, Li Gu practiced the Zhang Family Ruler Technique, then sat cross-legged on the bed to continue digesting the cultivation brought by the pill. However, due to the limited capacity of his meridians, the digestion process was not fast.

The next morning, Li Gu was the first to arrive at the yamen, clocked in early, picked up a copy of the official gazette, and pretended to read it.

Soon, the constables arrived one after another.

Chief Constable Cai Xinzi was the last to arrive, and as the department head, she could do whatever she wanted.

Once in the office, he propped his legs up, squeezed his round body into the chair, patted his protruding belly, closed his eyes, and continued sleeping…

Just then, Li Gu stood in front of him: "Chief Constable, I was just looking through the official gazette and saw some news that is not very favorable to us."

"Huh?" Cai Xinzi opened her eyes: "Tell me about it."

Li Gu opened the official gazette and pointed to a message for Cai Xinzi to see: "Hong Lin, the prefect of Jiangzhou, has neglected his duties in arresting thieves and has been negligent in his official duties. The Ministry of Personnel has reprimanded him, and the Emperor has issued a stern reprimand. He has been fined but allowed to remain in office. He must not continue to be negligent as before."

This was the same news item that Li Gu had seen when he looked through the official gazette last time.

Cai Xinzi usually doesn't seem to read the official gazette very carefully, so this news was obviously the first time she had seen it. Following Li Gu's finger, she glanced at it a few times. The first time she read it, she didn't think about it, but when she read it a second time, she suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.

"The crackdown on thieves has been neglected, and official duties have been ignored!"

Although these eight words were meant to reprimand Prefect Hong, anyone in officialdom knows that when a junior leader is scolded by a senior leader, the problem will be passed down to a lower-ranking employee to take the blame—a practice commonly known as shifting the blame.

Which department should take the blame for the "negligence in catching thieves"?

It goes without saying, of course the constables would carry it.

We can't possibly have the cook carry it, can we?

Cai Xinzi was sweating profusely, and her chubby facial muscles twitched almost imperceptibly.

Li Gu said in a low voice, "Prefect Hong hasn't come to deal with us these past few days, but that doesn't mean she won't. It's just a matter of time. She might already be considering who to drag down with her. I've only been here a few days; I might not even be here when the imperial decree is issued yet. I definitely can't take the blame for this. But it's hard to say about the other brothers."

Cai Xinzi rolled her eyes, thinking: Just say I'm taking the blame! As the chief constable, do you think I can escape this responsibility?

"No, we can't keep 'playing around with official business' like this. We need to find a few cases to solve and catch some rogue cultivators." Cai Xinzi jumped up in a flash.

"Does arresting a few lowly, unaffiliated cultivators really satisfy the higher-ups? Didn't we arrest the culprit in the night watchman case last time? Did you see how Prefect Hong was satisfied?" Li Gu said.

Cai Xinzi was secretly alarmed: That's right! When the murderer in the night watchman case was caught last time, the prefect Hong didn't show the slightest joy on his face.

Catching rogue cultivators is completely useless!

Even a fool knows where the problem in Jiangzhou lies: the proliferation of cultivation factions and the entrenched power of various forces make it impossible for even the Six Doors to act freely in handling cases. What does this have to do with rogue cultivators?

It's no exaggeration to say that without eliminating gangs, Jiangzhou will forever remain a place where "the fight against thieves is ineffective."

Li Gu lowered his voice and said, "Let's go big. Let's make an example of one or two gangs to warn the others and make them behave themselves. After suppressing the evil practices, we'll quickly report our achievements to the imperial court."