Chapter 22: How Can One Tell Good from Bad in a Task?

Liu Xian continued, "Since it was ordered by Secretary Li, Qin Prefecture will naturally be the first. In a few days, when Secretary Li returns from the east, all counties and villages in the prefecture will begin inspections. Do you think Chengji County will be ranked first?"

Huang Deyong suddenly stood up, his expression almost panicked. He first poked his head out to look outside the door, then returned and asked in a low voice, "Are we using the same trick as seven years ago?"

Liu Xian smiled calmly, took a sip of tea, and slowly nodded, "This is the cleanest and most efficient way. The clerk thinks so too."

Huang Deyong was somewhat worried, "There won't be any trouble in the county, but will the prefecture continue the investigation? Secretary Li is a meticulous person."

Liu Xian shook his head with a smile, "The governor has gone to Longcheng County, and Censor Chen has just been relieved of his post, with no one to fill the vacancy. Now, in the prefectural office, the military affairs are handled by the military judge, the criminal cases by the criminal judge, and the general affairs by the recorder. Their powers are divided into three parts. Do you think any of them can manage to interfere in Chengji County? By the time Secretary Li returns, the dead will be dead, the burned will be burned, and the evidence will be ready. All he can do is to confirm the case!"

After saying this, Liu Xian picked up his teacup and took another sip, every move exuding the demeanor of a scholar-official. Having easily completed the task assigned by Chen Ju, and with the added benefit of making a profit from Huang Deyong, Liu Xian felt very relaxed. However, in his elation, he forgot to ask Huang Deyong what Han Gang had said in front of Pujue Temple. If he knew that Han Gang's teacher was the great scholar Zhang Zai of Hengqu, he probably wouldn't be smiling.

"Great!" Huang Deyong slapped his thigh heavily and sneered, "Tonight, I'll send Liu San with two men to Dexian Lane to take care of the matter for the clerk. We'll also give Han Gang a little lesson. We'll see if he comes to the prefectural office to kill or to be killed!"

"Guarding the military arsenal?"

Han Gang didn't expect his first task to come so quickly. He had just confronted Huang Deyong in the morning, and by the afternoon, he was assigned a task. If there was no connection, only a three-year-old would believe it.

Qin Prefecture was a key border area, with over a dozen military arsenals belonging to different government offices in the city. The arsenals of the Qin-Feng Road Military Commission and the Qin Prefecture government stored the most weapons and defensive equipment. As for the two small arsenals under the jurisdiction of Chengji County, one was located in the county office, mainly storing the weapons used by the county's archers and constables, while the one Han Gang was assigned to was a reserve weapons warehouse, located in a remote corner of the city in Dexian Lane.

The officer leading Han Gang to the Dexian Lane military arsenal was about thirty years old and had been called Li Liuge by the household registrar's clerk, Liu. Seeing that Li Liuge was not wearing the black official uniform, Han Gang guessed that he, like himself, was a local household serving as a temporary official, not a permanent constable.

The task came out of the blue, and even a toe could tell that there was a trap in the military arsenal. Han Gang was organizing his words, trying to get some information from Li Liuge. Unexpectedly, Li Liuge spoke first, "Guarding the military arsenal is one of the best tasks a temporary official in the county can get. How much did you pay, Scholar Han?"

"Money?" Han Gang was slightly taken aback, then shook his head, "I just recovered from a serious illness, and my family is now very poor. How could I afford a good task?"

Li Liuge frowned, "If you don't want to say, that's fine."

"I don't like lying," Han Gang said. Li Liuge's tone didn't seem fake, but the office was always the place where information flowed the fastest. Han Gang didn't believe that Li Liuge hadn't heard about his conflict with Huang Deyong on the street.

"Once you get to the military arsenal, ask the current guard, Zhou Feng, how much he paid for this task," Li Liuge, who didn't seem to believe Han Gang's explanation, said as they walked. "I spent sixty-four guan to get a position under the household registrar!"

"So much?" Han Gang was genuinely surprised.

Temporary officials were all from the first-class households in the countryside, and the standard for first-class households varied from place to place, but it was at least a hundred guan. Before his illness, the Han family owned about ten acres of land, a cow, and a courtyard, which was valued at about 150 guan, slightly more than the average first-class household. But Li Liuge spent sixty-four guan just to get a running errand in the county office, which was half the average assets of a first-class household in Qin Prefecture! From his tone, the cost of getting a task to guard the military arsenal was even higher!

The saying "a year of temporary official service can ruin a family" was not an exaggeration.

Li Liuge glanced back at Han Gang, "When you get the task of escorting grain, silver, silk, and wine for the army, you'll know how worth it the money was."

Li Liuge led Han Gang around a corner, and the alley leading to the military arsenal appeared. The walls of the arsenal were nearly ten feet high, built of rammed earth. Although rammed earth structures might not sound impressive, they were actually very sturdy and durable. The Great Wall of the Qin and Han dynasties still stood in the wilderness after two thousand years, and most buildings in the northern part of the Song Dynasty were also built of rammed earth. When Han Gang walked up, he tried the wall with his fingernail, leaving only a white mark and feeling a sharp pain in his fingertip.

Two soldiers were guarding the gate of the arsenal. Their Fanyang felt hats, with red tassels, were half-fallen, and their brocade robes were wrinkled, but the black-sheathed curved swords on their waists were still presentable. When Han Gang and Li Liuge arrived, the two soldiers were sitting on the steps at the gate, like two tired old dogs, yawning in the autumn sun. As Han Gang and Li Liuge approached, the two guards stood up. One was tall and the other short, one black and the other white, one bearded and the other clean-shaven, a stark contrast that made them stand out.

"Wang Jiu, Wang Wu," Li Liuge greeted them, and Han Gang also bowed.

The two soldiers shared the same surname, Wang, but were not from the same clan. The older one was the ninth in his family, and the younger one was the fifth, so the younger, shorter, fair-skinned, and beardless Wang Wu was actually the older in rank.

"It's Li Da..." The older, bearded Wang Jiu greeted Li Liuge, "You never bring good news! Who is this with you?"

As Wang Jiu and Li Liuge were talking, Wang Wu stood in front of Han Gang, looking him up and down. The young scholar in the blue robe, who looked frail, was the subject of many rumors, which piqued his curiosity. He asked, "You're Han San..." but suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

Han Gang caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye and saw Wang Wu being secretly poked by Wang Jiu's finger.

After being led into the arsenal, the two guards didn't even look at Han Gang again. Earlier, Li Liuge had asked how much Han Gang had paid for the task, but the two guards didn't ask at all. Clearly, Huang Deyong had already informed them.

'An old saying goes, "A gentleman takes revenge after three years, but a petty person takes revenge from morning to night." Indeed, old sayings are always true,' Han Gang sighed inwardly.

Huang Deyong had just been humiliated in the market and was now taking revenge. It was too dangerous to act in the county office, and the monks in Puxiu Temple were too talkative. But this arsenal was mostly guarded by soldiers who were close to Huang Deyong. Once Han Gang entered, all they had to do was lock the door, and it would be like a dog trapped in a room. His life was already half in Huang Deyong's hands. If something went wrong in the arsenal, it would be easy to blame Han Gang. Besides, Lu Yuhou dared to burn the straw yard to frame Lin Chong, and even without the powerful backing of Gao Qiu, Huang Deyong might dare to burn something insignificant in the arsenal.

Li Liuge led Han Gang into the arsenal courtyard, and the large gate closed behind them. Wang Wu stayed outside, while Wang Jiu came in with them.

'This is a good place. A good place to trap and beat someone,' Han Gang looked around and subconsciously gripped the dagger hidden in his sleeve. But he soon relaxed his fingers. He knew that Huang Deyong had gone to such lengths, and it wasn't just to have someone ambush him in the arsenal and beat him up. Han Gang still remembered the look in Huang Deyong's eyes when he left, which was full of malice. That was the look of someone with murderous intent.