The Immortal Seeker: Legend of Bronze Mirror
Chapter 59 - 55 Civil and Military

Chapter 59: Chapter 55 Civil and Military

Xu Qing made up his mind and immediately took action. He first summoned his steward, Xu Fu.

Xu Fu, now adept at handling various miscellaneous tasks, had been taught the basics of Crane Form Skill by Xu Qing during free moments, as a way to keep fit.

This man was tight-lipped, had no family or connections in Jiangning Prefecture and was not involved in any personal gains, which made Xu Qing quite satisfied with his service.

He even promised Xu Fu a bright future, planning to bring Xu Fu’s wife and children over when the time was ripe. For now, Xu Qing had already started to inquire about Xu Fu’s hometown through connections with the postmaster of their county.

Speaking of the county’s post office, Zhou Family had arranged for Huang Lai’er, a child formerly considered for adoption from their matrilineal family, to serve there. Serving at the post office would kindle his food from the public granary, and he was not from a despised class, ensuring his descendants could still aspire to become scholars.

That, indeed, was a considerable favor toward her own maternal family.

The family even asked Xu Qing to choose a name for him. Xu Qing encouraged him with "As Heaven’s movement is ever vigorous, so must a gentleman ceaselessly strengthen himself," and named him "Ziqiang".

However, Xu Qing had yet to meet the person.

With winter approaching and the peasants facing hardships, they needed to prepare provisions for the winter before they could work at the post station, where they could also save a sum of food for the winter.

The lives of common peasants had to be meticulously planned; otherwise, they would lack any capacity to withstand risks. A minor natural disaster or social turmoil could leave them with no choice but to sell their children or be forced into merging their lands.

Xu Qing instructed Xu Fu to reach out to Mi Qiang, the current salt monopoly leader of the fish market. Future funds for activities of the Recovery Society would be temporarily sourced from Xu Qing’s share of profits from the fish market.

Indeed, it was also arranged for Mi Qiang to take care of the peripheral security during Recovery Society’s activities.

Never assume that scholars of this era had no connections with those who bullied and dominated the market.

In fact, people like Mi Qiang were a step away from becoming an organized fighting force. The major role of a fighting force was not to bully or dominate, but to replace local landlords, tycoons, and officials in tax collection.

Similar to demolition teams in Xu Qing’s previous life.

After all, some matters were not suitable for the direct involvement of the nobles.

Professional matters naturally required professionals.

Moving forward, fighters like Mi Qiang would be in charge of forceful measures, with Guo Zhuang and others providing the shelter; Recovery Society would solely focus on scholarly matters. Xu Qing thus had both scholarly and martial teams at his disposal.

Their setup might seem rudimentary, but there were others who started with even less.

In matters of governance, capability was secondary; reliability and complete trust were the keys. Ordinary abilities could be cultivated.

How difficult could it be to serve as a County Magistrate?

Usually, for significant matters, there were precedents, and for trivial matters, there were stewards. As long as the County Magistrate wasn’t a micromanager and followed existing conventions, smoothly transitioning to the next term was practically guaranteed.

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Xu Qing, accompanied by Yan Shan, did not first visit the academy but went to the abandoned courtyard of the Zhao family, where he met Mi Qiang and his men.

Mi Qiang now appeared much more imposing than before, always accompanied by protectors and the "Four Heavenly Kings" on outings.

These people were originally the Vegetable Tyrants of the Golden Ray Monastery’s vegetable gardens and had joined Mi Qiang’s group after being ousted by another group of tyrants.

They had heard of Xu Sanyuan’s reputation and background; seeing him in person made them somewhat nervous.

After all, it was rumored that he casually wiped out Zhao family, who previously dominated both the underworld and legitimate spheres in Qingshui County.

These minor henchmen, facing such a significant figure, lost all their usual fierceness.

Each of them nearly transformed into obsequious dogs, eager to lick Xu Sanyuan’s toes.

On his way, Xu Fu had already relayed Xu Qing’s intentions to Mi Qiang.

Mi Qiang was naturally thrilled.

Ascending from a bullying salt seller to a legitimate fighting force was a step up the industry ladder. Additionally, forming into a fighting force meant they could still sell their salt just as before.

The key point was that even the designation sounded different now.

Next, Xu Qing simply had to instruct Mi Qiang on the regulations of running a fighting force and ensure he followed them. These rules were much like those of the fighting forces of the time.

After all, born villains were few and far between.

Whether as a salt seller, enforcer, or vegetable tyrant, it was all about making a living.

The difference lies in that ordinary salt sellers and vegetable tyrants, when facing tough opponents and getting crippled, their peers wouldn’t bother at all.

In a formal gang, however, there’s compensation for medical treatment, even if crippled, they would arrange a job to ensure a meal.

Hearing that a gang was being formed, these guys were all extremely excited.

As for the Hall Master, Mi Qiang remained in the role, but from now on, all finance of the gang was entirely controlled by Xu Fu.

Xu Qing also gave this newly-formed gang a name, calling it "Yihe Hall".

He instructed Xu Fu to find more orphans for Yihe Hall to raise, as these children would become the backbone of Yihe Hall in the future.

Later, he even planned to have members of Recovery Society take turns teaching these orphans.

Firstly, it was to unify the idea of benefiting society and saving people, secondly, those who were outstanding could be groomed in scholarly matters, and thirdly, it could improve the gang’s bad reputation.

Currently, Xu Qing still needed to focus on his own cultivation, and after some time, he intended to summarize a set of basic fist techniques from Bull Demon Strong Fist, Crane Form Skill, Eight Diagram Wandering Palm and other Kung Fu, to teach the orphans brought by Xu Fu.

Additionally, some girls would be included to learn basic medical knowledge.

With these arrangements, his undertakings would have a foundation.

In the future, even in the face of significant events, there would be enough leeway to manage comfortably.

"These actions require a lot of money, and we have to continue to expand financial avenues."

For this, Xu Qing already had plans.

Since Historian Li was soon to be appointed as the riverway Inspector of Jiangning, the fishery and salt operations in the market could be further expanded; he wanted Jiangning River, under Historian Li’s jurisdiction, to use the official salt from Jiangning Prefecture.

After all, Magistrate He had declared his support for Xu Qing to rejuvenate his family business, and not revitalizing it would be disrespectful to the Lord.

Also, being the sole distributor of Jiangning Prefecture’s official salt was highly beneficial for Magistrate He.

These were all tangible achievements.

Of course, such an undertaking was bound to encroach on others’ interests.

The world’s pie is so big; if you take more, others get less.

However, Xu Qing now had the background and means to outcompete rivals; there was no need to hesitate.

The advantage of rebuilding the Recovery Society was also here.

If opponents tried to slander, Xu Qing had Recovery Society scholars from ordinary families who could manage the public opinion on the ground. These people were better at promoting Xu Qing’s good deeds to the lower levels.

After all, if you don’t occupy the ground of public opinion, others will.

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Once Yihe Hall affairs were organized, Xu Qing and Yan Shan invited the academic society members to the front courtyard of Li Mansion, where there was a hall for discussions, and preparing tea was convenient.

For Yihe Hall members, Xu Qing enticed them with benefits.

For academic society members, Xu Qing enticed them with substantial benefits!

Of course, these substantial benefits weren’t money, but the insights on definitive essays summarized by Xu Qing.

With his current foundation, coupled with a much stronger Divine Soul than ordinary people, he didn’t have to worry that sharing his insights on definitive essays would threaten his position in the provincial exams.

Moreover, South Zhili offered over a hundred positions in each provincial exam.

Even more importantly, that was an issue three years in the future.

By making insights on definitive essays the core benefit for Recovery Society, naturally, all members were thoroughly convinced.

Even Yan Shan couldn’t help but admire Xu Qing wholeheartedly.

Xu Sanyuan, he... is serious!