In fact, Sun Siwen wanted to bring Lu Yuan along at first, and wanted to recommend his good friend to the new prefect.
But Lu Yuan was used to being carefree, so he didn't want to go see his boss and talk down to others.
Secondly, he was also worried about the possible revenge of the Five Poison Sect and was afraid of being ambushed on the way to Fucheng.
So he chose to stay at home and let Sun Siwen go to Fucheng by himself.
Of course, it will definitely be indispensable on the road, just arrange for escort.
Sun Siwen went there for a long time. He originally thought he could come back in three days, but unexpectedly, it took seven days to come back.
During this period, Lu Yuan was a little suspicious that something was wrong with his friend, and almost wanted to go find someone in person.
Fortunately, the person finally came back.
"Brother Lu, let me tell you."
Sun Siwen, who had just come back, seemed very happy. After seeing Lu Yuan, he pulled him and said happily: "The new Governor Cui is really a capable minister. Whether it is governing the country or writing and learning, he is outstanding for the world." First class.”
Seeing his highly praised appearance, Lu Yuan couldn't help but arouse a little curiosity.
It's really rare that my friend has been there for just seven days and was so impressed by someone. No, it should be said that this is the first time we have met.
"Is this Magistrate Cui very powerful?" Lu Yuan couldn't help but ask.
"More than just awesome." Sun Siwen was still a little excited: "This Magistrate Cui was famous for his articles and poems when he was young..."
Magistrate Sun obviously has some fanboy tendencies.
At this time, he enthusiastically told Lu Yuan about the deeds of the new magistrate, such as several poems and articles he had written, which he recited by heart.
Lu Yuan couldn't help but look surprised after hearing this.
These poems and articles were often sung by the girls and the scholars who came to have fun during his years in the brothel. After listening to them too much, he would memorize some of them.
These poems were indeed well written, but I didn’t expect that the source was the prefect Cui.
In addition to poems, Sun Siwen also talked about some of Cui Zhifu's intellectual achievements, such as the annotation of certain classics and the compilation of such classics. Among the Confucian sects, he can be called the grand master of his lineage.
In addition to poetry and scholarship, um, Magistrate Cui is also a capable official in government affairs.
When he was in the middle of the court, he repeatedly gave advice, not to mention the shortcomings of the times. While at the local level, he also made many achievements.
At this time, although he had just arrived in Shaoyang Mansion not long ago, as the new prefect. Cui Changqing made great efforts to solve and reform the shortcomings left by his predecessor.
He appointed a group of inactive officials, arrested a group of corrupt officials and lawbreakers, and began to reform the government system. He even heard that he was planning to build new government soldiers, and planned to sort out the increasingly chaotic public security issues in the government.
It can be said that the shortcomings left by his predecessor for several years were almost sorted out by the new prefect in just one month.
With such ability, if he cannot be called a capable official, there will really be no good officials in the world.
"So, with this new prefect, the current situation of Shaoyang Mansion will be much better in the future." After listening to his friend's story, Lu Yuan couldn't help but sigh, and he was quite happy in his heart.
The more capable the new prefect is, the better he can organize Shaoyang Mansion, and the more beneficial it will be for him.
Although the Five Poison Sect has never come to cause trouble for him in the past year.
But for Lu Yuan, no matter whether the Five Poison Sect comes or not, it is a sword of Damocles hanging over his head, and he doesn't know when it will fall.
At this time, if the prefect Cui can restore the majesty of the imperial court in the Shaoyang Mansion area.
Then as an official of the imperial court, I was naturally protected by this majesty, and I had more confidence to face the threat of the Five Poison Sect.
"Yes. Although the former Magistrate Liang was an honest official and good at scholarship, his ability to manage politics was really..."
Speaking of this, Sun Siwen thought of Liang Xiwen's 5,000 taels of military support last year. After all, he was too embarrassed to express his blame, so he just changed his words: "But Mr. Cui is very optimistic about me.
In this report, your Excellency emphatically praised me for my role in quelling thieves in Wugang County. He said that I have the courage to take risks when the court is in danger, and I am actually a loyal and brave person.
Then he said that after pacifying the thieves, I could restore the prosperity of Wugang in just one year, making the place peaceful, and my ability to manage politics would be a model for officials.
From what I saw in Mr. Cui's words, he seemed to be preparing to promote me. "
Sun Siwen turned to look at his friend and said with a slight smile on his face: "Brother Lu, maybe it won't be long before I get promoted again."
Magistrate Sun still remembered the proud look on his face when his friend's strength was exposed a year ago, around this time.
But I didn’t expect it.
Only a year later, I was promoted again.
The county magistrate starts from the seventh rank official, and then goes up to the magistrate of the prefectural city.
That level, in the entire Dai Viet government, also belongs to the local middle-level officials. A few steps forward, that is the position of prefect.
Sun Siwen's grandson is about to reach the highest position that his grandfather once sat.
"Then congratulations to Brother Sun."
Lu Yuan resisted the urge to tell the other party that he was actually a first-class person, and congratulated with a smile on his face: "I have been promoted to a position in the government at just over 10 years old. Such a rapid promotion can be said to be a meteoric rise."
After considering the factors that caused his friend's embarrassment, Lu Yuan was actually very happy that Sun Siwen was promoted.
"No, no, my achievements mean nothing."
Sun Siwen's mouth was full of humility. If it weren't for the proud smile on his face, just hearing these words might actually make people believe it.
However, despite being complacent, he did not forget his good friend: "Brother Lu, aren't you already ranked among the second-rate masters in the martial arts world when you are only twenty-seven? With your talent, it won't take more than a few years for you to reach this level." Become first-class.
By then your achievements will be no worse than those of a prefect.
And this time I went to meet Master Cui, he also valued you, the county captain who personally commanded the county soldiers to suppress the rebellion.
From what I heard, he seemed to want to transfer you and me back to Fucheng for reuse.
The government troops are being prepared in Fucheng, and Mr. Cui is short of available people.
Brother Lu, if you go, you might be able to directly assume the position of commander of the imperial army. This is a rank-6 official position. It's still a level higher than what I was after my promotion. "
When Sun Siwen said this, he also looked at his friend with some envy.
The promotion system for warriors is different from that of civil servants like them.
Because military attaches have always said that they should attribute great power to themselves, which is different from civil servants like them who rely on the power of the system to do things.
Because a powerful warrior can form an army by himself, becoming an army in his own right.
Therefore, when they join the imperial court, they often receive preferential treatment.
Some bad habits of talking about seniority and seniority are rare in the military attache system.
If you are a second-rate master, then be the official of a second-rate master. If you are first-class, then be a first-class official.
If you don't have enough strength, you have to force yourself to sit in that position. Not only will it make people dissatisfied, but when the real trouble comes and you need to go up to support, it will be self-destruction.
"It's just a little bit of fame."
Regarding the news that he might be promoted, Lu Yuan acted very calmly. He waved his hand and said, "Even if I get promoted, it doesn't mean much to me. Brother Sun should know my ambition."
Sun Siwen admired him and said, "Everyone has known about Brother Lu's desire to practice martial arts and pursue Taoism for a long time, but every time he sees it, he still cannot help but be amazed by it."
In Sun Siwen's eyes, his friend was obviously extremely powerful, and even if he was placed in the arena, he could be called a master.
Ordinary Jianghu people with his strength would have established gangs and sects long ago. Enjoying the glory and wealth every day, being cheered before and after you go in and out, being majestic and uneasy.
But Lu Yuan was not obsessed with these mundane things. Even though he had gained strength and had a wealthy family, he still lived a low-key life every day, huddled at home and practiced martial arts with concentration. As a county captain, he is not greedy for power and only concentrates on practicing martial arts.
Anyone who comes to see such a variety of behaviors has to give a thumbs up and call him a real master.
So sometimes when Sun Siwen faced Lu Yuan, he would feel ashamed of himself.
I felt that being a layman who was greedy for worldly reputation, being with such a master, somewhat tarnished my friend's character.
"Brother Sun, thank you for your praise. I'm just a layman."
Naturally, Lu Yuan could guess some of his friends' inner thoughts. But for this, he could only smile.
What could he say?
Should I say that the reason why I am so stubborn and diligent for ten years is because I am afraid of death, so I practice martial arts with all my strength?
It's not that he doesn't want to enjoy prosperity and fame, it's just that he doesn't dare to do it because he doesn't have enough strength.
A conversation between friends slowly came to an end.
…
After a period of time, Sun Siwen and Lu Yuan began to be busy with their own affairs again.
Lu Yuan was still the same, continuing to practice martial arts at home.
However, in terms of alchemy, as expected, the progress is quite limited.
Although he had already sent all his disciples to various places to purchase medicinal materials, some were even sent to other counties.
But even so, the medicinal materials Lu Yuan could buy were still limited.
From the beginning of August to the end of August, he could only prescribe eleven batches of pills and got 112 pills.
But even so, after being promoted to the first class, practicing for more than a year, and with the assistance of these spirit-boosting pills, Lu Yuan once again mastered a strange sutra and entered the eighth level of the Qi-Building Heart Sutra. layer.
With his breakthrough in martial arts, his strength also improved greatly.
Nowadays, based on the growth of his own strength, Lu Yuan feels that although he still does not have first-rate skills and moves, with his deep internal strength, he is enough to compete with the bottom-rate ones who have just entered this realm.
This made him very happy.
Because judging from this trend, after he has mastered the two meridians on the eighth level, his internal strength will further deepen.
Then with internal strength, you may be able to become a senior and first-class player.
By then, if you can really become a master among the first-class people, then even if you don't have first-class martial arts moves, you won't have many helpers.
Relying only on his own strength, Lu Yuan might have dared to break through the Iron Sword Gate directly and steal their Iron Sword swordsmanship.
Of course, this is still a bit risky.
Therefore, there is a high probability that he would not choose to do this if he was not forced to do so.
However, the increase in strength brought about by the breakthrough of internal strength still brought Lu Yuan a great surprise and sense of security.
So in order to improve his strength as quickly as possible, he even took out the second level of Liuyun Palm and specially rewarded the named disciple who bought the most medicinal materials this year as an incentive.
This effect is naturally significant.
Seeing that one of the fellow disciples had already obtained the second level of mental skills, the other brothers and sisters naturally began to be jealous and eager.
So I simply didn’t celebrate the New Year, and took people out to buy medicinal materials at the end of the year.
Even the disciple who received the skill reward also followed his fellow disciples.
After all, although I have obtained the second level of skills, I have obtained Longwangshu. With the second level, I naturally want to think about the third level.
For this ambitious goal, he also took action.
Lu Yuan was naturally very satisfied with the enthusiasm of his tool men, oh, no, his disciples.
No matter how you look at it, a second-rate mental method that I no longer look down on can help me break through to a first-class level a few years ago. It is a good deal.
Not to mention these disciples, even if they acquire the skills, but in the end they achieve success through practice, aren't they still their disciples?
In this world where respect for teachers is important, when the time comes for my master to speak, can these people obey his orders?
In the end, they are not their own coolies and thugs.
As for the issues of disobedience and betrayal?
Lu Yuan, who was both an official of the imperial court and a first-class master, had no worries about this.
And if those disciples were wise, they would never choose these paths of no return.
Wouldn't it be good to practice martial arts with your master and get promoted and make a fortune?
You have to be a fool to become a traitor!
…
The flowers bloom at two ends, one on each side.
While Lu Yuan's martial arts training was in full swing, Sun Siwen also made a lot of noise as an official.
Although Sun Siwen said that the prefect was optimistic about the two of them and planned to promote them to official positions in the city.
But good things may come to light. After all, Magistrate Cui is just a new employee. It is not that easy to promote two officials when he is new here.
However, although Sun Siwen was somewhat looking forward to being promoted quickly, he was still a person who cared about people's livelihood. So after waiting for a while and no reply, I was quickly overwhelmed by complicated government affairs.
Wugang County suffered several destructions last year and is now starting to rebuild. Although it has been sorted out for a year, there are still many problems left.
In addition to reconstruction matters, Sun Siwen also wanted to do more good things for the people. He was planning to summon the people to renovate some Pichi rivers in various parts of the county when the busy farming period was over.
These are all things that require a lot of energy.
Sun Siwen now takes a group of people to the countryside and villages whenever he has free time, and he is ready to regard this as his political achievement.
According to Magistrate Sun’s words.
Why not take advantage of the fact that the county government has just surrendered a large number of clan bandits and has a large amount of cash in hand to make political achievements and do something practical for the people.
Could it be that after I leave, the money will be left behind for my successor to embezzle?
Well, as both officials, Sun Siwen really has some distrust of other bureaucrats in Dai Viet.
However, despite his hard work, the results were outstanding.
After the autumn harvest, Magistrate Sun gathered thousands of people in the county to start a vigorous construction of water conservancy projects based on the plan he had drawn up after months of surveying and mapping.
Because we have enough money, we are willing to spend money.
With the money paid for the work, the project progressed very quickly. In just two or three months, the county had renovated the Pichi River, even dug several small canals, and irrigated thousands of acres of farmland.
Beyond that, wait for the thought of spending your money quickly.
After Sun Siwen completed the water conservancy construction, he began to clean up the official roads, repaired the now dilapidated roads, and also restored the post station system that had been destroyed by the war.
Two major projects in succession, with thousands of people eating, drinking and eating, naturally attracted countless merchants to support the expenses of the common people.
And because Sun Siwen paid the peasants to work instead of simply doing corvee labor. After the peasants completed two projects, their pockets also bulged.
With financial resources, people naturally want to buy things to improve their lives, which further attracts more businessmen from other places.
In just half a year, when the project was completed at the end of the year, Wugang County was already crowded with business travelers, and a large number of outsiders came here to do business.
There were even some refugees from other places who had heard about the prosperity here and migrated here. Wugang County, which had suffered serious population losses after the war, has regained a lot of vitality.
Sun Siwen also spent more than 40,000 taels of silver for this purpose.
After he did this, the county's financial management suddenly shrank by a huge amount, with only more than 10,000 taels left on the books.
With such a small amount of money, if you don't find a way to generate some income, you will soon go bankrupt due to excessive expenditures.
But Sun Siwen no longer cares about this.
Because at the end of the year, the county government's one-year performance evaluation was also released.
That Magistrate Cui didn't lie.
He said he wanted to promote Sun Siwen and Lu Yuan, but he really took action and worked hard in this regard.
In the evaluation at the end of the year, Sun Siwen's political performance ranked first among hundreds of county magistrates in the county.
This is naturally due to his willingness to spend money.
After all, it is difficult for small local counties with an annual income of only four to five thousand taels to spend the equivalent of ten years of income to achieve half a year's political performance.
With this achievement, and the prefect Cui did not know what connection he had, the county government finally issued an order to promote Sun Siwen as an exception.
Sima, who was originally the seventh-rank county magistrate, was promoted to the sixth-rank magistrate, and assisted Cui Changqing, who was the magistrate on his left, to handle the affairs of the first government.
It's easy for Lu Yuan to get promoted.
The county government has long heard about his strength as a second-rate master, and he is also a strong one among the second-rate masters. For such a powerful person to be able to serve the imperial court, in this situation of declining national power, it is a natural event that makes people happy.
Therefore, the county government readily agreed to Cui Changqing's request.
He directly issued a transfer order and transferred Lu Yuan to the Shaoyang Mansion Army Commander, ranking in the sixth rank.
As a result, he and his friends were promoted several levels at the end of the new year and became government-level officials, which can be said to be a smooth career.
In official circles, it can also be called a good story.