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After receiving his new appointment, Sun Siwen was, of course, overjoyed.

Within a month, he had risen from a regular seventh-ranked official to a sixth-ranked one, skipping two levels in total – even more importantly, he had been promoted from a low-level official to a mid-level one.

One could say that this was a qualitative leap.

Not many county magistrates could be promoted one more level after decades stuck at their current position.

But now, at the age of thirty-two, he had achieved this. How could he not be delighted?

Even Lu Yuan was happy about his own promotion, which saw him rise three levels to become an Imperial Commander.

This was not because he was obsessed with power or status; it was mainly because by reaching the position of Imperial Commander, he would now become the Chief of the military in one of the Fu cities.

With this identity, it would be easier for his disciples to purchase herbs in other prefectures and counties, as they would have a higher standing among officials.

Not only could they gain more resources, but there would also be less trouble from others – the benefits were self-evident.

Having spent their last New Year in Wugang County, time went by, and after three years of Hongdao, they handed over power at the end of January to the new county magistrate and County Captain.

From the county soldiers he was in charge of, Lu Yuan left behind eight or ninety who had already settled down locally and were unwilling to leave with him.

Then he led an army of four hundred with Sun Siwen to Shaoyang Prefecture City for their new positions.

The reason they took the soldiers with them was mainly at the suggestion of Prefect Cui Changqing.

As a newly promoted Imperial Commander, Lu Yuan, by convention, was entitled to command one thousand prefectural soldiers. But the original

Shaoyang Prefectural soldiers had been deployed to fight rebels in Xichuan Prefecture, leaving the city without any soldiers apart from a few officials.

Thus, these one thousand soldiers had to be recruited from scratch after he took office, for now, they only had that nominal quota.

So Prefect Cui thought about it, since Wugang County was already stable and a small county town could not afford to raise five hundred county soldiers, he decided to simply reassign the remaining four hundred elite soldiers to the city, formally converting them into prefectural soldiers.

Naturally, Lu Yuan had no objections to this.

It was a good thing to be able to bring his familiar subordinates with him as he took up his new post.

Moreover, since the soldiers had been converted into prefectural soldiers, neither he nor Sun Siwen would need to support them financially; Prefect Cui would be responsible for their military salaries.

Thus, he could save a considerable amount of money.

Nowadays, with all the local hundred-year-old herbs purchased, Lu Yuan had to send people to buy suitable herbs from further away, raising the expenditure and risk factor.

With his expenses increasing, he had no choice but to find ways to generate more income and save money.

Now that someone was covering military expenses, it perfectly suited his purpose.

Here, a small matter must be mentioned.

That was what his friend Sun Sima did before the handover – he specifically transferred five thousand silver tales from the county government’s account, leaving only three thousand for the next county magistrate.

According to Sun Siwen’s intentions:

No one knew whether the next county magistrate would be corrupt or honest however, given the current state of affairs among officials, he was most likely a corrupt official.

In that case, it was better to transfer the majority of the funds to Lu Yuan for maintaining the army.

The soldiers patrolling the local area, maintaining public order, and suppressing bandits were working hard. There was nothing wrong with giving them an extra five thousand silver tales to improve their food.

Anyway, this money was not public funds and was never recorded. It was a special fund allocated to the county office – even after being transferred, no one would know.

Of course, Lu Yuan gladly accepted it.

Improving their food was not feasible, but he could use it to buy more herbs for himself.

What, living off soldiers’ blood?

The salary he provided to each soldier was five silver tales per month, which was five times the income of an ordinary household. Moreover, it was paid monthly, without any arrears.

The special donation made by his friend to the camp only took a share of the expenses. Could this be considered living off soldiers’ blood?

After several days of traveling with the soldiers, they finally arrived in Shaoyang Prefecture City on the second day of the second month.

The Prefect had already sent officials to wait for them. After arranging for the soldiers to be stationed in the city’s barracks, Lu Yuan and Sun Siwen went to meet with the Prefect.

Inside the Prefectural government office:

Cui Changqing was currently dealing with official business. This practical reformer had been busy dealing with internal corruption in the prefecture for more than half a year and worked until midnight every day.

Although he was very tired, this fifty-year-old man seemed to have boundless energy and enthusiasm for his work.

However, due to his dedication, he had discovered the extent of corruption in Shaoyang Prefecture after a thorough investigation.

Corrupt officials were rampant, local bandits were rampant, the common people were becoming more impoverished, and the Miao mountain people were frequently rebelling…

In a nutshell, the entire prefecture was rotten to the core.

No, not all of it was rotten.

At the very least, in Wugang County, though they had recently experienced chaos, the newly appointed county magistrate had overseen a significant restoration of the local area.

Not only were the number of registered households increasing and commerce flourishing, but the local finances and public security were also remarkable.

Especially given the turbulent times they were living in, Sun Siwen had even led efforts to repair water conservancy projects and roads, making him stand out even more among the mediocre and corrupt officials.

Perhaps that was why, seeing a lone bright light in the darkness, this heartbroken Prefect found hope.

So, after meeting Sun Siwen, he strongly recommended him to the Jingfu Prefecture for promotion, bringing him to his side with plans to cultivate this rising star in his eyes.

“Greetings your Excellency.” “Greetings Prefect..”