Chapter 454: Chapter 376: You Claim You Ate All 100,000 Jin of Spirit Beast Meat?

Returning to the Lin Family, Lin Yanluo immediately went to the ancestral hall to meet her father, the true patriarch of the Lin Family, Master Golden Core, Lin Yonghua.

Inside the ancestral hall, only a few incense sticks were burning, and the golden incense burner in the center emitted waves of fragrance, gradually calming Lin Yanluo’s heart.

"County Magistrate Su won’t budge?"

Directly in front of Lin Yanluo, a young man of extraordinary elegance sat on a meditation mat, his eyes slightly closed, speaking calmly.

Lin Yanluo bowed and recounted the setbacks she encountered while delivering gifts, then worriedly said:

"Father, Su Youlin is no simple person."

"In my view, the reason he does not covet small profits is not because he is selfless, but because his ambitions are grand!"

"I suspect that his determination to crack down on pirates is merely to achieve a political performance, hoping for a quick promotion, after which he will reveal his true intentions!"

Lin Yonghua said lightly:

"I see."

"If our new county magistrate asked for a million Spirit Coins for anything else, I might agree, but if it’s to deal with pirates, I absolutely won’t."

"If the pirates are eradicated, how will our tea exports to Fa Continent and Bai Continent increase in price?"

"If the pirates are gone, what will happen to the export trades of the Six Yang Sect and other cultivation sects, as well as the other three great families?"

Hearing her father’s words, Lin Yanluo wasn’t surprised at all.

As a core member of the family, she was well aware of the shady dealings among the powerful in Longyang County.

It was nothing more than nurturing bandits to strengthen themselves.

Secretly permitting and supporting pirates to wreak havoc everywhere, robbing merchant ships along the way, thereby boosting profits from each maritime trade.

The Lin Family’s Mocha Tea Eight Non, the Six Yang Sect’s Six Yang Silk, and even the other families’ Spirit Beast breeding, escort agencies, and other businesses had long formed a huge chain of interest with pirates.

The powerful in Dragon City County and many large pirate factions also held many of each other’s secrets. If one side dared to break the rules, they would face total disaster.

This isn’t something that can compare to a mere million Spirit Coins.

Lin Yanluo took a deep breath and asked in a low voice:

"Father, then what do you suggest we do?"

"Are we to hint to those Golden Core Stage pirate captains to land and scare County Magistrate Su with an assassination attempt? I remember that’s how we scared off the last magistrate."

Lin Yonghua sighed and said:

"That method is too extreme; when we forced the last magistrate to leave, the situation was almost uncontrollable. It’s been less than a year, and to have another assassination plot against a magistrate would be too obvious."

At this, Lin Yonghua’s tone shifted:

"Fortunately, I’ve been working on a connection above recently, and I’ve finally cleared a pathway, giving our Lin Family a real protector."

"Oh?"

Lin Yanluo keenly detected a hint of pride in her father’s tone and immediately showed a curious expression.

Then she heard Lin Yonghua lightly laugh and say:

"He is the East Continent Vice Transport Envoy, a fifth-grade official with authority over inspections of East Continent’s management."

"To establish a connection with this fifth-grade official, I united with many families and sects in Dragon City County, amassing a total of 1.8 million Spirit Coins to smooth things over, finally gaining the Vice Transport Envoy’s goodwill."

"Su Youlin, a newly appointed magistrate, is so unruly; he ought to be dealt with properly."

"I’ll now send a message to the Vice Transport Envoy, inviting him to assess our new County Magistrate in Dragon City County."

Hearing this, Lin Yanluo could not help but feel both surprised and delighted.

Surprised that the Lin Family had connected with a fifth-grade Immortal Official, delighted that under the pressure of such a high-ranking official, Su Youlin would have no choice but to comply obediently.

The next day, on the third day of taking office, Su Yuan officially began handling the affairs of Dragon City County.

Previously, the county was short of officials, and the accumulated tasks, to say the least, had piled up like mountains.

As a county magistrate who hadn’t studied governance even for a day, Su Yuan felt overwhelmed by these tasks.

So he decisively delegated power to Ying Ding, having this truly talented and knowledgeable county magistrate handle things on his behalf, while he only reviewed the final results.

As for what Su Yuan did with his spare time?

Simple, he went deep into the grassroots, eating and living with the constables and soldiers, fostering relationships.

At the same time, Su Yuan personally oversaw military training, having Wang De tirelessly drill the veterans, while taking the family scions locked in the jail one by one, giving them cordial and friendly education and training, hoping they could quickly form combat ability.

And how were these family scions to be trained?

Su Yuan didn’t need to intervene; the veterans were familiar with all kinds of methods.

For example, newcomers would first drink a cup of tea, freshly drawn from the toilet, steaming and yellow, for example, lifting newcomers up nightly for a beating, and various physical and mental torment through devil-style training.

In just one week’s time, the hardship felt by the family scions far surpassed all the hardships they had endured in their previous lives.

Under such intense training, even cultivators couldn’t survive without sufficient nutrition and energy, yet Su Yuan’s standard of food for them was about the same as the soldiers’ in Dragon City County before.

What was this standard?

The daily meal allowance was no more than eighteen Federation Coins.

Forget about eating meat; just having a few more bites of rice was satisfying.

The family scions had never suffered such pain before and were almost starved crazy in two days.

It was at this time that Su Yuan introduced a performance appraisal system for the family scions—those who performed well in training would receive extra meals and permanently increased meal allowances.

Even if the increase was only equivalent to ten Federation Coins, the family scions eagerly pursued it.

Using such simple PUA tactics, the ’Servant Army’ formed by the family scions quickly developed a certain level of combat power and loyalty.

On the other side, Su Yuan also used the 100,000 Spirit Coins of the anti-bandit fund to hire craftsmen to overhaul the warships, repair armor, weapons, and so on in the military.

In order to ensure the success of the insurgent suppression, Su Yuan also spent a hefty sum hiring a renowned artifact refiner from Shengyang Mansion to personally engrave arrays on the warships, enhancing their durability as well as the power of the spiritual energy cannons on board.

The entire armed forces of Dragon City County were operating under Su Yuan’s command, growing stronger by the day.

Of course, during this process, the pesky system would occasionally pop up to assert its presence.

Either it would accuse him of forcibly recruiting labor and oppressing good people, or it would claim he was preparing for rebellion with horses and weaponry.

Ha—aren’t these things obvious? Is there even a need for the pesky system to remind me?

But just as the plan to suppress the insurgents was in full swing, a piece of news came like the wind, sweeping through the entire Dragon City County Government Office.

"County Magistrate, there’s bad news!"

Inside the court, County Captain Qi Junxiang nervously reported:

"A document just came from Shengyang Mansion, stating that the East Continent’s Vice Transport Envoy is suddenly visiting, preparing to inspect the coastal counties of Shengyang Mansion."

"And the first stop of that Vice Transport Envoy’s inspection is our Dragon City County."

"Considering the date on the document, that Vice Transport Envoy might already be on the way to our county."

After hearing Qi Junxiang’s words, Su Yuan, who was sitting at the head seat, responded with a calm expression and smiled:

"I’ve been in office for less than ten days, and already a high-ranking official like the Vice Transport Envoy is coming to check on me? The visitor must have ill intentions."

Ying Ding, standing by the side, exclaimed in surprise:

"This must be a conspiracy by the four great families. Who would have thought they actually have connections with a high-ranking Fifth Grade official? These local powers are truly hiding deep!"

At this moment, Su Yuan feigned curiosity and asked:

"Why are the two of you so nervous? I have been upright in my actions these past days, and even if the Vice Transport Envoy were to arrive, could he find any fault in me?"

Upon hearing this, Ying Ding shook his head repeatedly and said:

"County Magistrate, although you haven’t violated the Celestial Laws during this period, if the Vice Transport Envoy wants to find fault with you, it would be all too easy."

"For instance, your attitude towards the troops since assuming office. Though it might not warrant a charge of rebellion, being accused of warmongering would be effortless."

"At that point, a demotion would be the least of your worries; it’s more likely you’ll lose your official hat!"

Su Yuan listened quietly, showing no sign of panic, and nodded, saying:

"I see, then is there a way to avoid being targeted by the Vice Transport Envoy?"

"There is!"

Ying Ding nodded without hesitation and said:

"According to my understanding, the going rate for a high-ranking Fifth Grade official is one hundred thousand Spirit Coins per instance. As long as you pay this sum, county officials won’t get in trouble unless they cross a line, and they’ll certainly receive an excellent evaluation."

Su Yuan: "..."

Hmm, it’s very much in line with the characteristics of the Celestial Law World’s Immortal Official System.

But the Spirit Coins available at the County Government Office have already been invested in the construction of the suppression army, so he clearly can’t come up with a hundred thousand Spirit Coins.

"County Magistrate, why are you still so calm!"

Seeing Su Yuan still so indifferent, Ying Ding was anxious for his superior.

Just as he was about to persuade Su Yuan to find a way to raise money, or even compromise to a certain extent with the four great families, a loud voice was heard from outside the County Government Office.

"The East Continent Transport Envoy has arrived!"

"The person arrived so quickly?!"

Upon hearing the voice from outside, both Ying Ding and Qi Junxiang were startled.

Su Yuan slowly stood up, with a smile on his face, and said:

"Come, let’s go welcome this Transport Envoy Fan."

"...Yes."

Ying Ding and Qi Junxiang instinctively responded, then both froze.

How did our superior know the Transport Envoy’s surname was Fan?

With puzzled minds, they saw a slim, red-robed official with a silver official seal at his waist step out of the sedan chair outside the County Government Office.

The official was a middle-aged man with a skinny build, a goatee, a pair of triangular eyes, fitting the stereotype of a cunning minister.

His cultivation had already reached the Golden Core Late Stage, and he was only a step away from becoming a high-ranking purple-robed official.

Next to this Transport Envoy, standing a half step behind, was a young man with handsome features, bearing a slight resemblance to Lin Yanluo, and he was also a Golden Core Cultivator, but only at the Golden Core Fourth Layer.

No need for an introduction, Su Yuan could already guess he was Patriarch Lin, the head of one of the four great families in the city.

Glancing at Patriarch Lin, Su Yuan, along with the county officials, bowed to the red-robed official and said:

"This humble official, Su Youlin, greets the Transport Envoy."

"Greetings to the Transport Envoy!"

The slim middle-aged red-robed official chuckled and said indifferently:

"Please rise."

The officials of Dragon City County stood up, and the next moment they heard a leisurely question from the opposite side:

"Magistrate Su, I’ve heard that your County Government Office has recently been purchasing a high volume of Spirit Beast meat."

"In less than ten days, you’ve purchased as much as a hundred thousand jin of Spirit Beast meat? Is this true?"

Upon hearing this, the hearts of the officials in Dragon City County all tightened.

To be asked such a sharp and sensitive question right off the bat? It seems today won’t end peacefully!