Yinshan Record

Chapter 10: Grievance
At the beginning of sword cultivation, it is called "cultivating the mind".

By using the sword energy to nourish the ancestral aperture at the root of the nose below the brow, the sword energy is transformed into the pure sword intent of the individual, thereby strengthening the divine soul.

The orthodox path of cultivation is divided into two steps: nurturing the sword and transforming intent.

To nurture a sword is to find a sword and either temper it with swordsmanship or nourish it with the essence of heaven and earth, so that it gradually develops pure sword energy.

Then, based on this, sense the external sword energy and transform it into your own sword intent along the path.

Su Che avoided this trouble. The ancient sword in his sword box was originally left behind by the previous generation of sword cultivators, and its sword energy was as vast as the sea.

Therefore, one can easily channel sword energy into the body and gradually transform it into sword intent.

After repeating this seven times, the sword intent within his ancestral aperture between his eyebrows was filled, and Su Che finally felt his limit and stopped cultivating.

If someone could observe from the outside, they would see a faint white light emanating from between Su Che's brows.

That was the sword light generated when sword intent was born and extinguished.

There were no obvious physical reactions; the biggest changes were in the senses and in thinking.

There are two main points I've noticed.

First, my five senses are much more acute than usual.

Secondly, my thinking has become significantly clearer.

There was nothing particularly miraculous about it.

"The first step in cultivation is to lay a solid foundation, and this applies to sword cultivators as well."

Su Che understood something.

"It's like a child learning to walk. At first, they don't walk steadily. Only when their legs have strength and their body becomes more coordinated can they walk steadily in the end."

From this perspective, the sword cultivation system is not that different from other systems.

"The sword box is a protective treasure and the foundation of cultivation. As for the Dingtian Jun Sword, it is a lineage for practicing sword intent, not a means of fighting enemies."

"It's just like what I've read in books. There's a saying that there's a way and a method. The way is the cultivation method to improve one's own realm, while the method is the way to apply it. The books provided by the Su family contain protective treasures and cultivation methods, but no means of application. They must be worried that something unexpected might happen if I become too aggressive after I take office."

The arrangement made by the elder of the Su family was very reasonable. Considering the personality of the original owner, "Little Tyrant of Danyang Iron Whip" was not a good title.

After his cultivation, Su Che felt refreshed and decided to flip through the files on the stolen silver treasury next to him.

A quick glance through the case file revealed that the usable information was indeed very limited.

The treasury of Shanyin County was divided into three parts: the "Changying Treasury", the "Feng'en Treasury" and the "Pingzhun Treasury".

Simply put, the treasury in the Changying Treasury was responsible for covering daily expenses. The Feng'en Treasury mainly stored taxes and tributes to be paid to the imperial court.

There was also a price stabilization fund used for disaster relief and price regulation. The accounts and files of this fund were the simplest because the fund was essentially empty.

The treasury where the incident occurred was the Changying Treasury.

Changying Warehouse had sixteen guards, four men per shift, divided into four shifts, patrolling day and night. The entire warehouse was built with blue bricks. During construction, the possibility of theft was taken into consideration, and a clumsy method was used: the main warehouse only had one main entrance.

Kuding usually only patrols outside the warehouse, and there is only one key to the warehouse, which is in the hands of Tian, ​​the clerk.

Whenever there were any expenses, the clerk Tian would take two scribes to the treasury to collect the money, count it in person, and then lock the gate again.

This system is theoretically foolproof. Because if Tian Zhubu can implement this system diligently, there won't be many opportunities for the warehouse staff to demonstrate their abilities.

The premise is that there is a City God in Shanyin County.

Because a city has a city god residing in it, there is naturally a system composed of various ghost messengers and underworld generals to prevent evil spirits from causing trouble.

If any demons were to covet the treasury of Shanyin County, their first hurdle would be the ghost messengers under the command of the Shanyin County City God. In this chaotic world, many cities do not even have a City God.

The reason is quite simple: many city gods and land gods, as maintainers of human order, constantly clashed with various demons and monsters that challenged that order, and most of them have already perished.

"The so-called case of the stolen silver from the treasury is mostly the work of some petty devils. The reason why Shanyin County attaches such importance to it is probably not only because the Changying Treasury is indeed related to everyone's interests, but also because they want to test my mettle."

Su Che had also made a judgment in his mind.

Therefore, this case not only needs to be handled quickly, but also needs to be handled effectively.

Su Che then flipped through the case file, trying to figure out the local customs and traditions of Shanyin County by referring to the snippets of information inside.

As the ancients said, "One can see the whole leopard from a single spot." By examining these documents, a conclusion can naturally be drawn about the entire Shanyin County and the surrounding areas.

The red candle wept, and I spent a sleepless night.

Su Che continued reading the case file until the next morning.

This also gave me a deeper understanding of the entire Shanyin County.

As dawn broke and the sun had not yet risen, Su Che decided to take a short nap in bed.

The thought had just crossed my mind when I heard a rapid drumbeat outside.

Su Che hurriedly put on his clothes and slipped on his official boots, preparing to go out. He stopped just as he was about to pull the door open.

The deep, resonant drumbeat just now, excluding the impossible scenario of the Northern Wei army marching towards Shanyin City, must have meant that someone had struck the grievance drum.

According to the laws of Daliang, every county government office had a large drum outside, called the "Revenge Drum." People who were oppressed could use this drum to seek justice.

Once the drum sounds, the county magistrate, the official in charge of the county affairs, should personally come to investigate.

Su Che remembered that according to the system of Daliang, it was rare for a county magistrate to be accompanied by his clerks to hold court with both sides of the court filled with yamen runners.

Most disputes were resolved at the level of the clan chief and the village head.

Only a very small number of serious and important cases would fall into the hands of the county constable.

As for cases that require the county magistrate's attention, they are either cases where there is a great benefit to be gained, or cases that are indeed impossible for the lower levels to handle.

So when the grievance drum sounded, Su Che became somewhat nervous.

After all, the imperial court had clear laws and regulations that once the grievance drum sounded, only the county magistrate could make a judgment.

This was to prevent local officials, such as the county magistrate and registrar, from colluding and arbitrarily ruling the countryside.

However, this situation was somewhat awkward in Shanyin County. The county magistrate had never been to the county before, and before his arrival, Shanyin County didn't even have an official appointed by the imperial court.

Therefore, the drum of grievance must never be sounded.

Su Che vaguely remembered that when they were drinking last night, Clerk Tian had mentioned this grievance drum.

He said that in order to prevent anyone from striking the grievance drum, he simply ordered the drumsticks to be removed, and in a few days he planned to send someone to break the grievance drum so that it could not be sounded at all and to eliminate any future trouble.

It seems now that Registrar Tian's idea came too late.

Su Che put on his clothes and headed straight for the entrance of the county government office.

The grievance drum in Shanyin County had not sounded for a long time, but as soon as he arrived today, someone started beating the drum, which was obviously aimed at him.

After walking a few steps, I heard an old woman screaming in the distance.

"Injustice! Injustice! My daughter-in-law is a monster! You must do me justice, sir! Heavens above, I'm going to die..."

(End of this chapter)