On the Avenue.

Chapter 270 Chen Shi Becomes an Official
"A reincarnated ghost named Zhong Kui?"

Chen Shi carefully inquired about the detailed information of Zhong Kui's reincarnation. The boatwoman and the boatman didn't know much about it. They only knew that this underworld messenger made a mistake, escaped from the underworld, and was reincarnated in Du County, Jinzhou Province.

"Zhong Kui fled to Du County and lost his trace. Later, someone in the underworld calculated that he had been reincarnated."

The boat girl's eyes flickered as she said, "There is a difference between Yin and Yang. People from the underworld cannot come to the human world, so they need people from the human world to help them do this. You just need to go to Du County, find Zhong Kui, capture him, and hand him over to us."

The boatman continued, "After we receive Zhong Kui, we will go to the underworld and help you get your mother's soul back. She is not a serious criminal like you in the underworld, and the guards are not very strict."

The boat girl smiled and said, "Once we two go, we will definitely catch him easily!"

Chen Shi looked at the two men suspiciously. The boatman and his daughter had honest smiles on their faces, but he always felt that the guys in the underworld were talking nonsense, and this one named Zhong Kui was probably not easy to mess with.

The boatman and the boatwoman were extremely powerful. If Zhong Kui was really not very good at fighting, why didn't they go and instead give the credit to Chen Shi?

"Okay! I agree!" Chen Shi said decisively.

The father and daughter breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly urged him to get off the boat, saying, "You are not going to the brothel, so don't occupy our boat. We still have to do business! Now is the time for good business!"

Chen Shi smiled and said, "Does the Yincha also want to make money?"

The boat girl sneered, "If you don't make money, how can you make a living? The rent for the place where my father and I live costs several taels of silver a month! Add to that the daily expenses, and we really spend money like water. Mr. Chen, are you going to a brothel? I know which girl sings the most gracefully."

Chen Shi shook his head and said, "I don't have any money either."

"You can impress the girl with your talent and she won't charge you any money." The boatwoman said with a smile.

Chen Shi jumped onto the shore and was not fooled.

"A real tough guy." praised the boatman.

The boat girl chuckled and said, "Even if he is a real man, he still fell for our trick, right?"

The boatman also smiled: "If he goes to capture Zhong Kui, we won't have to take risks. If he wins, it's our credit. If he loses, he is our credit."

The boat girl smiled and said, "If he wins, we father and daughter will cover our faces and rescue his mother's soul to repay his kindness. We can then tie up his mother and send them to the underworld, and it will be our credit, and double the credit!"

Even though the boatman was calm, he couldn't hide his excitement: "With the support of the little King of Hell, the two of us..."

"We win!" the boat girl said crisply.

The lights in Xijing were just coming on, people were weaving and weaving on the streets, and carriages and horses were connected one after another, making it difficult to move forward.

Some people also sacrificed their Nascent Soul and carried themselves walking in the air, shining brightly.

There were also people who escaped by riding on the light of fire, water or sword, leaving traces of different colors in the air from time to time.

However, there were also cases where people did not have enough magical power and fell down, or collided in mid-air, killing two people. At this time, the yamen runners of Gongtian Prefecture would deal with it.

Chen Shi was thinking about something as he walked through the crowded crowd towards the inner city.

At this moment, Chen Tang came into his sight, wearing a black cloak, holding a lantern in his hand, waiting for him in the crowd.

Chen Shi walked forward and the two of them walked together.

Chen Shi repeated the boatman's and his daughter's request. Chen Tang was silent for a moment and asked, "Can they be trusted?"

"His father and daughter are ghosts and gods, and their words are nonsense. Only half of them can be believed. But whether it is credible or not, I have to do it." Chen Shi said.

Chen Tang said: "I will have someone check the news about Zhong Kui in Du County first."

Chen Shi shook his head and said, "You are too big a target, and there are too many people watching you. I won't use your people, I will use my people to investigate."

Chen Tang glanced at him and did not insist on using his own people. He said, "Jinzhou Province has 54 counties under its jurisdiction. Xijing is also in Jinzhou Province and is one of the most prosperous places. Du County is located in the mountains in the northeast. The geography there is dangerous. You must be careful when you go out."

Chen Shi smiled and said, "I will definitely be fully prepared."

"The court has also issued an order for you to serve as an ambassador to the Ministry of Revenue's Guangjiku, responsible for the dispatch of money and military equipment from the Guangjiku. Tomorrow you will go to the Ministry of Revenue to take up your post, and then go to the Guangjiku. Someone will take you through the process."

Chen Tang said, "Although the ambassador is not a high-ranking official, he is extremely important. All the military equipment and baggage of the Xijing army must pass through Guangjiku. The military equipment, muskets and firearms of the various prefectures of the imperial court must also pass through Guangjiku. Every weapon is crucial, and every pound of gunpowder is also of great importance."

Chen Shi said: "Chen Tang, did you buy this position for me? Or did you give it to me out of favoritism?"

Chen Tang shook his head, looked at him deeply, and said, "In the past few years that I have been the Right Assistant Minister, the Ambassador of Guangjiku has changed seven people. Five of them were beheaded because they had dirty hands and took things they shouldn't have. The other two were secretly eliminated because they controlled several military camps in Xijing, and the results were never found out afterwards."

Chen Shi was awed. It seemed that this official position was not bought by Chen Tang.

Chen Tang said: "Someone wants to control you and me, so they arranged for you to be the ambassador of Guangjiku. Countless eyes are watching you, and as long as you make a mistake, there will be a reason to punish you."

He stopped and said, "Do you know why I was able to become a third-rank official? I relied on my duty. I do things meticulously and will not make any mistakes. The eight warehouses and four storehouses of the Ministry of Revenue have never made any mistakes in the past few years under my management. Since you have also entered the Ministry of Revenue, you should remember these four words."

He handed the lantern to Chen Shi.

Chen Shi took the lantern and saw the word "Caution" written on the side of the lantern facing him, and the word "Xiaowei" written on the back.

Be cautious.

Chen Tang said: "You have been an official for thirteen years old. If you are not careful, you will be caught by others. Let us encourage each other with these four words."

Chen Shi looked at these four words, was silent for a moment, and said: "Chen Tang, I won't cause you any trouble."

The two returned home and had dinner. Chen Shi returned to his room and saw a set of ambassador's official uniform beside the bed and two sets of official uniforms for change in the closet.

The next morning, Chen Shi changed into official uniform. Chen Tang did not send anyone to come, but asked Sun Yisheng to lead him to the Ministry of Revenue.

The Ministry of Revenue had a large number of staff, but most of them were clerks and officials from the Fifty Provinces Qinglisi, who were responsible for managing the money, population, and materials of the fifty provinces.

Xiniu Xinzhou is too big, and the Ministry of Revenue is also bloated. There are too many people planted by various noble families, and there are only a few people working in each department.

As Chen Shi followed Sun Yisheng, he saw some people drinking tea, while others were going between various departments, running around between buildings and government offices, and were so busy that their legs were about to break.

There were also a few scholars who entered the Ministry of Revenue, but they were all middle-aged men, and they also came to serve as ambassadors and deputy ambassadors.

Chen Shi asked, "Sir Sun, are the ambassadors and deputy envoys of each library frequently replaced?"

"Of course I am diligent."

Sun Yisheng said, "The amount of money you handle every day is in the hundreds of thousands of taels. There are countless people out there who want to give you money and beauties, as long as you give them a note and sign a pledge. You can still bear this temptation for a day or two, but after a long time, only a few can resist the temptation."

"Their predecessors..."

"He was still alive a few days ago, and should be in the Ten Thousand Souls Banner now."

"Oh."

The two followed the inspector to Guangjiku, where the deputy envoy and the clerks were already waiting. After the officials had introduced themselves, they took out the account book of Guangjiku and took Chen Shi to visit the storage of Guangjiku. "Sir, Guangjiku has manufactured 200,000 linked lead bullets, 400,000 sub-sub lead bullets, 400,000 target gun lead bullets, 23,000 five-dragon spears, 23,000 three-barrel fire guns, 40,000 bird guns, and 80,000 large, medium, and small caltrops. Sir, please come this way."

Chen Shi looked at the mountain of bullets and stopped in front of the caltrops.

This huge caltrop was more than a man tall, even taller than him, with many sharp iron spikes, and various thunder talismans were imprinted on them.

"Sir, this kind of iron caltrop has thirty-six Nine Thunder Talismans painted on it, and forty-eight Five Thunder Talismans engraved inside. It is filled with three hundred kilograms of gunpowder and sugar. It is called Five Yang Thunder Gunpowder, and it is very powerful."

A clerk in charge of the production of caltrops said, "The iron spikes of this object are floating. If the collision is slightly violent, the iron spikes will squeeze the gunpowder inside and cause an explosion. When the explosion occurs, the outer shell of the caltrop will split into 3,000 pieces, and each iron spike will break into 200 fragments."

Chen Shi's voice trembled a little: "Here, take two out and go to Qushang River. I want to check their strength to see if you have cut corners and fooled me."

The inspector, the deputy envoys, and the clerks looked at each other and said hurriedly, "Master Chen, you can't do that!"

Sun Yisheng also hurriedly advised: "Master Xiao Chen, you can't do this! If you take it out and blow it up, there will be countless casualties on both sides of the Qushang River! Moreover, if any of these weapons are missing, you will be held responsible!"

Chen Shi reluctantly looked away and walked forward, looking back every few steps.

The inspector, the deputy envoys, and the clerks looked at each other, and they all understood each other: "I'm afraid this ambassador will not live to see the next month before he will be enshrined on the Ten Thousand Souls Banner."

"Sir, please come this way. Here is the cannon that was built for you."

They followed Chen Shi, trotting along, and led Chen Shi to check the artillery and flip through the accounts, saying, "We have manufactured 1,000 Dajiangjun cannons, 2,400 Mielu cannons, 2,400 Portuguese cannons, 10,000 bowl-mouthed guns, 3,000 rockets, and 5,000 spray guns."

Chen Shi came in front of the two-meter-long general cannons and clenched his fists to prevent his hands from shaking with excitement.

Seeing those dragon head rockets again, he couldn't bear it any longer and his hands finally trembled.

"I'll go outside and try this!" Chen Shi said.

Sun Yisheng hurriedly stopped him: "Master Chen, you can't try this!"

Chen Shi looked at these rockets and saw that they were about two meters long, with a dragon head, a dragon body, and even a dragon tail, but no four legs. They were filled with gunpowder, and the outside was painted with wind and cloud talismans and thunder talismans.

This thing can fly in the air for dozens of miles with the wind at an extremely fast speed, and then explode with extremely powerful force!
When the explosion occurs, there are not only wind, thunder, fire and smoke, but also the roar of a dragon and the extraordinary power of the dragon god, destroying everything!
Chen Shi looked left and right, reluctant to leave.

Several clerks whispered to each other, "This young Master Chen may be able to ascend the Ten Thousand Souls Banner before tomorrow."

They led Chen Shi to see all kinds of military equipment, including bows and arrows, large crossbows, chariot crossbows, long spears, long swords, long axes, rattan shields, waist knives, armor, golden drums, flints, fire soldiers' poles and so on. There were tens of thousands of them, all of which were painted with talismans and used as talisman weapons for offering incense every day!

In addition, there were tens of thousands of kilograms of saltpeter, sulfur, charcoal powder, sugar and other materials.

Chen Shi stared with his eyes wide open, and finally finished looking at the weapons in Guangjiku. It was already afternoon when he walked out. He was already hungry, but full of energy.

"I am in charge of so many firearms, I can conquer Xijing!" he said to himself.

Sun Yisheng noticed his excitement and whispered, "Master Chen, the things in the Guangjiku cannot be touched. If you do, you will be beheaded."

Chen Shi hesitated for a moment and whispered, "What if one or two are missing?"

He really wanted to try out every kind of talisman weapon in the Guangji warehouse to see their power.

Sun Yisheng said sternly: "No! The inspector will have to reconcile the accounts!"

Chen Shi sighed with regret and asked the inspector beside him: "Sir, are you corrupt?"

The inspector shook his head quickly.

Sun Yisheng was secretly worried: "I don't know who is so insidious to put Master Chen in this position, clearly intending to let him make a mistake."

However, he is the ambassador of Guanghuiku and has his own duties to perform, so it is impossible for him to keep an eye on Chen Shi all the time. He has to go back to Guanghuiku.

At this time, a group of more than ten people hurried over and laughed from afar, "Ambassador Guangjiku, I have been ordered to come and pick up the firearms! Why don't you come out to greet us?"

Sun Yisheng frowned slightly and looked outside. It was the Ma family disciple who had been beaten by Chen Shi on the way to the exam. His name seemed to be Ma Zongzhou.

Ma Zongzhou was wearing official uniform at this moment, and the dozen or so people around him were also scholars taking the exam. They were Zhou Qianying and others whom he had met on the road. They were also wearing official clothes at this moment. It was obvious that they had been assigned official positions after entering Xijing.

They were originally juren, so it was normal for them to be assigned official positions.

However, judging from their official uniforms, everyone’s position was not low, some were from the eighth rank, some were from the eighth rank, and Ma Zongzhou was a seventh rank official.

Chen Shi led a group of minor officials out of the Guangji Treasury and looked at the deputy envoy, who hurried forward and asked, "Does your Excellency have any documents?"

Ma Zongzhou pushed the deputy envoy aside, walked towards Chen Shi, and said with a smile: "You have nothing to do here. Chen Shi, I am the official of Gongtian Prefecture, a seventh-rank official. I am here today to discuss firearms and military equipment. Why don't you prepare to greet me?"

Chen Shi looked calm and said, "Please show me the document, sir."

Ma Zongzhou sat down and said with a smile: "Chen Shi, you are meeting me, but you don't show courtesy? Since ancient times, the higher-ranking officials have crushed people to death. I am two ranks higher than you, so you should at least kowtow to me, and the offenses you have committed against me in the past will be wiped out."

Zhou Qianying, Wang Ping and others looked on with a smile.

Chen Shi raised his eyebrows and said with a half-smile, "You want me to kowtow to you and apologize?"

Wang Ping smiled and said, "Master Chen, Master Ma is showing great mercy by asking you to apologize. You are a ninth-rank official, and he is a seventh-rank official. If he wants to punish you and make things difficult for you, he has plenty of ways to do it."

Zhou Qianying advised softly, "That's right, Master Chen. Master Ma is a high-ranking official after all. He is willing to make peace with you. You should just bow your head and admit your mistakes."

"Lord Sun, close the door." Chen Shi said.

Sun Yisheng was stunned.

Chen Shi slowly took off his official robe and said calmly, "Do you think that I won't dare to kill people if I put on this robe?"

He threw his official robe on the ground and walked towards Ma Zongzhou.

Ma Zongzhou knew something was wrong, so he stood up immediately, activated his skills, and changed his spell. However, just as his blood and qi started to move, Chen Shi was already in front of him. Ma Zongzhou felt a sharp pain in his lower abdomen, and flew out like a cannonball, hitting a large cannon, knocking the huge cannon body to one side!

Ma Zongzhou struggled to stand up, only to hear a series of loud bangs. He looked hurriedly and saw Zhou Qianying, Wang Ping and others all lying on the ground.

"I'm giving Chen Tang a favor and being a good kid for a few days."

Chen Shi picked up Zhou Qianying, tied the girl to a dragon-head rocket, and placed the rocket on the turret.

He walked in front of Ma Zongzhou. Ma Zongzhou tried to resist, but his true energy was dispersed by Chen Shi's two punches, and he was also tied to a rocket.

"But even if I kill you, which of the Thirteen Families would dare to ask?"

Chen Shi tied these people to the rocket one by one and said to Sun Yisheng who was stunned at the side: "Master Sun, go and inform Gongtian Mansion to let them come to me to apologize, otherwise I will send them to the sky."

Sun Yisheng jumped up, ran out in a hurry, and shouted, "Don't kill anyone first!"

(End of this chapter)