If you traveled back to ancient times, while others ate Guanyin clay, you would actually have giant

There were over a thousand people in total. It sounds easy, but when Zhou Wu picked them up, he found a huge, swarming crowd.

Moreover, the students weren't soldiers, so they lacked discipline. They talked all at once, each saying their own thing, making it no different from a vegetable market.

"Class, everyone, please be quiet."

Fortunately, people still have a lot of respect for Principal Zhou Wu, and the discussion has subsided considerably.

The large number of people appearing at the dock attracted the attention of the surrounding residents, who were all quite curious as to why so many people had suddenly arrived.

Fortunately, Zhou Wu had made prior arrangements, deploying some soldiers to guard the area, which prevented the onlookers from daring to approach.

"Someone will be arranged to take you to your accommodations in a little while. Please don't wander around on the streets to avoid getting separated. In the next few days, you will have time to explore the capital."

Zhou Wu gave a few simple instructions, and the rest would naturally be handled by the court staff. He only came forward to reassure the students from the South China Sea.

These students will not be immediately assigned to different places. The imperial court will first register their majors and strengths, and then make unified arrangements after the statistics are compiled.

However, Zhou Wu had already found out that an official position was definitely out of the question, since official positions in Dalong were not so cheap. But he could not escape the status of a clerk.

Li Dalong is actually a very special person. He is not an official, but he is a civil servant.

Officials in the imperial court generally worked in grassroots departments, performing auxiliary or highly specialized tasks.

Common examples include clerks in government offices, coroners, and staff at post stations.

Logically speaking, even if these students have studied their majors for several years, they shouldn't be given official positions, but the higher-ups still considered many factors.

First, these students all come from the South China Sea, and unlike untrained technicians, they have at least received formal training in academies. In addition to their professional skills, they are also literate, which alone makes them far superior to apprentices in the real world.

Another reason is that these are extraordinary times, and the court is facing a great shortage of technical talents and officials. In order to attract these technical talents, the court has granted them the status of clerks. This does not require the court to pay much, and it can also win the hearts of the people and talents.

. . . . .

Zhou Wu originally planned to stay for a few days after picking up his students before returning to the South China Sea, but an unexpected incident occurred at this time.

"What? You said several students were arrested?"

Zhou Wu looked incredulous. He knew these students well; they were all children of ordinary people and couldn't possibly have done anything illegal.

After all, the class distinction between officials and commoners was still very strong in this era. Even though Zhou Wu was a modern person, he never thought he could change this on his own.

"Yes, sir, it is absolutely true."

The servants knew that these students were their master's disciples, so when they heard the news on the street, they rushed back to inform their master.

Do you know why?

"Master, I don't know about that, but they were arrested by the yamen runners of the Prefect of the Capital. Don't you have a good relationship with the Prefect of the Capital? You can ask him."

Zhou Wu immediately got up and went to find the Prefect of the Capital to ask him for clarification.

However, before Zhou Wu could find the Prefect of Jingzhao, the Prefect found him first.

"Master Zhou."

Zhu Keduo looked somewhat nervous; this matter was indeed quite tricky.

"I was just about to look for you, but you came to me first. What's going on with my students?"

Zhou Wu directly used my student, which was a signal to Zhu Keduo: if you arrest my people without a legitimate reason, even if Zhu Keduo is Zhu Zhiyong's father, it will be difficult to explain.

As a seasoned veteran of officialdom, Zhu Keduo naturally understood Zhou Wu's subtext and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Lord Zhou, this has nothing to do with me. I was just following orders and came here specifically to report to you that someone reported this."

Zhu Keduo is going crazy. One is his son's good friend, the Grand Commander of the South China Sea. The other is someone he has been in officialdom for many years. He claims to be reporting someone, but in reality, there is definitely someone else behind it who is also targeting corrupt officials. He can't afford to offend either of them.

"Report? Who's so bored as to report my student for what? Not paying for food, spitting on the ground?"

In Zhou Wu's view, even if his students had problems, they were nothing more than trivial matters. The fact that they could be reported suggested that the other party was likely trying to cause him trouble.

"Sir, this matter is a bit troublesome. Someone has reported that your student organizations are carrying out cult activities, and they have caught them red-handed."

"A cult? And caught red-handed?"

Zhou Wu was stunned. He and even the entire South China Sea island adhered to materialism.

There isn't a single temple on the entire South China Sea island; this is simply an international joke.

In this timeline, several dynasties were ruined by the rise of cults that deceived and manipulated the populace into rebellion. Therefore, cults were considered a serious crime in the Great Dragon Empire, potentially punishable by death.

"Yes, the yamen runners from the Prefect of the Capital went to the scene and caught the culprit red-handed."

Zhu Keduo said with some difficulty that his son was now following Zhou Wu, and he certainly didn't want to offend Zhou Wu, but the "tiger" behind him was someone he couldn't afford to mess with.

"I'm going to see my students."

"can."

While he couldn't help with other matters, Zhu Keduo still had the authority to arrange prison visits, so he readily agreed.

. . . . . . . .

The prison of the Prefect of the Capital.

Just like on TV, it was dark, damp, and had a musty smell.

"Even though it's a prison, can't you clean it properly? If the prisoners get sick, the imperial court will still pay for their medicine."

Zhou Wu pinched his nose, looking somewhat disgusted.

"Yes, yes, yes, this humble official will certainly pay attention."

Zhu Keduo thought to himself, "What time is it? Can we not worry about these details?"

Zhu Keduo then personally led Zhou Wu to the prison where the students were being held before leaving. As the presiding judge, he should have avoided any appearance of impropriety.

In this incident, a total of four students were arrested, all of whom were boys.

"Principal, Principal, we are innocent."

“We didn’t do that; we were framed.”

"Principal, you have to believe in us."

"Save us."

From the time they were arrested this morning until now, the four students had never seen anything like this before. When they were arrested, their legs went weak.

They were filled with anxiety in the prison. Finally, the only person who could help them, the principal, appeared, and the four of them tried to grasp at this only straw.

"Who you are, do you think I don't know? If I didn't trust you, I wouldn't have come."

Zhou Wu's words reassured the four students, and their emotions calmed down.

"Can someone tell me what's going on and what happened?"

Zhou Wu's most important task now is to understand the whole story and see if he can find any clues.