22: Chapter 22 Offending? Absolutely impossible!

The official from the Ministry of War in Taiping County was a refined-looking middle-aged man...

Looking around, he was the only refined-looking middle-aged man there. The rest were all burly, rough-looking fellows.

After stating his purpose... the refined-looking man's eyes lit up, and he brought Shen Yi inside the room.

He poured a pot of hot tea... without any airs at all, he served it to Shen Yi.

Shen Yi was flattered and immediately said he did not dare accept such treatment.

However, the middle-aged man chuckled.

"Town Chief Shen, you deserve it... You are, after all, a Shen Tanhua. Strictly speaking, your status should be on par with a minor eighth-rank official of the Immortal Dynasty like me."

Shen Yi offered a perfectly measured bitter smile... The top three scholars of the imperial examination had a good reputation, but compared to someone with actual power like this, he was far behind.

If he actually believed that... he would be humbled by the likes of Cao Fei the very next second!

Shen Yi got straight to the point.

"Twenty mu of spiritual fields of lingyuan rice, with a yield of two thousand jin..."

"I have kept five hundred jin for reserves, so this time, Qinghe Town can only deliver one thousand five hundred jin."

"I know this is just a pittance, but I hope you will not look down on it, my lord."

The Military Department was responsible for the Ministry of War's internal affairs, and situated in a place as treacherous as the Sanchuan Sand Sea, their pressure was naturally immense.

The Ministry of War had limited quotas for armor and stipends for frontier counties... and these limited quotas could not sustain the high-intensity combat losses.

Taiping County not only had to be responsible for maintaining order within its own city, but also had to handle the suppression of high-level demon lairs.

Even when a demon tide appeared, they needed to be the first to hold the line.

Clearly, the Ministry of War's quotas were far from enough... so they expanded the army without authorization.

The Imperial Court naturally knew about this but could not be bothered to intervene... or rather, it was something they had tacitly encouraged.

However, they did not want to pay for it. So where would the money come from? Either burden the noble clans, or make the common people suffer.

But in the Sanchuan Sand Sea, what kind of noble clans or wealthy commoners could there be? They were on the verge of starvation... was what Shen Yi brought not exactly what was needed to solve their urgent crisis?

Ordinary grain was plentiful, but the masters and Dao soldiers struggled to obtain enough energy from such food, so they needed spiritual items like lingyuan rice.

For entry-level spiritual items, each armored soldier ate one bowl a day, supplemented with some polished rice and white flour, which was enough.

But for first-grade spiritual items... each armored soldier only needed half a bowl. As for second-grade or third-grade armored soldiers... they were not within the scope of consideration!

And one thousand five hundred jin, one could imagine... it was enough to feed Taiping County's expanded army of five hundred men for three months!

Those three months—were they not a lifesaver?

The refined middle-aged man could not help but laugh... the worry between his brows dissipated quite a bit!

He said repeatedly.

"It seems Brother Shen has had a stroke of great Luck; I imagine it must be due to the diluojiang!"

The Ministry of War had always been responsible for military farming, so hearing this, the refined man slapped his thigh in frustration.

"It really has been a bad year; the harvest is barren, the soil lacks fertility, and I was planning to let the land rest for half a year to recover its fertility!"

"If I had Brother Shen's Luck... I fear I would have enough spiritual grain saved for a year!"

The man looked at Shen Yi and said in a deep voice.

"I wonder what kind of price Brother Shen intends to set?"

"To be honest, many noble clans have come here in the past few days... to peddle spiritual grain."

"But without exception, they all asked for high prices, and the quality was far inferior to Brother Shen's."

"Brother Shen, rest assured... on the surface, the Imperial Court's rules are strict."

"But privately..."

"A living person cannot be stifled by a bit of urine, right... after all, we are defending the border for the Imperial Court!"

"Furthermore... Brother Shen did not go to the Ministry of Revenue, but came directly to my Ministry of War... I assume you are close to my Ministry of War, right?"

"Brother Shen, rest assured, I will certainly not wrong you..."

"A price premium of ten percent, twenty percent... or even thirty percent. I accept it!"

Shen Yi shook his head.

"Market price is sufficient..."

The refined middle-aged man looked over, a look of inquiry in his eyes.

"Brother Shen... your one thousand five hundred jin, according to the Ministry of War's calculations, is worth 5000 copper coins."

Shen Yi smiled.

"Naturally, I have a request."

"Brother Shen, please speak..."

Shen Yi beckoned, instructing Wang Meng to carry in the snake demon's corpse. He cupped his hands and said.

"Shen Yi... wishes to seek merit."

A strange smile flashed in the refined man's eyes.

"Livelihood, military conquest... Brother Shen wants to take the path of military conquest?"

"But I have heard that Brother Shen has done well in managing livelihood... and this lingyuan rice is the best proof. In that case, is it not a bit putting the cart before the horse?"

Shen Yi did not bother to hide it.

"I want both... I want both..."

Seeing this, the refined man laughed heartily.

"Brother Shen has quite the ambition... that will depend on Brother Shen's capability."

"First-grade... no, a second-grade snake demon?"

The refined man rubbed his chin... looking somewhat troubled. Then, Shen Yi added.

"This snake demon came from a demon lair."

The official from the Military Department's eyes lit up.

"Really?"

"Do you have proof?"

"It went along with the earth vein..."

"I see... it seems that demon lair is very strange."

"But even so, the merit is not enough... I can only give you a 'Superior-Good' rating."

Shen Yi scratched his head.

"It seems that is all I can do..."

Afterwards, Shen Yi seemed to think of something and spoke slowly.

"There is one more thing... I would like to ask for your favor, my lord!"

The middle-aged man frowned, but suppressed his impatience.

"Speak."

Shen Yi smiled slightly.

"My Qinghe Town office is empty, and I hear the Ministry of War has received quite a few death row prisoners... I was thinking of taking them back to train them; they might be barely usable!"

"My lord... I am willing to buy them with copper coins."

The refined man smiled slightly.

"Copper coins?"

Shen Yi gritted his teeth.

"Fifty military households... I want one hundred people."

"What does my lord think?"

The refined man looked at Shen Yi as if he were a monster.

"What are you saying... one hundred and fifty people, five thousand copper coins."

"Also, I will hand over the Ministry of War's slave seals to you, so they do not ruin things for you!"

The official from the Military Department smiled slightly, intentionally giving a hint.

"...There is still over a month until the merit review, so how about this... a group of Black Fiend Bandits has recently appeared in the Sand Sea."

"I have a tracking technique here; if Brother Shen can handle this task."

"Then this 'Excellent' rating can be justified. By then, my Ministry of War can also request merit from the Imperial Court... perhaps we can even invite a few border Dao soldiers. It will be of great benefit to you."

"But Brother Shen, you must be careful; the number of these Black Fiend Bandits is no less than five hundred... and their movements are very fast!"

Shen Yi was stunned for a moment, then quickly accepted it. With a beaming smile, he cupped his hands and bowed. He knew that he had hitched a ride with the Ministry of War!

The refined man stood up, very satisfied, and did not take the money bag. He said with a smile.

"Brother Shen, you are a smart man. I think highly of you... if you enter the ninth rank after the merit review and do not want to govern a region, you can come to my Ministry of War to report. Of course... that is for Brother Shen to consider yourself!"

"Thank you..."

"My name is Chu Sheng..."

"Ah?..."

"Thank you, Lord Chu."

"Alright... Brother Shen, you should think about how to deal with those masters from the Ministry of Revenue! Their tempers are quite fierce!"