Chapter Fifteen: Receiving Rewards

  Wu Jie was frail and weak, with skin and bones visible all over his body, and only a few pounds of flesh. How could he be a scholar or the capable person who hunted down such a giant bear? No matter how they looked at him, it didn't seem right, and several runners had disbelieving expressions on their faces.

  "Authentic goods, fake ones will be exchanged!" Wu Ji's words were in stark contrast to his physical condition, firm and resolute, making people dare not doubt him. With a chest out and head held high, he gained even more confidence.

  "They've met Wu Xiuciai!" The several attendants finally came to their senses, and had no choice but to believe. They hastily paid their respects to Wu Ji. As a scholar, Wu Ji was of high social status, even though he held no official position. His identity and standing were evident, and the attendants did not dare neglect their manners.

  "Excused!" Wu Jie put on a scholarly air and accepted it with an air of importance, asking: "Go inform him that we want to see Governor Zheng."

  "Ha ha!" A bailiff with a friendly smile, hastily said: "Lord Zheng is discussing with the hunter to go hunting for bears in your Wu Family Village. You've arrived just in time, no need to report, follow me."

  Wu Qing wanted Ding Zhuang to carry the bear, and Wu Ji couldn't give him a piggyback ride this time. Wu Qing personally supported him, with his head held high, his chest out, as if walking close to Wu Ji was his greatest honor.

  Under the leadership of the bailiff, Wu Ji and others arrived at the county government office, where several strong men put down the bear.

  A government official emerged from the county yamen, about thirty years old, with bright and spirited eyes. He wore a black gauze hat, with two hat strings swaying back and forth as he walked. His green official robe had a dignified air to it.

  "Your Honor Zheng!" Wu Qing hastily stepped forward, knelt down on the ground and paid his respects to the official.

  "It was Old Man Wu!" The official, who was the Zheng County Magistrate, hastily stepped forward and helped him up. With a wave of his sleeve, he brushed off the dust from Wu Qing's body with great familiarity.

  Wu Qing's face was radiant with glory, excitement beyond words, and a flush of red light. In his eyes, the county magistrate was a high-ranking official, and being able to help him up was already a great honor, let alone personally dusting off the dirt for him.

  "This official has no airs, is approachable and down-to-earth. In modern terms, he belongs to the people-pleasing faction." Wu Ji looked at him with a discerning eye and drew his conclusion about Zheng County Magistrate. He greatly admired his people-pleasing style and had a much better impression of him.

  Personally dusting for an old peasant, such officials are rare not only in the Song Dynasty but also in modern times which claim to put people first.

  "Wu Ji has met Lord Zheng before." Wu Ji stepped forward, clasped his fists and bowed. As a scholar, he didn't need to perform the grand kowtow ceremony. Besides, Wu Ji wouldn't have done that anyway.

  "Is that Wu Xiuzai? Are you really Wu Xiuzai?" County Magistrate Zheng's bright eyes sized up Wu Ji, and he couldn't help but smile: "I've heard your body is extremely weak, I didn't expect it to be even weaker than I imagined!"

  This Wu Xiuzai's poor body was as famous as his name, and Wu Ji was speechless: "Thanks for your concern."

  "Hmm!" County Magistrate Zheng looked Wu Ji up and down, nodding his head repeatedly, and said with great approval: "You have a weak physique, but as long as you nourish yourself well, you'll be fine. It's not difficult at all. The other day, Old Man Wu came to the county government office and mentioned that some soldiers were causing trouble. I suppose it was you who taught them? What a great talent! You're eloquent and articulate, with an unimpeded flow of words."

  "Magistrate Zheng, are you aware of this?" Wu Qing attributed the honor to himself at that time and enjoyed it very much. After returning, he felt a bit uneasy and specially compensated Wu Ji by giving him half a bowl of mutton oil. Whenever he thought of Magistrate Zheng's praise, he felt as if he was floating on cloud nine, but unexpectedly, Magistrate Zheng had already understood the cause and effect of the whole thing.

  "Haha! Wu Bo is not a scholar, how can he have such high insight? Apart from the tutoring of the xiucai in your Wu family village, it's impossible." Zheng County Magistrate spoke to the point.

  "Wu Qing's old face turned red with embarrassment, and he couldn't get the words out, stuttering..."

  "Third Uncle, don't take it to heart." Wu Jian comforted Wu Qing and changed the subject: "Lord Zheng, this bear is the scourge that has been plaguing our Wu Family Village. Now that I've gotten rid of it, please, sir, come and verify."

  "Oh! You took it down?" Zheng County Magistrate looked disbelieving, sizing up Wu Ji and then Xiong, the large and small of them greatly disproportionate. How could Wu Ji, with his weak build, take down such a massive bear?

  Behind the county magistrate, several people followed, including runners and honest farmers with rough skin and weathered faces, who should be hunters invited by the county magistrate of Zheng.

  An older hunter stepped forward quickly, took a look at the bear's body, and couldn't help but take a deep breath: "Hiss! Hiss!"

  "Uncle Wu, what's wrong?" A hint of surprise flashed in County Magistrate Zheng's eyes.

  "Lord Zheng, look at this wound quickly. It's not a knife wound, it's not a gunshot wound, it's not an arrow wound... it's the wrath of heaven, punishing this bear, that's why it has such a wound!" The hunter with the surname Wu stuttered and stammered for half a day before getting to the point.

  "Ah!" Zheng County Magistrate's interest was piqued by his words, and he followed Wu Xing's pointing finger to take a look. He saw that the bear's lower jaw was gone, with a huge wound. Such an injury, for the ancients, was unprecedented and unheard of. Zheng County Magistrate's mouth was agape, and it took him half a day to squeeze out a sentence: "This is truly the wrath of heaven!"

  In their imagination, if it weren't for the bear provoking heaven and bringing down punishment, how could there be such injuries?

  "Governor Zheng, don't be alarmed, this is a result of my bear hunting." Wu Ji knew they didn't know what gunpowder was or what an explosion was, so he had to explain it to him.

  "What have you caused? Impossible! How dare you?" Zheng County Magistrate still did not believe it, shaking his head slowly.

  Wu Ji knew that if he didn't explain it clearly, he wouldn't believe him, so he had to tell him one by one. As for the key points, such as the formula of gunpowder, he would not mention them and just gloss over them. Wu Ji's words were clear and logical, and Zheng County Magistrate listened with amazement, exclaiming: "A clever trick! A clever trick! Is there really such a wonderful method in the world?"

  What Wu Ji said was far beyond their imagination and yet had a strong sense of reality, making people believe it as soon as they heard it. Such things, if they didn't exist, couldn't be made up even if one tried.

  "Good! With this bear gone, Wu's village will be completely safe." Zheng County Magistrate was not a man to drag his feet, and immediately made good on his promise: "Wu Xiūcái, fifty thousand coins, here it is. Do you want cash or silver ingots?"

  This was an option given to Wu Qi, for convenience. Fifty thousand coins, that is five hundred thousand coins, each coin weighing three to four grams. Fifty thousand coins, that's nearly two hundred kilograms, enough to crush Wu Qi's small body. Wu Qi didn't even think about it and chose to take the silver ingots.

  The advantage of silver ingots is that they are light and convenient to carry. The disadvantage is that they are not easy to use. In modern terms, coins are small change, one by one, convenient to use. Silver ingots are whole money, one or two taels equaling a thousand coins, which causes problems when using them.

  Wu Jie is for carrying convenience, as for use, that's a later matter.

  Summon the steward to bring the silver, and Zheng County Magistrate personally handed it over to Wu Ji. Wu Ji took it, heavy and substantial, with a metallic texture that made people feel particularly comfortable.

  Staring at the silver in his hand, Wu Ji's eyes shone brightly. With this silver, Wu Ji's life would improve and his body would become stronger. More importantly, Wu Ji now had the capital to open an ammunition factory.

  A glimpse of a leopard's spots reveals the whole beast, Wu Ji knew from his war wounds in the Battle of Returning City that constant warfare was occurring in the north, and that was his stage. The munitions factory opened in the north, and he had fallen into a pile of money, gold and silver mountains were no problem.

  Feeling the weight of silver in his hands, Wu Ji, despite being calm, couldn't help but get excited for a bright future!

  Everything is ready, all that's missing is going to Xiongzhou to set up an ammunition factory!

  County Magistrate Zheng thought Wu Jie had never seen so much silver before, and smiled slightly: "Wu Xiucan, this bear skin is rarely seen and very precious. If the bear skin were intact, it could be sold for 40 or 50 taels of silver. Unfortunately, although your method of hunting bears was clever, you damaged the bear skin. I'll give you 25 taels of silver to buy it from you; are you willing to sell?"

  "Ah! Is the bear still mine?" Wu Ji had originally thought that after he received the reward, the bear would belong to the government.

  "Heh heh! That's settled then!" County Magistrate Zheng nodded and said, "The bear gallbladder shouldn't be small, I'll add another five taels of silver to buy it. As for the bear meat, your mountain village is short on meat, so let's divide it up."

  "What a good official!" Wu Ji secretly praised in his heart.

  If the county magistrate had a greedy heart, he could have used the reward as an excuse to embezzle this bear, which would be worth several dozen taels of silver. He didn't do that, but instead spent his own money to buy it, which is absolutely a good official. Moreover, the price he offered was very fair.

  "Alright!" Wu Jie agreed with pleasure.

  "This is thirty taels of silver, take it." The magistrate of Zheng County ordered someone to bring the silver and hand it over to Wu Ji.

  Wu Jie took it and handed it over to Wu Qing beside him, saying: "Third Uncle, you can distribute this money to the people in the village."

  "Ji'er, this won't do! This bear was killed by you, the money should go to you!" Wu Qing didn't accept.

  "Third Uncle, this bear has been causing trouble in our village, Wu Qiang was bitten to death, and many people in the village were frightened. This little money is not worth dividing up, it's not much anyway. As for me, having this reward is enough." Wu Ji hurriedly explained.

  The county magistrate's eyes shone brightly, staring at Wu Ji, as if in thought, and praised: "Old Master Wu, since Wu Xiuzai has this intention, don't decline it. The county government is currently lacking a chief clerk. The chief clerk manages the numbers of money and grain, which requires someone like you who is not greedy. Are you willing to be the chief clerk?"

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