Chapter 41: Andon's Guard

  In the midst of chatting with Bi Fangji, the horse carriage finally entered Qingzhou Prefecture. Along the way, Yang Bo and his group felt that the road was rugged and difficult to travel.

  "No wonder it's called Shandong, there are indeed many mountains... What a great place is Qingzhou Prefecture? It's sandwiched between Jinan Prefecture and Laizhou Prefecture, and not even by the sea." Yang Bo grumbled a few times, still having an aftertaste of the bumpy road.

  Bi Fangji was gazing out at the scenery by the roadside when he heard Yang Bo say, "Qingzhou is a place with a long history and an early name! The Yu Gong records: 'The sea and the Dai are Qingzhou', in ancient times it was the land of the Eastern Yi. The Zhou Li also records: 'Directly east is Qingzhou'. It's said that after Da Yu controlled the waters, he divided the country into nine states, with Qingzhou being one of them. In the first year of the Hongwu era, our dynasty changed Yidu Road to Qingzhou Prefecture, governing Weizhou, Ju State, and Jiaozhou, as well as Yidu, Linqu, Boxing, Shouguang, and other three states and sixteen counties. Later, Weizhou, Jiaozhou, Gangming, Changyi, and Jimou were assigned to Laizhou Prefecture, still governing one state and thirteen counties. The terrain of Qingzhou Prefecture is long and narrow, running north-south, with the city of Qingzhou located right in the middle, surrounded by mountains such as Jishan, Mou Mountain, Fangshan, Wushan, and Daxian Mountain..."

  Yang Bo was somewhat surprised "Father, how are you so familiar?"

  Bi Fangji smiled and said, "I've staked my entire second half of life on this place, so naturally I came to read some books before..."

  "What's the big deal, isn't it just reading a few more gazetteers? What's there to show off about?" Yang Bo turned his face away in annoyance and continued to study his map. After a while, he still couldn't help but ask, "Father, what are the other nine states besides Zhongzhou? I've forgotten for the moment..."

  Bi Fangji knew he was uneducated, but didn't laugh at him. "Time has passed and circumstances have changed, but generally according to the Yu Gong, it is divided into Ji Zhou, Yan Zhou, Qing Zhou, Xu Zhou, Yang Zhou, Jing Zhou, Yu Zhou, You Zhou, and Yong Zhou."

  Yang Bo nodded, so it turned out that the Huaxia Nine Provinces of later generations originated from this.

  As the carriage driver shouted, Qingzhou City finally arrived. Yang Bo curiously squeezed to the window and looked at this ancient city. Qingzhou City was majestic, stretching for tens of miles, and from a distance, it looked like a deep gray giant dragon lying on the horizon. The city wall was 3 zhang 5 chi high, the moat was 3 zhang 3 chi wide, and the river was 1 zhang 5 chi deep. There were four gates in the city, each with inner and outer double doors, connected by a moon gate. The east gate was called "Haidai Gate", the west gate was called "Taishan Gate", the south gate was called "Yunmen Gate" and the north gate was called "Lingfeng Gate". Unfortunately, when Yang Bo walked to the city wall, he saw that these walls were all gray and dilapidated. The pedestrians on the road were mostly old, weak, sick and disabled, and there were no young and strong people in sight.

  Several soldiers at the city gate openly extorted merchants coming and going, their long guns in hand hadn't been cleaned for who knows how long, with a rusty appearance that could barely pierce thin boards.

  "If we were to encounter rebels from Dengzhou, what would happen then!" The laziness of these soldiers was unbearable even for Bi Fangji. This is not surprising, as Qingzhou was originally located in the heartland of Shandong Province, and had not experienced war for many years, except for some small skirmishes and uprisings, it had been peaceful for a long time, and people had long forgotten about swords and spears.

  Yang Bo didn't even have the interest to glance at them, and instead urged the carriage driver to hurry up and enter the city quickly. He urgently needed to find an inn to catch up on his sleep.

  After a few days, Yang Bo finally met Chen Jin, the governor of Qingzhou, under the leadership of Bi Fangji. When he heard that Yang Bo wanted to join the military household, Governor Chen looked at him with a hint of disdain and said a few words of advice. "In this day and age, there are still people who are eager to join the military household with a large amount of silver? Is this person out of his mind?"

  "The humble one has already thanked the great man's kindness" Yang Bo forced himself to fabricate: "The humble one has never been fond of reading, every day he likes to dance with guns and wield sticks, as the years go by, he ends up being a nobody, bringing shame to his ancestors' faces. The humble one also learned that in the military household, promotion is also important, if he can become an official or hold a position, then in the future, he will have something to say to his ancestors..."

  Magistrate Chen pondered for a long time, and Yang Bo knelt on the ground anxiously waiting. Finally, he heard Magistrate Chen say: "Very well, I will grant your filial wish, but where did you, young master Yang, intend to register in Qingzhou Prefecture?"

  Yang Bo's words also make sense, the hundred households on the streets are at least sixth-grade officials, and they can go anywhere without losing face, although the official positions in various guard stations have been sold at a sky-high price.

  "Anton Bay!" Yang Bo finally spoke out the place name he had been racking his brains for a long time, and for a moment he felt extremely relieved.

  "An Dongwei?" Mr. Chen and Bi Fangji, who was sitting on one side, furrowed their brows at the same time.

  Magistrate Chen was polishing his tea cup, lost in thought. This guy is really a country bumpkin, what's the point of running to Andongwei? Andongwei borders Huai'an Prefecture and has always been a lawless place, but it can't be said that no one manages it, rather there are too many mixed forces at play. Even Gan County under Huai'an Prefecture has jurisdiction over Andongwei, some places are even subject to double taxation, just thinking about these messy things gives Magistrate Chen a headache.

  Yang Bo didn't know that sending more silver would actually be a bad thing, fortunately, Lord Chen nodded in the end, so this matter was already half settled. What's left is how Lord Chen will handle it next. The military household registration is worthless, and Lord Chen, together with that old steward who Yang Bo has never even seen, can simply add a stroke to the yellow book, and Yang Bo's trial as a hundred-household head would be complete. People all say being an official is good, just think about that old steward, sitting at home with silver falling from above, he doesn't even know if Yang Bo is human or ghost.

  Yang Bo has been staring blankly into space for the past few days, and whenever he thinks about becoming a real official of the imperial court soon, he can't help but let out a loud whoop. The other guests in the inn were even startled by him several times.

  "It's just a trial, why are you so happy?" Bi Fangji walked in with a smile, these two days he had put all his enthusiasm into developing followers, in order to make a show of force at the Wei family gathering later, and had been wandering around Qingzhou city from dawn till dusk.

  "Still developing followers? Are you going out to let others watch the giant ape for free?" Yang Bo muttered to himself, then asked "What conditions do I need to meet to become a real hundred-household master? This trial is always making me uneasy."

  Bi Fangji shook his head: "Although you are a flowing official, it is much easier to promote than a worldly official. However, encountering examples of promotion depends on the opportunity."

  Two more days passed, and Lord Chen finally sent someone to deliver Yang Bo's waist card, documents, and seal. Yang Bo didn't dare to linger, hired a horse carriage and rushed to the Wei camp, no need to elaborate on the hardships of the journey.

  After a long time, several people finally arrived at this godforsaken place. Standing on the desolate land, smelling the salty sea breeze, Yang Bo's face was filled with tears.

  "What's wrong, Zhi Xian?" asked Bi Fangji, who was standing behind him.

  Yang Bo turned back and smiled, counting the members of his own team. If he were a lunatic preparing to change his fate, then Iron Bull could be considered an idiot, Doggy's eyesight wasn't great so he could be called Blind Man. So now the members of his own team are: A Lunatic (himself), An Idiot (Iron Bull), Beggars (Xiao siblings), Foreign Devil (Bi Fangji), Madman (Dui Zi), Swindler (Shu Sheng) and Blind Man (Doggy).

  What a crazy, cool and domineering combination? If placed in the future, these people, including himself, would absolutely be considered god-like teammates. Yang Bo thought of this and couldn't help but laugh foolishly. He waved his hand fiercely: "Alright, let's call this play 'Eight Sons Causing Chaos at Andongwei', former top scholar, you damn well better bring out your divine spirit, don't pretend to be a dead dog in front of me. Now I declare, the big show is about to begin!"

  Volume One Complete