Taking Office

It seemed that day Jia Zheng had called Sun Shaozong over and chatted vaguely, it was actually a disguised 'interview'—Jia Zheng was quite reassured about Sun Shaozong's martial arts, this interview was just to examine Sun Shaozong's character, to prevent him from leading his sons astray.

And seeing Jia Lian coming to 'betroth' with such fanfare, one could tell that Jia Zheng was very satisfied with the results of that day's interview.

But Sun Shaozong was about to go to Shuntian Prefecture to take office, how could he have the leisure to teach a group of wanku children martial arts?

"You can rest assured about this!"

Jia Lian hurriedly patted his chest and guaranteed, "Our family isn't counting on this to make a name for ourselves, you just need to take the time to teach them some routines to strengthen their bodies, usually there will be others responsible for supervising their practice, you don't need to worry too much."

To be honest, if he could, Sun Shaozong really didn't want to get involved in such troublesome matters.

But even if he didn't mention the Rongguo Mansion's kindness to the Sun family, Sun Shaozong was currently in need of Jia Yucun's help and support, so how could he refuse the Jia family's invitation?

Therefore, he could only agree first, thinking about using broadcast gymnastics as a base, and then using health-preserving Tai Chi to muddle through, it should be enough to deal with that group of wanku children.

But these are all stories for later.

The most important thing for him right now is to go to Shuntian Prefecture to take office!

——Separation line——

The sixth day of the first lunar month.

It was the first day of work for officials at all levels after the New Year holiday.

In previous years, the Shuntian Prefecture yamen was very lively, regardless of the rank of the officials, they would greet each other with 'Duofu', and say some clever auspicious words—but this year the atmosphere in the yamen was particularly strange, the officials above had a dark face, and the petty officials and yamen runners didn't even dare to breathe.

And the culprit behind all this was naturally the newly appointed Judicial Assistant Magistrate Sun Shaozong!

Normally, a sixth-rank Judicial Assistant Magistrate wouldn't be considered anything in this yamen with the highest rank of third-rank, not worth everyone being so on guard.

But the problem lies in Sun Shaozong's background, and the word 'concurrent'!

From the Sui and Tang dynasties to the present, except for the founding generals of each dynasty who could be exceptions, it had always been civil officials concurrently serving as military officials, when had anyone heard of military officials concurrently serving as civil officials [The Ministry of War's Vice Minister and Minister titles of the regional governors were just honorary titles]?

Especially since he was concurrently serving as a sixth-rank civil official with a sixth-rank military position [The civil officials selectively ignored the matter of his promotion to fifth-rank Cavalry Commandant]!

How could these literary gentlemen, who were accustomed to valuing civil over military, tolerate this?

Not to mention the Shuntian Prefecture, even the civil officials in other yamen were eager to get this 'catfish' out of the pond as soon as possible, and then beat him to death!

That's why Administrator Liu Chongshan disregarded the rules and regulations and forcibly pushed the case of the naked corpse onto Sun Shaozong, who knew that this move not only failed to stump Sun Shaozong, but completely made Sun Shaozong's reputation as 'divine in solving cases'.

Seeing that Sun Shaozong had already gained a firm foothold before taking office, in the days before and after the New Year, the chief officials of Shuntian Prefecture didn't know how much ridicule and complaints they had received from their relatives and friends, it would be strange if they were in a good mood!

It was said that when the officials had arrived in sevens and eights, a petty official suddenly rushed into the Experience Department under the Shuntian Prefecture, and announced loudly: "Sir, the newly appointed Magistrate Sun has arrived, and is now waiting outside to verify the transfer documents."

The Experience Department has a seventh-rank Experience Officer, who is in charge of the documents of the Shuntian Prefecture. Generally, newly appointed officials must first come here to verify the transfer documents, and only after confirming that there are no errors can they officially take office.

"Arrived?"

Experience Officer Chen Zhichuang hurriedly threw the brush heavily on the pen rack, only to get half the table covered in ink, but he still said calmly: "Go, follow this official to meet that military convict!"

The words 'military convict' were originally a derogatory term for military generals in the Song Dynasty, and had long been banned at the beginning of this dynasty. Now this Experience Officer Chen uttered it without hesitation in front of others, obviously full of hostility towards Sun Shaozong.

It was said that Sun Shaozong was sitting in the front hall, looking at the layout of the Experience Department with nothing to do, when he saw a green-robed official with a rat mustache and cross-eyed eyes rushing out of the back hall, looking at himself with a critical gaze for a long time, before asking in a pretentious tone: "You are the newly arrived Commandant?"

Sun Shaozong came to Shuntian Prefecture to take up the post of sixth-rank Judicial Assistant Magistrate, but this guy insisted on saying that he was the newly arrived Commandant, the contempt was simply overflowing.

Therefore, upon hearing this, Sun Shaozong immediately suppressed his smile, stood up, and looked down at that Chen Experience, knowingly asking, "May I know who you are and what position you hold? If it's a superior in person, it would be good for Sun Shaozong to pay his respects."

Just by looking at that green robe, Sun Shaozong guessed that the person before him was Chen Zhichuang, the seventh-rank Experience, so these words were actually telling him: I am a dignified sixth-rank Judicial Assistant Magistrate, a superior in person, shouldn't you quickly come over and pay your respects?!

Chen Zhichuang was able to become a seventh-rank Experience in Shuntian Prefecture with this appearance, so he was naturally not a fool. Therefore, he immediately heard the unfinished meaning in Sun Shaozong's words, and his momentum couldn't help but falter.

But how could he admit defeat so easily?

He immediately sneered, "Captain Sun has not yet officially taken office, so it's probably not appropriate to talk about superiors or not—the official business at hand is important, so please present the transfer documents so that this official can compare them carefully, to avoid any mistakes."

The word 'present' is generally only used by superiors to subordinates. In the end, he still looks down on Sun Shaozong's military background and insists on acting like a big shot in front of him.

Sun Shaozong naturally felt more and more unhappy in his heart after hearing this, but if he really quarreled with Chen Experience over the word 'present', he would only fall into his trap—maybe before he even left the Experience Department, a big hat of making trouble out of nothing would be placed on his head.

But if he obediently handed over the documents, he would become a laughingstock in the officialdom!

It must be said that this Chen Experience does have some cunning thoughts, digging a dilemma for Sun Shaozong with a few words—especially since Jia Yucun has not yet had time to take office, and he can't even find someone to help!

Fortunately, Sun Shaozong is not a reckless youth who has never been in the officialdom. He has long been familiar with how to deal with similar situations.

So, without saying a word, he took out the documents and silently placed them on the coffee table to his left.

Now it was Chen Experience's turn to feel uncomfortable.

If he went to take them, his previous pretense would be in vain, and he might even be ridiculed by his colleagues.

But if he didn't take them, Sun Shaozong was a proper superior in the same office. If this stalemate continued, he might be accused of not knowing the difference between superiors and subordinates and making things difficult for his superiors!

Chen Experience hesitated for a long time, and finally decided to choose the lesser of two evils. He waved his hand at the clerk behind him, and the clerk immediately understood, stepped forward with a smile, picked up the documents, and respectfully handed them to Chen Experience.

Although there was a layer in between, Chen Zhichuang knew very well that he had still lost this round, so he dared not underestimate this seemingly rough Sun Shaozong. He just honestly compared the documents and stamped them with the official seal.

It wasn't until he sent Sun Shaozong out of the Experience Department that Chen Zhichuang couldn't help stroking his rat whiskers and sighing, "I thought he was just a young and successful noble wanku, but I didn't expect him to be so shrewd and mature. It seems that Shuntian Prefecture will have some excitement to watch in the future!"

Thanks to book friend 'Feng Feiyang' for the reward.

Also, after everyone collects it, please vote for a few recommendation tickets. The new book is in the time when it needs data the most.