The Three Classes of Yamen Runners

A few hours later, the plainclothes officers sent out on the operation began reporting good news. Their respective targets had all appeared in those areas and been arrested.

Liang Lijian looked at the people brought back under arrest, his heart full of astonishment.

To be honest, he still could not figure out how An Weiyan had known where these people were hiding.

But now that they had all been caught, Liang Lijian called An Weiyan after confirming their identities. For one thing, he wanted to know how An Weiyan had learned their whereabouts.

For another, now that these people had been caught, their bounty rules required them to pay An Weiyan.

But after Liang Lijian took out his phone, pulled up An Weiyan's number, and called, no one answered.

After several calls still went unanswered, Liang Lijian could only send him a text asking him to get in touch when he had time.

"There are more people now. It's time to recruit a few men to staff the three classes."

The three classes of yamen runners were the black-clad class, the arresting class, and the strongman class.

The black-clad class handled guarding, clearing the way, and attending court sessions. They were also called the standing class.

Then there was the arresting class, which, as the name suggested, handled arrests and summonses.

The strongman class guarded places such as the jail, storehouses, and city gates.

These three classes of yamen runners had to be established.

With more people, people's hearts would grow complicated. Back when he first hauled in white rice for disaster relief, someone had tried to steal the relief grain that very night.

At that thought, An Weiyan clapped his hands to call some people over and told them he intended to reorganize the yamen.

Word quickly spread that the magistrate was recruiting yamen runners outside the yamen.

Before long, quite a few sturdy men arrived outside the yamen, every one of them thoroughly respectful.

"Sir, I've been strong and healthy since I was little. I'm fit to be a yamen runner!"

"Sir, my ma told me to come work for you, to repay your kindness for these meals."

The men crowded forward, all speaking loudly.

From the looks of them, they were terribly afraid An Weiyan would not take them.

An Weiyan pressed a hand down in the air, signaling them to quiet down.

Only after they had quieted somewhat did An Weiyan look them over.

When his gaze reached a lean man on the right, his expression briefly stilled.

This was the man who had just arrived in Linbei County today. His forehead still bore injuries from his earlier kowtowing.

He glanced over these men and decided to select ten for each class for the time being.

That made thirty men in total.

An Weiyan mixed the thirty men together, selecting some of the villagers who had arrived today and placing them among the people of Linbei County.

This was to prevent them from becoming too familiar with one another and colluding in secret.

After the earlier incident of people coming to steal grain late at night, An Weiyan did not dare place too much trust in them.

As for the man with the injured forehead, his name was Cheng Feng.

An Weiyan gave him a chance and assigned him to the black-clad class.

If he performed well later, perhaps he could be cultivated into a trusted subordinate. If not, he could simply be transferred elsewhere.

After registering the thirty men before him one by one, An Weiyan also recorded their names, heights, ages, and so on.

Once all that was done, An Weiyan told them to follow Lin Liyun for now and learn how to be proper yamen runners.

Lin Liyun had served as a yamen runner for a time in the past.

None of the others had any experience, so having him lead them as they familiarized themselves with the rules would be good.

After finishing these matters, An Weiyan returned inside the yamen, picked up the poetry collection he had brought earlier, and began reading it carefully.

Previously, he had always read late at night. The candlelight was a little too dim, and staying up late was not very good either.

By evening, the sun gradually sank below the horizon.

An Weiyan took the opportunity to return to the Daoist temple.

As soon as he returned, An Weiyan saw the text message on his phone.

Seeing several missed calls as well, An Weiyan immediately felt a surge of delight.

Could those people have been caught?

If they had, wouldn't he be able to collect the bounties?

No, the money was actually secondary.

At that thought, An Weiyan hurriedly called Liang Lijian.

Liang Lijian checked the caller ID and immediately answered when he saw it was An Weiyan.

"Hello, Mr. An? The information you gave me earlier checked out. I followed your leads and caught every one of them!"

Liang Lijian spoke to An Weiyan in great excitement.

The station had heaped praise on him today!

Hearing that, An Weiyan also looked delighted. "Then can those bounties be paid to me?"

The yamen had just recruited a batch of men, and he would have to spend money to support them.

There was no telling what state the Jiang Kingdom was in now. Counting on the court to pay salaries was impossible, so he could only pay out of his own pocket.

Still, paying out of his own pocket to support his own men was not particularly unreasonable.

"Of course. See when you have time to come over, and I'll give you the money. We can even have a banner made for you."

The thought of all those people being caught in the net left Liang Lijian overjoyed.

Hearing this, An Weiyan hurriedly offered a small suggestion of his own. "Well, I don't have time to go there right now. Could I trouble you to bring the money over?"

"Also, could you find a few reporters to publicize this together? Mainly because I've never been famous before."

Liang Lijian was taken aback by this. Asking him to deliver the money was not particularly unreasonable.

Given An Weiyan's contribution, he could certainly make the trip himself.

But he had actually also requested that reporters come along for an interview.

That seemed feasible too. It would establish a positive example and help with publicity.

But was this fellow not afraid of retaliation?

"Are you sure you want me to bring reporters?"

Liang Lijian asked, "If people learn your identity, you could face retaliation afterward."

"Yes, it's fine. I'm not afraid."

An Weiyan answered in the affirmative. To spread the Daoist temple's name a little as quickly as possible, he was throwing caution to the wind.

As for retaliation, those fellows had only just been locked up. They should not be getting out that soon.

By the time they got out, An Weiyan reckoned there was no way he would still be afraid of them.

To publicize the Daoist temple, taking a little risk was worth it.

"All right, give me your address. I'll personally bring it over tomorrow."

Seeing how certain An Weiyan was, Liang Lijian promptly agreed, then tapped on the screen and recorded An Weiyan's address.

After that, he contacted the media.

Quite a few media outlets were very interested in this sort of thing. Upon hearing about it, they immediately said they would accompany him tomorrow to conduct interviews.

An Weiyan looked at the ended call and breathed a sigh of relief.

Now, all that remained was to wait for Liang Lijian to come to the Daoist temple tomorrow. Success or failure hinged on this one move.