Chapter 145: Chapter 122: Stepping Up to Qjngyun
Translator: 549690339
Naturally, the effect was remarkable.
Seeing that one of their fellow disciples had already obtained the second level mental technique, the others naturally began to feel envious and eager.
So, they didn’t even bother to celebrate the New Year, instead taking people out to purchase herbs at the end of the year.
Even the disciple who had won the martial arts technique joined his fellow brothers in their quest.
After all, he had gained the second level technique, but aimed to obtain the next, the third level.
Motivated by such ambitions, he joined the others in their actions.
Lu Yuan was quite satisfied with the enthusiasm of his tools, no, his disciples.
A second-rate mental technique, which he now looked down on, could help him advance to a senior first-class realm a few years earlier, and however he looked at it, it was a good deal.
Not to mention these disciples, who, even if they gained the techniques, would still be his apprentices in the end, right?
In this world where respecting the teacher and following the path was valued, when the time came for him, the master, to speak, could these people not obediently listen?
In the end, they were still his laborers and fighters.
As for the problem of disobedience and betrayal of the master?
As a government official and a first-class expert, Lu Yuan had no worries about this.
And if these disciples knew what was good for them, they would not choose these dead ends either.
Wouldn’t it be better to follow their own master in martial arts training and achieve promotion and wealth with proper diligence?
Only a fool would become a traitor!
As Lu Yuan’s side was passionately practicing martial arts, Sun Siwen’s achievements in his official career were also impressive.
Although Sun Siwen said that the Prefect appreciated both of them and planned to promote them to work in the Fu City.
But despite his appreciation, Prefect Cui had just taken office, and it was not easy to promote two officials in such unfamiliar circumstances.
However, although Sun Siwen had some expectations of being promoted quickly, he still dedicated himself to public welfare. So after waiting for a while without any replies, he soon became lost in his political affairs.
Last year, Wugang County had suffered several calamities, and reconstruction had only just begun. Although a year had passed since those events, many problems remained unresolved.
In addition to the reconstruction, Sun Siwen also wanted to do more good deeds for the people and was planning to gather civilian workers after the busy farming period to repair some of the reservoirs and river channels throughout the county.
These were all matters that required considerable effort.
Whenever Sun Siwen had free time, he would take his team to the countryside and villages to prepare for these tasks to be accomplished as his political achievements.
According to County Magistrate Sun.
It was better to seize the opportunity when the county government had just confiscated a large sum of current silver from bandits and use it for political achievements and real benefits for the people.
Should he wait until he was gone, leaving the silver behind for his successor to embezzle?
Alright, as a fellow official, Sun Siwen did not trust other bureaucrats of Da Yue very much.
However, his dedication did produce outstanding results.
Thanks to the abundant funds at his disposal and his willingness to spend them, the project proceeded at a rapid pace. In just two or three months, reservoirs, river channels and even some small irrigation canals were built, irrigating thousands of acres of farmland.
Beyond that, Sun Siwen, eager to spend all his funds, later focused on repairing the official roads, the already dilapidated road system, and even restoring the post station system, which had been destroyed during the chaos of war.
Thecontinuation of these large-scale projects attracted countless merchants and travelers to cover the expenses of the civilian workers.
As Sun Siwen paid the civilian workers for their labor, rather than simply relying on corvee labor, their wallets bulged after completing the two projects.
With financial resources, people naturally wanted to buy things to improve their lives, further attracting even more merchants from other places.
Within a short six months, by the end of the year when the projects were completed, Wugang County was bustling with merchants and travelers, and a large number of people from other places came here to do business.
Even some of the displaced people from other places, due to unrest, had heard of the prosperity here and migrated to this area, restoring some of the vitality that was lost during the chaos and bringing back the population of Wugang County.
For this, Sun Siwen spent more than 40,000 silver tales.
With such spending, the county’s finances shrank drastically, and the remaining silver on the account books was just over 10,000 tales.
This small amount of money would not last long if they did not find a way to increase their income, and they would soon go bankrupt due to excessive spending.
However, Sun Siwen didn’t care about this anymore.
By the end of the year, the annual performance assessment of the prefecture government office had come out.
Prefect Cui had not misled them.
When he said he would promote Sun Siwen and Lu Yuan, he truly followed through with action and made efforts in that direction.
At the end of the year’s assessment, Sun Siwen’s political achievements ranked first among the hundreds of county magistrates in the county.
Of course, this was due to his willingness to spend money.
It would be difficult for a small county, with an average annual income of only four or five thousand silver tales, to spend the equivalent of a decade’s income on six months’ worth of political achievements.
With such achievements, and whatever connections Prefect Cui had used, the prefecture government office finally ordered the exceptional promotion of Sun Siwen.
He was promoted from a seventh-grade county magistrate to a sixth-grade official, assisting Prefect Cui Changqing in handling the affairs of the entire prefecture.
As for Lu Yuan’s promotion, it was a simple matter.
The prefecture government had long heard of his second-class strength, and that he was a formidable force in the Jianghu. With such a powerful individual serving the court at a time when the nation was in decline, it was naturally something to celebrate.
Thus, they gladly agreed to Prefect Cui’s request.
A direct transfer order was issued, appointing Lu Yuan as the Commanding General of Shaoyang Prefecture with a sixth-grade rank.
In this way, both he and his good friend were promoted to the level of prefecture officials by the end of the year, truly soaring to the heights of Qingyun in their careers.
In the official circles, their achievements became a celebrated topic of conversation..