Chapter 72: Are You Teaching Me How to Do My Job? (Seventh Update)

White Tiger Hall was located in Lujiang Prefecture, the center of western Ning Province.

Lujiang Prefecture was about half the size of Tianning Prefecture and was also very prosperous.

Ning Province connected to all directions, and almost every prefectural city was bustling.

The appearance of White Tiger Hall was similar to the Town Martial Hall headquarters, but much smaller, with a great White Tiger banner flying above it.

Upon entering the branch, Feng Wushang immediately summoned the Inspectors of the eight prefectures under his command for a meeting.

An Inspector controlled a whole prefecture and all possessed a cultivation at the sixth Realm of martial arts, the Ningzhen Realm.

The Town Martial Hall was grand in scale, and they used Formations to transmit messages.

While it was impossible to have a Formation in every single city, almost every prefecture had a message transmission Formation.

In less than half a day, the eight Inspectors had all arrived.

These eight Inspectors were not very old, almost all around forty.

These people were the backbone of the Town Martial Hall; reaching the Ningzhen Realm in their forties meant they almost all had the qualifications to strive for the Yuan Dan Realm Grandmaster status.

Of course, this Realm was fraught with difficulties, and some remained stuck for a lifetime without being able to take half a step forward.

Inside the Council Hall, the eight Inspectors glanced at Chen Yuan standing behind Feng Wushang, feeling somewhat surprised.

Where did this young man come from? Why had they never seen him before?

Feng Wushang cleared his throat and said, “Chen Tian is a young talent recommended personally by Military Strategist Lord Liu to join the Town Martial Hall. The Grand Governor has arranged for him to be under my White Tiger Hall.

I intend to make Chen Tian a Garrison Commander to oversee a city. Among the small cities under your command, which one has a vacancy?”

An Inspector oversaw a prefectural city, while a Garrison Commander oversaw a regular small city. Although their ranks were different, they were not actually in a superior-subordinate relationship; both were only under Feng Wushang’s jurisdiction.

However, for convenience, the Town Martial Hall still gave the Inspectors more authority, allowing them to mobilize the forces of surrounding small cities at critical moments.

But besides mobilizing military force, the authority of Inspectors and Garrison Commanders was the same in other matters—especially regarding taxes, which both had to personally hand over to the Hall Master, who would then submit them to the Town Martial Hall headquarters.

The many Inspectors present looked at each other, and no one spoke.

Some of the small cities under them did indeed lack a Garrison Commander, but they were more willing to promote a Captain close to them to become the Garrison Commander rather than having one parachuted in from above.

Seeing that no one present spoke up, Feng Wushang gave a light snort. “I remember some time ago it was reported that Peng Jing, the Garrison Commander of Linyuan City under Kaiping Prefecture, died unexpectedly. A new Garrison Commander hasn’t been arranged yet, so let Chen Tian go to Linyuan City to be the Garrison Commander.”

Upon hearing this, Qi Yuanming, the Inspector of Kaiping Prefecture, immediately said, “Hall Master, this is inappropriate. This Chen Tian is only at the Foundation Establishment Realm. To take the role of Garrison Commander, one must at least reach the Lunhai Realm.”

Qi Yuanming was in his early forties, with a burly build and an upright appearance; he looked quite decent.

He hadn’t spoken earlier because he didn’t want Chen Yuan to come under his Kaiping Prefecture, but he hadn’t expected Feng Wushang to force him in anyway.

“How is it inappropriate? There have been precedents of those in the Foundation Establishment Realm serving as Garrison Commanders.” Feng Wushang frowned slightly.

“But that was because the other party already had deep seniority, understood the city’s information, and was familiar with the personnel. Only then could they take the role.”

Qi Yuanming urged bitterly, “Hall Master, please reconsider. Many old Captains in the Foundation Establishment Realm in Linyuan City have struggled for over a decade and still haven’t gotten their turn at the Garrison Commander position.

This Chen Tian wasn’t even a member of the Town Martial Hall before. If he takes the role of Garrison Commander, I’m afraid the brothers below will be somewhat unconvinced.”

Chen Yuan glanced lightly at Qi Yuanming and sneered in his heart.

Most likely, this Qi Yuanming wanted to push his own confidant to become the Garrison Commander of Linyuan City, which was why he was obstructing in every way.

Chen Yuan stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, “Hall Master, what Lord Qi says is reasonable. I have neither the Realm nor the Foundation. What virtue or ability do I have to take charge of a city and serve as Garrison Commander upon arrival?

It would be better to give this opportunity to other veteran brothers. I can just find any city to serve as a Captain, which would also allow me to become familiar with the rules within the Town Martial Hall.”

Qi Yuanming looked at Chen Yuan in surprise.

He didn’t expect this fellow to actually have quite a bit of self-awareness.

But as soon as Chen Yuan said this, Feng Wushang’s expression immediately darkened, and his gaze toward Qi Yuanming became somewhat unfriendly.

He had tested Chen Yuan before they came, and Chen Yuan’s performance was very obedient, appearing to follow his arrangements completely, which made Feng Wushang very satisfied with his attitude.

Returning the favor, he had also said he would definitely not mistreat Chen Yuan.

Now, when he wanted to arrange for Chen Yuan to be a Garrison Commander, this Qi Yuanming was obstructing at every turn and opposing him. Just who was in charge of this White Tiger Hall?

Moreover, Chen Yuan was recommended into the Town Martial Hall by Liu Suifeng himself, and the Grand Governor had personally said to arrange him under his command.

If he only gave Chen Yuan the position of Captain, it would be a slap to Liu Suifeng’s face and also show that he didn’t take the Grand Governor’s words seriously!

“Qi Yuanming, are you teaching me how to do my job?”

Feng Wushang stared at Qi Yuanming expressionlessly and said coldly, “As the Hall Master of the White Tiger Hall, do I need your consent to appoint a Garrison Commander? Or do you think I, the Hall Master, don’t know the rules? Should I go tell the Grand Governor to let you be the Hall Master instead?”

As soon as these words came out, Qi Yuanming was suddenly covered in cold sweat and hurriedly bowed. “This subordinate wouldn’t dare!”

“I should hope you wouldn’t dare!”

Feng Wushang snorted coldly and waved his hand. “It’s settled then. From today, Chen Tian will take charge of Linyuan City. Have someone immediately use the Formation to spread the appointment news across the eight prefectures and forty-two cities.

Chen Tian, go down to receive your uniform and waist token, and then you can head straight to Linyuan City to take office.”

As he spoke, Feng Wushang called over a young White Tiger Guard to take Chen Yuan to collect his waist token and other items.

Chen Yuan had a smile on his face as he bowed to Feng Wushang. “This subordinate thanks the Hall Master.”

After saying that, Chen Yuan left directly.

Qi Yuanming kept his head down, his eyes full of anger as he looked at Chen Yuan, but he didn’t dare say anything more, looking completely humiliated from the scolding.

The remaining several Inspectors looked at each other, their expressions all somewhat subtle.

This newcomer wasn’t some easy target either.

This move of retreating to advance had really screwed over Qi Yuanming.

Chen Yuan also knew that he had completely offended Qi Yuanming this time, but it didn’t matter.

Under normal circumstances, as a newcomer, he indeed shouldn’t have made an enemy of an Inspector.

But since this person insisted on suppressing him, it was impossible for Chen Yuan to hand over the position of Garrison Commander.

He had gone through so much effort and taken such a long detour to join the Town Martial Hall specifically for a high position.

Cutting off someone’s path to wealth and blocking their future was as serious as killing their parents.

Chen Yuan followed the young guard to the logistics department to collect his armor and immediately changed into it.

The armor of a Garrison Commander was similar to that of a regular White Tiger Guard; the appearance was the same, with a white tiger mark engraved in the center.

However, on the left side, there were two blood-colored marks like tiger claws.

One mark represented a Captain, two represented a Garrison Commander, and three represented an Inspector.

In addition, the armor of a regular White Tiger Guard was forged from Hundred-Refined Steel, but the armor of a Garrison Commander used Refined Cold Iron, which could block strikes from Mystic Weapons.

However, Chen Yuan felt it wasn’t very useful.

It could only block ordinary Mystic Weapons, but not top-tier ones like the Azure Dragon Blood Drink.

Moreover, it could only block physical strikes and couldn’t stop True Qi, so its defensive properties weren’t that high.

After receiving his waist token and a horse, Chen Yuan headed straight for Linyuan City.

Linyuan City’s location was somewhat remote, at the far west of Ning Province Prefecture, near the grassland area. It was quite far from Lujiang Prefecture where the main hall was located, requiring two or three days of fast riding.

Along the way, Chen Yuan was recalling the plot and events related to Linyuan City.

Ning Province was vast and rich in resources, and being in a land of constant conflict, the environment was chaotic, so many plots were related to Ning Province.

After thinking carefully for a long time, Chen Yuan really did remember a few good things.

After two days of hard riding, Chen Yuan finally arrived outside Linyuan City.

Linyuan City was considered a small city in Ning Province, but its area was larger than most cities in Youzhou, being about three or four times the size of Lianshan City.

Furthermore, because Linyuan City was adjacent to the western grasslands with lush water and grass, it was also an excellent pasture. The area outside the city was very prosperous, with town markets appearing one after another.

After entering the city, Chen Yuan went straight to the Town Guard Headquarters in the center of Linyuan City.

The Town Guard Headquarters wasn’t very large; the Town Martial Hall only had about several hundred Martial Artists in each small city.

However, although there were only a few hundred people, they were all elites.

Even a Third-Class Guard in the Body Tempering Realm had to undergo assessment and possess a certain level of talent and potential to be eligible to enter the Town Martial Hall.

Just as he stepped to the gate of the Town Guard Headquarters, two White Tiger Guards on duty blocked Chen Yuan and asked, “May I ask what business this Guardian Lord has in our Linyuan City?”

“I am your newly appointed Garrison Commander, Chen Tian.”

The two White Tiger Guards looked at each other, both showing expressions of hesitation.

“Please forgive us, Lord, but we have never heard that our Linyuan City has a new Garrison Commander.”

Chen Yuan raised his eyebrows slightly.

It seemed that the people inside the Linyuan City Town Guard Headquarters were not very welcoming to him.

Feng Wushang had directly sent the news of appointing Chen Yuan as the Linyuan City Garrison Commander to the eight major prefectural cities via Formation, and the prefectural cities would then send messengers to deliver it to the surrounding small cities.

Therefore, Linyuan City must have received the news long ago, yet they hadn’t informed the other White Tiger Guards. What this represented was obvious.

“A show of authority? Truly cliché.”

Chen Yuan couldn’t quite understand what these guys in Linyuan City were thinking.

His becoming the Garrison Commander was an order from Hall Master Feng Wushang. Even if they tried to show him who was boss, what could they do? It still wouldn’t change the outcome.

If it were him, he would definitely feign compliance first to find out the other party’s background and then gradually sideline them, rather than making it so obvious from the start.

Arrogant and brainless, a bunch of idiots.

Through this one matter alone, Chen Yuan pretty much knew what kind of people they were.

“This waist token should be proof enough, right?”

Chen Yuan threw out the waist token, which was engraved with ‘Garrison Commander’ on the front and ‘Linyuan City’ on the back.

This was a specially made waist token of the Town Martial Hall, from the material to the font, it was specifically designed and very difficult to forge.

After the two White Tiger Guards checked the waist token, their expressions immediately changed, and they hurriedly bowed.

“This subordinate was ignorant. We ask for your forgiveness, Lord.”

“No matter. One who does not know is not at fault.”

Chen Yuan took back the waist token and strode into the Town Guard Headquarters.

The two White Tiger Guards suddenly let out a long sigh of relief.

Fortunately, this new Guardian Lord had a decent temper.

If they had encountered someone with a bad temper, they might have been slapped twice and asked if they recognized him now; such things were entirely possible