C5

He was really worried that he would become disabled in the future, but he never thought that even though this world didn't have that much advanced medical technology, there were still some brilliant methods to deal with it! For example, the external medicine brought by the manager was simply miraculous. It even made him think of the Black Jade Broken Healing Ointment. However, he also knew that this medicine wasn't something that an ordinary person could obtain. He was glad that the Head Saint had such an incredible background.

There was absolutely no way technology could be shared in this world. Most of the skills had to be inherited through a master's vein in order to continue. The cultural thought of not passing down the throne, not passing on the heir, and not passing on the daughter, is deeply ingrained.

After a month or so, Zhang Zhou's arm could finally move. In this period of time, Yue Ting did not appear in person. Instead, he had someone deliver some gifts, silver taels and a letter. The contents of the letter were probably the words of deep gratitude.

Zhang Zhou did not deny that Yue Ting was someone important, but in his heart, there was a kind of enmity that made him unwilling to get close to him. At the moment, such distance was exactly what he needed.

With his arm fine, Zhang Zhou did not want to waste any time. After his repeated pleas, he could only agree to bring him, his son, and Lin Jiu to the yamen to report their arrival.

Hezhou Criminal Yamen was located in the north of the city. Its scale and momentum were definitely worthy of its position as the authority of "three parts of a state". The white wall was azure tile, and the front wall was two hundred feet long and one and a half feet high, similar to a small city.

Two stone lions that were as tall as a man stood on both sides of the yamen's entrance. They were on the thirteenth step, and on each side stood four sentencing guards with sabers. The central red lacquer of the high middle gate was closed, with rows of shiny copper nails embedded in it. On the front of the door, there was a sign written in red and black. Four words were written in large and forceful characters: "Judgement Hall".

There was a side door wide open at the side. After greeting the leader of the duty team, they entered the courtyard through the side door. They were not children, so there was no need to remind them of the rules.

After entering, the first person to enter the courtyard was in the middle of the square. There was a bronze sculpture of a tiger the height of two people, which was very eye-catching. Under the sunlight, it was colourful, its shape was alive, and its majesty and domineering aura made even Zhang Zhou, who thought he was' experienced and knowledgeable ', feel quite shocked.

It was similar to an old-fashioned courtyard, but much bigger. As they entered the first floor of the courtyard, Jiu Lao introduced the gatekeeper to Zhang Zhou and the others.

The outermost courtyard was a place for normal duty and preparation for torture. It could accommodate more than two hundred constables. The second one was the office of the Third Division. The third and last building was the main building. It had a high foundation and was where the head of the criminal yamen worked. On both sides were the archives and historical materials stored, as well as a few warehouses. After that was the main resting area of the backyard. On the east side of the yamen, there was a temporary prison for prisoners while on the west side was where cases were being tried. The surrounding walls were made in imitation of the city walls. They could be used for walking and were guarded day and night. There were no less than twenty people who were in charge of security everyday, so they were definitely heavily guarded.

The yamen's main hall was a formal place for official business. Unless it was a major event or someone from the upper echelons had arrived, it was rarely used.

Manager Zhang was not present. What was unexpected was that the person they were received by was the head of the yamen's criminal division, the officer named Cao Yi.

Although there was no such thing as the mysterious and solemn killing of the Imperial Secret Service officials in the movies or television dramas, the feeling Cao Yi gave Zhang Zhou was that he was definitely not inferior to that Zhenbei general, and he even felt that he was unfathomably deep. He was in his forties, tall and sturdy, with a clean face and no beard. It was obvious that while he was under heavy maintenance, he was calm and resolute. He had the look of a scholar and was definitely a charismatic uncle who could rely on his looks to survive.

Cao Yi saw the four people kneeling in front of him, but he didn't say anything. He placed the book in his hand neatly onto the bookshelf behind him, then returned to his study desk and sat down. His eyes fell on Zhang Zhou, who still had a wounded arm hanging in front of his chest, and said gently with a serious tone: "Zhang Zhou, how dare you!"

Zhang Zhou felt a chill run down his back, and before he could reply, he was interrupted.

"Lord, this child is young and doesn't understand etiquette. If there's anything wrong with him, I hope that he'll …"

Cao Yi stopped him from speaking, and continued to stare at Zhang Zhou, saying each word: "What a good 'Your Majesty' has an edict! If you do not remember that your goal is to break the record of a thief, then this sentence will make you guilty of a great disrespect! "

Only now did Zhang Zhou understand why this person dared to say he was bold. At the time of the incident, he couldn't think of any words that could be more intimidating than the words "the Emperor has decrees" and thus had the effect of disturbing the other party's mind. He had always been at the bottom of the list, so his words didn't have that much of a taboo or caution. However, Zhang Zhou already knew that Shangguan Fei wouldn't punish him, otherwise, he wouldn't have waited until now.

"Milord, this lowly one knows his crimes, I beg of you to forgive me."

"It's good that you know you're guilty. You've already planned to be punished, so you should have the heart of the empire to repay you. This time, please forgive me. Be careful when you speak of things in the future."

He slowed down and said, "Stand up." The few of them stood up and waited for him to continue lecturing.

This was the era where the people of the upper and lower classes were deeply rooted, and the hierarchy was strict. Zhang Zhou wouldn't talk about mutual respect or equality in this matter. Men had gold under their knees. Since they had come to this world, they would do as the Romans do.

Cao Yi had already judged the three people who were about to become his men through a few glances. With a serious tone, he said, "I already know about your performance that day. To become a good constable, it is still far from enough. I hope you all remember what you are loyal to! Do not disappoint me. If there is any violation of the law, this official will not forgive you. "

Towards these types of characters, Cao Yi really didn't need to use any euphemism.

"Currently, the six squads are the most lacking in manpower. You guys can go report to Constable Ma." "You stay here for a while."

From start to finish, he had no intentions of chatting with them. Zhang Zhou and the other two bowed and left.

It was easy to find out the location of the sixth team of yamen runners. Today was the day that the constable, Ma Dazhuang, took up his duties in the yamen. Ma Dazhi was not as cold and proud as Cao Yi, but he did not seem to be very friendly with Zhang Zhou. However, he still took care of Zhang Zhou, and allowed him to be on duty in the near future, depending on his circumstances, and that meant before his wounds healed, he would be able to say whether he was going to work or not. After Zhang Zhou thanked him for his care, he quietly gave Constable Ma a silver for his filial piety, causing a smile to appear on Ma Dazhi's face.

To report, to register, to check in, to collect clothes, identity tokens, etc. As for the weapons, they were all for their own use. It was almost noon by the time he finished with his stuff. The yamen office provided lunch. After the three of them had lunch, in the afternoon, they were assigned to be arrested by a criminal and brought to familiarize themselves with their duties.

Feng Xiaosu, 18 years old, a slightly thin young man with average looks and passionate eyes. If he wore glasses, he would look like a scholar and his mouth would not be idle the entire way.

"The six of us are responsible for the security of the north part of the city, the outside of the city, and the nearby villages. There were two streets, eleven alleys, and a market. There were eleven restaurants, forty-five shops, five inns, and a gambling den. There were no good places to drink wine, and there were only two in Hezhou. There are two thousand eight hundred and three households in the north of the city. There are forty-four childless elders, ninety-three bachelors, thirty-three widows, two scholars with the identity of an Elementary Scholar, seven rich families, and two of them are from the capital. We cannot afford to offend them, but we must remember this. "

"Do you have any daughters to marry?"

Lin Jiu asked with a laugh.

"Fifty-seven!" Hehe, I don't dare to say anything else. On this plot of land, there is really nothing that I am not clear about. "

"This information is all on file at the yamen?!"

Zhang Zhou was amazed by the efficiency and familiarity.

"Of course not. I don't have any of these in the yamen. Some of them are old and worn out. I calculated them myself when I had nothing better to do."

This caused Zhang Zhou to have a whole new level of respect for him. In the eyes of others, Feng Xiaosu might be someone who was bored to death. In his opinion, she was definitely a talent in statistics.

Outside the city, we are responsible for a few villages and towns within a fifty mile radius of the city, and the others are all under the jurisdiction of the lower counties. Don't cross the border, and we are normally responsible for attacking bandits and preventing thieves, settling disputes among neighbors, and dealing with bullying cities.

"Then I'll need more advice from Lil 'Liu from now on!"

Actually, Feng Xiaosu was younger than Zhang Zhou by two months. Feng Xiaoxiao chuckled, "I am just like this. Whoever treats me as a brother, I will treat him as a brother too. In the future, everyone will eat together and take care of each other, that's only natural."

Feng Xiaoxiao and the majority of the torturers in the yamen knew nothing about the three's experience in the tavern, so that matter was kept a secret.

They got along well with the neighbors, such as aunties and aunties, and San Ye's sixth uncle. They were all very familiar with each other, like typical community policemen, but it was a pity that his behavior was considered unorthodox by his colleagues. Plus, his time in the industry was also short, so he was also considered a marginal character among the mass of torture, but after briefly interacting with him, Zhang Zhou was actually quite impressed with him.

Without realizing it, they had arrived at the only market in the northern part of the city. As it was afternoon, there weren't many pedestrians. The restaurants and shops were basically all there. It was truly a commercial street. However, the sanitary environment was really ordinary. The streets were filled with sewage, rotten vegetables, etc., and a few wild dogs were scurrying about.

Feng Xiaoxiao pointed to a three story building in the distance and said, "That is our biggest restaurant, the Drunken Moon Restaurant. The boss behind this is a well-known figure in the Hezhou region.

In his eyes, Zhang Zhou saw the hatred in his tone and did not say a word. It seemed that because of the special introduction to the Drunken Moon Restaurant, Feng Xiaoxi felt uncomfortable all of a sudden and spoke a lot less.

What made Zhang Zhou the most interested in the whole street was a few handmade workshops located in a remote area. At Zhang Zhou's request, the three of them went to a teahouse to rest while they wandered around the workshops. The shops were not big, but there were a lot of different kinds. There were more than a dozen blacksmith shops, carpentry shops, dyed fabric shops, and gold and silver shops. Zhang Zhou came to the only blacksmith shop. Outside of the shop was a simple wooden shed with a pile of crude steel tools in the corner. No one was there to guard it. Zhang Zhou walked into the shed and looked around. Those iron grade equipment were nothing to him, and he also knew that compared to his previous life, the current level of basic craftsmanship was definitely not something that could be filled up in a short period of time. However, he was still disappointed. At this moment, he heard voices coming from inside. Zhang Zhou couldn't help but listen attentively.

"Old man, don't be stubborn, our small arms can't even be twisted." Before an old woman's voice could fade away, an old yet powerful and stubborn voice answered: "I've been a blacksmith for 40 years and have never accepted anything. So what if he has money and power? "This is just craftsmanship. If you don't have good craftsmanship, you won't be able to do it!"

"So what if your cooking skills are good? Don't you have to live? The rent owed by the shop for two months was not paid! How many times had the landlord come to urge him! He had already seen the bottom of the food vat! What do you think we should do? "

"Even if I die of hunger, I can't let down my master's craftsmanship!"

"He didn't starve you to death! "But if you continue to be so stubborn, your whole family will starve to death."

"What does a woman like you know? "Their Rising Ember Workshop was made of iron to recharge themselves with evil. This is bad news, bad news, and bad blood. No matter what, I will not join them …"

Their argument soon turned into one crying and one sighing.

Their conversation aroused some interest in Zhang Zhou. At least, this blacksmith was someone with "skills and principles". Although he didn't dare to ask for too much, he could still get close to him.

"Excuse me, do you want to do business?"

Zhang Zhou politely shouted. After a moment of silence, an old couple walked out, especially the old man. He was in his fifties, bare-armed, with muscular arms that made even Zhang Zhou envious. He asked politely, "Are you the owner of this shop?"

"Yes, yes, what are your orders?"

This old man hurriedly answered.

"Mm, there's something. I just don't know what kind of craftsmanship this old man has?"

When the old man heard about craftsmanship, his eyes lit up. He then smiled proudly, "Sir, in Hezhou, my name, Wang Tieshou, is definitely worthy of this name!" He stretched out his thumb and waved it left and right.

"Craftsmanship is not something you can talk about."

Zhang Zhou said with a smile. Hearing this, Wang Tieshou felt a little unhappy. He waved his hand and said, "Then please take a look inside. I'll show you if my skills are boasting!"

Zhang Zhou did not stand on ceremony and walked into the backyard. Most of the raw materials and finished products in the backyard were farm tools, as well as copper basins. After careful observation, one could not help but admit that the level of craftsmanship of the items inside were much better than those outside. While reading, they continued to chat. The more they chatted, the deeper they went.

Zhang Zhou suddenly noticed that there were a few pieces of iron beside the iron furnace that were not yet obvious in shape. He picked them up and carefully examined them. The quality characteristics of these iron were obviously different. After repeatedly confirming, he was overjoyed! During the conversation, Zhang Zhou realized that there was no steel in this world, much less the existence of steelmaking. Zhang Zhou was very excited. In his previous life, he was not a talented person, but he knew how to forge iron into steel. The most primitive method was to temper the pig iron into steel, the specific point was to put it in the fire to heat it up, then swing the sledgehammer, and finally put it into water to quench it, and then burn it again, and repeat the process. After several refinements, the carbon in the iron would be reduced, its carbon content would decrease, its toughness would increase, and it would become steel. Zhang Zhou asked without showing any emotion, "This is?"

Wang Tieshou started to sweat a little as he said, "This … This old man had nothing to do and repeatedly beat you up for so many days to become like this."

Zhang Zhou nodded and did not continue asking. He looked at the thick steel plate in his hand and thought for a moment. Then, he raised his head and asked, "Does this brother have a son?"

"Yes, my two sons both followed me to forge iron. Although their craftsmanship is not as good as mine, they are not bad either. I wonder what would you like to forge?" If the guest is worried, this old man will definitely do it himself. "

"I'm not building anything right now, but I want to take care of your store?"

"Package?" "What do you mean?"

Zhang Zhou smiled and said, "How much is the rent for this store?"

"Eight taels of silver a month."

Zhang Zhou calculated in his heart and said.

"I heard you talking to your wife just now, so I know a bit about your current situation. I don't want to play games with you, close this shop and find a quiet place to open a shop."

Wang Tieshou was displeased when he heard this. He thought to himself, "What?" Close the door? Why? You still want to find a secluded place? Right now, there wasn't much business to be had. It was even more secluded. Drinking the wind! He then asked, "Dear guest, what do you mean by this?"

He put the silver into the old man's hand and continued, "This is the deposit. I will give you two hundred silver coins as compensation. There is only one condition, and that is that only one person is allowed to forge things for me! "These two hundred silver taels will be yours for half a year. I will pay for all the materials you use. What do you think?"

Wang Tiexin was a little dazed, he didn't know what to say. One had to know that from year to year, besides rent, his shop only earned a little less than 100 taels of silver. This was 200 taels of silver, and that didn't even include the cost of making items.

"Customer, are you joking with this old man?"

The old man and his wife looked at him for a long time and realized that he was actually a criminal arrest. For ordinary people, these people were people that they could not afford to offend, not to mention that the silver in their hands was the real deal. Wang Tieshou clenched his teeth and said, "Sir, when will the remaining silver be …"

He looked at Zhang Zhou with an uneasy look in his eyes. Zhang Zhou smiled and said, "I'll send it to you tomorrow!"

When Wang Tieshou heard this, he no longer hesitated. He patted his chest and said, "Then we will listen to the officials!"

"But from now on, all the forging methods must be kept a secret. If there is any leakage …"

"Don't worry, my lord. If you reveal even the slightest of it, then take this old man with me …"