The instructor's building, a three-story building in the center of the standard camp, has pentagonal walls, most of the windows are closed with sashes, and the green curtains are isolated from the prying eyes of wind and rain.

A conference room on the second floor, with three people sitting on each side of the long conference table.

On the left is the chief instructor, all in black military uniform, and on the right sit three old men in shabby civilian robes, leaning on the white beard and red face at the head of the old man with a white beard and a red face with wrinkles stacked into a furrow, pouting his long beard and throwing a tantrum

"It doesn't cost much money to build a small building, but how can I explain it to the county government, I begged my grandfather to sue my grandmother during the New Year, and swore that it would be difficult to maintain the funds, and this would allocate money to build a building, wouldn't it just give those bastards an excuse." ”

"The chief accountant is right, there are rules for the money and food of the standard camp, and this year, in order to hire instructors, even the silver for the second half of the year has been embezzled. The manager in charge of teaching affairs echoed a few words with the white-bearded old man in advance, and then said his original meaning slowly: "We have been frugal over the years, we should have saved some silver taels, the key is where to use it, I think it is better to build the teaching building first, cultivate the true qi, after all, there are only so many people, just give them a few empty rooms in the building." ”

"Nonsense! At the beginning, the money was accumulated, and it was clearly written in black and white, saying that it was to build a dormitory building for the children, which blocked the mouth of the county government Xuecao, if it was misappropriated for other purposes, or in a few days, the people who checked the accounts could break through the threshold, and then the silver we worked hard to accumulate would only be better than those goods in vain!"

The official who is second only to the chief in charge of the standard camp, the old man in charge has been living with his fingers for many years, picking every expense of the instructors, and his colleagues roll their eyes when they see it, and privately call the old man sugar rooster, which means that this old man is not only like an iron rooster, but also can dip it, and change his ways to deduct money and food. But dissatisfaction is dissatisfaction, everyone still respects the old man very much in their hearts, and there is no other reason, just because the old man took out the silver, and a lot of it was recorded in the account and stored in the treasury, and he didn't take any of it.

"You have a lot of knowledge, look at the standard camps of other prefectures, you have already lived in the new building, and then look at us, still crowded in the old courtyard! I have not been tossing for a few years, and letting the children live in the new building before getting out of the egg is my wish for decades. ”

The topic was raised by the chief instructors, who were not familiar with the habits of the civil servants and did not communicate their opinions in private, but as soon as they raised it, they were met with fierce opposition.

"Master Planner, build a small building first, so that these children have a place to cultivate, and it is also convenient for the instructor to take care of it, you must know that being disturbed during qi refining will cause chaos in the breath, and it will harm the children for a lifetime. The accommodation building is slow down for a while, and it is comfortable to live without enhancing its strength, and it won't cost much money to build a cultivation building first. ”

The dignified Imperial Martial Arts School, the head of the first battalion who was dug up from the county town by the head of the standard battalion, gave up the real power to manage three thousand sergeants, and came to the ninth standard to be the chief instructor, the bearing of the chief instructor Hua, the old man also admired it, but when it came to silver and wishes, the old man still stubbornly shook his head: "Even if I agree, the city guard will not approve it, let alone report in the county town." ”

"We spend our own money, what right do they have to interfere?" Chief Instructor Qin, who was also new this year, asked strangely when he heard this.

"Well, it's a long story, let's be brief. The general affairs manager who sat on the side of the civilian official had a low voice: "The boy boy battalion was originally under the management of the military department, and the funds were directly allocated by the military department according to the battalion. Since it was returned to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the money has been given a lot, but it is all from the taxes of the city, and large expenses must be reported first, and the silver will be allocated to you only when it is approved. We don't report the permission to build a building, although it is spent on their own accumulated silver, you can report before it is to build a dormitory, but now it has changed its use, people really want to deduct it from the next year's expenses, and we don't take care of it on the table. ”

"Let's submit another paperwork, can't we change the purpose?" Chief Instructor Qin listened to the words of the old man, and asked unwillingly.

The old man looked at Instructor Hua, and was silent for a long time before explaining in a low voice: "For the standard camps of other prefectures, this is of course a trivial matter, but Lingbo Mansion is special, alas——。 ”

The head of the standard camp, who was sitting in the first place, did not say a word after the meeting began, as if the topic had nothing to do with him, no matter who spoke, he smiled and bowed, and he couldn't see the true attitude at all, and at this time he raised his hand to interrupt the old man who was in charge.

"Since everyone will eat in the same pot in the future, some words are still good to say, so that the three instructors also know it. ”

The old man in charge was obviously a little hesitant, and seemed unwilling to say more, obviously there was a secret hidden behind this topic, far from being as simple as building a building casually, and in the end it was the old man who uncovered the mystery.

The nine counties of the empire, the four counties of the border are divided into the four generals of the founding of the country, the empire does not directly appoint officials, and the four county kings each elect officials and appoint them, and the military and political power completely belongs to the county king, and the annual tribute is only routine.

For thousands of years, the conflicts between the four county palaces and the center of the empire have been constant and fierce, and civil war almost broke out in the heat of the day. The empire can't clearly send troops to supervise the county king's mansion, for fear of forcing the county kings to unite and rebel, out of a precautionary deployment, the empire has set up a boy standard camp in each prefecture city, and the guard standard of each battalion is composed of elites selected from each city, and the branch is stationed after the transfer, which seems to be protecting the safety of the children, but in fact, the real mission is to monitor the county king's mansion.

The county king's mansion is naturally well aware of the deployment of the empire, and on the surface it has preferential treatment for each standard camp, but that is on the bright side, in addition to the appropriation according to the regulations, I want to ask for more silver, well, first show who you are loyal to, loyal to the county king, silver is not a problem, the reason is also sufficient, the county king is loyal to the emperor, and everyone is loyal to the county king. Is there a guard standard to win over the past, it is a secret competition belonging to the emperor's generals, and it has nothing to do with the children of the boy camp. However, after the Ministry of Civil Affairs took over the boys' camp, a boys' standard camp was set up in each prefecture, and the intention could not be concealed from the prince of the county.

"Concentrate the elite soldiers in the center of the battalion. "The boy standard camp is an excellent disciple selected from various cities, and has been instilled in loyalty to the country since childhood, and when he grows up, his loyalty to the empire is far more reliable than that of other samurai. Wei Biao and Tong Biao go hand in hand, in the final analysis, it is to cut off the fundamentals of kings and princes from the talent, and without elite soldiers, there is no capital to confront the center of the empire.

"It's actually not a secret, everyone knows each other, but because it's not a secret, if we want the county guard to open the door to us, hehe, I won't agree to it. The head of the standard camp said slowly: "Don't hide it from the three instructors, we four old men belong to the Ministry of Civil Affairs Patrol Division, and the identity of the standard camp is just a cover-up, so that everyone can play with each other haha, hehe." ”

Not long after the two chief instructors returned from the border pass, they wanted to get so many rights and wrongs in the small standard camp, Chief Instructor Hua felt that he was on the thief ship in charge, and even brought his brother on the boat, smiled apologetically at Chief Instructor Qin, and asked the chief officer angrily: "These things have nothing to do with us, you just talk about how to solve the gas refining place, and finally there are a few children who know the Fa, if you want to cut off your thoughts like this, I don't mind taking them away." We're late, Ninth Bid, hehe. ”

The conference room was quiet for a while, and everyone looked at the director of the standard camp.

"It seems that everyone has finished speaking, hehe, what they said is right, the master does not delay all the children because of a few people, and this insistence is especially impressive to me. ”

"Don't come to this set, you just say build that building first!" The old man in charge didn't give face at all, and even threatened his boss in his words: "Okay, except for the accommodation building, there is no penny!"

The old man in charge raised his hand to stop Instructor Hua who was about to refute, and continued to say to the old man in charge with a smile: "Sugar rooster, the ninth standard, hehe, whoever told me last year, even if he is one step ahead, he will make a monument to someone's statue." If I can guarantee that I will be ranked at the top, not only by one place, but by the top three, are you willing to move the money, as for the county guard, hehe, I will ask you for paperwork. ”

"Nonsense, as long as you are in the top three, Lao Tzu will not frown when he uses all the silver as a reward!" The old man said and changed his tone: "Old man, I know your thoughts, okay, I won't move the silver first, if you can get into one next year, you can spend it however you want, if you can't change it, don't blame me for not giving you face, I will start work next spring, or I will be sued, it will be a big crime." ”

"It's not an ordinary difficulty, but I took it. The master in charge smiled and winked at the old man in charge, and then looked at Instructor Hua's face as heavy as water: "The time to enter is too short, but whether it is successful or not, we must see that the standard camp is improving." Cultivation has to be slowed down, you have a complete charter first, how can you let the children cultivate, and don't let a few of them be isolated, especially the child from the Remnant Academy, you have to guide him more and let him integrate into the crowd as soon as possible. A withdrawn Qi Refiner, that's not the result we need. Qi refining mantra, hehe, blessings and misfortunes depend on each other, let Wei Biao send a few more people to protect secretly, I have a bad premonition, someone will not let our lives be stable. ”

"No, the children who know the formula, there are big people hidden behind them, whoever dares to touch them, it is not against the qi refiner, and it will not end well. ”

The head of the standard camp was noncommittal, and instructed the general manager: "Chief Instructor Hua just said that a few rooms were vacated from the instructors' offices, but he reminded me. I occupy the eldest room alone, you send someone to divide it into several rooms, first temporarily for the children, right next to me, forgive them and don't dare to mess with the children, but still don't be careless, remember to arrange two more sentinels on the opposite side. ”

The chief stood up as he spoke, his weak body, his old face, and his deep voice exploded in the conference room like muffled thunder, with unshakable firmness in his heaviness.

"I said a few days ago that I would rather go to the border and die in battle if I don't change my ranking for six years! Today is an internal meeting, and I repeat, if I don't get into the top three in six years, everyone will accompany me to the battlefield. Just use this reason to say things, I'm not afraid of death, what's the use of me keeping this old face, you take care of your own affairs these days, I'm going to go far away. Hehe, I haven't entered Kyoto for many years, and the old men of those wealthy families probably forgot about me, hehe, don't worry about the lack of silver, I don't want to go out of my old face, and I will bring back the silver to build a building, Sugar Rooster is right, if you want to play, come to the big one, not build a small building, we simply build five buildings, one for each patrol, hehe, each child has a separate room. ”

"Madman, do you really want to go?" The old man in charge knew the old man's temperament, stood up and asked casually, and continued without waiting for an answer: "Old madman, I'll go with you, deal with those bastards, I have more experience than you." ”

"You stay to deal with the scene, hehe, I'm enough for one person. ”