Royal Gold Medal County Magistrate

Fang Zheng, leaning on his stick, struggled to his feet and walked over to the city guard. He said in a low voice, "Officer, I'm not a beggar... I live in the city..."

The city guard snorted coldly, "Bullshit! Where's your official pass?"

"I think you're just a beggar from out of town! Your accent gives you away. Our Yuding City doesn't take in beggars. If you were really from the city, would a beggar like you dare run outside after getting in?"

Fang Zheng's mind went blank.

Yuding City? Wasn't that supposed to be east? Prince Wu had been using Yuding City as a transfer point to secretly build ships.

That meant the local officials here might be connected to Prince Wu... He couldn't seek help from the government. If something went wrong, alone and helpless, he might lose his life!

He could only wait for someone to come looking for him.

He didn't even have a travel pass! You needed a travel pass to go anywhere!

For ordinary people, not having a travel pass meant you couldn't move an inch.

Not only did he not have a travel pass, he didn't even have an identity. He was completely off the books, with nothing to his name!

Fang Zheng quickly felt around his body. He didn't have any money either!

Damn it! He originally had silver on him, but he didn't take it out when he switched clothes with the guard...

In the end, he could only look at the city guard with an embarrassed smile: "Officer... I'm... I'm a refugee... Please, give me some food."

"Refugee? From where?"

"Tieling."

"Tieling? Never heard of it! Get lost!"

Fang Zheng continued shamelessly, "It's a small place. It's normal that you haven't heard of it. I'm not a beggar, I'm a scholar! I'm really a refugee! If you don't believe me, I'll write a word for you to see."

The city guard was amused and called out to the others, "Hey! Brothers, this beggar says he's a scholar and can write!"

Two more guards came over, looking at Fang Zheng with amusement.

"Write a word for us to see."

Fang Zheng used his stick to write three words on the ground.

【Good day officer】

The three guards crowded around, and after reading it, they laughed: "What's this supposed to be?"

"I don't know! I can't read either, but it looks like words!"

"Hahaha, I don't know if it's words or not, but it's really ugly, like a dog crawling!"

Listening to the three guards commenting on his writing, Fang Zheng's face burned.

Damn you! This was the first time someone had said his writing was ugly!

Every official in the county praised his calligraphy. A bunch of illiterate bastards!

After the three finished teasing him, the guard kicked the words on the ground away and pointed at Fang Zheng: "Alright! We know you can write, now get lost. You can beg for food, but stay away from the city gate."

"......"

Fang Zheng turned silently and sat down on the ground not far from the city gate, beginning to take stock of his belongings.

The situation was a bit urgent.

No matter how useful his mouth was, he couldn't convince anyone in this getup.

He had to find something valuable to get in.

If he dragged it out for two more days, he'd starve to death!

Fang Zheng kept rummaging through his clothes, a musket, a dagger, fireworks... a handful of soft leaves...

Suddenly, he touched his belt, and a look of surprise appeared on Fang Zheng's face.

Belt... his belt was inlaid with jade! There was a huge jade stone in the middle, the kind that looked very valuable at first glance.

Seeing this, Fang Zheng quickly stuck out his butt and used his dagger to pry the jade stone from the roadside.

Before long, the jade stone was pried off. It looked like a beautiful jade the size of half a palm, engraved with auspicious beast patterns.

He didn't know how much this thing was worth. Xiao Tao had bought it for him, and she usually took care of his clothes and accessories.

But it definitely wouldn't be cheap!

After observing the city guards for a while, Fang Zheng targeted the leader and approached him again.

The guard frowned when he saw the "beggar" returning: "Are you done yet? I'm telling you, today, even if the King of Heaven himself came without a travel pass, he couldn't enter the city!"

Fang Zheng moved his hand, and the guard suddenly felt a warm, smooth object in his hand. He rubbed it twice, narrowed his eyes, and looked at Fang Zheng.

Fang Zheng quickly said: "Officer, this is a family heirloom... I'm giving it to you."

"Hmm? Are you bribing me?" The guard looked at Fang Zheng with a smile that wasn't a smile, then quietly looked down at the jade stone, a trace of shock flashing in his eyes.

Fang Zheng looked around, and when he saw that no one was paying attention to their conversation, he said in a low voice: "What are you saying, officer? I'm so down on my luck, how could I possibly bribe you?"

"The reason I fled to Yuding City is because the jade led me here to find its master! A treasure for a hero, it should be yours!"

The guard blinked and said incredulously, "You... you really have a sweet tongue. I don't think you look like a beggar anymore."

Fang Zheng chuckled: "Then... do you think I can go home now?"

The guard looked him up and down and nodded: "Well... alright, I won't make things difficult for you during the New Year. Go in and keep a low profile."

With that, he waved his hand towards the city, signaling him to go in quickly.

"What?! It's New Year's?" Fang Zheng froze in place.

"Damn! The New Year was two days ago, hurry up and stop talking nonsense here, it won't look good if people see you." The guard hurriedly urged.

Fang Zheng walked into the city in a daze.

It was New Year's... and it was already over... and he had spent it in the mountains.

In the new year, he had become a stinking beggar...

Looking at the bustling crowd in the city, Fang Zheng's originally heavy mood improved a lot.

The governance here was clearly very good.

The people were in good spirits, and the commerce was developed, showing a prosperous scene.

Shaking his head, Fang Zheng came back to his senses.

Now was not the time to think about these things, he was still an unregistered beggar, getting food was the priority!

He continued to wander around the city, feeling extremely tired.

Fang Zheng aimed for a corner of the wall and leaned against it.

To some extent, being a beggar was the same as doing business!

When doing business, you naturally have to find a place with high traffic. Not only does the traffic have to be high, but you also have to look at your own positioning and the customer's spending power.

The same was true for beggars. You had to find a place with high traffic, a place with many rich people, and preferably a temple or something nearby.

In addition, you also had to look at whether there were too many competitors and different positioning for selling misery. If there were too many beggars, the competition would be fierce.

So at this time, you had to do what others don't have, and refine what others have!

Fang Zheng hadn't been a beggar for many years, but his vision was still sharp, and he had found such a "golden spot"!

After finding a good location, he had to start building his own brand to stand out among the beggars.

Fang Zheng leaned against the wall and panted for a while, then slumped on the ground, taking off his coat and forming a "bowl" in front of him.

He drew a few swastika Buddhist seals and a Taiji diagram around the edge of the bowl, and then simply wrote a line on the ground.

【Reward this beggar, and you will receive good luck tomorrow】

After writing, Fang Zheng leaned against the wall and stared blankly.

Ha, fate was really impermanent. He had become a high official, but after going around in circles, he actually had the opportunity to come back and beg for food!

Zhou Tie and the others should be looking for him, he wondered if they could find him...

He didn't know how Li Yuanzhao was doing in the capital, whether he was messing around.

He wondered if Xiao Tao and Ning Xin were doing well at home. With Zhang Biao in Taoyuan County, there should be no problem with Prince Wu attacking.

Shui Yibai was now in Haiyuan City with Qian Desheng, Zhou Tie should send someone to inform them of the situation.

What about the princess? Heh heh, he had said he would marry her when he got back... and now he was in this situation!

Damn it... Did he just set a flag?

Thinking about it, Fang Zheng felt tired, his eyelids began to droop frantically, and he fell asleep....