Zhang Ji's return has given Zhao Yu and Jingnu one more cronie who can explain their secrets.

As for how to arrange Zhang Ji, Zhao Yu thought about it and decided to make Zhang Ji the second chief of the guard, replacing He Shun to assist Jingnu in taking care of the Duwei Zhou Mansion, while He Shun returned to him Zhao Yu.

The reason is simple: Zhang Ji is literate and can write.

And in this regard, He Shun was not the slightest dissatisfied, on the contrary, he was a little happy.

After all, during the period when he assisted Jingnu in taking care of the mansion, He Shun, the chief of the guard, actually played more of the role of an official, and how could an official be illiterate?

So at the beginning of August, Jing Nu took advantage of the increasing hunger in Xuchang City, not only selected a group of honest-looking civilians as domestic servants, but also invited a few scholars who were in distress to help with the account room, and by the way taught Niu Heng, He Shun and others to read.

By the way, in the matter of literacy, Niu Heng refused to calm down and learn, so he was even willing to simply admit that he was a fool: "I have a stupid head, I can be a reckless man, and I can't be a reader." ”

Speechless, Zhao Yu said to Niu Heng: "If you remember a word and can write, I will give you a jar of wine." ”

Niu Heng was stunned for a moment, and suddenly patted his chest to show that his head was still very bright.

In this regard, Zhao Yu will be skeptical.

Of course, for this brother who is really not very good at his head, Zhao Yu does not have too high requirements, as long as Niu Heng can understand the commonly used words and can write a few sentences in a short time, he is already satisfied enough.

However, for He Shun, Zhao Yu and Jingnu have high requirements, which makes He Shun complain about learning words these days.

Now, Zhang Ji has replaced him as the 'official' role of the Governor Zhou Mansion, and He Shun can be said to have survived.

He smiled bitterly and said to Zhang Ji: "Brother Zhang is here, the little brother can be regarded as being able to take a breath." ”

Zhang Ji felt inexplicable at first, and it wasn't until he understood the reason that he couldn't help laughing.

Of course, laughing and laughing, Zhang Ji still had to remind He Shun: "The big leader and his wife asked you to learn words, but it's for your good." …… If you are illiterate, how can you hold a high office? ”

He Shun nodded again and again: "I know this, but tell me to remember those words in one breath, my brother is really ......"

It's no wonder, after all, 'remember a word and reward a jar of wine', that is a special treatment that only Niu Heng has, how can other people have this treatment?

If there is, I believe He Shun will not complain anymore.

Replacing He Shun to play the role of the official of the Zhou Mansion is not difficult for Zhang Ji.

And the group of black tigers in the mansion who were wrapped in black scarves were put down by him when they provoked Zhang Ji in private, and they gradually became obedient.

The only thing that made Zhang Ji muttered a little was the lady of his Duwei Zhou Mansion, Jingnu.

Others may not know the details of Jingnu, but Zhang Ji is clear.

Jingnu is the side room of the second son, which was set by the wife of their township mansion, Zhou, and Jingnu was not qualified to become the main room.

For this reason, Zhang Ji privately asked Zhao Yu's opinion.

Zhao Yu told him very frankly: "In the past eight years, Jingnu has always followed me and never left, rather than asking me to marry a strange woman, I would rather let her become the main room." …… She has the qualifications and abilities. ”

So, Zhang Ji stopped mentioning this matter.

The second son said that Jingnu is qualified, that is, she is qualified, but her ability is ...... Does Shizunu really have the ability to serve as the main room?

If Zhang Ji still had doubts about this at the beginning, but after living in the Duwei Zhou Mansion for more than ten days in a row, and seeing with his own eyes that Jing Nu kept the mansion up and down in an orderly manner, he no longer had any doubts, and he could only sigh in his heart: Jing Nu is worthy of being trained by Mrs. Zhou herself.

However, while Zhang Ji was secretly observing Jingnu, Jingnu felt a little uncomfortable.

Zhang Ji returned to Zhao Yu's side, and Jingnu was also happy about it, but as this joy gradually subsided, she inevitably began to think about more direct questions: Who is this mansion to listen to?

A while ago, when He Shun was the chief of the guard in the house, no matter how big or small, He Shun had to ask Jingnu for advice.

Although this keeps Jing Nu busy, she also gets a sense of satisfaction as a hostess.

But with the arrival of Zhang Ji, the situation has changed.

Unlike He Shun, Zhang Ji is able to be literate and martial, and not only has his own subjective views on how to behave in the world, but also is very sophisticated in doing things - this is not surprising, when Jingnu just entered the Xianghou Mansion, Zhang Ji was already working in the Xianghou Mansion, coupled with the experience in Jiangdong over the years, it is natural to take care of a mansion.

So, Jingnu suddenly became idle.

Idleness means losing power, although Jingnu doesn't think that Zhang Ji is deliberately taking away her power, but suddenly there is nothing to do, which makes her, who has been busy for a while, suddenly become a little at a loss.

During this period, the two maids, Bi'er and Qing'er, often said bad things about Zhang Ji in Jingnu, probably because Zhang Ji didn't ask her as a lady to do things, and she was not respectful enough.

In this regard, Jing Nu reprimanded the second daughter and said: "Zhang Weichang is an old acquaintance of Du Wei for many years, he is loyal to Du Wei and has no selfish intentions, don't say such things again in the future, otherwise I will never spare it!" ”

With these harsh words, the two maids Bi'er and Qing'er sued again and again, and they didn't dare to mention this matter again.

But in all fairness, Jingnu gradually discovered that Zhang Ji was not suitable for 'working with'.

The reason is that the status of the two of them cannot be distinguished from 'superior' - of course, the status mentioned here refers to the status of the former Xianghou Mansion, not the Duwei Zhou Mansion, which is meaningless.

In the former Xianghou Mansion, Jingnu was the concubine Xu given to Zhao Yu by Mrs. Zhou, and Zhang Ji was entrusted by the Luyang Township Marquis to teach Zhao Yu martial arts, the former was half a lady, and the latter was half a teacher, which caused a problem.

Fortunately, Jingnu and Zhang Ji have a tacit understanding, and after gradually realizing this problem, they are polite to each other.

One night, Zhao Yu asked Jingnu about this: "How are you getting along with Zhang Ji these days?" ”

"Not so good."

Jing Nu naturally did not hide it, and truthfully said her feelings: "Zhang Ji is a very assertive person, and he was once half a teacher who taught the young master, and I, the 'fake lady', did not dare to order him anything, so I could only keep my distance from him......"

Only then did Zhao Yu realize that it didn't seem to be a good idea to let Zhang Ji assist Jingnu.

He was very happy with Jingnu's sincerity, and said with a smile when he heard this: "Zhang Ji just came, and it just so happens that there is a shortage of people on your side, so let him adapt for a while, and after a few days, I will transfer him to the army......"

Thinking about it, how could Zhao Yu, who was extremely short of people, let Zhang Ji succumb to a guard?

Hearing this, Jingnu couldn't say whether it was good or bad, but she felt that it was a good thing for her and Zhang Ji.

The next day, Zhao Yu talked to Zhang Ji about the matter.

Zhang Ji said with a wry smile: "It was my negligence, I thought it was ...... I didn't expect that not only the son, but even the Jingnu were like two people, which made me feel a little strange. ”

Hearing this, Zhao Yu smiled and waved his hand: "Actually, it's not a big deal, Jingnu is very smart, she will never do anything that I am unhappy about, so you won't worry about what she will think of you." …… I tell you this to-day that you should be prepared, and in a few days, about mid-day, I will transfer you to the county army and appoint you a sergeant. ”

"Judges?"

Zhang Ji was taken aback.

Of course, he knew what kind of official position the sergeant was, and when he heard this, he was shocked and asked, "Can the prince appoint such an official position at will now?" ”

"Of course, no arbitrary appointments." Zhao Yu said with a smile: "There must be a legitimate reason, for example, in order to harvest food, to prevent the rebels from harassing, and then to recover the city occupied by the rebels, etc......."

As long as there are these reasonable reasons, there is a high probability that the county guard will be able to pass, after all, Chen Lang will not be able to get stuck.

Sure enough, on September 12, the county guard office approved Zhao Yu's recommendation to promote Zhang Ji to a sergeant, and by the way, even Zhao Yu's proposal to expand the county army was also passed.

Of course, Zhao Yu was inevitably summoned by Li Junshou afterwards, not for Zhang Ji's business, but to ask Zhao Yu when he planned to do something against the rebels - one-third of the city in the territory was still occupied by the rebels, which was also a major concern of Li Junshou.

Facing Li Junshou's inquiry, Zhao Yu said respectfully: "Let's wait for the autumn harvest to see the situation, if there is a fight now, even if I can recover Linying, Yanling and other places, the rebels will definitely immediately burn the farmland outside the city and burn the grain that is about to be harvested...... Even though the rebels will not be able to get food, we must admit the rations of the people of the cities and counties we have recovered...... Instead of pressing the ground too tightly, it is better to slow down and let the rebels collect a batch of grain smoothly. The rebels have food in their hands, and in order to buy the hearts of the people, they will naturally distribute it to the people of Linying, Yanling and other counties, so as to avoid the ...... of starvation."

"Well, you're very thoughtful."

Li Junshou nodded in satisfaction.

On 14 September, the four counties of Kunyang, Runan, Xiangcheng, and Yangzhai began to collect grain, and in order to prevent the rebels from making trouble, Zhao Yu ordered the officers and soldiers of Kunyang, Runan, and Xiangcheng counties to assist the people in stepping up the harvest.

During this period, although both the county army and the rebels were on strict guard against each other, as if they were about to fight a big battle, it turned out that both the county army and the rebels maintained restraint.

After nearly ten days of harvesting, the three counties of Kunyang have harvested a total of nearly 900,000 stone grains, and Yangzhai has also harvested more than 400,000 stones, and the two together have as much as 1.5 million stones, far exceeding the estimated 1.2 million stones.

On the rebel side, the county guard made a rough estimate based on the information obtained from the brigade wolf and other scouts, and it was about 700,000 stones.

This is a total of more than 2 million stone of grain, which is almost enough to feed as many as one million people in Yingchuan County until next year.

In order to keep this batch of grain and prevent it from flowing out, Li Min, the warden of Yingchuan County, specially wrote a memo and sent someone to Handan, hoping that the imperial court would reduce or exempt him from the grain tax of Yingchuan County this year.

Unexpectedly, only a few days later, the imperial court sent an official document, but it did not mention the grain harvest, but ordered Yingchuan County to immediately send troops to reinforce Liang County.

——Ordered Zhou Hu, the commander of Yingchuan, to raise 20,000 troops, prepare his own grain and grass, and immediately reinforce Liang County, and order him to arrive before November, and severely punish him if he overdue!

"Here we are."

When he learned of this order, Zhao Yu's heart sank.

The victory or defeat of the Jin Kingdom and the righteous teachers from all walks of life, and the trend of the situation in the whole world, depends on this battle.

Of course, for him, whether he can take the opportunity to catch that Tong Yan is what he cares about the most.