When he returned to the garrison envoy's mansion in the evening, when he thought of the crown prince's pickled appearance and those hatreds, Zhang Xiaowu was still so angry that he couldn't eat. The cook in the mansion thought that the food he cooked was not good, so he hurriedly told Wang Yijin that he had done his best, and asked the city lord not to punish him. Wang Yijin said to the cook that the adults have a heart, you don't have to be mustard, so he asked people to send a little boiled noodles.

Zhang Xiaowu simply took a bite, then stopped eating, Mangzhong put away the dishes and chopsticks, felt a little distressed, and suddenly said: "City Lord, let me tell you a story." ”

"Well, you say."

"Once upon a time, there was a child who was only three years old, and her father sold her as gambling money, but even if he sold his daughter, she still lost money. In order to gamble, he sold his wife again, but he still lost, and then he bought wine and got drunk, and slept in the snow and froze to death. When the little girl was nine years old, she accidentally broke a vase, which was worth five taels of silver. The little girl was scared to death, she thought she would be beaten to death by the master. At this time, a cook said that she broke it, and the little girl watched the cook being beaten half to death by the master, and then the cook was sold by the master. Later, the little girl heard that the cook was her aunt. The little girl has been looking for her A-Niang, and she will definitely find her A-Niang. ”

Zhang Xiaowu asked: "Did the little girl stay in Mucheng just to find her aunt?" ”

Mangzhong nodded: "Yes." ”

"Why are you telling me this story?"

Mang Chong said seriously: "I heard people say, if you are sad, just look at others, if there are people who are more sad than you, you will feel less sad." ”

Zhang Xiaowu squinted his eyes and said, "I'm really better, thank you, Xiao Mangzhong." That girl will definitely find her aunt. ”

Mang Chong said: "Are you in a better mood now?" ”

Zhang Xiaowu said: "It's much better, cook me another bowl of noodles." ”

Wang Yijin was surprised, this little mangzhong was actually the elixir to unlock Zhang Xiaowu, and he didn't know what this little black girl was capable of, so she made the adults calm down in just a few words.

The next day, Zhang Tongming went to the garrison office to report, saying that a large number of veterans who had returned to their hometowns were besieging the Mucheng County Government to make trouble, and the officials in the county government were so frightened that the officials went to the gate. Zhang Xiaowu hurriedly led people to the county office, and the veterans who returned to their hometowns hurriedly stepped forward to react, but there were many people, and Zhang Xiaowu didn't hear a word clearly.

Bai Hao was afraid that someone would take the opportunity to assassinate, so he shouted: "Get out of the way for me, whoever stands in the way, I will kill whom?" This Bai Hao looked as ugly and fierce as the black god, and his voice was extremely loud, which calmed everyone for a while, and everyone got out of the way.

Zhang Xiaowu walked into the county government at this time, and saw that Guan Xiao was sweating on his face, and after seeing Zhang Xiaowu, he put his heart down and said: "City Lord, you are finally here, if you come late, I will be torn apart by them." ”

"What's the situation? Did you abuse them? Or is it unfair rewards and punishments? Zhang Xiaowu asked. Due to the heavy wind and snow, almost all the veterans who took the return order took refuge in the winter in Mucheng, waiting for the spring to bloom, and returned to their hometown with the return order. Some of these more than 4,000 people were idle in the city, some were doing small jobs, and some were starting businesses.

Guan Xiang shook his head and said: "No, no, how can I embarrass them, it's the wolf guard who embarrass them." ”

Zhang Xiaowu was surprised: "Wolf Guard? Why did the wolf guard embarrass them? What hatred do the wolf guards have with them? Besides, the wolf guard is in the two wolf passes, we are here in Mucheng, how do the two conflict? ”

It turned out that it was really not Guan Xiang who treated the old soldiers who returned to their hometowns harshly, but a few veterans made some money and planned to go to the Two Wolves City to buy some goods, and planned to sell them during the New Year to earn more silver. Since the last military salary, Mucheng finally has money, and people need more, these people have business acumen, and plan to buy more fragrant pancreas and fat powder for women. As a result, after several people came to the Two Wolf Pass, the wolf guard did not recognize Mucheng's order to return to their hometown, and ordered them to return to Mucheng.

These people were not convinced, but they were beaten according to reason, and the wolf guard who guarded the city also said: "Your order to return to the hometown has been invalidated, if you break in, you will only be punished as a deserter, and you will be killed without forgiveness." ”

After a few people returned to Mucheng, they told others about the matter, and the invalidation of the return order spread more and more, and all the veterans who returned to their hometowns knew about it, and everyone ran to the county office where the return order was issued, and asked the county order to help.

How could Guan Xiang solve this problem, fortunately, Zhang Xiaowu came forward in time and immediately sent someone to the Two Wolves Pass to understand the situation. A few days later, Wang Yijin finally brought back Cao Yan's explanation. It turned out that it was Dushanbo's request not to allow deserters to pass the customs, and he knew that the sixth regiment that was defeated in Yashan was also directly taken to the Longdu camp by them, and once the deserters from Saibei returned to the Central Plains, it would definitely cause dissatisfaction in all parts of the Central Plains, especially now that the rebellion in the south continues, some people will inevitably make a fuss about it and blame the imperial court. Du Shanbo asked the wolf guard to strictly prohibit deserters from passing through, even if one of them carried the imperial court's return order, it would be invalid.

Some people were disappointed, some scolded the court, and some even committed suicide in despair.

Zhang Xiaowu knew that the reason why they were panicking was because most of them were still sitting on empty mountains while their hopes were shattered, and he immediately consulted with Guan Xiang on how to settle the people. As it is freezing today, many soldiers are nested in the barracks, let alone have any livelihood.

But Mucheng still has a few livelihoods to do, the first is to dig four tunnels, the second is to dig smoky stone mines outside the city, the third is to look for herders to exchange food for meat, the fourth is to shovel snow and sanitation in the city, and the fifth is to work as auxiliaries. Zhang Xiaowu quickly ordered the number of people needed to be calculated, and then the county government posted a notice to reassure the people, and in order to appease the soldiers, the Mucheng garrison re-recruited 1,000 soldiers and 1,000 auxiliaries, and the Mucheng garrison was re-expanded to 10,000.

Zhang Xiaowu now has the silver in his hand, and he is not panicked at all, it is nothing more than arranging the work of 4,000 people, at the end of this year, the minimum requirement for many people is not to starve to death.

Although the ideals were shattered, life still had to go on, and the veterans who returned to their hometowns no longer gathered to make trouble under the appeasement of the county government and the new work arrangement.

In order to survive, human beings often burst out with powerful energy and wisdom, and these 4,000 returnees have found something suitable for them to do. Guan Xiang reported that there were even a few returnees who occasionally married the wives of local herders, and got a daughter-in-law and children for no reason.

Zhang Xiaowu asked curiously: "Is the Tatar woman willing to marry a Han soldier?" They speak Tatar, we speak Chinese, can we communicate? ”

Guan Xiao smiled and said, "The city lord should say, are the Han people willing to marry a Tartar woman?" They are naturally willing to marry, although they are all some widowed women, but this winter seems to be colder than in previous years, countless sheep and livestock have frozen to death in various parts of the northern part of the country, and many families are difficult to survive. Besides, men and women can't communicate when they speak, but they can communicate when they get into the bed, and the city lord doesn't listen to the old saying, okay? ”

"What old saying?"

"The road into a woman's heart is a trickle of yin paths."

Zhang Xiaowu couldn't cry or laugh, this Guan Xiang didn't look like a good person, and he was really not a good guy.