One

Since Xu Zhihe decided to seek a career, he has followed Song Qiqiu's advice, cared about his subordinates, and attached importance to the people's hearts. Xu Zhihe leads by example, is diligent and thrifty, not greedy for money and not lustful, and is a corporal of courtesy, and at the same time he also attaches importance to education, collects ancient books and classics everywhere, and teaches the people. Compared with the Wufu government in other areas of Huainan, the people of Shengzhou live a rich life, social stability, and the people's hearts gather, Xu Zhihe has established a good reputation among the people of Shengzhou.

Due to the long-term war, there are many ruffians in the army, and they can only fight and kill, and they do not know how to cherish the people and sympathize with the people's feelings. Because of their lack of cultural attainment, these people often drink and make trouble, gather crowds to gamble, and solicit prostitutes. In response to this situation, Xu Zhihe spent a period of time to rectify, he decisively punished several typical lower-level officers, and knew that they were reasonable, and criticized and educated them with emotion, and then strengthened discipline management, formulated strict regulations to restrain the majority of soldiers, and at the same time actively explored and encircled talents in the army, and the first one to be promoted was Ma Renyu, who impressed him at the beginning.

Xu Zhihe noticed him several times when he was patrolling the camp, no matter when, he was meticulous, standing with a straight military posture and bright eyes, and he looked like a cadre. Xu Zhihe transferred Ma Renyu to the Assassin's Mansion as a tooth official, because he needed a helper who knew military affairs so much, and he believed that he would not look at the wrong person.

Ma Renyu is a native of Xuzhou, his grandfather is Ma Sui, the king of Beiping in the Tang Dynasty, it is said that Ma Renyu's ancestor is Zhao Hao, a famous general of Zhao State, Zhao Hao was awarded the title of Ma Fujun for his merits, and his descendants took "Ma" as their surname. When Ma Renyu's mother was about to give birth to him, she shouted in a dream for the return of the king of Beiping, and then Ma Renyu was born. Ma Renyu began to learn the art of war when he was six or seven years old, and because he was smart and studious, his understanding of the art of war was always profound and thorough, and he could skillfully explain the essence of the art of war, just like reading and writing. When he grew up, due to the constant war in the north, Ma Renyu came to Shengzhou to make a living.

Because of the good management of the army, clear rewards and punishments, fairness and integrity, Xu Zhihe made the entire army and even the officialdom of Shengzhou take on a new look.

Two

Xu Zhihe's performance in Shengzhou slowly spread from the mouths of the common people to Guangling, Xu Wen always paid attention to Xu Zhihe's every move, he was very happy after hearing it, and thought that Xu Zhihe should be rewarded. At the same time, Xu Wen wanted to give Xu Zhihe a bigger task and officially start the reconstruction of Shengzhou City, Xu Wen attached great importance to Shengzhou, and always thought about moving the capital there in the future, such an important thing, Xu Wen felt that the most suitable person to make himself believe and have the ability to complete this matter was Xu Zhihe, so he crowned Xu Zhihe as the inspector Situ. "Inspecting schools" officially appeared as official positions in the Sui Dynasty, and in the middle and late Tang Dynasty, the official positions of "inspecting schools" were all scattered or added officials, without real power, mainly expressing deep favor. After the Anshi Rebellion, the scope of use of the official position of "inspection school" was expanded, and even the shogunate staff officers of the envoys of the festival adopted the official position of "inspection school", although it represented more of an honor, but it reflected the favor of the imperial court to the person who was crowned. Xu Zhihe was crowned as a "school inspector", which can also reflect Xu Wen's recognition and trust in him. When Song Qiqiu learned about it, he came over to congratulate him as soon as possible.

However, there is another person who also pays attention to Xu Zhihe all the time, and this person is Xu Zhixun. Xu Zhixun succeeded Li Yu as the Xuanzhou observer, but he was not very good as an observer. Xu Zhixun has always been arrogant, but now relying on Xu Wen's power, he has no one in his eyes and oppresses his colleagues. Xu Zhixun was in charge of Xuanzhou, not only did not care about the people's livelihood, but instead used harsh government to accumulate wealth for himself, and the people were miserable. It is said that local actors sometimes use Xu Zhixun as the prototype for satirical acts when acting, and Xu Wen, who is in Guangling, has also heard of it, and once wrote a letter to reprimand this son. Now that Xu Zhixun heard that Xu Zhihe had been rewarded again, his jealousy suddenly rose, and he wrote to Xu Wen that day that Xu Zhihe was ambitious, he was buying people's hearts, he couldn't trust him, and he had to beware of him. Xu Wen didn't care about it after seeing the letter, because he knew his son's character, and Xu Zhixun didn't like Xu Zhihe since he was a child, Xu Wen thought that this son was just competing for favor. Xu Wen replied to Xu Zhixun with another letter, in which he not only criticized him, but also praised Xu Zhihe by the way, Xu Wen told Xu Zhixun to restrain his behavior and learn more from Xu Zhihe. Xu Zhixun was angry after seeing it, thinking that his father was protecting Xu Zhihe, and in the long run, he would not only lose face as the son of the Xu family, but also be completely squeezed by Xu Zhihe, Xu Zhixun's jealousy of Xu Zhihe suddenly increased, and even hatred.