didn't wait for a reply, and then heard Xu Chu say: "But don't have too many illusions. Returning to his hometown for burial is indeed a noble move, but there are talents after virtue, and when you don't know how talented the two are, you can only start from the bottom. ”

Shi Lu's face flushed, Xu Chu's words were unheard of. The election and employment of officials in this dynasty has always paid attention to 'both ability and political integrity', virtue and ability, virtue is in front of talent, and virtue is a higher consideration than talent.

Pulling the stalk, he stiffened his mouth and said: "The prince and the marquis are really eclectic. ”

This is to use He Hao's words to satirize Xu Chu.

Xu Chu looked at these two faces who were as young as him, and for no reason his heart tightened, and a little sorrow rose.

"Many times, compared with unscrupulous officials, the people of Qianshou are more afraid of incompetent people in high positions, not to mention nowadays."

Zhao Shulang's eyebrows raised slightly, and said: "The opinion of the prince and the marquis, I dare not agree." Officials without virtue, greedy and violent, how can they benefit the people? ”

Xu Chu shook his head and said: "For example, to manage a river embankment, there are two candidates, one is virtuous and incompetent, and the other is virtuous and talented, who should be selected to govern?" Do the people living along the river hope that an honest official will not repair it every year, or do they hope that a corrupt official will ask for some money but repair the river embankment? ”

He was speechless for a while, was silent for a moment, and forced himself to laugh and said: "What the prince said is only a rare case. Taking a county as an example, what the county magistrate and the chief have to do is to repair bridges and control water? Arresting and stealing, farming, oral arithmetic, forced labor, and so on, if there is no virtue in the official, and the government is lazy, it is not as good as a mediocre and virtuous official. ”

Xu Chu smiled, "Guanjun's words, an official should not be used, it seems that the key is talent." ”

In fact, whether it is Xu Chu or Zhaozhao, their views may not be correct. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, what the two discussed was a 'false proposition'. Because in this dynasty, the virtue of a scholar was originally determined by those big families, and the so-called virtue before talent, or it was a rule gradually formed by the scholars in order to protect their own interests from being violated.

Xu Chu is a human being, but he may not have any high views in politics, and it is already unexpected to say so much about the tricks.

However, Xu Chu's position is very firm, and when the giant wheel of the times turns to this time, anyone who still sticks to the virtues of his subordinates is tantamount to self-destruction of the city wall.

In the end, Xu Chu still brought up the old words again and said: "Since the two of you have already come, if the war is in chaos today, you will not be able to go to the north for a while." Why don't you do things in this county for the time being? ”

Xu Chu's tone was a little more tactful, but seeing that Zhao and Shi Lu seemed to be still immersed in the conversation just now, he called twice in a row, and only then did he wake up.

"Recruit to join the army."

"Where's Shi Jun?"

"I ...... I'd better be a scribe. ”

Xu Chu smiled slightly, "You go to Zhang Gongcao in the afternoon, and I will inform him." After this conversation, Xu Chu could see the difference between Zhao Zhao and Shi Lu.

Shi Lu is relatively mediocre and not bold; The lead is strong and courageous, exercise it, and it should be reusable.

If it weren't for the fact that there was a shortage of people under his hands, Xu Chu would not be in a hurry to let Zhao and Shi Lu do things, but the old officials in the county have been in the county for many years, and the background and background are not easy to say.

- Xie Zhen is the chief bookkeeper, and he has a very high status among the county officials, and Xu Chu came over to him where he worked. Xie Zhen said in fear: "If the Ming Mansion has something to summon me, why bother to come in person." ”

Xu Chu looked at Xie Zhen, who was busy serving tea and pouring water, and sat on the main seat unceremoniously, "I really have something to ask Xie Jun." ”

"What?" Xie Zhen took the tea soup and carefully placed it on the table.

Xu Chu took a shallow sip, the coolness disappeared slightly, and said: "It's about Wu County and Huiji." ”

"Oh?" The two counties of Wu County and Huiji County gathered most of the scholars in Yangzhou, and Xie Zhen looked at Xu Chu's gaze and became a little vigilant.

"It's not a secret, after the mansion arrived in Lujiang, I first met the officials of Wu County to collect grain, and then bumped into the officials of the state capital to kill people, but it was not so lively in Yingchuan. Especially Gong Cao Zhang Jun, it seems that he ...... with that Zhou Danyang"

Xie Zhen said suddenly: "The eyes of the Ming Mansion are like electricity. ”

When Xu Chu heard this, he moved his butt to Xie Zhen's side, and said sincerely: "Don't hide it from Xie Jun, before the government sent his subordinates to envoy Wu County Sheng Tai Shou, but after entering the city, he was stopped by the county soldier Cao Peng Zhou Jun, and he didn't even see Sheng Taishou's face...... I hope Xie Jun will teach me. ”

Xie Zhen wanted to speak several times, and finally confided: "Some things are not deliberately concealed by the subordinates, and it is really difficult to say. ”

Xie Zhen is from the Xie clan of Huiji, and has an intricate relationship with the scholars of Wu County and Huiji, it is inconvenient for him to say that Xu Chu is completely understandable.

"Xie Jun, it's not that this government is deliberately making things difficult, just imagine that you and I are reversed, in the face of Uncle Fang who is asking for food for soldiers, and Zhou Danyang, who is aggressive, how can you deal with yourself? Besides, Jun's clan is a big clan, the trees are big and leafy, and there are many people who are secretly spying on your clan, so don't you want to find another way out for your clan? ”

Xie Zhen pondered, and secretly said that what Xu Chu said was not unreasonable. Why he and Zhang Yun have completely different attitudes towards Zhou Xin and Chen Wen is that the two families choose different routes. Wu Jun's Zhang clan, Zhu clan, Huiji Zhou clan, etc., huddled together, intending to strengthen their own strength while fighting against Chen Wen; And they will judge the Xie family, the Zhu family who will judge Zhu Jun, including the families of Lu Kang, Gu Yong and others, have an ambiguous attitude between the wrestling between the two camps, no one will help, and try not to mix.

This is a way to protect one's self, and there is also the reason why the abilities of Chen Wen and Zhou Xin are not enough to get their support.

Xu Chu just said the truth, Xie Zhen did think about which direction the Xie clan should develop in the future, whether to follow the path of the county guard like the Lu clan of Wujun and the Zhou clan of Huiji, or to find a person who thinks he is the 'master of Ming' like Danyang Zhu Zhi to attach to him.

The Danyang Zhu Zhi lineage mentioned here and the Wujun Zhu Huan lineage are both from the Yi clan that was sealed by King Wu of Zhou when Zhou destroyed Shang. Among them, Zhu Zhi's lineage later produced a saint - Zhu Xi, these are all later words.

Zhu Zhi followed Sun Jian when he was ordered to raise troops to participate in the pacification of the Liangzhou rebellion, and the families of Wu Di did not understand why Zhu Zhi made such a decision. In hindsight, the decision could not have been unwise. Sun Jian has made many military exploits, and now he is the Taishou of Changsha, and an old minister like Zhu Zhi, who was born in a big family, is not only a loyal minister who can be 'entrusted to the future' by Sun Jian, but also an important minister who must be entrusted with important tasks. It is conceivable that Sun Jian, who is still on the rise, will definitely bring extremely rich returns to the Danyang Zhu family if nothing else.

Except for Sun Jian, Yangzhou did not have a second 'warlord' with such a great future.

Xu Chu came, and he became the second.

As Zhou Yi and Zhou Yu considered before, Sun Jian and Xu Chu have their own good and bad, in general, Sun Jian still has the advantage, after all, Sun Jian's record is there, much higher than Xu Chu.

But this does not prevent Xie Zhen from maintaining a 'relatively close' relationship with Xu Chu, especially what Xu Chu just said, the so-called resourceful way out gives Xie Zhen a lot of leeway.

Xie Zhen smiled because of this: "Mingfu is wrong to love, and Zhen is grateful in my heart." Staying in the county now is to repay the friendship of the Ming Mansion. Saying this, Xie Zhen was thinking about whether to contact the clan as soon as possible, and whether to stop the ambiguity with the former county guard Lu Kang.

Xu Chu didn't know what Xie Zhen thought, he said: "In this case, does Xie Jun have anything to teach me?" ”

Xie Zhen replied respectfully: "Don't dare to preach, Mingfu can ask." ”

The two talked until noon, and Xu Chu returned satisfied.