Qi County, Licheng, the backyard of the county guard's mansion, a small building by the lake, the breeze is blowing, Yuan Wen led the officials above the fourth grade in the county guard's mansion, and feasted on Zhang Xutuo who returned from victory here, and Cheng Biting Jin and Qin Qiong also stood behind Zhang Xutuo and stood by the sword.

Zhang Xutuo is still wearing armor, the dust has not been washed, since defeating Wang Bo of Changbai Mountain five days ago, he has been sending troops to follow behind Wang Bo, trying to find the passage of Ge Qian of the bean pit through Wang Bo, but unfortunately Wang Bo also seems to have noticed that something is wrong, did not go east to Ge Qian, but turned to the north, in the dense forest of Changbai Mountain and Zhang Xutuo played hide and seek, the mountains are high and dense, the horses are impassable, Zhang Xutuo did not bring enough supplies, after three days, he had to give up the tracking, and led the army back to Licheng, Just in time for this reception feast.

Yuan Wendu sat on the chairman of the banquet hall, after the guests and hosts sat down, each knelt on a low couch, in front of them was placed a small table, on which there were sumptuous dishes, and everyone had a beautiful woman next to him to pour wine for him, between the guests and the host to push the cup and change the lamp, the civil and military officials of Qi County all smiled and blossomed, and took turns to pay tribute to Zhang Xutuo, and Zhang Xutuo did not change his face, and the comer did not refuse, and a large bowl of wine was poured into the stomach when he looked up, so that a group of Qi County officials exclaimed Tiger General, massive!

After three rounds of wine and five flavors of food, Yuan Wendu picked up his wine glass and smiled at Zhang Xutuo: "General Zhang, this time, thanks to your divine martial arts, you can defeat the rebels in Changbai Mountain in one fell swoop. Come, for General Zhang's divine martial arts. Dry this glass. ”

Zhang Xutuo wanted to pour this bowl of wine in one gulp. But after hearing Yuan Wendu's words. But with a long sigh, he put down the wine cup in front of him, Yuan Wendu saw that he didn't drink this wine, he was a little surprised, and said strangely: "What, is there anything uncomfortable about General Zhang?" ”

Zhang Xutuo shook his head and said, "Yuan County Shou, you and I are both the parents of this Qi County. These traitors, in fact, used to be law-abiding people, good people, why did they go up the mountain as thieves and enter the forest as bandits, the reason is worth pondering, just relying on a killing word, can not solve the problem! ”

Yuan Wendu's face turned slightly red, and he said, "Oh? What is General Zhang's opinion? Yuan really didn't know why these people were willing to be bandits. If General Zhang knew the reason, Yuan would be willing to hear it. ”

Zhang Xutuo sighed: "Yuan Junshou." Don't you really know why? If the people under your rule flee from their homes in the hundreds, leaving behind their wives and children, but they want to go up to the mountains to become bandits, you never wonder if there is something wrong with your governance. ”

Yuan Wendu's face suddenly turned red, and he snorted heavily: "General Zhang, do you want to say that these bandits are all officials who forced the people to rebel, and it was my Yuan Wendu's harsh government that made them rebel in the mountains?" ”

Zhang Xutuo's eyes flashed, and he said: "Yuan County Shou, please don't misunderstand, Xia Guan didn't say that you forced them to rebel, but such a large number of people became bandits, Xia Guan led troops all the way to come, and also found that this Qi County land is full of new graves, and corpses are everywhere on both sides of the road, don't you know about these situations?" ”

The muscles on Yuan Wendu's face twitched: "This, this situation, the official knows, but this is an order from the Supreme, in order to ensure the smooth expedition to Goguryeo, the people of Qi County need to bear some conscription, it is the cold winter and the moon, and there will be some casualties among the people who are traveling far away, it is also inevitable, General Zhang, if the official wants to persecute the people, it is really difficult to disobey the holy order, and those of us who are parents and officials can only do our best." Besides, according to the Holy Order, this time I served a few months of hard labor at one time, and I could withstand the hard labor for the next few years, isn't this also the promise of the Holy God to the people! ”

Zhang Xutuo's voice was slightly raised: "Yuan Junshou, you and I are both supreme courtiers, officials of the Great Sui, you should find a way to share the worries of the saints, attacking Goguryeo is indeed a national policy and a holy order, but the supreme definitely does not want to force the people of Shandong and Hebei to swarm into thieves because of the attack on Goguryeo, forming an inextinguishable civil strife." As an official of Qi County, you should have the obligation to reflect the situation here, not only when you can't deal with these rebellions, and then write to the court to ask for military assistance, to be honest, it is not difficult to eliminate one or two rebel armies, but if you lose the support of the people, it is not something that the army can solve! ”

Yuan Wendu said sharply: "General Zhang, this official respects you for your meritorious work in suppressing bandits, and today set up a celebration banquet for you to catch the wind and wash the dust, but you keep saying and speak disrespectfully, contradicting this official, don't forget, this official is your boss, and, even if you have an opinion about this official, but now you even question the decision of the Supreme, and say what is unpopular with the people, are you not afraid that these words will reach the ears of the Supreme and cure you for the crime of slandering the Holy One?" ”

Zhang Xutuo said coldly: "I, Zhang Xutuo, still wish that these words could reach the ears of the Supreme, and in the memo I wrote to the Supreme, these words have been clearly explained, Yuan County Shou, but you should be worried, the current situation of Qi County, it will not be long to cover, this time I Zhang Xutuo did not report the situation of the bandits swarming here, but if the Supreme sent the imperial history to investigate, how do you deal with it, it is better to think of a solution as soon as possible!" ”

Yuan Wendu's head was dripping with cold sweat, looking at the seven or eight Qi County officials who were looking at each other in the hall, at a loss, the corners of their mouths were furrowed, these people snorted one after another, saying that they were not strong enough to drink, and said goodbye in advance, Yuan Wendu waved his robe sleeves, Zhang Xutuo also glanced at Cheng Yanjin and Qin Qiong behind him, and soon the people in this hall retreated cleanly, leaving only Yuan Wendu and Zhang Xutuo.

Yuan Wendu sighed: "General Zhang, what you said is the truth, but the holy order is difficult to disobey, the supreme he will not care about the people's ability to bear, but he is not allowed to miss the major event of the expedition to Goguryeo, so I am helpless, but anyway, if it is not for someone to instigate a rebellion, the people of Qi County will not rise up as thieves, so I still hope that General Zhang can contribute to the country and quell the rebellion as soon as possible, and when the battle of Goguryeo is over, the people will naturally be able to take a breath." ”

Zhang Xutuo's sword eyebrows were raised, and he said in a deep voice: "It is naturally my duty to fight, but Lord County Guard, why did you do such a thing that lost the hearts of the people!" ”

Yuan Wendu was slightly stunned: "What is the thing that has lost the hearts of the people?" ”

Zhang Xutuo stood up suddenly, and the nail leaves on his body made a "clanging" sound, and he gritted his teeth and said: "Yuan Junshou, may I ask where the 20,000 captives I sent four days ago are now?" (To be continued......)