Hong Governor entered Zhenyuan City, sat in the county office, listened to the report of Xu Liang and others, and after hearing the battle of Zhenyuan, the Ming army defending the city lost more than 1,000 people and injured more than 800 people, and nearly 4,000 thieves were killed and wounded outside the city, Hong Governor's Mansion was greatly appreciated, and Xu Liang's eyes were full of intimacy.

Xu Liang saw that Governor Hong was in a good mood, raised his butt on the seat and said with a smile: "Futai, this time the small county of Zhenyuan was able to win, thanks to the hard work of the soldiers guarding the city, and the dedication of the county officials. Needless to say, Huang Xiancheng sat in the rear and deployed personnel, even if it was Mao Yujie, the head of the house, He Cheng and others, they also made great efforts, and He was hit by an arrow in the arm when he rescued the wounded, but he still couldn't get out of the city. cough cough, it can be seen that although Director He is a scholar, he is really brave and strategic. ”

"Hehe, this time the town was able to defend the city, and the government is very relieved." Governor Hong nodded with a smile and said, "As for those who made meritorious contributions in the First World War yesterday, Lord Xu can write it down and report it to the prefect's yamen, and the government will also award awards as appropriate." ”

"Ahem, the lower official wants to say," Xu Liang heard that Governor Hong didn't think of He Cheng, so he said embarrassedly: "After this battle, it can be seen that He Cheng is enough to take on the post of Zhenyuan canonical history, and the lower official has recommended it to you in the previous time." ”

"Oh," Governor Hong patted his forehead and suddenly realized: "This time, the thieves have surrounded Pingliang Mansion, and this mansion has forgotten about it." Well, since Lord Xu has repeatedly recommended it, there is naturally no problem, and the mansion will go back and say to the governor. ”

"Yes, yes, sorry." Xu Liang smiled all over his face, and said, "There is still something to report to you here." ”

"Tell me about it."

"That's right." Xu Liang paid attention to the face of Governor Hong, and said carefully: "Xia Guan has to report that the thieves are Qingzhangqing, and the heavenly dragon and other soldiers are surrounded by Pingliang, so he guessed that the thieves may want to attack Zhenyuan, and he ordered the people of the county to build the city wall, cough cough, that, there is not much grain in the county treasury, so I have to borrow some grain from several grain and rice stores in Zhenyuan County." But don't worry, the lower officials are all written in black and white, and IOUs are written. ”

"Well, in order to protect the safety of the people of a county, it is understandable for Lord Xu to make this decision." Governor Hong said with a deep groan.

"Yes, yes, it's great that you can understand that." Xu Liang was very grateful, changed his words, and said: "It's just that now that the battle is over, the borrowed grain should also be returned." The Zhenyuan County Treasury is empty and unable to repay, so please ask the people of Futai to come forward to coordinate and coordinate? ”

Governor Hong's face suddenly froze with a smile, his smile narrowed, and he said in a deep voice: "This mansion understands Lord Xu's approach, and if you want to come to Lord Xu, you will be young and energetic, and you will definitely be able to think of a solution, cough, the government does not have much food in stock, and I am afraid that it will not be able to support." After that, Governor Hong got up and walked to Xu Liang's side, patted Xu Liang's shoulder cordially, and said: "If Lord Xu thinks of a solution, he can do it boldly in Zhenyuan, and this mansion will definitely support you." The main government still has to go to Guyuan, Longde and other places to check the situation, and it is inconvenient to stay in Zhenyuan for a long time, so it is about to start. ”

After saying that, Governor Hong nodded slightly to Huang Xiancheng and the others who were sitting with him, and walked towards the outside of the county office.

Xu Liang hurriedly got up to send Governor Hong out of the city, and when Governor Hong left with his five hundred Ming troops, Xu Liang couldn't help but smile bitterly. Huang Xiancheng saw it and asked curiously, "What are you laughing at?" ”

Xu Liang pointed to the direction in which Governor Hong's mansion disappeared and said, "Lord Huang, as an official, you have to learn from our lords in Taipei." ”

Huang Xiancheng was puzzled and looked at Xu Liang.

Xu Liang said: "This official has been in office for a long time, so he must be like Governor Hong, stable and stable, slippery, and push difficult things if he can, and never touch his hands." Just now, I asked for the chief official of He, and he promised to do it naturally, and when I asked him for food, he was sloppy, and he bypassed it in three or two sentences. ”

When Huang Xiancheng heard this, he also smiled bitterly, thinking of the grain that he forcibly borrowed from the grain store, and asked, "Then what does the county master plan to do with these IOUs?" Oh, the shopkeeper of the grain store is still locked up in the county jail. ”

Xu Liang waved his hand and said: "There is no money in the county treasury, what can this official do?" Let's drag it out like this for now. As for Lou Ji's people, you can go back and let them all go. ”

"Yes." Huangxian Cheng Road.

The two turned around and walked in the direction of the county office, and when they passed the city gate, a smell of blood and rancid smell wafted from the air. Xu Liang frowned and said: "Lord Huang, after the war, the corpses inside and outside the city should be disposed of, this weather is hot, and the corpses will rot in two days." On the city tower and outside the city, you should also pay attention to disinfection, whether it is fire or smoke, you can watch it. ”

"Yes, or the county is thoughtful." Huang Xiancheng nodded in response.

For two days in a row, Zhenyuan was dealing with the chaos after the war, the more than 6,000 people who were pulled by the inspection department to Zhenyuan City to repair walls and dig ditches, after cleaning up the battlefield, they returned to the original township one after another, and then several groups of people moved into the town and settled in the county town one after another, and asked the reason, it turned out that there were several suburban towns and villages that suffered when the thieves led by Yizhangqing retreated, and the houses were burned down by the angry thieves. He moved back to the original county seat of Zhenyuan, explained the situation to the county government, and was arranged by Director Mao to live in the city.

The lean shopkeeper of Lou Ji was released from prison with more than a dozen guys, returned to Lou Ji's grain store, tore the seal of the official mansion, entered the store, went to the warehouse to check it, and immediately scolded angrily, the nearly 100 stone rice originally stored in the warehouse was empty at the moment, and there were not even sacks left, only a few piles of black rat feces in the corner.

At this time, the shopkeeper can guess what is happening with his heels. The shopkeeper scolded and asked the guy to close the store, and on the other hand, he left the city overnight and ran into the vast night.

The number of residents in the city, which was originally less than 4,000, expanded to 7,000 or 8,000 in the following days, most of them were people from the surrounding towns and villages, and some of them were displaced people who had fled from Jingzhou and Guyuan. The news of the thieves and the war also spread to the towns, counties and county offices along with the crowd.

The leader of the thieves, Yizhang Qing, Guotianxing, Shangtianlong, and other nearly 50,000 thieves besieged Pingliang and lost their troops, and the soldiers were divided into three routes, and invaded the states and counties under the rule of Pingliang Mansion, Jingzhou, Lingtai, Guyuan, and Huating were all lost, and the places where the thieves passed were mourning all over the wilderness.

And Zhenyuan is the only city around Pingliang Mansion that has not been captured by thieves. It is said that Hong Chengchou, the prefect of Pingliang, had written a special report to the governor of Shaanxi.

When Yaxian County was in the early morning, everyone talked about the latest news, and looked at Xu Liang's eyes with some awe, Mao Yujie laughed and said: "According to the merits of the county lord Zhenyuan's first battle, the subordinates dare to assert that the lord is about to be promoted soon, and the subordinates will congratulate the county lord first." ”

When the others heard this, they also congratulated Xu Liang in unison.

Xu Liang waved his hand and smiled: "Gossip, don't believe it. Zhenyuan was able to protect the city in the first battle, and you also contributed a lot. ”

Everyone complimented Xu Liang again and again, the so-called sedan chair is carried by everyone, according to the current shape, even if Xu Liang is not promoted, a compliment is always indispensable.

The county government was in harmony for a while. At the same time, a group of brightly armored knights rushed into the south gate of Zhenyuan Castle with a puff of dust.

The soldiers defending the city were just about to stop their guns and shout, but when they saw the waist card in the hand of one of the cavalry generals, they immediately hurriedly retreated.

The cavalry general snorted lightly, stuffed the waist card in his hand into his arms, shook the whip, and said in a deep voice: "Go to the Zhenyuan Courtyard!" ”

A troop of horsemen shouted and galloped through the streets of Zhenyuan City as if no one was around. After passing through two or three streets, the eyes suddenly became open, and the cavalry general who led it drank his mount violently, and the neighing of the war horse Herod spewed out a burst of heat, and it stopped.

The general's eyes widened with incredulity.

In front of him, there should have been a place where Han Wangye's Zhenyuan Annex, but there was no house in sight, not only could I not see the house, but even the foundation of the wall courtyard seemed to have been specially excavated, the wooden beams and bricks were gone, and the place that was originally the gate of the other courtyard was originally the gate of the lofty style, and only two stone lions weighing up to 1,000 catties were still lying there at the door. The former annex is in ruins.

The cavalrymen dismounted, and they all looked at it with astonishment. The general handed over his mount to the cavalry beside him, and rushed into the depths of the ruins with a panicked expression, and his cavalry hurried to follow.

The cavalry general should have been quite familiar with the layout of the courtyard, and he kept going, turning left and right and directly to the middle of a chaotic meadow, where a dug black hole was like a bloody mouth, bearing the rain, dew and sunshine in the sky.

The general was stunned, then his face turned pale, and he said in a deep voice: "Go to the county office!" ”

Before the end of the county office, I suddenly heard the sound of horses' hooves outside the county office, and then heard the exclamation of the officer on duty, Xu Liang and others looked out, and saw a young Ming army general in white robe and white armor striding into the gate of the county government angrily, behind him, more than a dozen soldiers in bright armor pressed the handle of the knife, followed him.

In a blink of an eye, the general entered the county hall, stared at the people in the house and asked in a deep voice, "Who is the Zhenyuan county commander in the house?" ”

Everyone looked at Xu Liang, Xu Liang got up from the chair, raised his head and said: "Xu Liang, the former magistrate of this official town, who is in the hall?" ”

"Humph!" The white-robed general looked at Xu Liang scrutinically, pressed the handle of the knife with his hand, and said in a deep voice: "This general is Zhao Yongyong, the commander of the guards of the Han Wangfu." ”

"Disrespectful, disrespectful." Xu Liang said disrespectful in his mouth, but he chuckled in his heart, the people of Han Wangfu!

"I don't know if Commander Zhao came to my county office, what advice do you have?"

"Ben will ask you, Lord Han's Zhenyuan Villa is now a pile of ruins. As the magistrate of Zhenyuan, how should you explain it? ”

Xu Liang listened, walked out of the county government desk in a few steps, walked down the hall, his face turned from surprise to sadness, and he beat his chest ten steps away from Commander Zhao and said: "Commander Zhao, even if Lord Han doesn't send someone to ask, the lower officials will find an opportunity to explain to Lord Han face to face." Four months ago, just like this thief rebellion, the thief unfortunately captured Zhenyuan City, burned and looted in the city, alas, the poor former magistrate of the lower official, died unexpectedly, and a good courtyard of Han Wangye was destroyed by the thieves who suffered a thousand knives! ”

"!" Commander Zhao glared and said: "Less than two days after the loss of Zhenyuan City that day, the army of the court to quell the rebellion arrived, not to mention that there are no less than 1,000 houses in the Zhenyuan Courtyard, in just over a day, how can the thieves raze the Courtyard to the ground?" ”

Xu Liang was stunned, blinked his eyes, and said, "This, the lower official is not very clear, the lower official only arrived a month ago." However, if you don't believe it, Commander Zhao, you can ask Huang Xiancheng, he came earlier than the lower officials, and he knows better. ”

Commander Zhao turned his gaze to Huang Daozhou, the only eighth-rank official in the room, and his face sank like water: "Huang Xiancheng, is this really the case?" ”

Xu Liang immediately stared at Huang Daozhou, calm on the surface, but very nervous inside, and his palms were full of sweat. This Zodiac Zhou has always been a dead brain, and he is loyal to the court, if he exposes his lies to his face, how will it end?

I can't say it, then I will have to be a wicked person again, and there will be no proof of death.

Xu Liang stared at Huang Daozhou, and Commander Zhao also stared at him.

However, Huang Xiancheng didn't seem to be aware of it, lowered his eyelids and muttered for a moment, and said in a deep voice: "Things are exactly as Lord Xu said. ”

Xu Liang secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and suddenly heard Commander Zhao let out a sneer: "What a county commander, are you a three-year-old child when you are the commander?" There are tens of thousands of houses in Zhenyuan City, why are the other houses all right, just demolishing the Han Wang's Courtyard? Could it be that the bricks of the other courtyard are even more special? ”

Xu Liang took a step forward and said seriously: "It is said that the thieves are looking for the treasure of the other courtyard because they want to demolish the Han Wang Courtyard at any cost!" ”

"Nonsense!" Commander Zhao was furious, took out his sword, pointed at Xu Liang and Huang Xiancheng and scolded: "You two sesame petty officials, as local officials, actually sit back and watch the destruction of King Han's courtyard, and despise Lord Han so much, come, tie up the general, and escort him back to King Han's mansion!" ”