The more than 100 personal guards who followed Xu Liang to Zhenyuan were originally resting in the courtyard, and when they heard Huang Ziren's call, they quickly assembled.

Cheng Huangdao Zhou of Zhenyuan County hurriedly chased out of the hall, grabbed Huang Ziren and said, "Lord Huang, slow down." I've consulted with the county lord, so I'll take someone to buy food. ”

Huang Ziren snorted coldly, ignored it, waved his big hand, and shouted, "Let's go." ”

"Ouch, Lord Huang, Lord Huang!" Huang Daozhou was so anxious that he jumped to his feet, and Huang Ziren didn't listen to anything at all, seeing that he was about to lead people out of the county office to find the bad luck of those grain stores, at this time Xu Liang walked out of the hall and said: "Ziren, let's not go today, let Lord Huang do it in advance." ”

Huang Ziren listened, looked at Xu Liang, nodded, and unwillingly disbanded the assembled team again. After Huang Daozhou called a few officials to go out, Huang Ziren followed Xu Liang into the backyard.

In the courtyard, Feng Suqin was directing several subordinates to clean the house. Xu Liang couldn't stop sighing when he saw the tattered courtyard all over the house. Huang Ziren asked, "Brother, why don't you let me bring someone there?" ”

Xu Liang said: "I think what Huang Xiancheng said. We just entered the city today, and we are not familiar with the place, so it is really not good to make such a big move. Let's let Huang Xiancheng take the lead first, and if it doesn't work, our people will go again. ”

"Hmm." Xu Liang nodded.

"You have a lot of work to do." Xu Liang said again: "Although my uncle Huang Weizhong promised me before I came that he would transfer me back to Jiangxi in less than three months. But we'll have to stay here for three months before we can do it. I have asked Huang Xiancheng to find someone to repair the broken city wall, your inspection department must dare to build it tightly, to defend such a large city, the number of inspection department must be kept at about 1,000 people, otherwise, we will not sleep well. ”

"I feel hanging, too." Huang Ziren responded and said: "This place is chaotic, and thieves outside the city are scurrying through in groups, and it is really unsafe to have no army in the city." ”

"However, the Inspection Department must be completely controlled by us." Xu Liang said emphatically, he asked a family member who carried a bucket of dirty water to go out, walked with Huang Ziren to a lawn in the courtyard, looked at the busy people in the courtyard, and said quietly: "The people we brought are the team, and we will pick a few loyal and reliable people to be captains, sentinels, generals, etc., and ordinary soldiers will be recruited on the spot." ”

"Okay." Huang Ziren nodded, frowned again, and said: "But listening to Huang Xiancheng's meaning, there are not many people in this town, and it is estimated that it is very difficult to recruit thousands of soldiers." ”

"There are no people in the city, but there are people outside the city who are waiting to eat a full bowl." Xu Liang smiled, looked at Huang Ziren and said: "As long as you let out the wind, come to our inspection department to manage enough, I dare to guarantee that those who rush to sign up can line up five miles away." ”

Huang Ziren listened and laughed. This Shaanxi is too poor.

After agreeing on some recruitment details, Xu Liang and Huang Ziren found Dai Yingying, who had nothing to do, to practice knife skills.

When the zodiac returned to the county office after dark, he was followed by four horse-drawn carts with sacks full of rice. It seems that the grain stores that have already announced their closure should know that the new magistrate has arrived today, and they have given some face.

The county government house was cleaned up for three days in a row, and Xu Liang looked like it, and the smell of dust in the room gradually disappeared. Feng Suqin asked people to install the new curtains they brought in the house, hung a curtain at the door, placed rows of bookshelves against the wall, laid leather blankets on the ground next to the bed, and put a complete set of tea sets on the table, so that the whole room looked a little Jiangnan taste.

The weather in Zhenyuan was dry and hot, and the wind with sand and dust blew on his face, sticking to sweat, and it was immediately like a layer of mud mask. Xu Liang washes his face four or five times a day. Early in the morning and at dusk, he practiced the Dai introductory knife technique over and over again in the backyard, the simple eight styles.

On this day, when he was practicing the fifth form, the county Cheng Huang Daozhou came in. Tong guò observation in the past few days, Huang Xiancheng feels that this young magistrate should not be very familiar with government affairs, Xu Liang has been in office for seven days, except for the repair of the city wall and the recruitment of troops for the inspection department, most of the other things are said: Huang Xiancheng, you look at it. And this Xu Zhixian himself should be quite wild, open his mouth and close his mouth to Lao Tzu Lao Tzu at every turn, and scold, jump up and scold, there is no reading Swen Xiang, and he is a literati, and he actually practices swordsmanship, but unfortunately the knife technique is not refined, and there are only a few tricks that come and go, and Huang Xiancheng is almost familiar with it.

Huang Xiancheng entered the backyard, waited for a while, and saw Xu Liang practicing the last style, so he greeted him in time and arched his hand: "My lord." ”

Xu Liang put away the knife and looked at Huang Daozhou: "Something?" ”

"According to the news from Pingliang Mansion, Lord Futai has returned to Pingliang."

"Oh, good." Xu Liang nodded, handed the knife to the maid ring who was waiting on the side, took the towel handed by the maid ring and wiped his face, and beckoned to a maid ring and said: "Prepare the car, master, I will go to Pingliang Mansion to meet this Hong Governor's Mansion." ”

With that, Xu Liang walked out, and Huang Xiancheng followed closely behind. The two came out of the backyard, and Xu Liang stopped and asked, "Last time, the official asked you to pay attention to a few candidates, do you have any results?" ”

Huang Xiancheng thought for a while and said, "There are two candidates. ”

"Tell me about it."

"Yes." Huang Xiancheng put on the posture of paying for the report, and said: "The head of the house, Xia Guan feels that Mao Yujie, a student of Xia Guan, is good, Mao Yujie has followed Xia Guan for so many years, although he has never been in high school, he is still a talent, but Yu Jie is careful in his work, good at arithmetic, and is most suitable for the position of head of the house." ”

"Hmm. What about the other? ”

"As for the history of Zhenyuan classics, Xia Guan feels that He Cheng, the students of this county, is very good, He Cheng was originally a student of Zhenyuan County, full of poetry and books, able to speak, and this person has always been noble and praised. More importantly, He Cheng is also the younger brother of He Huchen. With this relationship, I think that if the adults recommend him to be the canon of the county, the chances of passing guò will be much better. ”

"He Huchen?" Xu Liang thought about it, didn't think of such a person, and asked, "Who is He Huchen?" ”

"Uh...... Adults don't know? Huang Xiancheng exclaimed.

Xu Liang shook his head and said, "It's only been a few days since this official arrived in Zhenyuan, and it's not unusual for him not to know someone. ”

"He Huchen is the governor of the capital, and the deputy chief of Yansui."

With this relationship, what are you afraid of? Xu Liang immediately nodded and said, "It's him." ”

In the interval between speaking, the carriage for travel has been prepared, Dai Yingying is holding a knife in her hand, standing on the side of the carriage and waiting for Xu Liang, followed by ten guards with knives on horseback.

When Xu Liang entered the carriage, Dai Yingying made a move, and the coachman who drove the carriage threw out a whip, and the procession of the carriage walked onto the street and headed in the direction of Pingliang Mansion.

Although there are many displaced people outside Pingliang City, the situation is much better when they enter the city. In the final analysis, it is because Pingliang is the location of the prefect's yamen, there is an army, and it has never been broken by thieves, it is because Xu Liang saw the bustling streets after entering the city, and there is no big difference between Nanchang Mansion and Jiujiang Mansion in Jiangxi.

Coming to the prefect's yamen, Xu Liang got out of the carriage and informed the soldiers on duty at the gate of the situation. The soldier rushed in, and before long he ran out, he arched his hand at Xu Liang and said, "Lord Xu, please come in, Lord Futai is waiting for you in the second hall." ”

Xu Liang was guided by a soldier to the second hall of the Pingliang Prefect's Yamen, where a high-ranking official in a four-poinsettia robe was sitting with a white complexion, thick eyebrows and a long face.

Xu Liang bowed head-on: "Xu Liang, the former magistrate of Xiaguan Town, has seen Lord Futai. ”

From the Sipin Shaanxi Senate, Hong Chengchou, the prefect of Pingliang, was also amazed when he saw that the original magistrate of this town was so young, but in the end, Hong Zhifu was a person who had experienced a big scene, and his face was as usual, and he raised his hand and said in a deep voice: "Lord Xu doesn't have to be polite, please get up and take a seat." ”

Xu Liang got up according to his words, walked to the chair on the side of the second hall, sat down carefully, looked up at Governor Hong's mansion and said with a smile: "Xiaguan should have come to see the lord early, but in the governor's yamen, I heard that Futai went out on business with Governor Hu, hehe, the lower official wanted to come to Futai Lord has a lot of things, and it is not appropriate to disturb more, so he didn't come to the mansion. ”

"Lord Xu has a heart." Governor Hong nodded and said, "This official acts as the prefect of Pingliang, and after a long time, Lord Xu will know that this official values people who do practical things the most, and those who know it are also annoyed to hear too much." I heard that it has been seven or eight days since Lord Xu arrived in office, is Lord Xu familiar with Zhenyuan County? ”

"It's not very familiar." Xu Liang raised his buttocks, replied carefully, and then sighed deeply, showing a bitter face: "Don't hide it from Lord Futai, Xiaguan is a small county in this town, poor, this is really poor, the county is less than 10,000 people, the county government plus a piece of less than 200 people, a few months can not pay a salary, every day to eat a meal and worry about the next meal, this situation, compared to the provinces in the south of the Yangtze River, is really the difference between heaven and earth." ”

"yes." Governor Hong also sighed, he stared at Xu Liang, and said: "Lord Xu's difficulties, this mansion also knows that the situation is difficult, you are difficult and I am difficult, everyone is reluctant to make it difficult." ”

"That being said." Xu Liang said: "But when the lower officials are here, they still have to be cheeky to ask Lord Futai for help." Zhenyuan County really has no food, and if you can't get any more food, the bitter magistrate yamen of the lower officials will have to disperse. The lower officials wanted to ask the people of Futai to help and allocate some food. ”

For Xu Liang to ask for food in less than three sentences, Hong Zhifu didn't seem to be surprised at all, he nodded, shook his head again, spread his hands, and said with a wry smile: "The difficulties of Zhenyuan are understood by the government, but Pingliang can't get food." ”

"The lower officials don't ask for a lot, one hundred and eighty stones don't have one, and one or twenty stones can also respond to emergencies."

"Not a single stone."

Xu Liang was stunned, and looked at Governor Hong seriously, and Governor Hong also looked back at him with a serious expression. Xu Liang said with a bitter face: "There is no rice and noodles, corn, mung beans, sweet potatoes, peanuts and everything, as long as you can satisfy your hunger." ”

"This ...... It can be evened out somewhat. Governor Hong pondered and said slowly: "The official will write a note in a while, and you go to the treasury to get some back." ”

"In this way, the lower officials will thank the people of Futai for the more than 10,000 people in Zhenyuan." Xu Liang's face was full of gratitude, and he got up and said.

"Oh, I'm ashamed." Governor Hong was very embarrassed when he heard this, and waved his hand.

"The lower official has one more thing to report to your lordship." Xu Liang arched his hand and said.