In April, the spring flowers are blooming, and the weather gradually has the taste of summer.

At the end of March, the battle against thieves in Pinggang County, the county capital, was almost over, and the two counties of Changcheng and Guangcheng could be regarded as experiencing a repeated calamity, whether it was the Yellow Turban Army or Zhang Play traitors, or the county officers and soldiers in the name of "liberation", they were like locusts crossing the border, making the common people miserable.

At the end of March, Zu Zhao returned to the county government with the county officers and soldiers from Changcheng to resume his life, and Liu Cheng, the eldest prince of the county government, inevitably held a series of triumphant celebration banquets. These are all gossip, whether it is Zu Zhao or the counties of Yiyong, they have not had much brilliance in these celebration banquets, they are just eating a big meal.

Liu Cheng routinely commended the generals who participated in the counterinsurgency, as well as the volunteer leaders of the counties in the north of the county. Zhou Zhi was most impressed by Zu Zhao, after all, the whimsical idea of attacking the sunset, killing the thief chief Zhang Play in one fell swoop, and boosting the morale of the whole county was from the hands of this young man, and it must be said that it was the most important stroke of this counterinsurgency. Under the recommendation of Zhou Zhi, Liu Cheng not only said that he would help Zu Zhao solve the contradiction with Zhang Wen, the general of the chariot and cavalry, but also specially commended and promoted Zu Zhao to serve as the county governor, and allowed him to temporarily stay in the north of the county to supervise the security of the north of the county.

The post of superintendent is neither big nor small, but he has great power outside the county capital. Zu Zhao is sixteen years old, and he can jump to this position, which can be regarded as an exceptional promotion. However, even so, no one expressed dissatisfaction, especially the righteousness and courage of the northern counties, which are indispensable for fighting bravely on the battlefield, and are also quite qualified, but in terms of bravery, the eldest son of the ancestral family is also no less than others, in addition to the courage to make decisions and control the overall situation.

In this way, when Zu Zhao led the county volunteers from the county government to return to Xu Wu County, he was already an official position.

Zu Cheng and the other children were all overjoyed, and even privately got some red silk from somewhere, and they were all swaggering everywhere on the way back to Xu Wu. Zu Zhao asked Zu Cheng and the others to stop three or four times, but not long after they stopped, these people took those colorful things to the back of the team, and then shouted.

After repeated persuasions, Zu Zhao didn't have much mind to pay attention to these details, so these people went.

The people who returned to Xu Wuxian first spread the news of Zu Zhaorong's appointment as the superintendent of the post early in the morning.

Zujiazhuang is indispensable to a lot of joy, and it is really a great joy to be able to serve as the county governor at a young age.

So, as early as when Zu Zhao and his party had not returned to Xu Wu County, Zujiazhuang had already sent people to the intersection to greet them. Even Chen Xianjun and a number of officials from the county government had already arrived. As an official directly appointed by the county government, the status and authority of the superintendent are above the county government, otherwise Liu Bei in history would definitely not be troubled by the superintendent.

Seeing Zu Zhao and others appear at the end of the road, the queue of people waiting for them was looking forward to it.

It was under such hospitality that Zu Zhao returned to his hometown, which was not a long farewell. It is indispensable to go to the county government first, and Chen County Jun will set up a banquet for Zu Zhao and his party to catch the wind and wash the dust, but in the end, they are still gathered by Zu Zhao's dinner. Now he is the superintendent of the post, but in the end there is no serious document down, although the county government will definitely not play tricks on this matter, but it is still better to keep a low profile. What's more, after a month of fighting and just returning to my hometown, there are always many things to sort out.

In the next few days, people continued to visit the door, and they were very happy that Zu Zhaorong was promoted to superintendent of the post, of course, the meaning behind it was nothing more than to use the excuse to make a fuss. Occasionally, Zu Zhao will still meet with people in person, but most of the people who have not been in touch for several years, or who can't get together with eight poles, most of them are taken care of by other elders in the family.

This time, Xu Wuyi bravely went on the expedition, and the casualties were naturally unavoidable. Although they have returned triumphantly, the righteous soldiers who died on the battlefield cannot be forgotten. After Zu Zhao discussed the matter with his grandfather and grandfather, Zujiazhuang was willing to stand up and take the lead as always, on the one hand, he tried his best to find the body, on the other hand, he tried his best to bury it, and most importantly, he gave it a funeral.

After tossing and turning for seven or eight days, I finally got rid of the aftermath.

Suddenly, Chen Xianjun specially visited Zujiazhuang and discussed with Zu Ju, Zu Zhao and others about the county's righteous and brave stay.

The war is set, the winter is gone early, and when the farming is busy, the county government can no longer bear the expenses of the 800 volunteers.

On this matter, Zu Zhao had already made a calculation in his heart on the way back to Xu Wu. Naturally, he will not disband this armed force entirely, but he cannot ignore the more practical issues. When he made the suggestion, he could disband 500 volunteers for the time being, leaving 300 volunteers in case of emergency. After all, at this time, Youbeiping County has just put down the rebellion, and many wandering thieves will definitely set off another thief trouble, not only that, in addition to Youbeiping County, the whole country is now in the turmoil of a Yellow Turban Riot, and no one can say what will happen in the county.

As for the remaining 300 volunteers, Zujiazhuang will make a big difference, but it also needs the support of the county government and the major households in the county.

Chen Xianjun was a little uncertain about this matter, and in the end, the official tone was a little sloppy, and he could only let Zu Zhao, who was the superintendent of the post, come forward to Zhang Luo. From the late winter of last year to the beginning of spring this year, it is almost summer, and it is really very expensive to toss for a long time in order to prepare for theft.

Zu Zhao did not hold on to Chen Xianjun on this issue anymore, he was very clear about Chen Xianjun's attitude towards doing things, and he was just saying hello to him first, as for Zhang Luoben's other gentry to participate in the support, it could be handed over to the elders of Zujiazhuang to come forward.

After the resolution to dismiss the 500 volunteers was decided, the news was released the next day.

Two days later, the list of disbanded volunteers was determined, and the pavilion teams were notified according to the list.

At the time of the busy farming, many volunteers could not bear the urging of their families, and when they received the notice of disbandment, they left their homes and returned to their hometowns. There are also many poor families who were originally pointing to the thieves and suddenly lost their way to eat, so they continue to wander around the towns and villages, worrying about their future lives.

As for the three hundred Ming Yong who remained, most of them were the children of the Zhang family of Zujiazhuang and Anyang Pavilion. For the expenses of these three hundred volunteers, several elders of Zujiazhuang ran around to persuade a few big families to contribute a certain amount of money and food. At the time of Zu Zhao's new post superintendent, several large families in Xu Wu County had to give a little face, even if they were not very reluctant in their hearts, they had to put on makeup and show that they were standing on the same front as Zu Zhao.

This matter can be considered to be over for the time being.

Just when Zu Zhao was discussing with Han Dang, Zhang Yuan, Zhang Pre and others how to maintain the daily training of the three hundred volunteers, Li Xin's sudden appearance immediately brought some news that was in line with Zu Zhao's intentions. Li Xin led people to the state capital to ask for help a month ago, and he did not return until the fighting in Youbeiping County subsided. Zu Zhao has always been worried about this matter, but he didn't expect Li Xin to take the initiative to visit Xu Wuxian today.

Li Xin went to the county government of Xu Wuxian first, and seemed to convey some news from the county government. In the afternoon, I came to Zujiazhuang.

Zu Zhao invited Li Xin to gather in the main hall of the central hall, and Zu Ling, Zu Cheng, Zu Ji and others also came to sit with him.

After a brief greeting, Zu Zhao's first question was naturally the situation after that day's farewell.

Li Xin slowly took a sip of hot tea, breathed a long sigh of relief, and said: "Brother Zu, you would never have thought that I and the others would be so difficult on the way from Youbeiping County to the state capital, and they almost couldn't come back." ”

Hearing this, Zu Zhao raised his eyebrows and asked, "Really?" What's going on? ”

Li Xin said helplessly: "Except for our right Beiping County, the entire state border is in turmoil at this time. Yuyang County and Shanggu County are all yellow turban thieves. At this time, within the state border, two or three waves of Shili huge Yellow Turban thieves have been formed. The official road can't be easily visited, and no one can expect to suddenly encounter the Yellow Turban thieves. Just to get to the state capital, I spent a full ten days of work, and there was no place to rest along the way, and many county towns closed their city gates, and they refused to hold meetings easily regardless of whether they were attacked by yellow turban thieves or not. ”

Zu Zhao could understand Li Xin's hardships along the way, after all, now was the time when the Yellow Turban Army's momentum was rising.

Li Nobunaga let out a long sigh and continued: "The post station has been destroyed, the village is deserted, alas. After a lot of tossing and turning, I finally arrived at the state capital. But I didn't expect that the state capital was fighting with the Yellow Turban Army, which was very large all the way, and I was delayed for a long time when I entered the city. ”

On the side, Zu Ling said with a sigh: "Really, the world is restless." ”

Li Xin shook his head and said, "But isn't it?" Alas, gossip is not enough. After I entered the city, I told Liu Envoy Jun about the affairs of the county, but the state capital was too busy to take care of itself, and there was no way to send reinforcements to support the county at this time. Even if we ask for it again and again, Liu Yuanjun can only promise to make a conclusion based on the actual situation after the siege is lifted in the state capital. Later, we originally wanted to return to the county as soon as possible, but we couldn't bring reinforcements, and the dignified seven-foot man couldn't do nothing, so I had to serve the county government with enthusiasm. It's a pity that the Yellow Turban Army fought with the officers and soldiers of the state government for more than ten days, and the roads were impassable, so there was really nothing they could do. ”

Zu Zhao asked, "Is the state capital still trapped now?" ”

Li Xin said: "Strictly speaking, the state capital is not trapped at the moment. It's just that the Yellow Turban thieves are gathered in the area near the left side of the state capital, and the state capital naturally can't sit idly by, and is gathering elite soldiers to break the thieves, in order to relieve the crisis near the state capital. Later, I heard that the affairs in the county had stopped, thanks to the Zu brothers, who immediately made a surprise attack on Xiyang County, and beheaded Zhang to play the traitor, which alleviated the crisis in the county. ”

Zu Zhao smiled and said unhurriedly: "This battle is not the credit of me alone, if it is not for the concerted efforts of all the righteous people in the north of the county, it will definitely not be possible to achieve it by myself." ”

Li Xin also smiled, casually said two words of praise, and then continued: "Now, the situation in the state capital is still unclear. We waited in the state capital for many days, and Liu Yuanjun heard that Beiping County had broken the yellow turban thieves and traitors, so he asked us to return to the county as soon as possible and mobilize the volunteers of the county to rush to the state capital to help. ”

Hearing this, everyone in the ancestral family present was moved.

Zu Cheng and Zu Ji, the sons of the younger generation, are all eager to try, for them, the county thieves they just experienced last month are still unfinished, and the morale of successive victories is swelling, of course, they can't help but hope that there will be a broader place to use. After all, the county government is still limited, if it can rise to the state capital, after the first war, not to mention that it can be famous, and there is a great possibility of seeking an official and a half position, is it not more majestic than the county government's meritorious service?

However, the older generation, such as Zu Ling and Zu Ke, are more or less worried. Since last year, Zujiazhuang has done its best to conquer the matter, not only losing many of his own children, but also paying a lot of materials. Although in the end, the eldest prince Zu Zhao was exchanged for an official position as a postal supervisor, compared to the earlier prediction of entering the office, the gains outweighed the losses.

Although Zu Zhao did not have much turmoil on the surface, he had already looked forward to it in his heart, and the news brought by Li Xin this time must be said to be exactly what he wanted. He said quietly: "Brother Xianyan came this time, could it be to convey the order of the state capital?" ”

Li Xin was noncommittal, smiled and said, "Speaking of which, the order from the state capital is handed over to the county government. I just returned to Pinggang County the day before yesterday to report the matter to the county government truthfully, and the son Liu Cheng and the two lieutenants are discussing the plan, and I am afraid that it will take some time to know how to arrange it. ”

Zu Zhao thought about it carefully, of course he knew that Li Xin could not come out of nowhere, and the purpose of his coming, nine times out of ten, was to imply that the county government would definitely transfer people from Xu Wu's side. This is not a bad thing, anyway, he himself is looking forward to going out of the county to crusade against the Yellow Turban Thieves, if he can reach the height of the state capital battlefield, it will definitely be easier to make achievements.

After waiting for a while, seeing that Zu Zhao did not answer, Li Xin then said: "Brother Zu doesn't know, I was in the state capital for a while, but I have recommended you many times." Liu Yuanjun has heard of your ancestor Zhao's name earlier, and General Zhang wanted to take you for questioning earlier, but in fact, Liu Yuanjun was reluctant. This time, you made meritorious service in the county, and you were promoted by your son-in-law Liu Cheng, which not only clarified the previous misunderstanding, but also made Liu Zhijun very appreciative. ”

Zu Zhao is not a stupid person, he knows what Li Xin's words mean, he is just mentioning himself, if he can make good use of this response to the state capital's call, the future is limitless. He didn't show too much emotion, but said with some relief: "Brother Xianyan is really grateful for his kind words for his brother in front of Liu Yuanjun. When the country is in trouble, it is the responsibility of the husband to do his best. It's just that this matter still has to be considered in the long run, after all, I, Xu Wuyiyong, have just returned from the battlefield, and it will definitely take some time to reunite. ”

Li Xin expressed his approval, and he said: "It's reasonable. This time, I came to visit Brother Zu, that is, I hope to make Brother Zu prepare in advance. ”

Zu Zhao said: "Brother Xianyan, don't worry, since it is recruited by the state government, how can we not obey." It's just that now is the time when the farming is busy, and the previous successive levies consumed a lot. The county is not too difficult to toss before and after, however, the journey to the state capital is far away, and complicated expenses are indispensable. If the state government can scrape together a sum of military funds, I can also give an explanation to the county elders. ”

Li Xin pondered for a while, and said slowly: "I can only convey this matter on my behalf." However, I believe that the state government will definitely take this into account, and the most basic considerations must be there. ”

In the afternoon, after settling down, Li Xin went to the wing room to rest first.

Zu Zhao mentioned this matter to his grandfather and Zuju again, and he still took out the generous words when he led the righteous and brave to fight the thieves, hoping to take this opportunity to make greater contributions. Zu Ju has some doubts, but he has been fighting horses for many years, and he also knows the truth of fighting to repay the king's kindness. What's more, if Sun Zu Zhao can really make another meritorious achievement, he will become a general in a dignified manner, and it will also pave the foundation of the fourth generation of the military family.

Zu Ju did not give a definite meaning for the time being, only said that this matter still has to be discussed in the long run, on the one hand, to see what the state and county governments are planning, and on the other hand, to carefully inquire about the current situation in the state capital, in addition, the major households in Xu Wu County also have to have a greeting to see what everyone's opinions are.

The matter is inconclusive for the time being, but Zu Zhao is not in a hurry.

As soon as the topic changed, Zu Ju suddenly mentioned to Zu Zhao that there had been news from Xuansu County before, and he said: "In the middle of last month, the Gongsun family of Xuansu County sent someone to deliver a letter. You didn't come back at the time, and now you've just come back and you're busy with other things, and you haven't had time to talk to you about it. ”

Zu Zhao's face changed slightly, he almost forgot about the affairs of the Gongsun family in Xuanwu County, thinking that the Yellow Turban Army was in turmoil, and the whole state was affected, and Xuanwu County was inevitably not spared. In the past period, the Gongsun family must have been war-torn and had no time to take care of anything else. As for the present, he doesn't want to be distracted by these "trivial matters" now, after all, it is a time of chaos, and it is indispensable to use his mind to make contributions.

Soon, he regained his look, unfazed, and asked, "Oh, is it?" What's the news about Xuanwu County? ”

Zu Ju said in a strange tone: "Xuansu County has also had thieves recently, but compared to our right Beiping County, it is much better. According to the letter, it must have stopped in the past few days. ”

Zu Zhao asked directly: "The Gongsun family shouldn't just talk about this matter." ”

Zu Ju sighed and sighed: "Naturally, it's not just for this matter. The Gongsun family seems to have repented of the marriage agreed earlier, and this letter, to put it bluntly, implies that it will be rescheduled and discussed in detail. ”

Zu Zhao nodded thoughtfully, and said without much reaction: "I see." ”

Logically speaking, this is exactly in line with his original intention, and in terms of the friendship between the two families, it is obvious that the ancestral family is a little unable to get off the stage. A good marriage contract, the woman actually repented, and when this is spread, it will be a good thing for those who think that something is wrong with the ancestral family, which is more harmful to the reputation.