On the tenth day of the first month, the sky was solemn and dark clouds were thick. Early in the morning, there was rain that had not yet fallen.

Early that morning, Zu Zhao obeyed his grandfather's order and sent the guests of the Gongsun family away. Just past the county seat, the sky suddenly began to drizzle. Gongsun Zhi politely asked Zu Zhao and the others to be sent here in the carriage, and there was no need to continue to brave the rain. After Zu Zhao's false ceremony, he then said goodbye to all the guests of the Gongsun family one by one, and returned to Zujiazhuang with the children of the ancestral family.

Not long after everyone returned home, the county government chief made a special trip to inform Zu Zhao that he was going to the county government at noon to participate in this year's inspection. Zu Zhao made a little preparation, said goodbye to his grandfather and the three elders of the clan one by one, and then carefully packed his luggage and rushed to the county capital to meet Chen Xianjun.

Not long after following the county master's book, five or six children including Zu Ji and Zu Ling prepared their horses and followed, claiming that the patriarch had explained that they would follow them, and there was more or less one of them along the way. Zu Zhao didn't refuse, anyway, there are many people and it doesn't get in the way, on the contrary, if you need to do something, you can have a few more people.

Zu Ji has been recuperating at home for many days since he was injured in a neighboring county last time. His injuries are not too serious, and he can eat and drink every day, and now although he is slightly unwell, his body is a little more full than before.

After entering the city, he went straight to the county government, and the three old sages in the county had been waiting for a long time. Zu Zhao first met Chen Xianjun in the back hall, chatted politely with each other for a while, and then turned out to meet several well-known elders in the county, and interrogated them one by one A few words of custom. When he faced these old people, who were almost "reviewers", he did not have any nervousness and panic, and he was calm and easy to answer from beginning to end. With the family status of the ancestral family and their own personal reputation in recent times, these county elites have hardly had any dissatisfaction.

The more famous, talented, and virtuous the people recommended by these elders are, the more they themselves will be considered by the world as people with vision and discernment. Although Zu Zhao has only a thin name since childhood, but there is still a certain image of courtesy and filial piety in the countryside of the clan, in the past month and twice showed bravery, killing more than 10 people who committed crimes and thieves, a few days ago, even the general of the chariot and cavalry, the county guard of Zhuo County sent people to visit, and he was already famous.

Therefore, if you are polite to these virtuous elders today, you will surely win the support of everyone.

I only stayed in the county government for two subjects, and everything was logical. Chen Xianjun signed the letter of recommendation and the official introduction, handed it over to the scribe to collect, and personally sent Zu Zhao and others to the end of the street in front of the county government, and tirelessly told him to "don't damage the face of the county" before leaving.

Right Beiping County Zhiping Gang, about 120 miles away from Xu Wu to the south.

Zu Zhao and his party rode for several hours, resting many times during the period, and arrived at the outskirts of Pinggang County at nightfall.

At this time, the gate of the county seat has been closed, and everyone can only temporarily live in the post station in the town outside the city.

There is no strict time limit for the inspection, starting from the tenth day of the first lunar month, and in the next seven or eight days, the recommended person can go to the county government to participate in the evaluation. There is no special paradigm for the specific evaluation, and the various inspections are different, usually the government will invite local gentry and virtuous elders to set up a banquet together, and the participants will be inspected in different aspects at the banquet. In addition to the two subjects that focus on character, such as being virtuous and honest, the rest of the subjects should be more or less a demonstration of skills.

Zu Zhao was recommended by Chen Xianjun this time as a clear and square figure, he is naturally quite confident in arithmetic, and basically has nothing to worry about and be nervous about. What's more, at the beginning of the Han Dynasty, the implementation of the inspection system was very serious, and now it is the end of the Han Dynasty, and even the imperial court is corrupt and mediocre, not to mention the small counties in the border areas? Even if there are some honest and upright magistrates who will abide by the norms, they are only a very small minority, either pedantic, moderate, or incompetent.

Therefore, with the current influence of the ancestral family in the county, the county guard will obviously be encircled, so there should not be much difference in this county investigation.

Early the next morning, Zu Zhao and his party finished washing, ate some simple food, and prepared to enter the city.

Zu Ji and the two accompanying officials hurriedly went out to prepare their horses, and Zu Zhao, Zu Ling, and the clerks carrying the documents then went out of the gate of the post station.

The weather is still not good, overcast and gloomy, and the rain hangs behind the dark clouds. After several years of drought, I was looking forward to a big haode rain at the beginning of the year.

Just as he was waiting for Zu Ji and the others to lead the horse out of the stable in the backyard of the post station, Zu Zhao suddenly heard a commotion behind a tea shop not far away.

"Splash thief, dare to steal!"

"Shoot him!"

"Ah...... Dare to hit someone if you steal something, hurry, go and report to the official...... Ouch, ouch don't hit me......"

"Help, hit someone!"

Zu Zhao wasn't sure what was going on, and it wasn't Xu Wu here, and some things weren't easy to take care of. At this moment, Zu Ji and the others brought their mounts, and he immediately jumped on horseback. But on horseback, he was condescending, and through a broken hole in the tea-shop's shack, he happened to see the brawl over there, and there were three or five tea-shop guys or idle passers-by surrounding a man in tattered clothes with round arms.

The latter was holding three buns in one hand and was stuffing them into his mouth, while the other hand was waving around, trying to stop the crowd from approaching. At first, the men did not dare to rush forward, but soon several people rushed from the street, and everyone rushed up together. The stout man in tattered clothes parried for a while, overturning several people with one hand, but he was helpless to defeat four hands with one punch, and was finally knocked to the ground. But even so, he bent over and tried his best to protect the few buns that had not yet been eaten, and let everyone's fists and feet hit like raindrops.

At the moment when the stout man came to the end, Zu Zhao saw the man's face and immediately frowned.

"Eldest son, you can go on your way." A fellow clerk prompted.

"There's no hurry." After Zu Zhao finished speaking, he kicked the horse's belly and urged the horse to walk in the direction of the tea shop.

Zu Ji, Zu Ling and several other disciples were all surprised, but they didn't say anything, and they all beat their horses and followed.

Before coming to the tea shop, several onlookers mistakenly thought that the few officials were officials, and hurriedly came to complain.

"Official, official, that man stole things and beat people, arrest him quickly."

"Yes, that thief has a lot of strength, and he beat the third child of the Zhang family unconscious with one punch."

The fellow officials were quite helpless, and explained awkwardly, and couldn't figure out why the eldest prince suddenly liked to join in the fun, isn't he anxious to help catch the thief?

"Stop, stop fighting!" Zu Zhao shouted on horseback, his voice full of majesty.

Those who were beating the rough men thought that they were from the government, and they stopped one after another.

I saw that the rough man who fell to the ground could still move, bleeding from many places on his back and arms, panting roughly, and he couldn't get up for a while.

A man who looked like a shopkeeper was puzzled and asked, "What are you doing here, this boy?" This thief is a scoundrel, today is not the first time to steal something, a few days ago he also stole the old man Wang who sold fruit next door. Today, let's catch it right, and we must take it to the official. ”

At this moment, the rough man finally got up. The surrounding people were so frightened that they hurriedly took a few steps back, for fear that the other party would take the opportunity to sneak attack, and everyone knew that this person was powerful.

The rough man took a deep breath, touched a handful of blood on his nose, looked around angrily, and shouted: "Grandpa, I'm hungry, how about eating a few buns from you?" It's a big deal, he has two silver and then pays you back. ”

Before he could finish speaking, his eyes suddenly saw Zu Zhao on horseback, and his face was suddenly surprised.

After being stunned for a while, he quickly turned around and retreated, but was blocked by the guys at the tea shop.

Zu Zhao sneered: "Yan Mang, I didn't expect to meet this son again." ”

That person was none other than Yan Mang, a thief who had been fighting for thieves in Lingzhi County for dozens of rounds when he was fighting for thieves in Lingzhi County. I thought that after sparing this thief, the other party would rush to other thieves to round, but I really didn't expect that it would be so down. It is very different from the hideous and heroic state of that day.

Yan Mang looked at the little official in soap clothes behind Zu Zhao, and then looked at the people around him, spit on the ground angrily, and said angrily: "The matter has come to this, I have nothing to say, if you want to kill or chop, you have to say." ”

Zu Ling, Zu Ji and the others didn't know Yan Mang very well, and they didn't know what kind of holiday this person had with the eldest son, all of them were inexplicable, why did a thief suddenly want to kill him?

Zu Zhao stared at Yan Mang for a while, only to see that the other party turned his face away and held his head high, as if he looked at death as if he was at home, and sighed in his heart: He is really a good man, but it is a pity that he went astray. He suddenly reached out and took out the money bag from his waist, and threw it out directly without hesitation, and the money bag fell in front of Yan Mang accurately.

"Shopkeeper, I have given him two silver taels and asked him to pay for your buns, and this matter is over."

Zu Zhao looked at the person who looked like a guy in the store before, and said unhurriedly.

The shopkeeper hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Then, how do you count hurting someone?" ”

Zu Zhao said: "The silver taels in my money bag can eat and live for a month, which is enough to pay together." ”

As long as there is compensation, there will be nothing to do with each other, and seeing that Zu Zhao and others are extraordinary, they can't help but sell this favor. Immediately, the shop guy nodded again and again: "Okay, the villain will accept the face of this son." ”

Yan Mang listened to the conversation between the two, his face was shocked, he reached out and picked up the heavy money bag, and looked at Zu Zhao blankly.

Zu Zhao didn't say anything, took the horse's head, and walked in the direction of the city gate.

Yan Mang hurriedly said: "You, you kill me?" ”

Zu Zhao didn't answer, and his back gradually faded away.

Yan Mang lowered his head and pondered for a while, and finally let out a long sigh.

Pinggang County is not only the capital of Youbeiping County, but also the farthest away from the border area of Youbeiping County, so the whole town is far larger and more prosperous than Xu Wu and Lingzhi. When the New Year was approaching again, many people flocked into the city early in the morning, and Zu Zhao and his party followed the flow of people through the east city gate and walked along the straight and open avenue. The county watchman's mansion is at the middle end of this avenue, and when you first enter the city, you can already see the outline of the county watchman's mansion in the distance.

On the way to the county guard's mansion, Zu Ji couldn't help but ask Zu Zhao: "Eldest prince, who was that thief just now?" ”

Zu Zhao smiled indifferently: "You don't recognize it at all? ”

Zu Ji shook his head blankly and said, "Don't you recognize? Don't...... Should I recognize it? ”

Zu Zhao continued to laugh and said, "That's it, you don't need to guess more, and you don't need to spread this matter more." ”

Zu Ji nodded slowly, and sure enough, he didn't ask any more.

The county guard is majestic and majestic, even if the right Beiping County is not a rich county, but after many times of repeated repairs, it naturally still has its noble and glorious side. came to the gate, handed over the official introduction and recommendation, and the porter first led everyone to a small court in front of the Taishou Mansion to wait. The county government is not as good as the county government, and the official procedures are complicated, and it took a little half an hour for a county official to come to welcome everyone to the public hall.

Jun Cheng introduced the situation of this year's inspection, and each county has a selection of places, and the subjects cited are also different. He had heard of Zu Zhao's reputation, and he was also well aware of the Shili influence of the other party's family in this county, so he said with a smile: "The name of Zu Gongzi's brave martial arts is already a household name, but Lord Xu Wuchen has promoted Zu Gongzi to the Ming Arithmetic Department, is there something wrong with this?" ”

In Zu Zhao's situation, it is obvious that the brave and square department is the right way, and even if you think about it, you can't figure out the unpopular and unpopular square department.

Zu Zhao replied humbly: "I am only shallow in my studies, and my courage is a temporary strength, so it is better to be sure of ten out of ten." ”

Jun Cheng nodded with a sigh and said: "Speaking of which, the style of this county is like this, and there is a chance that those who enter the brave and square discipline every year. It's a pity that the ancestor has good skills. However, Mrs. Liu is scheduled to meet with the first batch of virtuous people who will be inspected tomorrow night, and if the grandfather changes his mind temporarily, he can notify him in time, and he will make arrangements on his behalf. ”

Zu Zhao smiled and said: "There is Lord Lao's concern, and the villain is in mind." ”

When he arrived at the main hall, Jun Cheng asked his entourage to move to the side hall first and wait, and later Lord Taishou would meet Zu Zhao first.