Zhang Xiu's army has become a six-wave rush, the physical strength of the war horse is more than tomorrow, obviously this powerful method of warfare consumes a lot of people and the physical strength of the war horse, with Zhang Xiu's calculation, the army can only complete two more runs at most. However, at this time, Yuan Shu's army had gradually retreated into the dense forest, and the cavalry's combat strength in the dense forest was greatly reduced, and Yuan Shu's army was covered by tall trees, and the rain of arrows could not effectively kill and injure Yuan Shu's soldiers at all.

At this time, in the dense forest, the general Chen Ji said to Yuan Shu: "The situation is critical, please return to Yuzhou, where the last general will lead troops to block Zhang Xiu."

The strategist Yan Xiang heard it and said: "Now that the jungle is full of Zhang Xiu's cavalry, the lord will not be caught up by Zhang Xiu's cavalry when he comes out of the dense forest?"

Sun Ce, who was next to him, heard it and said loudly: "Please rest assured, the lord will ensure that the lord returns safely to Yushi."

Sun Ce's martial arts can be compared with his father, which is already known in Yuan Shu's army, Chen Ji heard it, so he said to Yuan Shu: "Bo Fu's martial arts are strong, please return to Yuzhou." ”

After hearing this, Yuan Shu nodded and asked, "Then Yuan Fang you."

Chen Ji replied loudly: "The last general is here after the judgment of the Lord."

Chen Jidang ordered the soldiers of the brigade to rush out from the southwest corner of the dense forest, and the Jingzhou army saw it and immediately led troops to attack, and Zhang Xiu also asked Huaxiong to lead troops to help. Not long after, Chen Jiling and a group of soldiers from the northwest corner of the dense forest, this team of soldiers attracted a lot of Jingzhou troops and Zhang Xiu's troops to besiege. However, Zhang Xiu's most elite 10,000 soldiers were still unmoved, and only rested on the side to recover their strength.

Soon the Malay newspaper was explored: "Yuan Shu led a large group of soldiers to rush out from the southeast corner of the dense forest. ”

Zhang Xiu heard it and said hurriedly: "But Yuan Shu himself?"

The scout replied, "It's Yuan Shu himself."

Zhang Xiu heard this, and immediately led a team of soldiers to the southeast corner, and saw Yuan Shu holding a sword on the horse to command the army to meet the enemy. Accept the fate

After drinking, Zhang Xiu showed the horse's belly and threw away the army alone and rushed over. After Zhang Xiu entered the formation, the tiger-headed golden spear flew up and down, and the Yuan Shu soldiers who were blocking Zhang Xiu's body fell to the ground one after another. Those Yuan soldiers and soldiers were all temporarily recruited troops, how could they stop Zhang Xiu, and soon Zhang Xiu killed Yuan Shu and shouted: "Yuan Shu, take your life." "Said to finish the head of the golden gun dance, a golden phoenix danced straight at Yuan Shu.

I saw Yuan Shu raise his head and raise his sword to greet him, "dang", the sword in Yuan Shu's hand was knocked away by Zhang Xiu, and the hand of the sword-wielding thug was bloody, but Zhang Xiu not only did not rejoice, but his face became extremely ugly. It turned out that this person was not Yuan Shu, but the general Chen Ji pretending, only to hear Chen Ji say: "Zhang Xiu, die, my lord has left, as long as he returns to Yuzhou, he will raise troops to avenge me." ”

Zhang Xiuleng snorted, and the tiger's head golden gun pierced directly into Chen Ji's throat. Zhang Xiu said secretly: The thug was careless, and he fell for such a simple plan to divert the tiger from the mountain. Zhang Xiu knew that it was too late to chase at this time, Yuan Shu must have fled, and the army was still entangled by Chen Ji's remnants, so Zhang Xiu had to vent the depression of Yuan Shu's escape among these soldiers.

Until evening. The war was basically over, Yuan Shu only led a few thousand people to escape, and the rest were either killed or captured, and the losses of Zhang Xiu's troops were very small, only hundreds. Zhang Xiu's two best treasures of cavalry prepared this time have made great contributions in both wars. That night, Cai Mao set up a banquet in his camp, entertained Zhang Xiu and others, and early the next morning, Zhang Xiu took 20,000 captives to cross the water with the help of the Jingzhou naval army, and returned to Nanyang County.

Five days later, in the Wancheng conference hall, the generals were lined up on both sides, Hua Xiong, Xu Huang, and Hu Lun, who were more qualified, stood in the front position, and Zhou Cang and Pei Yuanshao were behind. Zhang Xiu sat on the main body, and on the left and right were the military advisor Jia Xu and Hu Che'er.

I only heard Zhang Xiu say: "The battle is finally over, although our army has suffered a lot of losses, but the strategy set by Chang'an that day has also been completed." Now that winter has come, but it is not known when the heavy snow will come, the two counties must deal with the post-war affairs as soon as possible, so that the people can resume farming in the spring of the next year. Wenhe, what is the situation in the two counties now?

Jia Xu had already kept the situation of the two counties in mind, and after hearing Zhang Xiu's words, he replied: "Although Nanyang County has experienced wars, it has a population of more than 900,000, and only half of Shangyong County is left, and its land is mountainous, which is not conducive to farming, so the population is only more than 200,000. As for the grain stocks in the counties, there is still plenty of food, and there is not much problem for our army to tide over the winter. Especially in Wancheng, most of the grain and grass prepared by Liu Biao to defeat Yuan Shu were left here, but now they have been obtained by the lord, which can be used by 50,000 troops for two years

After a pause, Jia Xu said again: "But although the granary is abundant, it is not a problem to supply my army, but this year, Nanyang County has experienced war, the people have been displaced, and farming cannot be done, and the people can still eat in the suburbs of the city in the summer and autumn before, and now winter is approaching, I'm afraid" Piner nodded and asked! , If you open a warehouse and put grain with the people" Jia Xumo calculated for a while, and said: "If you just put gruel, plus some people have a certain amount of surplus grain in their hands, they should be able to barely survive the winter, but although the winter can barely be passed, it still needs to be harvested after spring cultivation." I'm afraid during this time"

Zhang Xiu heard this, and asked again: "I don't know if there are big families in Nanyang County and Shangyong County?"

Jia Xu shook his head and said, "Nanyang County was occupied by Zhang Mancheng during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, and Wancheng, the seat of governance, was even captured. The clans of Nanyang County were basically slaughtered at that time. Moreover, once the family is gone, and after war, the officials in the counties of Nanyang County are even more insufficient. As for Shangyong County, there is a big clan of the Shen family and several small families, but these families are scarce, and even if they are all used, it is not enough to solve the vacancy of officials in the two counties

Zhang Xiu heard Jia Xu's words, and suddenly had a headache, the problem of grain and grass had not been solved, and Jia Xu threw out another problem of insufficient officials. Zhang Xiu pressed his temples with the thumbs of both hands and asked, "How is the situation in Shangyong County?" ”

Jia Xu replied: "The situation in Shangyong County is better than that of Nanyang County. However, when General Hua Xiong and General Xu Huang abandoned the land south of Hanshui in Shangyong County, the lord ordered some of the people to be moved to the north and empty the grain stock. Although it is not a problem to solve the food rations of the people of Shangyong County, the people do not yet have houses, and I am afraid that they will not be able to withstand the cold of winter

After listening to Jia Xu's words, Zhang Xiu regretted his order that day, when Zhang Xiu was thinking about the future, so he moved the people, but he missed how to get through the big trouble this winter.

Zhang Xiu pondered for a moment and ordered: "Xu Huang, after you return to Shangyong, organize the people to build houses before the heavy snow comes. At that time, Ben will go to Shangyong County again to solve this matter for the people

"No

After hearing Xu Huang's answer, Zhang Xiu said again: "Huaxiong, Zhou Cang, and you took advantage of the heavy snow to organize soldiers and people to go to Xiaoshui and Hanshui to fish, and solve the food problem first. After the heavy snow comes, the warehouse will be opened to release grain to help the people. After the spring begins, a large army and people who have no land to work will be organized to fish for food

Both of them replied at the same time: "No."

Zhang Xiu pondered for a while, and then said: "As for the issue of officials, Wenhe, are there any scholars from the poor family in Nanyang County and Shangyong County?"

Jia Xu heard it and replied: "There are Hanmen scholars in all counties. Moreover, Nanyang County is already rich, there should be a lot, and the scholars of the poor family are not like the big families, so it is generally difficult to leave their hometowns. Zhang Xiu heard it and said happily: "So." The problem of officials will not be solved. ”

Jia Xu replied: "Although the idea of the lord using a poor scholar is wonderful, it is very difficult to implement. The number of scholars from the Hanmen is inevitably more vacant than that of the two counties, and since ancient times, the imperial court has recruited officials by promoting filial piety and honesty, and it was not until the time of the first emperor that they openly sold officials. These poor scholars have no filial piety and integrity, and they don't know what their abilities are, so they are rashly appointed, I am afraid it will backfire

Zhang Xiu smiled and said, "It's okay, what is his ability, you can know it in one test?" ”

Jia Xu was puzzled: "The lord wants to take the teaching test himself?"

Zhang Xiu smiled slightly and said: "No, embroidered this method is called the imperial examination to open two subjects, civil and military, and the martial arts department to open four tests: horsemanship, archery, battlefield command, and martial arts, and select the best to supplement the army." In the liberal arts, candidates are given four hours to answer a question that they can answer, and then those who excel will become officials

Zhang Xiu's explanation is only vague, but Jia Xu is such a smart person, after listening to it, he naturally understood what Zhang Xiu meant, and thought carefully for nearly half an hour. Jia Xucai said: "The lord's method can be described as a precedent for talents, but I am afraid that this method will offend all the families in the world." ”

Zhang Xiu smiled and said, "Wen He is saying that this method will make the family lose the ability to control the world."

Jia Xu nodded, but Zhang Xiu said: "There are few families in the land of Guanxi, this method of embroidery is only practiced in Guanxi, what does it matter to the sergeant and the filial piety is not abolished, the children of the mediocre family can also be promoted by filial piety as officials, and the power of those small families in the mediocrity may not dare to open the general." ”

Jia Xu heard Zhang Xiu's words, and immediately understood, knowing that Zhang Xiu wanted to take advantage of the weak strength of the family in the sphere of influence at this time, and the resistance was not great, and directly implemented the imperial examination system, so that he could use this system to tap the folk scholars and all kinds of talents for several uses, and after the system matured, Zhang Xiu would have enough talents to compete with the Kwantung family. And the timing of the implementation of this policy is very suitable, when there is a shortage of officials in the two counties, it can make the Kwantung scholars think that there is no one in the two counties of Zhang Xiu, and only this strategy can confuse the eyes of many people