It's the Spring Festival, and it's the third year that Xiao Jiu has traveled to this world.

Now Xiao Jiu is not alone at the beginning, his gentle wife, young daughter, and a family living in Yuzhou make him feel a little warmth brought by his family.

Whether it is in the past life or now, the Spring Festival is a grand festival, and it is necessary to prepare some New Year's goods for the festival in advance before it arrives.

Today's Yangcheng County and Lingshui County have gradually increased the surplus money in the pockets of the local people because of the continuous expansion of factories.

The streets that used to be peaceful are now surrounded by vendors of all sizes, walking the streets and alleys to sell their New Year's goods.

Looking at the lively scene on the street, Xiao Jiu, who was walking with his wife, unconsciously put on a smile.

The rules and system under his rule have been gradually improved, and Xiao Jiu no longer needs to stare at it all the time, and he can occasionally find time to spend with his family.

Since Li Li's family came to Yangcheng County, Li Luoyao, who originally showed a bit of gloom from time to time, was as happy as a child every day.

Especially during the period just after giving birth, Li Luoyao didn't seem to have the consciousness of becoming a qualified mother, and pestered Xiao Jiu all day long to move around.

Before, it was because Xiao Jiu was always busy, and the crises that existed all the time made Li Luoyao dare not bother too much.

Now that Xiao Jiu is rarely as busy as before, Li Luoyao's smart personality is once again shown.

Xiao Jiu has been lacking time for Li Luoyao, who is pregnant, because of his previous busyness, so he simply compensated for it before.

It's just that Xiao Jiu's two mothers-in-law are worried about this, and they nest at home every day to take care of the young Xiao Xun'er.

For this reason, Li Li also looked for Xiao Jiu alone once, and warned Xiao Jiu earnestly that everything should be important and should not be bound too much by the love of children.

When Xiao Jiu heard his father-in-law say this, he couldn't help but feel a little strange in his heart.

Throughout history, Li Li is really one of the few strange fathers-in-law who can persuade his son-in-law to abandon his family and business to seek a career.

In the face of the old man's earnest persuasion, although Xiao Jiu wanted to refute it, he couldn't compromise the other party, so he had to accept it temporarily, but after going back, it was still the same as before.

Although Xiao Jiu was a little too careless in Li Li's eyes, everything was on the right track after that, and the business of the Lingshui caravan became bigger and bigger, and Li Li couldn't say anything so he could only let it go.

Similarly, in the eyes of those officials in Yangcheng County, Xiao Jiu was a man who took care of his family.

How many people in the world with a status like Xiao Jiu can respect their main wife? It's okay not to marry three or five concubines.

So since Li Li's family moved to live in Yangcheng County, there are many local officials who want to curry favor with Xiao Jiuyue's family.

As an important minister of the former dynasty, Li Li has no intention of getting involved in politics since the fall of Kyoto, and just wants to accompany his family to live for the rest of his life.

However, Li Li's son Li Yi, as Xiao Jiu's eldest brother-in-law, was entrusted by Xiao Jiu with important responsibilities when he first came to Yangcheng County, and was assigned to the newly opened textile factory to manage production.

Now who doesn't know that in the entire Yangcheng County and even the entire Yuzhou, the most profitable ones are these textile factories opened by Xiao Jiu.

For a time, the local officials in Yangcheng and the Lingshui Chamber of Commerce all threw an olive branch to Li Yi, and Li Yi effortlessly integrated into the original political system of Yangcheng County.

Yangcheng County has developed rapidly in a short period of time because of the prosperity of commerce, but Lingshui County, as the place where Xiao Jiu started, is not having a good time.

Previously, due to the invasion of the Qingzhou army, Lingshui County suffered the most violent rebellion in history, and the villages and towns under its jurisdiction were looted without exception, and more than half of the people were killed or injured.

Although the county seat of Lingshui was able to survive under Zhang Ben's stubborn defense in the end, the suffering caused by the war could not be restored in a short time.

Too many people have been displaced and their families have been destroyed by the disaster, not to mention the elderly and women who are already helpless.

For this reason, Xiao Jiu has spared no effort to transfer various materials to Lingshui County to help them rebuild their homes after the Qingzhou Army retreated.

And this year's pass is approaching, and it is the day when Lingshui County ordered Zhang Ben and several key members of the Lingshui County Ya to go to Yangcheng County to report on their work.

On the endless official road, Zhang Ben rode on a group of tall horses, staring at the front with an expressionless face, with a faint trace of tiredness on his face.

"General Zhang, the county town is ahead."

An accompanying official beside him pointed to a towering city in the distance and said to Zhang Ben, and the other party only nodded lightly to indicate that he already knew.

I don't know when the original honest and upright Zhang Ben became the current ruthless General Zhang.

A team of 100 people marched to the gate of the county town, but Zhang Ben saw a familiar figure in a tea shed below.

"Li Hao, why are you here?"

That person was Xiao Jiu's personal guard Li Hao, and it was Xiao Jiu's meaning to see him here.

Sure enough, when the group arrived at the gate of the city, Li Hao led a group of guards in the city to deliver hot tea and hot food.

In a few words, Li Hao and Zhang Ben got closer to each other.

After eating, Li Hao took this group of guests into the city, and on the way, he did not forget to introduce Zhang Ben to the changes in Yangcheng County over the past year.

Looking at Yangcheng County, which was completely different from what he had seen before, Zhang Ben felt that this place was prosperous and lively, and couldn't help but think of the devastated scene of Lingshui County.

This time Zhang Ben went to Yangcheng County, in addition to reporting to Xiao Jiu, he also had his own plans.

Although Xiao Jiu had sent people to send a lot of supplies through the Lingshui caravan many times before, the resentment in Lingshui County was still overwhelming him.

The Qingzhou Army was raging in Lingshui County before, although Zhang Ben knew that Xiao Jiu was also unable to take care of Lingshui County at that time, but his subordinates and those people who were in distress could not understand.

The pressure is all piled up here for Zhang Ben, no matter how much Zhang Ben respects Xiao Jiu, there will be some negative emotions in his heart.

This time, Zhang Ben wanted to resign from the post of Lingshui County Commander, and he didn't want to bear such a heavy pressure anymore.

Now every time Zhang Ben falls asleep, the scene of his loyal subordinates dying in front of his eyes will appear in his mind, and he really can't stand this kind of torment.

If possible, Zhang Ben would rather be a mountain bandit with today and no tomorrow like he did at the beginning, at least without too many scruples.

Sticking to the county seat and letting the people of the county be slaughtered by the Qingzhou army, this matter is like a spike poking at his heart.

Just when Zhang Ben was thinking a lot along the way, a group of people and horses had unconsciously arrived at the City Lord's Mansion, looking at the tall courtyard gate, Zhang Ben's breathing became a little short.

After adjusting his mentality, Zhang Ben still dismounted and stepped forward and stepped into the gate.

As soon as he entered the door, Zhang Ben was led into the backyard by several young men dressed as domestic servants, saying that Xiao Jiu was waiting for him.

Zhang Ben didn't say anything when he heard this, but just kept up with the footsteps of the domestic servant with heavy steps.

"Benzi, come here."

Before Zhang Ben could see Xiao Jiu, the other party's voice had already come from behind the courtyard wall, and Zhang Ben could only walk over quickly and saw Xiao Jiu who was fiddling with a wooden swing.

"The owner of the village."

Zhang Ben took a step forward and saluted Xiao Jiu with his fists in the distance, still shouting the original title of Xiao Jiu in his mouth.

Xiao Jiu also took a few arrow steps forward at this time, and naturally grabbed Zhang Ben's arm.

"You have suffered these days, too."

Listening to the familiar voice ringing in his ears, Zhang Ben seemed a little excited.

Although Xiao Jiu had been to Lingshui County once when the Qingzhou Army had withdrawn, he was in a hurry at that time, and the devastated places were waiting to be rebuilt.

Now that the turmoil brought by the Qingzhou Army has basically passed, Zhang Ben, who is physically and mentally exhausted, does not want to serve as a county commander anymore, and only waits for Xiao Jiu to send someone to take over.

The two ministers talked for a while, chatting about the recent situation in Lingshui County and some interesting things in the past, and for a while both of them fell into some memories.

Just when Zhang Ben was thinking about how to open his mouth to tell Xiao Jiu that he wanted to retire, Xiao Jiu seemed to penetrate his thoughts and spoke first.

"When you come to Yangcheng County this time, do you still want to resign and go into hiding?"

Xiao Jiu's calm voice slowly spoke, and his eyes became more and more incomprehensible as he stared at Zhang Ben.

Hearing this, Zhang Ben was surprised and began to pour bitter water, explaining the suffering he endured in the position of Lingshui County Commander.

Xiao Jiu listened carefully to Zhang Ben's almost nagging story, and did not interrupt, just listening to Zhang Ben say enough before he spoke.

"Benzi, we came down from Hare Mountain to today, in addition to relying on a lot of blood, the more important thing is the brain."

"Now don't say that you are not good at Lingshui County, and it is not easy for me to guard Yangcheng County, the Qingzhou Army is raging, Lingshui is devastated, and I am also tormented in my heart."

"If you can be a general, you must make a choice, even if you don't think about yourself, you have to think about your subordinates and those soldiers who follow you."

These words were not only Xiao Jiu's self-talk, but also for Zhang Ben to listen to.

In Xiao Jiu's heart, Zhang Ben, like Jinzi, is his most trusted subordinate, and without their help, he would not be where he is today.

After going through too many things, the personalities of the two began to gradually change, no longer the little mountain bandits who ate on Hare Mountain back then, but became big people who can decide life and death with a gesture.

In the same way, their personalities have changed over time, becoming more stable and more cold-blooded.

No one is a natural general, and all the May Day that can leave a little ink in the history books does not have to go through a lot of hardships to make a difference.

In the end, Xiao Jiu rejected Zhang Ben's resignation and promised him that some factories in Yangcheng County would be transferred to Lingshui County in the future.

In addition, Xiao Jiu also specially explained the sea caravan at Wanpingkou to search for the sold slave population in the south to fill the vacancy in Shanglingshui County.