After rebirth, I joined forces with my mortal enemy to seek revenge.

After listening to Li Xiujing's words, Pei Jiaoran raised his eyes, smiled, and stepped aside cooperatively. With her like this, even if Zhao Heng was unwilling, he could only stop talking for the time being.

I don't know when snow started to drift outside the window again, falling from the gray sky and covering everything as far as the eye could see.

The silver charcoal in the charcoal basin was burning incessantly, with sporadic warmth wrapped around it. He used the tongs to add a piece of charcoal to it. Pei Jiaoran stretched out his hand and put it a few inches above it, greedily absorbing the warmth.

"Zhao Canjun, the snow is heavy this year. I'm afraid the Tubo side will not be peaceful, and Guazhou will inevitably be exposed to war." Li Xiujing stuffed the sleeve furnace into Pei Jiaoran's arms, and continued: "Has Zhao Canjun ever practiced martial arts? ?”

Hearing this, Zhao Heng looked shocked and shook his head quickly, "I just learned a few self-defense skills from Nanya before I took office."

The great ancestor of this dynasty founded the country with martial arts, and Emperor Taizong Wen, despite his posthumous title, was also a brave and skilled military general. His military exploits are even more impressive.

Therefore, after Emperor Taizongwen ascended the throne, he issued an order that every time the court sent officials to serve in border areas or remote counties, they must learn some self-defense and escape skills. After all, they are talents that the imperial court has worked hard to cultivate. How can they be easily damaged?

"When Zhao Shenjun is waiting for his father-in-law to have nothing to do, remember to come to the school to learn boxing and kicking skills. Guazhou is not as peaceful as Gaomi, and civilian officials have to wear armor and go into battle during wartime." Li Xiujing said to Zhao Heng gently as he glanced at Pei Jiaoran.

"It all depends on the governor's orders."

Not long after the words were spoken, the servant came outside to report. The banquet has been prepared, and all the officials have gone to the main hall to wait for the governor.

Glancing at Li Xiujing, Pei Jiaoran was about to take a step forward. Realizing that Zhao Heng was looking at him, he suddenly stopped. He reached out and helped Li Xiujing down, with a look of concern on his face.

Li Xiujing was stunned by the sudden hospitality. But before he could say anything, the fur clothes hanging aside had already fallen on him. A pair of hands flexibly tied the upper lapel for him.

"Pei Mingfu and the governor are..." Zhao Heng looked at the two of them with a narrow look on his face and said with a smile: "Is it possible..."

Raising his eyebrows, Pei Jiaoran said with a smile, "Oh. The governor saved me a few days ago, and now he is injured, so it can be considered as repayment. Isn't Zhao Canjun leaving?"

The three of them went out one after the other, Zhao Heng taking the lead.

Intentionally getting closer to the two of them, Zhao Heng slowed down. But the two people walked more slowly, and from time to time they whispered to each other, with a few chuckles in between.

"Ah, here we are." Putting aside Li Xiujing, Pei Jiaoran stepped forward quickly, "It smells so good. It turns out that the chef of the Governor's Mansion is good at cooking."

Zhao Hengshang hesitated on the spot, Li Xiujing had already put his arm on his shoulder, "Let's go, Zhao Canjun."

When the two stepped into the house, everyone's eyes fell on Zhao Heng.

It wasn't until Li Xiujing and Zhao Heng took their seats that everyone sat down according to their positions and nodded to each other. The servants came in one after another carrying lacquered wooden plates to serve the dishes.

"This is Zhao Heng, the newly appointed military official." Li Xiujing pointed at Zhao Heng, who was on the lower left hand, and said with a smile.

"I am Zhao Heng." Zhao Heng smiled and bowed to everyone, "I am joining the army as a recorder for the first time. I hope you can give me some advice on my shortcomings."

After hearing this, everyone also greeted and greeted him.

After the banquet started, people drank and drank. There was laughter all around, and twos and threes started drinking together.

The aroma of the mutton roasted over the fire is overflowing, the grape jade dew contained in the jade cup is so sweet, and the surrounding candles are shining brightly.

Li Xiujing, the leader, did not restrain his subordinates and allowed them to make troubles freely. They surrounded Zhao Heng in the middle and played a game of guessing and drinking.

Zhao Heng was at a loss to deal with these civilian officials who had also served as military generals. There were several empty wine glasses on his table, and it was obvious that someone had filled them with several glasses of wine.

"How about we play a few games?" Li Xiujing held a wine cup and walked to Pei Jiaoran's side, "I'm also very itchy."

After taking a look at Li Xiujing, Pei Jiaoran said narrowly: "I'm afraid that the governor will lose with only his underpants later. I'd better find some other fun."

After getting up and walking around Li Xiujing, Pei Jiaoran walked unsteadily towards Zhao Heng and pushed aside a group of officials from the governor's office who were surrounding him. Smiling and charming, she hooked up with him.

Zhao Heng's face froze as if facing a formidable enemy.

"Brother Zhao, didn't you just want to ask about the father-in-law's money? Chu Sihu is also here, why don't you two have a chat?" Pei Jiaoran narrowed his eyes and pointed at a fat middle-aged man in Tsing Yi in front of him.

Chu Sihu, who was called by name, waved his hand quickly and said, "It's rare for the Ming Dynasty to be lively. We can talk about this matter tomorrow."

"How can this work?" Pei Jiaoran came closer to Zhao Heng and muttered with confused eyes: "It's the end of the year and those money-catching officials have to go out to work. If the principal and interest are not recovered, our father-in-law will have no money."

The official language has been replaced by Jianghuai's language, and it has a different meaning in everyone's ears.

Sensing the gaze falling on Zhao Heng, he became a little more probing. Pei Jiaoran slightly curled his lips, grabbed the wine cup on the side and raised his head to drink.

"Brother Zhao, why are you still sitting there? Didn't you just keep saying that you wanted to check the public house's accounts? Chu Sihu is right in front of you. If you don't ask, you will wait until tomorrow... burp..." He belched and looked. Seeing Zhao Heng frowning due to the smell of alcohol, he hurriedly said: "Oh, Zhao Shenjun is laughing at his rudeness. Don't blame me for being rude."

Zhao Heng brushed away the hand on his shoulder, stood up and stared at Pei Jiaoran coldly. He reached out and tugged on her collar, his eyes filled with anger.

"Zhao joins the army?" Pei Jiaoran lowered his eyes and said in confusion.

The cold tea fell on his face as he spoke.

Pei Jiaoran raised his eyes instantly. Zhao Heng was seen holding a teapot in his hand and looking at her with an evil look.

"Zhao Canjun, what are you doing?" everyone said in unison.

Discussions rippled around him, and Zhao Heng's face became very ugly.

Putting down the teapot, Zhao Heng said coldly: "Pei Mingfu is drunk, so I'll help her sober up. I have something else to do, so I'll leave first."

Pei Jiaoran sighed lightly as he looked at Zhao Heng who was walking away. He took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped off the tea on his face and the tea stems on it as if nothing had happened.

"Zhao Heng acted so arrogantly because he had joined Duke Jia. He asked the Duke for money as soon as he came." Zhou Sima's face showed disdain, "Pei Mingfu was kindly helping him, but he didn't appreciate it. .”

"No. If the governor had to recuperate from his injuries, how could he be allowed to join the army as an official to take advantage of Fei?" The lieutenant in a black robe also had a dissatisfied look on his face.

"Sigh. Lao Chu, you will have a headache from now on. This guy is very angry."

Pei Jiaoran raised his eyebrows when he heard the discussion.

What is public money? It is the capital of a government office. All the public expenditures depend on this. If you just hoard, sooner or later you will be left with nothing, so you have to manage it well. The most commonly used method in the state capital is to ask the money-grabbing order to lend money to the private sector. When the loan is due, both principal and interest will be collected, and the public money will continue to flow.

This method also has drawbacks. For example, some money-catching orders will find money-catching households among the people and ask them to lend money to the people. If the interest is 80,000 yuan, the monthly interest rate is about 15 cents. And some money-catchers have their own plans to lend money by pretending to be officials.

Then, they collect loans in the name of the government and put pressure on the people. In the end, people were forced to die.

Nowadays, this is the case in all state capitals. As long as they don't go too far, the government will turn a blind eye to this matter.

But if you want to check it is another matter.

After all, everyone has self-interest.