Zhu Nao

Chanzhou Campus.

Hearing the sound of hoofbeats like thunder, a row of cavalry galloped to the east of the school grounds.Those cavalrymen held a longbow in their hands, and suddenly heard an order: "Take a bow——"

Everyone took out the arrows from the baskets in unison, and while riding on the horse, they aimed their bows at a row of targets in the west.

"put--"

Everyone released their arrows together, and the dense arrows shot towards the target like rain.

The clusters sounded for a while, and about half of the people hit the target.

The cavalry rode away immediately after shooting the arrows, and the next row of cavalry followed. Following the sound of the order, there was another rain of arrows.

Then came the third platoon of cavalry.

When several rows of cavalry had finished shooting at the target and retreated from the field, a tall maroon horse suddenly sprang out from the east.Immediately riding a man, slender, fair-skinned, extremely handsome, with a tear mole at the corner of his eye.Looking at the man's appearance, he looked more like a scholar than a warrior.However, he was very good at riding, and he sat firmly on the horse without holding the rein with both hands.When he was about 50 meters away from the target, he took the arrow from the basket on his back, drew the bow and shot, his movements were very casual.After shooting an arrow, take another arrow and shoot again.Like clouds and flowing water, ten arrows have been shot in an instant.

When Ma Chi reached the end of the school field, he slowed down and stopped.

The soldiers outside the fence took a closer look, and immediately burst into thunderous applause and cheers.

"Wow--!!"

"Thank you, General! Thank you, General! Thank you, General!"

This person shot ten arrows while riding and hit ten targets, almost all of them hit the target!How can such riding and shooting skills not be amazing?

Xie Wuji was applauded by the soldiers, his expression was still calm, but he didn't think it was unusual.

He ordered: "Continue to practice."

So the cavalry lined up again for the next round of riding and shooting training.

Xie Wuji followed at the end of the team, and suddenly saw a soldier running over from outside the school grounds.He frowned slightly and jumped off the horse.

The soldier ran to Xie Wuji's side panting, his expression flustered: "General, general, just now, news came from the capital just now... Something big happened!"

Xie Wuji was not in a hurry: "Talk slowly."

The soldier took two deep breaths, finally held his breath, and said: "The imperial court has issued an order. From now on, local officials above the prefect can recruit troops by themselves!"

Xie Wuji raised his eyebrows slightly, but there was still no emotion on his face.After a while, he sneered and said, "The dog jumps over the wall in a hurry."

The soldier who reported the letter was much more excited than him, and scolded through gritted teeth: "Those dogs! No wonder they kept withholding our rations after the death of General He, and made excuses when they wrote to remind us. We are here to die, to suppress the rebellion , but they only think about how to cut off our retreat, wishing to kill us! If one day these dogs fall into my hands, I will smash them to pieces!!"

When it comes to food and salary, Xie Wuji's eyes flashed a trace of sadness.Because of the embellishment of a tear mole, there was no hatred on his expression, but sadness.

Suddenly, another person ran towards the school grounds, Xie Wuji looked from a distance, it was the chief Shi Wucong who he sent out to collect food and salary.

Wu Cong ran over, with a embarrassed expression: "General." Seeing him like this, he knew that the task was not completed very smoothly.

Xie Wuji said: "How?"

Wu Cong shook his head, took out a list from his pocket, and handed it to Xie Wuji.This is written on the amount of food he collected from each family.

Xie Wuji took it, and the soldier who had just sent the news also came up to take a look.It doesn't matter if you don't look at it, but when you look at it, you are furious: "Three hundred catties? Five hundred catties? Are these gentry beggars?"

Xie Wuji couldn't express his anger or emotion, after reading a list, he asked: "Is the Xue family still not releasing anything?"

Wu Cong nodded awkwardly.

These lists are all local big families.He ran all over these big families to collect military rations, and in the end only a thousand catties of grain came.This is really pitiful for their army of more than 5000 people.As for the Xue family that Xie Wuji was talking about, they were the biggest tycoons in the area, and they were extremely wealthy. Nearly a quarter of the property in Chanzhou belonged to the Xue family.However, this Xue family is also the most stingy family. In the past few months, the army has sent people to ask for food many times, and they only gave a little when Xie Wuji went to ask for food in person.For the rest of the time, nothing is paid.

Xie Wuji didn't say anything, just returned the list to Wu Cong, said: "I'm going to Xue's house now."

Wu Cong hurried to get a horse, and followed Xie Wuji to Xue's house.

……

Xie Wuji arrived at Xue's house, it was a big house with walls nearly five meters high.The servant at the door was shocked when he saw him, and rushed up to meet him: "Why didn't Mr. Xie say anything in advance when he came? Go ahead and rest in the courtyard for a while, I'll call Mr. Xue right away."

Xie Wuji quickly jumped off the horse and strode in: "No need. I'll go in by myself."

Wu Cong also got off his horse and followed.

They were tall and long-legged, with long strides, and they had crossed the corridor in a short while.The servant trotted all the way, but he couldn't catch up.

The people I met on the road saw Xie Wuji and hurriedly saluted.Xie Wuji walked all the way into the main courtyard without squinting.

Xue Fu was basking in the sun in the courtyard, when he heard footsteps outside, he turned his head and saw that Xie Wuji and Wu Cong had already arrived in front of him.He was taken aback and sat up straight: "Wuji, why are you here?"

Xie Wuji walked in front of him, bowed first, and then sat down on the stone bench opposite him.Wu Cong stood behind him.

Xue Fu looked at Xie Wuji, then at Wu Cong, and smiled kindly: "Are you thirsty all the way here? I stewed some bird's nest peach gum in the kitchen at noon, let me serve it?"

Xie Wuji seemed to have never heard of it, and said calmly: "Uncle, I came here for the military salary."

Xue Fu's face sank: "Wuji, you are really ignorant. You are stationed here, and you don't know how often you visit your uncle. It's rare that you come twice, and you just ask me for money and food?"

Xie Wuji said: "Forgive my nephew for being impolite. If it is not desperate, I will not bother uncle."

Xue Fu shook his head in dissatisfaction: "If you ask me for something, I will give you 1 taels of silver, which is nothing. But the military rations... This should be paid by the court. How can I make it right?"

Xie Wuji said: "Uncle knows that the eunuchs control the government, and the military salary has not been allocated for a year."

Xue Fu frowned: "That should also be given by the local government."

Xie Wuji said: "The government has run out of money."

Xue Fu glared at him bitterly: "Then go collect it from the people! Anyway, the money from the imperial court was originally the tax money paid by farmers and businessmen. Why don't you just let them collect it?"

Xie Wuji said: "The people have been exploited by the government long ago. If you ask the people to confiscate them, there will be a large number of people who will go to the rebels. They defected to a village the day before yesterday."

Xue Fu was silent for a while, and said: "Then... let the rich come out. There are still a few rich families in Chanzhou..."

He was interrupted by Xie Wuji before he finished speaking: "I've asked them. But when they saw that my uncle didn't pay any food every time, they thought I was soft-hearted and took care of my relatives. So they all entrusted their connections to greet me. Those who climbed up to my distant relatives, and some to my lieutenants. Every time they went on a campaign, they were only willing to give out a few hundred catties of food, which was really not enough for the army."

Xue Fu stared: "What do you mean by that? Why are they refusing to pay, and it's my fault?"

Xie Wuji's speech was flat from beginning to end, Xue Fu asked a question, and he answered a question, but there was no joy or anger.But Xue Fu was always angry when he said it.

Xie Wuji admitted his mistake again in such a calm tone: "Nephew dare not."

Xue Fu hummed.

Xie Wuji said again: "Uncle, the army's rations have been exhausted. Once the rations run out, the army's morale will be unstable. Although I have repelled the rebels' attacks many times, they are still determined to wait for the opportunity to come again. If Chanzhou is rebels If it is captured, they will burn, kill and loot everywhere. At that time, everyone in Chanzhou will not be safe."

Xue Fu didn't think so: "What is it against the army? It's just a mob. To be honest, even if there is no army stationed, I am not afraid of them. I built a high wall, built a fort, and have thousands of servants. I am afraid that they will rob me." ? It’s a few other wealthy households, they should get their military pay and let you protect them.”

Xie Wuji said: "Let's not talk about rebels. Once the army really runs out of food, these thousands of soldiers can't even suppress them. They are very likely to mutiny, turn the army into bandits, and do things that are difficult to end."

Xue Fu was taken aback.He really didn't think about it.Xie Wuji's military discipline has always been good, even though he came to beg for food and grass, he asked for it politely, and there was no incident of robbing food with troops.

As he listened, he gradually felt something was wrong: "Wuji, why do I listen, you seem to be threatening me?"

Xie Wuji said: "My nephew dare not. This is all true."

Xue Fu thought for a while, and felt that this was indeed possible.Although this army is well-trained, it is a bunch of vigorous men.If he was really hungry and screamed, maybe something would happen.Then he will suffer too.

He nodded and muttered: "Since it's really urgent, we have to find a way to get military rations." Rolling his eyes, he said, "Let me give you an idea. Since those rich people can't bear to spend money, you might as well make an example of them. Just rob his family. The rest of the family are afraid, so they will be honest."

Xie Wuji didn't react much after hearing this, and asked, "Is uncle still unwilling to come out?"

Xue Fu's face was downcast, with a look of hating iron but not steel: "Silly boy! What do you think you want to become a general? Isn't it to protect the prosperity and wealth of Xie's and Xue's families! The army is short of food, and you ask me instead Come to ask, isn’t the cart before the horse? Did you treat me as your own uncle?”

Xie Wuji lowered his eyes, his eyelashes covered the mole, looking as if he was really ashamed.

Xue Fu scolded his nephew, probably thinking that it would be bad if he didn't give anything when he came.So he sighed: "Oh! I know it's not easy for you. I'm afraid it's the soldiers and monkeys under you who are forcing you. Or it's just to help you relieve your urgent need. I'll give you some and let you slow down for a few days. Then You should think about how to get military rations."

Xie Wuji heard that he finally let go, and couldn't help raising his eyes: "How much can uncle give?"

Xue Fu originally wanted to show off and let him say the number, but thinking about it, this kid is a little out of his mind, if he talks too much, he will feel pain.So he said: "Then I'll get you five hundred catties of corn first!"

Xie Wuji looked at him with dark poking eyes: "Five hundred catties?"

Xue Fu had already turned his head and ordered his servants to prepare, then turned to Xie Wuji and said, "You see, my uncle always loves my nephew the most. A few days ago, your mother wrote to me asking how you are. She said that you are busy with military affairs. I don’t dare to disturb you, so I asked me to write to her frequently to report your situation. I was too embarrassed to tell her that you have been here for almost a year and only visited me three or four times. I will take someone to see You, your subordinates are still trying to shirk some important military area and won’t let me in! Forget it, it’s meaningless to say more, you remember that your uncle loves you, so just have a little conscience in the future.”

After just talking for a while, the servants had brought out several bags, which contained exactly the [-] catties of grain that Xue Fu ordered.

Xue Fu took a look, Xie Wuji only brought Wu Cong out, thinking he couldn't take it, he said, "I'll have someone send it to you later?"

Xie Wuji took a deep look at those bags, and then took a deep look at Xue Fu.

After a long time, he got up and said, "Uncle, take care, I'm going back."

After speaking, he took Wu Cong, turned around and strode away.

Xue Fu got angry again: "Hey! This bastard, he asks for money when he comes, and he leaves when he asks for money! He doesn't even say thank you!"

He said again: "I said to give food, does he really want it? Or is it a nephew?"

Xie Wuji didn't turn his head back, he had gone far away.

=====

Jianzhou.

Yu Changming and Dou Ziyi led the team of Xiang soldiers to march through the fields.Everywhere they went was a mess.

The order in Jianzhou has completely collapsed, and it is shocking to see a few corpses standing on the side of the road within a short walk.

Suddenly, there was a slight noise in the grass.Yu Changming turned his head and saw a piece of fabric protruding from the grass.

Yu Changming reined in his horse: "Where is who? Come out!"

The man in the grass was startled.He thought he was hiding well, but he didn't expect to be seen, so he jumped up suddenly, turned around and ran, running wildly.

Yu Changming was a little surprised.Originally, he was worried that there would be bandits ambushing in the grass, but judging by the way the man was dressed, he didn't look like a bandit.Looking at the direction the man ran, it was clearly a village not far away.Presumably, a villager saw them coming from a distance, but didn't know their identities, so he hid in the grass.

Yu Changming said: "Let's go, let's go to that village to have a look."

A group of soldiers marched towards the village.

When they arrived outside the village, everyone stopped, but they saw that the roads in the village were empty, the doors and windows were closed, and it looked like no one was there. It was really strange.

Yu Changming frowned, and shouted loudly inside: "Is anyone there?"

No one answered.

Yu Changming said again: "I am Yu Changming, the commander of Langzhou Xiangdu. This is Dou Ziyi, the head of Langzhou Prefecture. Langzhou Mu heard that there are frequent thieves in Jianzhou recently, and the officials of Jianzhou Prefecture were killed, so he specially sent me to Jianzhou , to assist Jianzhou officials to restore the order of people's livelihood."

After a while, a head slowly rose from behind a fence, looking at them warily: "Are you... from Langzhou?"

Yu Changming said: "Exactly."

The man looked at them for a while, and saw that their team was neat and well equipped, and they really looked like a serious team.He squatted back behind the fence again, and there were some chattering voices from inside.

After a while, a group of people came out one after another from behind the wall, behind the fence, and behind the haystack. They were all villagers from this place.They all held hoes and sticks in their hands. It turned out that they were hiding and preparing to fight just now.

Recently Jianzhou is too chaotic, there are thieves everywhere.The villager who ran back first was frightened when he saw a large group of people holding swords. He didn't know whether they were enemies or friends, so he came back and lied about the military situation, which led the villagers to prepare for the war.

At this time, the faces of the villagers were all happy, and they confirmed again and again: "Are you really from Langzhou?"

"Yes."

"Did Zhuzhou Mu send you here?"

"Yes."

"You want to help manage Jianzhou?"

"Yes."

"Great, great!"

The villagers did not resist the arrival of the stranger at all, but were delighted by it.In fact, Yu Changming and the others would go in to inform them of their coming when they passed by villages along the way, and almost all the people warmly welcomed them.

——Jianzhou is on the edge of Langzhou. People in Jianzhou have long heard of the benevolent government of Mu Zhunao in Langzhou, and have envied them for a long time.If it weren't for his roots in Jianzhou, and Langzhou doesn't accept the migration of foreigners, who wouldn't want to move to Langzhou?Therefore, if Langzhou Mansion can come to take over Jianzhou now, that would be the best.

After the villagers put down their guard, they started talking more, talking non-stop around Yu Changming.

"In the future, when you manage Jianzhou, will it be the same as Langzhou? Will our exorbitant taxes be exempted?"

"The mountain god is so effective! I was still praying yesterday. It would be great if Jianzhou could be taken over by the Langzhou government. Today, you really came!"

"Can you drive all the refugees away? It's just winter, and our village has already been robbed three times! It's really hard to live..."

Yu Changming glanced at Dou Ziyi.Dou Ziyi said: "Don't worry, everyone. After we enter the Jianzhou mansion, we will send someone to find out the details. As long as we can take over Jianzhou smoothly, we will be exempt from exorbitant taxes, and other troubles will be dealt with slowly."

Just hearing the exemption of exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes, the villagers couldn't contain their excitement.They held Yu Changming and Dou Ziyi and complained for a long time. If Yu Changming hadn't said that it was getting late and they had to hurry, the villagers might be able to keep them overnight.

After leaving the village, the team continued towards Jianzhou City.

=====

Chengdu Prefecture.

When Xu Yu came to the backyard, Yuan Jilu sat on the recliner reading a book very rarely.There were also a few maidservants beside him who pinched his shoulders and beat his legs.

Xu Yu stepped forward and found that what Yuan Jilu was reading was a military book.Yuan Jilu had no interest in managing people's livelihood. After the imperial court ordered local officials to recruit soldiers, he suddenly became interested in government affairs.

Xu Yu handed over a stack of brochures in her arms: "I've arranged everything the governor wants."

Yuan Jilu put down the book of war and looked at it, and immediately showed dissatisfaction: "Why are there so many? You don't need to show me the details, just give me a summary."

Xu Yu was silent.This is already the result of his summary.If you really take the details, the financial account books and rosters of the states in Shu can fill this backyard.

The reason why Yuan Jilu wanted to read these was to prepare for the recruitment.This recruiting does not mean that recruiting can be done by recruiting. The imperial court allows local officials to recruit soldiers on their own, which means that the recruited soldiers have to be supported by the locals themselves, and the imperial court will not pay them.So there is a lot to prepare for.

He must first understand the financial situation of the Shu land, how much food is stored, and how much money is there.Then we have to figure out the population situation, how many families there are, how many males are there, how many soldiers can be recruited; when the soldiers are recruited, where will these soldiers be put for training, where will the long-term military salary come from in the future; how much is the arsenal Armaments, mineral deposits in various places... everything is a problem.Therefore, there are too many things to study.

Yuan Jilu shook his head and said, "You are not as clean and tidy as Lu Qinghui. If Lu Qinghui is allowed to do this, he can write it down on a piece of paper."

Xu Yu was not angry when she heard this, but just found it a little funny.Indeed, if this matter was entrusted to Lu Qinghui, Lu Qinghui would probably directly calculate the result and tell him how many people were recruited in a certain place, how many people were recruited in a certain place, and how many acres of land could be opened up in a certain place as military land.As for how this result was calculated, what was the basis, and what would be the future troubles, Lu Qinghui would not say anything.He treated Yuan Jilu as an idiot, and said as little as he could to Yuan Jilu.

Xu Yu asked: "The governor wants to call Lu Shaoyin here?"

Yuan Jilu laughed and said, "Forget it. Let him help in recruiting soldiers, and he will definitely try to mess it up for me."

Xu Yu was silent for a moment.He put down all the notebooks he brought, picked up one and opened it, and only read the most important numbers to Yuan Jilu: "According to the statistics at the beginning of spring this year, there are currently 780 five households in Chengdu, with 18 males. Nine thousand...Mianzhou..."

After reading one book, he picked up another book and continued to read out the most critical numbers.He was reading earnestly, but Yuan Jilu yawned dispiritedly.

Yuan Jilu originally wanted to find out the various conditions of the land under his jurisdiction, but listening to it, he was already overwhelmed by the series of numbers.

He waved his hand and interrupted: "Forget it, don't read it. You go and call all the officials in charge of finance and population, and let them come up with a specific plan together."

The matter of recruiting soldiers is not something he can decide by himself, and has to be handed over to others, so it is useless for him to remember them.

Xu Yu licked her palate and said with a smile, "Okay, I'll call someone."

He was about to leave when he heard Yuan Jilu say again: "That's right. I heard something happened in Jianzhou recently?"

Xu Yu paused, then turned around: "Yes. I've heard about it too. It seems that many officials in the Jianzhou government were killed at the same time, and Jianzhou was in chaos. Langzhou Mu has sent some people to Jianzhou."

Yuan Jilu chuckled, and touched a name with great interest: "Zhu Nao? Zhu Nao...heh."

Xu Yu just smiled and didn't express any opinions.

Yuan Jilu read Zhu Nao's name twice, closed his eyes, and rolled them slowly.

It didn't surprise him that this happened.But the current situation was something he hadn't expected.What he didn't expect was not Zhu Nao, but the general trend of the world.

Originally, his term of office should have come this year, and he should have been transferred back to the capital.But now the situation in North Korea and China is extremely turbulent, and the order has been broken.He received a letter from Beijing and China the day before yesterday stating that he will continue to serve as Chengdu Yin.And he has the right to recruit troops.At present, Shu is no longer a transit point for him, but has become his capital.

He opened his eyes, and said with a hint of coldness in his smile, "You go, call everyone."

Xu Yu said yes, and turned to leave, Yuan Jilu said again: "Take these as well." The things Xu Yu sorted out were too complicated, so he still didn't read them.

Xu Yu's eyes lingered on the stack of books that he had sorted out for many days, smiled, picked them up and left.

=====

A few days later, Langzhou Prefecture.

Two officials carried a small box into Zhu Nao's yard: "Zhuzhou Mu, this is from the Chengdu government."

Jing Zhe hurriedly stepped forward to take the box, put it down in front of Zhu Nao, and opened it.When the box was opened, everyone was stunned—it contained a box of books!

Even Junao was quite surprised.He picked up a book and flipped through it, his eyes became brighter the more he flipped through it.He took out all the books and flipped through them quickly.Finance, population, property, arsenal...all sorted out and summarized.Every line of words here is worth a thousand gold!

A bright smile appeared on Zhu Nao's face, he stroked his chin and said, "This Xu Shaoyin is really capable, I actually underestimated him!"

Some time ago, he wrote to Xu Yu, hoping to inquire about the financial situation of the Chengdu government from him.He thought that Xu Yu must have concerns, and it would be good if he could reveal some estimates.Unexpectedly, Xu Yu gave far more than just an approximate number!

Jing Zhe was also very surprised: "This... this is all..."

Zhu Nao said, "It's Xu Shaoyin's nomination certificate."

After a pause, he said decisively: "Jing Zhe, go find all the financial officials. Let's settle accounts for them!"