As Zu Zhao expected, it was only two days later, and the heroic pursuit of horse thieves that day spread in Xu Wu County.

First of all, the magistrate of Xu Wu County made a special trip to send the county chief secretary and the county lieutenant to visit the door, and then even the officers and soldiers stationed in Lu Longsai came to condole. The ancestral family is the Xu Wu clan, many elders in the clan are at home, the patriarch Zuju was once the former Liao general Zhang Huan's other Sima, Rongwu has accumulated military merits for more than 20 years, whether it is the county magistrate or Lu Longsai's generals, they must let them lose face. What's more, this time, Zu Zhao only led more than 20 horsemen to break nearly 100 horses, and even captured some trophies, so he naturally came to praise sincerely.

Zu Ju didn't know the specific situation of Zu Zhao's encounter with Hu Ma in advance, but he only relied on martial arts and high-grade horses to defeat more than a dozen horse thieves by chance, but he really didn't expect the real situation to be much more dangerous. So on the morning of the third day, he set out to visit the rescued Lu family in the side courtyard and ask the Lu family for the exact news.

Zu Ji and the more than 20 children of the clan who accompanied Zu Zhao on the hunt that day have made a lot of efforts to publicize Zu Zhao's big horse thief. In their opinion, as long as they can make the eldest prince shine, they can be more or less glorious. Because of this, there was a lot of drama in the incident of Zu Zhao's destruction of the horse thieves that day, such as the number of Huma changed from two digits to three digits, and for example, the three arrows of Zu Zhao shocked the enemy more and more mysteriously.

In any case, Zuju was very impressed with his grandson. Although he knew that Zu Zhao had insisted on Xi martial arts and horse training every day for the past five or six years, and had a solid foundation in equestrianism, archery, and fencing, and that he had hunted an adult buck on his own at the age of thirteen, he had never had any actual combat experience. Not only in his impression, but I am afraid that the whole clan will only see the gentle and polite side of this eldest prince, but they have never thought that he has a brave side.

In the past few days, although Zu Zhao has been paying attention to the rumors from the outside world, he has always shown a kind of unwavering, reading and Xi martial arts every day, as if nothing has changed. During this period, my grandfather and the elders of the clan came to ask about it, and when the Lulongse garrison sent people to condole, they specially asked him to come to the scene to answer. In this regard, he was concise and to the point, without adding the slightest oil and vinegar, but eager to summarize it in one sentence.

The more cautious he is in his words and deeds, the more praise he will arouse. Whether it is his grandfather Zuju or the county government officials, they all believe that Zu Zhao is not only heroic, but also has a humble demeanor. In particular, the heroic words of "but make Longcheng fly and do not teach Hu Ma to Yinshan" caused people's blood to boil, and it spread wildly throughout the county.

Everyone in the Lu family rested in the ancestral village for a few days, until the chief housekeeper Hu Bo's health gradually recovered, and then he began to say goodbye. After hearing the deeds of Zu Zhao heroically rescuing and settling the eldest lady and her party, Hu Bo insisted on going to the village to thank Zu Zhao despite his good health. Zu Zhao naturally treated each other with the courtesy of elders, and when he learned that everyone in the Lu family planned to leave in the near future, he didn't say much, but only instructed the children of the Zu family to prepare coils and carriages. Hu Bo was grateful, and promised that he would repay the great favor of today.

Three days later, the Lu family officially bowed to Zu Ju and Zu Zhao, and Zu Ju gave a carriage and a number of coils as the head of the family. Zu Zhao asked Zu Ji to gather more than ten young people from Zhuangshang, each equipped with a mount, and accompanied the Lu family out of the county seat. It has been sent out of more than ten miles, close to the county border, and then it has been goodbye.

On the way back, Zu Zhao looked thoughtful. He had long been thinking about a plan to find an opportunity to form his own army before the Yellow Turban Rebellion. This time to save the Lu family from the hands of the horse thief, I have to say that it is an excellent reason. The frontier was not peaceful in the first place, and the "robbery season" was approaching, so both the Hu people and other thieves were ready to move.

In previous years, in the winter, the county would organize the counties to "prepare for thieves", and the county would arrange for each pavilion to draw strong men to form a guard, which would be responsible for the security of the county, and it would be disbanded after the beginning of spring. Earlier, Zu Zhao was still young, and every year the preparation of thieves belonged to conscription, Zu Zhao's grandfather and ancestor had five major doctors, and they were routinely exempt from the conscription of the male members of the family, so they had never joined the reserve guard.

Now that he is no longer a child, he is qualified to join the team to prepare for thieves, and there is no need to worry about servitude, and the children of the nobility can lead by example, which can add a bit of righteousness to the reputation. At present, there are rumors in the county about the glorious deeds of defeating Huma with outnumbered enemies, and the courage he asked for is realized, and as long as he has the support of his family, it will not be difficult to lead this year's reserve guards.

"Zu Ji, come here." When he was about to arrive at the county seat, Zu Zhao turned sideways and greeted his cousin.

"Eldest Prince, what do you command?" Zu Ji quickly stepped forward and asked, stretching his head out.

"From tomorrow onwards, when you train your horses, you should find more children of the clan who have leisure time to come with you. The more the merrier. Zu Zhao explained.

"Oh. That...... How many people does the eldest prince want? Zu Ji didn't think much about why Zu Zhao wanted to find more people to train the horse, but asked about the specific number of people needed.

"It's not that the more the merrier, if you can call more than 100 people, it would be the best." Zu Zhao said emphatically. Although there are far more than 100 young and strong people in the Beiguo Pavilion, it is now the busy farming season, and it is not bad to be able to get more than 100 people out to practice horses.

"So many people?" Zu Ji knew that he was not as prominent as Zu Zhao, so he was afraid that he would not be able to complete the task assigned by Zu Zhao, but he didn't want to give up easily, so he suddenly hesitated and became embarrassed.

"If you go and spread the word first, you will say that I mean it. If you can't call out the North Guo Pavilion, you can go to the nearby Anyang Pavilion for a walk. Aren't you quite involved with the two brothers Zhang Yuan and Zhang Yu in Anyang Pavilion? I heard that the Zhang brothers are also good at Xi martial arts, so I just took this opportunity to get acquainted. Zu Zhao said promptly.

Although the Zhang family of Anyang Pavilion is not as powerful as the ancestral family, it is also a strong party in Xu Wuxian. Because Anyang Pavilion and Beiguo Pavilion are similar, the relationship between the two families is somewhat intersecting. The Zhang family respects the ancestral military family, and they will politely send someone to send an invitation to every wedding and funeral. Because of his young age, Zu Zhao has not dealt with the neighboring powerful families in the past few years, and now he is looking forward to making more friends with some heroic figures.

"So it's on me, Zhang Yuan and Zhang Yu are the most righteous, and they won't shirk when I call them out." Zu Ji patted his chest and said in response.

"Very good." Zu Zhao smiled happily.

It was past noon when they returned to the county seat, and Zu Zhao and his party entered Zhuangzi directly from the south side of Beiguo Pavilion through the southwest side gate. A subordinate was waiting in the southwest courtyard, and hurriedly greeted Zu Zhao after seeing his figure. Zu Zhao turned over and dismounted, handed the reins to the handyman of the horse farm, and Xi tidied up his attire.

The subordinate came to Zu Zhao, saluted respectfully, and then said, "The eldest prince, the old man is looking for you."

Zu Zhao straightened his belt, patted the folds of his trousers, and asked, "Really?" What did Grandpa say? Although he asked this on his mouth, the first thing that came to mind in his heart was about the marriage contract with the Gongsun family of Xuansu County.

The servant shook his head and said, "The old man didn't say it." However, the county lord is a guest at the house.

Zu Zhao raised his eyebrows slightly, and said suspiciously: "Really?" When did Master Chen come? The

servant replied truthfully: "It has been an hour, and I am sitting in the inner hall with the old man."

Zu Zhao nodded thoughtfully, didn't say anything else, and motioned to his subordinates to lead the way.

The inner hall is located in the courtyard of the second entrance of the main entrance, and is only used to entertain VIPs or the three elders of the clan on weekdays. Zu Zhao came to the front of the hall, and the attendants in the door first reported to the ancestral magistrate who was drinking tea and chatting in the hall, and he took off his shoes and walked into the hall, and when there were still ten steps away from the tea seat, he bent down to salute the county magistrate Chen, and then advanced three steps to give a salute to his grandfather and ancestor.

"I saw the county lord in my late life."

Chen Xianjun is nearly forty years old, although he is as thin as Zu Zhao's grandfather, but he is in a shrewd and wise state, and he does not have the upright spirit honed in the army. He replied with a kind face, not seeing the slightest official authority, but thinking of an amiable elder.

"Oh, yes, it's a good sentence but let Longcheng fly general, don't teach Humadu Yinshan, the eldest prince will really grow into a young hero. I still remember that when I visited your mansion when I took office Xu Wu, the eldest son was still a child who was studying in a childish voice, and he had to serve the old man. Chen Xianjun sighed intimately.

The county lord smiled. In front of adults, children should always be humble and seek advice. Zu Zhao bowed down and replied modestly.

"Zhao'er, come closer. Chen Xianjun came here for you this time, and he waited for two hours, and he did not make amends. Zu Ju said majestically.

Zu Zhao walked to the front of the tea house, but did not sit down. The ancients respected etiquette and etiquette, and the style of a family like the Zu family was even stricter, even if he was the eldest son, he could not sit in the banquet of the elders without authorization. He could see that his grandfather was just selling face to Chen Xianjun, even so, he still had to make enough of the scene, so he hurriedly bent over to apologize.

"It's okay, it's okay." Chen Xianjun sat down and helped Zu Zhao for a while.

"Do you know that a few days ago you repelled Huma, and yesterday Chen Xianjun had reported to the county government. If it weren't for that, the county would not have known your name so quickly. Zu Ju said matter-of-factly.

"Lord Chengxian loves to carry it, and the younger generations don't dare to invite credit with this." Zu Zhao showed sincere thanks. At this time, he had probably guessed the reason why his grandfather had summoned him, and since he was not talking about the marriage of the Gongsun family, he was more or less at ease.

"The name of the ancestor is indeed well deserved. It is really commendable to have such righteousness at such a young age, and it is not in vain for my hard work. Chen Xianjun deliberately emphasized the tone in the last half of the sentence.

"It's autumn now, and the end of the year is the annual inspection in the county. This year, Chen Xianjun in the county plans to nominate you, and I came here today to discuss with you what subject to be named. Zu Ju finally told the truth.

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