On the 10th of the lunar month, the northland ushered in the first heavy snow of winter. The snow is like goose feathers, flying all over the sky, quite overwhelming. It's just a night's work, the heaven and the earth seem to have changed their appearance, wrapped in silver, and all things in the world have given birth to a white outline, at a glance, there is a bit of a refreshing feeling.

Xu Wuxian's recruitment of thieves is in full swing. The children of the major wealthy families are actively participating, and these children not only represent the honor of their own clan, but also hope to earn back more or less the money and food donated by their clan. There are many droughts, and there is no room for snow and rain, even if the wealthy gentry family has a strong family foundation, it is impossible not to be careful with the budget.

It is precisely because of the rumors from the county government that the money and grain donated by the major wealthy families this year are more than in the past, so that many young people in the county are eager to try. Human nature is like this, when they hear that there is a big plate of fruit in front of them, they don't have the extra heart to think about how many people eat it. In many people's minds, the bigger the fruit, the more you can share. Therefore, there are countless volunteers who have signed up to participate in the preparation of thieves in various places, and it was expected that the full number of recruits would be completed before the end of the month, and by the tenth day of the lunar month, the planned tasks had almost been completed in advance, and even the total number of people who came up exceeded 800 people.

All the volunteers are temporarily assigned to the team according to the location of the household, and the company is responsible for counting and leading the team.

After receiving the roster from each pavilion in the final report, the county government drew up a more detailed team distribution according to the surnames, li, and pavilions. After consulting with the ancestral family, the Zhang family and other large households, the county governor of Wen County decided to hold a whole assembly and procession on the thirteenth day of the lunar month. Since the volunteers are recruited in advance, then start training in advance.

Also on this morning, Lingzhi County, a neighboring county, heard about the movement in Xu Wuxian and sent several county officials to contact. Although the preparation for theft is the responsibility of each county, the mutual assistance between neighbors has always been an indispensable link. Especially this time, there was a big incident in the county government, and the thieves in the county were in trouble before, which had to make people feel panicked.

However, it is precisely because of the earlier incident of begging for thieves in Lingzhi County that what Wang Xianjun of Lingzhi County did was really chilling.

This time, Lingzhi County came to contact, Chen Xianjun lost no time in sneering at each other, not only treating these little officials very coldly, but even letting them bring back the words, since Wang Xianjun has such a great ability, there is no need to cooperate with Xu Wuxian this year. Of course, having said that, if there is really a big disturbance, no one will dare to slack off. One loss is lost, lips and teeth depend on each other, these truths are still very clear to each other.

In the morning, Zu Zhao discussed with Zu Fan, Zu Ling, Zu Zhan and others about the schedule of this training for thieves, as well as the advance planning of the daily necessities. At noon, he had just returned to his lodging to change his clothes, and he was going to eat something lightly. Just as he was changing his clothes at the residence, a young maid suddenly came outside the door.

"Eldest son, Zu Ji asked to see you outside the door, saying that he had something important to see you." The little maid was a little timid, and said with her head bowed after standing on the threshold and finishing the rules.

"Really? You let him in. Zu Zhao said without thinking too much.

"Yes." The little maid bowed, trotted away.

It didn't take long for all I could hear outside the door talking and laughing, it was Zu Ji amusing the little maid. It wasn't until in front of the door that the laughter and laughter subsided, and the little maid came in first to make a report, and Zu Ji stepped into the door with big steps. As soon as he walked in, before Zu Zhao could ask, Zu Ji couldn't wait and said first: "Eldest prince, why are you still in the house at this time, haven't you heard that someone from the county government is here."

Zu Zhao was a little puzzled, but if he thought about it carefully, there was no fuss, there was such a big thing in the county government, and it had been a little half a month since today, so it was time for some news to come down. He motioned for Zu Ji to sit down first, and then asked, "Who is it, what are you doing with us?"

Zu Ji shook his head and said, "It's not clear, I went to the county town with Uncle Hong as soon as possible to check the horse material, or I listened to others." At this time, the people sent by the county government are afraid that they are still talking to Chen Xianjun and them. But there's nothing to worry about when you think about it, sooner or later, Chen Xianjun's side will come to us here to talk about what the hell is going on.

Zu Zhao said speculatively: "If Liu Taishou is assassinated, the state capital will definitely have special arrangements." Presumably for this purpose.

Zu Ji smiled: "Not necessarily. Maybe it's better to announce the results of this year's inspection. Eldest Prince, your heroic deeds in the Taishou Mansion will definitely deserve a special mention, and after that catastrophe, the county government is now short of people, maybe you can still take the position of Captain Zhou. I think nine times out of ten this time it's for this.

Zu Zhao said: "Don't talk nonsense, if this word spreads, it may cause a lot of criticism." The

two were chatting here, and there was a sound of hurried footsteps outside the door again, this time it was Zu Zhan who was in a hurry and didn't even have time to report, and ran directly to the door of the residence. He saw that Zu Zhao was talking and laughing with Zu Ji, and his originally hurried face immediately became more anxious, and he said in a loud voice: "You still have the heart to laugh, something is wrong." Ah Gong told the eldest son, hurry up to the middle hall. "

Zu Zhao had never seen Zu Zhan have such an extremely urgent face, even when Uncle Hong returned from Lingzhi County and was attacked, it was far less ugly than today. He subconsciously stood up immediately and asked, "What the hell happened?"

Zu Zhan patted his leg and said: "There is indeed turmoil in the county, Changcheng County gentry Zhang Play colluded with the county magistrate to conspire to rebel, just four days ago murdered the county magistrate of Changcheng County, cut off the city wall, and claimed to be the king in vain. When

Zu Zhao Chad heard this, he hadn't fully reacted, and he really didn't know who this Changcheng County Zhang Wan was, and it seemed that there had never been such a thing recorded in any history. However, he knew that now was not the time to study history, and if he thought about it carefully, Lu Wei, who was assassinated by the Taishou Mansion before, was a virtuous person recommended by Changcheng County, and at this time, the news of rebellion came out of Changcheng County, which seemed very logical in any case.

He didn't say anything else, and dropped a sentence: "Let's go to the middle hall immediately!" Immediately, he left the residence with Zu Ji, Zu Zhan and others and rushed to the direction of Zhongtang.

Just arrived outside the courtyard of the middle hall, and I already heard the sound of discussion coming from the middle hall, which shows that the matter of Changcheng County really aroused everyone's heart. Zu Zhao, Zu Zhan, and Zu Ji didn't wait for the report, and took advantage of the large number of people in the main hall of the middle hall to walk in directly. Chen Xianjun has already arrived, and at this time he is with the officials sent by the county government, Zuju and others, and there are more than ten grandparents present, and everyone is worried, and the atmosphere is a little tense.

Zu Zhao went straight to his grandfather and Zuju, he first bowed to Chen Xianjun on the side, and then asked: "Ah Gong, I just heard that the county government has come to the news, but something happened in Changcheng County?" Grandfather

just glanced at Chen Xianjun, and Chen Xianjun turned to Zu Zhao and introduced: "This is a messenger sent by the county government, I have already been to the county government earlier, and I waited until I heard the news before I rushed to negotiate with General Zu Lao."

Zu Zhao turned to the young messenger and asked, "Dare to ask the little brother, where did the county government get the news?" The

messenger said: "Changcheng County has already made a lot of trouble, saying that Zhang Wan colluded with the county lieutenant and united with the local Taiping Road to make a rebellion, and will soon enter the county government." Most of these news were learned from the people and squires who had escaped from Changcheng County, and when the villain set off from the county government, Wen Duwei had already sent people to Changcheng to find out the truth. This matter is big, and there will never be anything wrong.

Zu Zhao asked again: "Now that the county government is still by Wen Chou, Wen Duwei and Pinggang County, has there been any news from the state government?"

The messenger said: "The assassination of Taishou is a major event, and it was reported to the state capital earlier, and the state government has sent the letter to Gyeonggi as soon as possible, and now it is still waiting for the fate of the imperial court."

At this time, Chen Xianjun added: "When the county government heard that something had happened in Changcheng, it sent messengers to other counties and towns, not only to inform the situation, but also to hope that the counties would step up their vigilance and beware of unscrupulous people in the rebellious places." Of course, in addition, it must also be to investigate the actual situation of each county, for fear that there will be complicit.

Zu Zhao pondered for a while, turned to his grandfather and said, "Father, it seems that we should speed up the process of preparing for theft." First, we can guard against the traitor Zhang Wanhui colluding with the Hu people, leading the rebels all the way north, and meeting at the junction of the two places, and second, if the state and county governments decide to quell the rebellion, they will definitely recruit the people from all over the country, and we are indispensable to respond and crusade against the traitors.

Regarding Zu Zhao's analysis, after everyone present thought about it carefully, they all nodded in agreement.

Whether to defend or retreat, the most urgent task is to use troops. At this moment, with this letter of crisis, everyone suddenly agreed, and greatly agreed with the original plan to recruit 800 volunteers, and even thought that 800 people would not be enough at this time.

Zu Ju nodded slowly and said in a deep voice, "Zhao'er, you're right. This matter must be grasped more quickly.

After listening to everyone's words, the messenger calmed down a little, and then said: "Now that the arm of Lord Zhou, the commander of the northern capital, has been cut off by the assassins, and the injury is still unknown, the military affairs of the county government are only handled by Captain Wen alone. Captain Wen had gathered a large number of county soldiers and arrived in Pinggang County a month earlier, but the total number of troops was still limited. The trend of rebels in Changcheng County is said to be four or five thousand people, but I am afraid that it is far more than this number. If there is a real attempt to attack the county capital, I am afraid that the nearby counties will need to rush to the aid as soon as possible.

Zu Zhao thought for a while, and suddenly asked again: "Has Wen Duwei ordered all counties to recruit more volunteers?" The

messenger nodded, and said in a very formal tone: "The villain came this time, in addition to reporting this matter, it is also to convey the meaning of Captain Wen. It is hoped that all counties can organize more volunteers to prepare for thieves, one is to deal with winter thieves, and the other is to prepare for the misdeeds in Changcheng County.

Everyone present naturally understood why Zu Zhao asked this sentence, and they all had different expressions of expression to the messenger's answer.

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