Chapter 61, check the square

On the tenth day of the first lunar month, the sky was solemn and cloudy. Early in the morning, there was a rainy weather.

In the early morning, Zu Zhao obeyed his grandfather's order and sent the guests of the Gongsun family away. Just past the county, the sky suddenly started to drizzle. Gongsun Zhi politely asked Zu Zhao and others to send them here in the carriage, and there was no need to continue to walk in the rain. After a false salute, Zu Zhao then said goodbye to the guests of the Gongsun family and returned to Zujiazhuang with the children of the Zu family.

Not long after everyone returned home, the head of the county government made a special trip to inform Zu Zhao that he would leave for the county government to participate in this year's inspection at noon. Chen County has arranged several county government officials to accompany him. Zu Zhao made a little preparation and said goodbye to his grandfather and the three elders in the clan. After that, he packed his luggage carefully and rushed to the county government to meet Chen Xianjun.

Not long after he went out with the county master's book, five or six children, such as Zu Ji and Zuling, prepared horses and followed them out, claiming that it was the patriarch who accompanied them, and there was more or less a care along the way. Zu Zhao did not refuse. Anyway, there were many people and it didn't get in the way. On the contrary, there were a few more people when he needed to do things.

Zu Ji has rested at home for many days since he was injured in a neighboring county last time. His injury is not too serious, and he can eat and drink every day. Now, although he looks a little uncomfortable, his body is a little fuller than before.

After entering the city, he went straight to the county government, and the three wise men in the county had been waiting for a long time. Zu Zhao first met Chen Xianjun in the back hall and chatted with each other politely for a while. Then he turned out to meet several famous elders in the county and questioned them one by one. In the face of these elderly people who were close to "reviewers", he was not nervous and calm and answered freely from beginning to end. With the family situation of their ancestors and their personal reputation recently, these county virtuous people have hardly had any dissatisfaction.

The name of virtuousness is originally "you come to me". The more famous, talented and character the people recommended by these elders, the more they will make the world think that they are discerning and discerning people. Although Zu Zhao has only had a bad reputation since he was a child, he still has a certain image of courtesy and filial piety in the countryside. In the past month, he has shown great courage and martial arts twice, killing more than a dozen criminals. A few days ago, he even sent people to visit the general and Zhuo County Guard, which is already famous.

Therefore, today we will only be polite to these virtuous elders and will definitely win the support of everyone.

I only stayed in two subjects in the county government, and everything was logical. Chen Xianjun signed the recommendation letter and the official introduction, handed it over to the same civil servants, and personally sent Zu Zhao and others to the end of the street in front of the county government. Before leaving, he also tirelessly urged "not to damage the face of the county."

The right Beiping County is about 120 miles away from Xu Wu to the south.

Zu Zhao and his party rode for several hours, during which they rested many times before arriving at the suburbs of Pinggang County at nightfall.

At this time, the gate of the county has been closed, and everyone can only live at the post station in the town outside the city for the time being.

There is no strict time limit for the inspection. Starting from the tenth day of the first lunar month, those who are recommended can go to the county government to participate in the evaluation in the next seven or eight days. There is no special paradigm for the specific review, and each inspection is different. Usually, the government will invite local gentry and sages to hold a banquet together, and the participants will be inspected in different aspects at the banquet. In addition to the two categories of quality-oriented subjects, virtuous and filial piety, the other subjects should be more or less skilled.

Zu Zhao was elected by Chen Xianjun as a clear calculation this time. He is naturally confident in arithmetic and basically has nothing to worry or be nervous about. What's more, at the beginning of the Han Dynasty was very serious about the implementation of the inspection system. Now it is the end of the Han Dynasty, and even the imperial court is corrupt and mediocre, not to mention the small counties in the border areas? Even if there are some honest and upright local officials who will abide by the norms, they are only a very small number, either pedantic, mediocre or incompetent.

Therefore, with the current influence of the ancestral family in the county, the county guard will obviously win over it, so there should not be much difference in this inspection.

The next morning, Zu Zhao and his party finished washing up, ate something, and prepared to go to the city.

Zu Ji and two fellow officials rushed out to prepare horses, and Zu Zhao, Zu Ling and the clerks with documents then went out of the post gate.

The weather is still not very good today. It is gloomy, but the rain hangs behind the dark clouds. After many years of drought, I look forward to a good rainy land at the beginning of the year.

While waiting for Zu Ji and others to pull the horse out of the stable in the backyard of the post station, Zu Zhao suddenly heard a noise behind a teahouse not far away.

"Thieves, dare to steal!"

"Kight him to death!"

"Ah... How dare you beat people when you steal things? Come on, go and report to the official... Ouch, ouch, don't hit me..."

"Help, I hit someone!"

Zu Zhao is not sure what happened. It's not Xu Wu here, and he doesn't care much about some things. Just then, Zu Ji and others brought the mount, and he immediately jumped on his horseback. However, on horseback, he condescending. Through a broken hole in the teahouse, he happened to see the fight over there. Three or five tea shopmen or idle passers-by were surrounded by a ragged but round-armed man.

The latter held three steamed buns in one hand and kept stuffing them into his mouth, while the other hand waved around, trying to prevent the people around him from approaching. At first, those people really didn't dare to rush forward, but soon several people came from the street, and everyone rushed up together. The rag-clothed thick man resisted for a while and overturned several people with one hand alone, but he had no choice but to punch four hands and was finally knocked to the ground. But even so, he swd his body and tried his best to protect the unfinished steamed buns, allowing everyone's fists and feet to attack like raindrops.

At the moment of the thick man, Zu Zhao saw the man's appearance and immediately frowned.

"Big son, it's time to go." A fellow official suggested.

"No hurry." After saying that, Zu Zhao kicked the horse in the stomach and urged the horse to walk in the direction of the teahouse.

Zu Ji, Zuling and several other children were all surprised, but they didn't say anything and followed them together.

Before coming to the teahouse, several onlookers mistakenly thought that the officials were officials and rushed to complain.

"Master, officer, the man stole things and beat people. Arrest him quickly."

"Yes, the thief was so strong that he punched the third brother of the Zhang family unconsciously."

The fellow officials were quite helpless and explained awkwardly. They couldn't figure out why the ancestor suddenly liked to join in the fun. Wasn't it a hurry to help catch the thief?

"Stop, stop!" Zu Zhao shouted loudly on the horse's back, and his voice was majestic.

Those who were beating rough men thought they were from the government and stopped.

The rough man who fell to the ground can still move, bleeding in many places on his back and arms, gasping, and struggling for a while.

A man who looked like a shop assistant was puzzled and asked, "This gentleman, what are you doing?" This thief is not the first time to steal something today. A few days ago, he also stole the old man Wang who sells fruit next door. Today, we were arrested, and we must send it to the official.

At this moment, the rough man finally got up. Everyone around him was so scared that they quickly stepped back a few steps, afraid that the other party would take the opportunity to attack. Everyone knew that this person's fists and feet were strong.

The rough man took a deep breath, touched the blood on his nose, glared around, and shouted, "Grandpa, I'm hungry. How about eating your steamed buns? At worst, he will pay you back when he has two silver.

Before his words settled, he suddenly saw Zu Zhao on the horse's back, and his face was suddenly surprised.

After being stunned for a long time, he quickly turned back, but was blocked by the tea shop's clerk.

Zu Zhao sneered and said, "Yan Mang, I didn't expect to meet my son again."

That man is none other than that he was a thief who fought alone with Zu Zhao for dozens of rounds when he fought against thieves in Lingzhi County. I thought that after gave this thief, the other party would rush to the other thieves, but I really didn't expect that he would be so depressed. It is very different from the ferocious and heroic state of that day.

Yan Mang looked at the little officials in soap clothes behind Zu Zhao, looked at the coveted people around him, spit on the ground angrily, and said angrily, "At this point, I have nothing to say. If you want to kill, you have the final say."

Zu Ling, Zu Ji and others don't know much about Yan Mang, and they don't know what they have with the eldest son. They are all inexplicable. Why is a little thief suddenly going to kill him?

Zu Zhao stared at Yan Mang for a while, and saw that the other party turned his face away and held his head high. He seemed to be dead. He sighed in his heart: Sure enough, he was a good man, but it was a pity that he went astray. He suddenly reached out and took out the money bag from his waist and threw it out directly without hesitation. The money bag fell accurately in front of Yan Mang.

"Shopkeeper, I have given him two taels of silver to pay for your steamed buns, and that's it."

Zu Zhao looked at the man who looked like the previous storeman and said slowly.

The clerk hesitated for a moment and said, "So, how does it count to hurt someone?"

Zi Zhao said, "The silver in my purse can be eaten and lived in a month, which is enough to pay together."

As long as there is compensation, they will naturally be at peace. In addition, it is extraordinary to see Zu Zhao and others, and they can't help selling this favor. Immediately, the shopkeeper nodded repeatedly and said, "Well, the little man accepted the young man's face."

After listening to the conversation between the two, Yan Mang was stunned. He reached out and picked up the heavy purse and looked at Zu Zhao blankly.

Zu Zhao didn't say much. He took the horse's head and went towards the city gate.

Yan Mang hurriedly said, "You, did you kill me?"

Zuzu Zhao did not answer, and his back gradually faded away.

Yan Mang lowered his head and meditated for a while, and finally sighed.

Pinggang County is not only the county seat of Youbeiping County, but also the farthest place from the border area of Youbeiping County, so the whole town is much larger and prosperous than Xu Wu and Lingzhi. At the end of the year, many people flocked into the city early in the morning. Zu Zhao and his party followed the flow of people through the East Gate and walked along the straight and open road. The county guard is at the middle end of this avenue. When you first entered the city, you could already see the outline of the county guard in the distance.

On the way to the county guard, Zu Ji couldn't help asking Zu Zhao, "Prince, who was the thief just now?"

Zui Zhao smiled indifferently and said, "You don't know it at all?"

Zu Ji shook his head blankly and said, "Don't you recognize it? Should I recognize it?"

Zu Zhao continued to laugh and said, "That's all, you don't need to guess more, and you don't need to spread this matter."

Zu Ji nodded slowly and didn't ask any more questions.

The county guard is majestic and majestic. Even if Youbeiping County is not a rich county, it still has its noble and glorious side after many imperial governors. He came to the gate and submitted an official introduction and recommendation letter. The porter first led the people to a small court in front of the imperial palace to wait. The county government is no better than the county government, and the business procedures are complicated. After waiting for half an hour, a county prime minister came to welcome everyone to the public hall.

County Cheng introduced the situation of this year's inspection. Each county has selected places, and the subjects are also different. He had heard of Zu Zhao's reputation and was well aware of the influence of the other party's family in the county, so he said with a smile, "The name of Mr. Zu's bravery is already well known, but Lord Xu Wuchen has entered the Ming calculation department. Is there anything wrong with this?"

In the case of Zu Zhao, it is obvious that a brave and square subject is the right way. Even if you think about it, you can't figure out that it is an unpopular square subject.

Zu Zhao replied humbly, "I'm not good at learning, and I'm brave enough to fight for a while. It's better to be sure."

Juncheng nodded with exclaim and said, "Speaking of which, the county style is like this, and nine out of ten people enter the brave and square subjects every year. Unfortunately, Mr. Zu has good skills. However, Liu Taishou is scheduled to meet the first batch of virtuous people who will be inspected tomorrow night. If Mr. Ancestor changes his mind temporarily, he can inform him in time and make sure to arrange it for him next time.

Zu Zhao smiled and said, "Your Excellency is concerned, and the villain remembers it in his heart."

At the main hall, the county magistrate asked the accompanying personnel to move to the side hall to wait. Later, Lord Taishou will meet Zu Zhao first.