Only spring, whether it is the north and south of the river, outside the Lingnan Sai, although thousands of miles away, all the same spring flowers bloom, the grass grows and the eagle flies, so that visitors can indulge in this spring scene, temporarily forget the misery of leaving home.

Xu Ping rode on a horse, looking at the peach blossoms that flashed out from time to time on the side of the road, accompanied by the weak branches of the willows by the river, as if he had returned to his days in Beijing, and forgot that he was in Lingnan for a while.

At this time, it was leap February, and taking advantage of this rare good weather, Xu Ping completed the task of inspecting the counties under his jurisdiction this season and returned to his station in Ruhe County.

There are only four counties under Yongzhou, Xuanhua is attached, and Xu Ping needs to inspect only Lechang and Wuyuan counties. Lechang County is similar to the previous Ruhe County, all of which are sparsely populated, a county order is a master book, and two ox carts of money and grain can be loaded, and there are very few things. At the end of the year, the county has received fewer lawsuits than beasts hurting people, and the county order is busy asking Orion soldiers everywhere to help fight tigers and catch wild boars, and the biggest expense in the county is actually the reward money given to the hunters, no wonder someone proposed to abolish the county every now and then.

Xu Ping was also worried when he saw it, if this continued, he and Cao Keming would not be able to withstand it for a few years, and sooner or later this county would be merged. This is not good news for the locality, the amount of imperial court taxes is determined by county, and the scale of the two taxes of Yongzhou will be reduced by cutting a county, and the status of Yongzhou in the imperial court will also be reduced. As long as they calculate that the two truckloads of seedlings that are undercollected in this county are more cost-effective than raising a few magistrates, sooner or later they will find an opportunity to lay off this county.

The terrain around Wuyuan is open, it is a large county, and it also manages a lot of Tuzhou around, and it is the second most prosperous place in Yongzhou, and Xu Ping spends most of his time there inspecting warehouses. Fortunately, nothing went wrong, and this season's mission was finally completed safely.

Tan Hu, who was following Xu Ping, only relaxed at this time, and rode briskly on his horse with ten soldiers. Every time he walked this way, Tan Hu was scared, and what made Xu Ping laugh was that he was worried about encountering a tiger on the road every time. A big state was sentenced, and when he was inspecting the county, he was eaten by a tiger, and if he was not careful, he would make a big news in the Great Song Dynasty. In this era, this place, this kind of thing is not a joke at all, Yongzhou, Lechang and then to Wuyuan, the mountain tigers that have been turned over along the way are rampant, and there are things like cannibalism every year, and the small Lechang County can not afford to watch the inspection of the mountain, so it can only get a pig's head to worship the mountain god and fool around.

The people of Ruhe County were gathered around the station by Xu Ping, out of Xuanhua County, there was no population all of a sudden, unknown flowers swayed in the dense grass, and the water birds in the swamp fluttered up when they heard the sound of horses' hooves, flew not far into the grass, and looked at the pedestrians on the road stupidly.

From time to time, a small group of roe deer came out, leisurely ate two mouthfuls of grass, and raised their heads innocently, not knowing what they were looking at.

A soldier looked at the herd of deer not far away, swallowed his saliva and said, "How dare these little beasts run to the side of the road if they don't know how to die?" It's a pity that I didn't bring a hard bow, otherwise I would have meat to eat at night. ”

Another soldier said: "Quickly close your beak, beat the horse and go faster, this is all food in the mouths of tigers and leopards, you dare to mess around and provoke some big insects!" ”

Tan Hu was most afraid of hearing the word tiger and leopard, and scolded without a head or face: "Shut up!" Do you think it's too easy to walk on the road? Talk and lead the horse! ”

In the leap February of the seventh year of Tiansheng, the spring flowers bloomed, and before I knew it, it was the second year that Xu Ping came to Yongzhou. He began to adapt to the place, but he missed his hometown more and more.

There was no danger along the way, and when they returned to the station in Ruhe County, everyone was completely relieved.

The people in the fields were busy, waving to Xu Ping and his party from afar. For the working poor, they had a prosperous New Year that they had never seen before, full of hope for a new life, and slowly accepted this young official from the far Central Plains.

Xu Ping's mood also became cheerful, and he grabbed the horse's belly and ran towards his residence.

"Official, I'm here!"

As soon as he entered the courtyard gate, Xu Ping heard a familiar voice.

Looking up, I saw Sun Qilang half-open arms, his hair was slightly messy, his trouser legs were rolled, he was holding a big fish in his left hand, and a pair of bamboo chickens in his right hand, looking at him excitedly.

Xu Ping's face faded quickly with joy, looked Sun Qilang up and down, and said, "I called you here from thousands of miles away, just to let you do this?" ”

Huang Tianbiao next to him said innocently: "Where does the general judge say, this Qilang is amazing, I can admire his various methods." Since he came here, we have been playing wild game and changing tricks every day! ”

Gao Daquan hurriedly grabbed Huang Tianbiao and came up to salute Xu Parallel: "The official is angry, since Qilang arrived here, he has been dedicated to repairing the paper-making machine, and he can't eat." Since the machine was repaired the day before yesterday, County Lieutenant Huang took Qilang out to relax, but there was no delay in business. ”

Xu Ping's face softened and asked Sun Qilang, "Repaired?" ”

"It's fixed—"

Sun Qilang looked at himself, it was indeed a little unsightly, and he replied embarrassedly.

"Go and change your clothes, what kind of body! When you come from afar, you always have to celebrate. ”

Sun Qilang let out a sigh, hurriedly handed over the wild things in his hand to Huang Tianbiao, and pulled Gao Daquan back to his residence to change clothes. The two of them have been friends for many years, and they are even closer when they are thousands of miles away from home, and they live together.

Leaving Xu Ping's sight, Sun Qilang sighed: "It's still easy for officials to talk." ”

Gao Daquan said strangely: "Why did Shichiro say that? ”

"Gao Daquan, don't you know, since you left, we are all under the control of Mrs., that kind of day, alas, one day you will taste it."

"Hasn't Madame always been kind? What the hell is going on, you can tell me clearly! ”

Listening to Sun Qilang's words, Gao Daquan's heart also sudden. However, Lin Suniang did not suddenly marry into the Xu family, she has always been kind, and she doesn't look like she treats her subordinates harshly.

Sun Qilang hurriedly said: "I didn't say that Madame is not kind, don't talk nonsense!" However, Mrs. is kind and angry, and the rules are much stricter than those of officials, and my temper does not please Mrs. Speaking of which, the lady gave everyone a salary increase, rewards for meritorious work, and punishments for mistakes, and she was not sloppy at all. When the official is there, as long as the overall situation does not violate the will of the official, the official who usually makes a little mistake should not be able to see it, and be free, how good! ”

Gao Daquan sighed when he heard this: "That's because you don't have any interest yourself, and you have more problems than anyone else, and the officials said that you have a bad temperament before you came!" It's just that I can calm down when I do things, and I can't compare to you in this regard. But when it comes to following the rules, I'm much better than you. ”

Sun Qilang sighed: "No, people really have to see if their temperament is compatible." I don't please my wife, Lu Songke made a mark in the hands of my wife, and he was promoted to director a few years ago. ”

"What about Xu Chang?"

Sun Qilang shook his head: "In the end, they are the people next to the old lady, how can the lady give some face, the two of them were sent to the Baisha Town Shou Restaurant a few years ago." Now in the entire grange, Mrs. is the lady alone, Lu Song and his wife are the most popular, and there is also a Song Lao Xuan, who also has a head and face. ”

Thinking of the grange that he had struggled for several years and developed with Xu Ping, Gao Daquan heard these feelings of loss and asked casually: "Then how is the Grange now better than before?" ”

"It's getting more and more popular, but it's not as lively as before, and I'm a little unhappy."

Lin Suniang's temperament is soft on the outside and rigid on the inside, far less easy-going than Xu Ping, which they vaguely feel as subordinates, but they still don't adapt to it when things come to the end.

Gao Daquan also sighed, remembering that Xu Ping was in charge before, and a group of brothers lived a carefree life every day, whether they were busy or idle, Xu Ping would not make them feel uncomfortable. Women are in charge, and they are really not as atmospheric as men, and they will always find you a little awkward.

patted Sun Qilang on the shoulder, and said tallly: "Qilang, since you are out, let's follow the officials and do a good job, don't kick you back." The official told me that with the two terms of service in the field, I must protect my background no matter what. The character of an official will not treat you badly. ”

"That's it, knowing that the official called me over, thousands of miles along the way, I can't wait to fly here at once, I feel like a bird out of the cage. Alas, when Xu Chang also came over, our old brothers got together, and we were still as happy as before! ”

"Xu Chang is different from us, with the old lady here, he will not treat him badly, nor will he let him run around. Besides, he is a man who has become a family, unlike us who are uninhibited. ”

Listening to Sun Qilang talk about the current Grange, Gao Daquan also felt a little uncomfortable in his heart, and suddenly felt that it was a fortunate thing for Xu Ping to bring him out at that time. Although Sun Qilang's experience is fundamentally because of his unsteady, it is certain that the brothers will lose their previous interest, and they will no longer be as happy as before. Although they are all hired in the Xu family, it is a big deal to leave and change the owner, but it is almost certain that it will only get worse and worse, even if it is Lin Suniang, compared with others, it is good to the next person, which is impatient.

The mountains in this area are the remnants of the 100,000 mountains, the mountains are not high, nor are they steep, but nearly half of them are stone mountains, full of limestone, the land is barren, there are many karst caves, and the underground rivers are intricate. Some rare species are often produced in the dark underground river water, which are not found in other places, such as the big fish that Huang Tianbiao took Sun Qilang to catch today, called the oil fish, which is a special product of the karst cave here, the body contains oil, and the taste is delicious.

Sun Qilang changed his clothes and came out, burned the oily fish, and everyone gathered together to catch the wind for him. Although he has been here for several days, Xu Ping is not there, and he is always unsteady, and since today, he has officially become Xu Ping's personal entourage in Yongzhou.

The taste of bamboo chicken is also good, but before I could cook and eat it, I was seen by Xiuxiu and wanted to go and play. She has a small yard in the backyard of herself, raising all kinds of birds and small animals, and she doesn't let people move like a baby.

Taking advantage of the bright spring, everyone set up a feast in the courtyard, and just about to eat and drink, a soldier came in to report, such as the county commander Duan Fang came over.

Everyone is already familiar with each other, and there is no need to avoid it, Xu Ping asked the soldiers to summon him in.

As with the weather, Duan Fang's face was full of spring breeze, and when he entered the courtyard, he saluted Xu Parallel first, and his voice was slightly excited: "Xiaguan Duan Fang, Xie Tong is sentenced to be promoted." Just now, the imperial court has decreed, and the Beijing official has been changed. The performance of the county in this state is excellent, and the Zhizhou, the general judgment and the lower officials are all promoted to one level, Cao Zhizhou is moved to the west by Wen Si, and the general judgment is moved to the work of Zuolang, and the lower official is already the Taichang Temple Fenglilang. ”

This kind of petty promotion is all sent to the local place with the documents of the imperial court from the post road, and they have not yet reached the level of special promotion. These days Xu Ping is not there, Duan Fang and Cao Keming already know about it, and when they heard that Xu Ping was back, Duan Fang hurriedly came over to say hello.

Duan Fang's promotion to Beijing was promoted by Xu Ping's liaison, and he was jointly and severally responsible for the accident, and Duan Fang had to come over to express his intentions.

Speaking of which, Duan Fang was the most advantageous in this promotion, originally he was changed from the defense pusher of the eighth rank to the lowest first-class Beijing official of the ninth rank, and then he was promoted by one level and became the Fenglilang of the ninth rank. In terms of grade, it seems that it has been lowered by half a level, but the benefits of selecting people to change Beijing officials can not be compared with half a level, even if the official salary is slightly reduced, but there are a lot more subsidies of all kinds, not to mention the great political future. After becoming a Jingguan, even if Duan Fang just mixed his qualifications in ordinary times, with his age, he would definitely be able to become a local magistrate at the level of Zhizhou, and in this regard, his colleagues and candidates must look up to him.