Zhenxi City, in a rather luxurious official residence, Wu Degui stood cautiously in the hall, in front of him, there was a person sitting, this person was drinking tea, his movements were calm, and he had a momentum.

If Chu Xian is there, he can recognize that this person is the chief secretary of Zhenxi City.

"Lord Shu, that Chu Xian is too presumptuous, as an official, but he behaves misbehaps, the lower official has already said that this person is in Dinghai County, he is fighting for power and profit, and he is very rampant. Wu Degui said at this time.

The chief scrivener took a sip of tea lightly, tasted it, and then said: "Wu Degui, how can you say that you have also been operating in Dinghai County for so many years, I didn't expect you to be so useless, how long has that Chu Xian been gone, and you were actually overwhelmed by him?"

Wu Degui looked frightened, and hurriedly said: "Lord Mingjian, this Chu Xian is a county official after all, and the official is at my level, if he wants to come hard, the lower officials can't stop him." ”

"Okay, okay, I know what you can do, you said before that Chu Xian is fighting for power and profit, but just rely on these to investigate him and deal with him, do you think it's possible?"

"Don't clash with that Chu Xian for the time being, by the way, you said that this Chu Xian attaches great importance to the county defense, and also wants to rebuild the city wall and recruit the county army?" asked the chief scrivener.

Wu Degui nodded, he was clear about this, after all, there were still many of his cronies in the county.

"That Chu Xian doesn't know what to think, he has to do this thing that costs the people and money, the cost of building the city wall is not small, even if it is just repaired, it can also empty the county's silver at once, not to mention the need to rebuild the arrow tower and recruit the county army, so even if he wants to go to the armor and weapons from the city government, judging from the county's silver, it is a drop in the bucket, and it is not enough at all. ”

How much money is in the county, Wu Degui knows better than anyone else, and he swears at the moment.

The chief scrivener pondered for a moment and said, "I heard before that this Chu Xian speculated that after the beginning of spring, the demon clan would invade on a large scale, have you heard about this?"

Wu Degui nodded: "I heard about it, but in the eyes of the lower officials, this Chu Xian is a little alarmist, he is just looking for this excuse to make money, he said to recruit the county army, I think, it is just talking, not serious." ”

The chief scrivener nodded, and then said as if he was very casual, "I think so too, then you say, what will happen if the demon clan doesn't come when spring comes?"

Wu Degui was stunned for a moment, thought about it carefully, and immediately reacted: "What does my lord mean, can you use this excuse to rectify this Chu Xian ruthlessly?"

"What do you think?" the chief scrivener sneered, and Wu Degui slapped his thigh excitedly: " Adults Gao Jian, this method is good, this method is good, that Chu Xian kept saying that it was for the county defense, in order to resist the invasion of the demon clan, I think, he is just looking for a reason to fill his own pockets, so let's first press the soldiers, let him be careless, and then secretly encourage the county people, blow the wind to everyone, and then after the beginning of spring, he will go to check the county fortifications, give him a lore, when the time comes, even if he builds fortifications and recruits some county soldiers, but the demon clan does not come, he is working hard and hurting money, and then agitate and say that he is full of private pockets, haha, this Chu Xian's county will also be done。 ”

"That's right, you, you're not so stupid that you can't be helped, now that you understand, you can't go down and make arrangements, and then watch this good show?"

"Understood, my lord, the lower official will arrange it. ”

......

In just a few days, Chu Xian was 'alarmist', saying that the rumors that the demon clan would commit crimes in two months spread all over Dinghai County, not only Dinghai County, but also other surrounding counties.

Naturally, some people panicked, some people disdained, and some people simply ignored it, as if it were none of their business.

In addition, after Chu Xian came back from Zhenxi City, he really put all his energy into consolidating the county defense, which seemed to be a matter of 'working the people and hurting money', and it was rumored that Chu Xian did this in order to find a legitimate excuse to make money and fill his own pockets, which naturally caused a lot of dissatisfaction immediately.

What's more, in order to rebuild the four arrow towers in Dinghai County, Chu Xian forcibly requisitioned several land under the city walls and demolished some shops, gambling houses and pawnshops, which also offended several wealthy businessmen in the county, and what these people said was even more unpleasant.

"If this newcomer county lord wants silver, let's put it bluntly, what are you doing with these surface projects, wasting money and manpower, don't those stones and timber cost money? These are not our county's money, and besides, I'm afraid most of them have gone into the county lord's own pocket. ”

"I can't say that, after all, the county defense is also a big deal, it is related to the lives of the people in the county, and it is nothing to spend some money. ”

"Bullshit, how many years have the demon clan not seen? My grandson, I don't know what the demon clan looks like? Now it's not the past, the situation will change, the demon clan is weak, if you don't come to attack, it's likely that you won't come in the future, isn't it a waste of money to do this every year? You say, is it a waste of money? This is throwing money into the water, Lord Wu used to do a good job, but unfortunately, Lord Wu did not sit in the position of the county leader. ”

"That's right, I think, the demon clan will definitely not come in the future, if they want to come, they have come all these years, and such a long period of peaceful days has proved this, so this county defense can appropriately cut some expenses, which is in line with common sense, but you see, what is this county lord doing now? He is doing perverse acts, especially if he is using this reason to enrich his own pockets, then it should not be. ”

"My nephew is in a neighboring county, and it has spread over there, and they also laughed and said, Dinghai County, turtle shell, everyone is afraid of death, hearing the word demon clan, the people of the county can be scared and dare not go out, you listen, the people in the neighboring county are so laughing at us, this is all thanks to our county lord. ”

"Shameless, shameful, I can't afford to lose this person, recently the county Cheng wants to recruit the county army, everyone tells relatives and friends, no one goes, when the time comes, you can't recruit people, see if he is ashamed, shame or not. ”

......

It is a taboo to start work in winter, but Chu Xian has no way, for the sake of insurance, he must consolidate the county fortifications in Dinghai County as much as possible.

The damaged city wall needs to be repaired, and the arrow tower must also be built, for this reason, Chu Xian has also put the silver in his hand into it, fortunately, to build the arrow tower, only wood is needed, four or five feet higher than the city wall.

These are okay to say, as long as you are willing to spend money and rush to work, you should be able to get it done before the beginning of spring, but in the matter of reforming the county army, Chu Xian ran into trouble.

No one came to apply.

The first day was like this, Chu Xian felt that it might take some time, but on the second day, the third day, and the fourth day, it was still the same, Chu Xian knew that things were not as simple as he thought.

At this time, Chu Xian also knew all kinds of rumors about him.

"My lord, this is someone deliberately smearing you, strengthening the county defense is a good thing for the benefit of the country and the people, but in their mouths, it is said to be a matter of labor and money, it is said to be dispensable, and it is degraded for nothing, these county people are really ignorant. Jiang Yuan had an expression of hatred at the moment, and he was of course annoyed by the ignorance of the county people.

Chu Xian was lowering his head at the moment, writing a decree.

In two months, the county defense of Dinghai County can barely be built, but there are still eleven villages in the county, and they are distributed around, so it is impossible to assist in the defense of each village in a short time, so the best way is to temporarily move the villagers of the eleven villages to the county seat.

The villagers of the eleven villages, with a population of only 2,000, can move into the county seat in a month if they move faster, for this matter, Chu Xian has hardly slept in the past few days, and is preparing his residence and preparing food for the winter.

In fact, Dinghai County, which can accommodate nearly 10,000 people, only has the size of a 100-person county army, which is really a bit stretched, but in fact, the counties are only assisting in defense, and what really resists the demon clan is a heavy city like Zhenxi City, which chokes the inner passage. In addition, if there is really an invasion of the demon clan, the Chijin army around Zhenxi City will also be stationed in various counties according to the situation.

"Those rumors are not unexpected, they should be inseparable from Wu Degui, don't pay attention to them for the time being, has Wu Degui returned from Zhenxi City?"

Jiang Yuan nodded: "I saw him come back two days ago, and I didn't come to the county office, but I just said that I was sick at home, hmph, I deliberately picked on him." ”

"It doesn't matter, it's more troublesome to have him next to him, the county can't recruit the county army, so a recruitment order will be issued to the surrounding villages, there will always be people coming, and this time how much to come, how much to want, no upper limit. Chu Xian commanded at this time, and when Jiang Yuan heard it, he was startled: "My lord, this matter is not appropriate, the size of the county army in a small county, the regulations of the Holy Dynasty, is a hundred, and no more than one will work." ”

Chu Xian smiled: "If you have more, you should be regarded as your Jiang family's nursing home, these, you don't need me to teach you this kind of thing, right?"

When Jiang Yuan heard this, he also reacted, nodded, and didn't say anything more.

Indeed, as long as you are willing, it is not easy to take advantage of loopholes, and this kind of thing, his old officialdom is naturally handy.

It was rumored outside that Chu Xian was using the county defense and the cover of the demon clan to enrich his pockets, but Jiang Yuan knew better than anyone that Chu Xian not only didn't get a copper plate in this matter, but also advanced ten thousand taels of silver himself.

These Jiang Yuan, the chief bookkeeper of this county, knows better than anyone else, if it weren't for this, it would be impossible for anyone to be willing to start work in this weather, because the silver is enough, and there will be brave men under the so-called heavy reward.

In addition to his own money, Chu Xian, as a county official, really worked hard for the county defense, so diligent and diligent was actually said to be full of private pockets, and anyone would be angry, and it would be worthless for Lord Chu.

However, as for the rumors outside, that Chu Xian, the county lord, believed that the demon clan would invade on the night of the blood moon after the beginning of spring, Jiang Yuan didn't believe it very much.

The Night of the Blood Moon hadn't appeared for almost twenty years, when it would appear, how could Lord Chu have predicted it in advance?