Chapter 61, Investigating and Promoting the Correct

  On the tenth day, the sky was gloomy and overcast with dark clouds. From early morning on, there were signs of impending rain that had yet to fall.

  This morning, Zu Zhaocong sent off a group of guests from the Gongsun family on his grandfather's orders. Just after passing the county town, the sky suddenly started drizzling with fine rain. Gongsun Zhi politely suggested that it was enough for Zu Zhao and others to send them off here and there was no need to continue advancing in the rain. After a courtesy, Zu Zhao bid farewell to each of the guests from the Gongsun family and returned to the Zu family village with his brothers.

  Not long after everyone returned home, the county magistrate's clerk came again to inform Zu Zhao that he would be leaving for the prefectural government at noon to participate in this year's imperial examination. County Magistrate Chen had arranged for several county officials to accompany him. After making some preparations, Zu Zhao bid farewell to his grandfather and the three elders of the clan, carefully packed his luggage, and rushed to the county government office to see County Magistrate Chen.

  Not long after following the county chief out of the door, Zu Ji, Zu Ling and five or six other young men each prepared their horses and followed them out, claiming that they were entrusted by the clan leader to follow along, and there would be someone to take care of them on the way. Zu Zhao did not refuse, anyway, more people wouldn't get in the way, on the contrary, if something needed to be done, there would be a few more hands available.

  Zu Qi had been recuperating at home for many days since he was injured while fighting bandits in the neighboring county last time. His injury wasn't too serious, and with the ability to eat and drink every day, although his complexion was slightly uncomfortable, his body was actually more robust than before.

  After entering the city, he went straight to the county government office. The three old sages of the county had been waiting for a long time. Zu Zhao first met with County Magistrate Chen in the back hall and exchanged pleasantries for a while before coming out again to meet with several elderly men of good reputation in the county. He asked them a few questions, following the usual protocol. When facing these elder "examiners", he did not show any tension or nervousness, remaining calm and composed from start to finish. Given his family's status and his own recent reputation, the county's virtuous elders had hardly expressed any dissatisfaction.

  The name of Xian Da originally means "you come and I go". The more famous, talented and virtuous the people recommended by these elders are, the more they will make the world think that they have discerning eyes. Zu Zhao has had a humble reputation since childhood, but in his clan and village, he still has an image of being filial and respectful. In the past month, he twice demonstrated great bravery, killing over ten bandits who invaded the border. A few days ago, both the General of Chariots and Cavalry and the Governor of Zhuo County sent people to visit him, and his reputation is already spreading outside.

  So, today just need to be polite and courteous to these few virtuous elders, will definitely gain the support of everyone.

  They stayed in the county government for only two periods, and everything went smoothly. County Magistrate Chen signed the letter of recommendation and official pass, handed them over to Tongwen clerk to keep well, and personally sent Zu Zhao and others to the end of the street in front of the county government. Before leaving, he repeatedly exhorted "Don't lose face for this county".

  The county seat of Youbei Ping is located in Pinggang, about 120 miles south of Xuzhou.

  Zu Zhao and his party rode for several hours, resting multiple times along the way, before finally arriving at the outskirts of Pinggang County as night fell.

  At this time, the county town gate has been closed, and everyone can only temporarily stay at the post station in the town outside the city.

  The examination does not have a strict time limit, starting from the 10th day of the first month, and within 7-8 days, all recommended candidates can come to the county government to participate in the evaluation. The specific evaluation also does not have a particular format, each item has its own differences, usually the prefect will invite local celebrities, virtuous elders, etc. to set up a banquet, at which they will examine the candidates from different aspects. Except for the two categories of "Holding Virtue and Righteousness" and "Holding Filial Piety", other subjects require some demonstration of skills.

  Zu Zhaowas this time recommended by Chen Xianjun as the Ming Suan Fang Zheng, he was quite confident in arithmetic and had nothing to worry about or be nervous about. Moreover, at the beginning of the Han Dynasty, the implementation of the Chá Jǔ system was very serious, now it is already the end of the Han Dynasty, even the imperial court is corrupt and incompetent, let alone the small counties on the border? Even if there are some honest and upright local officials who adhere to norms, that is only a very small number, either pedantic, mediocre or incompetent.

  Therefore, considering the current influence of the ancestral home in the county, the county governor will naturally try to win them over, so this time's inspection tour should not have too many major differences.

  The next morning, Zu Zhao and his party finished washing up, had a simple meal, and prepared to enter the city.

  Zu Ji and two fellow clerks hurried out to prepare the horses, while Zu Zhao, Zu Ling, and the clerk carrying documents followed them out of the station gate.

  The weather today is still not very good, gloomy and overcast, with rain hanging behind dark clouds but hesitating to fall. Having been dry for many years, I just hope that at the beginning of the year there will be a good rain to moisten the earth.

  Just as Zu Qi and the others were waiting for the horses to be led out from the stable in the backyard of the post station, Zu Zhao suddenly heard a commotion coming from behind a nearby teahouse.

  "Thief! How dare you steal things!"

  "Beat him to death!"

  "Ah...... stealing things and daring to hit people, hurry up and report to the authorities...... Ah, ah, don't hit me......"

  "Help! Someone's being beaten!"

  Zu Zhao was not sure what had happened, and this was not a place where Xu Wu was present, so it was better not to interfere with some things. Just at this moment, Zu Ji and others led the horse over, and he immediately jumped onto the horse's back. However, on the horse's back, he looked down from above and saw through a broken hole in the teahouse roof that there were three or five people, including teahouse staff and passersby, surrounding a person with tattered clothes but strong arms and legs.

  The latter held three buns in one hand, constantly stuffing them into his mouth, while the other hand waved around to prevent the surrounding people from approaching. At first, those people didn't dare to come forward rashly, but soon several more came running from the street, and together they pounced on him. The burly man with tattered clothes parried for a while, using one hand to knock down several people, but was ultimately beaten to the ground by the sheer number of attackers. Even so, he crouched his body, desperately protecting the few remaining buns that he hadn't finished eating, enduring the rain-like blows from the crowd.

  Just as the sturdy man was about to reach his limit, Zu Zhao saw the person's appearance and immediately furrowed his brow.

  "The young master can go on his way." a fellow junior official hinted.

  "It's not urgent," said Zu Zhao, kicking his horse in the belly and urging it towards the teahouse.

  Zu Qi, Zu Ling and several other young men were all astonished, but none of them said anything, and they all followed after him on horseback without a word.

  When they arrived in front of the tea house, several onlookers mistakenly thought that those few small officials were government officials and hurriedly ran over to report.

  "Sir, sir! That man is stealing and hitting people, catch him quickly!"

  "Yes, that scoundrel's strength is considerable, one punch and he knocked Zhang Jia San unconscious."

  His fellow officials were also at a loss, awkwardly explaining the situation, and they too couldn't understand why the young master suddenly liked to join in on the commotion. Wasn't he eager to help catch the thief?

  "Stop it, all of you! Stop fighting!" Zu Zhao shouted loudly on horseback, his voice stern and authoritative.

  Those who were beating the rough men thought they were officials and stopped one after another.

  Only the rough man lying on the ground could still move, with multiple bleeding wounds on his back and arms, panting heavily, unable to struggle up for a while.

  A man who looked like a shop assistant asked in confusion, "Sir, what are you going to do? This rascal has stolen things before, just the other day he stole from old Wang who sells fruit next door. Today we caught him red-handed, surely you're going to take him to the authorities?"

  At this moment, the rough man finally got up. The surrounding crowd was frightened and retreated a few steps in a hurry, fearing that he would take advantage of the situation to launch a sneak attack. Anyone knew that his fists and feet were ruthless.

  The rough man took a deep breath, wiped the blood from his nose, glared around and shouted: "I'm hungry, Grandpa! How about I eat some of your buns? If I have money in the future, I'll pay you back!"

  His words had barely fallen when his eyes suddenly saw Zu Zhao on horseback, and his face was shocked beyond measure.

  After being stunned for a while, he hastily turned around and retreated, but was blocked by the tea house's partner.

  Zu Zhao coldly smiled and said: "Yan Mao, I didn't think we'd meet again."

  That man was none other than Yan Mao, the bandit who had exchanged dozens of blows with Zu Shao in a one-on-one duel when they were suppressing bandits in Lingzhi County. I thought that after sparing his life, he would hurry to reunite with other bandits, but I never expected him to end up in such a state. It was vastly different from the ferocious and proud demeanor he had shown that day.

  Yan Mao looked at the small official in white clothes behind Zu Zhao, then looked at the surrounding citizens who were staring fiercely, and spat a mouthful of saliva on the ground in anger, saying: "Things have come to this, I have nothing to say, whether you want to kill or execute, it's up to you."

  Zu Ling, Zu Ji and others didn't know Yan Mao very well either, nor did they understand what kind of grudge he had with the Crown Prince. They all looked at each other in confusion, wondering how a small thief like him could suddenly want to kill and overthrow the prince.

  Zu Zhao stared at Yan Mao for a while, only to see the other turn his face away, raise his head, and assume an air of indifference. In his heart, he secretly sighed: indeed a good man, unfortunately misled. He suddenly reached out from his waist and pulled out his purse, without hesitation directly throwing it out, the purse accurately falling in front of Yan Mao.

  "Shopkeeper, I've already given him some silver coins to compensate you for the cost of the buns. Let's just drop the matter."

  Zu Zhao looked at the shop assistant-like person from before and said calmly.

  "The shop assistant hesitated for a moment and then said: 'Then how about hitting someone?'"

  Zu Zhaodao said: "The silver in my purse can last for a month's worth of food and lodging, enough to compensate for everything."

  As long as there's compensation, everything will be alright. Moreover, seeing Zuzhao and others are not ordinary people, we can't afford not to sell this favor. The shop assistant immediately nodded repeatedly and replied: "Alright, I'll give in to this young master's face."

  Yan Mao listened to the conversation between the two, his face shocked and incredulous. He stretched out his hand to take the heavy money bag, looking at Zu Zhao in a daze.

  Zu Zhao didn't say much more, led the horse's head and went towards the city gate.

  "You...you want to kill me?"

  Zu Chao didn't respond and his figure gradually disappeared into the distance.

  Yan Mao hung his head in thought for a while, and finally let out a long sigh.

  Pinggang County is not only the county seat of Youbei Ping Prefecture, but also the place in Youbei Ping Prefecture that is farthest from the border. Therefore, the entire city is much larger and more prosperous than Xu Wu and Ling Zhi. It was already early in the morning when many people swarmed into the city as the New Year's Eve approached. Zu Chao and his party followed the crowd through the East City Gate and walked along the straight and spacious main road. The prefectural government is located at the midpoint of this main road, and the outline of the prefectural government can be seen in the distance when entering the city.

  On their way to the county government office, Zu Ji couldn't help but ask Zu Zhao: "Young Master, who was that bandit we just encountered?"

  Zu Zhao smiled faintly and said, "You don't recognize me at all?"

  "Can't recognize? Should I... recognize?"

  Zu Chao continued to smile and said: "Forget it, you don't need to guess anymore, and this matter doesn't have to be spread around either."

  Zu Ji slowly nodded and indeed did not ask more questions.

  The county government office is majestic and grand, even if the northern Pingzhou is not a rich county, but after many prefects have repeatedly renovated it, it still has its noble and magnificent side. When arriving at the gate, the official invitation and letter of introduction were handed over, and the doorman led everyone to wait in a small courtyard in front of the public hall of the prefectural government office. The county government is not like the county government, the procedure for handling official business is complicated, and it took more than half an hour before a county lieutenant came to greet everyone to the main hall of the public hall.

  The county governor introduced the situation of this year's imperial examination, each county has a quota for selection, and the subjects selected are also different. He had heard of Zu Zhao's reputation and was well aware of his family's influence in the county, so he smiled and said: "Zu Gongzi's name is already well-known, but Xu Wuchen chose Zu Gongzi to enter the Ming Suan Ke, is there something wrong with this?"

  In Zǔ Zhāo's case, it is more appropriate to take the Yǒng Měng Fāng Zhèng department, which is the right path. No matter how you think about it, it doesn't make sense to enter the cold door of Míng Suàn Fāng Zhèng department.

  Zu Zhaoren humbly replied: "I'm inferior in talent and learning, bravery can only be relied upon for a momentary effort, it's better to carefully plan and grasp nine out of ten certainties."

  The county magistrate nodded and said, "To tell the truth, this is the custom of our county. Every year, eight or nine out of ten who enter the examination for bravery and integrity are from this family. Unfortunately, your ancestor had a good foundation. However, Governor Liu has decided to meet with the first batch of candidates tomorrow evening. If you change your mind at the last minute, please let me know in time, and I will make arrangements for you."

  Zu Zhao smiled and said: "Thank you for your concern, sir. I will remember it."

  Upon arriving at the main hall, the county magistrate had the attendants move to a side chamber to wait, and soon after, the governor would first receive Zu Zhao.