After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times

Zhao Hanzhang laughed and said, "But I’m still the Governor of Si Province, although the title of Governor is smaller than theirs, it doesn’t matter, because this is a concurrent appointment."

Zhao Erlang understood, "So I’m both a General and a County Magistrate."

Zhao Hanzhang nodded, and said to him, "I made you the County Magistrate to let you learn how to govern a place and manage the people, so you must personally handle county affairs, not like in the army where you hand everything over to Xie Shi."

When Zhao Erlang heard he had to be independent, he became a bit flustered, "Can I really do this?"

"I will let Zhao Zheng be your assistant to the County Magistrate, and once you learn how to govern, I’ll let you gain experience elsewhere," Zhao Hanzhang looked at him encouragingly and said, "Our Second Son can go to war and learn to use military strategies, naturally, he can also learn to govern. You have a good heart and can restrain yourself, making you superior to most people in this world, so there’s no need to belittle yourself."

Upon hearing that Zhao Zheng would assist him, Zhao Erlang felt slightly relieved, "Can I consult with Cousin Zheng if I don’t understand something?"

Zhao Hanzhang smiled and nodded, full of comfort, "Of course, although you are the officer, as an official, you must listen to the suggestions of your subordinates. Remember, the ruler and the people fear officials who are self-opinionated and don’t listen to advice, but they also fear officials who are easily swayed, indecisive with everything, so after you become the County Magistrate of Luoyang County, you must learn how to hear effective suggestions, how to choose the most suitable ones, and finally how to implement them."

As Zhao Erlang listened, his eyes became a bit dazed, as though his mind was wandering outside.

Seeing that his sister had stopped speaking, he immediately took out a small notebook and pen from his pocket, "Sister, can you say it again, I’ll write it down."

Zhao Hanzhang glanced at his notebook, "You can’t write, how will you take notes?"

She took his notebook and leafed through it, finding all sorts of symbols, little circles, triangles, and various shapes of stick figures.

She was a little baffled and casually pointed at one, asking, "What does this mean?"

Zhao Erlang glanced and said, "This is what Mr. Xie said, telling me to take the lead in maintaining military discipline. If I don’t follow military rules, then the entire army will question you, Sister, and then you won’t be able to control the troops."

Zhao Hanzhang tried hard to match the various little figures on the page with this explanation but could not, so with a learning spirit, she asked, "Which word does this correspond to?"

Zhao Erlang glanced and said, "This is Gou Chun."

Zhao Hanzhang was once again baffled, "Gou Chun?" Isn’t it about following military discipline? What does it have to do with Gou Chun?

"Yes," Zhao Erlang pointed at the ugliest little figure he had drawn and said, "He’s holding a bow and arrow, so he’s Gou Chun. Didn’t you say Gou Xi ultimately lost because he lost the people’s hearts, and the first point at which he lost them was by indulging Gou Chun; Gou Chun didn’t follow military rules and he wasn’t punished, and later, he directly violated military discipline, embezzling military pay and rations to live extravagantly."

"So when Mr. Xie said that, I thought of their brothers. To remember, I recorded them this way."

Zhao Hanzhang couldn’t help but exclaim, "Others use words to record a story, you use a drawing to record two stories."

Yet Zhao Hu even dared to mock Erlang for being foolish, hmph, clearly he’s the foolish one!

Zhao Hanzhang did not hesitate to praise him, "Erlang is really amazing."

Zhao Erlang grinned, overflowing with pride.

Xie Shi climbed over the broken wall and crossed the stones and tiles to approach. Looking up, he saw Zhao Erlang’s grinning face and exhaled sharply, raised his hand, and loudly said, "Xie Shi greets the Great General!"

The warm atmosphere between the siblings cooled as they looked down to see Xie Shi’s eyes smoldering, and the two abruptly stopped smiling and became solemn.

Zhao Erlang looked pleadingly at Zhao Hanzhang.

Zhao Hanzhang had to lean forward slightly, shielding Zhao Erlang behind her, "Why have you come, Zi Chen, come up and sit."

Xie Shi silently stared at the roof, half collapsed and exposing the sky.

Zhao Hanzhang awkwardly coughed lightly, stood up on the roof, "We’ll come down, we’ll come down."

Saying that, she tugged Zhao Erlang, and the two vaulted down.

Both siblings landed steadily in front of Xie Shi, smiling at him.

Xie Shi took a deep breath, suppressed his anger, and asked Zhao Hanzhang, "Did the Great General summon the general to lead troops into the capital just to move these stones?"

"No," even if it was, she couldn’t admit it, didn’t see Xie Shi’s eyes almost igniting? Zhao Hanzhang’s mind rapidly spun, immediately finding a good excuse, no, a good reason: "I made him the County Magistrate of Luoyang County, you also know, now so many people have migrated back to Luoyang, including prominent families, to prevent chaos, I let him bring more personal soldiers in."

Xie Shi was stunned, "You appointed the general as the County Magistrate of Luoyang County?"

"Yes, is there a more suitable candidate than Erlang?"

Xie Shi lowered his eyes in thought, after a while said, "With Minister Fu not here, indeed Erlang is the most suitable."

The court’s relocation back to Luoyang, in the coming two to three years, surely many will move back to Luoyang, among them many of high birth.

With more people, conflicts are easy to arise, and with a conflict, disputes follow, the County Magistrate of Luoyang must be someone impartial, who can handle all kinds of disputes according to the law, to allow the court to quickly establish authority and maintain long-term stability and peace.

Zhao Erlang might not be impartial, but he’s straightforward, and as long as he can restrain himself, he can justly restrain others.

Moreover, with his identity, nobody can bring him down or defeat him.

Oh, provided Zhao Hanzhang remains strong.

Xie Shi suddenly felt that Zhao Erlang was indeed the most suitable candidate for the County Magistrate of Luoyang County.

He looked at Zhao Hanzhang with admiration and conviction, respectfully bowing, "The Great General is wise!"

Zhao Hanzhang’s lips curled slightly, and she said to him, "I appointed Zhao Zheng as his assistant, so as not to wrong you into becoming just a small clerk at the county government, so please assist with military affairs for him, and occasionally guide him in county matters."

Xie Shi understood now; it was to make him a mentor to Zhao Erlang, a hands-off mentor, she intended to cultivate Zhao Erlang’s governance ability.

Xie Shi did not feel slighted, but rather excited, this meant Zhao Hanzhang would increasingly rely on Zhao Erlang, she was grooming him to be a capable minister.

He had already aligned himself with Zhao Erlang for a long time; Wang Nai might have a chance to break free, after all, he is now the Prefectural Governor of Nanyang County, and hasn’t been with Zhao Erlang for a while, but he had been constantly at Zhao Erlang’s side, both had long been stamped with each other’s label and probably would never tear it off in this lifetime.

So the more capable Zhao Erlang became, the better prospects Xie Shi would have.

He solemnly agreed, expressing that he would indeed do well in mentoring, temporarily forgetting to question the bizarre behavior of the personal soldiers collecting stones and wood.