After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times-Chapter 803 - 793: Who Recommended Him?

The twenty thousand troops temporarily remained outside the city, while Zhao Hanzhang led Fan Ying, Ming Yu, and others into the city first.

Xun Xiu took Yuan Li out of the city to reclaim land, leaving only various subordinate generals inside the city.

The County Magistrate of Meng County, in a disheveled state, hurriedly caught up from behind. Zhao Hanzhang stopped to look at him, "Zhao Bin, why are you in such a mess?"

Zhao Bin felt like crying and straightened his crooked crown before saying, "Governor, too many people want to leave the city. If we don’t find a solution, I won’t be able to stop them."

Zhao Hanzhang turned and continued walking towards the county government, saying, "Isn’t this your responsibility as County Magistrate? What’s the point of having you if you ask me to think of a solution?"

Zhao Bin was taken aback and quickly followed behind, "So you also refuse to let people leave?"

Zhao Hanzhang stopped, turned around, and looked at him with a heavy gaze, "I’m telling you, if you can’t appease the people and it ends up destabilizing my army’s morale, you’ll be the first I execute!"

Zhao Bin was stunned.

Zhao Hanzhang left him behind, striding into the county government. As Ming Yu passed by Zhao Bin, he tapped his head with a fan and said, "Idiot, at this time nothing is more important than stabilizing army morale. You think only the people’s morale is affected when they clamor at the city gate? It affects the army’s morale too."

"If you let them go, who are the remaining soldiers protecting? Or are they just shields for arrows? We’ve already lost three cities in a row, and the army’s morale is unstable. You go tell them that if Meng County falls, the first to die will be these soldiers; but if they continue to cause trouble, even if Meng County doesn’t fall, they’ll be the first to die."

Ming Yu added, "Our Governor here isn’t short of examples of killing chickens to scare the monkeys. You ask them who wants to be the first chicken in Meng County."

Zhao Bin said, "But the Governor has always loved the people..."

Fan Ying, who was passing by, didn’t want to listen anymore, feeling Zhao Bin was delaying things, he said, "The Governor loves the people, but loves the majority. After Meng County comes the entire Chen County, the whole Yu State, and even the entire Great Jin. Can those people at the city gates compare in importance? County Magistrate Zhao, where is your Chief Clerk? Is he currently managing the provisions in the city? Have him bring the account books to me."

Zhao Bin was distracted, "Which account books?"

"All of them," Fan Ying said, "I remember Meng County has two granaries, your county government has a storage, and there’s a special treasury for money. I need to see all the account books."

Zhao Bin said, "But two days ago, Shi Le’s Army attacked, and we suffered great losses..."

"They still need to be checked. How much did we have before, how much is left now, and how long will the food last with so many people in the city? We need to have a clear idea," Fan Ying said, "Didn’t you do an inventory of the losses after reclaiming the county?"

Ming Yu smiled at Fan Ying and went to catch up with Zhao Hanzhang.

Zhao Hanzhang, having good ears, also heard the conversation behind her.

She waved her hand at the subordinate generals who came forward to salute her and glanced at the wall, asking, "Where’s the map?"

A fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy in a gray robe immediately came up with a map. With the help of two personal guards, he hung and slowly unfurled it.

Zhao Hanzhang looked at him curiously and asked, "Why was this map put away?"

He replied seriously, "To prevent spies from peeking."

Hearing this, Zhao Hanzhang chuckled and asked, "Are you from the academy?"

The boy flushed with excitement and bowed, "Yes, I am Zhao Jialiang."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Hanzhang was pleasantly surprised, "You are from the Jia generation, not bad, not bad. Have you graduated?"

"Yes, last winter I passed the graduation exams, so I can seek a job in the administration while continuing my studies." He added, "The care and maintenance of this map are my responsibility."

Zhao Hanzhang approvingly patted his shoulder, "Not bad, very impressive, but the sea of learning is boundless. You’ve only studied roughly for four years, and there’s still much to learn in the future."

Zhao Jialiang nodded seriously, "Yes, I will remember your guidance, ma’am."

Zhao Hanzhang then looked at the map and asked the generals, "Tell me, how did we lose the previous five cities, and how did we regain two of them?"

The generals exchanged glances until Li Tian stepped forward to report.

Shi Le’s army appeared so suddenly. Zhao Hanzhang originally had a large army garrisoned at the border. Zhao Ju’s deputy general, Gao Yi, was stationed at the northern border of Yu State, specifically against the Xiongnu and Jiehu from Jizhou.

But when Zhao Hanzhang went to Yun City for a heavenly sacrifice, to deter Gou Xi, making them afraid to attack Zhao Hanzhang, Zhao Ju deployed eighty thousand troops along the Yan State border, just in case.

Shi Le’s army suddenly appeared and launched a ferocious attack. Gao Yi’s call for reinforcements was slow, and he didn’t hold out for long, losing two cities within a day.

Zhao Ming received the battle report and immediately dispatched Mi Ce and other subordinate generals for support, which halted the Xiongnu’s advance.

However, the battle was intense and fierce, with each side struggling for advantage.

Due to the loss of five cities previously, and with Shi Le’s army coming so aggressively again, the morale of the troops was somewhat shaken.

Zhao Hanzhang asked, "Where is Gao Yi?"

Li Tian lowered his head and said, "Severely injured, recovering in the camp."

No wonder the army’s morale wavered; even the original deputy general was severely injured.

Zhao Hanzhang picked up a pen and marked the information from the scouts on the map. Zhao Hanzhang then stared at the map and asked, "Did you see Shi Le?"

"Yes," Li Tian said, "the one who severely injured General Gao is indeed Shi Le."

Zhao Hanzhang couldn’t help but murmur, "He really can hold back from going to Yan State?" 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

But it’s also better this way; keeping him restrained here is better than being uncontrollable in Yan State.

Zhao Hanzhang rearranged the defense and ordered, "Defend only, do not venture out; wait for them to attack the city."

"Governor, we lost Shan County, Cao County, and Zi County. Shouldn’t we retake them?"

Zhao Hanzhang replied, "We will retake them, but not hastily. Our goal is to immobilize as many enemy troops as possible, so defensive priority."

The subordinate generals agreed.

Just after the redeployment was completed, the sound of horses neighing was heard outside.

Zhao Hanzhang glanced outside and saw Xun Xiu walking in with murderous intent, holding a saber. He cupped his fists with both hands and bowed, "General reporting to the Inspector!"

Zhao Hanzhang nodded slightly and asked, "How did it go?"

Xun Xiu cursed, "A bunch of bastards, using underhanded tactics, dug many pits on the routes I must pass, nearly crippling our horses..."

In short, he didn’t lose, but also didn’t win, and suffered considerable losses.

But Zhao Hanzhang felt he had lost as he hadn’t recaptured lost territory nor dealt any significant blow to the enemy, further shaking his army’s morale.

Zhao Hanzhang signaled for Zhao Jialiang to roll up the map and said, "Let’s move to the North City Gate, relocate the main tent there, and return the county government to the County Magistrate."

The soldiers moved quickly, rolling up their belongings and lifting them, directly shifting the position.

The bewildered Chief Clerk of Meng County rushed to follow but was stopped by Fan Ying, who grabbed his back collar, saying, "You don’t need to go. Hand over the account books to Secretary Cao."

Zhao Hanzhang took a moment to glance back and couldn’t help but ask Fan Ying after mounting her horse, "I remember appointing every county magistrate. Zhao Bin wasn’t recruited from the talent examinations; who recommended him to me?"

Fan Ying slightly bowed and said, "It was the Fifth Grandfather."