Chapter 139 - Appointment

Chapter 139: Chapter 133 AppointmentHowever, the court didn’t pay much attention to his memorial. After a brief glance, they tossed it aside, not even bringing it up during the court meeting. It was only mentioned during Prince East Sea’s discussion, "The routed Xiongnu army fled to the area around Xiping in Ru Nan County. The Xiping County Magistrate and Chief Clerk died defending the city."

Prince East Sea was indifferent and asked, "Is Yu Yang still under attack?"

"Yes, the Ru Nan Governor is still holding Yu Yang and requesting reinforcements from the court."

Everyone looked at Prince East Sea. So, would troops be dispatched to rescue them?

Prince East Sea pondered for a moment and realized he couldn’t spare any troops. So, after some consideration, he said, "Let the Yingchuan Governor go to the rescue."

The crowd: ...

Yingchuan had suffered a disaster last year, and life was extremely difficult this year as well. Many people fled, and numerous disaster victims joined the refugee army, turning into bandits everywhere. Send Yingchuan to rescue?

Prince East Sea continued, "Let Ru Nan provide military rations for Yingchuan."

After thinking about it, everyone realized it was feasible; Ru Nan lacked people while Yingchuan lacked food, perfect.

So there were no objections.

Fu Zhi felt his forehead twitch, but considering Gou Xi, who had troops outside Luoyang and took over a large part of Jingzhao County, he did not oppose the suggestion, simply saying, "Prince, the retreating Xiongnu army must be cleared. If they are not driven out of Jiangnan, everything east of Luoyang will be lost."

Prince East Sea bluntly asked, "Do I have any troops to send? Perhaps you should ask if Your Majesty can send the imperial guard to quell the chaos?"

Fu Zhi said, "Why not persuade Chengdu King and Governor Gou to resolve external threats together first?"

Prince East Sea was under immense pressure recently and was quite irritated, directly saying, "Do you think I don’t want to? Unfortunately, I don’t have a strategist with a silver tongue under my command. How about Fu Zhongshu go on behalf of this prince?"

Fu Zhi paused for a moment before nodding, indicating his willingness to meet Gou Xi.

Prince East Sea doubted his success and let him go with a sneer.

Zhao Zhongyu, seeing them finish this topic, said, "With the Xiping County Magistrate dying in defense of the city, a new magistrate should be appointed. Does the prince have a suitable candidate?"

Prince East Sea, currently short of people, would not send anyone to Xiping, a small town surrounded by the Xiongnu. After all, it wasn’t a critical strategic point, so he casually waved his hand, saying, "Gentlemen, you handle it."

Others knew Xiping was Zhao Zhongyu’s hometown, so they gladly gave him face, asking, "Minister Zhao, do you have a recommended candidate?"

Zhao Zhongyu said, "No candidate for Magistrate, but there is one for County Magistrate..."

Zhao Zhongyu recommended his nephew, Zhao Ming.

Someone then said, "I remember Zhao Ming was rated Mid-grade in his early years; he should be more than qualified to be County Magistrate. Why only appoint him as County Magistrate?"

Zhao Zhongyu replied, "He lacks experience and currently only has the capability to be a County Magistrate."

But if he becomes County Magistrate, who would dare go to Xiping to be the County Magistrate?

Not to mention Zhao Family is a prominent clan in Xiping, and with Zhao Ming’s rank, which is Mid-grade, as a magistrate, he should at least be Mid-grade or even High-grade, right?

But whether Mid-grade or High-grade, who would go to a small Xiping County to be a magistrate, possibly under the control of the local gentry?

Everyone felt the Zhao Family was pretending and decided he should just be appointed as the magistrate directly, pretending to be modest for whose sake?

Nonetheless, everyone still graciously congratulated before agreeing. Ji Yuan’s appointment as Chief Clerk was incidentally decided, with few paying attention.

And Fu Zhi was one of those who noticed.

Zhao Ming being appointed as County Magistrate was already peculiar, and Ji Yuan choosing to become Chief Clerk raised more questions about who the magistrate role was intended for or to accommodate whom?

Fu Zhi felt it had been a long time since he had contacted his grandson, so it was time to send a letter of regard.

Returning home, Zhao Zhongyu said to Zhao Ji, "Write to Zi Nian, telling him what he requested has been accomplished, and the court’s official documents will soon reach Xiping."

Zhao Ji agreed, still puzzled, "Father, why doesn’t Zi Nian directly become the County Magistrate and instead wants to be the County Magistrate?"

How would he know?

Zhao Zhongyu said, "You could write him a letter and ask."

Zhao Ji didn’t want to ask, as it would make him seem dim-witted.

Zhao Zhongyu tiredly rubbed his forehead and said after a moment of silence, "Tell Zi Nian that currently, the court has no troops to assist Ru Nan, so he should be cautious in all matters. If things don’t work out, he should take the clan north to temporarily avoid the conflict."

Zhao Ji was shocked, "Is the situation really that serious?"

"There’s news that Liu Yuan is planning to declare himself emperor in the north. If he manages to conquer Yu State now, it would establish his might before the world."

Zhao Ji was puzzled, "Why doesn’t the prince send troops to drive out the Xiongnu Army?"

"The prince didn’t expect the Xiongnu Army, after retreating, would head south. He first dispatched troops to regain Chang’an, and now that Jingzhao County has been mostly reclaimed, he can’t let those efforts go in vain," Zhao Zhongyu sighed and said, "It depends on whether Fu Zhi can persuade Gou Xi."

If Gou Xi withdraws his troops, the Prince of East Sea can spare some forces to support Yu State.

However, this isn’t something that can be accomplished overnight. Zhao Zhongyu still hopes Zhao Ming can stand firm and protect Xiping and Zhao’s Fortress.

His gaze fell on the letter on the desk. With Ji Yuan supporting Zhao Ming, had they managed to bring Ji Yuan over?

Having Ji Yuan means there is some chance, right?

Although Xiongnu soldiers wreak havoc in Yu State, the court’s communications were not disrupted, and Zhao Hanzhang soon received the official documents.

Indeed, the documents were delivered directly to the county government, so Zhao Hanzhang received them.

The soldier delivering them was surprised; he hadn’t expected the person in charge at the county government now seemed to be a lady. He looked around and asked, "Where is Zhao Ming?"

Zhao Hanzhang softly replied, "My uncle has returned to the fortress. He didn’t know the envoy would bring these documents, so I’ll send someone to invite him back."

The soldier didn’t suspect anything, asking, "Will it take long? I need to return soon."

"Not long; the Zhao family’s fortress is not far from the county seat." The soldier took Zhao Hanzhang as Zhao Ming’s family member, probably managing the domestic matters, but not sure why she appeared in the front hall.

Zhao Hanzhang left, instructing Qiu Wu to entertain the guest, "Watch him closely, don’t let him wander around or overhear anything he shouldn’t."

Qiu Wu bowed and replied, "Understood."

Zhao Hanzhang sent someone to the fortress to invite Zhao Ming, and she returned to her study to continue her work.

Zhao Ming quickly arrived, gave the document receipt back to him, and handed the official document to Zhao Hanzhang before patting his behind to leave. At the door, he remembered something, turned back, and asked, "Is Ji Yuan still in Shangcai?"

Zhao Hanzhang, satisfied with the document in hand, looked up and smiled at him, "We temporarily don’t need Mr. Ji’s presence here."

Understood, she merely intended to ensure that both the County Magistrate and Chief Clerk were her people to keep control over Xiping.

Zhao Ming thought for a moment, "It’s been ten days. You should return to the fortress and meet with the clan elders."

Now that Xiping County had stabilized, everything was back on track, and she indeed needed to deal with some follow-up matters.

Not only did she need to return to the fortress, but she also had to make a trip back to Shangcai; she wondered if County Magistrate Chai of Shangcai could sleep peacefully during this period?