Zhou Xian sneezes loudly with a "cut" sound. He pinched the tip of his nose gently and whispered to himself: "Who is thinking of me again?"

He looked around, walked to the river to wash his face, found a clean stone to sit down. The cool breeze blew, a little cold. He looked up at the sky, it was gray, "It's winter, and the sky has become cold."

Sun Bao shrank his neck and said, "Master General, let's go! It's too windy here, be careful of catching a cold."

Zhou Xian smiled and took off a cloth bag from his waist. Unlocked the rope at the pocket and grabbed a handful of red dates from it. "Changzhou's most famous geese Laihong."

Sun Bao quickly shook his head, "What's the delicious thing about that thing?"

Zhou Xian chose the largest one and put the rest into a cloth bag. Fill that one into his mouth, and the fresh juice was smooth. "Sun Bao, where is your hometown?"

Sun Bao replied: "Bazhou, Hebei, it's only a hundred miles away from here!"

Zhou Xian nodded, "Do you want to go back and take a look now? We may not go north again in the next few years."

Sun Bao twitched the corner of his mouth, and then shook his head gently, "Apart from the few relatives who fled to Jinan, all the rest are dead. There is not even a familiar person, why do you go back?"

Zhou Xian flipped his tongue and spit out the date pit. "After all, it's my hometown, so I have to go back and take a look. By the way, I haven't been back for a long time."

Seeing that Zhou Xian's face seemed to be sad, Sun Bao frowned, "Master General, what's wrong with you today? I always feel that something is wrong with you."

Zhou Xian smiled and did not answer, but asked, "Sun Bao, let me ask you. If you have a knife in your hand, once you swung it out, it will cause hundreds or even tens of millions of people to die. But accordingly, for more than a hundred years, or even hundreds of years, the survivors and their descendants will gain endless benefits from it. If you were you, would you continue to swing the knife?"

Sun Bao thought for a while and said, "Supervisor, then are my relatives and I all those who can survive?"

Zhou Xian shook his head, "I don't know. If they don't wave the knife, they are likely not. But if they wave the knife, they are likely to be."

Sun Bao smiled and said, "What else do you think? I must swing the knife! What does the life and death of others have to do with me?"

Zhou Xian was stunned for a moment, thought for a while, and shook his head vigorously, "I have a big head and no brain, and my thinking is simple. I shouldn't ask you this question."

Sun Bao laughed, "The Supervisor is kind and considers far too much, which is definitely different from what I think. But what I want to say is that everyone has their own fate. Just like me, if I hadn't followed the Supervisor, I would have starved to death long ago. After following the Supervisor, I would have fought everywhere, and it is very likely that I would have died in battle one day. But that's all my life, not because of the Supervisor. When the Supervisor makes a decision, don't think so much. As long as they don't die directly at your hands, it's not your responsibility. And I believe that the Supervisor will not do anything like killing innocent people."

Zhou Xian was slightly moved, and was silent for a long time. He took another date and stuffed it into his mouth. "You said the same."

At this time, dozens of riders arrived.

A hundred steps away, they turned over and dismounted, handed the horse to Zhou Xian's personal guard, and walked towards Zhou Xian.

Yang Yan was the leader, followed by Zhang Jiayu, Yang Zhen, Qiu Huairen and others.

Yang Yan walked forward and clasped his fists to Zhou Xian and said, "The army has been assembled and can leave at any time."

Zhou Xian nodded and asked, "Where is Li Guo and the others!"

Yang Yan replied: "We are all ready. Now there is a small question. Should we go first or let them go back to Nanpi first?"

Zhou Xian said: "Let them set out first! In the back of our palace, let the cavalry led by Tang Qi's camp and Hei Mingde stay at the end to prevent any changes in the middle. It's getting late, so set out early and you can rest in Qingxian Town at night."

Yang Yan nodded, "I will go and pass the order in a while."

Zhou Xian turned his head to look at Yang Zhen and said, "Deputy General Yang, I heard that you brought back more than 2,000 soldiers and nearly 5,000 people from Liaodong?"

Yang Zhen hurried forward and replied: "I have to thank the Commander-in-chief. If you hadn't asked Mr. Jin Qian to lead the fleet to provide assistance, we would never have returned here safely."

Zhou Xian nodded, "I have heard of what Jin Zhixiang did this time, which is a considerable contribution. I will reward me in the future. Now I want to ask Vice General Yang what plans are there next? And Mr. Qiu. If you want to go to Nanjing, I will send someone to send you there. I will let you go if you are willing to follow you. If you choose to stay with me, I will be very welcome, but you will be completely obeyed by my orders in the future."

Without hesitation, Yang Zhen directly clasped his fists and said, "I will be willing to stay in Shandong."

Zhou Xian nodded and looked at Qiu Huairen.

Qiu Huairen frowned, was silent for a while, and finally clasped his fists and said, "I am willing to serve the supervisor."

Zhou Xian smiled faintly and shouted "Okay". "Yang Zhen, you used to be the deputy general of the Ming Dynasty. But now you just surrendered, and you will inevitably be dissatisfied with the deputy general. You will be demoted to lead the troops as the general."

Yang Zhen knew that only one level was reduced to one level was considered a great gift, and he had no objection.

Zhou Xian continued: "The two thousand soldiers you brought will be willing to continue to serve as soldiers. As long as you are qualified, you can stay all of them. If you don't want to, let them and the people you brought to centrally settle. You and your soldiers will return to Jinan for training for a month. At that time, I will expand your soldiers to a regiment. At the beginning of the spring of the next year, your regiment will follow me to Liaodong as a support army."

Yang Zhen was stunned for a moment, holding his fists with confusion on his face to take the order.

Zhou Xian did not give any further explanation, turned to Qiu Huairen and asked, "Mr. Qiu, are you willing to stay in the army or become an official in the local area?"

Seeing Qiu Huairen's face showing confusion, Zhou Xian said: "If you are willing to stay in the army, you should be a military officer by Yang Yan's side and a military officer. If you don't want to fight with the army, go to the local government to become an official. Now everything is booming, and many places are lacking in government talents. With your talent and knowledge, there should be no big problem to be a chief official in a place."

Qiu Huairen looked ugly, "Mr. Governor, I have no fame and honor, I have only passed the scholar exam."

When Zhou Xian heard what he said, he knew that he had made a decision in his heart and smiled faintly: "The tradition of selecting scholars in the imperial examinations will be changed in the future, at least partially modified. You go to Huang County, Daming Prefecture! Start with the county magistrate of a place. Since you can withdraw thousands of people who are nervous here in an orderly manner, there will be no problem in managing the people of a county."
Chapter completed!