Since Liu Ruyu said that he would help Zhao Ce find a good person to proofread it, Zhao Ce thought about it and decided to reprocess the book before doing so.

The Ming Dynasty only focused on the Four Books and Five Classics, and the rest were miscellaneous studies.

Poetry can also reflect the level of writing articles. Since the Tang Dynasty, arithmetic was kicked out of the imperial examination, so it is really useless.

However, after Liu Ruyu saw it, he greatly appreciated Zhao Ce's book and even rewrote a letter, saying that he would personally find a reviewer for Zhao Ce.

As a capital official, the reviewer he could find for Zhao Ce must be a higher official than him.

Otherwise, he might as well proofread it for Zhao Ce himself.

So if the person Liu Ruyu finds is really awesome and coaxing, then Zhao Ce's book will probably arouse the pursuit of scholars all over the Ming Dynasty in minutes.

No way, the celebrity effect in this era, even if it is blocked by information, still cannot slow down everyone's enthusiasm.

Liu Ruyu heard Zhao Ce say that he would read through it again in the next few days to see if there was anything that needed to be added or deleted, and he nodded directly and said: "Okay."

"It's hard to get out of the city now, so it's hard to deliver this book."

"You'll have to wait and see. After the situation in the city slows down, I will send someone back to the capital."

Liu Ruyu thought for a while, then wrote a new letter and asked Zhao Ce to help send it.

After Zhao Ce received the letter, he cupped his hands and said, "Thank you, Mr. Liu, for taking it seriously."

Liu Ruyu waved his hand and said, "You're welcome, I'll leave the letter to you."

Zhao Ce: "Students should do their best."

Liu Ruyu waved his hand, pulled Zhao Ce and asked, "By the way, I heard that you captured a group of thieves on the mountain earlier, so you received the title of Righteous People from the Holy One."

"Is this group of thieves related to the rebels this time?"

Zhao Ce remembered that this person was a censor sent by the imperial court, and his main job was to deal with the matter in Yanba, their provincial capital.

Zhao Ce then told Liu Ruyu everything that had happened before.

Among them were the natives who he had learned earlier in the city that all the medicine for wounds in the pharmacy had been sold out, and who later appeared in the mountains, as well as the close relatives of the General Soldier who came uninvited from the provincial capital.

He also expressed his conjecture that this incident was probably related to Guangxi Tusi, and told Liu Ruyu one by one.

Liu Ruyu breathed heavily and exclaimed from time to time.

When he heard Zhao Ce talk about the salt in the Buddha statue, he couldn't help but frown and said: "So this incident, in the final analysis, was caused by that group of thieves."

Originally, this group of people might have just become more powerful in the local area, and they would not be able to start an uprising at this time.

And even if there is an uprising, they will not choose a city that is far away from them.

But there was no salt in their city, so they had no choice but to expand to the surrounding areas to rob the salt mine left by another thief.

In this way, everything will make sense.

Zhao Ce added: "To be honest, I think this group of rebels will attack our city rashly this time. It is most likely because the situation in Guangxi has changed."

"Before the prefectural examination, the students had already learned that the medicine for wounds in the prefectural city had been snapped up on a large scale."

"However, there was no large-scale harm at all in our city at that time, and there was no trace of any bandits."

"Now the student dares to say that all the medicine for injuries was probably transported to the other side of the mountain by thieves."

"They had planned it for a long time!"

Zhao Ce also made inquiries for a long time, but except for Lao Gu and his group later, nothing special happened in their city.

In addition, the place where Lao Gu came to was so far away from them, and the incident took so long, Zhao Ce stopped pursuing the matter.

"Hiss~"

Liu Ruyu took a breath and said, "Brother Lin, I really admire your observation ability."

"I heard that you have been in Fucheng for less than two months, but you have already seen the whole story clearly."

See clearly?

Zhao Ce remained silent and listened quietly to Liu Ruyu's next words.

Although Liu Ruyu was held captive by the rebels for a while, he must have gotten more information from the capital to the provincial capital than he did.

Thinking of the news he got when he came, Liu Ruyu said again: "Brother Lin didn't know something, and he got the news on the way when I came."

"The chieftains of Guangxi rebelled and imprisoned the local magistrate. Governor Pan has mobilized 108,000 troops. Now the army is pressing towards Guangxi."

He said solemnly: "So your guess is completely correct."

"If you are in the provincial government and can inform Master Pan of this matter in advance, I'm afraid we can nip it in the bud."

However, the distance from their capital city to the provincial capital is really far.

What's more, with Zhao Ce's status, he usually can't see the governor.

Zhao Ce could only sigh softly in his heart.

Ever since he met the gang of thieves in the suburbs, he had colluded with the whole story early on and informed Lao Feng of the matter in advance.

Unfortunately it's too late...

Liu Ruyu also sighed: "When you say this now, I just feel that the situation may be very bad for us."

"After all, the natives are brave, otherwise Master Pan wouldn't have to go to war like this."

"By the way, brother Lin, now that you've sorted everything out and come to a conclusion, do you have a way to deal with it?"

"Now that the army is pressing towards Guangxi, there may not be many troops that can be sent to rescue us."

Zhao Ce smiled bitterly: "What else can I do? In this case, we can only fight."

A hundred and eighty thousand troops were brought over there to press the border, and the war was about to be concluded. Such a large-scale march would not take a month and a half to settle down.

So it's really difficult to count on reinforcements.

But now that the news has spread that their city is under siege, people from other cities will intercept the rebels on their way.

Therefore, there is no danger that the number of rebels will continue to increase.

They were just rebels besieging the city. They had supplies from the villages outside the city, so they didn't have to worry about food at all.

After all, it is the time of the autumn harvest, and the autumn taxes have been collected, so every household has food in their hands.

The rebels were out of food, so they just went and plundered a village as before, which was enough to eat and drink.

But if they were besieged in the city for so long, they would definitely not be able to hold on.

By then, after guarding the city for a month or two, the men and horses will be exhausted, and we will definitely be unable to defeat them again.

So it is better to take the initiative while everyone is energetic now.

Liu Ruyu listened to Zhao Ce's words and nodded in agreement: "That makes sense."

"Brother Lin, as a scholar, you have such a fearless spirit. I really admire you."

"It's a pity that I'm just an ordinary scholar and can't pick up a sword and mount a horse."

"Why......"

Zhao Ce was just thinking about what was going to happen next when he heard Liu Ruyu start talking again for some reason.

He didn't need Zhao Ce to answer, he just put his hands behind his back and looked out the window of the study room, raising his head slightly, his eyes blurred as if he was remembering.

"When I was young, my father warned me that scholars should put reading as their top priority."

"Only by studying hard can we serve His Majesty in the future and benefit the people."

"Now that I see you, brother Lin, it is the first time that I have doubts about the responsibilities of a scholar."

"But brother Lin, don't worry. If the critical moment really comes, even though I don't have the power to restrain a chicken, I am still willing to fight for the people in the city!"

Liu Ruyu clenched his fists and was so moved that his eyes almost watered.

He turned his head and said with emotion: "Brother Lin, do you know..."

The study room was empty, and a gust of wind blew from the window, lifting the pages of a book with a crashing sound.

"Huh? Where's Lin's brother?"

Liu Ruyu muttered and heard Zhao Ce's voice coming from outside the study door.
Chapter completed!