The Zhao family clearly distinguishes between legitimate and illegitimate children.

Before the mistress becomes pregnant, concubines and maids are usually given contraceptive soup. The concubines and maids will not stop taking the soup until the mistress becomes pregnant or there is no child for three years.

then.

The mistress of the second house had just married into the Zhao family and had not yet been given the medicine.

When Zhao Yongqian's biological mother found out that she was pregnant, she bribed the old woman who made the medicine and secretly replaced the contraceptive soup. She kept the news secret until she was about to give birth.

The fetus is already full-term, so abortion is impossible.

When the second wife heard the news, she was so angry that she packed up her things and went back to her parents' home.

Zhao was in the wrong for breaking the rules and letting the illegitimate son be born before the legitimate son.

Later, the concubine had a difficult labor and died shortly after giving birth to a baby boy.

The baby boy was naturally Zhao Yongqian.

So Zhao Yongqian lost his biological mother at birth, was not loved by his father, and was disliked by his stepmother. He lived a cautious childhood and had a low sense of presence in the family. The second wife left him alone in the clan when she took office.

Zhao Yongqian was 25 years old and still had not entered the officialdom. He stayed in the clan honestly over the years, helping with some trivial matters.

Until disaster strikes and monsters wreak havoc.

All the direct descendants of the Zhao family were stranded outside, the clan leader died, and the soldiers suffered heavy casualties. The family was facing the crisis of extinction...

It was Zhao Yongqian and others who bravely stood up, killed the monsters, protected their people, and guarded the fort, so they were seen.

"My second cousin said that the leader of that group is quite talented and led the people to save themselves. The county seat of Pingli County is well preserved and there is a lot of food left in the grain stores. It is obvious that they do not want to be controlled by others and obey our orders." Zhao Yongzhong said.

Zhao Lingfeng snorted coldly, "This winter will definitely be tough. Can a few of them resist those man-eating monsters?"

Not to mention Pingli County, even if a large army of monsters appeared near Zhao's Fort in winter, they would not dare to guarantee that they could resist it.

They have all seen how powerful the monsters are in winter.

"Forget it, if you don't want to come, forget it. Tell Yongqian that we won't care about any monsters coming from the direction of Pingli County. Let's see what they do when the time comes!"

Zhao Yongzhong exchanged a glance with his cousin beside him, then said thoughtfully, "Although Pingli County is still some distance away, it is within the borders of Hejian County. The Kang family says that monsters become stronger when they are left alone. If we leave them alone, they could very well threaten our safety."

With the blatant example from last year right in front of us, how could Uncle Feng be angry at this time?

Zhao Lingfeng paused after hearing this, and frowned, "Then what do you say we should do? Are we supposed to help them clean up the monsters for free?"

"My second cousin means that it's okay if people don't come, and we won't force them, but we must clean up the jurisdiction as required by the Zhao family, otherwise we will use tough measures, directly attack Pingli County, and capture everyone as prisoners." Zhao Yongzhong said.

Zhao Lingfeng felt a little relieved after hearing this, and thought it was a good idea. "Then let's do as Yongqian says. We should clear out the monsters in Hejian County as soon as possible and prepare for winter."

He has no talent, but at least he listens to advice.

The more capable the younger generations are, the more likely the family will survive in this world.

"yes."

The two younger generations took their leave.

Walking on the street of the fort, it was deserted everywhere and there was almost no one to be seen.

The Zhao family was leading the people outside to clear monsters, cut wood, and look for quilts in preparation for winter.

This summer is not too bad for them except for the heat.

Mo County is close to the Grand Canal and has extremely abundant water resources. In extremely dry seasons, the river water level has dropped to the riverbed, but it has not completely dried up.

Drinkable water can be found nearby, there is enough groundwater, and many wells have not yet reached the bottom.

Shortly after the disaster, when the Zhao family was extremely short of food, his second cousin Zhao Yongqian boldly advocated intercepting the Grand Canal and robbing the grain.

There was initially widespread opposition.

With the death of the clan leader, all clan affairs are temporarily managed by several uncles and aunts, but they have just taken charge and cannot ignore the opinions of the clan members.

Most of the clan members still have illusions about the imperial court and have expectations for their direct descendants outside.

Hijacking grain is such a heinous act that once the imperial court settles accounts with them, the entire family will be buried with them.

He refused to agree no matter what.

Although Zhao Yongqian and Zhao Yongzhong had made great contributions in defending the fort, they were of too low a generation and their opinions were not taken seriously, so they were unable to convince the clan members at all.

At first, I could only stare anxiously.

Until the arrival of winter, the Zhao family fort ran out of food, and the imperial court's rescue was delayed.

The weather was getting colder day by day, and without food, the remaining people could no longer hold on...

Only after Zhao Yongqian and others brought up the old matter did the clansmen reluctantly agree.

By then the monster had become much stronger, and the process was many times more dangerous than the beginning. Several people died before the first batch of food was safely transported back.

After that, when the weather warmed up and spring arrived, and then summer came again, more than 200,000 shi of grain were gradually dragged back to the fort.

The tribesmen felt they were in the wrong.

Since then.

Zhao Yongqian's status in the Zhao family gradually increased, and his words became more and more important. Most of the time, even his uncles had to listen to him.

Afterwards, they rescued the people in their jurisdiction, formed a militia, built high walls nearby, and constructed new houses to accommodate the population...

Seeing that their lives were getting better and better and full of infinite hope, several of their illegitimate cousins ​​gave up the idea of ​​fighting for power.

The clan leader is dead, and his direct descendants are no longer in the clan territory.

Several uncles and aunts are from the side branches. Although they are of high seniority, they cannot completely suppress the younger members of the clan, which inevitably makes people feel uneasy.

But they saw Zhao Yongqian working himself to death every day, and a scholar was forced to take up arms and go out to face the terrifying monster, trying to find a way to put everything back on track...

Most people think that it is not bad to stay in the dock and do some odd jobs. The world is like this, so what is there to fight for?

At this time, the whole family finally showed unity and worked together to defend their home.

Several days passed.

Zhao Yongqian finally led the militia back.

This trip lasted nearly a month, and I had become a lot darker and stronger. The long hours of exercise had sharpened my muscles, darkened my skin, and the marks of sun exposure were obvious.

Zhao Yongqian strode forward with steady steps, emitting a sense of rough strength. If they were not extremely familiar with him, no one would have thought that such a person was just a weak scholar a year ago.

"Second cousin!" Zhao Yongzhong stepped forward. "What's the situation?"

Zhao Yongqian took the towel handed to him and wiped the sweat off his body. "Those monsters gathered together are extremely difficult to deal with. We are few in number, so we can only clear them out slowly. If we really can't clear them out, I will lead the monsters towards Guangping."

The Zhao family did not have enough troops and weapons. They were busy transporting food in the early stage and building high walls later. They did not even have extra manpower to cross these dangerous areas and explore the situation in Guangping.

However, in winter, the patrolling guards accidentally discovered that the Yizhou army was rushing to Guangping County.

It's a good opportunity to lead him over to investigate Guangping's strength.

If... if Governor Gong was still alive, with someone in charge, Yizhou would be at peace sooner or later!