Reborn as a bride, pretending to be virtuous, the prince held his waist and regretted

Only bandits understand bandits best. Those mountain strongholds that resist stubbornly will be killed.

On the contrary, for those who were willing to surrender, after they handed over the main culprit, although the others still needed to go out to open up the wasteland, at least they would not be executed immediately.

Those whose crimes are not serious can regain their freedom after two or three years of reclamation.

As for the bandits who have no blood on their hands, they are just here to make up the numbers. As long as there are honest farmers in their families, they will be incorporated into the bandit suppression team.

In a short period of time, the bandit suppression team had grown from a few thousand to tens of thousands.

Jin Linwei and other internal supporters, with the cooperation from both inside and outside, and with the leadership of Chen Ju and Meng Jue, they were invincible.

Just when the internal and external situations were looking very good, the former acting county magistrate, Lord Tang, finally could no longer sit still.

He stopped recuperating, but he did not come directly to Zhou Jin. Instead, he went to find General Wu of the Border Army.

Lord Tang, wearing a black cloak, appeared in General Wu's study. "General Wu, what should we do now?"

General Wu was also extremely anxious at this time and did not dare to move rashly.

He just wanted to make some money, he really didn't want to rebel!

The key is that the rebellion cannot be launched and will undoubtedly fail.

"I didn't expect it. I never thought Zhou Jin could be so cunning! I thought he was just a bookworm, but I never expected him to be so cunning."

General Wu couldn't figure out why Zhou Jin went to farm in the first place even if he racked his brains.

Now he understood that by just farming, he could let the men and women, young and old in Qingshui County know that the county magistrate attached great importance to agriculture.

Not only that, it also brought advanced agricultural tools and high-yield crops.

This made the bandits, who were originally ordinary people, think about it, especially those who were not well fed and often injured, who wanted to return to their original life.

Although farming was harder in the past, I had elderly parents and young children to support, and a wife and children to keep me warm and comfortable.

Life has a purpose!

But now, the entire Qingshui County has been ravaged by these bandits and the people are living in misery.

In the past, they could make money by robbing passing merchants, but now there are fewer and fewer merchants and there is not much profit to be made.

Life was not easy, and in order to maintain their extravagant lifestyle, the top leaders of these bandits began to oppress the common people.

But many bandits were born into ordinary people's families, and they had wives and children.

Half of the grain grown throughout the year was snatched away by bandits, who were even more cruel than the government.

The key is that no one can control these people, so these low-level bandits can only swallow their anger.

Now using this trick, more than half of the lower-level bandits have been shaken.

Next, the largest stronghold was pacified, and the rest of the things went more smoothly.

"Have we left any evidence in the hands of those bandits over the years?"

Lord Tang stroked his beard when he heard this and said, "Except for taking some money, we didn't actually leave any evidence in the hands of the bandits!"

"Anyway, Tang has never had any correspondence with the bandits. As for the silver, since we haven't caught them on the spot, we can't be convicted."

General Wu nodded when he heard this. "If that's the case, then there's nothing to be afraid of! How about we go visit the county magistrate together?"

According to convention, it should be Xie Jin who visited General Wu.

However, Xie Jin followed Zhou Jin's orders and did not visit General Wu at all.

As for Lord Tang, he should have visited Zhou Jin, but he left a mess for Zhou Jin and then hid at home to recuperate.

He wanted to wait until Zhou Jin was humiliated and embarrassed, and then come out to help smooth things over.

But no one expected that Sister Zhou could wipe out these bandits in such a short time.

"General, it would be unreasonable if we don't go now." Lord Tang echoed.

The next day Zhou Jin learned that Lord Tang had appeared in General Wu's mansion.

Zhou Jin smiled and waited for General Wu to arrive.

"What are you laughing at?" Gu Xiling asked, very curious, "Is there good news?"

Zhou Jin nodded, "Yes, General Wu and Lord Tang will be here in a while."

"Those two people are not innocent. How are you going to deal with them, my husband?" Gu Xiling's eyes were cunning, and she wanted to hear Zhou Jin's opinion.

Zhou Jin smiled, "It's actually very simple. It's the same method to deal with all kinds of changes. Although it's old-fashioned, it's very useful."

"The bandits in Qingshui County have basically been wiped out. The next step is to clear out the people in the county. What we need most is stability, especially to stabilize General Wu's heart."

"He must be afraid that I will deal with him, so he will be on high alert and try every means to escape the blame. Although I have enough evidence to prove that General Wu has a problem, even a capital crime, I cannot deal with him."

"Because once he is dealt with, there will be chaos within the border army. This will destroy the stability that we have worked so hard to achieve. Another point is that General Wu has many supporters in the army."

"Once something happens to General Wu, the others will surely do the same. These people are experienced soldiers, not scattered bandits. There will definitely be many casualties."

"This is what I don't want to see, so as long as they come and surrender, I will accept it. When they return to Beijing to report on their work in two years, I will capture them in one fell swoop."

Gu Xiling smiled and gave Zhou Jin a thumbs up. "My husband is right. To catch a thief, we must first catch the leader. Catch them in the capital, and then wipe out their direct lineage in the military camp, and then we can completely stabilize the situation."

Zhou Jin nodded. "Therefore, after they come to surrender, I will not embarrass them. Similarly, they dare not make decisions in Qingshui County."

Just after dinner, I received messages from Lord Tang and General Wu.

Zhou Jin called Yuan Zhen, Xie Jin, and Wang Shiwen to the study. "Lord Tang and General Wu will come to my house tomorrow. As long as they surrender, I will accept it. Even if you find that Lord Tang and General Wu have problems, organize the evidence you have found and don't show it to others."

Wang Shiwen was anxious. "When we first arrived, we were at a disadvantage and had to swallow our anger. These two people looked down on us."

"We have the upper hand now. We have wiped out the bandits and made great achievements. We are not to be feared by Lord Tang or General Wu. Brother Zhou, what are you afraid of?"

Although Yuan Zhen was suspicious, he felt it was totally unnecessary. "Yes, Brother Zhou! You should tell us the reason, right?"

Xie Jin had dealt with Zhou Jin the most times. Zhou Jin always thought three steps ahead, and it was definitely not without reason.

After thinking carefully, his eyes lit up, "I agree with my brother-in-law's strategy."

Wang Shiwen and Yuan Zhen both looked at Xie Jin.

Wang Shiwen said unhappily: "Now we have a chance to solve the problem once and for all. General Xie, you can't just listen to one side of the story just because Brother Zhou is your relative."

Xie Jin was somewhat unhappy about being bullied by Wang Shiwen. "Sir Wang, please don't slander me. You don't understand military affairs, so of course you don't understand Sir Zhou's deep meaning."

"General Wu has a deep foundation in the border army. Even if the border army is not a solid block, most of them are General Wu's men. If we force our way in, we won't have enough troops with the people we organized with the bandits and the people I brought with me."

"Besides, if tens of thousands of us fight against tens of thousands of border troops, Qingshui County will be plunged into war, and the surrounding foreign countries will benefit in the end. If they take advantage of the situation and invade, we will be the criminals!"