Chapter 400 - 394: Suppressing Bandits
"Our Zhao Family Army, reigning over Yu State, can even defeat the Xiongnu. Lay down your arms and surrender, or else come out quickly!"
Zhao Hanzhang was very pleased. After Zhao Erlang finished with his threats, she nodded at Fan Ying, signaling her to speak.
Fan Ying immediately stepped forward, cleared her throat, and shouted inside, "Villagers inside, listen up. The Inspector knows you were forced to become bandits out of desperation!"
"The Xiongnu are brutal, and you formed groups to survive. The Inspector won’t hold the past against you. As long as you come out, you’ll be good citizens of Yu State once again!" Fan Ying shouted loudly, "Our Lord is the Third Lady of the Xiping Zhao Family. Her word is her bond, and she will not renege!"
Beside her, Zhao Erlang added, "If you don’t come out, we’ll destroy you!"
Finally, some villagers started to peek out, seeing the soldiers gathered at the village entrance. Especially worried when they saw the riders on horseback, they nervously swallowed and shrank back.
"Big brother, what should we do, surrender or fight?"
In a village surrounded by fields on all sides, easily encircled, if they weren’t foolish, they would surrender.
This is why Zhao Hanzhang favors surrendering. A group of farmers—they aren’t even professional bandits, don’t even know how to pick a place easy to defend and hard to attack for a camp.
Using their village as a bandit den, with elders and children inside, Zhao Hanzhang feared she might accidentally trample over them as she rode in.
After some hesitant peeks, a somewhat strong young man finally came out and asked loudly, "If we surrender, will you indeed not charge us with crimes?"
Zhao Hanzhang personally gestured to him, "No charges, but you as leaders must enlist to atone."
He appears quite tall and strong, what a waste if not enlisted.
Having been bandits, surely there’s some bandit air about them, perfect to wash away in the army.
The young man hesitated a moment, then still asked loudly, "Do military slaves get enough food? Even six parts would do."
Zhao Hanzhang scrutinized him before replying, "Not as slaves, but starting as soldiers like mine."
The young man’s eyes lit up slightly, agreeing immediately.
He turned back and waved to the people behind him, and over a hundred villagers came out, supporting the old and carrying the young.
Zhao Hanzhang tugged at the corner of her mouth, pointed forward, and Zhao Kuan, often despised, led his people to accept them.
These people were all questioned about their origins. Those from this village continued living here; those from nearby villages were sent back, with grain relief from the yamen to help them survive the winter.
Those from far away were recorded and temporarily settled in this village, to be reassigned later.
Zhao Kuan also knew Zhao Hanzhang was short on people now. After the Xiongnu’s passage, there were severe casualties among the populace. Many villages have lost nine out of ten, and some completely deserted.
No one tills the fields, and Zhao Hanzhang had been troubled by reports from everywhere these past few days.
Thus, each person counts as one, and she planned not to let any go.
Seeing they were honest, Zhao Hanzhang led her men to another bandit den.
Some of these dens knew Zhao Hanzhang, slightly trusted her, but others doubted her; even surrounded, they refused to comply. Thus a battle was necessary.
Zhao Hanzhang was currently in a phase of wariness toward battle. Thus, she sent Zhao Erlang as the vanguard, only commanding from behind, teaching him how to take down bandit dens with minimal casualties for both sides.
It was the perfect time to practice troop formations.
Especially the cavalry formations.
They charged into the bandit villages without killing, forming teams of five to separate the crowded bandits inside. Initially a bit chaotic, by their second attempt they coordinated better. After some private training, they knew to target individuals, or injure some to force separation when charging into bandit villages.
By crisscrossing and colliding back and forth, they soon divided the clustered bandits, encircling them one by one.
Zhao Hanzhang was quite satisfied with this formation, seeing them surrounded, she emerged from behind her lines and lifted her chin to ask, "Still won’t surrender?"
The bandits exchanged glances and tentatively lowered their tightly grasped hoes, clubs, long knives, and... kitchen knives.
Zhao Hanzhang fixed her gaze on the villager holding the kitchen knife and asked, "Holding just a kitchen knife, who could you cut? You should at least attach it to a long handle. Do you face the Xiongnu this way too?"
The villager looked blankly, hesitatingly replied, "I... I only have a kitchen knife at home. Should I go back and find a stick now?"
Zhao Hanzhang said nothing, waving her hand for Zhao Kuan to dutifully come forward and explain the Yu State Governor Mansion’s policies to them. Surrender now and no charges will be pressed; at most, you’ll be penalized with labor. For example, those who stubbornly resisted will be tasked with farming or irrigation work...
Zhao Hanzhang knew governance required both kindness and intimidation, and she wasn’t entirely amicable. First have them surrender, then talk, but those who deserve punishment will still be punished.
Most were sent to farm unused lands, build roads, or work on irrigation projects.
Initially, those penalized were resentful, but once they saw rations provided for laborers, even two meals a day to nearly fill them six or seven parts, they quietly stopped opposing, feeling the penalties weren’t bad after all.
But later when they saw non-penalized villagers also farming, building roads, working on irrigation, and repairing houses, they realized not only could they eat, but they also got paid.
A day’s pay varied from five to eight cents. With this money, they could buy not just some grains for New Year but also some cloth.
Those penalized regretted indefinitely, wishing they hadn’t resisted with weapons back then.
Watching Zhao Kuan give his explanation, Zhao Hanzhang focused her gaze on the wounded bandits. With a grand gesture, she declared directly, "Since you’ve surrendered, we’ll take care of your injuries. Bring them to the medical tent!"
Her guards charged forth like wolves and tigers, lifting the bandits clutching their wounds, fearing they might die, and brought them to the military doctor.
Military Doctor Cheng watched silently, first treating the wounds conventionally, stopping bleeding and applying medicine, then pulling out a syringe.
Zhao Hanzhang stood nearby, eyes shining, seeing him turn back, she lifted her chin and said, "Why look at me, treat them."
Military Doctor Cheng, "...Lord, I’m a bit nervous."
After all, the method of making the medicine was quite indescribable, with raw materials being mold, he was somewhat uncertain about its efficacy.
Previously, a few soldiers in the army had used it and survived, but the medicine’s effectiveness wasn’t confirmed.
Zhao Hanzhang gave him a glance, took the syringe herself, patted the patient’s hand, and injected it lightly, administering a skin test dose.
Han Dacheng’s eyes widened, and he winced painfully, trying to pull his hand away. Zhao Hanzhang held him steadily, "Scared? It just hurts for a moment. Isn’t the knife wound on your leg worse?"
Han Dacheng then stopped moving.
Zhao Hanzhang withdrew the needle and began attending to other wounded individuals.