CHAPTER 322: CHAPTER 316: OFFERING AMNESTY

Two hundred troops that Zhao Hanzhang and Zhao Ming requested have arrived, currently stationed in the city. Zhao Hanzhang leaves Qiu Wu in charge of Biyang County and takes others out of town.

She’s not here to fight, she’s here to negotiate. So she stops at the foot of the mountain and tells Wu Erlang to shout towards the mountain.

Wu Erlang walks to the front of the team, puts his hands on his hips, and shouts from the mountain, "Listen up, mountain folks, you are surrounded! Our County Governor wants to speak with your Great King of the Mountain... Ouch!"

Zhao Hanzhang, riding on horseback, hears and taps him on the head with a whip. Wu Erlang turns to look, showing some confusion and fear.

Zhao Hanzhang, annoyed, says to him, "Call him the bandit leader, not the Great King of the Mountain!"

Wu Erlang understands, clears his throat, and shouts again towards the mountain, "Listen up, mountain folks, you are surrounded! Be sensible and come down to meet our County Governor, who wants to talk to your bandit leader!"

Zhao Hanzhang nods with satisfaction.

She came to negotiate, but if a fight breaks out, she would not shy away. Though they only have two hundred men, they have horses, weapons, trained soldiers, and follow orders. Even if there are twice as many people on the other side, she has the courage to fight.

Through Biyang County’s matters, Zhao Hanzhang has understood a certain truth of this world: when you are strong, they are weak; when you are weak, they are strong.

Therefore, by being more forceful and shameless, the other side will be intimidated by her power and become weaker.

When she no longer sticks to manners and rules, their manners and rules no longer bind her.

Wu Erlang shouts twice more, the echo of his voice carries a thick Sui Ping accent.

Zhao Hanzhang doesn’t notice yet, but the people up the mountain reply with a Biyang accent, "Get lost, what are you doing here from Sui Ping to mess with us in Biyang?"

Upon hearing, Zhao Hanzhang realizes there’s regional prejudice, tilts her chin up and tells Wu Erlang, "Tell him, I am the Ru Nan County Governor, regardless of being from Biyang County or Sui Ping County, you are all my people!"

Wu Erlang feels emboldened by her support, and shouts with confidence, "Our County Governor says, whether it’s you or me, we are all her people. Stop messing around, and quickly call out someone who can make decisions. Our County Governor wants to talk to him!"

Wu Erlang shouts, "Are you true men of seven feet tall, afraid to meet our County Governor, how cowardly is that! How can you be bandits like this, better go home and farm then!"

The mountain goes silent again.

Fu Tinghan withdraws his gaze from the surroundings and says to Zhao Hanzhang, "This area is easy to defend but tough to attack. If a fight breaks out, it’s hard to breach in, and cavalry can’t maneuver well in the forest."

Zhao Hanzhang squints, "Then how about a guerrilla war?"

"There’s still too little information, send out scouts to gather terrain data nearby," Fu Tinghan suggests, "I can model and analyze the data for you."

If negotiation fails, they may have to fight, otherwise leaving such bandit force in Biyang County, especially as their recruitment continues, will eventually threaten not only the Biyang County but also nearby Sui Ping, Queshan, and Yu Yang.

Zhao Hanzhang absolutely would not allow the emergence of a second armed force under her rule, even impoverished bandits.

Zhao Hanzhang’s gaze deepens as she calls all the scouts, instructing, "Follow Mr. Fu’s directions and collect all the terrain information nearby, survey the mountain situation."

The scouts agree, crowd around Fu Tinghan to listen to his instructions.

Zhao Hanzhang sits on horseback waiting for a while, seeing no response from the mountain, lets soldiers step forward to shout one by one.

She arranges people to stand guard and patrol, then everyone rests on the spot.

Fu Tinghan dispatches scouts, occupies a flat spot, and pulls out pen and paper from his belongings.

Zhao Hanzhang squats beside him, sighs, "The biggest worry is that they refuse to cooperate."

Fu Tinghan casually picks up a thin stick, starts drawing on the ground, looking calm: "They probably aren’t calm either, maybe discussing up there how to deal with you. Without a decision, they remain silent and unresponsive."

"This indirectly shows they have divided opinions, which is a good sign."

The bandits on the mountain are indeed arguing endlessly; someone persists in surrendering, "The notice said, if we return to farming, we can still be good citizens; the government would forgive past offenses."

"Trust the government’s words? That’s when pigs climb trees!"

"True, we can’t go down. What if they’re tricking us, and once we’re down, we’re killed? They’d get an achievement of eradicating bandits."

"My cousin was starving before, joined with village brothers blocking roads for money. Now he’s back in the village, the village chief personally sought him to collect relief grain from the county do. The female official didn’t even punish him but encouraged him to farm well."

Those insisting on surrender have a determined look, "I still think we should go down. Big Brother, this official is different from County Magistrate Hu, she’s a female official, maybe innately softer, kinder, and easier to talk to."

The boss sitting without speaking hears and chuckles: "Softer, kinder, easier to talk to? If she really were, she wouldn’t have beheaded County Magistrate Hu on sight."

"Then..."

"But you have a point; this official indeed differs from others," the boss muses, "Let’s go, down the mountain and see."

"Big Brother, don’t go!"

Most express opposition.

Thus, while Zhao Hanzhang’s group waits idly resting at the foot of the mountain, a fierce argument erupts on the mountain.

They are just farmers who couldn’t survive and became bandits. Although they recognize Wei Dayi as the mountain leader, his prestige is lacking; people only rally because he has numbers.

Moreover, they didn’t come alone but with families, clans, villages, dragging along families, creating various factions. Wei Dayi is formidable but hasn’t managed to identify everyone.

They claim over three hundred people, but including families behind them, they have nearly a thousand!

Just because the bandits lack experience, they don’t bluff about numbers. Otherwise, claiming two thousand, County Magistrate Hu wouldn’t dare ignore them, certainly wouldn’t neglect and overlook the group in Houshan Gou.

Overall, the bandit group is faction-ridden, and Wei Dayi can’t control everyone, so the crowd is voicing their opinions chaotically. The atmosphere quickly turns heated, and Wei Dayi doesn’t react as two start fighting, leading to their families and friends joining...

Wei Dayi: ...

He calls out once, "Stop fighting, the priority is..."

A red-eyed fighter punches directly at his eyes...

Wei Dayi squints in anger, kicks them flying, then rolls up his sleeves to join in. The bandits usually with Wei Dayi see this, roll up their sleeves, and charge in howling.