CHAPTER 325: CHAPTER 319: STATIONING TROOPS

Zhao Hanzhang led two hundred people out of the city, and when she returned, she brought back more than a thousand people. Liang Hong was stunned when he heard the news and rushed out. Seeing the people she brought back, he was dumbfounded: "This is..."

"These are the villagers from the Houshan Gou area. County Magistrate Liang, summon the village chief from Houshan Gou. I want to meet him. Also, find me the land deeds and household registrations for Houshan Gou."

After discussing with Fu Tinghan, Zhao Hanzhang decided to station troops in Houshan Gou.

The scouts dispatched by Fu Tinghan were very effective. They thoroughly explored the terrain, and Fu Tinghan created a map for Zhao Hanzhang. He also used mud and sand to simulate a simple terrain model for her.

It was a natural location suitable for stationing troops.

Fu Tinghan placed a small flag on the main road out of Houshan Gou, "See it? Easy to defend, hard to attack, yet it occupies an important strategic position. If a road is built from here, it will connect Yu Yang, Sui Ping, Queshan, and Biyang."

Zhao Hanzhang’s eyes gleamed, "From here, we can repel all invading enemy forces. Similarly, just by guarding this point, we can provide a shield for the three counties behind."

She became excited, "The best part is that there’s a basin here with large farmlands, so the military families can farm here."

Fu Tinghan nodded, "I can calculate the number of troops you can station based on the arable land area. But are you sure this land is all yours?"

Zhao Hanzhang smirked, "Of course, if I say it’s mine, it is."

Zhao Hanzhang waved her hand grandly, directly designating Houshan Gou as a military settlement. No one in the county government dared oppose her, and even within Ru Nan County, no officials opposed her now.

Coincidentally, the Guo Family and Ma Family had acquired some fertile lands here over the past two years. Now Zhao Hanzhang encircled their lands too, but as the amount wasn’t large, they pretended not to notice by turning a blind eye.

Mr. Guo was quite intimidated by Zhao Hanzhang. She never showed favoritism, so after buying twelve hundred stones of grain from Mr. Ma, she purchased eight hundred stones of grain from Mr. Guo.

She used up all the confiscated money and silk from County Magistrate Hu, leaving only some hard-to-liquidate treasures.

Because of her dominance and shamelessness, along with her two teams soon arriving from Xiping, no one in Biyang County dared to oppose her. The Guo Family and Ma Family had to temporarily avoid confrontation.

Since the Guo Family and Ma Family showed sensibility, Zhao Hanzhang couldn’t let them suffer losses.

She looked up the records of land deed exchanges and found the sellers of the fertile lands. After asking the prices, she generously added ten percent to the price and sent the money for the land purchase to the Guo Family and Ma Family.

Guo Family and Ma Family: ...

Are they people who lack this bit of money?

When they bought the fertile lands initially, they pressed the price down repeatedly. Even with a ten percent increase, it was still a low price.

This amount of money is negligible to Zhao Hanzhang and for the Guo Family and Ma Family; it’s merely a few meals’ worth.

Rather than remembering this money, it’s better to let Zhao Hanzhang owe them a favor.

But unfortunately, Zhao Hanzhang seemed very fair and wouldn’t give them this opportunity.

With the concerns for the military settlement resolved, Zhao Hanzhang then began selecting the people to stay. She didn’t plan to let many Houshan Gou villagers remain to station troops.

Two-thirds of the troops would be transferred over from Xiping, while Zhao Hanzhang sent the people from Houshan Gou back to Xiping.

"These people are related and familiar with each other. Placing them together, even if just as soldiers, would be more detrimental than beneficial, so they should be separated," Zhao Hanzhang said, pointing to Wei Dayi’s name, "Especially him. He was their leader, so he must be separated."

However, Zhao Hanzhang didn’t intend for Wei Dayi to be alone; she generously allowed him to keep his confidants and made him a squad leader. Nearly half of his subordinates were his former followers, and they would follow his orders in the mountain fort.

Zhao Hanzhang didn’t want to compete with her generals for control of the soldiers. In her view, as long as they are competent and able to follow her orders, it’s acceptable.

Whether the soldiers under them are loyal to her or to their centurions, squad leaders, or standard bearers, she doesn’t mind.

That’s how generous she is!

Even Wei Dayi considered her generous and couldn’t help speaking to his confidants, "I didn’t expect her to let us stay together. I thought she would scatter us across the troops."

The young men were moved and eagerly said, "Looks like Brother Feng was right, the female county chief is indeed soft-hearted."

But Wei Dayi shook his head and sighed halfway through, "She’s far more thorough than men and kind-hearted, which I’m not sure if it’s good or bad."

"How could it be bad?"

"Yeah, yeah, isn’t it good for us if our superior is compassionate?"

Wei Dayi, being more insightful, shook his head, "Although I haven’t read books, I’ve heard capable scholars say that to be a general or to achieve great things, one shouldn’t be too compassionate."

He said, "Compassionate people cannot command troops. I initially thought it was good to follow her since she could kill County Magistrate Hu on first sight, proving she’s ruthless. Following her would ensure a promising future."

"However, seeing her over time, she’s genuinely kind-hearted and isn’t pretending," Wei Dayi frowned, "I’m both happy and worried, happy to follow a good master, worried that she won’t last long, and then we’ll be drifting again."

"No, don’t worry,"

Zhao Hanzhang stayed in Biyang County for a long time, not handling much county affairs. The main focus was training troops and preparing for troop settlement.

Additionally, she dealt with the Governor Mansion’s affairs.

With her activities outside, Ji Yuan simply sent people with documents to her daily, resulting in constant paperwork for Zhao Hanzhang every day.

Although she was in Biyang County, she was well-informed about the affairs of the Governor Mansion. Ji Yuan not only sent documents requiring her decision but also accompanied them with a letter, summarizing processed documents to help her understand Ru Nan County’s situation.

Therefore, the office of the Governor Mansion was mobile, following Zhao Hanzhang wherever she moved.

Zhao Hanzhang’s stay lasted until the autumn harvest. Wei Dayi and others had already been successively sent back to Xiping, while troops from Xiping were dispatched to station directly into Houshan Gou.

Upon stationing the troops, their first task was to harvest beans, and after that, they needed to harvest rice. The soldiers from Xiping rapidly developed feelings with the bandits and villagers from Houshan Gou, and the surface appeared very harmonious.

This was mainly due to Zhao Hanzhang’s enthusiasm for organizing various competitions and... matchmaking activities.

As a result, the bachelors among the troops from Xiping were highly motivated in contributing to the construction and training at Biyang County.

Zhao Hanzhang wore a straw hat and held a sickle, straightening her waist to glance at the golden rice, patting her lower back, "This is truly more exhausting than practicing martial arts."

A soldier rode up on horseback, jumped off at the edge of the field, took the backpack from his back, ran down the paddy edge, and presented it to Zhao Hanzhang, "My lady, today’s urgent document."

When Zhao Hanzhang heard this, she reached out to take it. The urgent document was placed on top, with Ji Yuan probably worried that she might not see it, even writing the word ’urgent’.