Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 650 Your Majesty is really a man of God
Baoding Prefecture, Hengshui County.

Not long after the beginning of autumn, a light rain hit the county seat. It could not be said that the rain hit the plantains, but it could only be said that it slightly moistened the long-dried land.

Zheng Sen pressed his sword and was wearing a rare military uniform with a layer of leather armor on the outside. Under the sunlight, he looked majestic.

At this time, he is not like a county magistrate, but like a general, with a burly figure that is extremely conspicuous.

He stood on a small mound for a long time, looking at the troops on the main road. The soldiers' boots stepped on the wet dirt road, but the dust still kicked up.

Obviously, this light rain is just a tickle.

There was a unique smell of soil in the breeze, and the petals were quickly trampled into the mud in the mud.

The Patrol Battalion, No. [-], is basically trained at the intensity of one exercise every seven days. The officers come from many sources, but the battalion is from the Beijing camp.

Therefore, under his general drills like cats and tigers, the entire Hengshui Patrol Battalion looked decent.

On the other side, the young and strong militiamen with a scale of 500 people were disorganized and lively, as if they were a vegetable market.

The patrol battalion was assembled in about a quarter of an hour, and the militiamen from the villages were still in disarray after two hours.

The township police who had just been appointed and dismissed for half a year shouted loudly one by one, and it took half an hour to complete their assembly, and they could barely see the appearance of a team.

As for why the patrol battalion is not allowed to help, let alone whether they recognize each other, but just speak the dialect that is so strange, it is estimated that it will take up to two hours.

"In Huguang, the people were drilled and trained for more than a month every winter. With such elite soldiers, it seems that Hebei has a long way to go!"

Zheng Sen looked at the two armies in front of him, quite disappointed.

Whether the patrol battalion is a Beijing camp or a local army, but when he thinks of the demeanor of the Beijing camp, he is always disappointed.

As for the militia, let alone.

"County Honor, the county's patrol battalion and militia have assembled."

Tall and tall, in his 40s, Zhao An bowed his hands with a tired look on his face.

"Ok!"

Zheng Sen's expression remained unchanged, and he said, "Let's start this exercise!"

The township policemen stared at him with fawning faces.

After saying that, he sat on the high platform and watched the local armed exercise, but his eyes drifted into the sky.

After the appointment of the three elders, his reputation as the magistrate of the county went straight to the countryside, so he naturally wanted to make some achievements.

Now Hebei has been taxed for three and a half years, and the place is sparsely populated. He has no chance whether it is education or taxation.

Since there is no opportunity, create an opportunity.

Zheng Sen has already found out that there are hundreds of boat people in the reed marshes in Hengshui.

When there is nothing to do, he fishes for a living. When he encounters benefits, he turns into a water bandit and lives happily.

Moreover, Hengshui leads directly to the salt pond, and it is also an important traffic route for salt boats, so it must be tidied up.

And these water bandits are minions of private salt, which acted as a cover.

In the past, the county magistrates had no choice but to ignore these water bandits who relied on the advantage of the location, couldn't catch them, and ran fast.

But Zheng Sen is different. If a dignified scholar is sent to a local government to become an official, he must make political achievements. Otherwise, how can he be promoted?

There are so many reeds in Hengshui that it is impossible to catch them, but Zheng Sen has another way.

That is blocking.

Completely block off the area around the reed marshes to prevent a grain of grain from flowing into the river, and then it will show itself.

Naturally, there were not enough soldiers and horses in the patrol battalion, so he concentrated his thoughts on the militiamen.

"Xianzun, these mud-legged people look good, but they don't have the guts to fight the enemy. Let them carry food!"

Zhao An sighed and confided helplessly.

"That's not okay." Zheng Sen shook his head and said, "We still need to practice a little bit, otherwise we will encounter a thief, but it will drag us down."

"We don't ask them to be proficient in battle formation, a little bit of familiarity is a little bit."

Using the food from the county government, Zheng Sen practiced for three days, and finally let this group of people know what a flag is and what a team is.

Afterwards, a thousand people scattered in the villages and towns along the banks of the river, but there were very few on the main road.

Nothing but food.

The weather in the north changes in a blink of an eye, and it will be winter in a few days. Even water bandits have to buy food, and they can't survive just eating fish.

In the large villages and townships with a radius of hundreds of miles, Zheng Sen arranged for militiamen to station in order to limit food and grass.

As for the farther places, it is completely unnecessary.

Once the water bandits landed, their combat effectiveness plummeted, let alone leaving their hometown to buy food in other counties.

With the order of the cabinet, the governor and the third division (the customary name) Yamen immediately asked the counties to establish three elders to regain control of the villages that had been separated for many years and establish order.

Therefore, when the three elders came, the guide system was revived again, but anyone who left the county must have a guide.

In this case, the water bandits fell into the quagmire and could not escape no matter what.

"Xianzun, do you want to recruit them?"

Zhao An sat on the side, adding a bit of respect to the county magistrate in front of him, this hulking back, riding a horse more slippery than himself, who wouldn't be afraid?
"That's why it is said that the province wants to set up patrol inspections on the water surface, but this group of water bandits has harmed many people."

Zheng Sen said disgustedly: "There is a salt pond nearby, let them do the inspection, isn't this letting the cat watch the fish?"

"Furthermore, inspections are the government's business, and it's our job to eliminate water bandits. The two cannot be mixed."

"That's right, bandit suppression is the work!" Zhao An said repeatedly, excitedly: "I heard that in Shandong and Shanxi, the bandit suppression is very lively. There is a county magistrate who has just been promoted for a year and a half."

"Do your own thing well." Although Zheng Sen's eyes were hot, he understood that this matter should not be rushed.

In officialdom, it is better to have more things than less things.

If you can toss and succeed, that's all. If you fail, then the future will be bleak.

For the suppression of the water bandits this time, Zheng Sen is very confident.

As a member of Zhongshushe in the cabinet for a few months, he sorted out hundreds of memorials, countless about bandit suppression, and the more he read, the more experience he had.

After watching the villages and towns, Zheng Sen was also afraid that the time would be too long, and the militiamen had eaten up all the food in the county warehouse, so they made a siege with three missing one.

A few villages were deliberately omitted, and the water bandits went to hunt them down, and they would catch them all at once.

Sure enough, the bandits were preparing food for the winter, and there was a shortage of cotton cloth, vegetables and meat. The two sides confronted each other for nearly half a month, and the water bandits couldn't bear it anymore.

After a sneak attack, we picked out the weak spots, saw the food all over the ground, and just as we were complacent, a group of people were surrounded.

The men were arrested, and the women and children could only surrender.

Most of Hengshui's banditry was resolved in one go.

The local people praised him endlessly, but Zheng Sen muttered: "This battle depends on the three elders."

Without the three elders, the village is like a sieve, and the water bandits collude with the people and come and go freely.

With the help of the three elders, suppressing the bandits is just a matter of time.

"Your Majesty is truly a god!" Zheng Sen thanked and admired him sincerely.

Afterwards, when he heard the news that Shuntian Mansion cleared the water mill, his heart immediately moved.

With great fanfare, Zheng Sen actually dismantled the water mill above Hengshui.

This time, Zheng Sen became famous in Hebei, and it spread to the cabinet in a blink of an eye.

(End of this chapter)