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Chapter 1332 Suppressing Bandits
Since Suning is now a military officer in Nanzhou, it is impossible for him to focus all his attention on picking up girls. Instead, he is preparing to carry out the work of suppressing bandits in Hexian County.

You must know that what feudal society lacked the most were bandits of all sizes, and most of these bandits were forced to do so by the government's heavy taxes. There were also many bandits who were extremely vicious and cruel, and this group of bandits in He County happened to be such a case.

Suning arrived at the county yamen and looked at the county magistrate and county lieutenant. He said, "Magistrate Chen, Lieutenant Wu, I plan to encircle and suppress the bandit strongholds in He County. I wonder how much support the He County yamen can provide?"

"Suppress the bandits? General Su, there are three gangs of bandits in He County, and they are all very powerful. So it is very difficult to suppress the bandits with only the strength of our county government." County Magistrate Chen and County Lieutenant Wu looked at each other in surprise, and then County Lieutenant Wu shook his head with a bitter face.

"I know everything that County Magistrate Wu said, so I want to recruit local militia in He County, and then together with the capturers from the He County government, we can definitely quickly eliminate the banditry in He County." Suning stated his plan very persistently, because this time the bandit suppression was related to his next arrangements.

"What? Recruiting local militia?" However, Suning's plan made County Magistrate Chen and County Lieutenant Wu open their eyes wide in surprise.

"Yes! Temporary recruitment of militia is very convenient. Once the banditry is eradicated, the militia can be disbanded on the spot. The county government only needs to take care of the logistics and pay the soldiers."

At this moment, County Magistrate Chen immediately spoke out to stop Su Ning, feeling that the military officer in front of him was taking things for granted. "No! Not to mention that doing so will make our county unable to make ends meet, the mere thought of by the court as harboring evil intentions is a troublesome matter. You know, every dynasty has attached great importance to the affairs of the local militia."

"County Magistrate Chen, then we can only contact the local garrison in Nanzhou, which may cost far more than recruiting local militia."

"This..." At this time, County Magistrate Chen and County Lieutenant Wu naturally understood what Su Ning meant, and then they looked at each other in confusion.

You have to know that the soldiers and bandits are one family. It is not as simple as saying it. To some extent, the bandits may be more brutal than the bandits. If they really contact the local garrison in Nanzhou to suppress the bandits, they and the county will really face a bloody storm.

At this time, the Hexian County Lieutenant said a famous saying with a wry smile, which shows that being mediocre and incompetent is the label of these mediocre officials in all dynasties. "General Su, is it necessary to eliminate this bandit?"

"Mr. Chen, lieutenant Wu, don't forget the reason why Governor Xiong of Nanzhou asked me to come to He County. The bandit problem in He County has really reached a point where it can't be delayed any longer." Su Ning was almost shocked by the misunderstanding of Mr. Chen and Lieutenant Wu. He really didn't expect that there would be such foolish people in the Tang Dynasty.

"..." County Magistrate Chen and County Lieutenant Wu were both at a loss for words for a moment. After all, the bandit problem in He County under their jurisdiction was indeed very serious.

At this moment, County Magistrate Wu, who looked a little embarrassed, secretly glanced at the County Magistrate before smiling and saying to Su Ning, "Hey! General Su, then do you think you could lead the county yamen's constables to find a relatively weak bandit stronghold to practice your skills?"

"You two, suppressing bandits isn't a mandatory requirement for the county magistrates. If we put all the pressure on them, they'll definitely not agree."

"That……"

"Well! Let's recruit fifty local militiamen and give it a try. If the suppression is effective, we can discuss this with the court. After all, this suppression was originally a task assigned by the state government."

"What? Fifty people?"

"You two, in fact, the biggest role of these fifty people is to give courage to the capturers. In addition, the county government can offer some hefty rewards, which will definitely allow our county government to reap unexpected results." At this time, Suning continued to persuade and seduce them.

Seeing how determined Suning was to suppress the bandits, County Magistrate Chen finally came up with a compromise number. "That makes sense! But fifty people is too many for the first attempt. Let's first recruit twenty militiamen to test the waters."

"Well... alright! Then let's take down the smallest Feiyun Village first to test the waters."

"Okay! Then I'll let County Magistrate Song draft the official document now." Seeing that Suning accepted this compromise figure, County Magistrate Chen and County Lieutenant Wu couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Although Su Ning is only a small official of the seventh rank now, he is also the superior of both County Magistrate Chen and County Lieutenant Wu. In addition, suppressing bandits was originally a task assigned by the Nanzhou Prefecture Government, so the two of them did not want to make things too awkward.

"Thank you both for your support." Although Suning understood this, he did not take it seriously.

"Haha, General Su, what you said is really a slap in the face of Hexian. You should know that you are here to help us Hexian to suppress the bandits."

In fact, with Suning's strength, he can naturally wipe out the bandits in the country by himself, but he doesn't want to present himself as too awesome, so it is very necessary to pretend in advance.

Therefore, the capturers and militiamen of the Hexian County government office are his cover. When the time comes, he will definitely be able to quickly wipe out this group of bandits, and also let the people in Nanzhou see his true strength.

Of course, the bandit suppression in He County was just a prelude to Suning's next step. You must know that Suning's mission was to change the plot, so the issues Suning considered were always the plots that interested him.

……

The biggest characteristic of bandits in feudal society was that they would farm for the people in their spare time, and would only turn into bandits when they encountered a suitable fat sheep.

Therefore, the actions of the Hexian County government were naturally known to the bandit strongholds, and they even knew the number of troops going up the mountain to suppress the bandits without any effort. Therefore, the three bandit strongholds in Hexian County all took an indifferent attitude.

The Feiyun Village, having been chosen as the lucky ones, still seemed somewhat depressed. The third leader of the village looked at the first leader and reported, "Brother, the new army officer is coming towards our village with his men?"

"What? This is really abominable! Are they treating our Feiyun Village as a soft persimmon?" Sure enough, the movements of the county government's anti-bandit troops made the leader of Feiyun Village very angry.

"Brother, what should we do next? The county government has sent out fifty capturers and militiamen, while our Feiyun Village, including the elderly, the weak, women and children, has only thirty people." At this time, the third in command of Feiyun Village was eager to ask the first in command for his advice.

"Hmph! What are you afraid of! Although our Feiyun Village is not as powerful as other villages, we occupy a terrain that is easy to defend and difficult to attack. It won't be so easy for the new Sihu Army to eat us up." However, the leader of Feiyun Village quickly calmed down, and then looked at the third leader in front of him with a stern face and said.

"This……"

"Don't worry! This time, the Hexian County government is almost out in full force. I've already sent two letters to Hujianya and Yixiantian respectively. By then, their two villages will launch attacks from all sides within Hexian. As long as we can withstand the first wave of attacks from the Sihu Canjun, they will definitely withdraw on their own initiative."

"Haha, big brother, your trick is brilliant!" Sure enough, the arrangement made by the leader of Feiyun Village make the third leader's eyes light up.

"Oh? I just came up with this idea randomly. Third brother, tell me what's so brilliant about it?" The third in command's unintentional flattery actually touched the first in command's sore spot.

"Brother, this is a classic tactic of besieging Wei to save Zhao! During the Warring States Period, the State of Qi used the tactic of besieging Wei to rescue the State of Zhao from being attacked by the Wei army."

"Haha, it's true that great minds think alike. It seems like it's such a shame for me to be the leader of Feiyun Village." "That's right! Big brother, you should be the leader of the green forest heroes in He County."

"Haha, Third Brother, you just sound really nice."

Just when the leader of Feiyun Village and his followers were flattering each other, Suning had already arrived with a large group of troops. It was obvious that he did not take the people of Feiyun Village seriously.

There were no grand speeches before the battle, nor was there any careful division of troops into two groups to attack from the front and back. Suning simply rushed towards the stronghold with a long-handled sword in hand.

At this time, the fifty catchers and militiamen of He County were all stunned. They didn't know how to describe Suning for a moment. He actually rushed forward to fight without caring about anything.

Just when the capturers and militiamen were feeling at a loss, Suning easily broke through the rain of arrows from the bandits, and then charged into the Feiyun Village in front of him as if cutting melons and vegetables.

"kill……"

Seeing that the Sihu Canjun Su Ning was so brave, the capturers and militiamen were greatly encouraged and followed suit. Suddenly, shouts of killing were heard in Feiyun Village, followed by the extremely fierce sound of metal clashing and the screams of the bandits.

After the less intense battle, the Hexian County Chief Constable looked at Su Ning in admiration and reported, "General Su, we have successfully wiped out Feiyun Village. We killed twenty people and captured ten disabled people."

"Well, how are our casualties?" However, Suning asked with a calm expression.

"Join the army. One of our men died, two were seriously injured, and the rest were slightly injured. The one who died was Niu Dali, the county magistrate, and the seriously injured were recruited local militiamen."

"Where is the leader of Feiyun Village?"

"Huh? Join the army, and the first person you'll kill will be the leader of Feiyun Village."

"Oh? A nobody like a chicken or a dog can be the village chief?"

"Uh..." At this time, Captain Wang always felt that Suning was being too pretentious.

Then, Suning looked at Captain Wang in front of him and said, "Captain Wang, confiscate all the property in Feiyun Village and completely destroy this bandit village."

"Yes! Sir, the general."

At this time, the capturers and militiamen were already full of admiration for Suning. They had never expected that this harmless Sihu Canjun was actually a weapon of war. In an instant, he wiped out small and medium-sized bandit strongholds.

Then, after the Hexian County constables and militiamen quickly looted the spoils, they set fire to the entire Feiyun Village. The bandits hiding in the dark at Hujianya and Yixiantian immediately panicked and decisively gave up their original plan.

After all, the premise of besieging Wei to save Zhao is that Zhao can withstand the attack of Wei. If Zhao no longer exists, then no matter how enthusiastic and hard-working Qi is, it will be of no use.

Seeing Su Ning and his companions returning triumphantly, County Magistrate Chen and County Lieutenant Wu were already overwhelmed with joy and delight. "Haha, General Su is truly formidable. He wiped out Feiyun Village so easily. This is truly a great start for the bandit suppression work in He County!"

"It's just a small bandit village of thirty people. It's really nothing in my eyes." However, Suning pretended to be arrogant again with a look of disapproval on his face.

County Magistrate Chen and County Lieutenant Wu exchanged a look of confusion, then County Magistrate Chen looked at Su Ning and asked, "Huh? General Su is truly a hero. Should we report our achievements to the prefectural government immediately?"

"Leave these matters to County Magistrate Chen and County Lieutenant Wu. I will continue the siege on Hujian Cliff tomorrow."

"Ah? General Su, isn't this too hasty? You have to know that there are hundreds of bandits at Hujian Cliff."

"That's okay! I used to think too highly of these bandits. In reality, they are just a bunch of nobodies."

Although he didn't quite understand Su Ning's actions, County Magistrate Chen still chose to support him with his actions. "Huh? All right! I'm going to send my retainers to assist. Wiping out Tiger Cliff will definitely continue this success."

"Haha, thank you very much for your support, County Magistrate Chen." At this time, Suning naturally had an attitude of accepting everyone who came.

"And me! Although I, Wu, don't have many servants, I can still have five good ones, and I will personally accompany Su to join the army this time."

"No! This time we went to encircle and suppress Feiyun Village, but the leader of Feiyun Village actually contacted Hujianya and Yixiantian, intending to have them take advantage of the Hexian County government office's vacancy to launch an attack. Fortunately, Feiyun Village was so weak that we quickly wiped it out. If they had truly withstood our first wave of attacks, Hexian County would have been in complete chaos. Therefore, it would be best for you, County Magistrate Wu, to stay in Hexian County with the County Magistrate."

"Well, what General Su said makes sense. I'll have to trouble General Su from now on."

"Everything is for the people of Hexian County. No matter how hard or tiring it is, it is all worth it."

"This...General Su is indeed a man of high righteousness."

"Haha, thank you both for your compliments."

In fact, County Magistrate Wu did not want to take risks with Suning, because Hujian Cliff was not the Feiyun Village that had just been wiped out. There were as many as seventy or eighty bandits who could fight, which would definitely give Suning, the military officer, a hard time.

The reason why he took the initiative to offer to accompany Suning to suppress the bandits was simply because the atmosphere happened to be set here, and it would not be nice for him not to express his feelings given his status as a county lieutenant.

However, the self-righteous Wu County Magistrate did not know that Suning's refusal was simply because he did not want him to share the credit. After all, these He County bandits were there to help Suning improve his reputation.

……

(End of this chapter)