“Our Zhao Family Army has swept across Yuzhou and even defeated the Xiongnu. We don’t kill those who surrender—why don’t you hurry out and surrender!”

Zhao Hanzhang was very satisfied. After Zhao Erlang finished threatening them, she nodded to Fan Ying, signaling her to go up.

Fan Ying immediately stepped forward, cleared her throat, and shouted inside. “Villagers inside, listen! The Provincial Governor knows you were forced into banditry out of desperation!”

“The Xiongnu were brutal, and you only banded together for self-protection. The Governor won’t hold your past actions against you. As long as you come out, you’ll still be good citizens of Yuzhou!” Fan Ying shouted loudly. “Our Administrator is Sanniang of the Xiping Zhao clan. Her word is her bond, and she will never go back on it!”

Zhao Erlang beside her added, “If you don’t come out, we’ll suppress you!”

The village, which had been silent all along, finally had someone peek out to look. Seeing the area by the village entrance filled with troops, especially with nothing but mounted riders as far as the eye could see, they nervously swallowed and pulled their heads back inside.

“Big Brother, what should we do? Should we surrender or fight?”

For this kind of village surrounded on all sides by fields with nowhere easily defensible, only a fool would fight as long as the people inside weren’t stupid.

This was also why Zhao Hanzhang mainly focused on recruiting surrender. A group of people who made their living from farming didn’t even know how to be professional bandits—they didn’t even know to find an easily defensible location to set up camp.

They directly used their own village as a bandit lair. The bandits inside had elderly above and young below. Zhao Hanzhang riding her horse into the village had to be careful not to accidentally step on them.

After the people inside repeatedly peeked out, a fairly robust young man finally emerged and called out loudly, “If we surrender, you really won’t prosecute us?”

Zhao Hanzhang personally waved her hand. “We won’t, but leaders like you will need to serve in the military to atone.”

He looked quite tall and strong—it would be a waste not to make him a soldier.

Moreover, having been a bandit, he had some bandit spirit about him. Perfect for washing it away in the military.

The young man hesitated, then still called out loudly, “Can military slaves eat their fill? Sixty percent full is fine.”

Zhao Hanzhang carefully examined him before saying, “They’re not military slaves, but the same as my soldiers here, starting as common soldiers.”

The young man’s eyes brightened slightly as he immediately agreed.

He turned back and beckoned to the people behind him. From the village emerged over a hundred people, supporting the old and carrying the young.

Zhao Hanzhang’s mouth twitched as she pointed forward. Zhao Kuan, who had been looked down upon all along, led people forward to receive them.

These people were all asked about their origins. Those from this village continued to stay in this village. Those from other villages not far away were sent back to their original villages, and the county office would provide them relief 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 that Zhao Hanzhang was short of people now. The Xiongnu had passed through, and the people suffered heavy casualties. Adding those who fled, many villages were down to one in ten survivors. Some villages had no one left at all.

The fields had no one to cultivate them. These past few days, Zhao Hanzhang had been getting headaches looking at reports from various areas.

So she planned to catch every single person, not letting any slip away.

Zhao Hanzhang saw they were compliant and led her people to the next bandit lair.

Those bandits who knew of Zhao Hanzhang and somewhat believed in her naturally existed, but there were also those who doubted her—those who refused to comply even when surrounded and fought to the death. At such times, a battle was necessary.

Zhao Hanzhang was currently in her war-weary phase, so she had Zhao Erlang serve as vanguard while she only commanded from the rear, teaching him how to take the bandit lair with minimal casualties on both sides.

It was perfect for practicing military formations.

Especially cavalry formations.

They charged into the bandit village but didn’t kill people. Instead, in teams of five, they directly separated the bandits gathered together. At first it was somewhat chaotic, but after two attempts they gradually coordinated. Combined with their private training, when they charged into the bandit village again, they quickly learned to target specific kills, or directly wound some people, forcing them to separate.

Then crisscrossing back and forth in repeated charges, they quickly separated the gathered bandits, dividing them into circle after circle trapped within.

Zhao Hanzhang was very satisfied with this military formation. Seeing them surrounded, she rode forward from the rear, raising her chin to ask, “Will you still not surrender?”

The bandits looked at each other and tentatively put down the hoes, wooden sticks, long knives, and… cleavers they were gripping tightly.

Zhao Hanzhang stared at the villager holding a cleaver and asked, “With such a cleaver, who could you even cut? You should at least find a long wooden pole to tie it to. Did you also face invading Xiongnu like this?”

The villager looked dazed and hesitated before saying, “I… I only have a cleaver at home. Should I go back now and find a wooden stick?”

Zhao Hanzhang was speechless. With a wave of her hand, Zhao Kuan dutifully stepped forward to explain the Provincial Administration’s policies to them. Surrendering now wouldn’t result in prosecution—at most they’d be sentenced to hard labor, like you stubborn resisters who would be punished with farm work or building water conservancy projects…

Zhao Hanzhang knew that governing required both kindness and authority. She wasn’t being friendly all the way either—first getting people to surrender, then punishing those who should be punished.

Most of those punished were sent to plow fields, open wasteland, build roads, and construct water conservancy projects.

At first the punished people felt resentful, but upon discovering that the county office actually provided food to those serving hard labor—two meals a day that basically let them eat sixty or seventy percent full—they silently stopped objecting, feeling that hard labor wasn’t so bad after all.

But later they saw people who hadn’t been sentenced to hard labor but were also plowing fields, building roads, constructing water conservancy, and building houses. Only then did they learn that these people could not only eat but also received money.

Each person got five to eight wen per day. With this money, during New Year’s they could not only buy some grain but also purchase some cloth.

Only then did the punished people feel infinite regret, wishing they hadn’t resisted with knives and sticks back then.

Watching Zhao Kuan go up to give the lecture, Zhao Hanzhang turned her gaze to those wounded bandits. With a grand wave of her hand, she declared, “Since you’ve already surrendered, your wounds are our responsibility to treat. Someone, send them to the medical tent.”

Her personal guards then rushed forward like wolves and tigers, lifting up the bandits who were still clutching their wounds thinking they might die, and carrying them before the military physician.

Physician Cheng silently watched, first treating their wounds conventionally—stopping the bleeding and applying medicine—then taking out his syringe.

Zhao Hanzhang stood nearby watching with blazing eyes. Seeing him turn back, she raised her chin. “Why are you looking at me? Treat them.”

Physician Cheng said, “…Administrator, I’m a bit nervous.”

After all, the production method of this medicine was hard to describe, and the raw materials were mold. He wasn’t quite certain this medicine was really effective.

They had used it on a few soldiers in the army before. Although they all survived, the medicine’s effectiveness wasn’t confirmed.

Zhao Hanzhang glanced at him and directly took the syringe, patting the back of the patient’s hand before inserting it, gently pushing in a bit of medicine for a skin test.

Han Dacheng’s eyes widened. It hurt so much he wanted to pull his hand back, but Zhao Hanzhang held it firmly. “What are you afraid of? It only hurts this much. Isn’t that knife wound on your leg more serious?”

Only then did Han Dacheng stop moving.

Zhao Hanzhang withdrew the needle and began looking at the other wounded patients.

—