Those who came were Chaozhou Tongpan Shu Fu, Tuiguan An Yi, Haiyang County Magistrate Qin Shunhan, and several assistant officials.

Among them, Qin Shunhan, the magistrate of Haiyang, was also a Jinshi in the second year of Longqing. This was normal, as most of the seventh-rank officials in the world were magistrates, and Zhao Erye's peers had the right years of service, so naturally most of them were in this position.

The result is that 20 to 30 percent of the county magistrates in the country are Jinshi graduates from the second year of Longqing. So it is quite reasonable that Mr. Zhao will meet county magistrates of the same year wherever he goes.

The county magistrate Qin was very young, about thirty years old, short and white, with soft facial lines, and looked like someone who was easy to bully. When he saw Zhao Shouzheng, he ran towards him as if he had seen a savior.

"Brother, is it really you? Are you really here?" Running up to him, he grabbed Zhao Shouzheng's hand, his eyes filled with tears of excitement.

"How could it be false?" Master Zhao had a professional smile on his face, and tried hard to recall the content he had cram for at the last minute in his mind.

Qin Shunhan, courtesy name Guozong, 27 years old, was one of the 139th Jinshi candidates in the third class, and was an official from Jinjiang County, Quanzhou Prefecture, Fujian Province...

There is no way. Mr. Zhao has a bad memory. There are so many people of the same age. How can he remember more than 300 people? The staff must prepare the information in advance.

However, Zhao Shouzheng's greatest strength is that he can always make people feel like spring breeze. Don't underestimate this insignificant personal charm, it is one of the two magic weapons that Zhao Erye uses to make many friends and fewer enemies. And in Zhao Erye's view, it is still the most important magic weapon.

Well, people make friends with him not because he has a lot of money.

"Brother Guozong, please help me introduce the gentlemen." Master Zhao and County Magistrate Qin linked arms and looked at the other people with smiles.

Qin Shunhan introduced Shu Fu and An Yi to Zhao Shouzheng. The Tongpan, Tuiguan and Tongzhi were all subordinates of the prefect, and they had no subordinate relationship with each other, but they were very polite to Zhao Shouzheng. After all, he was the famous Iron-butt Champion!

Moreover, as dark clouds were looming over the city, they would certainly be more than happy to have someone tall to provide support.

Master Zhao did not disappoint them. After a few simple greetings, he got straight to the point and asked, "Everyone, do you have any news about the Lord?"

Several people looked at each other in bewilderment. Shu Tong, the most senior judge, said, "Your Excellency was ambushed as soon as he entered Jieyang County. We don't even know what he looks like. After the incident, we tried every possible means to investigate and rescue him. However, the people in Chaoshan are extremely complicated. The local tyrants don't take the government seriously at all. The daring ones even dared to take the opportunity to blackmail us, but after paying, they got false information."

"That's called fraud." County Magistrate Qin said angrily. Because these guys asked the county to pay the money on the grounds that the governor was not there and had no right to use the treasury funds.

Otherwise, why do people say "It is unfortunate for a person to be a county magistrate in a suburb"?

"Well, no matter what his name is, we haven't found him after searching for a long time. Now Zeng Yiben has shown up. We have no choice but to stop the search and rescue and go back to the city to set up defenses." As Officer An spoke, he glanced at County Magistrate Qin, telling him not to go off topic.

"Well then." Fortunately, Mr. Zhao was not looking for anyone to blame, but to clarify his own authority. "According to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, if the prefect is unable to perform his duties for some reason, the deputy prefect should act as the prefect. Of course, it should be authorized by the province, but now the thieves are dozens of miles away, and it is too late to ask for instructions from the provincial capital. I have to follow my authority. I can only kill first and report later, and lead everyone to defend the prefecture. What do you think?"

Listening to Mr. Zhao's decisive voice and seeing his unyielding spirit, Qin Shunhan could not help but feel dazzled and said excitedly: "It turns out that brother not only has a pair of strong buttocks, but also a pair of strong shoulders. He is really responsible. I support brother!"

"We have no objection. It's reasonable." Shu Fu and An Yi also nodded hurriedly. Now is different than usual. They don't even have time to shirk responsibility. Who would compete with him for power?

They were still worried about collective responsibility and collective misfortune. Now that Mr. Zhao is taking all the responsibilities and bearing the blame alone, it is naturally the best thing.

Everyone thought to themselves, this was your own request, we didn't force you to do it.

"Before we repel the enemy, can you guys enforce discipline?" Mr. Zhao asked in a deep voice.

"No problem, we can sign a military order!" everyone shouted according to the routine.

"Well, please sign the military order." Who would have thought that Mr. Zhao actually took it seriously.

"Ah?" Shu Fu, An Yi and others were dumbfounded when they saw the military order that was already written and only had signatures on it brought up by Mr. Zhao's staff.

"Sir, are you serious?" An Yi wiped the sweat off his face and asked in a low voice.

"Is Zeng Rentu serious?" Zhao Shouzheng asked calmly.

"This..." An Yi was speechless. Zeng Yiben gathered 50,000 people, so it was certainly not a fake mission.

Moreover, that guy's biggest hobby is to massacre the city, otherwise he wouldn't have got the terrifying nickname of "Man-Slayer".

"Then are you guys serious about this, with all your casual and playful looks?" Zhao Shouzheng, who had always been as amiable as an old lady, suddenly changed his expression and said sternly, "Captain Tan saw me leading the crowd and ordered the city gates to be closed. But when I led my men across the crowded Guangji Bridge and arrived at Guangji Gate, the city gates were still not closed!"

As he said this, he glared at Tan Yong fiercely and said, "If they are really thieves, the city has already been breached. Can you afford to kill them?!"

"I can't afford to offend you." Tan Yong had just received an order from Mr. Zhao to be a good chicken, a chicken to scare the monkeys. He had been caught with a handle, so he could only cooperate with his boss's impromptu performance.

Then he took the lead and signed his name on the military order. He then said with a face full of shame: "It is clearly written on this military order that 'Anyone who deserts the battlefield will be killed'. I know that this is mainly to prevent my troops from escaping the city. Sima, don't worry. Since I have signed the military order, I promise to obey orders and never be a deserter. Otherwise, I will be killed!"

"Well said, I will sign it too! As a scholar, how can I be inferior to a brave warrior?" Seeing that Mr. Zhao had subdued the unruly warrior without making a sound, County Magistrate Qin completely turned into a fanboy. Now, let alone a military order, he would sign even a contract to sell his body.

After saying that, he picked up the pen and signed his name on the military order.

Let these two people sing the same tune, and the others will be squeezed and have no choice but to owe. Otherwise, wouldn't they be worse than soldiers and want to escape from the battlefield?

Although they wanted to escape from the battlefield before, they hadn't left yet because it would be a huge sin. Unless it was absolutely necessary, they had to wait and see whether reinforcements would arrive or Zeng Yiben would suddenly turn around and leave.

People must always have hope, otherwise what’s the difference between them and salted fish?

So they had no choice but to bite the bullet and sign the military order one after another...

When the last official put down his pen, Mr. Zhao had the ink dried and kept safe. Before the end of the war, anyone who dared to slack off, disobey orders, or neglect his duties could be legally beheaded with these documents.

Of course, they could still escape. But Mr. Zhao also thoughtfully arranged four personal guards for each of the adults to protect their safety. Now that Chaozhou City is in chaos, it is very necessary to strengthen the security for officials. But the problem is that these guards only listen to Sima Zhao. In other words, they have no chance of escaping.

~~

Only after establishing the authority of the leadership core did Mr. Zhao have time to inquire about the military situation in the city.

Everyone told him that the only soldiers available in the city were the 1,000 naval troops under Captain Tan’s command…

Zhao Shouzheng was surprised and looked at Wu Chengen beside him.

Mr. Wu's face darkened as well, and he asked repeatedly, "What about the archer battalion of Chaozhou Prefecture? What about the gunner battalion of Haiyang County? Isn't it said that your prefecture is very good at training militiamen?"

Chaozhou was plagued by bandits and was attacked almost every year, so the former prefect Hou Bideng attached great importance to improving its combat effectiveness. The Phoenix Tower, a scenic spot in Chaozhou in later generations, was a fort he built on Phoenix Island to guard the gate of the prefecture... Unfortunately, it was decisively abandoned by Captain Tan.

In addition, Hou Bideng was also famous for training civilians, and had repelled attacks from pirates and mountain bandits several times. He was also commended by the court. Wu Chengen had seen all of this in the Tang newspaper, and it was also the source of his confidence in resisting the enemy.

Seeing that everyone was looking at the old man who interrupted, Mr. Zhao introduced him, "This is Senior Wu, who is as famous as Mr. Qingteng. With his help, we will definitely be able to defeat this powerful enemy."

"I've heard a lot about you." Shu Fu, An Yi and others hurriedly clasped their fists and expressed their greetings. Although they couldn't remember who this person with the surname Wu was, who was as famous as the famous Xu Wenchang? Was it Daniel Wu?

But the question still needed to be answered, so they stammered, "Originally there were the Tiger Power and Eagle Strike Battalions, which were indeed well-trained and had fought many victories. But those were the strong and capable young men selected by each family for the sake of the prefect Hou's face. When the news of the prefect Hou's transfer to Jiangxi came back, each family called their young men back."

"It is said... just said, that many of the people who attacked the new prefect were from militia backgrounds, otherwise they would not have been able to defeat the governor's standard-bearing troops." Captain Tan whispered a shocking rumor.

"Don't talk nonsense without evidence." Judge Shu glared at him fiercely and said, "Do you want to kill Lord Hou?"

"I said... it's said..." Captain Tan had to shut up again in frustration. Damn, these crap civil servants, they rely on me to fight and don't let me speak!

"At most, if we add the strong men and runners from the government office and the people brought by Sima, there will be two thousand people in total, which is far from enough to guard such a large city." An Yi said with a worried look on his face, "And there are definitely treacherous people like Zeng Yiben in the city. If they see that our numbers are too small, they might attack us from behind, cooperate with each other from inside and outside, and seize the city gate!"

"So we must mobilize the people!" Then Mr. Zhao said without question: "Since the people listen to the rich, we can only mobilize the rich first!"

As he spoke, he gave an order in a deep voice: "Go separately, and gather all the wealthy families who remain in the city here within one hour! No mistakes!"

"Yes!" everyone answered loudly. Although most of them were forced, at least they could obey orders.

ps. I drove for half a day, but it was too noisy at home, so I had to go to the hotel to write a chapter. It's Chinese New Year, there's really no other way, sorry sorry... I won't be able to write tonight, I'll get up tomorrow morning to write.