Bandit leaders such as Lan Yiqing and Lai Yuanjue gathered tens of thousands of people in the mountainous areas of Huizhou and Chaozhou prefectures, built strongholds in dangerous areas, and established camps over a distance of 800 miles.
The mountains are eight hundred miles long! Even if a hundred thousand troops were deployed, there wouldn't be many people to be seen. Moreover, the soldiers in Guangxi also had to suppress the local natives, so most of them could not be transferred except for a few elite troops.
Guangdong's military forces are also heavily involved in various aspects. After all the calculations, the number of troops that Yin Zhengmao can mobilize is no more than 50,000.
Military Advisor Xu Wei, with his level of ability, could naturally see at a glance that with such a small number of people, there was no other way except to concentrate superior forces and attack the core area of the rebels directly.
Although Yin Zhengmao was greedy, his military talent was second to none among the civil officials. How could he possibly divide the troops and dilute the already stretched military force?
"Do you think he is stupid?" Zhao Hao took a sip of tea and asked with a smile.
"Oh..." Xu Wei suddenly realized, pointed at Zhao Hao and scolded with a smile: "I told him that he couldn't be so stupid. Wouldn't it be better to push it eastward from Huizhou to Chaozhou? If the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi wanted to teach a small Jieyang County a lesson, why would he need to personally lead troops to attack the border? It turns out that you were the one who made up the rumor!"
"So that's how it is!" Tang Baolu, who was serving tea and water at the side, suddenly realized.
It turned out that the young master was 70% true and 30% false, using a fictitious thing to scare Lin Daoqian. Lin Daoqian believed it, and in order to save his life, he had no choice but to work for Zhao Hao obediently.
He couldn't help but worry, "Lin Daoqian is very smart, will he be able to see through it later?"
"He is just a pirate who has surrendered. No matter how smart he is, he is only a little smart. His vision is always limited to Chaozhou Prefecture, and he is completely ignorant of the officialdom in the provincial capital. Not to mention the Governor's Mansion far away in Zhaoqing." Xu Wei shook his head and smiled, "Besides, my son is so cautious that he is said to sleep in three different places at night. Hearing such news, he would rather believe it than not. Moreover, he has such a large family business now, and he will definitely not gamble his life with it."
"I see." Tang Baolu suddenly realized.
"Another point, haven't the government troops done enough incredible stupid things?" Zhao Hao said with a sneer, "Lin Daoqian has been dealing with the government troops for ten years. Doesn't he know that they never do what they should do and only do things they shouldn't do?"
"Haha, that's right." Tang Baolu agreed with a laugh, "I heard that the Tumu Fort was destroyed because Wang Zhen suddenly wanted to return home in glory, so he had to lead 800,000 troops to bypass his hometown, right?"
"Hehe, the Ming Dynasty will end sooner or later." Xu Wei sneered and asked Zhao Hao, "What if the governor's army doesn't come by then? Are you going to open the story if there is a change of plan?"
"I will tell him that I spent a lot of money to find out from the governor's staff that the division of troops was fake and was meant to confuse the enemy soldiers. As long as we pay a large sum of money to entertain the troops, the governor will write off the old accounts..." Zhao Hao said calmly.
"Okay, you are shameless. My son is really going to be sold by you, and he will help you count the money." Xu Wei stretched and got up, ending the night talk and said, "I'm going to sleep with the little beauty."
"Don't forget to find out where he was asked to send the people." Zhao Hao instructed him, took a shower, and went back to the room to sleep with his sisters.
As for Don Paul, who was all alone here, he had no choice but to take a shower and then go to sleep...
~~
The next morning, the governor's fleet left Xiawei, and Zhao Hao naturally followed.
Before leaving, seeing a pair of dark circles under Lin Daoquan's fair face, Master Zhao couldn't help but laugh secretly. It seemed that little Lin didn't sleep well last night.
That's right, there are so many things that I can't figure out in the future. I have to force him to give up thinking completely and lie down to let him be beaten.
The next day, the fleet returned to Chenghai County, entered the Han River and went up, arriving at the provincial capital a few days later.
Upon learning that the governor had arrived, Liu Zixing, Yue Yunpeng and others realized that if they continued to make trouble it would be too much, so they showed up and persuaded the people surrounding the government office to leave.
After regaining his freedom, Mr. Zhao Erye and the officials and gentry of Chaozhou Prefecture hurried out on horseback to meet them. As a result, they encountered Lin Zhongcheng's fleet just after passing Fenghuang Island.
When he came in front of Lin Run, he heard Lin Zhongcheng laugh out loud: "Hahaha, it's true that we meet everywhere in life. Mr. Zhuangyuan, we meet again."
Zhao Shouzheng could not help but feel ashamed and kept confessing his sins.
"It's okay. Chaozhou has been in chaos recently. How can we survive without someone to take charge? You're right not to leave." Lin Run certainly wouldn't argue with him. He looked at his arm hanging in front of his chest with concern and asked, "How is your recovery going?"
"It's nothing serious, it's just that it's quite difficult to lift chopsticks or a pen, it's not a big deal." In fact, Zhao Shouzheng didn't need to hang his arm, but he felt guilty and had to gain some sympathy.
"You did a good job. We'll talk about it later. Let me say a few words to everyone first." After Lin Run finished speaking, he turned his gaze to the Chaozhou officials and gentry who were kneeling on the ground.
"Everyone, please stand up." Everyone heard him speak slowly and clearly:
"The previous hasty replacement of Prefect Hou was the result of ignoring public opinion, which led to a series of chaos. Therefore, the main responsibility does not lie with you..." Lin Run characterized the chaos of the past two months in front of provincial officials and officials and gentry in the prefecture.
The purpose of his coming was to calm people's hearts and get Chaozhou City and even Chaozhou Prefecture back on track as soon as possible.
As for whether or not saying this would offend the Governor, Lin Run didn't care at all. He was already giving him face by not reporting him.
As expected, after these words were spoken, the tense expressions of the officials and gentry in Chaozhou were obviously relaxed. It was a lie to say that they were not afraid of being held accountable by the provincial government. When they really met the governor who was on duty on behalf of the emperor, they were all scared to death.
Fortunately, Zhongcheng Lin took the responsibility as soon as he arrived. The officials and gentry breathed a sigh of relief and quickly apologized, saying that they did not notice the chaos in advance and failed to protect the Lord of the Mansion, and asked Zhongcheng to punish them.
Lin Run naturally said generously that no matter what, winning the Chaozhou defense war was a great achievement. Even if there were mistakes before, they could be forgiven. Let's put aside the burden and look forward.
Chaozhou officials and gentry all bowed their heads to receive instruction, and many even burst into tears of gratitude...
Therefore, under the main theme of putting the overall situation first, the trouble caused by Li Zhifu was put aside. Let's wait and see when Chaozhou Prefecture, the Censorate and the Jinyiwei can find any clues.
Before that, everyone should eat and drink as usual and live their life as usual.
So it seems that it is better for Magistrate Li to never be found.
~~
After the grand welcome ceremony, Chaozhou officials and gentry respectfully welcomed the Minister of Justice into the city.
After the welcoming banquet, Lin Run went straight back to his own office. Chaozhou City naturally had a governor's office, and it was quite large.
After washing up and changing into a light summer robe, Lin Run met Zhao Shouzheng in the signing room, which was shaded by trees and filled with the chirping of cicadas.
"How is it? You didn't expect before you came here that Chaoshan people are so difficult to deal with, right?" Lin Run joked as he walked around the desk and came to the row of official hat chairs against the wall and sat down with him.
"I really didn't expect that." Zhao Shouzheng said with a wry smile, "You don't know that there are people watching outside the government office day and night, as if they are afraid that I will sneak away."
"But the fact that you have gained the love of Chaozhou people in such a short time is also a miracle." Lin Run couldn't help laughing and said, "Hey, why did I say 'again'?"
The two couldn't help but smile at each other, and at the same time recalled the first time they met in the Yingtian Governor's Office in Nanjing a few years ago.
It was raining and the flood situation in Wuzhong was very serious, so Lin Run was naturally worried. In addition, he always hated nerds who were ambitious but incompetent, so he was naturally very resistant to the court suddenly sending an inexperienced new champion to be the magistrate of Kunshan County, where the flood control task was the most difficult.
Therefore, the atmosphere of the first meeting was definitely not harmonious.
To be honest, after the test, Lin Run did not think highly of Zhao Shouzheng. Although Zhao Shouzheng had obviously done his homework on the questions he asked, his answers were only mediocre and sounded like he was reciting from memory.
Lin Run felt uneasy about the slightly sluggish train of thought and the bookish response. He even prepared to go to Kunshan in person to help Zhao Shouzheng fix the problem...
However, he was totally wrong. Zhao Zhuangyuan, beyond everyone's expectation, united the people of Kunshan in a very short time, led them to block the flood, and then created the miracle of "building a dike in one month", and finally built a 300-mile long dike, turning Kunshan, which had been severely flooded every year, into a land of fish and rice again.
Although the most important reason here is that Zhao Zhuangyuan has a good son, it does not negate Zhao Shouzheng's achievements and abilities.
Moreover, Zhao Shouzheng created another miracle in Chaozhou, but this time his son didn't help, right?
Therefore, Lin Zhongcheng sincerely praised: "You are worthy of being the top scholar, you are extraordinary! It is true that gold shines wherever it goes."
Mr. Zhao blushed and said modestly, "I just did my duty."
"Not many people remember their duty as officials nowadays." Lin Run couldn't help but sighed, "No wonder the people of Chaozhou are reluctant to part with you."
"I just happened to be in such a situation. I think they are desperate and will try any possible means to save their lives. They will hold on to it without caring whether it can save their lives or not. After this period of time, they will calm down." Zhao Shouzheng smiled helplessly and said, "Little do they know that they are putting me on the fire."
"Oh?" Lin Run was stunned for a moment, then he understood what he meant. He waved his hand and said, "Don't worry. Prefect Hou is Prefect Hou, and you are you. Your situations are completely different."
"Alas, no matter what, I have deeply understood the helplessness of the prefect. It is really 'I have no words to defend myself, I can only sigh with my hands'. But don't worry, Zhongcheng, I have already talked to those people. If they make any unreasonable demands on you, I will jump into the river to show my loyalty."
"Not really, not really. The Chaoshan people want to keep you, which shows how smart they are. If you really become the prefect, they will get a huge advantage." Lin Run laughed for a while, then stopped laughing, looked at him deeply, and asked, "But what do you think? Are you interested in taking on this responsibility?"