"Mr. Zhao arranged it?"
Chen Xinghe asked suspiciously: "Can he mobilize the army?"
"he can not."
Mu Shangwu shook his head, "But I can."
"Mr. Zhao revealed the news to me in advance, saying that our officials in Qingzhou are colluding with the bandits."
"This time the bandits were wiped out. He was worried that the officials would not sit still and would cause trouble, so he asked me to quietly lead troops into the city and lay an ambush."
"Once those people dare to make small moves, take action immediately and capture them."
"In this way, we can catch all the bandits in one fell swoop."
"High! Very high!"
Staff member Chen Jiu praised.
"Not only does Mr. Zhao use his troops like a god, he also has an extremely advanced understanding of people's hearts. I admire him."
"Who are you?"
Zhao Ping asked knowingly.
Just now, the officers and soldiers took everyone present into prison, including the prime ministers on the left and right.
But he only let this staff member go.
This shows that he has won Chen Xinghe's trust.
This kind of person is very scary.
If you serve Chen Xinghe wholeheartedly, then fine, it will be a rare help.
But once he colludes with the bandits, the entire Qingzhou may be defeated in his hands.
"I am Chen Jiu, a staff member of Master Zhou Mu."
Chen Jiu explained with a smile.
"Someone, take him to jail as well."
Zhao Ping said coldly.
Chen Jiu's smile froze on his face and turned as dark as charcoal.
"Mr. Zhao, what do you mean?"
"I am Lord Zhou Mu's staff. I don't have any military power. I only have a few dozen servants and maids. How can I collude with the bandits?"
"Mr. Zhao, Lao Chen has been with me all the time. It is impossible for him to collude with the bandits."
Chen Xinghe also followed suit.
However, Zhao Ping did not give him face and said indifferently: "Except you, everyone else is possible."
"In order to catch all the bandits, we can only force them to stay in prison for a while."
"So Lord Zhou Mu, you should work harder and find out the truth as soon as possible."
"All right."
Chen Xinghe nodded.
Although he seems a little not very smart, he also understands that bandits and officials collude together and it is difficult to eradicate them.
The only way to do this is to solve the official problem first, according to Zhao Ping.
The remaining bandits have no one to pass on, so it will be much easier to eradicate them.
"Old Chen, I will wrong you for a while first, and I will find out the truth as soon as possible and restore your innocence."
Chen Xinghe patted Chen Jiu's shoulder and signaled the guards to take him down as well.
Chen Jiu did not resist, which surprised Zhao Ping.
But the deposit should still be made.
After all, he was not familiar with these officials in the state capital and didn't know what they were doing secretly.
Just in case, they all have to be put in jail.
"That's not right. You have put everyone around me in prison. Who will do the work?"
Chen Xinghe frowned deeply when he saw that Mu Shangwu was the only acquaintance beside him, and that Mu Shangwu was still the commander and did not obey his orders.
"Aren't there ministers from various ministries?"
Zhao Ping said: "They are all people who follow the ministers of various ministries. Under the influence of their ears and eyes, it is not a problem to help you handle some government affairs."
"Aren't you afraid that some of them may be colluding with the bandits?"
Chen Xinghe asked subconsciously.
Zhao Ping raised his eyebrows.
This state pastor is not without merit.
I can still think of this question.
Even Mu Shangwu looked at Zhao Ping, waiting for his answer.
He also wanted to ask this question, but Chen Xinghe beat him to it.
Zhao Ping explained with a smile, "First, let me clarify a question."
"I just speculate that there is collusion between officials and bandits, but there is no actual evidence."
"Only Yao Hong, the boss of Bei Fenglin, has kept the correspondence between him and Shi Daquan. Everyone else needs to be investigated."
"I arrested them all to prevent them from destroying evidence."
"The reason why the Sixth Minister and others are retained is because their level is not high enough and they are in the middle."
"I can neither make decisions for the six ministers, nor am I qualified to order bandits."
"The family members of the six ministers will definitely come after them and ask them to find a way to fish out the backbone of their family."
"And the bandits will definitely find them and let them find ways to deal with our anti-bandit strategy."
"When forced by both sides, they will show their weaknesses."
"The evidence then surfaced."
After hearing this, Chen Xinghe and Mu Shangwu were stunned for a moment.
Zhao Ping continued: "Secondly, the six ministers have been arrested. Someone among them must have colluded with the bandits. Whether their lives can be saved is another matter, but the black hat must be removed."
"There must be some among the Six Ministers who also want to climb up the ranks. They will definitely pay close attention to the actions of those under the Six Ministers."
"Maybe we can find evidence before us."
“It’s also an opportunity to exercise them.”
"At least half of the six ministers are involved with bandits. Let's train the six ministers carefully. In the future, if the six ministers are cleared, they will be able to take over directly."
"It also makes up for the shortage of officials in Qingzhou."
"high!"
Chen Xinghe gave a thumbs up and praised, "Sir, your strategy is really too high."
"Xiao Dao'er."
Zhao Ping pretended to have an ×.
But Chen Xinghe's eyes lit up and he extended an olive branch to Zhao Ping.
"Mr. Zhao, are you willing to come to the state capital and work as my staff?"
"I can give you a salary of ten thousand taels of silver."
hiss!
Mu Shangwu's eyes widened.
Ten thousand taels of silver a year is more than the salary of a first-rank official in the imperial court.
Seeing Zhao Ping's ability to suppress bandits and hearing Zhao Ping's strategy, he also wanted to recruit Zhao Ping into his army.
But ten thousand taels of silver are really unaffordable.
I can't compete with the old uncle.
"Not interested in."
Zhao Ping refused without hesitation, "It's okay for me to do business, but I'm not suitable for being an official."
Not a staff member?
Mu Shangwu became more energetic, leaned over and asked, "Mr. Zhao, since you don't want to be a staff member, can you come to the army?"
"I can arrange a deputy command post for you."
"And the right to mobilize troops and horses in the entire Qingzhou is also given to you."
"Think about it, more than 10,000 people will follow you to suppress the bandits, and you are guaranteed to wipe out all the bandits in Qingzhou."
"It's your mission to suppress bandits, I'm just here to help."
Zhao Ping reminded: "Besides, I'm used to being loose and don't like to be restricted to a certain place."
"I would like to say hello to the two adults in advance. From now on, my business will be in Qingzhou. If it does not violate the laws and regulations, I will ask the two adults to make it easier for me."
"Easy to say, easy to say."
The two agreed hastily.
A fierce person like Zhao Ping can only make friends but not offend him.
Not to mention not violating the law, even if it was slightly violated, the two of them would choose to turn a blind eye.
They also gave up the idea of recruiting Zhao Ping.
After all, they only remembered after Zhao Ping's reminder that he was the brewer of acacia wine.
A jar of acacia wine costs 20,000 taels of silver. If you sell a jar, you will probably earn more than the salary given by Chen Xinghe.
Of course, after something like this happened, Chen Xinghe no longer wanted to celebrate Zhao Ping's success.
He was busy trying to find out the truth.
It was Zhao Ping who made a small request.
"Lord Zhou Mu, can you give me Evil Wind Valley?"
"What do you want from the Valley of the Evil Wind?"
Chen Xinghe said curiously: "There is always a bad wind there, so it's hard to grow crops."
"And it's not suitable for stationing troops. If you are surrounded by a large army, there is only one way to die."
Just after saying these words, Chen Xinghe's face turned red.
He felt particularly embarrassed when he thought of Zhao Ping's method of dealing with the bandits.
How many people does Zhao Ping have in total?
There were less than two hundred people in total.
And what about the bandits?
Led by Yu Qingdong, the head of Erlong Mountain, five to six thousand people were gathered.
It can be regarded as a large army besieging Evil Wind Valley.
However, Zhao Ping easily resolved the situation and wiped out all the bandits without spending a single soldier.
This achievement can definitely be recorded in the history books.
If he wants Evil Wind Valley, he really doesn't have to worry about being besieged by the enemy.
"I don't grow crops."
Zhao Ping explained with a smile, "Haven't the bandits in Qingzhou not been wiped out yet?"
"I plan to set up camp in Evilwind Dale."
"This is not my thing. It is always a little uncomfortable to use it. I would like to ask Mr. Zhou Mu to give me an official document to turn the Evil Wind Valley into my territory."
"Why go to all that trouble?"
Mu Shangwu waved his hand and said, "Live directly in my military camp."
"I'll cover all the food."
Zhao Ping is a top strategist. He lives in the military camp and can benefit a lot from casual advice.
Since we can't recruit Zhao Ping, we can only settle for the next best thing.
"How dare you bother the Commander-in-Chief?"
Zhao Ping declined.
"Okay, I'll go get the approval documents."
Chen Xinghe did not refuse.
Zhao Ping helped him suppress the bandits and allocated a piece of land as a camp, which was normal.
Following him were the state soldiers, guards, etc. who left.
Only Mu Shangwu, Zhao Ping and his bodyguards were left in the room.
Mu Shangwu asked with a flattering smile, "Mr. Zhao, there are no outsiders here now. Can I ask you something?"
"If you have anything to do, Lord Commander, just give me your instructions. Asking for advice would be a little embarrassing."
Zhao Ping said politely.
"Can you give me some of the knives your escorts use and the bows that can fire arrows continuously?"
Mu Shangwu said: "Don't worry, I can pay for it and my husband will never lose money."
