After Suzaku broke through the city gate, Baisha City's defense line also collapsed. This collapse comes from both psychological and physical pressure, making it irreversible once it occurs.
Simply put, everyone on the walls was terrified.
What they saw was a "steel monster" who was not afraid of bows, crossbows, swords, and guns, but also possessed powerful strange powers. Even those who sensed Qi could not defeat him in one round. People screamed and threw down their weapons, jumped off the wooden frame one after another, and fled in all directions. By the time Qiuyue and others arrived, the north gate had become an undefended empty gate.
In order to prevent the enemy from transferring criminal evidence and destroying documents and materials, Ning Wanjun chose to let the infantry team that entered the city guard the north gate and reorganize the team. She led the team of machine beasts straight to the county government office to seize the center of power.
On this day, residents living near the main street all heard the sound of the earth trembling - they came and fell one after another, as heavy as a thousand junctures, as if thousands of troops were pouring into this remote town.
When she arrived at the gate of the county government office, Ning Wanjun unexpectedly saw a group of people wearing white cloth standing on the stone steps. Among them, the person standing at the front had his head lowered and his wrists were tied with thick hemp ropes.
She suddenly realized that this person was the magistrate of Baisha County, and that he was dressed in accordance with the instructions in the letter—taking off his official robe, binding his hands, and surrendering to the Jinxia Affairs Bureau.
…
What happened next was a matter of course.
After Qian Zhixian discovered that the visitor turned out to be Princess Guangping, he knelt down in his courtroom and expressed his regret with tears and snot. He said that he was blind and ignorant, and only begged His Highness to spare his life.
Ning Wanjun asked him to confess all the concealed murder cases in Baisha City and who were the real culprits behind these crimes. The more he explains, the more likely he is to save his life.
"My lord... no, the common people will tell you everything they know, and they will tell you everything!"
Magistrate Qian naturally agreed wholeheartedly.
He knew very well that if he kept the green hills, he would not be afraid of running out of firewood. Even if the other party is a princess, this kind of behavior is absolutely unacceptable. When the news reaches Gyeonggi, the government and the opposition will be furious. As long as he survives, he will be rehabilitated one day.
Ning Wanjun waved her hand and asked her men to escort him into the government dungeon.
The commissioner of the Secretariat was responsible for the interrogation, and she had no interest in wasting time on such a person.
"My maid thought his mouth would be tougher." Qiuyue sneered, "I didn't expect him to give in so quickly."
"Without the official robe, he is no different from the gangsters who roam the streets. He seems to be arrogant, but in fact he is both timid and greedy." Ning Wanjun said casually, "The only difference is that the power in his hands creates The damage caused by gangs is much greater than that of gangs.”
"By the way," the princess said, changing the subject, "Have the results of this actual combat exercise come out?"
This is what Ning Wanjun is most concerned about.
"The enemy's losses are still being counted, but there are no casualties in our army. It can be said to be a complete victory."
"Not even injured?"
"Yes." Speaking of this, Qiuyue was also quite excited. "These new equipment of the Mechanism Bureau are indeed somewhat... um..." She thought for a long time before she came up with a word, "... scary. If it were the enemy who used them. , I’m afraid I can’t think of any good way to deal with it.”
It is almost impossible for such a thing to happen without any casualties on the battlefield.
No matter how weak the enemy is, the spears and arrows fired can still kill people. Whether a battle can be won often depends on the ability of both sides to withstand casualties. Before one side is completely defeated, the casualties on both sides should increase equally.
If it is a siege battle, it may even happen that the losses of the victorious side greatly exceed those of the defending side. This is why all generals do not like to take the initiative to attack fortified cities.
Although the defense force of Baisha City this time is weak and the willpower of the private army is low, in the final analysis it is still an siege. During the approach, it is inevitable that someone will be hit by an arrow, or hit by rocks or hot oil. Ning Wanjun estimated the loss in advance to be between twenty and fifty people, but she didn't expect that there was not even a single injured person.
This was her first experience since fighting on the battlefield.
No wonder Xia Fan always talks about the coordinated fighting of machine beasts.
Actual combat has proven that new equipment and new tactics have improved the strength of the army to an unprecedented extent.
Ning Wanjun was vaguely aware that these things would change the shape and situation of the entire war in the future.
…
Three days later, Xia Fan also received a report from Baisha County.
The newly settled Baisha Affairs Bureau, with the cooperation of the army, completed the initial reorganization of the city with extremely high efficiency. More than 100 cases have been reorganized, including 87 unjust cases with solid evidence. Among them, the two families involved most, Fei and Tang, have been arrested and more than 300,000 taels of silver confiscated from their homes. , food even filled several warehouses.
After interrogation, those involved in the murders in the hands of the Fei family and the Tang family were sentenced to hanging, and the others were sentenced to ten to twenty years of hard labor respectively. The county magistrate and his party members were spared death due to meritorious service in the prosecution, but they were also required to serve twenty years of hard labor and were deprived of all illegal gains.
This is exactly the result Xia Fan wants to see.
After taking Baisha City into his pocket, the territory to the south of Shenzhou was also brought under Jinxia's control. While the latter is expanding its power, it can also quickly fill the financial deficit. The newly expanded army has also been fully trained. There is really no more cost-effective deal than this.
What's more, Baisha City also has mineral resources, mainly hematite, with a small amount of associated minerals including pyrite and gold. Although the output and scale are low, it can temporarily alleviate Jinxia City's dependence on the import of metal resources.
In addition, during the investigation, the Secretariat also discovered two cases of malfeasance by internal personnel. However, they were worried that the rumors would damage their reputation, so they did not deal with them yet. They only detained them and asked Xia Fan for his opinion in the report.
The phenomenon of corruption occurring within half a month was not beyond Xia Fan's expectation. Quick-track cadres are bound to have various problems. Only continuous education and iron-clad discipline can keep the team cohesive and unable to adapt. Those who are eliminated are eliminated.
Therefore, his reply was very simple. Not only must it be dealt with, but it must also be dealt with publicly. The crimes committed by these two people must be listed one by one for all personnel in the Secretariat to see.
In Xia Fan's view, this is undoubtedly an excellent internal education opportunity. The Secretariat will never cover up any official's malfeasance. Once they break the law, they will face heavier punishment than ordinary people.
In addition, he also wrote two instructions in the letter.
The first is to open warehouses and release grain to ensure that no one goes hungry throughout the cold winter, which appeases the people of Baisha with direct benefits and is also the most effective propaganda for the Secretariat.
The second is to carry out a severe crackdown to eliminate the remaining underworld forces and gang members to prevent these people from taking advantage of the transition of political power to harm the local people.
Only by stabilizing order as soon as possible can Baisha City resume operations.
Ning Wanjun did not stop there. On the day she captured Baisha City, she moved north and arrived at Anshen City a day ago.