Historically, the bandits in Western Hunan can be divided into two categories: one type was suppressed by our party and army, but actually, this type wasn't traditional bandits. They were remnants of the army that followed Zeng Guofan to suppress the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom at the end of the Qing dynasty. However, since these soldiers didn't know what was good for them and took the wrong political stance, they became bandits. The other category was real bandits, but most of them were composed of good civilians, accurately speaking, local residents who relied on the mountains and rivers to make a living. Collecting protection fees along the Tea-Horse Road was reasonable, so often in one village, all the able-bodied men would do this lucrative part-time job. Moreover, this skill could be passed down from father to son, son to grandson. Therefore, Wang Zhenyu's political reform had two crucial points: first, sharing profits between merchants and towns, aiming to turn villages from destructive forces on trade routes into protective forces. Why did these people rob in the past? It was because they saw this lucrative route but didn't get a share. Now it's better; everyone has a share. The question is whether they will continue their old business of making easy money or hope for more stability and prosperity on the trade route to make a big fortune together.

  In fact, the bandits in Xiangxi are not that powerful. The merchants of Hongshang all set out together, departing early in the morning and still having their rear guard within the city walls at noon. Which bandit group would dare to be so reckless as to rob such a large merchant caravan, which is also carrying knives and guns for self-defense?

  Fighting will result in casualties, but now it's different. No need to fight, everyone has a share of the votes, and the village's surplus labor force also has a place to sell their strength. If everyone goes back to being bandits, that would be unscientific and anti-human.

  Actually, before Wang Zhenyu's reform, the more powerful bandit groups had already transformed in this direction. Often many merchant groups would pay a not insignificant toll through an intermediary and change into several flags, then pass by safely, while the bandits were also very trustworthy. Often the lookout would stretch his neck forward, take a closer look, and shout, "Hey, this car is flying our own Big King's flag!" Got it, no need to take action, pack up.

  Huang Jianxiong is just such a Chinese angle, and has been dealing with these bandits for over a decade.

  Huang Jianxiong seemed to have figured it out, Wen Dou was no match for Wang Zhenyu in a battle of wits, so he naturally had to resort to his own specialty - martial arts. The key to winning a martial arts battle lies in having sufficient strength, and these bandits were the key, so he quietly left Jingzhou to meet those friends from the Three Mountains and Five Peaks.

  It just so happens that these friends have also been feeling depressed lately. Why is that? It's actually because of Wang Zhenyu's political reforms.

  As mentioned earlier, after the political reform, the big cake of Shangdao was enlarged, and all villages in the county also had the hope of getting a share. Therefore, amateur players who used to come and go with these professional bandits chose to wash their hands and turn over a new leaf. They not only stopped providing timely intelligence to merchant teams but even explicitly informed them that from now on, it's better for you not to show up in our territory, lest everyone loses face and harmony is injured.

  This has infuriated a group of mountain bandits, what kind of thing is this! Cut him down.

  Huang Jianxiong found a man named Yang Shouyin, nicknamed "Enter the Earth Dragon", who was around 50 years old, short and thin, but also very spirited. However, his reputation was not impressive. From his nickname, it can be seen that "Enter the Earth Dragon" means being fast, but as a bandit, running fast is not only useless, but also laughable.

  However, it's not entirely without benefits. The bandit from the previous generation happened to be one of the survivors. So, in the Jianghu, he can also be considered an old predecessor. Huang Jianxiong chose to find him, hoping to use his Jianghu status to gather as many guns as possible, making it more secure.

  Yang Shouyin, whose hair and beard were slightly gray, also noticed the recent wind direction. He knew that if Wang Zhenyu, this overlord from across the river, really stood firm in Jingzhou Prefecture, his brothers' rice bowls would definitely be smashed, and at that time, there would be no other way out except to go back to farming. However, when it comes to business, methods are everything.

  "Hey, Young Master Huang, are you asking me to rebel against the government and kill officials? Even if I were to agree out of our past friendship, these brothers under my command may not be willing to go along with it." Yang Shouyin was subtle but made it clear to Huang Jianxiong that he wanted benefits in return, or else everything would be off the table.

  Huang Jianxiong smiled and said, "Your prestige is still unmatched, isn't it? With one call, a hundred will respond. Moreover, when the time comes, I'll be inside the city to provide support, so what's there to worry about? Of course, such a big matter can't let our brothers exert themselves in vain. I don't dare make other promises, but after entering the city, we'll have a big plunder, and all the government treasuries will belong to Brother Yang. And if I'm in charge of Jingzhou in the future, it's just like being on home turf - just give us a shout when you need something. Besides, although Huang doesn't have much wealth, he's also collected 100,000 taels with his colleagues as an advance thank-you gift to all our brothers."

  Yang Shouyin was indeed a money-eyed person, and he immediately said with excitement: "Huang Laoxiong is really a straightforward person, then it's settled. As for the specific attack date, I'll gather all the big brothers to discuss it again. How about that?"

  Huang Jianxiong was overjoyed and cupped his hands in response: "I'll follow big brother's arrangements..."

  Huang Jianxiong is also a character, not only a bandit, but he also found the Divine Army. The so-called Divine Army is also a force in the Xiangxi region. Some people who believe in Taoism think that after drinking the talisman water, they can be immune to knives and guns, so they joined the army belonging to the Taoist organization, which are the Divine Army. It was relying on the Divine Army that Taoism gradually became the mainstream religion in the Xiangxi region. Unfortunately, under the guise of religion, there is still greed and shamelessness, so Huang Jianxiong easily borrowed 3,000 Divine Army soldiers.

  In an instant, the small city of Jingzhou Prefecture was beset on all sides by wind and rain, with heaven and earth changing unpredictably.

  Wang Zhenyu may not know that he has already been calculated by others. He was very busy in the past week, running around in four counties, wherever the council opened, our Commander Wang would appear there. In essence, it's just going to give people a chance to show off, take a photo with the newly elected county magistrate, have a meal and congratulate him before rushing to the next event.

  For a whole week, Wang Zhenyu ran through all the counties under his jurisdiction, becoming familiar with them while being very dissatisfied with the construction of the county seats in each county.

  The city is small, it doesn't matter, the population is small, it's not a big deal, but you have to pay attention to basic drainage and sanitation; medical care and education must be complete. Otherwise, living in rural areas and living in cities are the same, why would others want to live in cities?

  Wang Zhenyu and Chen Hongji, who accompanied him, pointed out: "When building a city, it's necessary to plan ahead. The scale can be bigger, the roads can be wider, the number of hospital beds can be increased, and the size of schools can be larger; if possible, separate drainage and sewage systems should be built, rather than having everything flow into one small ditch, which gets clogged and doesn't get cleaned, leading to all sorts of diseases emerging when the weather gets hot."

  The county magistrate and the members of parliament who accompanied him were stunned by Wang Zhenyu's words. Obviously, this gun-playing commander's insights into urban construction far surpassed those of these self-proclaimed experts in business.

  Back in Jingzhou, it was already mid-May and the weather started to get hot. Ma Xicheng, who was in charge of military supplies, suddenly requested an audience with Wang Zhenyu. Wang Zhenyu knew his cousin's temperament very well and understood that since he took over the military supplies, unless there was a major or urgent matter, he would not come looking for him.

  In surprise, Wang Zhenyu immediately summoned Ma Xicheng.

  "Commander, someone wants to harm you." Marsy's first sentence stunned Wang Zhenyu and his little friends.

  Originally, Ma Xi Cheng obtained a stunning message from a long-term supplier of military supplies when purchasing materials. The bandit leaders in the Xiangxi region are now colluding with each other, and it is said that someone named Yang Shou Yin is leading the effort to jointly capture the county seat of Jingzhou. Although the news has not been confirmed, business people with extensive connections have received some wind of this.

  Ma Xi Cheng's little message immediately caught Wang Zhen Yu's high attention. From the beginning of this political reform, Wang Zhen Yu had estimated that there would definitely be extremely desperate people who would choose to take risks after losing their interests. According to this news analysis, someone has already done so and has chosen the most dangerous path, colluding with bandits.

  After the Wolf Extermination Operation, Li Zongren took over as the acting captain of the instructional team, and Song Haomin became Wang Zhenyu's lieutenant colonel deputy. After a brief moment of thought, Wang Zhenyu called in Song Haomin and asked him to invite Zhao Dongsheng and Liu Xing. Originally, for this kind of response to yin intrigue, He Jian was the most suitable person among his subordinates, but this old fellow had been sent by himself to Hongjiang to carry out covert operations and was not by his side. So he thought about it and also called in Liu Xing, who currently didn't have a specific task.

  Liu Xing has been with the Tiger Troop for over a month, and due to various busy matters, Wang Zhenyu hasn't had time to arrange tasks for him. However, Liu Xing is a broad-minded person, after all, he has narrowly escaped death before, and in many things, he is more open-minded than ordinary people. So although there are no specific tasks, as the chief of staff with the rank of lieutenant colonel, he goes to Yang Wangu's troop headquarters every day to report for duty. After a long time, Yang Wangu also noticed him and began to consciously arrange some work for him, including training, attendance, equipment, and other aspects of various combat units. What surprised Yang Wangu was that Liu Xing handled these tasks very skillfully, not only considering all aspects but also having many special ideas. Therefore, when Yang Wangu reported to Wang Zhenyu last night, he mentioned this person, and Wang Zhenyu took note of it at the time.

  Liu Xing listened to Ma Xi Cheng's recount and didn't say much, only softly telling Wang Zhen Yu: "If the commander wants to re-create these bandits, our ninth brigade is more than enough; but if you want to annihilate them completely, I have someone here who can be recommended to you, Zhou Lan."

  This was the second time Wang Zhenyu had heard Liu Xing mention this name, the first being when he met Liu Xing at his hometown.

  Where is Zhou Dan now? In the army, Zhou Dan, who was wanted by the Provincial Governor's Office along with Liu Xing, was deceived by a letter from Liu Xing to Jingzhou, and the result was even more infuriating than Liu Xing. Also because he couldn't see Wang Zhenyu, Liu Xing at least had an idle job to make a living. Our Zhou Dan didn't even have an official position, relying on Liu Xing for food and shelter. However, now that he's a wanted man, with nowhere else to go, he settled down in Jingzhou.

  An hour later, Wang Zhenyu picked up Zhou Tong, a classmate with a righteous face, at the command center. This man was of medium build, with spirited eyes, slightly thick lower lip, and large ears that brought good fortune, without any evil spirit.

  He was precisely such a person, extolled by Liu Xing as being skilled in strategy. This couldn't help but make Wang Zhenyu very curious.

  Soon, Wang Zhenyu believed in Liu Xing's recommendation.