In this stunning farce, the only reliable supporting role was surprisingly the unreliable God Soldiers. Moreover, it was just a little short, and the Travel Department's direct team would have been destroyed by these seemingly brainless God Soldiers. Unfortunately, it was just a little short, and the brave and extraordinary God Soldiers did not have time to expand their gains and thoroughly eliminate the direct team. Xu Yuanquan's first team had already arrived, so the battle situation completely reversed, the direct team did not collapse, and the God Soldiers collapsed.

  However, the unexpected appearance of the Divine Army still caused the direct troops to suffer heavy casualties, with 84 deaths and over 120 injuries, especially the fact that more than 60 people were left with lifelong disabilities (missing arms and legs) is particularly unbearable.

  Although more than 8,400 bandits were captured, the losses of the direct troops still made Wang Zhenyu unexpected and very unhappy. The current Wang Zhenyu is no longer the small officer in Hankou. As a result of Commander Wang's displeasure, more than 200 bandits and leaders were identified and dragged to the gate of Jingzhou City like dead dogs. In front of the captives and all the citizens, without trial, they were all executed by firing squad. Huang Jianxiong, who provoked these bandits, was beheaded after being captured, and his head was hung at the city gate. The other captives were shocked and pale, while the citizens and scholars cheered and applauded, and also had a more comprehensive understanding of Wang Zhenyu as a ruler, this smiling young general would also kill people.

  In the following half month, the amateur bandits in various stockades of Jingzhou made a second choice in their lives. After careful discussion, research and analysis, they still felt that being a good citizen was more in line with the law of historical development, more harmonious and healthier. Because this profession now seems to have lower risks than being a bandit, and its prospects are broader, although it is a bit harder and more tortuous, but taking the lesser of two evils, they surrendered.

  Thus, almost overnight, the entire Jingzhou Prefecture's ground could no longer see a single bandit. And the bandits in southeastern Guizhou, after the exaggerated propaganda of the hundreds of bandits who had narrowly escaped, had already regarded the Menghu Troop as heavenly soldiers and generals in their hearts, and naturally did not dare to set foot in Jingzhou Prefecture again. During this period, a phrase was circulating among the big and small bandit gangs in western Hunan and southeastern Guizhou: "Jingzhou's Wang Zhenyu, Hongjiang's Cai Junxian, if you don't want to die young, never go see them."

  In the bandits' minds, Wang Zhenyu's name was essentially no different from that of a living Yama, and even more so.

  Although it was heartbreaking to lose nearly two hundred men, Wang Zhenyu was still grateful to these ignorant bandits for the opportunity to establish his own prestige.

  What needs to be done now is to further expand one's own strength, specifically, deepen reform.

  Break the existing social power structure, win more supporters for yourself, and expand your ruling foundation. In this regard, Wang Zhenyu is no different from any other historical autocrat.

  But success is not easy to come by, and for Wang Zhenyu, who was miserable in the eyes of later generations, it is even more so.

  To counter those unreliable old officials, to gain the support of merchants and local clan forces, Wang Zhenyu chose to abandon the scholar group that was destined to decline, and handed over the power of local civil administration to merchants, clans, and heads. Of course, Wang Zhenyu is not a fool either, the military force, the foundation of all rule, is still firmly in his own hands, and the judicial system's deterrent power is also seen by him as a treasure to restrain the local snakes.

  Of course, there is also the most important point, which is the current domestic political climate. To know that the politics of giving power to the people, from ancient times to the present, only Wang Zhenyu and his family have done it. This kind of epoch-making political system was completely established on Wang Zhenyu's personal will, in other words, once Wang Zhenyu fails in the civil war or dies unexpectedly, this political system would be immediately swallowed up by the current mainstream system due to historical inertia. Therefore, so-called county people governing counties and giving power back to the people is actually just an opium, and those who have tasted the sweetness of power, such as businessmen, clan forces, and minority leaders, have no choice but to go all out to support Wang Zhenyu. Otherwise, the land that Wang Zhenyu has given them would be taken back by force.

  In this way, businessmen naturally have to fight for their own land like farmers, and fight for the "land" that belongs to businessmen.

  Wang Zhenyu sat quietly in his study, the floor covered with scraps of paper, all filled with large characters. Upon closer inspection, words like "army", "politics", "industry" and "military officer" could be seen. If he wanted to change the course of history, there were too many things for him to do.

  He felt his mind was a bit messy, with many things tangled together, and he thought hard, but couldn't come up with a complete train of thought.

  Undoubtedly, one's own power is indeed growing step by step, but the troubles are not decreasing, on the contrary, they are increasing.

  Wang Zhenyu is also afraid, afraid that one day he will be overthrown by his subordinates, afraid that one day he will be eliminated by the enemy, and even more afraid that he will be reduced to his original form and live a life of mediocrity. As for whether the tragedy in history will happen again, Wang Zhenyu is not worried, in his view, as long as he succeeds, the trajectory of the historical wheel will definitely change.

  Afraid, afraid, afraid, what's the use! Wang Zhenyu suddenly thought of a very philosophical phrase when he was in extreme distress: "Live in the present."

  Yes, living in the present, since we don't even know what tomorrow will be like, why bother worrying about it, taking care of the current step is the most practical thing to do.

  Have to say that Wang Zhenyu is indeed a master of psychological self-regulation, and with just this simple move, he has put aside the troubles in his heart.

  What is it that I need most right now?

  Since it has been decided to stand firm in the present, it will not be about thinking of how to conquer the world. No matter what you think or how you think, the most important thing is to enhance your own strength.

  Hitting iron or being hard itself, the wonderful strategy can't leave strong power, these principles Wang Zhenyu all understand.

  So now the key to the problem is how to enhance one's own strength? Or in other words, what should be done first?

  For this, Wang Zhenyu invited three people. The first person was his financial godfather Ye Zuwen, who had been summoned a month ago but had arrived in Jingzhou City with his eldest son Guoxuan only the day before due to some delays, which was enough to make Wang Zhenyu happy for a while. The second person was actually two people: Xu Yuanquan and Wan Yao Huang, who were currently the most strategic-minded in the military and naturally also the two people Wang Zhenyu relied on the most. The third person was a strange man recommended by Chen Hongji, whose surname was Chen, first name Shao, courtesy name Hanchuan, from Changsha, whose ancestors were from the Chen family of Yingchuan County in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and had been a scholarly family for over a thousand years, with an unbroken line of descendants and an untainted reputation. This Chen Shao was not very old, only 25 years old, but his learning was not low, he was a disciple of the Wang school in Changsha.

  In later generations' history textbooks, there is no record of Wang Men, so many people regard Wang Men as Wang Xue, that is, the heart learning of Wang Shouren and Wang Yangming.

  The so-called Wang Men actually refers to a Mr. Wang in modern Hunan history, Wang Fuzhi.

  Wang Xianqian (1833-1916) was a scholar and literary figure of the late Qing dynasty. His courtesy name was Renqiu, also known as Renfu, with the pseudonym Xianggui, commonly referred to as Mr. Xianggui.

  This person didn't occupy too much of a role in modern history, but almost every role had him.

  Do you know Empress Dowager Cixi? Do you know how this old Buddha ascended to the throne? The Xinyou coup, at that time, the Western Empress Dowager colluded with Prince Gong and other royal family members, launched a coup, killed eight regent ministers including Sushun, and our Wang Kaizhi was serving as a home tutor in Sushun's mansion at that time.

  The boss fell down, no matter, Wang Xianyun entered Zeng Guofan's government again, helping to participate in military affairs.

  Later on, Wang Xianqian began teaching and educating people, as well as compiling historical works.

  Let's talk about historical books. Wang Xianqian, the old master, has two most influential books. One is "The Story of Qi Xiang", which details the truth about the Xin You coup, and the other is "The Annals of the Xiang Army", which details the history of the Xiang Army. The former was criticized by Cixi for defending Su Shun, while the latter was criticized by Zeng Guofan for recording the failures and shortcomings of the Xiang Army. However, this old man seems to have some tricks up his sleeve, and he managed to emerge unscathed, which is quite remarkable.

  As for teaching and educating people, the achievements are even greater. Do you know the Six Gentlemen of the Wuxu Year? Yang Rui and Liu Guangdi among them were students of this old Master Wang.

  Other well-known disciples include Yang Du, Xia Shoutian, Qi Baishi and many others.

  At the same time, this old master has been teaching students for decades. He successively presided over Changsha Sih Xian Lecture Hall and Hengzhou Shu Shan Academy. He founded Nanchang High School and also lectured at Xiang Ji Lou. He had thousands of disciples before and after, with a reputation that his students are all over the world.

  Wang Xianyun's reputation is not worth mentioning, after all, the identity of a Confucian master is already there, but he also has a specialty that few people know about, which is the heart technique of emperors and kings. This is an ancient subject.

  It doesn't matter what it is specifically, what matters is that Wang Xianqian's unique skill has been passed down to only three people: Yang Du, Xia Shoutian, and now this Chen Shao.

  Chen Shao is Wang Xianyun's only closed-door disciple, but the specific reason is unclear. However, when Wang Zhenyu saw this brother's sturdy build of 1.8 meters, he really couldn't associate Chen Shao with the identity of a disciple of the famous Wang school in Sanxiang.

  If it weren't for this brother's thick eyebrows and big eyes, bright eyes and white teeth, looking handsome and full of English spirit, Wang Zhenyu had planned to use the famous Hong Kong actor Cheng Ka-in from later generations as a substitute.

  No one dislikes a handsome young man. Even Wang Xizhi couldn't help himself, so he chose this closed-door disciple.

  As for why Chen Shao appeared in such a remote place in Xiangxi, it has something to do with Wang Zhenyu.

  Chen Shao's father was a soldier in the Xiang Army, just like Yang Du. However, by Chen Shao's generation, his family had become wealthy, so his elders hoped he would pursue a career in literature.

  Chen Shao's bloodline flowed with the soul of a soldier, so although he was forced to take a literary path, he still longed to lay down his pen and take up arms, to achieve great things.

  After leaving Wang Kuan's door, he originally planned to go to Beijingzhengfu to join the army like his senior brother Yang Du. However, at this time, Wang Zhenyu created a military disturbance in Changsha, defeating a strong division with just one brigade. Moreover, the legend of the "Fierce Tiger Brigade" before, Chen Shao's military dream that year began to stir again.

  But after all, he was not that ambitious He Kui, he was the closed disciple of Wang Men, and he couldn't do such a self-recommended thing. Therefore, he only followed to Jingzhou, but never surrendered, just secretly observing.

  Until Wang Zhenyu ordered the reform and took the first step to promote the parliamentary system. Chen Shaocai made up his mind, because he carefully studied Wang Zhenyu's policy and found that it was a complete trick, a big trick to lure heroes from all over the world into the trap. Wang Zhenyu's vision and courage made Chen Shaocai, who was equally young, admire him endlessly.

  Just recently, the head of the Jingzhou Council, Chen Hongji, who was very popular in front of Wang Zhenyu, has a bit of a relationship with Chen Shao. Although Chen Hongji is from Baoqing Prefecture, he is actually also from Changsha, but his father moved from Changsha to Baoqing for business and Chen Hongji was born in Shaodong. So it just so happens that this branch of the Chen family split off from Chen Shao's clan, and in terms of their relationship, Chen Shao should address Chen Hongji as "tribal elder brother".

  With this relationship, Chen Hongji naturally strongly recommended his cousin to Wang Zhenyu.

  Wang Zhenyu now relies heavily on Chen Hongji, so he naturally doesn't want to refuse this kind of relationship, and naturally agrees to it generously.

  Then, with Wang Zhenyu as the leader, the fierce tiger corps had its first real military advisor. At that time, Wang Zhenyu didn't think so. Initially, he thought Chen Shao was just a mediocre person who could barely make a living, until Chen Shao formulated a complete reform roadmap, and only then did he look at him with new eyes, what a talent!

  Chen Shao's reform roadmap is not particularly novel, it is based on Wang Zhenyu's ideas, but the content is very detailed, many places have been repeatedly deliberated and revised. This is how difficult it is, after being in charge for more than half a year, Wang Zhenyu is very clear that only those who can do specific work well are truly talented people.

  He couldn't help but feel grateful and thought to himself, "I'm so lucky to have found such a treasure, heaven is indeed kind to me..."