Late Ming Dynasty: Special Forces in 1645

When Jiang Shao brought the county magistrate's head to surrender the city, Liang Zicheng and Chen Shaoping did not dare to believe him.

Liang Zicheng released a self-destructing drone with the explosives removed to fly over Dexing City to investigate. Finding nothing unusual, he then sent a battalion to follow Jiang Shao into the city, preparing to take over Dexing City.

This battalion is equipped with a large number of muskets and shields, so it can quickly break out in case of an emergency. Liangzi City has also prepared support troops outside the city.

Fortunately, things went unexpectedly smoothly. After the Restoration Army entered Dexing City, they found nothing unusual. In fact, the city's garrison had already laid down their weapons and come down from the city walls.

The Restoration Army successfully took over the defense of Dexing City, and it was only a short time before dawn.

After Liang Zicheng and Chen Shaoping entered Dexing City, they summoned Li Tao and Jiang Shao.

Liang Zicheng said, "The county magistrate has been executed by you, but what about the registrar? Why hasn't he come?"

Li Tao respectfully replied, "General Liang, the county clerk has been observing mourning for his parents in his hometown for half a year and has not yet returned."

Liang Zicheng nodded and said to Li Tao and Jiang Shao, "Then for the time being, County Magistrate Li will serve as the county magistrate, and Clerk Jiang will temporarily take over the position of County Magistrate. I hope that the two of you will cooperate with each other and take on the responsibility of protecting the territory and ensuring the safety of the people."

Upon hearing Liang Zicheng's appointments, Li Tao and Jiang Shao were secretly pleased, especially Jiang Shao, who was even more eager for official positions. Seeing that his painstaking planning had finally paid off, he was overjoyed.

Although it's only "temporary," as long as there are no mistakes and he cooperates diligently with the Restoration Army, his promotion to permanent position is only a matter of time.

Li Tao and Jiang Shao exchanged a glance, then quickly knelt down to thank Liang Zicheng: "Thank you, General. We will certainly live up to your expectations!"

Liang Zicheng shook his head and said, "I've already told you, our Restoration Army doesn't observe kneeling rituals. Don't bow down so readily, and don't make others kneel before you!"

"Yes!" Li Tao and Jiang Shao stood up.

Civil affairs will be temporarily handled by Li Tao and Jiang Shao. They were instructed that people from Xinzhou will be sent over in a couple of days to reorganize the county government and implement new policies in Dexing. They were asked to cooperate well with the new policy work team.

Upon hearing the words "New Policy," Li Tao and Jiang Shao's expressions gradually turned serious. They had heard of the New Policy before; it was arguably the most influential series of policies for the Restoration Army. At the same time, the implementation of the New Policy was bloody and cruel, and countless people had been killed in the process.

Liang Zicheng took their reactions to heart. If the two could cooperate in implementing the new policies, all the better. If not, he would let them get lost as soon as possible. Although there were not many Jinshi and Juren who came to join the Restoration Army, there were quite a few Xiucai. After some training, they could be put to work.

Li Tao and Jiang Shao's duty these past few days has been to maintain order and try their best to prevent unrest in Dexing County due to the arrival of the Restoration Army.

Liang Zicheng ordered Li Tao and Jiang Shao to disband the five hundred soldiers who had been temporarily conscripted to guard the city, and to disband the remaining one hundred regular soldiers on the spot. If anyone wanted to join the Restoration Army, they could sign up; if they did not want to join the Restoration Army, they should be given military pay and travel expenses to go home.

After giving his instructions and watching Li Tao and Jiang Shao leave, Liang Zicheng smiled and said, "Shao Ping, now you go and take over Wuyuan County."

Chen Shaoping nodded and said, "I heard that Chen Qiliang has already made contact with the magistrate of Wuyuan County, and the magistrate of Wuyuan County is also willing to surrender. Whether it's true or not, when I lead the Xingfu Army to the walls of Wuyuan County, the magistrate of Wuyuan County will have no choice but to surrender!"

Liang Zicheng said, "That's how it is. As long as the magistrate isn't stupid, he would really surrender. Alas, although we offended the scholars by implementing the new policies, the previous magistrates still surrendered obediently when our restoration army was at the city gates. How many people can make up their minds to resign and leave?"

Of the seven counties in Xinzhou Prefecture, except for Qianshan County, almost none offered resistance when the Xingfu Army approached the city; they all voluntarily opened the city gates and surrendered.

As for the county magistrates, apart from those who fled for various reasons, the others who did not flee all surrendered to the Restoration Army, and none of them resigned. Even if they had some resistance to the new policies, when the new policy work team arrived, they would at most pretend to be sick and not cooperate.

When the county magistrate, who was feigning illness and refusing to cooperate, was threatened by Li Chengming with "Get out if you don't support it," the magistrate, who was already seriously ill, recovered overnight and expressed his support for the new policies.

Chen Shaoping suddenly said, "I always felt that the death of the magistrate of Dexing was a bit suspicious, but after we entered the city, everything was calm and peaceful, as if nothing had happened."

Liang Zicheng snorted coldly and said, "Anyone with eyes can see that things are definitely not as simple as Li Tao and Jiang Shao said. Perhaps the magistrate has offended too many people, or perhaps it's due to self-interest. Didn't you see the joy on their faces when I appointed these two as magistrate and county assistant?"

Chen Shaoping said, "I saw it. Our Restoration Army may seem to be the weakest on the surface, but I never expected that even a county magistrate position would make them take such a risk as to kill someone to cover it up."

Liang Zicheng and Chen Shaoping did not believe that the magistrate of Dexing County was killed because he vowed never to surrender. The reason was simple: if you did not uphold loyalty to the Ming Dynasty, how could you uphold loyalty to the Manchus?

Finally, Liang Zicheng said, "Chen Qiliang investigated before. That magistrate of Dexing was greedy for money, fond of drinking, and lecherous. He had no talent whatsoever. Let him be dead. No matter how ruthless Li Tao and Jiang Shao are, as long as they cooperate with us, what's wrong with giving them the positions of magistrate and assistant magistrate?"

Chen Shaoping nodded in agreement.

Water that is too clear has no fish. Although there were occasional unsavory dealings in the dark before, he was able to obey the orders of the Restoration Army and cooperate with its actions, so the Restoration Army made do with him.

The Restoration Army adheres to the principle of "I will not investigate unless the people complain" when dealing with these surrendered officials. They can turn a blind eye to your previous behavior, but if you have committed too many evils, caused too much public resentment, or if a wronged person comes to your door, the Restoration Army will not hesitate to bring you out to quell the public's grievances.

On the other side, after leaving Liang Zicheng and Chen Shaoping's temporary lodging, Li Tao and Jiang Shao looked at each other, said nothing more, and went their separate ways.

The two have never gotten along and will not shake hands and make peace just because they were involved in a conspiracy together.

Looking in the direction Li Tao left, Jiang Shao sneered inwardly: I heard that in the counties under the jurisdiction of the Xingfu Army, the county magistrate and the county assistant magistrate each have their own duties and do not govern each other. I might just be able to have a showdown with you, the county magistrate!

Jiang Shao was extremely power-hungry. He hadn't even settled into his position as county magistrate, yet he was already thinking about vying for the power of county magistrate.

But Jiang Shao was not an impatient person; he knew the importance of proceeding step by step.

Upon returning to his residence, Jiang Shao handed an envelope to a servant and said, "Ride back immediately and give this letter to the eldest brother. Tell him to return all the land to its rightful owners according to the list, and have him personally apologize to them. Also, compensate those who were injured in the past with some money so that they will not hold any grudges against the Jiang family. In addition, have the eldest brother bring me the land deed for the copper mine in Dongshan."

The servant looked at Jiang Shao in surprise and couldn't help but say, "Master, if this happens, our Jiang family will lose more than half of our land and copper mines."

Jiang Shao glared at the servant and said, "Just do as I say. I will take care of the Jiang family's affairs!"

I heard that the new policy working group will be here in a couple of days. Jiang Shao is fully prepared to cooperate with the new policy. Fortunately, the Jiang family is usually well-behaved and has no murder cases against them. Otherwise, once the new policy working group arrives, if someone secretly reports them, things will not be easy to resolve.

For Jiang Shao, as long as he could secure his position as county magistrate, what did it matter if he had to sacrifice some material possessions?