"Kneel down! Kneel down!" The cavalrymen drew their sharp sabers and gestured at the villagers.

Seeing the wolf-like soldiers, the villagers had long been frightened. Many villagers did not know guns, but they recognized sabers. When pointed at by the metallic sabers, they threw away the sticks and knelt on the ground without saying a word.

Zhang Niu was dumbfounded now because he found that Shunzi was trembling in front of that young man. Could it be that this man's official position was greater than that of his brother?

"Kneel down!" A saber was pointed at Zhang Niu's nose. The cavalry company commander stared at the strong man holding a stick in front of him. If the commander hadn't stopped him, the saber would have hit his head. How dare you

It is not unusual to threaten the commander into cutting him into eighteen pieces and feeding them to dogs.

Zhang Niu reacted and immediately threw away the stick in his hand and knelt on a pile of chicken manure.

"This...!" Old man Li also slipped away against the wall and was picked up by Li Xiao.

"Uncle Li, sit down! We chat well, you are an honest person." Li Xiao comforted Old Man Li with a smile.

Knowing that the other party was the son of the village chief, the other party would definitely not let him go after he escaped. But Old Man Li still let him escape again and again. Li Xiao admired Old Man Li's character very much.

"This is not far from the county seat of Jixian County. Let the county magistrate come here now." Li Xiao ignored the kneeling people and immediately ordered the cavalry to gallop away.

"Boy, what are you doing standing still? The water is already cold, and you don't want to refill it with a bowl of hot water?" Li Xiao looked at Old Man Li's grandson being silly, and handed over the teapot with a smile.

"No!" The young man hurriedly took the teapot, opened the door and trotted into the house to pour hot water.

"Does the village always bully your family like this?" Li Xiao asked Old Man Li with a frown.

"My family is a member of the military. It's okay, but Fang Daqiang and his children are idle all day long. The big guys have just divided the land, and the days are getting better and better. The little ones come and go without saying a word. It's not a good life like this.

Easy!" Old Man Li was trembling. He always wanted to stand up when he was talking, but was pushed down several times by Li Xiao.

"This kind of thing happened so close to the county seat. It's hard to predict what happened in a place where the emperor is far away." Li Xiao sighed. Nowadays, there is a serious shortage of manpower for lower-level officials. In order to maintain local security, many people have been promoted.

The village chiefs, township chiefs, etc. are all figures who can control the situation. These people have power in their hands and can easily become village gangsters and bullies.

The common people have suffered for so many years and it is easy to live a good life. Most of them swallow their anger when encountering such things, which also fuels the arrogance of these people.

"There's nothing we can do about it. The Ming Dynasty is so big, Marshal Li can't crush so many nails even though he's covered in iron. This village chief is usually a pretty good person, but today he made a mistake and bumped into an adult." Honest old man Li

Trying to excuse Zhang Niu.

"Don't worry, I will take care of today's matters." As Li Xiao spoke, the young man also came out of the room, carrying a teapot and refilling Li Xiao's water.

Looking at the steaming tea cup, Li Xiao didn't speak. He didn't speak, and naturally no one in the yard dared to speak. The scene of hundreds of people was eerily quiet, and all he could hear was the cooing of hens, and...

A war horse snorts occasionally.

I don’t know how long it took, but several people on horseback came over. A soldier walked in with a guy in official uniform, and bowed to Li Xiao: "See you, Marshal!"

"Commander...!" When Zhang Niu heard the county magistrate calling the young man in front of him this way, he immediately rolled his eyes and fainted.

Old Man Li wanted to stand up in fear, but was forced to sit on the horse by Li Xiao again.

"Are you the county magistrate of Ji County?" Since Li Xiao implemented the new land policy, the top leader in the county is no longer called the county magistrate, but the county chief.

"Your Majesty, Zhu Zhiming, pays homage to the Commander-in-Chief!"

"Zhu Zhiming! I don't think you know how to understand. Look, this is the village chief under your rule. He uses the name of my bodyguard to bully the village and bully the village. This family belongs to the military, but they are also bullying them? You guys?

Doing this will make the soldiers fighting at the front feel at ease? If you disturb the morale of the army, should I chop off your head?"

"Commander...!" When Zhu Zhiming heard what Li Xiao said, he was so frightened that he immediately fell to his knees on the ground.

"This village is only about ten miles away from your county seat, and it has been harmed by village bandits and road bullies. I don't know what kind of harm it will be to the villages and towns further away. You, the county magistrate,

You are quite comfortable in the county. It seems that you have come from the ranks and are not afraid of embarrassing the Liao army. Which division did you belong to before?" Li Xiao noticed that Zhu Zhiming, who was kneeling on the ground, had short hair. Look.

You can tell by his hairstyle that this guy used to be a Liao soldier.

"Returning to the commander-in-chief, I was originally the company commander of the first division. Later, he was injured while fighting the Tatars in Liaozhong, and his legs became disabled. Then he was assigned to become a local official!"

"Is there a wound on your leg? Stand up and answer." Hearing that this was a disabled soldier, Li Xiao immediately asked him to stand up.

"You are a company commander, and now you are the county magistrate. You have a good future. But why don't you manage the place properly and let people bully the military members like this? You are also from the Liao army, and their children may be your robes."

"If I get back to the Commander-in-Chief, I just took office last month, and I haven't had time yet...! Everything is a dereliction of duty by the Commander-in-Chief, please punish me." This Zhu Zhiming is quite a man.

"Since you only took office last month, it's hard for me to hold you accountable. I caught you such a person who oppressed the people and attempted to murder military families. In front of me, let me see how you sentence this person.

Case. Now, this is your county government lobby." Li Xiao pointed at Zhang Niu, who had already passed out.

"No!" Zhu Zhiming saluted Li Xiao again, then pointed at Zhang Niu and shouted: "Village chief Zhang Niu bullied the people with the intention of murdering military relatives. According to the Ming Dynasty Law, he was sentenced to five years of labor reform. The rest were sentenced to corvee service.

Two months.”

Li Xiao nodded. In fact, most of the blame for this crime was borne by his son. His son was kicked by Shunzi, and he would probably be a cripple even if he was saved. It's his fault for not teaching his father. If the son makes a mistake, it's okay for me to shoulder it.

.

As for the other people here, the punishment is justifiable. This kind of corvee is different from normal corvee. Not only can this kind of corvee not go home for two months, but it also has no wages. The government only provides daily meals. Most of this kind of corvee is

Quarrying, building roads, building dams, or building bridges is a laborious activity.

"Zhu Zhiming, you, the county magistrate, must do your job well. Don't embarrass Mr. Ao! Don't embarrass the Liao Army! Some village gangsters and road bullies in the local area must be dealt with severely. We cannot just let them do whatever they want for the sake of public security. Don't look at them.

They usually make minor mistakes, but they deal directly with the people. If they make mistakes, the people will blame them directly on the court.

Moreover, the power of people like them has been accumulating in the countryside over time. If nothing happens, it will be a big deal. If something big happens, will your superior officer spare you? For the sake of your black gauze hat, or the head on your neck, you will

You have to take a heavy blow. Do you understand?" Many people from the First Division were the first to follow Li Xiao. Since they came from the First Division, Li Xiao couldn't help but give a few more words of advice.

"Promise! I will follow the instructions of the commander-in-chief. I will definitely manage Ji County well. After one year, I will ask the commander-in-chief to check again. If there are still such things, I will ask you to go to Wusha and go home to farm and raise your children." Zhu Zhiming stood firm.

Straight up, he gave Li Xiao a standard military salute.

"Okay, they look like soldiers from my first division." Li Xiao returned the military salute. After all, it is his own soldiers who can be used easily. In the future, more talents will have to be selected from the army and then appointed to local places.

But in this case, Mr. Ao is afraid that he will complain again. After Jixian County, there is Shanhaiguan. Go to Shanhaiguan to see what Mao Wenlong's Army Officer School has done. Now it can train more than 700 officers a year, which can be regarded as a
Chapter completed!