Warlords: Rising from the Northwest Border and Sweeping Across the Powers

Ma Jiawei knelt on the ground, looking at Su Zhengyang with resentment, and shouted hysterically: "Su Zhengyang! I am the mayor of Sanjiang County appointed by the Linzhou Governor's Office. You dare to touch me? Are you trying to rebel?"

Wu Dehou also spoke up at this time: "Su Zhengyang, you dare to attack our Du family. When Xiaojun returns with the regular army of the 358th Regiment, your security team will definitely not be a match! It's not too late to let us go now, otherwise one day in the future, you will not have a good death!"

The head of the Guo family kept cursing and threatening, saying that he was a distant relative of Governor Guo, and that if Su Zhengyang dared to act rashly, he would definitely be wiped out by the Guo warlords.

Su Zhengyang came in front of them, showing a hint of a sneer, and slowly said: "Ma Jiawei, do you still know that you are the county magistrate, the parent official of a region? You colluded with bandits, colluded with local gentry and landlords, and did some unscrupulous things. Are you qualified to be the county magistrate of Sanjiang County? I, Su Zhengyang, will tell you three families today that no matter what background you have or what you rely on, I have never taken you seriously. What 358th Regiment, what Guo faction warlords, let them come to Sanjiang County and try, I will beat them to a pulp!"

"Prepare to execute these three evildoers by firing squad!"

At Su Zhengyang's command, the security soldiers raised their rifles and aimed at the people from the three major families kneeling in the stands. There were more than one hundred people from these three major families, young and old, and none of them were good people. Take Du Yuxin's grandson, Du Chengkun, who was only seven years old, for example. If the servants in the Du Mansion did anything that went against his wishes, he would dare to take a sharp weapon and take action directly, and he even killed people with a dagger himself.

Su Zhengyang didn't want to let any of these scums, from the old to the young, go free.

Seeing the black muzzle of the gun pointed at them, Ma Jiawei, Wu Dehou, Du Yuxin and others burst into tears, trembling all over, and kept crying and begging for mercy, especially Ma Jiawei. County Magistrate Ma, who usually looked very decent and majestic, at the critical moment of life and death, the yellow water flowing from his crotch had a pungent smell and soaked a large area.

Su Zhengyang's eyes were grim, and he said without hesitation: "On behalf of the people of Sanjiang County, I issue a death warrant to the three major families in Sanjiang County that have caused trouble in the area. I sentence their entire family to be shot, and the execution will be immediate!"

"Bang bang bang..."

Dozens of gunshots rang out, and yellow bullets continuously hit the three families kneeling on the stands from both sides. Streams of blood mist burst out, and blood soon covered the entire stands. Dozens of people from the three families were shot into sieves in the dense rain of bullets and died on the spot.

Su Zhengyang waved his hand, and the next batch of weak descendants of the three families were escorted to the stands again, waiting for them to face the same fate.

Half an hour later, all the more than one hundred people from the three families, from the oldest to the youngest, were executed under Su Zhengyang's order, and the whole family was truly executed together.

The soldiers of the Security Corps rolled their bodies up in torn straw mats and threw them into a mass grave outside the city.

Many people even felt unsatisfied and dug up all the Du family's ancestral graves outside Sanjiang County.

After eradicating the three troublesome families in front of the people of Sanjiang County, the reputation of the security team in Sanjiang County reached its peak again. Su Zhengyang did not delay at all and immediately dispatched the second and third battalions to rush to the major villages and towns under the jurisdiction of Sanjiang County to catch all the landlords and gentry who relied on the three major families to be their accomplices, such as the Yuan family in Tashan Town.

Three days later, Su Zhengyang was entertaining Gu Chenghai, who came to buy arms again, in the base. Qin Huaiyi came to the combat command room with a list. After taking a look at Gu Chenghai, he seemed to be hesitant to speak.

Su Zhengyang understood what Qin Huaiyi meant and smiled slightly, "Just say whatever you want to say. Brother Gu is not an outsider."

Qin Huaiyi cleared his throat and said, "In the military operations in recent days, the security team has searched and confiscated the Yuan family in Tashan Town, the Shen family in Yanlin Town, the Wang family in Chakou Town, and other landlords and gentry who relied on the power of the three major families in Sanjiang County to cause trouble in the local area."

"A total of 8416 mu of farmland, 17 houses, 42 shops, 100 tons of grain, poultry and livestock were seized..."

"Here is the list, please have a look, Captain!"

Qin Huaiyi handed the paper in his hand over. Su Zhengyang glanced at it and smiled, "Well done. All the soldiers who participated in the operation will be rewarded with one dollar each. Go and arrange it."

Gu Chenghai couldn't believe his ears. After Qin Huaiyi left, he looked at Su Zhengyang and said, "With so many properties, houses, and money, Brother Su, are you going to become a bandit with your security team?"

Su Zhengyang slowly said, "I have dealt with the three largest local gentry families in Sanjiang County. The landlords in the villages and towns related to them will naturally be implicated. I simply cut the Gordian knot and clean them all up."

Gu Chenghai was shocked. Zhonghai County was not far from Sanjiang County. He had also heard of the so-called three major families in Sanjiang County.

"The Ma family, the Du family, and the Guo family, all three families were raided by your security team?"

Su Zhengyang nodded: "Since the day I came to Sanjiang County, I have never thought about coexisting peacefully with them. These gentry and landlords who only oppress the people will sooner or later stand on the opposite side of my security team. It is better to deal with them all as soon as possible to avoid trouble."

"Brother Su, you are too bold. Ma Jiawei is the mayor of Sanjiang County appointed by the Linzhou Governor's Office. Strictly speaking, he is also the immediate superior of your security group, the highest official in the county. You killed him too? What are you going to do if the Governor's Office investigates you in the future? And the Du family, Du Xiaojun's 358th Regiment is stationed in Honghe County, not far from here. If they knew that you wiped out his entire family, they would fight you to the death."

Su Zhengyang interrupted Gu Chenghai and said, "Chenghai, what is your ideal? Do you want to be an officer for life under the Zhao warlord in this northwestern border area?"

"In my opinion, you are a regular soldier under the command of a warlord here, but if the superiors issue an order one day, you will have to rush forward and serve as cannon fodder. These small warlords only care about their own troops and don't care about the lives of other troops."

"Now the White Bear Empire has occupied half of our six northeastern provinces, and the great powers have also forcibly taken part of our territory as their concessions and territories. How is this behavior different from robbery?"

"Instead of wasting all our energy on intrigues with these warlords, it is better to build our own power, create our own troops, and annex them. One day in the future, we will be able to enhance our national prestige, avenge our past humiliation, and drive these bandits out of our land!"

Gu Chenghai was stunned by Su Zhengyang's question. After listening to Su Zhengyang's words, Gu Chenghai said in shock: "You are crazy. Even if the warlords in various parts of the north are now nominally under the command of the Northern Frontier Government, you still want to establish your own power. What's the difference between this and rebellion?"