Upon hearing this, both Zhu Youcai and One-Eyed Wang perked up.

"Are you sure?" One-Eyed King asked, still uneasy.

The clerk glanced at him, and seeing that Zhu Youcai did not speak, he said, "The sir mentioned Li Dachui. In eight out of the thirty-odd villages under Yongshan County, there are people with this name."

"How did you determine that?" Zhu Youcai asked.

He didn't want to make a mistake either.

The household member spread out the booklet and pointed to it, saying, "Although there are eight Li Dachui, only Li Dachui from Dingshui Village has six children. His youngest son is sixteen years old this year and his name is Li Xiaoya."

One-Eyed King immediately exclaimed excitedly, "There's no mistake, it must be them!"

The only two names he remembered that night were Li Dachui and Liu Yazi. As for the others, it was too chaotic at the time, and he couldn't hear what they were shouting. His impression of their faces was also very vague.

"You may leave now." Zhu Youcai dismissed the people from the household registration office, then coldly looked at the one-eyed Wang Dao. "You won't make a mistake this time, will you?"

"Absolutely not!" One-Eyed King said through gritted teeth. "Just two days before Qinggang Mountain was robbed, I led my brothers to Dingshui Village to steal a batch of grain. They must have come here on purpose to retaliate!"

Zhu Youcai seemed to understand something; this made sense.

A group of peasants were driven to the brink of despair. If they didn't seize Qinggang Mountain, they would have to flee the famine, which was basically a dead end.

Zhu Youcai, being the head of a county, knew far more than the average person. According to reports, more than half of the people who fled Yongshan County earlier had died or been injured.

Going out to escape famine not only involves competing with other refugees for resources, but also guarding against the wickedness of people's hearts. In addition, one must keep an eye on everything around them and avoid areas with plague.

If the people of Dingshui Village hadn't stolen those things, Zhu Youcai would have admired them. Under such circumstances, they didn't follow the crowd to flee the famine, but instead chose to stay and rob Qinggang Mountain.

"But sir, now that we've found them, what method can we use to make them hand over the grain?" The one-eyed king was both angry and troubled.

He's now a lone leader with fewer than ten men under his command. How could he possibly get back what he stole from Dingshui Village?

Zhu Youcai said calmly, "Now is the end of the autumn harvest, and the autumn land tax should be paid. Moreover, the border is in dire need of attention, and the General Protector of the Nation has requested the court to allocate grain and funds. Our Yongshan County is the first to be affected, and the people should naturally prioritize the border war."

Those who didn't know better might think Zhu Youcai was a great patriot and a compassionate man, but in reality, what he meant was that he not only disregarded the lives of the people during the drought, but also wanted to increase land taxes because of the war!

"Wow, you're tall!" One-Eyed King's eyes lit up, and he gave Zhu Youcai a thumbs up.

These officials are truly ruthless; they not only want to get back what was stolen, but they also want those peasants to pay the price!

Zhu Youcai said with righteous indignation, "The first to suffer from the fall of the border city is Yongshan County. As the magistrate of Yongshan County, I should do my best for the border war!"

"Your Excellency is truly virtuous!" the one-eyed king said with a smile.

The two men decided the future of Dingshui Village in just a few words, without caring at all about how the villagers would survive after their grain was taken away.

Corrupt officials and bandits colluded, causing great suffering to the people of Yongshan County!

...

That evening, Jiang Qinyu arrived home from the mountain close to midnight, but Dingshui Village was still brightly lit.

Grandpa Jiang and the others were excitedly gathered under the big locust tree at the village entrance, talking about the day's work in the fields.

"When we all work together, the work is indeed much faster. At this rate, we can plant the first batch of grain in a few days," Grandpa Jiang said happily.

Today they turned over the soil for the seven families in the village with the best soil quality. Because they had enough manpower, they also plowed the land after turning it over.

This efficiency was beyond what Village Chief Li had expected. Now he had a better understanding of the situation and would know how to arrange everyone's work starting tomorrow.

“Grandpa Jiang is right. This time, Lao Meng and the others bought a lot of grain seeds in the prefectural city. Everyone just needs to take good care of the fields, and the grain seeds will not be a problem.” Village Chief Li waved his hand and said very generously.

Just then, someone noticed that Jiang Qinyu and the others had returned and quickly greeted them.

Jiang Qinyu wasn't particularly knowledgeable about farming, but she knew that if you were going to farm, you had to plant high-yield seeds.

It's a pity the supermarket didn't have any grain seeds, otherwise...

[Ding! Detected host has a trading need, triggering a hidden quest: Please submit 100 taels of silver to unlock the supermarket-level trading function!]

Jiang Qinyu's lips twitched. Did this guy know that she still had a total of one hundred taels left?

But what did the system just say? "Supermarket interdimensional transaction function?" What's that?

Dimensions... does that mean the one she knows?

Jiang Qinyu hesitated for only three seconds before handing over the one hundred taels of silver she had placed in her spatial storage.

Whatever it is, something is better than nothing.

[Ding! Congratulations, host, for completing the hidden mission and unlocking the supermarket interdimensional trading function!]

[Ding! Dimensional trading function activated. Dimensional Shop Level: Lv1.]

A series of system notifications rang in Jiang Qinyu's mind, almost making her faint.

“Niece, what’s wrong? Why aren’t you saying anything?” Village Chief Li raised his hand and waved it in front of her.

Jiang Qinyu snapped out of her daze and quickly said, "I'm fine. I guess I was just too tired from climbing the mountain today."

"Oh dear, it's already this late. Everyone must be exhausted after a long day. Let's all go back, pack up, and get some sleep!" Village Chief Li said to the crowd.

The group quickly went home, but Jiang Qinyu followed behind Village Chief Li, not in a hurry to go back.

"Uncle Village Chief, please wait." Jiang Qinyu called out softly.

Village Chief Li turned around, saw her pause for a moment, and then asked, "What's wrong, niece? Do you have something to say?"

"Yes, I heard some news today that I'd like to tell Uncle Village Chief." Jiang Qinyu nodded.

She recounted everything Liu Ruyi had said on the mountain, and also shared her own opinions and speculations.

Finally, Jiang Qinyu said seriously, "I don't know what impact this will have, but since everyone has decided to stay, we need to be fully prepared."

They need the courage and ability to fight against natural disasters, as well as the preparation to fight against man-made disasters.

Village Chief Li frowned deeply, remaining silent for a long time before finally looking up at Jiang Qinyu, "What you're saying is indeed possible..."

But they are just ordinary people. If the border really falls, what can they do besides run away?

"Aren't Chen Shao and the others digging traps for the village right now?" Jiang Qinyu suddenly said. "Then let's improve upon them and try to make it harder for outsiders to get in..."