It turns out that when Prefect Shen first took office, he passed by Qianniu Mountain and encountered bandits there.

Because Prefect Shen and his entourage were traveling in plain clothes, the bandits mistook them for ordinary merchants and robbed them.

There were too many bandits at the time, and they were surrounded. The three of them could not reveal their identities, so they had no choice but to break through the encirclement.

Of the three, he and his advisor were both weak scholars. When they encountered these bandits who killed and robbed, they had no ability to protect themselves. Fortunately, their bodyguard Bao Ping was highly skilled in martial arts and risked his life to protect them, which allowed them to escape.

The three men survived, but Bao Ping was injured while fighting the bandits and had to run all night, suffering greatly.

This time, they encountered bandits, their carriage was robbed, and all their belongings were lost, including the imperial edict and official document that they were required to carry with them when taking office.

They traveled all night to reach Dawan Town, but were refused help multiple times. Later, they met Zhao Xian, who gave them the only tael of silver he had on him, and the three of them finally arrived in Qing'an Prefecture.

Fortunately, the former prefect of Qing'an Prefecture was a close friend of Shen Yong, which enabled Shen Yong to take office.

After taking office, Shen Yong began to collect information on the bandits of Qianniu Mountain. These bandits had been entrenched in Qianniu Mountain for many years, committing all kinds of evil deeds and causing serious banditry problems.

The government had tried to suppress bandits in the past, but all attempts ended in failure, which only made the bandits more rampant.

In order to eliminate the banditry and retrieve the lost imperial edicts and official documents, Shen Yong began to plan the bandit suppression.

He first transferred a large number of officers and soldiers from various prefectures and counties to garrison at the foot of the mountain. After making all the preparations, he began to attack the mountain and suppress the bandits.

At first, everything went very smoothly, and the bandits were forced to retreat one after another. However, the further they went into the mountains, the more treacherous the terrain became. Although the bandits' lair was within reach, they could not advance even half a step.

Shen Yong wanted to trap these bandits on the mountain, but Qianniu Mountain was too big, and his troops were limited, so he could not trap the bandits.

Suppressing bandits in the mountains is inherently a costly and exhausting undertaking. Over time, the government will also be unable to sustain it, and if the siege fails, the troops will eventually have to withdraw.

The bandits were well aware of this, so they remained calm and patient, dealing with the government officials every day and engaging in a war of attrition.

As time went on, Prefect Shen became anxious. If they launched a direct attack, they would suffer heavy losses and might not even be able to capture the stronghold. He needed to find another way to destroy the bandits' fortress in order to take over their lair.

The advisor recalled the waterwheels used for irrigation during this period, and heard that these waterwheels had an ingenious structure that could pump water from low-lying areas to higher-lying areas.

Could we create a machine to throw stones or fire into the bandits' stronghold, eliminating the bandits and destroying the fortifications, thus causing the bandits' lair to collapse without a fight?

Prefect Shen's eyes lit up. He thought this method was feasible. He knew that the waterwheel was invented by Zhao Xian, so he prepared to go to Zhao Xian and ask him to design a mountain-climbing machine for the purpose of suppressing bandits.

After listening to the clerk's explanation, Zhao Xian understood that Prefect Shen was eager to find him because he wanted him to help manufacture a mountain-climbing machine similar to a catapult.

"My lord, I know you want me to manufacture a projectile machine for attacking mountains. There are catapults on the battlefield for attacking cities."

Using similar machinery to attack the mountain would definitely not work, since the mountain is too high. A more powerful siege machine must be designed, one with sufficient force to hurle large rocks up the mountain.

"Yes, yes, that's exactly what I meant," Prefect Shen quickly replied. "Do you think you could manufacture this kind of mountain-climbing machinery?"

Zhao Xian considered it for a moment and nodded seriously.

"There shouldn't be any problem in manufacturing such mountain-climbing machinery, but I need to go to the site first to check out the terrain and altitude before I can start making it."

"That's great, let's go there now." Prefect Shen immediately stood up.

"Please wait a moment, Your Excellency. I will arrange things at home and then immediately go to Qianniu Mountain with you."

The family was still waiting for Zhao Xian to come over for dinner. They had barely taken a couple of bites when Prefect Shen arrived, forcing them to stop eating.

"I must accompany the Prefect to Qianniu Mountain to do something important, and we must set off immediately."

"ah"

Everyone was taken aback when Zhao Cheng walked up to Zhao Xian.

“Master, I will go with you.”

"No need. Going with the prefect is safe. Assisting the prefect in suppressing the bandits may take a few days."

It turned out that the prefect had come about suppressing bandits, so what did he need Zhao Xian for? Everyone began to tense up.

"Don't worry, I'm just going to help build siege machinery, not to fight bandits."

Then Zhao Xian began to explain the situation, and everyone listened attentively.

"Shiyu, tomorrow go to the county town with Zhao Cheng to deliver white sugar. If Manager Lin asks for an increase in the supply, you can agree to his request. Be careful when driving the mule cart. On the way back, wholesale some granulated sugar as needed."

"Okay, we've got it."

Zhao Xian then looked at Zhao Xiaosheng and Zhao Xiaoshan, "You two are in charge of making and delivering the kimchi. In a couple of days, the county government will be handling the dispute between Zhang Dahu and our family. Xiaosheng will go with the village head. Magistrate Cao will handle the case impartially. We will not lose."

"Okay, bro, we've got it."

Zhao Xian then looked at Qin Yingying, who immediately stood up straight.

"Yingying, the family's income and expenses are increasing, so we must keep good records."

"Don't worry, Master, I will keep the accounts in order," Qin Yingying replied earnestly.

Zhao Xian took out two hundred taels of silver from his pocket and handed it to Li Chun'e, and the whole family's eyes widened in surprise.

“Mother, this is the money I received as a reward from Magistrate Gao for helping with drought relief in Xinkou County yesterday. I won’t record this money. Now that we have money, we should spend it as we need to, and not suffer any hardship.”

Li Chun'e took the silver, her eyes a little moist. She simply couldn't believe that such a big change had happened in her family in just over ten days.

After arranging things at home, Zhao Xian got into the carriage with Prefect Shen and left quickly.

Two hours later, the carriage arrived at a military camp at the foot of Qianniu Mountain, where the soldiers on guard immediately came out to greet them.

The soldiers lined up in a row, and the general at the head stepped forward to pay his respects.

"Greetings, Your Excellency the Prefect."

"Take the guards and immediately head into the mountains to survey the terrain," Prefect Shen ordered without delay.

"Yes, ma'am."

The general accepted the order, and soon a guard team of twenty men was assembled.

Escorted by the guards, Zhao Xian followed Prefect Shen into the mountains, with soldiers stationed at key intersections along the way.

After walking along a mountain path, a small open area appeared ahead, where a large number of fully armed soldiers were stationed.

“Young Master Zhao, the bandits’ lair is just up there. This pass is strategically important, easy to defend and difficult to attack. If we take this pass, we will also take the bandits’ lair.”

At this moment, a general walked over and introduced himself:

"The bandits have concentrated their superior forces at this pass. As soon as we attack, a large number of logs and stones will fall from above, making it impossible for us to organize an effective attack."

We haven't found any other way up the mountain yet, so we have to stay here.