From the following day, almost everyone in the entire patrol office heard that the magistrate was going to suppress the bandits, and some people even secretly found out that the time had been set for three days later.

The soldiers had a heated discussion about the news.

Soldier A, with an expression that said nothing was so strange, said loudly, "The moment Lord Pei arrived in our Sanping County, I could tell he was no ordinary man. In my thirty-plus years of life, I've never seen such an outstanding person. He's handsome and knowledgeable, completely different from us roughnecks!"

A chorus of agreement immediately arose around him, with everyone chiming in, praising Pei Han's good looks and strong abilities.

Soldier B grinned from ear to ear, saying joyfully, "These bandits have been causing trouble for so many years, and finally someone is going to teach them a lesson. The previous inspectors were all cowards. When they heard that the bandits were robbing civilians and kidnapping innocent women and children, they were even more afraid than us, wishing they had more legs to run away. I don't believe in their cowardice. Our Lord Pei is the real hero!"

When this topic came up, everyone was indignant and showed their resentment.

One of them spat and cursed, "Those people don't even deserve to be called 'sirs'! They're all spineless cowards. Our Lord Pei is the real man. Although he looks like a refined scholar, he's actually like this!"

After saying that, he gave a thumbs up, clearly showing his complete admiration for Pei Han.

The praise from the crowd was not unfounded. They had witnessed Pei Han's actions since his arrival, and when they mentioned the new Lord Pei, they all gave him a thumbs up.

An old soldier sitting in the middle of the crowd said, "Even if we local officials become officials, they might not be this good, caring about the people of our Sanping County as much. Lord Pei, a scion of a prominent family from the capital, has come here and earnestly learned to speak our local dialect. Most people would do that."

Another veteran chimed in, "Exactly! Our Lord Pei not only didn't mind our local dialect at all, but he also learned it incredibly quickly. In less than a month, he could speak it quite fluently. I was a bit confused at the time, wondering why the lord was learning this, but guess what happened?"

The soldiers surrounding him were recruited after Pei Han and knew nothing of this story. When he stopped there, they stamped their feet impatiently, one after another asking, "And then? What happened?"

The old soldier, having piqued everyone's interest, continued, "Lord Pei didn't learn our local dialect for no reason. Is the official language less pleasant to listen to than our dialect? He learned it for a great purpose. He discovered that the mountain people couldn't speak or understand the official language, so he started learning our dialect. After that, when he went to the villages, he was able to speak fluently with the local people."

The soldiers who came later all sighed with emotion after hearing this.

If that's the case, even if their own locals were in office, they might not be able to do this. Many people, once they become officials, don't even want to look at the common people, only thinking about their own enjoyment, let alone taking the initiative to understand them.

After visiting various villages, Pei Han carefully organized the information he had gathered about the mountain people along the way. After much deliberation, he decided to emulate the successful experience of ancient sages by numbering each mountain person and then managing them systematically.

In detail, each household is numbered according to a certain pattern, and then five households are grouped into a team, five teams into a group, and five groups into a row.

After conducting on-site visits, Pei Han discovered that although Sanping County was not small in area, its population was not very large, with only about 300 households and a total population of about 3,000.

After being divided into groups, each team was assigned a captain, each group a group leader, and each platoon a platoon leader, for a total of three platoon leaders throughout the county. These three individuals could report any unusual activity directly to Pei Han at the government office.

In this way, no matter how remote the place, Pei Han would not be kept in the dark.

The reason for making the teams so small is mainly due to two considerations. First, it makes it easier for the team leader to manage, so as to avoid the team leader being unable to cover everything due to the scattered residences of the mountain people; second, it makes it easier to assign responsibility.

Yes, the method Pei Han used is not new. The famous politician and reformer Shang Yang in history also used it, and it is called the "collective punishment method".

Simply put, if someone in one household commits a crime, then everyone in the five households in that group will be punished. This maximizes mutual oversight among the mountain people.

In such a small county, bandits are so rampant that they cannot be stopped despite repeated attempts. Pei Han does not believe that these bandits have no secret connections with certain mountain villagers.

Since this method was implemented, Sanping County has become significantly more peaceful, at least for the past six months.

Of course, simply assigning blame is not enough.

At the same time, Pei Han recruited a large number of new soldiers to fill the vacancies in the patrol office, resumed the soldiers' daily training, and personally subsidized the untimely salaries paid by the imperial court.

In addition, Pei Han also paid out of his own pocket to repair and replace the old weapons in the armory, making the entire armory look brand new.

This is also why Pei Han lives such a frugal life. Not only does he have to support his men and soldiers, but he also has to purchase weapons. The money he brought with him has almost been used up, and he really has no money left to improve his life.

While the discussion was in full swing inside the patrol office, the small courtyard behind remained peaceful and serene.

Pei Han had warned Min Yueqing the night before that things might not be peaceful outside and that it would be best not to go out.

Min Yueqing understood Pei Han's meaning from the song and guessed that he was about to make a big move. She readily agreed and asked Amei to tell everyone in the courtyard not to go out for the next few days.

Although Ame found the order strange, she didn't think it would affect their lives.

After arriving at this small courtyard, they had never gone out. Pei Han would have people deliver whatever they needed, and Min Yueqing had not yet assigned any tasks to the staff.

Yesterday afternoon, as soon as Pei Han left, Pei Ji couldn't wait to find Shi Tou and tell him the good news that the two of them could officially start studying and practicing calligraphy soon.

Stone couldn't see his own expression, but he knew without looking that it must be one of shock.

Seeing that Shi Tou was standing there dumbfounded and hadn't said anything, Pei Ji assumed he was too happy to speak, and continued excitedly, "You're happy too, aren't you? Let me tell you, Daddy knows a lot of things, just like Mommy, he can do everything!"

Stone thought blankly, "Isn't knowing a few words enough? Why do I have to study seriously? And I have to learn from the famous master? Will I be expelled from the school because I'm not good at studying?"

The more Shi Tou thought about it, the more worried he became, and he just wanted to cover his head and cry.

Pei Ji shared the good news with his friends and went back to read his book with satisfaction, while Shi Tou drifted back to his room absentmindedly.