As deep wells were dug, many displaced people flocked to the villages in the county, and the villages began to grow in size again.

However, precisely because of this, the sudden increase in personnel will be accompanied by many chaotic situations.

Ge Santong was originally from Gejia Village, one of the villages under the jurisdiction of this checkpoint.

Some of the people who fled the famine went to other areas, but most went to the county town. Later, when chaos broke out in the county town, and with the suppression of the unrest in Chenxi, the surviving villagers dug deep wells in the village and began to return.

With the addition of migrants from other areas, the village's population was quite large.

Everyone is a soldier, but the militia members who become squads are all young and healthy men and women. In addition to training with everyone, the militia members also have to produce goods, build checkpoints, and take turns guarding them to prevent refugees from wandering around and causing unrest and epidemics.

Of course, those who become militia members receive a salary, although it is not high, but many people are still willing to become one.

It was a good policy, but some people took it too seriously and used it to seek personal gain.

Ge Santong was the cousin of Ge Santian, the village chief of Gejia Village. Ge Santian was the village chief and battalion commander of Gejia Village, in charge of the militia of eight villages. Ge Santong became a militia squad leader. Once, he stopped a few people at the checkpoint and questioned them according to procedure. He learned that they were from Qiangu County, Nanning Prefecture, and had fled here because of the war.

Ge Santong saw that two of the women were quite beautiful and had a charming figure, and he was immediately blinded by their looks.

Taking advantage of his position, he secretly kept the two women and, through his cousin's connections, arranged for them to become villagers of Gejia Village and to be incorporated into his squad as militia members.

The two women were also very perceptive, and they were getting along very well with Ge Santong. Many people in the village were already talking about it, but because they were afraid of the village chief, and besides, these things didn't affect other families, no one reported it.

Ge Santong also frequently bribed people to keep them quiet, and the main source of his money was the private income from the checkpoints.

For example, people passing through here who are poor will be quarantined in dilapidated houses with terrible food. If they are rich, they will not only have to pay the checkpoint fee, but also pay more for quarantine to stay in good houses and eat good food.

These things didn't bother the villagers, so most of them turned a blind eye, especially since they could occasionally benefit from them.

When Ge Santong's superiors, Platoon Leader Ge Dashan, Company Commander Ge Sishu, and Battalion Commander Ge Santian, arrived, they all knelt down and bowed before Shen Xi could speak, saying, "Greetings, Commander."

Shen Xi remained unmoved, making these people, along with Ge Santong, kneel down.

At this moment, Qi Xiuwen bowed and said, "Commander, this is my dereliction of duty. Please punish me."

It is indeed Qi Xiuwen's fault. He was in charge of all these matters, so the responsibility for the problems lies with him first.

Shen Xi then spoke: "I'll remember your dereliction of duty for now, and deal with it when we get back."

Then, pointing at Ge Santong and his men, he said, "Go and handle this!"

By letting Qi Xiuwen handle the matter, Shenxi intended for him to redeem himself through meritorious service. Otherwise, Qi Xiuwen would have been punished with ten strokes of the cane for dereliction of duty.

"Yes." With Qi Xiuwen's intelligence, he naturally knew that the leader was making an exception for him.

Upon closer investigation, it was discovered that Ge Santian, Ge Dashan, Ge Sishu, and Ge Santong were all related. If they were to do something wrong, would they be able to report it to their superiors?

Further investigation revealed that in just over a month, these people had gone too far. Not only did Ge Santong accept bribes, but others did as well, and they even extorted money from villagers in other villages.

The militia is under the management of the townships, and the militia battalion commander is directly appointed and managed by the township head or town head.

As Qi Xiuwen investigated further, he broke out in a cold sweat. The township head, Ge Liang, was still the same township head. He had not fled the famine, nor had he been affected by the chaos and died.

Ge Liang was originally from Gejia Village. His family had deep roots in the area and, after becoming a king there, he committed many evil deeds.

Because he had always been the township head, he continued to serve as township head for the sake of stability, without having much time to conduct a thorough investigation.

Although these township and town heads were recommended by Song Zhen, he was the one who actually managed them on a daily basis.

Song Zhen is currently primarily responsible for external handover work, and is referred to as a diplomat by the higher-ups. After all, Song Zhen is the acting county magistrate, and it is his responsibility to handle contact with officials from other counties, as well as with officials from the prefectural city.

Qi Xiuwen was in charge of managing county officials, infrastructure, and daily life, and he bears the greatest responsibility for such a major problem.

Ge Liang somehow found out about the news and had already heard about Shen Xi's ruthlessness. With a heavy heart, he actually led the militia under his jurisdiction and the yamen runners of the village to seal off the village.

Then they mobilized over a thousand militiamen and villagers to besiege Chenxi.

To their surprise, they arrived to find nothing, and Ge Santong, Ge Santian, Ge Dashan, and Ge Sishu were all taken away.

Upon inquiring, they learned that Chen Xi and his men had already left in a hurry.

After being interrogated by Qi Xiuwen, Shenxi immediately ordered a hasty departure from the area to a nearby town.

The mayor of the neighboring town was Zheng San, one of the six hunters. He was not originally supposed to be selected, but the recommended mayor contracted a severe case of the plague. Although he survived after treatment, he was left with aftereffects and could no longer perform the job.

Zheng San had received some education; his father was also a student who had taught him. He was temporarily transferred to act as the town mayor, and would be formally appointed after the report was submitted.

Actually, his real name was not Zheng San. His father, who was a student, named him Zheng Hongfang. However, after becoming a hunter, he changed his name to Zheng San. After becoming the acting town mayor, he changed his name back to Zheng Hongfang.

Zheng Hongfang has been transferred here for half a month, and his loyalty is beyond question. Going directly to the town under his jurisdiction at this time is the safest option.

He ordered Zheng Anxiang to ride a horse quickly to inform Zheng Hongfang to lead the town's militia and yamen runners to meet Shenxi and the others.

Just as Zheng Hongfang was gathering the militia to read out the list of outstanding members, Zheng Anxiang urgently informed them of the current situation.

Zheng Hongfang had gathered more than 500 militiamen. Upon hearing that the situation was urgent, he immediately sent one of his men to gather the residents. He then led these militiamen directly to meet Shenxi.

Ge Liang surprisingly had a hundred cavalry militiamen who quickly surrounded Chenxi's troops.

There are only a few dozen people in Chenxi, though the exact number varies.

However, Chenxi's team consisted mostly of guards, who were skilled in martial arts and could fight Ge Liang's men to a standstill.

Shenxi gasped.

Ge Liang's hundred cavalry militia members are incredibly skilled; they are definitely not ordinary militia members!

What kind of oversight could have allowed such a cavalry militia to go undetected?

Chenxi pulled on the horse's reins, drew his bow and shot an arrow, heading straight for Ge Liang.

Ge Liang was shouting, "Kill these people, especially that little girl! There will be a great reward!"

Suddenly, an arrow shot rapidly toward his face. He was skilled in martial arts and quickly dodged it.

Just as he dodged that arrow, two more came swiftly and fiercely aimed straight for his face.