On the contrary, they discovered new methods for planting rice seedlings and raising fish in rice paddies in Shiligou, which are real achievements! A few days ago, the county magistrate wrote these in his letter to the prefect, and they should have arrived by now.
Moreover, he remembered that Qin San Niang from Ruyi Cake Shop was also from Shiligou!
"Old Village Chief Chen, please don't rush, get up and speak slowly," said Chief Clerk Qi softly.
At the same time, he asked Qi Yuchen to sit down as well. Although this guy seemed unreliable, he had done quite well during this period. It seems that rumors cannot be believed entirely!
Chen Sheng quickly stole a glance at Qi Yuchen, and seeing that the latter also gestured for him to sit down, he then nervously sat down on the stool, perhaps a little nervous, and even swallowed.
"Sirs, this story begins with a family that just arrived. Their daughter was kidnapped and sold by a trafficker, and the man of the family followed the trafficker, intending to rescue the child. However, he unexpectedly discovered that there were many bandits in the mountains about fifty miles outside the county town!"
Later, the man waited until the child was sold before trying to rescue him! Coincidentally, they arrived at Shiligou the day before yesterday and told Da Wa's mother about it. Da Wa's mother was clever; fearing the bandits might attack the county town, she discussed it with me and asked me to report to the authorities, saying it was to be prepared for anything…”
"Taking precautions is quite remarkable, Third Sister Tan! Did that family settle in your Shiligou because of the Tan family?" Magistrate Jia inquired. He already knew from his wife that Third Sister Tan had some connection with his family, so he trusted Chen Sheng's words more now.
"Your Honor, that family was an old acquaintance of Da Wa's mother. It is said that they met on their journey of fleeing from disaster. Later, the boy from that family was kidnapped and sold by traffickers, and by sheer coincidence, he ran into Da Wa! It must have been that the boy accumulated good karma in his past life, because he lived very well in the Qin family and was even sent to school!"
At this point, even he was a little envious of Lu Song's good fortune!
"Oh? I didn't expect Qin San Niang to be such a righteous person. Zheng, how does your village plan to defend against bandits these days? Also, how were those people so sure that what they saw were bandits?"
Although Jia Gaojie was already fairly convinced and planned to deploy troops around the county town, this would inevitably cause panic among the people, so it was better to ask for clarification.
Chen Sheng muttered to himself for a moment. Da Wa's mother had really talked to him about this matter, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to mobilize the villagers before!
Excited, he stood up from the stool. “Sir, the men in that family have experienced fleeing from disaster. They say some of the bandits were refugees, and they even have horses! They also have weapons, including a lot of broadswords and longswords.”
Magistrate Jia paused for a moment. If it was difficult for the local residents to identify the bandits, then those who had experienced fleeing must have seen the bandits, and many of them had even had direct contact with them. Recognizing them would not be difficult for them.
It sounds like this group of bandits is quite large, and they even have weapons and horses. They don't seem like a rabble, but rather an organized band of outlaws.
Magistrate Jia was extremely frustrated. His term was about to end next year, and he had already smoothed things over with everyone, about to be promoted. But he never expected to encounter bandits! Damn it…
Judging from Shangguan's expression, Chief Clerk Qi knew what he was thinking. However, he couldn't let Chen Lizheng stay there, but he also couldn't just send him away. He had to praise him at least a little.
"Old Chen, the clue you provided is very important to the yamen. I will discuss it with the magistrate and we will definitely not let the bandits harm the county. When you go back, you should also tell the villagers to be on high alert and pay attention at all times. Everyone is harvesting now, and the grain needs to be stored well."
Upon hearing what Chief Clerk Qi said, Magistrate Jia was even more distraught. If the people ran out of food, chaos would ensue! Oh dear, he might as well give up being a seventh-rank magistrate!
Chen Sheng felt much more relaxed. The matter had been explained clearly, and the officials seemed to take it quite seriously, so that was that!
In short, the matter of suppressing bandits is not something they can decide on their own! Most importantly, their village now has capable people! Those men from the Lu family are clearly brave, and in the past few days, their patrol team has gradually grown stronger. They've even dug some kind of trap that will ensure bandits never return!
Oh dear, even if they come and never return, as long as he scares the bandits away from coming, he can finally relax.
Feeling relieved, he also showed joy on his face. Fortunately, Jia Gaojie was currently immersed in his own sorrow, otherwise, seeing his happy appearance, one might have thought he was gloating!
"Don't worry, sir. We've set up a patrol team in Shiligou now, patrolling 24 hours a day without stopping. It won't be so easy for them to get into the village! We've also dug traps. Those bandits will have to suffer a lot if they want to get in! But you're right, sir. We still need to hide the grain well. I'll go back and tell everyone!"
Upon hearing the words "patrol team," even Jia Gaojie, whose heart was pounding like a cat's claws, suddenly looked up.
"What patrol team? How did you manage this? Is this patrol team so powerful? Tell me quickly!" Magistrate Jia no longer cared about his demeanor; anything useful in controlling the mountain bandits was a timely help to him.
Qi Zhubu and Qi Yucheng and others looked at each other in bewilderment.
Qi Yuchen: Don't look at me, you won't know even if you do!
Chen Sheng said, "The so-called patrol team was also Da Wa's mother's idea. It's actually quite simple: select strong and capable young men from the village to form a patrol team, divided into three teams, each team on duty for four hours, choosing key locations to keep watch! We can't afford to miss anything!"
Of course, these men are treated well; we pay them wages, twenty coins a day. The villagers who can join the patrol team are all very happy now; it's no small sum of money!
That's a bit of a tangent. How could the county magistrate care about such a small amount? Chen Sheng rubbed his nose and continued, "The key locations are the village entrance, the village roads leading to other villages, and the fields near the mountain roads. As long as these places are defended, we don't have to worry about bandits attacking us!"
"Oh? That's a good idea. But what if bandits launch a sneak attack?" Qi Yuchen couldn't help but chime in. Wasn't this just luring them into a trap? But he wondered if these country folk knew how to trap someone like a turtle in a jar.
Chen Sheng got more and more carried away as he spoke, "Sir, please let me explain. Our patrol team doesn't just patrol; besides guarding day and night, we also have other things to do."
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