Lin Tongsheng?! Could it be her third son? Song Anxin thought to herself.
Sure enough, when she turned around, she saw her handsome son walking in, dressed in a blue and white robe.
Her hair was as black as silk, her eyebrows as dark as ink, and her eyes as bright as stars. Her handsome son seemed even more handsome than before. Ah! Wait, what was she looking at? Why was Feng He here?
Lin Fenghe was also somewhat surprised to see his mother. After bowing to Magistrate Yan, he asked, "Mother, what are you doing here?"
"My mother encountered bandits on her way back from Qi'an County yesterday, and Lord Yan summoned me to inquire about it. But Feng He, what brings you to the county government office?"
Lin Fenghe's expression changed immediately upon hearing this.
"Mother, you've been attacked by bandits! Did those bandits hurt you anywhere? Are you alright? Are my eldest brother, second brother, sister-in-law, and Granny Wei in the carriage? Were they injured?"
Seeing Lin Fenghe's anxious and flustered state, Song Anxin quickly comforted him:
"Don't worry, Mother wasn't hurt, and she's fine. Your older brother and the others weren't in the car at the time, and the whole family is alright. But you still haven't answered my question: why did you come to the county government office?"
Yan Shuping said, "I invited Lin Xuezi here. Today I have summoned several county magistrates from the Lianshan area to discuss the matter of suppressing the mountain bandits. I asked Lin Xuezi to come and give me some advice."
Song Anxin: "..."
This Magistrate Yan really knows how to squeeze every last drop out of their family.
At this moment, a constable came to report:
"Your Excellency, the magistrates of Qi'an County, Heyang County, Gaokai County... have all arrived. The clerk requests that Your Excellency come over."
“Alright, I’ll head over right away,” Yan Shuping nodded in response.
Song Anxin stood up. "Lord Yan has official business to attend to, so I'll take my leave now." She then turned to Lin Fenghe and said, "Fenghe, you don't need to feel too much pressure. Lord Yan and the other county magistrates have been in high positions for many years and have their own plans for this matter. Just do your best."
Lin Fenghe responded and left with Magistrate Yan.
Inside the county government office.
“These bandits are too cunning. We sent troops several times to pretend to be passing caravans, but they didn’t fall for it.”
Magistrate Tian of Linshui County slammed his fist on the table indignantly.
"Yes, we've been searching for the bandits' stronghold for years without success. We thought they'd given up, but we never expected them to come back more than a decade later. Before, they only robbed people of their property, but now they're even injuring and killing people. It's outrageous!"
Magistrate Lu of Qi'an County was so angry that his beard trembled.
"These bandits are getting more and more rampant! In the past few days, several caravans have been robbed. Now, not only are passing caravans being robbed, but the bandits are also targeting ordinary people, making people afraid to leave the city."
Magistrate Dai of Gaokai County said with deep sorrow and indignation.
"The people of Qi'an County are in the same boat. We can't let these bandits continue to run rampant like this. Magistrate Yan, you were a military general who led troops before. Do you have any good ideas?" Magistrate Lu asked.
All the county magistrates turned their gazes to Yan Shuping. Yan Shuping looked down at the sand table depicting the continuous mountain range before him and began to speak:
"Student Lin, what are your thoughts?"
The county magistrates then turned their attention to Lin Fenghe. Everyone knew that he was the top scorer in the county examination this year and had also passed the prefectural examination. At only fourteen years old, he was a promising young man, but he was still just a child and could not possibly know anything about bandit suppression. They were also very puzzled as to why Magistrate Yan would call this young boy to advise them.
Lin Fenghe's eyes hadn't left the sand table in the middle since he entered, and he had been listening intently to the county magistrates' discussions about the bandits. He fixed his gaze on the sand table and stepped forward to point to several places where the bandits had been active, and then analyzed the situation.
“These bandits are very clever; they always make their moves at the junction of two mountains, which makes it easy to attack and allows them to retreat quickly.”
The county magistrates nodded, agreeing with their analysis; this elementary school student did have some ability.
Lin Fenghe continued, "The magistrates said that the county soldiers disguised themselves as merchant caravans to lure them out, but they didn't fall for it at all. These bandits are so clever that they must have seen through the county soldiers' disguise. After all, county soldiers are armed and are naturally different from ordinary merchant caravans. To lure them out, we must use a real merchant caravan to transport goods."
Yan Shuping shook his head: "If it were a real caravan transporting goods, they would be sandwiched between two mountains. If we led our troops to rush through from both ends, the bandits would probably have already fled up the mountain."
Lin Fenghe raised his eyes with a smile: "Your Excellency, this caravan doesn't necessarily have to be transporting goods; it can also be people."
......
Meanwhile, Song Anxin returned home and told her family and Sister-in-law Lin about what happened last night. Everyone sighed for Madam Liu and felt indignant for her, never expecting that Little Su would be so vicious.
When they heard that Master Liu was going to make Lin Taohua his wife, everyone was happy for her.
After a long night, Song Anxin was exhausted and went back to her courtyard to catch up on sleep in the morning. At lunchtime, Lin Fengshou reported to her about the matters at the winery.
“Mother, the bandits have been making more and more frequent appearances lately, which has affected our winery’s orders. Many merchants are no longer willing to ship their goods to the nearby counties.”
Song Anxin nodded and said, "Today, Lord Yan has gathered the magistrates of several nearby counties to discuss countermeasures against the bandits. It is estimated that there will be some action in the next few days. After the bandits are eliminated, the merchants will naturally come back to place orders. There is no need to worry too much. The winery can continue to operate as usual."
Lin Fengshou nodded.
Lin Fengnian then said, "Mother, the spores for the white fungus have been inoculated into the broken wood, and the spores for the black fungus from the Lin Family Village collective industry have also been inoculated into the cultivation blocks. According to you, the first batch of black fungus should be ready in about a month."
"Good year, you've worked hard. Just tell the workshop in Linjia Village to spray water regularly to keep the wood ear fungus moist. Keep a close eye on the silver ear fungus. Remember to turn the pile of broken wood to control the temperature. You should rotate the inside and outside of the pile about every ten days."
Lin Fengnian nodded to indicate that he had remembered.
Everything at home was proceeding smoothly. A few days later, news came from the county that several counties had joined forces to suppress the bandits, who suffered heavy losses, and peace was restored to the Lianshan area.
Lianshan is a hidden mountain village.
"Damn it! Those corrupt officials really have a clever scheme, hiding county soldiers among the goods, causing so many of our brothers to get injured!" A young man sitting in the high seat had a fierce look in his eyes.
A burly man stepped forward and said, "Boss, we shouldn't have come out of the mountains. We brothers have been living quite well in Black Wind Stronghold for the past ten years or so. Now that some of our brothers are injured or captured, let's call it a day!"
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