The head of the household, stripped of his relatively clean and intact homespun clothing, looked nothing but an old peasant. This middle-aged man, tied up by Lu You and thrown to the ground, remained shivering on his knees. His gaunt face was stained with mud and blood, his exposed skin tanned and shiny. He appeared to be completely devoid of excess fat, completely missing the mark of someone who could be described as "overweight."
Upon arriving at Qitian Village, this man knelt on the ground, kowtowed and begged for mercy, not even daring to raise his head. However, judging by his ability to shout for an hour straight, he'd at least not been starving and had the strength to spare. Lu You abandoned him and went to bandage his wounds. The sworn brothers chatted for a while before losing interest. After all, for them, taking down a mountain stronghold was nothing. Hearing the noise gradually die down, this man cautiously raised his head, glanced around, and immediately locked onto Lin Hai, who stood at the head of the group. He struggled, trying to crawl on his knees to Lu You's side to beg for mercy. Just as he tried to stand up, a lasso thrown by one of his sworn brothers snared his neck and dragged him back several meters, putting him out of threatening distance.
Lin Hai has never made up his mind about how to deal with such bandits, especially since the current handling method is equivalent to providing a reference standard for future prisoner placement plans. Lin Hai still feels that he should be cautious.
The rest are easy to deal with. If they are serfs in the bandit camp, they will be identified and then dispersed and resettled. If they are lower-level bandits, they will undergo strict investigation and then be thrown into the Qinghe Industrial Park or collective farms. They will be forced to work for a certain period of time according to their crimes and then managed separately.
However, there has never been a consensus among the people regarding the bandit leader.
Lin Hai hoped they would all be sentenced to life imprisonment. As the de facto head of Qinghe County, he felt he had the authority to impose this sentence. However, many of his sworn brothers wanted to recruit these men, or at least have some of them join the army. After all, these men were familiar with the terrain and possessed considerable military prowess. They might even prove invaluable in recruiting or suppressing other bandits in the future. The local refugees, on the other hand, all hoped they would die.
"Can you please let them die? All the bandits deserve to die. Even if you don't want to kill so many, please kill the ringleaders." This was the first time Shi Zhen'er made a request to Lin Hai, and the first time she used honorifics with him. Initially, Shi Zhen'er had assumed this young man, roughly her own age, was a hanger-on at the county yamen. Though Master Shi had warned her several times, the thought, "How could someone so young be so powerful?" had already taken root in her mind. Even after learning that Lin Hai was actually in charge of the county yamen, she didn't change her mind, and sometimes even followed Wang Liang in calling him "Little Lin." This was the first time Lin Hai heard this strong-willed girl plead with him, the first time he used honorifics with him like the other refugees, and even the second time he saw her cry (the first time being when she was rescued and brought back to the county town and had her first full meal).
However, Master Shi and Yang Xiong, who were nominated by the refugees, were much simpler. Master Shi quoted from classics and made extensive references, and talked a lot of nonsense. His main point was that both burning with fire and lingchi were the best punishments, and it was very appropriate to use them at this time. If the people in the county government did not know what burning with fire or lingchi were because of lack of education, Master Shi was willing to personally do it with the refugees and kill the boss to set an example for everyone.
Yang Xiong's plan was far less bloody. Yang Xiong meant that the county needed to make fertilizer for the wasteland, and he had already dug a manure pit. He could just stuff the lucky mountain king into it alive, and he would become a glorious pile of farm manure.
Of course, what the refugees objected to most was the way their brothers dealt with the situation. For this reason, they tried their best to keep their status as scholars.
For the first time, the elegant Mr. Shi made a scene in the lobby of the county government office like a shrew.
When Lu You came back, wrapped in bandages, all the arguments came to an end. After returning, Lu You said one sentence: "Let's go and take a look at the village."
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