Everyone was excited. Becoming a patrol member meant earning 100 coins a month, which would amount to more than 100 taels of silver a year, and it wouldn't interfere with their farm work. It was a rare opportunity.
"Now that the patrol team has been officially established, let's elect a captain from among the ten of you. Let's begin the election now."
As soon as the village head finished speaking, everyone looked at one of the middle-aged men among them.
This man was in his thirties, tall and imposing; when he stood up, he was like an iron tower.
This burly man is named Guan Ping. He is a retired soldier with a generous and helpful personality. He is well-liked in the village, and the village headman thought of him first when selecting temporary patrol personnel.
With the formal establishment of the village patrol team, everyone present chose Guan Ping as the patrol team leader, which seems to be the popular choice.
"Guan Ping, everyone has their eye on you, so how about you take on the role of patrol team leader?" the village head said.
Upon seeing this, Guan Ping quickly waved his hand.
"That won't do. I'm simple-minded. I'm good at fighting, but I'm definitely not suited to managing a patrol team."
The village headman smiled and said, "To be the captain of the village patrol team, the first thing you need to do is be good at fighting and know some kung fu so that you can be at the forefront and stand up for yourself in times of danger. You are the perfect candidate for that."
Once you become the captain, you can choose someone as the vice-captain to help you strategize and manage the patrol team.
Everyone recommended you because they value your abilities. The team leader bears a heavy responsibility, tasked with protecting the safety of all the villagers in Shuixian Village. Since everyone trusts you, you must shoulder this responsibility.
Seeing everyone looking at him expectantly, Guan Ping knew he couldn't refuse, so he decided to take on this important task.
Guan Ping immediately cupped his hands in greeting to the crowd and said:
"Since everyone values me so much, then I will be the team leader. If I have any shortcomings in my work, please feel free to criticize and correct me."
The matter of selecting the patrol team leader was thus settled, and the village head continued:
"The village will assess the patrol team at the end of the year. If they make outstanding contributions and do a very good job in ensuring the safety of the village, everyone will receive a bonus."
Of course, I'm also making it clear upfront: if anyone in the patrol team fails to fulfill their duties or do their job properly, I will replace them without hesitation.
The village head's words made the people present both nervous and excited. Becoming a patrol team member meant not only receiving a monthly wage but also a year-end bonus. The prerequisite for receiving this money was doing a good job of ensuring the safety of the village.
If you are replaced by the village head due to your own mistakes, you will be ridiculed by the villagers, which would be a big deal, and you would never be able to hold your head up in the village again.
"The Narcissus Village Patrol Team is officially established, with Guan Ping as the patrol team leader," the village head officially announced.
Guan Ping had served in the army and knew some of the management practices within the military. Managing a patrol team was not difficult for him.
His first task was to appoint one person as the deputy captain and divide the remaining eight people into four groups of two people each. He and the deputy captain would each be responsible for two groups to carry out daily patrols in the village.
To improve the overall strength of the patrol team, Guan Ping plans to set aside one hour each day to train the team members, focusing on combat and grappling techniques.
The next morning, just as dawn broke, before Zhao Xian had even gotten out of bed, the village head and Guan Ping came to find him.
Zhao Xian knew that Guan Ping was the village patrol team leader. The fact that the two of them came to find him early in the morning made Zhao Xian nervous. Could something have happened during the patrol last night?
Before Zhao Xian could ask, the village headman spoke up:
"Last night, in the middle of the night, the patrol team discovered two bears at the entrance of the village. They probably wanted to enter the village. The patrolmen had torches, and the bears were afraid of fire, so they dared not come over."
The two sides were locked in a standoff for a long time. Other team members arrived and threw torches at the bear, which scared it away.
It's terrifying to think about now. If a bear had charged, the team members wouldn't have been able to stop it, and they would have lost their lives.
"Why are the bears coming into the village? Are they looking for food?" Zhao Xian asked.
"Probably not. There's plenty of food in the wild right now, so they're not lacking in food at all. Under normal circumstances, bears wouldn't come into the village. I don't understand what's going on."
Guan Ping added, "The bears confronted us for a very long time last night. Although we eventually drove them away, they will likely return in a few days."
"What can we do to deal with the mountain bears and prevent them from entering the village and harming people?" Zhao Xian asked.
"The only thing that can deal with mountain bears now is bows and arrows. Last time when the princess went hunting, she encountered a mountain bear, but it was shot back by bows and arrows."
"Crossbows can indeed harm mountain bears. I want to equip the patrol members with crossbows so that if we encounter mountain bears again, we can use them to deal with them," the village head said.
"No problem, I'll make the crossbow today, and you can use it this afternoon."
"Thank you, scholar. We'll come back tonight to pick up the crossbows." Guan Ping said, and then left with the village head.
After returning home, the village head thought about it and realized that there was no problem during the day, but the main concern was the safety of the village at night, especially during this period.
Considering the lack of manpower in the patrol team, the village head found four more people to assist the patrol team in participating in night patrols.
That night, the patrol was on high alert, but the two mountain bears did not appear.
That morning, several tall horse-drawn carriages arrived at Narcissus Village one after another. The patrol team members went up to inquire, and when they heard that they had come to buy wine wholesale, they immediately let them pass.
These people all came from Qing'an Prefecture. According to their previous agreement with Zhao Xian, they came today to buy wine wholesale.
These shopkeepers are all business elites, and they have made ample preparations in the past few days to sell their liquor.
There was an open space in front of the workshop, piled with lees, and you could smell the strong aroma of wine from the lees from afar.
This kind of distiller's grains is a very good feed that cattle and horses love to eat. However, because the distiller's grains contain a certain amount of alcohol, eating too much can cause intoxication. If someone gets drunk and starts acting crazy, it's no laughing matter.
Therefore, when feeding animals with distiller's grains, a certain amount of grass must be added so that the animals do not get drunk.
Several shopkeepers stood beside the pile of lees, saying that standing next to the lees was a pleasure, and the smell alone was exciting.
It was nearly noon, and all five shopkeepers had arrived. Zhao Xian planned to entertain these business tycoons and discuss the wholesale liquor business after lunch.
The innkeepers were really looking forward to lunch. They didn't care much about the food itself, but they wanted to savor the wine made from millet. The wine they had at the poetry gathering last time was so bland that they couldn't really taste it.
This is their chance, and they're going to enjoy it, especially since drinking is free today.
Zhao Xian had made meticulous preparations for this lunch. Some of the dishes were purchased from the system, and the seasonings used were not available on the market. The resulting dishes were not only visually appealing but also delicious and uniquely flavorful.
These shopkeepers were worldly-wise and had tasted all sorts of delicacies. When they tasted the dishes on the table, they were stunned.
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