"After you came out, did the other residents from your village also come out?"
Dong Qi, still in a half-bowing posture, replied, "They said they would come out, but they come from all directions, so it's hard for them to form a team. I estimate they will come in several teams, but I can't guarantee they've come or not, because I haven't seen them yet."
The integration of villages takes a long time. Besides, they are already exhausted by worrying about food, so they don't have much time to communicate.
Moreover, such integration can only be achieved under prolonged peace.
Lin Tai's meddling destroyed this fusion before it could even take shape.
Have you encountered any people from other villages that you know?
“I met one who said that because some of the people from the village were against it, he was hesitant about whether to take action. The township head also told them not to cause trouble at the horse farm, but to cause trouble at the Qian family’s house.”
Do you know anything about the Qian family? What's the specifics?
Dong Qi shook his head: "The Qian family had a steward who came to the village to sign the contract back then, but his boss never came."
"Alright, you'll have to suffer before this matter is fully investigated. Besides, because of your disturbances, people have died and been injured, so you can't escape responsibility. We'll have to keep you all locked up for now, including you."
Dong Qi nodded, realizing that it was impolite.
No matter how difficult their reasons were, the final outcome was that innocent people died unjustly.
After having Dong Qi taken away, Shen Xi asked Zheng Ankang, "Is there any new news?"
"Yes, although we haven't found Qian Zhen, someone saw him appear in an alley in the east of the city around noon. Our people have already followed the route."
"good."
Based on the information currently available, Lin Tai's purpose is rather elusive.
After all, it's acceptable for a township head to exploit the people for personal gain.
There are instances where businessmen collude to set traps for ordinary people, causing them to lose money.
What I don't understand is why he wanted the people to come to the county town and cause trouble.
So far, we've only managed to capture one group of people who were causing trouble. What about the others? You have to understand that a village has quite a large population.
If they all start making a ruckus in the county town, it might not be enough to overthrow the town, but it would certainly cause a major upheaval.
What is Kelintai's purpose in doing this?
Why did the people who arrested more than twenty people stop causing trouble?
Could it be that these twenty-odd people acted on their own initiative and were outside of Lin Tai's planned timeframe?
Once Shenxi understood this, he immediately ordered Dong Da and the others to be interrogated again.
"Did you choose the time arbitrarily before taking action?"
Dong Da was completely bewildered; how did he end up being interrogated right after being locked up?
However, he dared not refuse to answer Shen Xi's question, as he already knew from Dong Qi that this was the leader.
“It was the time I chose. The township head said to wait patiently, and wait a few days until everyone arrives before making a scene together. But we don’t have much food left, so we thought that if we made a scene sooner or later, it would just be a smaller-scale event. If we make a scene first, maybe it will be resolved sooner.”
Chenxi confirmed this, and only then did he feel a little relieved.
Lin Tai's goal was to plunge the county town into chaos.
But if he's just a township head leading a bunch of disorganized villagers, even if he causes trouble in the county town, at most it will just lead to chaos, and it certainly won't cause the disaster of Wang Datong's displaced people like before.
Song Zhen also imprisoned the clerk and related yamen runners who had driven away the villagers who had filed the complaint that day.
The interrogation revealed little evidence of them causing trouble. The clerk had neglected his duties, and the constables had done nothing. At most, they would be dismissed from their posts and given twenty strokes of the cane.
Song Zhen was so angry that his forehead hurt. His subordinates had done something wrong, and he had to take responsibility for it.
The constables sent out did not find Qian Zhen, but unexpectedly brought with them more than a dozen villagers from Wangxiang Township.
These are villagers from another village in Xunwang Township. A dozen or so people came here to confront Qian Zhen at the Qian family's house.
Lin Tai told them that if they really didn't give him the money, they should rob him; if they tried to stop them, losing his house would attract more attention.
But these dozen or so people were timid and afraid of trouble. Besides, Lin Tai said not to rush things. They could wait a few days until everyone arrived before they could act together.
But they couldn't wait any longer, because, just as Dong Qi had said, they had no money and no food.
Unlike Dong Qi and his group, who took direct action, they went to the streets to beg and rob.
It was precisely because of the robbery that the constables caught them red-handed and, following the man's account, apprehended the dozen or so people involved.
After hearing Song Zhen's report, Shen Xi basically confirmed that Lin Tai's purpose was to create chaos in the county town.
So what could he do after the county town fell into chaos?
Furthermore, since Lin Tai was able to send someone to tell these villagers, does it mean that Lin Tai is in the county town, or that Lin Tai's people are in the county town?
“We sent people to check the population one by one, whether they were locals or outsiders, and monitored the entire city and its surrounding areas, checking every passerby.”
"yes."
"Ankang, go and inform Xiuwen, and send someone to do the same. Also, inform Yanjun to send troops to guard inside and outside the city gates. If you see anyone suspicious, arrest them first."
She couldn't let the county she had worked so hard to build fall into chaos again because of Lin Tai.
If half of the people from a village came to the county town, they could cause quite a commotion. If they set fire to the town, they could easily burn down half of the county town if they weren't careful.
Shenxi gritted her teeth. Anyone who dared to ruin her hard-earned achievements should have the ability to withstand her wrath.
In less than an hour, Bian'ai County was under heavy guard.
The people were also given a holiday and stopped working; they were all told to go home and wait for the inspection.
Looking at the map, Chenxi saw that Bian'ai County was not located in the center of the county.
Instead, it is located to the south, about 20 miles from the county seat, which is Ju County.
If Lin Tai had no other purpose than to create chaos in the county, then Chen Xi would be truly delusional.
What exactly caused Lin Tai to make such a foolish move?
Shenxi's gaze fell on Ju County again. Ju County was in an even more awkward position. It belonged to Nanning Prefecture, but because of Xie Ning's rebellion in Nanning Prefecture, Xie Hou's troops were regained and Ju County was put on the defensive.
If they surrendered to Xie Ning, given Xie Ning's habit of killing prisoners, they wouldn't survive either.
If they don't surrender, Xie Ning will definitely attack them once he recovers.
Therefore, the military commander of Ju County, Li Cunzhi, contacted Jianming Prefecture and offered to be placed under its jurisdiction, asking Jianming Prefecture to submit a report to the imperial court.
That's why Tao Feng of Jianming Prefecture had to pass through Ju County to directly attack the capital of Yuzhang Prefecture.
Shenxi pointed to Ju County. Her spies had discovered that Li Cunzhi had actually contacted Wu Aimin and Tao Feng through the Cao family.
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