Qi Xiuwen submitted a written account of what had happened in Bian'ai County to Chenxi in Jianming Prefecture.
Shen Xi is discussing with Gu Beitian, Dou Yong and others how to deal with the bandits around Jianming Prefecture.
These bandits were active in the towns and villages surrounding Jianming Prefecture.
They were extremely flexible and mobile, and committed all sorts of atrocities, including arson, murder, and looting.
Shenxi sent people several times to suppress the rebellion, but each time they went in triumph only to return disappointed.
What's the reason?
The other side was too slippery; before Chenxi's team even arrived, they had already made their escape.
As soon as Chenxi's group arrived at one place, disaster struck another; they had already moved on to the next place to commit evil.
It was eventually discovered that these bandits were members of the Cao family.
To be precise, he was a member of Cao He's second branch of the Cao family.
Before Tao Feng's army entered Jianming Prefecture, Cao He saw that the situation was not good and fled.
They took more than a thousand people with them and often operated in towns and villages outside the city.
Tao Feng later got into a fight with Zhao Peng. Cao He was thinking that he might try to establish a relationship with Tao Feng, otherwise being a bandit all the time was not a long-term solution.
Who knew that after Tao Feng learned of his existence, he immediately sent people to kill him.
Cao He could only fight back in a fit of anger and frustration before finding a place to hide temporarily.
He wanted to see who would emerge victorious between Tao Feng and Zhao Peng, or rather, whether they would both suffer heavy losses.
He could sit back and watch the two tigers fight; if they both suffered heavy losses, he might still have a chance to take control of Jianming Prefecture.
What happened next was beyond his expectations. He never imagined that there would be internal strife in Tao Feng's army, Tao Feng would flee, and the prefectural city would fall into Zhao Peng's hands.
He was so angry!
Tao Feng is indeed a coward. He ran away when he couldn't win and couldn't even manage his subordinates, causing internal strife at this time.
He didn't even consider his own past actions. Back then, he was also outmatched, and when things looked bad, he simply ran away.
When Cao He fled, he didn't bring much food or fodder. With just over a thousand people, they ate and fed the horses, quickly consuming all the stored supplies and the loot they had seized recently.
After discussing it with his men, Cao He decided to take advantage of the fact that the people of Chenxi were busy with the affairs of the prefectural city, and raid a few more times to get some grain and supplies before leaving Jianming Prefecture.
Staying cooped up here won't do; sooner or later, the people of Chenxi will find us and wipe us out.
They then selected some villages and towns to plunder. Many towns and towns on the outskirts of Jianming Prefecture had not yet been recovered by Chenxi and were adjacent to the prefectural city. Some wealthy households had quite a lot of grain stored up.
Who knew that after just two robberies, Chenxi sent people to wipe them out.
Cao He's strategy was simply to run away when someone came and plunder when someone left.
This put Shenxi's team at a significant disadvantage, as they couldn't hit them even when they were chasing them.
This caused great suffering to the local people, who then went to the prefectural city to cause trouble.
The implication is that since Shenxi has taken over the prefectural city, how could he fail to protect the safety of the surrounding people? He is unworthy to be the ruler of this place.
The troops from Shenxi, together with those of Zhao Peng and Cao Changgeng, totaled 15,000 men, of whom 5,000 were dispatched. The newly promoted junior officer, Lu Yuanjun, led them to Yuhe County.
Originally, they were pursuing Tao Feng, but were intercepted by Wu Aidao in Yuhe County.
While they were locked in a fierce battle with Wu Aidao, Shenxi, fearing that Lu Yuanjun would suffer losses, sent Shen Qing with three thousand men to provide support.
After all, Lu Yuanjun's pursuit did not clear out the various counties between Jianming Prefecture and Yuhe County.
Currently, the total manpower in Jianming Prefecture's capital city, Shenxi, is only about seven thousand.
These 7,000 men also need to maintain the stability of the prefectural city, so it's impossible to send out too many people to deal with Cao He.
If the prefectural city cannot be stabilized, then engaging in maneuvering with Cao He would be putting the cart before the horse.
Finally, Chenxi gave the order: all people from the surrounding towns and villages were to evacuate to the city and be protected by the city's troops. Upon arrival, they would be assigned temporary accommodations, and those who needed to work to support themselves could be assigned tasks based on their abilities.
I'll give you a scorched earth policy, let's see where you can plunder then.
If they go to plunder other counties that have not yet come under Shenxi's jurisdiction, then it will be temporarily none of Shenxi's business, since they don't have the power to interfere.
Although the people around the prefectural city were unwilling, for their own safety, they had no choice but to bring the elderly and children, along with their belongings, and be escorted by soldiers sent by Shen Xi to settle in the prefectural city.
Cao He intended to plunder civilians protected by soldiers, but after being rebuffed twice, he had no choice but to give up.
Chenxi was protected by two thousand soldiers, which solved the problem in one go, saving the trouble of sending out soldiers to return empty-handed and suffering losses every time.
Looking at the food reserves that would last less than two days, Cao He had no choice but to make a decision.
Leave here immediately and go to Zhonggui Prefecture to seek the protection of Prefect Mo Ke.
The Cao family and Wu Aimin have a power struggle, but both the Cao family and the Wu family have a good relationship with Mo Ke.
Besides, the Wu family was killed by Tao Feng, and it had nothing to do with Cao He.
Cao He led over a thousand men directly to Zhonggui Mansion at top speed.
When Chenxi learned that he was leaving, he actually sent people to intercept and kill him. After being ambushed three times, Cao He was so frustrated that he almost vomited blood.
In a final, desperate struggle, they managed to escape with the remaining two hundred-odd people, heading straight for the Zhonggui Mansion.
Of course, they committed a lot of burning, killing, and looting along the way, causing great suffering to the local people.
After Cao He fled, Shen Xi gave the order, "If anyone wants to go back, give them travel expenses and food, and they may return."
Surprisingly, 30% of the local people were unwilling to leave.
Staying in the prefectural city is good; there's food, lodging, and things to do.
Those who were unwilling to leave, Chenxi did not drive them away, for the prefectural city also needed people to support it.
The remaining aristocratic families in the prefectural city were all watching and waiting, wanting to see how Chenxi would govern the devastated city.
After all, they had heard that in other counties, the attitude towards aristocratic families was not friendly.
Although they wouldn't be completely wiped out, no good policies could benefit these aristocratic families.
These aristocratic families would face a difficult existence without the support of local authorities.
Furthermore, many of the scions of these aristocratic families hold positions in the government. If those in power were to treat these families poorly and remove them from office, it would be even more detrimental to the families.
Therefore, the powerful families in the prefecture did not fully support Chenxi. In fact, while they outwardly agreed to some of the strategies Chenxi issued, they secretly resisted implementing them.
For example, Shenxi required those granaries to sell grain to the people at a fair price, and the aristocratic families did indeed take out a portion of grain to sell at a fair price, but the amount was very small.
Ordinary people who wanted to buy enough grain had to go to underground granaries.
These underground granaries were also controlled by powerful families.
If you're not an acquaintance, you can't get the grain from here.
If any ordinary citizen dared to report them, it was common for them to face retaliation from powerful families who held official positions in the government.
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