The Prince of Ruyang nodded, "Go and arrest some common people."
By the time Mu Fanzheng found out that King Wen had arrested ordinary people to clear landmines, it was already too late.
Many civilians have already lost their lives to landmines.
Mu Fanzheng and his men discussed the matter and unanimously decided not to plant any more landmines. Not only would they fail to destroy the enemy, but they would also force the enemy to arrest civilians to clear the mines.
The original purpose of laying mines was not to damage the enemy's troops, since the damage would not be too great. A few dozen people being injured or killed in one explosion was a small number for the Prince of Ruyang, who was leading more than 10,000 men.
The resulting unrest and panic, as well as the unrest among soldiers, could be fatal.
How can such an army fight a war on the battlefield?
After the local people cleared the mines, the morale of the army finally stabilized. The Prince of Ruyang was very satisfied and ordered the army to rest on the spot for a day.
After all, these past few days have been filled with anxiety and fear. Relaxing and taking a break will basically stabilize morale.
Prince Ruyang, who was resting on the spot, didn't expect that his brief rest would be followed by an urgent report from his scouts that a cavalry force of about two hundred men was charging towards them. They were only about twenty li away.
The Prince of Ruyang immediately ordered his vanguard to rise and prepare for battle.
But the other side did not come. The scouts later reported that the other side had withdrawn.
It was a false alarm; the other party fired a feint and then left.
The Prince of Runan has lost interest in making repairs; he suspects that if repairs continue, the other side will come to cause trouble again.
Then he ordered his men to urge the people onward and continue the march.
That day, they arrived at a county town.
It is called Huai County because the area is abundant with locust trees.
The magistrate of Huai County opened the city gates to welcome him, which greatly relieved the Prince of Ruyang.
The troops were stationed ten miles outside the city, and the magistrate of Huai County prepared a lot of fine wine and food to entertain the Prince of Ruyang and several generals.
Prince Ruyang waved his hand, "Those generals need to guard the military camp. You can just send the wine and food to the camp."
"I've come to procure military provisions. Are you prepared?"
If you don't exploit the local grain supplies, you might as well. This territory used to be under the jurisdiction of the Eighth Prince. This county magistrate is doing well; he probably had a lot of dealings with the Eighth Prince.
The magistrate of Huai County looked like he had eaten a bitter melon and said with a bitter expression, "To be honest, the Eighth Prince and his men have asked me for a lot of grain and fodder. Where do I have any left now?"
The Prince of Ruyang snorted, "I don't believe you. If you have a bad memory, I'll take you back and clear your head."
The magistrate of Huai County was startled; he couldn't allow the Prince of Ruyang to bring him to the army.
He should have gone to pay his respects to the Prince of Ruyang, but he was afraid. He thought that the Prince of Ruyang had gone directly to the previous two counties without entering the county town or causing trouble for the county magistrate.
The Prince of Ruyang will probably go directly there.
To everyone's surprise, the Prince of Ruyang arrived in person with his entourage.
He dared not refuse.
Forced to come out to greet him, the Prince of Ruyang made an outrageous demand for grain and provisions.
Where would he steal it from?
When Yu Dakai left, he took a lot of grain with him, and he managed to scrape together what he had.
When the Eighth Prince came, he demanded grain again, and he dared not refuse.
As soon as the Eighth Prince ran away, the Prince of Ruyang came again, demanding more provisions. Even if he were a god, he couldn't get them.
We've already dug three feet into the ground to gather food and fodder.
The local people have almost all fled.
He dared not approach powerful families; as a county magistrate who had risen through the ranks on his own merit, he had no powerful backers and could not afford to offend anyone.
If the Prince of Ruyang asks for grain again, he might as well quit his post; it's too frustrating.
He can't really take away the last bit of grain from the people's homes, can he?
If that happens, I estimate that the last 10% of ordinary people will also flee.
He promised the Prince of Ruyang that he would definitely gather a batch of grain and fodder within the next two days.
Then the food and wine were sent to the military camp.
The magistrate of Huai County was named Wang Zhitong. He was a second-place scholar in the imperial examinations. Because he did not want to curry favor with the powerful, he was demoted to a lower-level official position and served as a county magistrate for more than ten years.
But he didn't want to curry favor with the powerful and wealthy, yet he couldn't resist the trouble they caused him.
Three groups of people came and went.
Wang Zhitong thought that if he couldn't afford to offend them, he might as well run away. Anyway, if he couldn't gather enough supplies, things wouldn't be any better.
So that very night, Wang Zhitong took a few trusted men and fled to Shanghe County, where he sought refuge with Ge Tian, the current magistrate of Shanghe County.
Ge Tian and he were classmates who participated in the scientific expedition together, and they shared similar interests.
However, Ge Tian failed the exam and returned to his hometown.
When Wang Zhitong became the magistrate of this county, the two kept in touch. Later, Ge Tian invited him to serve as an official in Chenxi many times, but Wang Zhitong could not make up his mind.
Now that they are truly desperate, they have no choice but to take their family and men to seek refuge with them.
After Mu Fanzheng confirmed Wang Zhitong's identity, he notified Ge Tianlai to verify it.
Ge Tian gave his assurances before leading Wang Zhi and his entourage to the county government office.
Ge Tian arranged for Wang Zhitong to stay in three rooms in the back office and had someone serve him to wash and groom him.
After finishing the meal, he began to chat with Wang Zhitong.
Wang Zhitong explained the whole story again, and sighed, "If I hadn't been forced to do this so badly, how could I have been willing to resign and leave?"
If an ordinary person wants to make it big, even a county magistrate would be willing to help them.
Wang Zhitong felt that he had done a good job as the county magistrate.
But they can't do it properly.
His superiors wanted money, grain, able-bodied men, and beautiful women; he didn't even have a chance to refuse.
They could only try their best to maneuver and save the livelihoods of some ordinary people.
Those powerful families were all thinking about how to overthrow him, because he rarely gave them good policy support, and often restricted and exploited them.
Even if there's no unrest, he probably won't be the county magistrate here for long, since those powerful families have already joined forces to cause him trouble.
They might even eliminate him without anyone noticing, causing an accidental death.
Wang Zhitong's original plan was to devise a scheme to use ordinary people to control powerful families.
What do powerful families fear? They fear the poor. When ordinary people are too poor, they will target the powerful families first. They will secretly infiltrate their own people, kill a few of the larger powerful families, and then the others will behave themselves.
But before he could make a move, the Prince of Ruyang arrived.
He knew he had to run; otherwise, his head would be torn apart several times over.
Ge Tian also sighed, how could such a court not perish?
"Just stay here for a while and see the local customs and culture."
Wang Zhitong had nowhere else to go, so he could only bother Ge Tian.
The next day, I strolled around Shanghe County with Ge Tian and found that it had changed a lot.
Everywhere was peaceful, with no trace of war.
It's like a paradise.
Wang Zhitong was deeply moved.
It turns out he had been to Shanghe County before, but what was Shanghe County like back then?
Even in good years, the common people were starving and emaciated.
It's nothing like it is now.
It seems that Ge Tian has indeed met a good leader.
If I could live in such a place, why should a dignified county magistrate be forced to leave his hometown?
After thinking it over, he made up his mind, "Ge Tian, I've thought it through. If you need me, I'm willing to serve under Chief Shen."
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