Ten pounds of salt is nothing in Han District, but it is a huge fortune for Yao District, which has been blocked for a long time and can only eat high-priced salt.
"I will give you salt coupons for another thousand kilograms of salt. You can take it back and distribute it to the family members of Ding Zhuang who died in the village. You can also distribute some to the family members of other Ding Zhuang who are still serving in our county as appropriate."
Pan Tianshun and other Yaomu must share some of this thousand pounds of salt to moisten it. However, the Yao people still have a relatively strong commune structure, and the leader cannot be hereditary, nor can he dominate the sky with one hand. That's why Fuda gave him the salt stamps for distribution.
Pan Tianshun went happily. Pinda spent three days "chasing stolen goods" in Dawangwei and gained a lot. Sun Dabiao originally resisted death, but he was really good at it. No matter how tortured he was, he never relented. However, in front of him, the yamen officer cut off three of his grandson's fingers, took off his trousers, and made a knife sign on his lifeblood. , Sun Dabiao completely collapsed. In order to prevent him from hiding anything, Master Sun of the Sun family ended up losing six fingers.
Pinda tortured the stolen goods in Dalangwei for three days and tortured more than ten people to death. Soldiers and civilians dug up Dalangwei all over and recovered a lot of gold and silver. Almost all the gold and silver belongings that Sun Dabiao and his leaders had buried in Dalangwei were dug up by Luo.
Although they did not "torture" the minions, after watching the three-day "drama", when the naturalized cadres asked them to "voluntarily hand over the stolen goods," they all rushed to give away the gold and silver they had accumulated. hand over. Although the amount is only three to five taels of silver, the income from gathering sand into a tower is quite substantial. There are also people who cannot come up with the money and plead that the money has been used to build a house or marry a wife. As long as he is allowed to go home, the house and wife will be sold to "pay the stolen goods."
Pinda stayed in Dawangwei for six or seven days and completed all matters. Luo Yiming and half a squadron of the National Army were left to garrison. He led his team to escort the prisoners and property back to the county town.
Now that you have money and food in your hands, it will be much easier to get things done. Panda immediately ordered the local recruitment of young men in the county, and the Yao people brought by Pan Tianshun were mixed to form two new squadrons. Although they did not have rifles and could only use cold weapons, they could not guard the county seat and patrol the roads. question.
The female county magistrate sent by the Australians personally went into battle, and news of the surprise attack on Dalangwei and their great victory spread throughout the county in the past few days. Sun Dabiao has been entrenched in Dalangwei for generations, and all the county magistrates of the past dynasties have been unable to deal with him. Unexpectedly, the female county magistrate would attack him as soon as she arrived. Not only did she wipe out Dalangwei in one night, she also captured hundreds of bandits alive, and even Sun Dabiao himself couldn't escape. This has forced local powerful people who were originally suspicious of Australians to re-examine their attitude towards Australians.
Many people have come to Dawangwei and the county town these days. The streets in the two places are bustling with people. They are full of "farmers" and "vendors" who neither buy nor sell anything. They are all listening silently to what others say. , crowded in the crowd to read the notice, and some of them could see the heads that had begun to turn black.
When Zhang Tianbo's head was hung at the gate of the county town, it caused a small sensation. Not only the people in the county town rushed to watch, but also people from neighboring villages who had suffered harm from him came one after another. For a moment, people were crying and laughing in front of the head, and those who smashed the head box with rocks and tiles became a mess. The guarding National Army soldiers had to disperse the crowd.
However, this was nothing compared to the "living display" that followed: Pinda ordered dozens of wooden cages to be erected in front of the county government office, and Sun Dabiao, his family members, and the captured bandits of all levels were put on display in the cages. . This caused a sensation in the whole county. For a time, the county was crowded with spectators. Not only the people in the county came to watch, but also people came to the most remote places in the county. The place in front of the county government office looks like a bustling city. A large number of onlookers gathered all the time, who came to the cage to yell and smash things. For a time, all the garbage on the streets of the county town disappeared, and the front of the county government office was left in a mess. Later, because some people threw feces and the stench was so bad, they ordered a ban on throwing garbage into the cage. However, this torment is enough to make the people in the cage dying. Every day, dead or dying prisoners are pulled out of the cage and their heads are displayed to the public.
The county government office was crowded with people complaining. Pinda asked him to accept all the petitions and post them all on the screen wall in front of the county government office. Many of the papers covering the wall were written in blood, mixed in with the white paper and ink writing, which was as shocking as the blood sprayed on it.
Fenda is not in a hurry for the final reckoning - she already has a plan in her mind on how to do so. She wanted the people's emotions to fully ferment and form a state of eagerness to explode before she could light this fuse and completely shake the foundations of the powerful households in the county. So after coming back these days, she allowed the common people to take prisoners, but she maintained a certain attitude - at least the main bandit leaders could not be killed, they could only be killed during the finale.
While cleaning up the streets in the county, providing relief to the people, and renovating city walls, she restored the system of National Army patrols along the roads in the county. After this battle, the security in the county immediately improved significantly: there were originally banditry activities outside the county seat, and banditry activities were rampant throughout the county, but now they have disappeared in areas adjacent to the county seat.
The cadres in the county were encouraged by this victory, and their originally low morale rebounded significantly. You Ciren continued to work every day regardless of his recovery. Even Peng Shou'an's spirit is much better than before - although he is still shy to see people.
On this day, Peng Shouan was called to the office by Panda.
"Mr. Peng, it's time for you to appear."
"Yes, students are willing to help."
"These are my handwritten letters. You should prepare some small gifts and visit each family." Pinda gave him a few letters. "These are the big families you told me about last time. They have good reputations and some strength." The rural virtuous people. You go lobby them and ask them to set an example for the county."
The so-called setting an example is naturally to stand up for the county government - but this is not enough, the county also needs them to provide money, food and people.
"You go and talk to them. First, they ask them to pay a reasonable burden. Second, they ask each family to send a number of strong men to the county to serve them. I won't mention the specific number. You ask them to pay for it themselves, but you can't It’s lower than this number,” said Pinda.
"The students know." Peng Shou'an now knew what the "gift" the county magistrate meant. He was happy and ashamed at the same time, "Students must try their best! Alas, it's all scholars who are ruining the country with their empty talk..."
"Don't blame yourself anymore. There are very few scholars like you who can be pragmatic and willing to work." Pinda said, "As for some old things in the past, don't mention them again - they are all for business." .”
Panda sent Peng Shou'an off and was working when suddenly Zhou Da announced: "There are bandits' family members at the gate of the county government office asking to see the county magistrate."
"No," said Panda.
"She is an old woman," Zhou Da seemed to feel sympathy, "She has been kneeling for a whole day and insists on seeing you."
"I don't have time. If she refuses to leave, I'll arrest her and lock her up overnight before releasing her."
"She said she was willing to give up all her family's property plus her own life to beg for her son's life."
"Oh, who is her son?" Pinda put down her pen and asked.
"Jiang Xiaotian."
"It's him." Pinda remembered that this person was also captured in this battle. Because of his unimpressive appearance, thick hands and feet, covered with calluses, and looking like an ordinary farmer, they thought he was just an ordinary gangster. It wasn't until someone among the gangsters found out that he was the famous "independence man" in the county in order to "atone for his crime". "Foot Thief" Jiang Xiaotian.
Jiang Xiaotian was quite happy, and he admitted it after being identified. He even made it clear where he hid his gold and silver: it was stored in Li Shuangkuai's village. A few days ago, Shandi Company just got back this piece of money: a small water tank filled with gold. Silver, many of which are women's jewelry.
Now Jiang Xiaotian's mother came to plead for mercy, indicating that he still had property to hide. This is a good question to ask.
"Send her in."
"She has several relatives who want to come in together." Zhou Da pleaded, "The old lady is old and inconvenient."
"Three of her people." Pinda glanced at Zhou Da, wondering if he had accepted a bribe from him?
After a while, I saw two half-old men supporting an old woman with all white hair coming in, kneeling down in front of the hall to pay respects.
"Are you Jiang Xiaotian's mother?"
"She is a civilian woman." The old woman said tremblingly, "These two are the elders of the Jiang family..."
It turned out that these two old men, one was Jiang Xiaotian's uncle, and the other was the elder of the village where his family lived.
"I heard that you knelt in front of the Yamen for a whole day and asked to see you. What happened?" Pinda asked.
Zhou Da looked at it and was secretly surprised. He followed Fanda to the county. This female official never received courtesy from others, nor did she have the habit of asking people to kneel down to ask questions - all Australians were like this. Why didn’t you even say “get up and speak” today?
"Jiang Xiaotian is in the situation he is today because of his own confusion. He deserves it!" The old woman said sadly, "It's just that he is the only son of a civilian woman... It's only the four brothers in the Jiang family who have such an independent career. He doesn't follow the right path. The reason for the robberies and the murders of laymen on the road is due to the poor discipline of the women. Please consider that the young women are widowed and the Jiang family has four children in one, spare Jiang Xiaotian's life. His sins, The women of the common people are willing to give their lives to each other..." He kowtowed repeatedly.
The uncle of the Jiang family next to him also kowtowed and said, "Young man, I am also willing to sacrifice my life for you!" After that, both parties presented a stack of paper, "This is all the land and property of the Jiang family. I am willing to donate it to atone for my sins..."
The old man also spoke to help: "Master! Although Jiang Xiaotian is a gangster, he is a pure and filial son. Not only did he support his widowed mother for many years, he also supported his three uncles until their death. Although we are extremely filial to family members, we Outsiders also feel that he has a sincere filial piety, and it is also a meritorious deed to ask the master to write Chaosheng to spare his life so that the Jiang family can have an heir."
"So, Jiang Xiaotian is probably good to the village." Pinda asked.
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Next update: Volume 7 - Guangzhou Governance Chapter 455
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