Qi Huan nodded and said,
"Lord, long before we attacked the county, Liang Peng told me that our next step was to attack Guiling Pass, so he sent many people to Guiling Pass to gather information.
Because Guiling Pass is not a city, but a military pass with a small number of people and each team has its own organization, it is difficult for our people to sneak in, so we can only monitor from a distance on the top of the mountain.
The last time information was delivered was yesterday. Currently, there are still 5,000 people in Guiling Pass, and no reinforcements have come to support this place. "
Hearing this, Nie Chen nodded and said,
"Even if we haven't come yet, it won't be long before we come. Before King Pingxi came, we were besieged by a barbarian army of 100,000 people, so Liu Hu asked King Andong for help.
Thinking about it, by this time, the people he sent to ask for help had already arrived in Dongping County where King Andong was located. They were going to send reinforcements, probably more than 100,000. It would take more than half a month before they came to our side. , we still have time to take down Guiling Pass and go to set up defenses. "
"My lord is right. Whether it's the barbarians or us, King Anton will never sit back and let a county be lost."
Liang Peng said.
"Okay, let's all go back and rest. We have to go on the road tomorrow."
Nie Chen waved his hand and told everyone to disperse. He and Weng Qiuchan also walked towards their tent.
In this battle, the coach is Liang Peng, and he will direct everything. Naturally, the commanding officer will be left to Liang Peng. This is Nie Chen's respect for him.
The army marched for another two days and finally arrived outside the county seat of Jinping County. It was already evening, so Nie Chen directly asked the army to set up camp outside the city.
Just when the army was about to set up camp, a call came from the city gate of Jinping County. An old man wearing the county magistrate's official uniform held the county magistrate's seal, followed by the master, Zaoli, Yamen and others, and headed towards the camp. Come along.
After arriving outside the camp, the old man shouted loudly,
"Jinping County Magistrate Zhao Dezhu, please see the Governor Nie!"
The soldier at the door went to report Nie Chen. After a while, he came out again and said,
"Go in, my lord is waiting for you in the handsome tent."
"As commanded."
Magistrate Zhao led a group of people and walked towards the handsome tent.
Inside the handsome tent, Nie Chen asked Qi Huan,
"Are there any of our people here in Jinping County? How is this county magistrate like?"
Qi Huan said,
"Replying to my lord, we have people from every county in Weihu County. Magistrate Zhao of Jinping County is barely a good official. Although he is also greedy for money, most of the money he gets from greed is given to Liu as a filial piety. Tiger, and the one who pays monthly salary to the government officials and clerks.
After all, Liu Hu is a greedy person. If the people below him are not greedy for money and respect him, they may not even be able to hold office.
This county magistrate Zhao had been selected as a scholar before, but failed the examination several times. He had a pretty good reputation in the literary circle of Weihu County, and he also raised several scholars who could not afford to eat for them to study.
His biggest characteristic is that he uses punishment very lightly. He never unjustly accuses good people and beats them into submission. He will not easily impose punishments on cases where he is unsure, but will wait until there is evidence before imposing punishments. Therefore, the number of people in Jinping County Prison has always been Very few.
During times of famine, he would take the initiative to donate money and encourage large merchants to help the victims together. It is said that Mr. Zhou has a good relationship with County Magistrate Zhao. "
"In other words, he is a good official?"
"I can only say that he is an upright official, but not a capable one. After all, there are many bandits in Jinping County and they often disturb the people. He has never been able to suppress the bandits."
"Why not suppress the bandits?"
"This... we have to ask County Magistrate Zhao himself. We don't know much about it either."
Qi Huan smiled bitterly.
Weng Qiuchan snorted coldly and said,
"There are a thousand soldiers in the border area of the county, and they still want to suppress bandits? Isn't that a fool's dream? In the past, the most serious bandit problem was in Qingshui County. The officers and soldiers were unable to suppress them. Except for Lao Ma's Niu Cui Mountain, which was suppressed twice, other bandits were you. See who was killed?"
Hearing this, Ma Niubi said reluctantly,
"This is all a matter of old sesame and rotten millet. Why are you bringing it up? It's so infuriating to mention it. This bitch Wang Hao knows how to bully me. I still don't understand why he only beat me and not Others, I have to ask him carefully after I go back this time."
Hearing this, Nie Chen and Weng Qiuchan both turned away with guilty conscience. Wang Hao was mainly willing to let Nie Chen throw dirty water.
Qi Huan smiled and said,
"The banditry problem in Qingshui County was indeed serious in the past, but no one expected that the bandits who caused the most serious troubles would actually be dealt with by the bandits. Now Qingshui County is clean and there are no bandits at all."
Nie Chen did not laugh, but said,
"To solve the problem of banditry, we must first know where bandits come from. No one is born a bandit. Those who can go up to the mountains to become bandits are all people who cannot survive at home. They are either evading the pursuit of the government or have no food to eat at home. Those who don’t have land and family, or are bad people who are aggressive and aggressive by nature.
But in general, he is a kind of person, a person who has no food to eat, is desperate and has nothing to do.
If every household of the common people has a field, they don’t have to pay rent to the landlord, and their wives and children are on the hot bed, then who is willing to put their head in their belt and become a bandit?
To solve the problem of banditry, the most important thing is not to eradicate them. Bandits cannot be eradicated cleanly. The most important thing is to channel them so that they have something to do.
Why are there no bandits in Qingshui County now? That's because we have integrated all the bandits into the army, and let the common people who can't afford food come to work and serve as soldiers. We give them food and salary. With a regular and stable income, no one will work as a soldier. Bandits. "
At this moment, an old voice came from outside,
"This lord is right. He revealed the root cause of banditry in one sentence, and the management strategies he proposed are unheard of by lower officials."
Magistrate Zhao led a group of people into the commander's tent, then looked around at the people standing and sitting, and asked with some embarrassment,
"May I ask, who is Lord Nie, the county governor?"
"I'm Nie Chen."
Hearing this, County Magistrate Zhao was surprised and looked Nie Chen up and down. He couldn't believe that the fierce man who led the troops to conquer the county, killed Liu Hu, and commanded tens of thousands of elite soldiers could be such a young man. youth.
Judging from his appearance, he is about twenty years old.
"Master Zhao is here, please take a seat."
Zhou Long moved a chair very wisely and placed it next to Magistrate Zhao.
Upon seeing this, County Magistrate Zhao felt somewhat confident. Since Nie Chen was so polite to him, he knew that the other party would most likely not chop off his head.
"Thank you, Master Nie."
Magistrate Zhao sat on a chair, holding his official seal and said,
"When I came here, I was still worried, fearing that Master Nie would tax the people in the county and kill them. But after hearing what Master Nie had done just now, I understood that Master Nie was really a general. He is a good official who the people take very seriously."
