Chapter 196

"Also, widely deploy scouts and strengthen vigilance."

After despising the Liang Shan bandits in his heart, the magistrate reminded him.

"The people of Yuncheng County have no wisdom greater than the County Magistrate; I will go and do it now."

The County Commandant seemed to have received some enlightened instruction and said excitedly.

Strengthening vigilance and widely deploying scouts were things that he, as the County Commandant in charge of military affairs, could naturally think of,

but he couldn't propose them all by himself; he had to give his superior a sense of participation!

"Assistant Magistrate Hu, what do you think of this group of Liang Shan bandits?"

After sending off the County Commandant, the magistrate looked at the Assistant Magistrate standing beside him, who was theoretically the second-in-command of Yuncheng County,

but had been silent all along, like a clay sculpture or a wooden carving.

"Reporting to the County Magistrate, these Liang Shan bandits are probably not easy to deal with."

The expressionless Assistant Magistrate cupped his hands and responded in a calm, flat tone.

If he weren't standing here, one would think it was some old man talking about something that had nothing to do with him.

Hearing this answer, the magistrate was somewhat angry, and a trace of displeasure appeared on his face.

He naturally knew that the Liang Shan bandits were not easy to deal with.

If the Liang Shan bandits were easy to deal with, could they have broken through Zhu Family Manor in one day?

If the Liang Shan bandits were easy to deal with, why were he and the County Commandant so anxious just now?

He asked the Assistant Magistrate to see if he had any good ways to deal with the Liang Shan bandits,

not to listen to this kind of useless nonsense!

However, the magistrate was, after all, an old hand who had been floating in the officialdom for decades,

with deep thoughts; the displeasure on his face flashed and then disappeared, and he said in a deep voice:

"This magistrate naturally knows that the Liang Shan bandits are not easy to deal with.

What I want to know is how we should deal with them,

whether to actively exterminate them or turn a blind eye?"

Looking at the magistrate who was clearly very angry but had to pretend to be deep, a look of mockery appeared in the Assistant Magistrate's eyes:

This magistrate of Yuncheng County might pride himself on being loyal to the Great Song,

but his actions were not loyal at all; since taking office, he had frantically suppressed local forces, Zhu Family Manor,

Hu Family Manor, and other powerful families, as well as the big households in the county town that controlled grain, oil, and cloth—industries related to people's livelihoods—

all of which had been beaten by this magistrate looking for opportunities.

However, he was not suppressing local forces for the Great Song government to prevent local powerful families from growing too big and

affecting the imperial court's rule; he was doing it to make more money for himself.

Since this magistrate took office, everything in Yuncheng County was taxed; there was an entry tax for entering the city,

a deed tax for buying and selling houses, a tooth tax for opening a brokerage,

a pawn tax for opening a pawnshop, a land tax for buying houses and land,

a cattle, horse, pig, and sheep tax for buying and selling livestock, and a ferry tax for the ferry.

In order to scrape more comprehensively, he even planned to levy a "sanitation tax" (manure tax).

It was satirized by the people as "Never heard of a tax on shit since ancient times; now only farts are left without a donation."

In the end, public sentiment was surging, and a civil uprising was almost brewing, so he had to give up.

For his actions, the people gave him the title "Heaven is Three Feet Higher"!

This was not a compliment that he was an honest official, higher than the blue sky;

but a satire that he frantically scraped the land, scraping the land three feet away, making the sky three feet higher.

Although uprisings occurred from time to time within the Great Song,

Yuncheng County had indeed been at peace for a long time, with no wars for many years,

and even if there were bandits, they were all farmers who had lost their land and fled into the water marsh to barely survive, not amounting to much.

The reason why there were multiple manors like Zhu Family Manor, Li Family Manor, and Hu Family Manor that built fortresses to protect themselves

was mostly because they were forced by corrupt officials like the magistrate,

as these officials scraped even more ruthlessly than the bandits.

The Assistant Magistrate withdrew his disdain for the magistrate and asked:

"County Magistrate, do you think that with the military strength of our Yuncheng County, there is any hope of exterminating the Liang Shan bandits?"

The magistrate felt even more displeased upon hearing this:

If the forces in the county could exterminate the bandits, would he still be so conflicted?

He would have long ago sent the County Commandant with troops to kill them on Liang Shan and sweep them away!

It was precisely because he couldn't do it that he was so conflicted!

However, he couldn't say this directly, so he put on a compassionate look:

"With the military strength of our Yuncheng County, I'm afraid there is still a small gap to exterminate the Liang Shan bandits.

Moreover, as the parent official of Yuncheng County,

how could I let the good sons of our Yuncheng County fight to the death with those desperate outlaws in the water marsh?"

The Assistant Magistrate ignored the so-called "small gap" and the magistrate's self-proclaimed "parent official" and continued:

"Since our Yuncheng County is not up to the task, then we can only report it to the prefecture,

and let the prefecture mobilize the local militia and garrison troops."

After speaking, he hesitated:

"It's just that if we do this, your evaluation for this year, County Magistrate, I'm afraid..."

"Sigh!"

The magistrate sighed upon hearing this.

The reason why he was so conflicted about whether to report it to the prefecture and let the imperial army press the border,

and exterminate the Liang Shan bandits with thunderous force, was precisely because of this.

The so-called ferocity of the Liang Shan bandits was only relative to their Yuncheng County.

Under the imperial army of the prefecture, the mere Liang Shan bandits were nothing more than a mantis trying to stop a chariot, to be destroyed with a flick of a finger.

But once reported to the prefecture, not to mention anything else, his evaluation for the past two years would be ruined.

After the transfer in two years, let alone a relatively wealthy place like Yuncheng County,

even remote prefectures and counties like Qianzhou and Lingnan would be out of reach.

Once his superiors knew that such giant bandits as Liang Shan had appeared under his rule, his official hat would be finished.

But this kind of thing still couldn't be said directly,

so the magistrate thought carefully and gave a high-sounding reason:

"If this news reaches the prefecture, according to the imperial court's system,

it must be reported to the Emperor, and the Emperor will decide.

But the Emperor's birthday is coming up soon, and as ministers,

how can we disturb the Emperor's good mood with such a trivial matter?

In my opinion, anyway, those Liang Shan bandits don't dare to besiege the county town,

and it's just a minor skin disease, so why not put it aside for now,

and perhaps in not too long, those bandits will retreat on their own?"

Then his face hardened, and he cupped his hands toward the direction of Bianliang:

"If those Liang Shan bandits don't know what's good for them and dare to harass the people of our Yuncheng County,

I will report it to the prefecture even if I have to lose the official hat on my head,

and let the army come to sweep them away!"

Zhu Tai Gong, Zhu Biao: Do we count as the people of Yuncheng County?

Do we really count as the people of Yuncheng County?

Since the magistrate had said all this, what else could the Assistant Magistrate say?

He could only helplessly cup his hands in a salute:

"I say, the County Magistrate is wise!"

"Hmm, let's do it this way."

The magistrate, feeling that this arrangement was flawless, happily made up his mind.

'Should I go to Little Nine's or Little Twelve's place tonight?'

Having "solved" the urgent problem, the magistrate began to think about the imminent big problem tonight.

'I'll go to Little Twelve's place.'

The magistrate finally decided to spend the night in the room of his newly married twelfth concubine.

As for his original wife?

Having passed fifty, she had long since become a yellow-faced woman.