Jinting Han people

Chapter 140 Four Gangs of Horse Thieves (4k)

Liu Xian took a short nap and soon woke up. It was still early in the morning. In the empty courtyard, apart from the chirping of a few sparrows, there was only the quiet sound of falling leaves.

Perhaps it was because he had been running around all night, although Liu Xian only slept for three hours, he felt very at ease and felt refreshed after waking up.

Although the sky was not very bright, if you looked up, you could see the towering mountains in the northwest. Those mountains were like huge fingers, pressing down forcefully on the ground, as if there was a giant buried in the earth, ready to break through the soil and reveal its majestic features at any time.

Liu Xian looked at the scene in a daze for a while. When a cool breeze blew, he realized that he was only wearing pajamas. He hurried in and changed into autumn clothes.

Normally, he dressed like a scholar, but today, he was dressed as a warrior, a rare sight. He wore a tight-fitting black cotton robe, a two-piece shirt tucked inside, yellow leather trousers, deerskin boots, a military cap, a long sword at his waist, leggings, and wrist guards, giving him a sharp and capable look.

When they left the courtyard, the county runners were shocked to see this. It took them a while to realize that it was the new county lady who had changed her clothes.

Liu Xian smiled at them and then walked straight to his study. His study was located at the back of the county hall, adjacent to the study of the county clerks. However, due to the dismissal of a large number of county officials in the morning, the place seemed a little empty.

Liu Xian's study was naturally the most spacious. Entering it was a reception room, with a brazier, tea sets, wine sets, and three lamps placed in the corner. The room to the left of the reception room was the proper office, filled with papers and bamboo slips.

This is because Xiayang is a remote area and does not have its own paper mill. If paper is needed, it can only be purchased from Jingzhao or Hedong, and the price is high, so it has not been able to completely replace bamboo slips so far.

For Liu Xian, who grew up in Luoyang, this was his first time using bamboo slips, and the rough feel of them made him quite emotional. He pulled out his morning notes and, while reviewing his memories, sent for Xi An, asking him to come see him immediately upon waking.

Not long after, Xi An came in, rubbing his eyes. Before he even sat down, he complained, "Bi Ji, don't you want to rest? I feel like my whole body is falling apart after getting up."

Liu Xian put down the bamboo slips in his hand and said with a smile, "Chinu, how can you sleep well with the situation in the county? We just posted the notice this morning. If you don't do anything, you will be stabbed in the back tonight."

"That was your promise, right? You didn't even discuss it with us beforehand, and now this is what's happening. Tian and I weren't mentally prepared."

"So, you don't want to be the county magistrate?"

"You're kidding! I've been with you for so many years, and now I'm getting my first official position. How could I not accept it?"

The two laughed for a while, then brought the topic back to the main topic.

Xi Zheng poured himself a glass of water, sat down in front of Liu Xian, and asked, "Tell me, why did you call me over here? What's your plan?"

Liu Xian rubbed his right arm and said, "Zhi Nu, draft two orders for me."

Xi Zheng picked up the bamboo slips and the writing brush: "You speak, I remember."

"The first order is for internal affairs. No need to write it in such a long and tedious manner. Just inform everyone directly that from now on, you will serve as the county magistrate and concurrently as the Gongcao. A Tian will serve as the county lieutenant and concurrently as the Bingcao. Lü Quyang, who came with us from Huaili, will serve as the chief clerk."

Xi Zheng wrote this down and asked, "Bi Ji, you fired him this morning and let us take over in the evening. Isn't this likely to cause criticism?"

"In a small county with only 300 households and a few thousand people, the county government has about 50 officials, and the township offices have another 30 or 40 officials, which adds up to about 100 officials. Why do we need so many people? Can the people afford to support them?"

"There's nothing to criticize. The biggest criticism is failing to get things done. Just do it."

Xi Zheng nodded and asked, "What is the second order?"

"The second one is for external communication. Please write it in a simple and easy-to-understand way. Just say that I plan to wipe out all the bandits in the county within three months."

"However, considering the shortage of manpower, we plan to recruit one hundred strong men from the county to form the county army, and grant each strong man five acres of land."

When Xi Zheng heard this, many questions popped up in his mind. He put down his pen and said, "Bi Ji, will this work?"

"What is possible and what is not possible?"

"I understand you want to wipe out the bandits, but isn't the time too tight? Three months? Is that even possible?"

"You know, it takes half a year, or even several years, to train an army. Two or three months won't accomplish anything, right?"

"When you asked the military sergeant yesterday, didn't they tell you that these four gangs of horse thieves have been wreaking havoc for over a year at the shortest, and thirteen or fourteen at the longest? Using newly recruited county residents to deal with them wouldn't be enough to stop them, right?"

"And you said you were recruiting a hundred men. Not to mention where the armor and weapons would come from, you said each man would be given five mu of land, which would be five hundred mu. We're new here, how can we get so much land to divide up?"

Xi Zheng pointed out the flaws in Liu Xian's plan one by one. These were all very real problems, but Liu Xian didn't take them seriously. He waved his hand and said with a smile, "Don't worry about these. I'm not stupid. I've thought about everything you said."

"Of course we have to recruit them, but I don't expect them to be anything significant or to fight against horse thieves. I have other ideas for dealing with horse thieves."

"So you don't have to worry about armor or weapons. Just recruit enough people and let A Tian practice. Let these people hold wooden sticks and practice formations, flags and drums. At most, equip them with bows and arrows, and that should be enough."

"As for the land, we do have some." Liu Xian paused and smiled, "According to convention, shouldn't the county magistrate have 500 acres of land as salary?"

Xi An was stunned at first, then he flew into a rage and said, "Bi Ji, are you crazy? You've divided up your salary land, so what are we going to eat?"

It turns out that the salary system for local county officials differed from that for officials in the capital. The salaries of officials in Luoyang, the capital, and even those in the secondary capitals of Xuchang, Yecheng, and Chang'an, were all paid directly by the imperial court. They were paid the prescribed amount. However, the salaries of local officials were actually collected directly from the fields.

Based on the rank of a local official, the imperial court would allocate a portion of land in their area as salary land, requiring the local people to cultivate it as corvée labor. The local official decided what crops to plant on the salary land, how to cultivate it, and whether the harvest would be good or bad. The final harvest amount was the local official's income.

Liu Xian is now a seventh-rank county magistrate. His annual salary is 500 dan. If he grows millet, one acre of land can produce about one dan a year, so he has 500 acres of land locally.

But in every era, the grassroots always try to find ways to make some money, and this time is no different. The county magistrate's salary fields are generally allocated the best irrigated land, suitable for growing wheat. Xia Yang's salary fields are similar, and it's estimated that they actually produce a thousand dan of grain per year.

Liu Xian's intention was to use all of the 500 mu of land to recruit soldiers. This would certainly help him recruit soldiers, but the problem was obvious. As Xi An had said, without the land, where would Liu Xian get his salary? If the governor was transferred, where would he find land to support the next county magistrate?

Facing Xi An's questioning, Liu Xian remained calm. He said, "It's not a big deal. There are vast tracts of farmland in the county now, but it's simply because of the numerous horse bandits that many of them have been abandoned. As long as the bandits are eliminated, there will be no shortage of farmland."

This was indeed a possible solution, but Xi An was still hesitant. He asked, "Are you really sure?"

Liu Xian replied, "Nothing in this world is absolute, Zhinu. I'm not lying to you. There are definitely risks, but I'm not a fool. I wouldn't do anything without a sudden inspiration. Just write it like this. Trust me."

Xi An was skeptical. In the past, he would have blindly believed Liu Xian. But now that Liu Xian had just been demoted, and this was his first time serving as an official, he inevitably felt a little uneasy. But in the end, he chose to believe, picked up his documents, and turned to leave.

After Liu Xian saw him leave, he sent someone to summon Hu Wan, the military official, to continue making preparations.

Hu Wan, a military official, was an ordinary middle-aged man in charge of the county's military affairs. He wasn't physically strong, nor did he have any heroic aura, but he possessed a certain cleverness. Upon learning that Liu Xian had summoned him, he vaguely guessed the new county chief's intentions. So, soon after entering, he took the initiative to ask, "Did the county magistrate summon me here about the horse bandits?"

Liu Xian had spoken with him during the day, and his impression of him was this: although he talked a lot, much of it was nonsense. Liu Xian nodded and said, "Yes, we talked for a while this morning, but we didn't get to know each other in detail, and there were many things we didn't elaborate on. Now that it's just the two of us, we should talk it over."

Without waiting for Hu Wan to evade responsibility, he immediately pulled out a cloth map of Xiayang from his side, spread it out on the table, and pointed to a location and said:
"This morning, you told me that there are four gangs of horse thieves in Xiayang."

"A group of horse thieves, led by the Xiongnu Hu Yanchang, occupied the high platform of Weicheng, south of Xiayang;"

"A group of horse thieves, led by the Xianbei Du Gan, set up camp in Liangshan, northwest of here."

"A group of horse thieves, led by Wang Lin from Hedong, seized the Xieli Palace of the Former Han Dynasty, about fifteen miles north of Liangshan."

"There's another group of horse thieves who rebelled two years ago due to the severe drought. Their leader, Sun Xi, is from Taoquting, and is currently resting in Longmen Mountain."

"Mr. Hu, I remember it correctly, right?"

As Liu Xian spoke, he picked up four cups on the table and placed them one by one according to the positions he had specified. It could be seen that the positions of the four gangs of horse thieves formed an arc from south to north, surrounding Xiayang County. If it were not for the Longmen Ferry in the east of the city where people could cross the river, Xiayang City would probably have become a blockaded dead city.

The severity of the situation was self-evident. Hu Wan quickly wiped his sweat and replied, "You are right, my Lord. It is indeed so."

"Then I have a question for Mr. Hu. Among these four gangs of horse thieves, which one has the greatest power, and which has the least?"

Hu Wan didn't dare to neglect the matter and quickly pointed at the map and said, "My Lord, Hu Yanchang has the largest force among them, with nearly two hundred men. He is also one of the most powerful bandits in the entire Fengyi County."

"Wang Lin is second. He has about the same number of men and horses as Hu Yanchang, and he even has his own boat. However, he mostly goes to Hedong County to collect money, and only comes to our county occasionally."

"Du Gan has come again, with over a hundred men, but his stronghold in Liangshan is very difficult to defeat, and it is said that he has connections with the Qiang and Hu tribes in the north."

"Sun Xi is the weakest, with less than a hundred men and not many horses, but they are the most brutal. When they rebelled two years ago, they killed many people in Xiayang."

Upon hearing Hu Wan's description, Liu Xian sighed deeply. In tiny Xiayang, the number of horse thieves alone reached nearly 600, nearly catching up to half the registered population. After all, those who could become horse thieves were generally young and able-bodied men, and these men were not engaged in proper work. No wonder so many fields had been abandoned along the way. For a moment, Liu Xian didn't know whether to praise the Xiayang people for their extraordinary endurance or the horse thieves for their tolerant nature.

He thought for a moment and then asked Hu Wan, "Hu Caoyuan, in your opinion, which of these four gangs of horse thieves poses the greatest threat to Xiayang County?"

Hu Wan hesitated for a moment, and after Liu Xian repeatedly urged him, he slowly said, "In my humble opinion, Hu Yanchang is of course the most dangerous."

"He had two hundred men and horses, and he was on the high ground of Weicheng, not far from the official road. He didn't even need to go out to rob the fields. He just blocked the official road and forced all passers-by to pay him a toll. He even robbed the county governor."

"Since it has come to this, why doesn't the county government do anything? Can't they report it to the Western Expedition Army Headquarters and have them arrest the perpetrators?"

"The main thing is that horse thieves are like this. They come and go without a trace. Even if the military commander sends thousands of people, they will hide in the mountains and forests and cannot be caught at all."

"Also, we have to consider that Hu Yanchang is a Xiongnu and has some prestige among the Hu people. If we send a large army to attack him, we're afraid he'll take the opportunity to escape to the Qiang and Hu people, causing chaos among the Hu people on the border. That would be disastrous."

"Ever since Tufa Shuji started the rebellion, the imperial court has been most wary of such things, which is why he has been kept in Xiayang for over a decade. There's nothing they can do about it."

Liu Xian understood what was happening. He leaned forward slightly and asked with a smile, "So, Hu Caoyuan is trying to persuade me not to provoke him?"

Hu Wan lowered his head and said, "I'm just saying, this group of horse thieves is indeed very troublesome."

Liu Xian stared at Hu Wan for a moment, then removed the cup belonging to Hu Yanchang and nodded, saying, "Perhaps. What you said does make sense."

"In your opinion, if I want to wipe out the bandits, which group should I eliminate first?"

Although he had guessed Liu Xian's intention, Hu Wan couldn't help but feel his hair stand on end when he heard these words. He looked at Liu Xian's expression and saw that his face was calm, but there was an invisible pressure looming over him, making him dare not dissuade him.

Hu Wan said tactfully, "That depends on the situation. There are only about fifty yamen soldiers in the county right now. I'm afraid the time is not yet ripe."

Liu Xian smiled and said, "I will make my own decision on this matter. Please share your opinion."

Hu Wan had no choice but to say, "Of course, we should start from the easy to the difficult. If the county lord is determined to suppress the bandits, he should start with Sun Xi. He was originally a small peasant with little wealth, but when he started the rebellion, he killed several wealthy families. The big families in the county all hate him to the core..."

At this point, the conversation finally ended. Hu Wanru felt as if he had been pardoned. He hurriedly fled the study as if he had shed a layer of skin, and happened to run into Xi An who had just finished writing the notice.

Xi An walked in and handed the notice to Liu Xian, asking, "What did you say to scare Hu Caoyuan so much?"

Liu Xian, while drinking water and examining the notice, replied, "I didn't scare him, he scared himself. When Hu Caoyuan thought about the possibility of death, he wanted to retreat back home."

"That's human nature. I still don't know what solution you have."

"What methods can we use to suppress the bandits? All we can do is kill them on one hand and appease them on the other. The important thing is which ones to kill and which ones to appease."

"Why, you've only been here for one day and you already know who should die and who shouldn't?"

“Sometimes, some things can only be seen clearly by those who have just arrived, but it is difficult to notice them when you are used to it.”

After Liu Xian reviewed the notice and felt that there was no problem, he handed it back to Xi An, indicating that he could post it. He then continued, "The horse thieves' rampage was never caused by the horse thieves alone."

"It's okay to say that horse thieves who have been wreaking havoc for two or three years are just fine, but horse thieves who have been wreaking havoc for more than ten years are no longer horse thieves, they are locals."

“Locals are definitely as close as family to each other, and they collude with each other both inside and outside.”

"The reason I drove these local big names out is because I guessed that there must be a traitor among them and they are useless."

Xi An had never considered it from this perspective. It seemed outrageous at first, but upon closer thought, it made sense. This made him a little creepy. He asked, "Then how do you know for sure if there are any of their people in the current county government?"

"Even if there are any, they are just small-time figures. You should first recruit all the county soldiers to replace the old yamen soldiers of the county government, and we will be safe."

Xi An suddenly realized Liu Xian's intention! He wasn't using these soldiers to suppress bandits, but to protect his own safety. The new soldiers might not be able to kill anyone, but they were more than enough to protect the county government.

But Xi An still couldn't figure out the original question. He asked, "Then where do you plan to start?"

Liu Xian took down the cup representing Sun Xi on the map, poured a glass of water, took a sip, and sighed, "Let's follow Hu Caoyuan's advice and start with the weakest."

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(End of this chapter)