With the rise of my family, I can summon the Daoist Soldiers' Nest.

The population has halved compared to six years ago, when the county had a population of over 400,000.

Even so, in Lin Ye's view, even 400,000 people would still be sparsely populated in such a vast area as Xiang County.

However, this book mainly records the past situation of Xiang County. Although it gave Lin Ye a general understanding of the outline of Xiang County, many details were still unclear.

Therefore, as soon as he finished reading, he immediately ordered his servants to invite Lin Qiang and Zhang Yuan, the head of the Zhang family, to come over.

A short while later, Lin Qiang and Zhang Yuan arrived at the courtyard.

Zhang Yuan was leading his people to build wooden houses outside Wubao to settle the people who had moved from the county town when he suddenly received a summons from Lin Ye, which made him suspicious.

As he entered the courtyard, he immediately saw the "Xiangxian County Gazetteer" in Lin Ye's hand and had a vague idea of ​​what was going on.

"Xiang County is now the Lin family's territory. From now on, the imperial court will no longer directly manage it except to collect taxes on time. We will have to rely on ourselves for everything."

Lin Ye paused briefly, then said in a calm tone, "Governing such a large area is no easy task. First, we must have a thorough understanding of Xiang County in order to formulate a suitable plan."

He continued, "I recently read through the county annals left by Magistrate Cao and have gained a preliminary understanding of the territory."

However, this county gazetteer mostly describes the situation six years ago, and the actual situation today is still unclear.

Therefore, I specially invited Uncle Lin Qiang and Clan Chief Zhang here today, hoping to gain your knowledge. You have lived in Xiang County for a long time and should be quite familiar with it.

"What would you like to ask, Your Excellency?" Zhang Yuan asked, bowing respectfully.

"I have a general grasp of the geographical environment and other aspects, but I don't know much about the situation in those eighteen towns. I also want to find out about the conditions of the villages under the towns, which are not mentioned in the book," Lin Ye said frankly.

"This..." Zhang Yuan was speechless for a moment, his expression somewhat hesitant.

He immediately bowed and said, "My lord, in fact, our five families are not very clear about the towns under the jurisdiction of the county seat."

Since the monsters ravaged the area and isolated the villages, our connection with these towns has gradually been severed. The county seat itself is struggling to survive, let alone our five families.

Lin Ye was not surprised when he heard this.

The county annals show that even the county government had very limited understanding of these towns over the past six years, let alone the five major families.

Seeing the disappointment on Lin Ye's face, Zhang Yuan gritted his teeth and said, "However, there is someone who is quite familiar with these towns."

"Who is it?" Lin Ye's gaze sharpened as he pressed for an answer.

"Sun Qian, leader of the Black Tiger Gang."

"It was him." Lin Ye immediately remembered that when he led his team to retreat from the city gate that night, the first person to stand up and question him was the leader of the Black Tiger Gang.

"That's right. Although the Black Tiger Gang is a local gang in the county, and its main business is collecting protection money, it was actually the Wang family's 'black glove' in the past."

Therefore, they set up strongholds in various towns, firstly to gather information, and secondly to recruit members.

Moreover, as far as I know, they have continued to recruit people from towns outside the county seat over the years, so the stronghold should still be there and maintaining contact with the towns.

They knew the ins and outs of each market town better than anyone else.

After a moment's thought, Lin Ye immediately ordered his servant, "Go and invite Sun Qian, the leader of the Black Tiger Gang, over here."

Sun Qian entered the house with a heavy heart. As the former "black glove" of the Wang family and a member of the gang, he had questioned Lin Ye to his face a few days ago, and these days he had been as restless as an ant on a hot pan.

Despite the many affairs of the gang, he remained in Linjiawu, not daring to stray even a step, for fear of causing a misunderstanding.

"Chief Sun, please have a seat." Lin Ye said calmly, observing Sun Qian's expression.

Sun Qian carefully sat down on the chair, only daring to touch a small part of the chair surface, his posture restrained.

"The reason I invited Chief Sun here today is to inquire about the situation in the eighteen towns of our territory. Chief Zhang said you might be quite familiar with them."

Sun Qian glanced gratefully at Zhang Yuan and replied, "Reporting to Your Excellency, my Black Tiger Gang does indeed still have disciples in those towns."

The main purpose was to open some Black Tiger Martial Arts Schools in the area, teaching them farming skills to improve their self-defense abilities.

"Those towns are different from county towns. At most, there are only two or three third-rate martial artists among the local gentry. When monsters attack, they can only scatter and flee."

Ordinary people have no way of learning martial arts, so we teach them some basic skills, at least giving them a chance to escape.

"So what's the current situation in these towns?" Lin Ye pressed.

"It was terrible. In the past, some towns had orchards, some fished, some raised silkworms, and some smelted iron. Everyone had their own way of making a living, and life was still passable."

Now all livelihoods have ceased, leaving only farming, and even that arable land is extremely scarce. The fields outside the town are too dangerous to cultivate, for fear of monstrous beasts.

We can only grow crops on a small plot of land within the town, and we are often exploited by the local gentry, which is why our Black Tiger Martial Arts School is barely able to survive.

"Many people fled the famine and went elsewhere."

Lin Ye had heard about this before, just like his senior brother Li Liang, who lived in the neighboring Yun County and came back with him, and he benefited a lot from it.

"Now all we can do is farm, and all other businesses have stopped?" Lin Ye asked.

"Yes, even if you have a business, it's useless. The fruits you grow, the fish you catch, and the iron ore you mine, all of which you grow at the risk of being attacked by monsters, can't be sold."

With roads blocked and the waterways even more dangerous, caravans refused to go in.

Transporting it out myself is neither convenient nor safe, so this is the only option.

The villages below the town are mostly abandoned and deserted; even if you take the risk of running a business, you won't make any money.

"What is the reputation of Black Tiger Martial Arts School in the area?" Lin Ye suddenly changed the subject.

"It's alright, I guess. Many people are able to escape when monsters attack because they learned a skill at the martial arts school."

"Although we also collect some protection money, it's still better than the exploitation by the local gentry," Sun Qian replied nervously.

"Indeed, the Black Tiger Gang doesn't have a bad reputation in the county. I haven't heard of them committing any major crimes," Lin Qiang, standing behind Lin Ye, interjected.

Lin Ye gave Sun Qian a deep look.

As the saying goes, a new broom sweeps clean, and this new lord originally planned to set his sights on the Black Tiger Gang as his first act.

The previous lord's confidant, "Black Gloves," was also a gang that collected protection money. He had even openly questioned him during the previous battles. Such a person was a perfect target to use to establish authority.

By taking action, one can both deter petty criminals and establish one's authority as a lord that cannot be underestimated.

However, since the Black Tiger Gang responded to the call and actively participated in the fight against the bandits, if he were to turn his back now, he would inevitably be branded as ungrateful. Therefore, he has been hesitant for the past few days.

Today's conversation with Sun Qian shows that the Black Tiger Gang should be kept around; they will be of great use in the future.