Chapter 17: Suppressing Bandits in Wen County After attracting many refugees, Tian Ze discovered an embarrassing problem. The number of refugees was too large, far beyond his expectations. Especially when there was a steady stream of refugees arriving at Tiankan, the recruitment of refugees could not be stopped in a short period of time. This suddenly increased the pressure on Tian Ze. Tian Ze promised to give each refugee 20 acres of land for farming, but now he finds it difficult to do so. Firstly, the land on Changxing Island is limited, most of which is used for tree planting and animal husbandry, and the current 70,000 mu of fertile land is close to the limit. If land is reclaimed from the sea, the cost will be too high. Secondly, Tian Ze’s spiritual energy supply is a little insufficient. Tian Ze roughly calculated that on average, one thousand people could provide about one hundred strands of spiritual energy at a time when they first surrendered, and could then steadily provide one strand of spiritual energy every day. The total land required for one thousand people is 20,000 acres, which requires two hundred strands of spiritual energy. It takes about three months to make a profit from the refugees recruited.
If he took in too many refugees too quickly, the spiritual energy he had accumulated might become unsustainable. He must survive this period of development, and only when his population is large enough to provide sufficient spiritual energy can he recruit a large number of refugees. But now that the matter has been settled, it is difficult to stop. As for giving up providing land for the people to cultivate or postponing it, Tian Ze couldn't do it. A ruler should keep his word, and what should be worried about is not the shortage of wealth but the inequality of wealth. Only by owning land can we truly win the hearts of these refugees. For Tian Ze, Changxing Island’s main function is not farming, but a factory. This is a rear base that can stably produce important materials such as salt, iron, and meat, without having to worry about the technology being stolen or lost. After all, the island is so small, it is impossible to feed too many people by farming. The demand for farmers on the island has almost reached saturation, and those recruited in the future will mainly be craftsmen. …… Just when Tian Ze was in a state of panic, the imperial court's appointment document finally arrived in Liaodong after several months, solving his urgent problem. Tian Ze immediately took Jia Xu, Dian Wei, Guan Yu and Gao Shun, and led a hundred guards to Wen County to take up their posts. Changxing Island was temporarily under the command of Tian Zhong, while Ma Teng, Le Jin and Yu Jin each led fifty newly recruited guards to guard it. Han Dang led his troops to temporarily rest and assist the villages in pacifying and managing the newly accepted refugees. At the same time, he selected young and strong people to join the guard team, expanding the team to 300 people. At the Wen County Government Office, after the handover was completed, County Magistrate Zhou Xin explained the situation in Wen County to Tian Ze in detail. "My Lord, there are more than 4,300 people in Wen County, including about 1,000 young and strong people, and about 130,000 acres of farmland, but all of it is of medium and low quality." "There are a total of 127 soldiers in the county, but they lack combat experience and are not useful, and not all of them are under my control." Imperial power does not extend to the countryside.
Although Zhou Xin, the county magistrate, was appointed by the imperial court, the clerks and soldiers under him were all recruited locally and had close ties with local powerful people. "Who are the powerful people in the county? The Huang family, the Ren family, and the six small families?" Tian Ze asked. He actually already knew a lot about the situation in Wen County, and now he just wanted to verify it again. Zhou Xin nodded and said, "Just as the Lord said, the powerful families in the county are mainly the Huang family and the Ren family. There are eight families in total, big and small, and they have all committed many evil deeds. The people have suffered greatly from them for a long time." "They own most of the farmland in the county, and the number of private households they support is at least a thousand. And each of them has their own guards, ranging from 20 to 30 people, to 50 to 60 people." "Most of the soldiers and clerks in the county are also driven by them. Every village has their branches. They are rampant in the countryside and basically control the entire Wen County." "Have you found out which Liaodong families they are connected with?" "There are quite a few, but these families are not large. Only the Xiangping Li family, to which the Huang family is married, is relatively powerful. However, the woman the Huang family married was only the concubine of the second son of the Li family, so the relationship between the two sides is not too close." "That's good." Tian Ze nodded. Originally, he was a little hesitant about whether he should cut the Gordian knot, but the next batch of refugees was about to arrive, and the situation was urgent. He urgently needed a large amount of spiritual energy, and he had to wipe out these people as soon as possible. Tian Ze, who had made up his mind, no longer hesitated and looked at Jia Xu: "Wenhe, if we want to eradicate these families as soon as possible, what should we do?" Jia Xu said without hesitation: "My lord, this is a simple matter." "My lord has just arrived, so he should host a banquet for the county officials and the heads of the major families." "At the same time, in the name of rewarding the soldiers, we will distribute wine, meat and food to the soldiers in the county. We will also add some relaxing drugs to the wine, meat and food so that they can have a good rest that night." "Then what?" Tian Ze roughly guessed what Jia Xu meant when he heard this. "There are many barbarians and mountain bandits in Liaodong. Maybe some of them will dare to rob Wen County. It is normal to kill some people and destroy a few families." "My lord, you must be prepared. Once you discover bandits, you must first protect yourself, and then lead your army to kill the enemy when the time is right." "Also, keep an eye out for the remnants of the bandits and the spies in the county. If you encounter anyone suspicious, you must interrogate them thoroughly. Especially the spies in the army, you must not let them go." "Also, my lord, you must properly handle those families that were unfortunately robbed, and you must not let the people of Wen County down." Hearing Jia Xu's subtle words, Tian Ze's eyes lit up and he nodded repeatedly: "Wenhe is a great talent! This is very true." "Gong Mu, are there any bandits near Wen County?" Hearing Tian Ze's words, Zhou Xin, who was looking at Jia Xu with admiration and fear, immediately reacted and said, "There is a group of mountain bandits in Wenshan, about 20 miles east of the county town. There are about a hundred of them and they are very brutal." Tian Ze smiled slightly and said, "Since there are bandits in the mountains, we must suppress them. It is better to do it today than to wait for a day. I will send a visiting card now and invite all the county officials and clan leaders to have a chat tonight to discuss the matter of suppressing the bandits." That night, Tian Ze invited many powerful people and county officials to a banquet. He used the art of divination to confirm that there was no one present who should not die. Bandits entered the city, Wen County was engulfed in flames, and several powerful families were slaughtered by the "bandits". The restaurant where Tian Ze hosted the banquet was also burned down. Among the participants, only Tian Ze managed to escape under the protection of Dian Wei. Although the county magistrate Tian Ze was slightly injured, he still took prompt action and led a hundred newly recruited soldiers to bravely drive the "bandits" out of Wen County and protect the people. These "bandits" also madly looted the surrounding villages, causing countless wealthy families to suffer. The captured "bandits" later confessed that they had some accomplices both in the city and in the army.
It was because a traitor in the army put drugs in the wine that caused the soldiers in Yuanwen County to sleep all night and have no reaction. Tian Ze was furious and carefully checked the wealthy families and soldiers in the city one by one. He found dozens of traitors and beheaded them all before he stopped. At the same time, Tian Ze quickly reported the situation to Xiangping and reported it to the prefect, admitting his mistake and asking for credit, while also presenting a large amount of gold and silver obtained from suppressing the bandits. Although the prefect and some powerful people in Xiangping City were very angry about Tian Ze's behavior, Tian Ze had the support of the Wuzhong Tian family behind him. After weighing the pros and cons, they just sent someone to give a secret warning and let the matter go. After all, Wen County is not an important place, so there is no need to fall out with the Tian family over it. In order to appease the people, Tian Ze took over all the land left by several powerful people and distributed it to poor people for free for cultivation. He also opened the granaries to release grain to help the people, and the people were grateful and shed tears. Tian Ze looked at the more than four hundred strands of spiritual energy that had been added to the dragon-patterned jade pendant and finally breathed a sigh of relief. But then he felt a headache again when faced with the management situation in Wen County. (End of this chapter)