Ang Lee did not approve of the way the county magistrate worked, nor did he think that the county magistrate in front of him was outstanding. He even thought that this guy was a little lazy and was not a qualified county magistrate. However, Ang Lee did not blame the county magistrate because of this.
Because he knew very well that not everyone was as excellent as he was. He could not ask too much of a low-level official like the county magistrate. Moreover, the county magistrate itself was a very difficult job. It was a job that could easily offend people. Even a scholar like Du Fu, who was full of a sense of justice, was unwilling to work as a county magistrate. From this, it could be seen that this job was difficult and unpopular. If he were to be blamed for doing a bad job, the county magistrate would feel bitterly disappointed. However, if he were to be lightly encouraged, it would have a better effect.
The county magistrate of Wenchuan County was a middle-aged man who was older than Ang Lee. It was not the first time that he had been reprimanded by his superior. Every time he did a bad job, he would be scolded and even beaten. He was used to it. This time, when he accompanied Ang Lee to the ancestral grave in Zhao village, he was very nervous and afraid that he would be reprimanded for doing a bad job. However, he did not expect that Ang Lee was so approachable and did not blame him for doing a bad job. Instead, Ang Lee helped him everywhere. When Chen Long ridiculed him, he had never expected that Ang Lee would be so approachable. He was grateful to Ang Lee and sincerely admired him.
This was a kind of admiration from the bottom of his heart. It was a great affirmation of Ang Lee's personal charm. Such a small act of kindness had conquered the county magistrate of Wenchuan County. This was the great charm of Ang Lee's personality, a charm that made people have no choice but to surrender.
"Assistant Minister Li, if you need anything, I will do my best."
The county magistrate of Wenchuan County suddenly said excitedly, which was a little abrupt. It was strange that he was so eager to show his loyalty.
At the side, Chen Long unconsciously curled his lips, while Ang Lee smiled faintly and was quite proud of himself.
The county seat of Wenchuan County was located on a small plain. Although this small plain was not large, it was the largest plain within dozens of li of Wenchuan County. It was also a plain along the river. It could be considered a plain formed by the impact of the Wenshui all year round. The height of such a plain was very low, not much different from the height of the river. Once there was a large flood, there was a danger of it being flooded. Even thick city walls could not protect the houses and people inside.
Of course, there was also a great advantage to the city being located in such a location. It was relatively convenient to get water, and people's lives could not live without water. Living in a place where water was very convenient to get water was naturally very convenient. As long as there was no flood, everything would be fine. Naturally, floods would not occur frequently. Otherwise, this county seat would have long ceased to exist. No fool would build a county seat in a place where there were frequent floods. Wasn't that courting death?
Wenchuan County was a relatively remote county in Central Sichuan. Its population and economy were not good, so one could imagine the scale and level of the county seat. From a distance, it was a very small county seat, less than three li long and two li wide. If it was calculated in the future, it would only be one or two square kilometers. The height of the city walls was also very average, only twice the height of a person. They were built with a mixture of stone and mud. With the stone inside, the city walls were much more sturdy. Most ordinary city walls were built with mud. It was rare to see a county seat with a large number of stones. This was mainly because Wenchuan County was a mountainous area and did not lack stones. As long as you wanted, you could pick up as many stones as you wanted. Naturally, they would not be stingy with the use of stones when building the city. After all, stones did not cost money. They just needed to recruit enough labor to transport stones from the mountains.
"County magistrate, how is the security of Wenchuan County? Are there many thieves and thieves? Are there any bandits that cannot be eliminated? "
Li An asked, trying to change the topic and soften the atmosphere a little.
Wenchuan County magistrate quickly replied, "Assistant Minister Li, the security of our Wenchuan County is not bad. Thieves and thieves are inevitable, but there are not many of them. Most of them are simple farmers and hunters. There seem to be some bandits, but they are all small thieves. They hide in the mountains in groups of three to five, robbing passers-by from time to time. Sometimes, they even go to the neighboring counties to rob. We really don't have any good solutions. Even if we search the mountains every day, we can't find them! Every time we go into the mountains, it's a wasted trip. Fortunately, the danger is not great. These thieves are few in number and won't kill people. "
After saying that, he looked helpless, as if he had not done his job well and was too ashamed to see Ang Lee, such a high-ranking official.
Ang Lee also understood this very well. After all, Wenchuan County was located in a mountainous area surrounded by endless mountains. It was too easy to hide a person. If there were hundreds or thousands of people, it would be difficult to hide, but three or five people were still quite easy to hide. It was easy to hide without being found. With only a few dozen bailiffs in a county, it could only depend on luck to find small thieves in such a large mountain. Under normal circumstances, it was really not easy to find them.
Although it was often possible to find small thieves who escaped into the mountains in later generations, the situation was not the same as in the Tang dynasty. For one, manpower was simpler and more abundant. Often, the huge force of thousands or tens of thousands of people was used to find a person. In addition, technology was also quite advanced. Drones could be used to carry out reconnaissance in the air, so the probability of finding thieves was naturally greatly increased.
With so little manpower in Wenchuan County, and without the high-tech of later generations, there was basically no effective way to find small thieves who escaped into the mountains. Therefore, the county magistrate was also very helpless.
Ang Lee had a very understanding expression. This situation was really not easy to deal with. If Ang Lee encountered such a situation, he was afraid that it would take a lot of effort.
"I understand. Wenchuan County's mountains are too big. If three or five thieves hide anywhere, it's really difficult to find them. Searching the mountain won't have much effect. Thieves can hide in the mountains, so they must be very familiar with the terrain. As long as they don't want to come out, searching the mountain won't catch them. These thieves are as slippery as loaches! Haha! "
Ang Lee said with a smile. He was giving the county magistrate some face so that he would not blame himself too much.
"Assistant Minister Li, what's so difficult about that? Just burn down the mountain. Let's see where these bastards can hide, hahaha!"
Chen Long said with a laugh.
Obviously, Chen Long was joking. The mountain could not be burned casually. Whether it was trees, herbs, or game, these were all resources of the imperial court and the foundation for the survival of the nearby people. If the mountain was burned down, then many of the nearby people would be greatly affected. The hunters would be finished first. Without game to hunt, the hunters would lose their livelihood. Needless to say, the woodcutters would lose their livelihood without trees. The herb-gatherers would also be unlucky. The most precious thing in the mountain was herbs. Without herbs, the people who relied on herb-gatherers for a living would also become homeless.
In short, the impact of burning the mountain was too great. This was not a decision that a county official could make. It must be the imperial court's own order to carry out the burning of the mountain. Generally, when such a situation occurred, it must be a very serious choice. It was obviously not feasible to burn the mountain just to attack a few small thieves.
When the county magistrate heard this, he was stunned at first and then laughed. He was not a fool. He naturally understood that Chen Long was joking and did not really want to burn the mountain.
Ang Lee did not care about a few small thieves who blocked the road and robbed money in the mountains of Wenchuan County. This kind of thing happened almost in all the remote provinces and counties, and it was also a headache for the imperial court. In fact, the imperial court did not have a good way to deal with this kind of situation. Generally, the imperial court would offer a reward and give a certain amount of money publicly. Whoever could catch the thief would be rewarded with this amount of money. This profession was called bounty hunter in ancient times, which was a group of rangers who took the imperial court's money to do things. They were also some people with a sense of justice.
The bounty hunter profession was still very ancient. It seemed that this profession had existed since the emergence of human civilization. As for when it first appeared, there was no way to verify. In short, it was a very ancient profession.
However, bounty hunters also needed to make a living. Hence, if the price offered was not tempting enough, no one would be willing to accept this job. In addition, some of the more troublesome and ferocious Bandits had to be offered a higher price before anyone would accept this job. After all, no one would be willing to risk their lives for a small amount of money.
Wenchuan County was a relatively poor small county, and the danger and harm of the thieves hiding in the mountains was also very ordinary. Therefore, the offered price was naturally not very high, and too little reward could not tempt the bounty hunters at all. At least, the stronger bounty hunters would not be interested in such a small amount of reward, and the average bounty hunters might not be able to catch the thieves. Therefore, the thieves here had always existed and had not been completely eliminated. Even if all the thieves were eliminated, it would not be a good thing, because new thieves would continue to appear.
Of course, since the imperial court could not afford to pay, it could also be solved by the bailiffs in the establishment. However, the problem was that these bailiffs were also just making a living. It was simply wishful thinking to ask them to risk their lives to catch the thieves. Why would they risk their lives? Their lives would always be their own. If they lost their lives, they would have nothing. Moreover, most bailiffs did not have a salary, so there were no benefits. Who would be willing to risk their lives?
On the other hand, bounty hunters did not have a fixed salary and were not under the jurisdiction of the imperial court. If they did not risk their lives, they might not even be able to eat. Therefore, bounty hunters were more enthusiastic than bailiffs, but they would also weigh the pros and cons to see if the task was worth it. If it was not worth it, they would not accept it.
"Whoever dares to set fire to the mountains will be directly arrested and thrown into prison, hahaha!"
Ang Lee said with a smile.
Unknowingly, they arrived at the county town. Because it was only a very small county, the city gate was not very tall, and it looked like it had been in disrepair for a long time. Perhaps the city gate would collapse in a big storm.
"This city gate has not been repaired for a long time. It won't collapse, right?"
Ang Lee said with some worry.
The county magistrate hurriedly said, "It won't. It has always been like this. It has been decades and it has not collapsed. Don't worry! It won't collapse. "
The bailiff on the side said, "Our Wenchuan County is too poor. It will cost a lot of money to repair the city gate. The county government does not have that much money. If it is used to repair the city gate, the county magistrate's salary will not be able to be paid."
In other words, it was not that they did not repair it on purpose, but that Wenchuan County was too poor. The county government did not have so much money to repair the seriously damaged city gate, otherwise it would affect the county government's salary.
Such a small county town did not have a large population, only a few thousand people. Because it was not in a strategic location, the county town did not have a long-term garrison. However, the garrison of the state capital would occasionally come to guard it to show that it was under the jurisdiction of the imperial court of the Tang dynasty. Most of the time, there was not a single soldier in the county town, and the responsibility of guarding the county town fell on the bailiffs, which was a kind of corvee labor in ancient times.
In such a small county town, all the bailiffs added up to less than 100 people. Among them, only 20 were paid. The other 80 were free labor, which meant that they only worked but did not receive any salary. If everyone was paid, the county government's burden would be too heavy.
Of course, the 20 bailiffs who were paid had served for a long time, and there were some outstanding people among them. As for the 80 unpaid bailiffs, they were temporarily selected from the common people and also served in rotation. After all, when there was no army stationed, the county town still needed someone to guard it. Although the fighting strength of these temporary bailiffs was very average, they were more than enough to deal with some petty thieves. With the support of the city wall, as long as the enemy was not a professional army, it would be difficult for them to break through the city wall. They still had the ability to protect the county town. If they encountered a very strong enemy, the army stationed in the state capital and the nearby city would come to quell the rebellion.
At this moment, there were six bailiffs on duty at the dilapidated city gate. Four of them could be seen on top of the city gate. These four bailiffs were carrying bows and arrows on their backs. To ordinary thieves, they were quite intimidating.
The county town of Wenchuan County had four city gates. However, only two of the city gates were usually open, and the other two were sealed. In this way, some of the pressure on the defense could be reduced. An open city gate required at least a dozen people to maintain, while a sealed city gate only required four or five people to patrol back and forth on the city wall. This could save half of the manpower.
In this way, only 30 to 40 bailiffs were needed to guard the city wall. This time, the county magistrate personally led more than 30 people on this trip. In other words, there were about 30 bailiffs in the county town. Some of them were patrolling the streets, and some were guarding the county government. Basically, it was enough to meet the basic needs of the county town.
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