The situation in Xipu County was not much different from the other counties in Central Sichuan. Usually, there were only about 100 bailiffs, which was barely enough. This time, in order to protect the road construction materials, more than 50 bailiffs were temporarily added. Among all the bailiffs, other than the 20 bailiffs who were paid by the imperial court, the rest were temporary labourers. However, labourers took turns.
Although on the surface, there were only slightly more than a hundred bailiffs in the county, if all the people who had worked as bailiffs were gathered together, it would still be a large number. It was not difficult for the county magistrate to temporarily recruit two hundred people who had experience as bailiffs. In this way, the number of bailiffs in the county could exceed three hundred, or even four hundred.
The county magistrate was also going all out. After learning that such a high-ranking official like Ang Lee had suddenly come and encountered pirates in Xipu County, how could he accept this? This was equivalent to slapping him in the face. It showed that he, as the county magistrate, had not handled the issue of public security well. In order to catch these abominable pirates, he had to put in a lot of effort. Temporarily recruiting 200 people could greatly increase the strength of the county bailiffs and ensure that the leader of the pirates could be captured in one fell swoop.
From afar, Ang Lee could see that the city gates were tightly shut. The bailiffs on the city walls were patrolling back and forth. The security seemed to be good. With such tight security, it would be harder for the pirates to escape from the county than to climb to the sky.
When Ang Lee was about to reach the city gates, the gates opened. There were more than 20 bailiffs standing inside and outside the gates. It was clear that the security was tight. With such tight security, it would be wishful thinking for the pirates to escape.
"Once the city gates are closed, the pirates will not be able to escape. However, it will also bring trouble to the people. The people who sell vegetables outside the city can't enter, and the merchants in the city can't leave. The losses will definitely be great!"
Ang Lee sighed when he saw that there were people outside and outside the city gates who were anxious and unwilling to leave.
The county magistrate hurriedly said, "Assistant Minister Li is right. Sealing the city has indeed brought a lot of trouble to many people, especially to the merchants. But there's no other way. The pirates are too dangerous. Now that we've finally trapped the pirates in the county, we can't let them escape. Compared to catching the pirates, these losses are nothing. The merchants will understand."
Ang Lee nodded and said, "Well said. As long as we capture the pirates as soon as possible, the city gates can be opened. The faster we capture the pirates, the less damage the civilians will suffer."
"Assistant Minister Li, don't worry. More than a hundred bailiffs are already patrolling the streets. As long as the pirates are still in the city, they won't be able to escape."
The county magistrate said confidently.
After Ang Lee entered the city, he casually looked around and discovered that the streets of the county were bustling with people. The flow of people brought a great deal of difficulty to the search and capture work. He had to stop all the people from moving so that it would be easier for the bailiffs to find the hiding place of the pirates.
"This won't do! There are too many people on the streets. Immediately give the order for everyone to go home and wait. The bailiffs will search door to door in groups. If they can't prove their identity, take them to the county yamen first. "
Ang Lee ordered.
The county magistrate didn't dare to disobey. He hurriedly looked back at the county magistrate and asked him to do it immediately.
The county magistrate naturally didn't dare to delay. Ang Lee led a group of bailiffs to the streets and loudly ordered everyone to go home and wait. More than a dozen bailiffs went to prepare and persuaded everyone to go home immediately. No one was allowed to be on the streets.
Xipu County wasn't very big. It was only the size of a palm, so it wasn't difficult to do anything. Under the reprimanding of the county magistrate and the bailiffs, everyone went home. The businessmen also obediently closed their shops. Some homeless beggars and people who entered the city to sell vegetables were all brought to the county yamen. They had to be screened for their identity there. Anyway, four pirates had been captured. As long as these four people identified the pirates, the pirates who entered the city would have nowhere to hide.
Ang Lee was quite satisfied with the high efficiency of the county magistrate and the bailiffs. As long as all the people on the streets were cleared, the following matters would be easy to handle.
"Assistant Minister Li, shouldn't we search door to door?"
The county magistrate ran back and asked respectfully.
Ang Lee nodded and said, "The Dragon Martial Army will patrol the streets and control all the streets. When necessary, they can support the bailiffs. The bailiffs in the city will be divided into 20 groups, each group will have 10 people. The leader must be familiar with the county. Let them search door to door and not miss any building. As long as they find suspicious people, take them to the county yamen and then screen them."
"Yes, I understand."
When the county magistrate heard this, he immediately began to divide the bailiffs into groups. According to Li An's request, they were divided into twenty groups. However, as there were not enough people in each group, there were only eight or nine people in each group. However, this was enough. Then, they searched area by area. Each group was responsible for a small area. They carefully searched door to door and didn't miss any corner.
Chen Long also gave the Dragon Martial Army the task of patrolling the area. He had them actively patrol the streets and alleys to ensure that there were only bailiffs and soldiers walking around. There wasn't a single commoner. This was the only way to prevent the pirates from roaming around.
Ang Lee's arrangement was undoubtedly very efficient. With this method, as long as everything went smoothly, they could use the shortest time to capture all the pirates hiding in the county.
"That's right, let the bailiffs warn every household that if they dare to hide pirates, they won't be let off easily. Even if they don't know, as long as the pirates are found in their homes and they don't know, it will be a serious crime."
Ang Lee said.
"Yes, I will arrange it right away."
The county magistrate said.
It wasn't that Ang Lee was unreasonable. He was worried that people would be intimidated by the threat of the pirates and not dare to report them. Even if they saw the pirates hiding in their homes, they would pretend that they didn't see them. This would bring trouble to the search. At this time, the houses were all designed and built by everyone. Only the people in the house knew what secret rooms and cellars there were. Outsiders might not know. If the pirates were hiding in these secret rooms and cellars, it would be troublesome.
The county magistrate was even more ruthless. He directly gave the bailiffs a series of orders and raised a lot of demands. They were much stricter than Ang Lee's demands. Not only would they be implicated if they discovered the pirates, even their neighbors would be implicated if they discovered the pirates. Also, the owners of the houses that were rented out or left unused would be implicated.
These rules were much more unreasonable than Ang Lee's demands. In order to capture these pirates as soon as possible, Ang Lee didn't blame the county magistrate. After all, capturing all the pirates as soon as possible was the most important task. Compared to this, nothing else mattered.
These demands were just to scare the commoners so that they could provide timely information to the imperial court. As long as the commoners were of one mind with the government, the pirates would have nowhere to hide.
"Assistant Minister Li, everything has been arranged. Let's go to the county magistrate's office and wait!"
The county magistrate said after making arrangements for the bailiffs.
Ang Lee nodded and went to the county magistrate's office with the county magistrate. As they waited, they screened the suspicious people in the county magistrate's office.
Because no one had expected the county to be under martial law, many problems were discovered when the entire county was under martial law. Although most people were cooperative, there were also many people who were on tenterhooks. Originally, it was to capture the pirates, but they discovered many other lawbreakers, such as thieves and people who sold prohibited items.
The main hall of the county magistrate's office was packed with people. Several courtyards were full. Some of them were even picking out dishes anxiously.
The county magistrate had personally gone door to door to search. Therefore, the county magistrate had to personally interrogate these people.
The county magistrate was easy at first, but difficult at last. First, he interrogated the peddlers who sold vegetables and small commodities. With the cooperation of the bailiffs, they were quickly cleared of suspicion. Then, they were ordered to wait in the open space outside the county magistrate's office. As a result, the interior of the county magistrate's office was much more spacious and not as crowded as before.
While the county magistrate and the bailiffs were investigating everyone's identities, the four captured pirates were also escorted in. Everyone was identified. As long as they found their accomplices, they would be rewarded. In the end, they found none.
Although no pirates were found in the county magistrate's office, more than ten thieves were caught during the interrogation. There were also three peddlers who sold prohibited items. There were also two grave robbers who were planning to rest for a night in Xipu County with the treasures they had obtained from robbing the tomb. They were also caught when they went north to the capital to sell the treasures. In short, the unexpected harvest was not small.
Because the real pirates had not been caught, these innocent people who were not suspected could not leave. They had to continue waiting near the county magistrate's office. They could only regain their freedom after all the pirates who had entered the county magistrate's office were caught.
Being trapped near the county magistrate's office would undoubtedly affect the livelihood of these people. This made them very unhappy. Anxiety accompanied everyone. However, they were all ordinary people. Even if they were in a bad mood, there was nothing they could do. They did not have the ability to resist, nor did they dare to go against the government.
Twenty groups of bailiffs, personally led by the county magistrate, conducted a search in different areas. They searched door to door. Every house was searched very carefully. Furthermore, they clearly stated the county magistrate's requirements and the severity of the consequences if they did not cooperate. This was to attract the attention of these people.
The streets were all sealed off. The bailiffs searched door to door. This made the pirates, who had rented houses with great difficulty and were preparing to lie dormant for the day, tremble with fear. According to this method of investigation, sooner or later they would find out where they lived. When that time came, everything would be over.
"Boss, this is troublesome. The bailiffs have started to search door to door. The streets are full of soldiers. They have completely surrounded the county magistrate! We can't escape. "
"Boss, quickly think of a way! We can't wait here for death! "
"Boss, at worst we can fight it out with them. Killing one is enough. Killing two is a profit."
The pirates were restless and appeared to be particularly agitated.
This was not surprising. The commotion outside was too great. The number of soldiers and bailiffs far exceeded their imagination. In his impression, there were only about a hundred bailiffs in Xipu County. Usually, it would be good if there were fifty in the city. But now, they could clearly feel that the total number of soldiers inside and outside the county magistrate was no less than five hundred. The number of bailiffs patrolling the city walls had also increased by at least three times. This was forcing them into a dead end. They felt very desperate and uneasy.
The pirate leader was also very anxious. However, things had already come to this. Other than calming down and thinking of countermeasures, there was no better way.
"Don't complain. Hurry up and search the house well. See if you can find a place to hide people. Go, split up and search."
The pirate leader said.
The house was dead, but the people were alive. If they could find a place to hide people, then they would hide. They could disguise the house as if no one had lived in it. This way, after the bailiffs searched and found nothing, they would naturally leave. This was the most reliable method at the moment.
The eight pirates could not think of a better idea. Hearing the leader's words, they immediately split up and searched the house. However, the house they rented was not big. It was only a courtyard with two entrances. There were less than ten rooms and the structure was very simple. After searching for a long time, the eight pirates still could not find a suitable place to hide people. The bailiffs were already approaching and this made them very nervous.
"Boss, there's no place to hide people. What should we do?"
"Boss, we've searched everywhere. There's no place to hide people."
"Boss, if we're talking about hiding people, there's only one well left. But how can we hide people in a well?"
Several pirates said.
The pirate leader didn't have a better idea, so he said, "It's the well. Go down and take a look. See if you can dig a hole that can hide us."
After saying this, he personally ran to the side of the well.
This well was a normal well. There were ropes and handles on top. It was not bad. People could grab the ropes and go down. Actually, because the diameter of the well was not very big, one could step down step by step on the wall of the well.
The two pirates slowly went down and found that the wall of the well below was loose. It was completely possible to dig the side wall. Hence, they asked the people above to send the digging tools down. Then, they began to dig.
The pirate leader looked and said, "One more person down. The three of us will dig together. We have to dig in three directions. The difference in height is just half a person."
As there was not much time left, they had to dig as soon as possible. They had nine people. With three people digging, they could dig three holes faster. One hole only needed three people.
Digging in different directions with different heights was naturally for the convenience of digging. Otherwise, the narrow mouth of the well would not allow three people to gather together, and they would not be able to dig with force. At the same time, the three holes dug in this way were the most solid and would not collapse. If they were to dig in the same direction with three different heights, then the top two floors would definitely collapse. That would be troublesome.
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