People were always wary of strangers, especially powerful strangers, who were more likely to make people wary. Not to mention a strange army.
Moreover, the army commanded by Ang Lee was a foreign army, so it was normal for the local people to be resistant to it.
In order to reduce their vigilance, only 50 of the 150 soldiers of the Tang dynasty stayed behind to protect Ang Lee and the others. The other 100 soldiers went to the several entrances and exits of the village to check the pedestrians coming in and out. If they encountered any suspicious people, they could immediately arrest them.
"Assistant Minister Li, almost everyone is here. Please say a few words."
His subordinate said.
Li An knew that no matter what he said, the local villagers would not understand. However, there were translators, and someone would be responsible for the translation work. Before arriving in West Tianzhu, Li An had already spent money to hire many local translators. It was more than enough to assign one translator to each village.
"People, you don't have to be afraid. The troops of the Tang dynasty are here to help you. From now on, we will be a family."
Ang Lee said loudly.
After the interpreter translated for a while, the crowd seemed to have no reaction, as if they had not heard it.
Ang Lee pursed his lips and continued, "As you all know, in the past year or so, a group of pirates has come to the nearby port. They rob passing merchant ships and cause an extremely bad influence. The merchants especially hate them. However, under the strong attack of the Tang dynasty's troops, the pirates have been wiped out. I am worried that the remaining pirates will harm the people, so I have arranged troops in each village to protect the safety of the people. If anyone knows the traces of the pirates, you can tell me at any time, and I will reward you greatly."
The interpreter spent a lot of effort to translate Ang Lee's words and asked all the villagers to cooperate closely with the Tang dynasty's troops and not disobey the Tang dynasty's troops. Otherwise, they would be treated badly.
When the villagers heard that the Tang dynasty's troops were not malicious, they immediately felt relieved. However, some people were still nervous. After all, the Tang dynasty's troops had just arrived, and they still did not trust the Tang dynasty's troops enough. Trust was not something that could be solved with a few words. It took a long time to gain trust.
After explaining the purpose of his visit, Ang Lee still had business to do. However, in order to prevent the villagers from doubting the sincerity of the Tang dynasty, he must first gain their trust and show them that the Tang dynasty was a man of his word.
"Tell these villagers that if anyone can move the big stone on the left to the tree on the right, he will be rewarded with 10 gold coins."
Ang Lee said..
"Assistant Minister Li, the stone is not big. An adult can move it............
. "The subordinate felt very strange.
Ang Lee said with a smile, "Have you heard of 'Tsurugi Lixin'?"
The so-called 'Tsurugi Lixin' was a story in the Warring States Period. It was about Shang Yang, the leader of the reform of the Qin State. In order to prevent the people from doubting the government, he used this trick to make the people believe in the imperial court, so that the reform could be carried out smoothly.
To be specific, in order to make the Qin State stronger, Duke Xiaogong of the Qin State appointed the very talented Shang Yang to be in charge of the reform. Shang Yang wanted to carry out the reform policy, but he was afraid that the people would criticize him. Therefore, he had completed the decree, but he did not announce it. For fear that the people would not trust the new law, Shang Yang set up a 10-meter-long wooden pole at the south gate of the capital market and recruited the people to carry the pole. As long as the pole could be carried to the north gate, he would be rewarded with 10 gold coins. The people were very surprised, but they were not willing to carry it because they were afraid that the government was teasing them. Therefore, they did not dare to try it rashly.
Seeing this situation, Shang Yang decided to increase the reward to 50 gold coins. It was said that a high reward would attract brave men. One of the men actually carried the wooden pole all the way to the North Gate for 50 gold coins. Shang Yang didn't deceive the man and really gave him 50 gold coins.
When the onlookers saw that the man who carried the pole really received 50 gold coins, they were very envious of the man. At the same time, they regretted that they did not dare to try it. Through this activity, the local people would build trust in the imperial court, which would be very beneficial to the implementation of the reform.
What Ang Lee wanted to do now was to establish the prestige of the Tang dynasty and let the local people believe that the Tang dynasty would not go back on their words. Only through such a direct action could the best effect be achieved.
"Yes, this subordinate understands."
His subordinate responded and immediately got someone to translate. However, as Li An expected, these people were a little hesitant. Not a single one of them went to move the stones.
Ang Lee was not angry. He smiled and said, "50 gold coins. Whoever can carry the stone to the tree will be rewarded with 50 gold coins."
The subordinate understood Ang Lee's meaning and let the interpreter continue.
There were more than 300 villagers, and all of them were poor people. 50 gold coins was definitely not a small amount, but a very large amount. It was very tempting.
Moreover, the 50 gold coins had been brought up and were placed in front of the people's eyes.
"Huo Huo …"
A young man strode forward and carried the stone to the predetermined location. He gently placed the stone under the tree and looked up at Ang Lee and the others.
Ang Lee smiled and said, "Very good, very good. Men, reward this little brother with all the gold coins."
The subordinate obeyed and handed the 50 gold coins to the villager as a reward.
The young man seemed to have not reacted and was so excited that he was stunned. This was a huge amount of wealth, more than all his assets.
"Huo Huo …"
The young man who received 50 gold coins ran around happily like Fan Jin who had passed the imperial examination. The rest of the people all looked at the lucky young man enviously.
Seeing that the time was ripe, Ang Lee said again, "Dear people, in order to better protect you, the troops of the Tang dynasty need to build several arrow towers near the entrance and exit of the village. We need your help. We will not treat you unfairly. If you don't believe us, you can pay half of the salary first. When the arrow towers are all built, you can pay the remaining half and eat white flour and steamed buns. What do you think?"
After that, he asked the interpreter to tell the people.
With the previous example of carrying the stone, the local villagers had trust in the troops of the Tang dynasty. As soon as they heard that there would be salary and food, many people immediately signed up and agreed to help the troops of the Tang dynasty build the arrow towers.
Of course, Ang Lee was very happy that the matter was solved so smoothly. As long as the arrow towers were built, this village could no longer have any contact with the remaining pirates.
Moreover, after gaining further trust, they could also inquire about the whereabouts of the remaining pirates from the mouths of the commoners. As long as they were given enough rewards, they would definitely be willing to betray the pirates. Even if the remaining pirates were their relatives, they would not be soft-hearted.
Of course, Ang Lee would also protect their personal privacy and would not disclose the informants. In this way, he could also avoid trouble for those who had a high level of intelligence and influence more people to come to the high level of intelligence.
The people in the countryside were generally hardworking. At least, the houses and various pig pens in the village were built by themselves. Of course, there was no shortage of carpenters and bricklayers.
Therefore, as long as these people were willing to help, it was more than enough to build a few arrow towers, which could be completed in a few days.
The materials were all prepared by the villagers. After the materials were brought over, the villagers immediately received the money without any delay. However, the villagers didn't propose to pay half of their wages in advance because they weren't sure how long it would take for them to finish the work. They proposed to work for a day and get the money on the same night.
After consulting with Ang Lee, his subordinates agreed to the villagers' request. They would be paid every night after work. Such a request was not excessive at all.
The drawings of the arrow towers were drawn by Ang Lee himself. Every structure was clearly drawn. As long as one was not a fool, they could understand it. In addition, these were all simple arrow towers. The structure was not complicated, so the construction was not difficult. These local villagers were fully capable of doing it.
Ang Lee's plan was to build nine arrow towers. There were more than sixty villagers who were willing to work. They divided up the work and cooperated with each other. They were very busy.
The Tang dynasty's army was not idle either. Some of them were responsible for guarding, while others were busy setting up tents. In the future, they would be stationed in this small village until the remaining pirates were all annihilated.
In the beginning, only sixty people were in charge of the work. They were busy in and out of the village, while the rest of the villagers hid.
After a while, some people came out to watch. After a while, the number of onlookers increased. In the end, even the children came out to play. Some bold children even ran up to the Tang Dynasty's soldiers and made faces at them.
The Tang dynasty's military discipline was strict. Therefore, even if these children offended the Tang dynasty's soldiers, the Tang dynasty's soldiers could not deal with them. Moreover, this was not a serious offense.
"Assistant Minister Li, these villagers are good! They work well. They are all good workers! "
The subordinates were also very satisfied. They felt that they did not lose their wages.
Ang Lee said with a smile, "These are poor people. They must be good workers!"
If poor people could not work well, they would not be able to survive. The rich could be lazy, but if poor people were lazy, they would be completely finished.
A lot of wood was needed to build the arrow towers. The wood brought by the villagers was definitely not enough. They needed to get more.
There was a lot of wood around the village that could be used. In other words, there were many big trees. As long as these big trees were cut down, they could get enough wood.
When the Tang dynasty's official made this request, several villagers agreed. They negotiated the price and then went to prepare axes and other tools.
Because there weren't many trees in the village, and there were houses everywhere, they couldn't chop trees in the village. They had to chop trees in the woods further away from the village, where there were more trees and thicker trees.
Ang Lee took thirty soldiers to the woods not far away from the village to watch the fun. He wanted to see with his own eyes how the villagers cut down trees. He wanted to experience life.
More than a dozen villagers with axes and other tools, as well as transport vehicles, walked step by step to the place where the trees were cut down. Behind them were dozens of children. These children liked to go out with the adults to play. They could also get some good things they wanted by the way.
More than a dozen villagers walked in the front, followed by the children. Ang Lee and his thirty soldiers followed at the back. At the same time, the interpreter also followed.
There were many trees in the place where the trees were cut down. There were all kinds of trees, thick and thin. Further away was the forest.
Because the village was in the forest, there was never a lack of wood. After the trees were cut down, new trees would grow to continuously meet the needs of the villagers.
These villagers were all experts in cutting trees. According to the requirements of the Tang dynasty's arrow towers, they knew what kind of trees to cut down and quickly chose these trees.
The villagers first looked for trees and marked the trees that they were satisfied with. Then, they divided into two groups and began to cut down the trees.
In order to prevent the trees from falling in an unfavorable direction and also to avoid danger, before they cut down the trees, they needed to send someone to climb up the trunk and tie two ropes. Then, they would throw the ropes down. After that, they could cut down the trees.
When they first cut down the trees, they did not ask about the ropes. When the trees were almost cut down, only one person was left to continue cutting. The rest of the people all pulled the ropes to make the trees fall more gently.
"Ka ka ka …"
The trunk of the tree was cut down, making a crisp sound. This was a very fascinating sound, and it was very pleasing to the ear. This was especially true for lumberjacks, who loved to hear this sound because it meant that the job was done.
"Clatter …"
With the sound of branches rubbing against each other, a big tree slowly fell down. Several villagers who were responsible for pulling the ropes trotted a few steps.
"Oh, oh, oh …"
The moment the big tree fell down, the children who were watching in the distance were all excited. They could not wait to run to the fallen tree and began to search among the branches, looking for branches that they were interested in. For example, triangular branches could be broken off and made into slingshots. If the shape was good, it could be made into weapons. Thin branches could be woven into beautiful garlands. In short, the children could always find something they liked from these seemingly useless branches.
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