Be a small county magistrate in ancient times

After they had been shouting for a while, Meng Changqing raised his hand to signal them to stop.

"Let me say a few more words," Meng Changqing continued, his tone becoming calmer. "Although we have received news that war is about to break out, we do not know the exact time."

Now that we know this in advance, we should make some preparations to provide the people with an extra layer of protection.

I have already spoken with the Prefect, and we are preparing to build a city wall near Xianshan. If the Yan bandits attack, the people can first hide south of Xianshan.

While we can't possibly let them breach the city walls, even if, by some unfortunate twist of fate, the Yan rebels succeed, we can still retreat to the new city walls.”

One of the yamen runners said, "Sir, in the past, the Yan bandits would come here after the spring. It's already January, and the Yan bandits could come at any time. Is it still possible to build the city wall now?"

What I fear most is that they have doubts but don't ask them, keeping them bottled up inside and secretly harboring suspicions. Now that such a direct question has been raised, Meng Changqing can still find excuses.

“Don’t worry about being too late. The Yan bandits aren’t that powerful. The original city wall won’t collapse just because they’re right in front of us,” Meng Changqing said. “To tell you the truth, the reason we built this city wall is so that the people have something to do, so that they won’t be scared and run away when the Yan bandits come.”

Beishan County has achieved its current state with great difficulty; let's not allow it to crumble before the enemy even breaches the city.

Qi Renli said, "Sir, since that's the case, the news of the impending war should not be told to the people."

When preparations for war are made, naturally some observant people will notice, and it's impossible to hide it from them.

Rather than letting them guess, or giving them a chance to react only when things come to a head, it's better to tell them from the beginning.

Meng Changqing smiled and said, "We must trust our compatriots. Most of them went through the previous war with us."

They trusted our Beishan County government, which is why they were willing to abandon their homeland and settle here. We have no reason to deceive them.

I will have the heads of each village and street come over and have them pass on the message. In preparation for the impending war, the staff of the county government needs to be reorganized. Cheng Guang, you will handle this.”

Meng Changqing had been holding a rolled-up piece of paper in his hand, and now he handed it to Cheng Guang. "The specific shift schedule is written on this. You can pass it on to them later. After that, go and find the village chief and the person in charge of the street."

After Meng Changqing left, Cheng Guang stood in his place and announced the specific arrangements for each shift.

Qi Renli caught up with Meng Changqing, "Sir, I heard you came back very late yesterday, was it because of this matter?"

Meng Changqing nodded.

As they walked and talked, Meng Changqing jokingly asked him, "Brother Qi, are you scared?"

Qi Renli honestly said, "Hearing such news makes me feel uneasy."

"It's normal. If you can remain calm in the face of war, you're not a normal person."

"My lord, what can I do?" Qi Renli asked earnestly.

"Brother Qi, don't blame me for dragging you into this. We have to get through this together," Meng Changqing said. "With the war, people's lives will definitely be affected. For one thing, merchants from other places won't come in, and silkworm farmers, weavers, and embroidery workshops will have to stop. All the efforts we made in the past few years will probably be for naught."

This was unavoidable, and there's no need to feel too sorry about it. The most important task at present is to defend our territory.

Your current task is to help the people complete their transactions as much as possible. If there's absolutely no way to do so, the county government should provide some compensation based on the extent of the losses. The goal is to let the people know that this difficult time will pass and that life will eventually return to normal.

"I understand." (End of Chapter)