Transmigrated into a minor official in a county government, with children at home waiting for rice t

Sun Jizu seemed to have anticipated his question, and raised his face to add, "He doesn't need to stop them. There's no cover in the water, and the archers on the shore can shoot arrows. None of them can escape. If there are any exceptionally skilled swimmers, they're just lucky."

After Sun Jizu finished speaking, seeing Zhao Xie nod in agreement, he said no more. "After these two places are finished, the remaining three hundred people are in the old prison camp. There are abandoned mines nearby, where people are probably hiding and coordinating with the bandits in the camp."

"The mine is narrow and easy to defend, but difficult to attack. Even if we had several hundred more men, it might not be enough for a frontal assault. But I know the terrain of the prison camp well; the mine only has two exits."

"One faces south and is the main entrance; the other faces north and is a half-collapsed ventilation shaft, only wide enough for one person to squeeze through. That makes things simple."

He turned his palm over and tapped his knuckles twice on the table: "Send men to sneak in from the north side of the mine and block the ventilation shaft. As for the south side of the mine, we can't attack it, but we can send men to guard the entrance, so they can't get out either."

"If they dare to fight to the death, then we may have no choice but to set the camp on fire and see if they would rather be prisoners or roasted lambs! Over at the camp, have a group of men disguised as servants from Wangjiazhuang carry grain to the prison camp."

"The people in the prison camp are waiting for the Wang family's supplies, so they won't suspect anything when they see grain. The grain transporters will go into the mine and make their move while they are distributing the grain."

"The camp is open and has been burned, so it has long lost its defensive capabilities. The two hundred men are scattered throughout the camp, and they were at their most scattered when the food was distributed. With attacks from both sides, and coordinated from within and without, this small number of bandits can't cause any trouble..."

Seeing his confidence, Li Hang and Zhang Sanlang remained silent, knowing that this was not their area of ​​expertise.

Zhao Xie spoke again: "Three locations, to be taken down within three days. No information can leak out. If one location is breached, the enemy will flee to the other two."

Sun Jizu nodded, his brows furrowing slightly. "So the first thing needs to be done quickly, to prevent anyone from escaping. Therefore, I'm prepared to kill the innocent rather than let the guilty go free, since there are fewer archers after all..."

Li Hang's expression darkened upon hearing this.

Sun Jizu didn't say it explicitly, but none of the people present were fools.

In the battle of Wangjiazhuang, not only were no prisoners taken, but there wasn't even much time to carefully distinguish which people were bandits and which were actually hired laborers from other places.

In addition, due to disasters in several northern prefectures, more than a thousand people fled famine during this period, of whom more than three hundred were temporarily settled in Linhe Township.

The human heart is the most unpredictable thing.

If this door to slaughter is opened, who knows if those archers who are new to bloodshed will also take the refugees as a reward? They have a bond with the local people, but not with the refugees!

After thinking for a moment, Zhang Sanlang quickly spoke up, "County Commandant Sun, I think it would be better if you first gathered all the village heads and elders to make a rule, and made it clear that the so-called short-term laborers who came here are actually bandits from outside."

"In this way, the volunteers were mobilized to protect their hometown, and they felt it was their duty to do so. In addition, during this period, Zhou Guandian helped the county government resettle more than 300 displaced people near Wangjiazhuang, half of whom were young and strong."

"Why not temporarily recruit them as archers, and promise them a reward of fifty coins for each bandit they help capture, with additional rewards for those who make great contributions? If they can independently kill or capture a bandit alive, they can be given an acre of land."

Upon hearing this, Li Hang glanced at Zhang Sanlang and frowned slightly.

Knowing his concerns, Zhao Xie questioned, "Shouli, isn't your method inappropriate? These refugees have neither seen battle nor received any training. Letting them assist in catching thieves is like sending sheep to the wolves' den!"

"Furthermore, apart from government-owned land, all the land in this county is owned. If they really wanted to perform meritorious service, where would they find land to claim? The key point is that, according to the law, these displaced people should be forced to return to their original places of residence..."

Zhang Sanlang smiled coldly, "Mr. Zhao, among the refugees who managed to escape here alive, apart from a few lucky ones or those who had someone to take care of them, which one didn't have some tricks up their sleeve? In fact, there were even some bandits among them who wanted to reform."

"That's right. According to the law, these refugees should be repatriated to their original homes. However, they fled here through the mountains and rivers because they couldn't survive due to the great disaster in their hometowns."

"For them, returning them to their original place of residence is a matter of life and death; it forces them to become thieves! The government took this into consideration, which is why they were temporarily placed here, with the intention of returning them after the disaster."

"However, since the imperial decree has not arrived, the magistrate is unable to open the granaries for relief. If this continues for too long, things may easily change, and it could even lead to village feuds, with people dying over food."

"Now that our Juancheng County is facing the threat of bandits and remnants of the previous dynasty, why not take advantage of the situation and use some money, grain, land, or even the establishment of households as bait to drive the displaced people to work for us?"

Seeing Li Hang nod slightly, Zhao Xie stared in disbelief. Zhang Sanlang softened his tone, "As for unclaimed land, that's easy to handle. The Wang family owns quite a lot of land!"

Upon hearing this, Li Hang lightly tapped the table. "Shouli is absolutely right. Let's do it that way. County Magistrate Sun, please continue."

Sun Jizu glanced at Zhang Sanlang, his lips twitching. "If we follow what Zhang Yashi said and recruit refugees as auxiliary laborers, I will be even more confident in preventing the news from leaking to the other two places. After all, there are bound to be Wang family confidants among the local people."

"The abandoned docks and official roads are now obsolete, with only a narrow path leading to them. By deploying a few men, we can cut off all communication in advance. Once these two locations are taken, the prison camp, located deep within Juancheng and Puzhou, will be doomed even if they receive news."

"If they dare to flee in groups, they will surely alert the patrols. If they disperse and escape along the original route, they will escape the control of the Wang family and no longer pose a threat to Juancheng. It's just a pity that we can't achieve complete success..."

After listening to him finish speaking, Li Hang nodded quite a bit, then stood up and paced around the room for a while, going over the whole matter again before sitting back down at the table.

He paused his finger on the table, his gaze slowly sweeping across the three faces. "Alright! It's settled then. County Magistrate Sun can dispatch the archers at any time, and Shou Li will deliver the message to He Lantou."

"Changyan, from this moment on, you will follow Magistrate Sun closely. You must not fail. In this county, and even in this prefecture, Magistrate Sun is probably the only one who can calmly deal with eight hundred bandits with only a hundred archers..."

Upon hearing this, Sun Jizu did not feign modesty, but pursed his lips tightly, displaying an air of self-assurance.

Zhao Xie, though a military man himself, had never been on the battlefield. Ever since Li Hang described Sun Jizu's past bravery and invincibility on the battlefield, he had long been convinced of his abilities.

Zhang Sanlang had more confidence in Sun Jizu, his only worry being the information blockade and whether there would be any loopholes. However, upon further reflection, he felt relieved.

As they talked, the plan was decided. None of the four were the type to drag things out, so they quickly dispersed and went about their own business.