The country sends a daughter-in-law? Come and take a dozen, take them all

Chapter 305 The County Magistrate’s Righteousness

"County Magistrate Lin, the issue of rogue bandits is indeed a headache, but the Qingzhou Army's people are already on their way here. With them here, sooner or later the rogue bandits can be wiped out."

Seeing Lin Xiaofan's sad face, Huang Hongqian smiled and comforted him.

This world is not peaceful, and every once in a while, a bandit will arise.

To deal with them, we can only slowly search for traces and find opportunities to annihilate them in one fell swoop. There is no other way. Although Lin Xiaofan was resourceful, he didn't think he could come up with a way to deal with the rogue bandits.

"That's good."

Lin Xiaofan nodded slightly, but the sadness on his face did not diminish at all.

It is impossible for the Qingzhou Army to deploy a large number of manpower to suppress bandits, and each city has only a hundred city guards. Under such circumstances, it will take at least a year and a half to resolve the bandit chaos.

Before that, I have to prepare various villages for preparedness. If rogue bandits rob them of all their food, then they will be unable to produce the food when it comes time to pay taxes, and new rogue bandits will form, making things increasingly difficult to deal with.

Moreover, the rogue bandits' rebellion gave themselves a reason to develop armed forces.

He can draw veterans who have been on the battlefield from various villages, form them into several escort teams, and after simple training, let them patrol the town of Degao. At the same time, arrange a few more scouts in Degao Town. Once traces of rogue bandits are discovered, they will report them to the surrounding escorts as soon as possible.

Although this may give the rogues an opportunity to take advantage of them, it ensures that the escorts are all elite and the cost is lower.

"Captain Bao, please arrange for people to notify each village that there are bandits making trouble again, so that they can be prepared. If they are really robbed, life is the first priority, and I will help them get food relief."

"At the same time, recruit 200 veterans who have retired from the battlefield and form a guard team. They will provide two meals and a salary of five cents a day. I will pay for this."

Lin Xiaofan opened his mouth and gave instructions.

The guards will come from various villages. If you want to centrally manage them, you have to take care of their food. While there was food to eat, the salary of five cents a day was not low.

As for where to live, they can just find a village to live in when the time comes. Knowing that rogue bandits were causing trouble everywhere, the villagers wished there was a guard team living in the village.

The leader responded and went to arrange the matter.

Rogue bandits can come at any time. If the escort team is trained one day earlier, one less village will be invaded.

"County Magistrate Lin provides food for two hundred people and pays five cents a day. This is a big expense."

Huang Hong was surprised.

Normally when encountering this kind of thing, the county magistrate would do more than have one less thing to do, and just ignore it if he can. Lin Xiaofan was not only willing to take care of it, but also paid for it out of his own pocket.

"The bandits are causing trouble. If I, as the county magistrate, don't take care of it, how will the people live? Moreover, the previous magistrate had been corrupt all year round, and there is not much money left in the government office. If I don't pay the money, I will have to ask the people for it."

Lin Xiaofan smiled slightly.

If he pays this amount, after the bandit trouble is over, this escort team will belong to him. But if the people's money is used to support this escort team, the hearts of the escort team may not be all towards him afterwards.

"Magistrate Lin is righteous."

Huang Hong made a bow.

Lin Xiaofan was actually willing to spend his own money to deal with the bandits, which he admired from the bottom of his heart.

Hearing this, Lin Xiaofan smiled slightly and said:

"Brother Huang Hong, let's not talk about this anymore. Regarding the sulfur, you can make a price here."

After Huang Hong thought for a while, he said:

"Magistrate Lin, how about five cents per catty?"

Five cents a pound?

Lin Xiaofan couldn't help but be stunned when he heard the price. Are you kidding? Even if he sells lime, it only costs seven cents and two pounds.

Although sulfur is not a high-end product, it is considered a traditional Chinese medicine. You can usually buy it in pharmacies for about 20 yuan per pound. Even if the wholesale price is a little cheaper, it won't be so cheap, right?

"What? Magistrate Lin is too tall?"

Huang Hong raised his eyebrows and asked with a smile.

"Brother Huang Hong, is your price a little too low? I'm afraid it doesn't even cover the cost, right?"

Lin Xiaofan shook his head.

"Haha, are you worried that I won't be able to make money? I discovered the sulfur mine myself, and renting it only costs the price of a piece of land, which also costs some money in terms of manpower. County Magistrate Lin is willing to pay for the formation of a guard team for the people. If I were the magistrate of Zailin County, wouldn’t I make everyone in the world laugh at me?”

Huang Hong said.

"Isn't this not good? Brother Huang Hong, I will need a lot of sulfur in the future."

Lin Xiaofan touched his head and felt that he had gotten a huge advantage.

You know, I will use gunpowder in many places in the future, and the amount of sulfur I have to buy will be very large. If you buy it for five cents a pound, you can probably save thousands or even thousands of taels of silver.

If Huang Hong is reluctant to part with such a large amount of money in the future, it will easily make both parties look bad.

"Just accept it, Magistrate Lin. I, Huang Hong, have been in business for ten years and my family has a lot of money. How can I be short of this? If you don't agree to this price, I won't buy or sell anymore."

Huang Hong continued, with that posture, Lin Xiaofan would definitely take advantage.

"So, thank you very much, Brother Huang Hong. Come, Brother Huang Hong, sit down and have a cup of tea."

The other party's words have all been said to this point. If he doesn't stop talking, it will be disrespectful to others.

With that said, Lin Xiaofan poured Huang Hong a cup of tea.

"How much sulfur do you need, Magistrate Lin? I will deliver it to you tomorrow."

Huang Hong was not polite. He sat on the chair with his legs crossed, picked up the tea cup and drank it in one gulp.

Minfeng County is not far from Degao County, and the caravan can make one trip back and forth in one day.

"Just ask for a thousand pounds first."

Lin Xiaofan thought for a moment and then replied. Gunpowder will be developed in large quantities in the future, and one thousand kilograms is not much.

Hearing this, Huang Hong lost his composure and spurted out a mouthful of tea that he had not yet swallowed.

"Magistrate Lin, do you want to eat it?"

It's not that he can't afford it, it's mainly because pharmacies usually only ask for a few kilograms of sulfur, and ordinary businessmen only buy a hundred kilograms at a time. He really couldn't figure out how to use a thousand kilograms of sulfur.

However, he remembered a rumor that sulfur seemed to be used to aphrodisiac...

Thinking about it, he looked at Lin Xiaofan with a bit of suspicion in his eyes. At such a young age, he shouldn't use such a large dose, right?

"Brother Lin, let me remind you, if it is to aphrodisiac, this sulfur..."

But before he could finish speaking, Lin Xiaofan almost spit out the sip of tea he hadn't swallowed.

"Stop, stop, brother Huang Hong, where did you think you were?"

Why is it that every time this is mentioned, the first thing everyone thinks of is aphrodisiac. Does he look that weak?

Lin Xiaofan couldn't help but have some self-doubt.

"It's okay if it's not. If Brother Lin really has that idea, I've been practicing martial arts for decades, so I can teach you a few moves."

Huang Hong continued.

Lin Xiaofan is a good official who is hard to find in decades. If something happens to him after eating too much sulfur, he will be a big sinner.

While the two were chatting, there was a sudden knock on the door.

"Magistrate Lin, this is terrible. Those people gathered outside and said they wanted to see you."

Di Dan's voice sounded, causing Lin Xiaofan's expression to freeze and he stood up.

"Brother Lin, you go and take care of business. My wife is still waiting for me, so I won't stay any longer. When I have time in the future, I will treat you to dinner."

Huang Hong didn't bother much after hearing the news, got up and left.

"Brother Huang Hong, walk slowly."