"It's so damnable!" Guo Zhiyuan said angrily: "Then why doesn't the government send an army to exterminate them?!" ……”

Xu Guangqi said with a smile: "These bandits are familiar with the terrain, come and go like the wind, it is not easy to exterminate them, and now the local army is lax, the combat effectiveness is low, there are fewer people, I am afraid that they will be ambushed by these bandits, and if they come more, the march will be delayed, and when the army arrives, the bandits have already fled far away from the mountains, in vain!" ……”

Guo Zhiyuan also had a headache when he heard Xu Guangqi's analysis, and at this time, Chu Wan'er, who was riding a horse on the other side, also came over to join in the fun, patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, there is me Chu Da... The young man is here, and he promises to kill all the bandits! ……”

"Go, go, don't make trouble here! ......" Guo Zhiyuan waved his hand with disgust.

When Chu Wan'er heard this, she stared at Guo Zhiyuan and said angrily: "Guo Zhiyuan, you dare to look down on Ben Xiao... Shaoxia, if you don't accept it, let's compare! ......", as he spoke, he turned his horse's head and chased after Guo Zhiyuan.

Guo Zhiyuan laughed and said: "The gentleman doesn't do anything, look at it, I will definitely be able to think of a way to make the bandits disappear without me doing it!" ...... said this, and quickly whipped his horse and galloped forward!

The fight between the two eased everyone's worries about the future, and after walking such a long way, they finally arrived at their destination, anyway, Guo Zhiyuan was the hand-picked Gutian County Commander, and he was the biggest official in Gutian County, and they should have a future with Guo Zhiyuan, so everyone cheered up and accelerated their pace to follow.

Officially entering the boundary of Gutian County, Guo Zhiyuan slowed down the speed of the horse, this is the land under his jurisdiction in the future, of course he has to patrol it, but what surprised him is that he has walked a long distance and has not seen people, and some mountains with traces of reclamation can be seen on the side of the road, but they are also barren and overgrown with weeds. Occasionally, you can see a few thatched huts on the hillside by the roadside, but apparently it has been a long time since it was uninhabited and the walls were all collapsed!

Seeing such a scene even on the road, Guo Zhiyuan's originally excited mood also fell, ten rooms and nine emptiness! How bad is the situation in Gutian County?! What caused the desolation of Gutian County?! Guo Zhiyuan's heart was heavy, and he couldn't wait to catch someone and ask for the answer immediately.

Walked forward for about ten miles, and finally saw a roadside town, Guo Zhiyuan hurriedly urged the horse to run over, generally this kind of town built along the road is relatively prosperous, because there is a floating population, but Guo Zhiyuan in front of this town seems very desolate, there are almost no people on the street, Guo Zhiyuan stopped the horse's hooves in surprise and stood in the middle of the street to look around, suddenly heard a gong sound, and then the doors of the houses on both sides of the street were all closed, and a large group of people ran out of Hulala, men, women and children, All of them are armed with weapons, and the weapons are also varied, including spears, big knives, hoes, sickles, and wood chopping knives, and some women are carrying kitchen knives in their hands, and the funniest thing is that even the little kid wearing open crotch pants is holding a toy wooden knife in his hand, and they all look at Guo Zhiyuan and his party with a vigilant face!

"Protect Childe!" Zhang Cheng saw that the situation was not right, and hurriedly drew his knife and urged him to step forward to protect Guo Zhiyuan, Chu Wan'er was even more nervous, and jumped directly from the horse to Guo Zhiyuan's horse to protect him behind him, Fa Zheng also quickly untied the convenience shovel, and was on guard, preparing to dance the convenience shovel to cover Guo Zhiyuan's retreat once the situation changed.

Guo Zhiyuan saw that these ordinary people should not be unfavorable to him, but mistook them for bandits, and hurriedly shouted: "Stop!" Don't even move! Zhang Cheng, you all put down your weapons! He also hurriedly jumped down from his horse and bowed his hand to the people with nervous faces: "Fellow villagers, don't misunderstand, I am the newly appointed Gutian County Commander Guo Zhiyuan, and I am about to go to Gutian County to take office and pass by here, everyone look at the official robe I am wearing......"

The people's nervousness eased a little after listening to Guo Zhiyuan's words, but they still didn't put down the weapons in their hands, and began to whisper to each other: "It shouldn't be a bandit, I went to the county seat once before, and the county officials seem to be wearing this kind of clothes......"

"Hmph, being an official is not a good thing, not much stronger than bandits, you know how to exploit our common people......"

…………

At this time, an old man in a long shirt suddenly ran out of the crowd, knelt down in front of Guo Zhiyuan with a "plop", and said tremblingly: "I don't know that the county commander has arrived, and I have disturbed the county commander, please forgive the county lord!" ……”

Guo Zhiyuan hurriedly stepped forward to help the old man up, and said with a pleasant face: "Those who don't know are not guilty, please get up quickly, the old man is the chief here?" ......" (Note: In ancient times, there was no township official position, four households were neighbors, five neighbors were guarantees, and one hundred households were inside, at the earliest in the Spring and Autumn Period, there was already a position in Lizheng, responsible for taking charge of household registration and servitude, and in the Ming Dynasty, it was changed to a lieutenant chief, and most of them were held by local famous people. ）

The old man didn't tremble so much when he saw that Guo Zhi was approachable, but he still hurriedly replied with some restraint: "Back to the county commander, Sun Liren, the grass people, is the chief of this Yuping Town......"

Guo Zhiyuan was overjoyed in his heart, but he could be regarded as having caught a person who could ask questions, and hurriedly grabbed Sun Liren's hand and asked eagerly: "Sun Lichang, why did this official come all the way and see the barren fields, ten rooms and nine empty places?" ……”

Who knew that when he asked, Sun Liren suddenly burst into tears and cried! Guo Zhiyuan was baffled by him, and hurriedly comforted: "Sun Lichang, if you have anything to say, it doesn't matter, this official will definitely make the decision for you!" ……”

Sun Liren sobbed and said with a sad face: "Back to the county to make the old man, the people of Gutian are suffering!" Don't talk about this natural and man-made disaster, this... This damn bandit...... It's so brutal! Burning, killing and looting are everywhere, the smaller villages can't resist at all, they have ruined their families, and the occasional survivors have to abandon their homes and go into exile, so the ten rooms and nine empty, the fields are barren, the people of our Yuping Town are more united, and they can barely protect themselves, but also because of this bandit. Disturbed, unintentional work, the people are miserable! ……”

Guo Zhiyuan has just noticed that most of the people here are dressed in vegetables and ragged clothes, even this Sun Liren is patched on his long shirt, and he knows that life is not very good at a glance, and now when he listens to this Sun Liren tell the reason, he knows that what he said is true, he heard Xu Guangqi say that bandits are rampant in Gutian County, but he didn't expect it to be so rampant! And the government is incompetent to such a point, sitting back and watching the situation deteriorate, and the people are struggling to make a living, which makes him, the county magistrate who has not yet officially taken office, feel blushing!