Qin Tai stood alone on a small dirt slope, looking not far ahead with his hands behind his back, and a town that was gradually recovering its vitality was in front of him. This town is like Qin Tai's child, which Qin Tai fought for together with many soldiers and ordinary people. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is regarded as Qin Tai's first child. Qin Tai's feelings for the people he paid here are really, really deep.

A year ago, when Qin Tai came to Fujian with 5,000 local Fujian soldiers. Everything here shocked everyone, and the tragic situation in Fujian was unimaginable. There is no grass here, the houses have collapsed, and the people are not clothed, all of them are covered with skin and bones, and their faces are yellow and thin.

And what they were doing made the soldiers clench their weapons tightly. Along the road, there were not people lying on the ground waiting to die, but people covered in blood. They or they all have some bones in their hands and eat some meat raw. There is no bark here, and where are the beasts? Although everyone was prepared in their hearts, when they saw the real scene, their scalps were still numb. The flesh that these hungry people ate was human flesh, and it was the flesh of the living. For the flesh of the dead is not fresh, nor will they be splattered with blood. After beating a living person to death, the flesh of the living person is eaten. This is something that only happened in the past in the barbaric era, and now it is everywhere in Fujian. This is the sorrow of the people of Fujian and the shame of Fujian officials.

When the people saw the brigade of soldiers coming, their first reaction was to retreat. Although they were so hungry that they couldn't walk, they still pushed back desperately. Everyone was the same, and the soldiers guessed that if they still had the strength to run, they would leave immediately to avoid the soldiers. There were even a few people with good eyesight, and found that a few people secretly grabbed the long bones in their hands as weapons, ready to protect themselves at any time. As long as Zhan Xiaoxiao remembered that these bones were thigh bones on a human body, he felt a burst of nausea.

"Grain? Rice? It's eaten. "An old man who really can't crawl can wait for death with his eyes closed. But because he was closest to the soldiers, he actually smelled the food in the car. His words immediately made everyone look at the carriages surrounded by soldiers with a strange look.

Some soldiers felt that when the common people looked at the food on the car, they looked a bit like a hungry ghost looking at a group of beautiful women. Some soldiers later recalled that the people were like a miser seeing a large pile of gold. But Xiao Lingzi later recalled the time and said that the common people seemed to have become energetic, and looked at the food behind the soldiers with greedy and fierce eyes.

Qin Tai knew that if he didn't control it anymore, the situation would change, so he ordered his soldiers to be on standby.

Just as the soldiers were expanding the cordon, several civilians with human bones in their hands had already surrounded the soldiers. It seems that these men with human bones in their hands are the leaders of this place, and everyone listens to them. They were preparing to surround the soldiers, eliminate them, and take away the food and supplies from the place.

Qin Tai's eyesight was good, and he immediately saw the strangeness of these middle-aged men. Not only were they stronger than the others, but they also had some gold and silver jewelry. It seems that they not only eat the most, but also take a lot of benefits from the dead and the living. These people must not be good people.

Qin Tai didn't guess wrong, these people are really local bullies here, and they are usually local gangsters who dominate one side. In the past, when the people were living well, they bullied men and women and did things that harmed the locality. After the war broke out, they had colluded with the Japanese invaders, but afterwards the Japanese wanted to kill them, so they had to leave the territory of the Japanese and come here with the fleeing people. When they arrived, they continued to bully the people and force them to hand over their gold, silver and jewelry. But there was nothing to eat, so they took the lead in eating those who had just died. Later, it developed into a living man, forcing the people here to supply at least two living people a day. After they have eaten, it is the turn of the others to eat. They guarded the intersection just to rob some people and troops passing by.

Qin Tai knew that these people had a great influence among the people, and if they were there, the people would not surrender, nor would they transfer with the large army with peace of mind. These people will only be a scourge if they stay, and they will become the intensifiers of internal contradictions in the future.

Qin Tai pointed to these leaders who were leaping to try, and several soldiers were already waiting for them. The soldiers drew their bows and arrows, and before the arrows missed, they shot the troublemakers to death.

The tough attitude of the soldiers, as well as such precise skills, made the people who had lost their agitators lose their backbone at once, and everyone was really afraid to face the well-equipped and energetic soldiers.

Qin Tai looked at the people who were gradually frightened, and knew that this Liwei effect had already worked. If the people want to surrender, they need officials to "use both grace and power." There is only high pressure in the hands of the officials, and the people will only be superficially obedient, and sooner or later they will rise up to resist. If the officials repeatedly only show love, the people will be lawless and gain an inch, and gradually the officials will lose their prestige. Therefore, it is necessary for officials to not only establish authority but also show favor to the people, so that the best and easiest way to truly control the local people.

Qin Tai stood on an iron cart and said to the people, "Listen, everyone. We are not an officer army, nor are we an army passing by. It's the people of the place who come here. The food here is not military food, it is everyone's life-saving food, it is for everyone. This official is the new magistrate Qin Tai, and they are the soldiers who help us deliver food. It is also a guard to protect everyone in the future. Although this grain is for everyone, it needs to be distributed and commanded in a unified manner. So come with me, find a stronger town, rebuild your homes, and gather more of the lost people. The official has made a rule here, that anyone must be forbidden to do so, and that the interests of others must not be sacrificed for personal gain. Whenever there is such a black sheep, the official will kill him without mercy. Kill as many as you want, and resolutely not tolerate it. ”

Qin Tai spoke the official dialect, which later became Mandarin, which most of the Fujian people could not understand. Some people who understand are already struggling with explanations that they don't understand.

At this time, several soldiers came up and translated Qin Tai's words in the most authentic Hokkien dialect, and told everyone that Qin Tai was a great good official, a good official who was really for the people of Fujian. A soldier even told everyone that the grain here was bought with money borrowed by Qin Tai in his own name, and it was all used to help the people here. If the people still don't appreciate it, they will be too sorry for Qin Tai's kindness.

In fact, the people are the kindest, as long as they can live, as long as someone treats them well, they will be grateful and obedient. When everyone learned that Qin Tai had exchanged his net worth and life for food, and that this food was given to everyone without a penny, everyone was moved. There have never been officials who ask for money from the people, and I have never heard of officials who pay their own money to help the people. If it is true, Qin Tai, an official, is really everyone's savior.

Qin Tai ordered Xiao Lingzi to count the number of people, and then arrange the amount of grain together with the number of soldiers. Xiao Lingzi was appointed as the first clerk, and he had to not only record the number of people each time, but also determine the amount of rice each time.

The soldiers skillfully set up a large cauldron, added firewood and water to boil, and then poured rice. Qin Tai once ordered that all soldiers and civilians are the same, one person has a bowl of gruel, and no one can engage in specialization. Even Qin Tai is the same, it is also a bowl of gruel.

The people didn't believe it, thinking that this was just a way for officials like Qin Tai to win people's hearts. More people thought that the soldiers would not eat the same as themselves, and that officials like Qin Tai would definitely not be treated the same as ordinary people.

Unexpectedly, after the gruel was cooked, the soldiers were divided into twenty groups and lined up to receive the meal. Two thousand soldiers ate first, one bowl of gruel per person, and everyone was the same. The other 3,000 soldiers continued to take care of the supplies, and they had to wait a while before they could eat. After the 2,000 soldiers received the gruel, Qin Tai and his men urged the people to get the food as well. One by one, the people did not believe it, and received a large bowl of gruel for each person. Although there is not much food in the gruel, you can almost see your own reflection, but it is already good for the Fujian people who have not eaten for a long time.

The people didn't have time to drink the porridge, and they saw a scene that they didn't believe even more. Qin Tai and a few others, who didn't look like soldiers, but more like local officials, also lined up to receive a bowl of gruel, and squatted on the ground to eat with everyone. Is this an official? Is this a parent official in Fujian? Is this the Ming official in everyone's image? If all the officials of the Ming Dynasty were the same, the people would be blessed.