In the next few days, Yushan sent troops in succession, and ran all over the villages and towns in the county, except for those gentry who owned their own large estates, all the squires were wiped out.

The Yushan thieves only killed the gentry and the big families, and the reputation of not hurting the ordinary people also spread, and they became famous all over the world for a while.

Among the gentry, those who saw the opportunity quickly, and after getting the news, they immediately packed up their things and fled into the county town with their families to hide.

And those who were slow to see the opportunity, or those who were indecisive, were caught up by the Yushan thieves and killed all over the house.

As for the gentry who hid in the county town, their families were saved, but the stewards and servants who stayed at home were all killed, and as for the property, they were looted, and the chickens and dogs were not left.

Seeing that the autumn harvest is imminent, it is time to harvest grain, even if the land outside the city still belongs to their family, there is no one to do things, and there is no one to collect grain at all.

It's not that they didn't think about sending people home again, staring at the group of mud-legged people to work, but for some reason, as many people were sent to die, it was as if the Yushan thieves had been staring at their home, so scared that they didn't dare to go back.

In the entire Yishui County, the people were panicked, and a large number of gentry flocked to the county government to force Ding Zhi County to suppress bandits.

"Fellow villagers, it's not that the official doesn't want to suppress the bandits, it's really that the Yushan thief is too fierce, and he has failed to suppress the thief twice in a row!"

"Even Liang Patrol was killed in battle, aren't you ignorant of it?"

"The county is helpless!"

Ding Zhixian looked sad and played with this group of gentry.

"Then continue to ask the state to send troops over, last time two battalions were not enough, this time there will be five, ten, it can always be, right?"

Ding Zhixian was reluctant in his heart, and finally reached a consensus with Mrs. Liu, there is no need to worry about the threat from Ghost Li's side, and now if he rashly invites troops to suppress bandits, he is afraid that Mrs. Liu's side may not be so easy to speak.

Thinking of this, Ding Zhixian prevaricated:

"This is not just empty words."

"Those Qiu Ba didn't come here for nothing, when did you not eat and take the card?"

"The anti-bandit money collected last time has long been used up, and this time, the county really can't support it."

When those gentry saw Ding Zhixian's lazy appearance, they hated it so much that their teeth itched.

Who did the two bandits belong to, outsiders don't know, how can these gentry not know?

But this has always been the rule among the officials and gentry, and they can only grit their teeth and admit it, but if they want them to pay out of their own pockets, they are unwilling, and they say viciously at the moment:

"Then levy the third bandit suppression fee!"

If it was on weekdays, I was afraid that Ding Zhixian would agree, but he didn't want to suppress the bandits now, so he put on a posture of loving the people, shook his head and said:

"It's not proper, it's not proper, it's been collected twice this year, and the merchants and the people are overwhelmed, so I really can't collect it a third time."

"If it provokes a civil uprising, this city is only afraid and unsafe."

He only talked about the merchants and the common people, but did not mention the gentry, and made it clear that he wanted the gentry to pay for it, but the gentry were all Pixiu, only in and out, how could they be willing to pay money?

"The autumn grain is coming, you might as well use it as a countervail, and borrow money from various families to suppress bandits."

The autumn grain mentioned here refers to the grain tax after the autumn harvest, which is collected by each township and county, and then paid to the county government, then summarized to the state capital, and finally to the central government.

Ding Zhixian hurriedly shook his head, if the grain tax cannot be paid on time, it will affect his career.

"How important is this grain tax, and how can it be misappropriated?"

"The county should know, if we and other squires are all trapped in the county seat, and there is no one to help outside, this autumn grain will not be able to be harvested at all?"

Ding Zhixian is now sitting on wax.

From ancient times to the present, this official structure is like this, the imperial power does not go to the countryside, then the management of the people at the most basic level, there is a complete lack of position, if you want to do something, you must rely on the power of "village sages".

The gentry borrowed the power to manage the people at the bottom, bargained with the imperial court, and even simply set up the magistrates and engaged in local self-control, and if the magistrates did not have certain means, they would have no way to take them.

Now Ding Zhi County is in a dilemma, indeed, as those squires said, if they can't go out of the county, this year's autumn grain will not be able to harvest anything. There is no autumn grain to hand in, but it will be severely punished, and this official hat will definitely not be saved.

But if the autumn grain is misappropriated and the upper authorities are held accountable, many things will not be hidden, and the official hat must be lost. And when the time comes, this group of gentry will definitely deduct the autumn grain they have collected to pay off their debts, and they will still not be able to pay the autumn grain at that time.

No matter what you do, this official has done it.

As long as he thought that he would lose his official position and resign, Ding Zhixian was as big as a fight and anxious.

Seeing that the squires were still chattering there, Ding Zhixian was angry in his heart, slapped the table suddenly, and shouted:

"Shut up!"

"In front of this official, how can you be presumptuous!"

"This time, the money for suppressing bandits will be apportioned by the gentry, and the specific amount will be sent to the government tomorrow.

After saying that, Ding Zhixian brushed his sleeves away, leaving a group of stunned gentry in the living room, stunned, and looking at each other.

The reason why Ding Zhixian has always been very polite to the gentry, but the root of this politeness is that they can help Ding Zhixian better control the affairs of the county, let Ding Zhixian successfully pass his term, and even determine the final evaluation of Ding Zhixian.

But now that Ding Zhixian is about to lose his official position and resign, where do you care about the opinions of the gentry?

Faced with a dilemma, Ding Zhixian thought about it and thought of only one way, that is, to take the gentry's money to suppress the bandits, so that the gentry could go out of the city to collect grain taxes for themselves, complete the annual tax payment task of the imperial court, and keep their black yarn hats.

As for offending the gentry, offending Mrs. Liu, and offending the Yushan thief Li Gui, it can be said that he offended everyone, and he couldn't take care of it.

In everything, the preservation of official positions must be the highest priority.

Even the official is lost, what else is he going to do?

When he returned to his study, he thought it over again and realized that things might not be as bad as he thought.

As long as the state can send a strong army to come over and exterminate Ghost Li, he himself will be safe, and Mrs. Liu will be dissatisfied, and she can only endure it.

As for those squires, he had always taken this group of people too seriously, but now that he had broken the jar, he understood it.

To put it bluntly, the gentry is just a citizen, and he is an official, a Jinshi who is famous outside the Donghua Gate.

Even if many of those gentry have the same official background behind them, but in Yishui County, this acre and three points of land, he, a hundred miles of marquis, is the most counting!

Even if those gentry let their relatives take revenge in the future, it will be after he keeps his official position.

Moreover, they are also bureaucrats, and the means of retaliation can only be tilted in the officialdom, and there are too many factors for victory and defeat, and it is difficult to say what the result will be.

If those gentry go out of the city in the future and dare to withhold the grain tax because of today's affairs, he will dare to let them know what it is to know what a broken county is!

In order to keep the official hat, he Ding Enlu did everything!