In the Tongcheng County Government Office, the young magistrate looked at the two waist knives on the table in a daze.
Mr. Sun glanced sideways at Pang Yu and said, "Just two knives can't explain anything. Again, if there is no solid evidence..." Yang Erming suddenly said: "Gather the elders and gentry."
Mr. Sun was stunned for a moment, and then said anxiously, "My lord, please don't be so impatient. Last year, you sent two false alarms. In the end, it was just a false alarm.
In this way, if there is any disturbance in the future, if you make a fuss and disrupt people's livelihood, it will inevitably be criticized by the people, which may not be a good thing for you."
Pang Yu did not look sideways and did not participate in the dispute between the two. Yang Erming did not look at Mr. Sun. After a moment of silence, he said, "Can Mr. Sun guarantee that those in the city are not rogue bandits?"
"Well, I dare not say it, but it would be too childish to insist that he is a bandit with just two knives."
Yang Erming's face turned a little red, and he turned to Mr. Sun and said, "What you said is child's play, but you still treat me as a child."
Mr. Sun was surprised. County Magistrate Xiao Yang has been quite sensitive recently. Whenever anyone shows a little contempt, he will think that others treat him as a child. Mr. Sun is usually cautious. At this time, he was anxious and said something accidentally.
Child's play, as expected, it has touched the reverse scale again.
"I don't dare, I just don't want your majesty to give someone a hand because of this."
"What authority can I give to arrest the murder suspect and pursue the suspicious person?"
Yang Erming was a little excited, his face turned red, "Everyone in the city knows that Huazi clamored to kill everyone in Tongcheng when he was about to die. If he was just an ordinary murderer, wouldn't it be ridiculous to make such big claims?
If it is true that the rogue spies are in the city, then the rogue brigade must not be far away. If preparations are not made in advance, Tongcheng will not be protected by then. It is not a matter of entrusting people with authority. It is the lesser of two evils. Does Mr. Sun think so?
"
"This, I..." Mr. Sun stammered a few words and was speechless.
Pang Yu secretly glanced at Yang Erming. Since he took office, he has almost been Mr. Sun's yes man. Every time Pang Yu came to report, he always faced Yang Erming with a straight face, but with a slight tilt to take care of Mr. Sun's feelings.
Yang Erming usually obeyed Mr. Sun's advice, after all, his experience was far from enough.
Today, the Zhengtai County Magistrate finally clearly insisted on his opinion and rejected Mr. Sun in person.
At this time, Pang Yu could imagine that as Yang Erming grew older and became more familiar with officialdom, Mr. Sun's status would continue to decline.
Yang Erming said to Mr. Sun in a slow tone, "Gather together the gentry and elders to step up the inventory of strangers in every neighborhood. Regardless of inns, wine shops, Taoist temples, or private households, we must go to every house and conduct a detailed inspection, and inform the residents of every neighborhood of any hidden people."
If a stranger stays overnight without reporting it, he will sit in ten households next to each other.
We will also submit a detailed report to Anqing Mansion and the branch patrol road, and state the suspicious aspects of the recent murders."
Mr. Sun did not dare to argue anymore. He bowed slightly and left to do some work. When he passed by Pang Yu, he glared at Pang Yu.
Only Pang Yu and Yang Erming were left in the second hall. Yang Erming took an important step in becoming the county magistrate today, and he was still a little excited at this time.
He had probably been planning in his mind for a long time, and today he finally dared to take action, and achieved success. It seemed that until now, the power of Tongcheng was in his hands, so it was a little difficult to calm down for a while.
According to Pang Yu's observation, because Mr. Sun is related to Yang Erming, he often has a preaching attitude when getting along with the 14-year-old County Magistrate Yang. He may not be aware of the second period of resistance.
So based on his attitude, sometimes even if he is right, Yang Erming may not be willing to listen to him.
The two were silent for a moment. After a long while, Yang Erming raised his head and said, "Pang Bantou just said that the strong squad has been assembled and is making preparations at the top of the city."
"Exactly, what I'm thinking is that since there are clues about rogue bandits, it's better to be prepared than to have a strong squad do useless work without losing anything. It's better than being at a loss when facing a battle."
"It makes sense, but some people just don't understand."
Yang Erming said angrily, "Pang Bantou will go and prepare himself, but remember that there is no delay in arresting the murderer in the city. We must dispatch it appropriately. You can go first."
Yang Erming also started to behave like a superior. Anyway, everything on both sides fell on Pang Yu. He didn't even ask how to do it, so Pang Yu didn't have the opportunity to raise the difficulties.
However, he promised to mobilize the gentry and elders. Pang Yu had achieved the purpose of his trip, so he quickly agreed and exited the hall.
...On the 20th of the first lunar month, on the east wall of Tongcheng, Pang Yu frowned and looked at the Donglai Tower opposite.
People from the strong squad were coming and going, carrying stones to the top of the city. A row of straw mills behind them had been completed. The straw mills were the shacks at the top of the city. Materials such as lime, gunpowder, tung oil, etc. were all stored in the straw mills.
, to protect it from wind and rain, and people can also rest in it.
Around December last year, Yang Erming had a discussion with the gentry. If rogue bandits attacked, Tongcheng would need to mobilize social soldiers. The number would be one person for each battlement. Tongcheng had a total of 1,673 battlements, so the same number would be needed.
Social soldiers must be distributed and weapons must be distributed. In addition, an additional hundred strong men must be mobilized as support.
There was a whistling wind behind him. Pang Yu looked back and saw a strong man waving a red flag. The bell tower in the distance also waved a red flag.
Pang Yu set up three-color flags at each gate, namely white, yellow, and red. The darker the color, the more urgent it is. If the situation is serious, the red flag will be waved, and the bell tower will dispatch garrison troops from other gates to support them. They are currently undergoing drills, even if this is the case.
Simple flags, Zhuangban's application is full of errors and omissions.
The section of the city wall where Pang Yu was standing was the most likely direction to be attacked, from Nanxunmen to Dongzuomen. Although the water in the moat was fast, the moat was quite wide. The entire Zilai Street was between the moat and the city wall.
As a result, residential buildings outside the city are densely packed, many of which are close to the city wall, which can effectively cover the approach of siege troops.
From Nanxunmen to the west, Tongxi water flows out of the city. Outside the city are large and small ponds and lakes. From the west gate to Yiminmen and then to the north arch gate, although there is no moat to block it, the terrain is rugged, making it difficult to attack the city.
To the east of the city.
Therefore, Pang Yu's defense focus is on the east side of the city. If there is still mobilization potential in the city, Pang Yu plans to assign two soldiers to each crenel of this section of the city wall, a high lamp for every five crenellations, and other firearms, lime, tung oil, and stone.
Blocks, etc. are all configured in double, and the strong squad will also have three squadrons stationed at this section of the city wall.
But no matter how prepared he was, Pang Yu felt that something was not enough. He had never seen a rogue bandit, and he did not know where the rogue bandits were. The more so, the more mysterious he felt. If everyone was as desperate as that Hanako, he would have no confidence in defending.
"Second brother, I heard that the military building has been here for the past two days. I sent the clerk to Liu Xiucai's house again and asked him to demolish the Donglai Building."
Jiao Guozhao's voice rang around him. He paused and said, "Jiang Zhihuai, Yao Sundi, Sun Yi, and Wang Wenyao all came to Liu Xiucai's door yesterday and said that the gentry unanimously asked Liu Xiucai to give him the gift.
Come and demolish the building."
Pang Yu turned to look at Jiao Guozhao. This elder brother rarely came to the city. At this time, he saw that Zhuangban was busy and was still helping to hang the high lamp rack. It was a rare work.
"Since it was requested by Bingfang and other gentry, brother, what's the use of telling me this?"
Jiao Guozha lowered his voice, "Someone in the yamen told Liu Xiucai that it was you who instigated the magistrate behind his back. He insisted on demolishing the Donglai Tower, so Magistrate Yang summoned Jiang Zhihuai and others. Liu Xiucai thought it was you who was framed by scaremongering.
To him."
"I'm not that interested. Last time he fought with Jiang Zhihuai here, but I didn't even say anything, so why should I be alarmist?"
Pang Yu took a sip and said, "Besides, Liu Xiucai's dilapidated building should have been demolished. If there was peace in the past, he would build it as high as he liked. We would still praise his ability to build a skyscraper. When is it now?"
Pang Yu pointed to the Donglai Tower opposite and said, "Have you seen it? It's only about twenty steps away. The top floor is so open that a large table of people can sit there. Not only can they observe the city, but they can also shoot arrows at the top of the city. By then,
This section of the city wall cannot even support anyone. If Tongcheng is breached because of this, you and I will be the victims of rogue bandits."
Jiao Guozhao shook his head and said, "I'm still doing this with my eldest brother. Just talk about these scaremongerings in the Yamen, right? How can the gangsters come so easily? There were two troubles in Qianshan, but they were all fake in the end."
, Brother still doesn’t know.”
Pang Yu looked Jiao Guozha up and down and said, "Brother, do you have any leverage against Liu Xiucai?"
"What are you talking about?"
Jiao Guozha hung up a high lamp, put it aside and said, "Last time you cut off three people's hands, now the three families don't dare to come to you, they are all pestering the Liu family. Liu Xiucai is so annoyed that he and you are already friends."
It’s not a small festival, the eldest brother thought, it was really urgent, Liu Xiucai went to his cousin to file a complaint, it’s not impossible. Second brother, when you open a gambling stall, you always think peace is the most important thing and making a fortune is the most important thing.
Liu Xiucai said that Donglai Building will never be demolished, and there are also members of Fang Yinggan in this building. If you demolish this building, you will offend the Liu family and the Fang family, and the gambling stall is not a good reputation. They reported it, and finally
No matter what happens, big brother is always kind."
Pang Yu shook his head and said with a smile, "It's rare for eldest brother to be so kind. No one wants to embarrass Liu Xiucai. He is the one who asked for it.
This man is narrow-minded and small-minded. I advise you to stay less involved in Liu Xiucai's affairs and don't hang out with him in normal times."
Jiao Guozha laughed twice and said, "This is my second brother, you don't know. We government servants are all cheap servants in the eyes of those scholars. Liu Xiucai is willing to break the rules because he thinks highly of us."
Scholars are always different, and my cousin is an official in the capital. Sooner or later, he will be an official. If you give me some guidance in the future, we can also have a bright future.
Even if we were to open a gambling stall, it would be safer if Liu Xiucai was with us. I don’t know why, second brother, you had to refuse the offer and do such outrageous things that day."
"He can't be an official in Tongcheng, and he can't help you, a Tongcheng government official."
Pang Yu waved his hand and said, "It's better to do business alone, so Liu Xiucai won't have to worry about it.
If the bandits don't come, no one will demolish his house."
"Brother, I will be the peacemaker in this matter. Please sit down together and make peace. Second brother, please relax. The bandits will never come."
As soon as Jiao Guozha finished speaking, a panting man appeared at the top of the city. He looked around and saw Pang Yu. He quickly ran over and whispered in Pang Yu's ear, "Ma Kuaishou, who was going to Luzhou Prefecture, just returned."
The county government said that the rogue bandits broke into Fengyang Mansion on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month and are heading towards Hefei County, which is only two hundred miles away from Tongcheng. Please ask the leader to return to the government office immediately to discuss it."