Besides the refugees, even the people who had been living in Jinyang came out of their homes and began wandering around the streets near the county office.

A yamen runner brought out a sheet of paper and used a cloth to wipe the words off a stone board before writing a new line. Old Man Fang, who had come out to find work, immediately squeezed forward. Once the man finished writing, he asked, “Officer, what does this say?”

The runner read aloud, “North Eight-Li Slope needs one hundred eighty mu plowed. Recruiting twenty able-bodied men to pull plows, each receiving three sheng of rice per day. Recruiting ten who can guide plows, fifty to cut grass, each receiving two sheng of rice per day…”

His words had barely fallen when Old Man Fang immediately shouted, “I can guide a plow! I can guide a plow!”

Following his voice came a chorus of shouts from behind, “I can pull a plow!”

“I can cut grass!”

“I can too!”

The runner soon selected the required number of people according to Fan Ying’s instructions, including ten women, ten elderly people, and ten half-grown children, all assigned to cut grass.

The able-bodied men standing at the front who had shouted loudest were dissatisfied when they saw this. They cried out loudly, “We clearly answered the call first! Why choose them instead of us?”

The runner sternly rebuked them, “This is the County Magistrate’s order. Who among you dares object?”

The runner shouted, “Every household has elderly, women, and children. They can do this light work too, so we must leave some positions for them. Otherwise, if you take all the work, should they just die?”

The able-bodied men all fell silent, not daring to speak further. Most people accepted the county office’s arrangement, though some still grumbled quietly, feeling their work had been stolen.

Just as they were thinking this, another runner came out with paper and wrote a line on another stone board across the way.

Those who hadn’t been recruited immediately rushed over again. Before the runner finished writing, seven or eight more runners and soldiers filed out of the county office, followed by what appeared to be supervisors. They each found a stone board and began writing.

Everyone’s spirits lifted. They wanted to go here and there, but since few could read, it was hard to know what work it was before the runner spoke. They could only rely on luck.

This showed how important literacy was.

This was also why Fan Ying insisted that runners and soldiers must read aloud the work requirements after finishing writing.

In Jinyang, if you were illiterate today, you might remain illiterate for life.

But in Zhao’s Army, if you were illiterate today, you might be literate tomorrow or the day after.

As everyone knew, Zhao Hanzhang was most enthusiastic about establishing schools—setting up large and small official schools in cities. Large schools sheltered scholars for study; small schools taught children of appropriate age. Workshops had literacy classes, and soldiers in the army had to learn to read and write between training and combat…

Fan Ying needed to settle so many refugees. Relying only on the Jinyang county office’s officials and runners wasn’t enough. She didn’t want to ask Liu Kun for help, so she directly selected over a hundred soldiers from Zhao’s Army.

These soldiers had all learned to read. They couldn’t handle difficult texts, but they could complete basic writing tasks.

Moreover, they were literate and could provide security—they were simply the most suitable candidates, even better than the yamen’s runners and officials.

In less than five days, Fan Ying had basically resolved the conflicts caused by the refugee influx into Jinyang. Meanwhile, Shi Lei, after some investigation, used thunderous methods to arrest many people, determining they were all connected to the recent missing persons cases.

Among them were two men with close ties to Liu Kun who frequently appeared at his banquets.

Their family members immediately sought out Liu Kun to plead for mercy and claim innocence. Before Liu Kun could go find Shi Lei to release them, Shi Lei had already dragged them to the market and executed them.

One stroke per head. After the executions, he had the heads mounted on bamboo poles and displayed at the execution ground—over fifty poles densely packed together. The cruelty of his methods made Jinyang’s people turn pale at the mention.

When Liu Kun arrived, he saw only a row of heads hanging there, including his two friends staring at him with wide-open eyes.

Liu Kun’s vision darkened. Unable to control his temper, he rushed forward and angrily shouted at Shi Lei, “General Shi, what is the meaning of this? Who gave you permission to indiscriminately kill innocents in Jinyang?”

Shi Lei’s expression remained unchanged. “All who abduct and sell good people deserve death!”

Liu Kun took a deep breath, suppressing his anger as he asked, “What evidence do you have to prove they abducted and sold people? Was there an interrogation? Did you report this? According to law, you’re only a County Commandant. Executions require my approval.”

“If I say they abducted people, then they abducted people,” Shi Lei said. “Magistrate Liu, you invited me here to investigate these criminals. Now that I’ve found them, naturally I must punish them according to law. I have no interest and no time to slowly go through bureaucratic procedures.”

“You!” Liu Kun was infuriated by his arrogance and couldn’t help mocking him, “General Shi speaks so righteously now, but don’t forget—you made your fortune by abducting and selling people. Could it be you’ve now remembered you were once sold as a slave yourself?”

Shi Lei’s anger flared up as well. He hated most when people mentioned his past as a slave or his later days as a bandit abducting and selling people. Both incidents were deeply shameful. Today Liu Kun had stepped on both sore spots.

A cold light flashed in Shi Lei’s eyes as murderous intent arose.

Having spoken, Liu Kun immediately regretted it. He still wanted to win Shi Lei over! It was all because he’d been overwhelmed by anger for a moment.

Those two hanging there weren’t just his friends—they were practically half his clients, sending him large amounts of money, silks, and fabrics annually. Now everything was gone.

And then he’d carelessly offended Shi Lei.

Liu Kun felt deeply regretful. He shouldn’t have agreed to let Zhao Hanzhang make him the Jinyang County Commandant.

Zhao Hanzhang watched their entire dispute before turning to leave.

Fu Tinghan quickly followed. “Did you know Liu Kun’s friends were among them?”

“I’m not actually a fortune-teller who can calculate everything with a finger,” Zhao Hanzhang said, pulling at the corner of her mouth. “It’s just that these people could run so rampant in Jinyang, kidnapping so many children without consequences—there must be a powerful force behind it.”

“Liu Kun lives extravagantly and is easy to please. That force very likely has entanglements with him,” Zhao Hanzhang said. “He may truly not know, but he’s certainly unknowingly protected them. Shi Lei hates human traffickers most, especially those who traffic the Jie people. Having him investigate this case is perfect.”

Liu Kun still wanted to poach Shi Lei? She would completely cut off his path.

Zhao Hanzhang said to Fu Tinghan, “Let’s go. Let them argue. I estimate the Xianbei’s reply should arrive soon too. We’ll only have these next couple days to relax.”

Zhao Hanzhang had recruited twelve thousand soldiers during this time. Shi Jun had also arrived and was now stationed outside the city.

The provisions consumed by the large army daily were an enormous amount. Zhao Hanzhang wanted to resolve the Xianbei situation quickly, then campaign against Wang Jun, and also crush the Xiongnu thoroughly.

Once the Xiongnu were finished, she could focus on developing internal governance in peace.