The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 63 How to Place
The internal strife was easily settled.

Xin Qiji instantly returned to factory mode, stood still and posed.

Madam Gong Er and Qian Zhuoqun were also a little confused and had no idea what was going on. It was not until a scout came running over and hurriedly told them that "the True Lord had brought a heavenly official down to help them" that they understood what had happened.

The two men quickly strode up to Xin Qiji and clasped their fists in greeting: "Thank you, Heavenly Official, for your help."

Xin Qiji: "In my drunken state I look at my sword by lamplight, and in my dream I am back to the camp, blowing the horn."

Madam Gong Er: “?”

Xin Qiji: "Thinking back to those days, the soldiers were armed with swords and spears, their spirits were as fierce as tigers swallowing thousands of miles."

Madam Gong Er: “???”

She was stunned for a moment, then immediately understood that it seemed that all the gods in heaven had this problem. They didn't like to talk nonsense with mortals. Except for the True Lord who was gentle and approachable, the other heavenly officials, soldiers and generals all didn't like to pay attention to mortals. They only liked to talk to themselves, making it extremely difficult to communicate.

Qian Zhuoqun also understood this and whispered in her ear, "The heavenly officials, soldiers, and generals only come to help us because they received orders from the True Lord. They only give face to the True Lord and don't want to talk to mortals at all. Let's not bother ourselves."

Madam Gong Er nodded, bowed deeply to Xin Qiji, and decided not to disturb Tianguan's peace and quiet, and hurried over to deal with the affairs of the rebel army.

As soon as she walked over, nearly a hundred old brothers shouted at her: "Second Madam, are you okay?"

“It was a close call.”

Madam Gong Er nodded and smiled at them, "Thanks to all the brothers for their timely rescue."

The soldiers quickly said, "We dare not. If the Heavenly Official had not awakened us, we would not have known that the thieves Zheng and Zhang were going to harm you."

"We couldn't help much either. It was all thanks to the Heavenly Officials."

A group of people were talking at once, while on the other side, a large group of island refugee soldiers were in a panic, not knowing what to do. They wanted to say a few words but didn't dare, so they could only peek in from the side, like a group of young wives caught in a pinch.

Madam Gong Er did not forget about them and said with a pleasant face, "Don't be afraid, it's none of your business."

A group of island soldiers looked around and collectively selected a person to be the spokesperson. The man's name was Wu Zhan, the most popular man among the island refugees. When the rebel army led by Zheng Hao and Zhang Jiaozi had not yet landed on the island, the refugees on the island all listened to Wu Zhan.

Wu Zhan is 20 years old this year. He was born in Hutuo Village, Jimo County. He is the best fighter in the village.

When the Jin bandits attacked, Wu Zhan led a group of militiamen from the village to join the team of the local gentry and the head of the village. However, halfway through the journey, he heard that the head of the village had been killed by the Jin bandits.

Wu Zhan hurried back to Hutuo Village and organized the villagers to take their valuables and food and flee to the island.

Refugees from several other villages gathered on their way to the island. They found a small wooden boat in a coastal village and rowed to an unnamed island five miles offshore. They hid there for several days, unaware of the situation on land, and like a blind man, they were about to flee. Just then, Zheng Hao and Zhang Jiaozi arrived on the island with over a hundred rebel soldiers, bringing them news that Jimo County had been captured by the Jin bandits.

The refugees on the island were even more afraid to return to the mainland and had to continue hiding on the deserted island.

Wu Zhan thought that Zheng Hao and Zhang Jiaozi were "anti-Jin heroes", so he worshipped them as brothers and led all the island refugees to join their army. However, after seeing a big internal strife today, he realized that he had trusted the bad guys by mistake.

Wu Zhan walked up to Madam Gong Er and, somewhat awkwardly, introduced himself. He asked, "Madam Gong Er, we were blind and followed the wrong person before. What should we do next? Please give us your guidance."

Madam Gong Er said, "Although Zheng Qi and Zhang Jiu harbor evil intentions, this does not affect our earlier agreement. The Jimo righteous army welcomes you to Dongmiaozi Village and live with us. Dongmiaozi Village has fertile farmland and a fortress, where you can find peace and security."

Wu Zhan was overjoyed, and so were the other island refugees. However, they still had to say something unpleasant: "We are a group of people from several villages, so there are quite a few of us. There are also over a hundred elderly, weak, women, and children on the island. I wonder if Dongmiaozi Village can accommodate them all? We all still have to farm..."

This is said more cautiously...

He hadn't said this when they first joined forces because, at the time, Wu Zhan still considered the rebels bandits, the type who would fight wherever they could, and naturally didn't care about a village's capacity. But after what had just happened, and after hearing that Dongmiaozi Village had fertile fields and a fortress, indicating a long-term presence, he had to consider a village's capacity.

After all, most of them are farmers and they have to farm!

How much farmland could Dongmiaozi Village have? Could it accommodate hundreds of rebels and villagers?

Hearing the word "farming", Madam Gong Er was also stunned. Yes, farmers need to farm, and they can't just be lured to Dongmiaozi Village. She recalled what Yue Wenxuan said to her. The current priority is to develop agriculture. How can they develop agriculture if everyone is crowded in one village?
Moreover, it is meaningless to concentrate the productive population in one village without any land to farm.

Madam Gong Er immediately understood: "Actually, not all of you have to go to Dongmiaozi Village. Those who want to farm can return to their respective villages. It's the end of February now, so there's still time for you to go home for spring plowing and sowing. And those who want to kill the Jin bandits can come with us to Dongmiaozi Village and join our righteous army. We will practice battle formations and attack strategies with you, so that when the Jin soldiers come, you can protect your wives and children at home."

Wu Zhan: "Is it okay to go back to the village now? There are bandits and bullies in the countryside..."

"Don't worry!" Madam Gong Er smiled. "While you were on the island, the government sent new officials. There was a new county lieutenant who worked really hard, suppressing bandits everywhere. In just over a month, he wiped out all the small gangs of bandits and bullies entrenched in the vicinity of the county. Now he's just helpless against our Jimo Volunteer Army."

As soon as these words were spoken, Wu Zhan and others showed strange expressions on their faces.

So the official is here again?

Then why should we follow thieves?
Madam Gong Er had long guessed that once she told them the government had returned, these people would have other ideas. But she couldn't hide the fact that the government had returned from them. The sooner she told them, the sooner they would stop thinking about it. If she kept it a secret, the villagers would find out later, and if they started to have other ideas, that would be really troublesome.

Madam Gong Er said solemnly, "Everyone, you should all know what the government is like. The first time the Jin thieves came, the government couldn't stop them. The next time the Jin thieves come, the government will still be unable to stop them. If we want to protect our wives and children, we have to rely on ourselves. I won't force you to follow us. We, the Jimo righteous army, are not thieves and will not coerce innocent people. In short, you should all follow me to Dongmiaozi Village first and see what our righteous army is doing in Dongmiaozi Village. See whether we are thieves or a righteous army that can be trusted. Once you see clearly, you can make a decision."

Her words were quite generous, and the island refugees all thought: This queen is different from other thieves! She is an upright person.

(End of this chapter)