If you traveled back to ancient times, while others ate Guanyin clay, you would actually have giant

The temporary resettlement site is an abandoned Taoist temple in the village. Even Grandpa Niu doesn't know exactly when it was built or why it was abandoned, so it is indeed very old.

Although the Taoist temple is abandoned, the overall structure is still quite sturdy. We only need to arrange for some women to clean up the place before we can live there temporarily. It's certainly not as comfortable as home, but it's better than being in the open air, exposed to the wind and sun.

That very night, the refugees in Niujia Village realized that what Zhou Wu had said was true.

"That Lord Zhou truly kept his word."

Having wandered for who knows how long, they finally managed to have a full meal today. After arriving at the Taoist temple, they took a quick look around and then went straight to sleep.

In the morning, Zhou Wu also provided a fish and meat porridge. The refugee could hardly believe it. He used to eat only two meals a day at home. Good heavens, now that he was a refugee, he had to eat three meals a day.

At first, Zhou Wu was a little worried, fearing that the refugees would become degenerate, but as soon as he had breakfast, someone came to his door.

"Lord Zhou, I wonder if you could assign us some work now?"

A strong young man, seeing Zhou Wu patrolling nearby, mustered his courage and approached him.

"Oh, I told you, the first three days are free."

Zhou Wu had considered that someone might find him beforehand, but he didn't expect it to happen so quickly.

"I feel unhappy if I eat my fill every day and don't do any work."

"You're quite honest. So what do you want to do, and what are you good at?"

"My lord, I used to hunt at home. I didn't know you might be of any use to me."

Upon hearing the man's words, Zhou Wu began to look him up and down.

"You're quite strong, so would you like to join the security force?"

"Sir, is it like that?"

The man pointed excitedly to the security team patrolling nearby. Zhou Wu smiled and nodded in agreement. The man became even happier and repeatedly expressed his willingness.

"My lord, I do, I do."

After receiving Zhou Wu's instructions, the man went to find Niu Er.

Zhou Wu then remembered to ask someone if these refugees had any special skills or what they did before. Zhou Wu hoped to find some skilled people among these refugees, such as blacksmiths or carpenters, so that Niujia Village could be self-sufficient in many things and wouldn't have to go to the county town so often.

"Brother Wu, the count is complete. As of now, there are a total of 86 migrants in our village. Most of them were farmers before, but one of them used to be a carpenter."

Indeed, in feudal society, skilled craftsmen were a very scarce resource. There was only one carpenter among the eighty-odd people, so the blacksmith that Zhou Wu wanted most was out of the question for the time being.

"Alright, everyone else, follow the previous arrangements. Those who can farm should farm, and those who can join the fishing team should join the fishing team. As for that carpenter, find him a place to continue his carpentry work."

"Yes."

. . . . . .

In the following days, new refugees arrived in Niujia Village every day, but after experiencing the treatment of having fish porridge for three meals a day, they were all willing to stay.

"Brother Wu, in just a few days, the number of refugees has almost exceeded two hundred."

Niu Er was somewhat worried. With so many people flooding into the village in such a short time, he wondered if the village could handle it.

How's your recruitment going?

"There are still some gaps, but I believe they will be filled soon."

"Yes, that's the most important one, I'd rather have none than something bad."

“I know, Brother Wu.”

Now, the first group of migrants to arrive in the village have all taken up their posts, and in their spare time each day, they watch over the waking migrants as if they were their masters.

"Scholar, I need to discuss something with you."

Niu Ye interrupted the two of them with a somewhat unfriendly expression.

"Then I'll go on patrol first, you guys talk."

Niu Er made an excuse and left first, leaving only Niu Ye and Zhou Wu behind.

"What trouble has Uncle Niu encountered?"

In Zhou Wu's memory, Master Niu had never looked distressed before, so this time he must have encountered something really troublesome.

"We're running out of food."

"Impossible. I went to the warehouse yesterday and there are still plenty of salted fish we have stored."

"It's not like we're salted fish, we're running low on staple food. At this rate, we'll probably only last twenty days at most. But actually, there are dozens of new refugees arriving every day, so we'll be lucky if we can hold out for another ten days."

It turned out that the staple food was gone, which was something Zhou Wu hadn't expected. Although they could use sea fish to tide them over, they couldn't just keep eating fish all the time. Nobody knew how long this natural disaster would last.

Is it still possible to buy grain in the county town?

"It's possible, but if you're hoping to buy grain in the county town to help the disaster victims, you're dreaming. Grain in the county town is more expensive than gold right now."

Uncle Niu's words were another blow to the head.

"It seems the only option is to suppress the bandits."

After discussing for a long time without reaching a conclusion, Zhou Wu finally made up his mind and set his sights on the bandits who were everywhere in Qingyang County.

"Scholar, have you thought this through? We're not always so lucky."

"Don't worry, Mr. Niu, I won't make a move without being completely confident."

Zhou Wu knew that Master Niu was worried about him.

Zhou Wu then found Niu Er and told him about the plan to suppress the bandits. He also told Niu Er to focus on training in the next two days so that the new recruits could quickly become combat-ready.

"Don't worry, Brother Wu. Three days. After three days, the entire security force can be deployed."

Niu Er was naturally extremely excited. He hadn't had enough fun at Flying Tiger Village last time, so this time he was going all out.

--------

Three days later, Zhou Wu and Niu Er set off with their security force before dawn. This time, the security force was twice as large as the last one, and everyone was equipped with a horse, greatly improving their mobility.

Qinglong Mountain is located about forty miles west of Niujia Village. It is very close to the border of the Great Dragon Empire and can be described as a no-man's-land.

According to intelligence from the county government, a band of bandits, numbering around fifty, has been operating on Qinglong Mountain for many years and is significantly stronger than the bandits of Feihu Mountain.

Zhou Wu chose Qinglong Mountain mainly because it was the weakest area around Niujia Village, making it easier to deal with compared to bandits like the Big Knife Society and Zuo Shandiao.

“Brother Wu, I’ve already scouted it out. The main advantage of Qinglong Mountain is its strategic location. The stronghold is built on Qinglong Mountain, with cliffs on the other three sides. Only the front has a road leading to the stronghold, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack.”

Niu Er's meaning was clear: the other side had more people than him and occupied a natural stronghold, making them a tough nut to crack.

“A direct confrontation is definitely not going to work, so let’s lure the snake out of its hole.”

Zhou Wu had done his homework before coming. Although the enemy outnumbered him, a direct attack was not an option. Therefore, he could only lure them out to disperse their numbers and defeat them one by one.

"Luring the snake out of its hole?"