Don't move, this child bride is not easy to mess with.

"When I first heard Lin Xu say this, I was as surprised as you. But after hearing what he said about the situation he investigated, I also started to doubt Chief Xia." Jiang Ruiyan said with a bitter smile.

Following Jiang Ruiyan's introduction, Xie Chengan became more and more surprised. I finally understood a little bit about Shilang Ning's intention of appointing him as An Lan.

This Anlan County is indeed a powder keg, and it's an extra-large one.

Two years ago, a group of horse thieves came to Gaoyang Mountain.

Speaking of the origin of this group of horse thieves, it is really not a secret. I am afraid that all the officials in the three provinces near Anlan know something about it.

Even before Xie Chengan came to take office, Xie Zhizhou reminded him a few words.

To talk about the origin of this group of horse thieves, we have to start from the previous dynasty.

In the previous dynasty, the nomadic people outside the Great Wall conquered the world, and their army was good at using cavalry. Although Taizu of this dynasty defeated the previous dynasty, he was not able to completely eliminate the army of the previous dynasty.

The biggest reason is that the cavalry troops are not as elite as the opponent.

Therefore, this dynasty has always attached great importance to Ma Zheng. The imperial court could not afford the expense of raising horses on a large scale, so it passed the pressure on to the people, which gave rise to a kind of household registration - horse households.

Civilian households make a living by farming, military households make a living by serving as soldiers, and horse households make a living by raising horses.

But in fact, these horse households also come from civilian households. This dynasty's horse administration stipulated that if five households provided foals issued by the court, and one household was dedicated to raising horses, they would be exempted from the grain tax.

These horse owners then turn in one pony every year. When it is handed over, the court will provide corresponding subsidies for the cost of transporting horses.

The key is that if you fail to pay, you will be fined, or if the horse you hand in is unqualified, no subsidy will be given.

What is even more frightening is that although the imperial court has issued a decree exempting food from food, it does not clearly specify the amount of food exemption. If this horse administration is in the hands of local officials, there will be more room for maneuver.

Although the methods vary from place to place, in essence they all reduce or reduce money and food as much as possible and reduce subsidies. Local officials oppressed horse owners, causing them to raise horses and pay for food.

I want the horse to run, but I don’t want the horse to eat grass!

Raising horses requires a large area of ​​pasture, which competes with cultivated land for space. And who can guarantee that horses will give birth to ponies every year? Even if she gives birth, how can she guarantee that she will not die prematurely?

Moreover, these pastures are often invaded by local powerful people in various ways. After all, raising horses is a matter for the imperial court. If you occupy the pasture and grow food, it will fall into your own pocket.

The pastures have been encroached upon, making it even harder for horse farmers to feed their horses. Do local officials not care?

Can't control it.

Ma Zheng is directly in charge of Taipu Temple, and is called Qun Mu Supervisor locally. They have no affiliation with local prefectures, states, and counties. How can we manage this? It’s thankless.

The key point is that this is not the case in one place, but that the pastoral supervisors in various places have similar situations. The court was unable to solve the problem and ultimately had to ask the occupiers to pay rent.

How can these horse households survive in the long run?

If you don't let me live, then don't blame me for fighting with you! More and more horse owners who were unable to complete their tasks took away their horses and became horse thieves.

I dare to take down the emperor even if I am willing to be killed!

These horse thieves are not powerful, they are just ordinary people who cannot survive. However, the local government officials and patrol archers were only slightly stronger than them.

Because these horse thieves were supported by mounts, they came and went like the wind, so local officers and soldiers had nothing to do with them.

If there is a heavy attack, they will disperse and become bandits. If left alone, they would gather together to plunder.

The soldiers and horses have not moved, but the food and grass go first. Every time a large number of troops were mobilized, the court had to spend a lot of money, food and grass. But the result was that these horse thieves repeatedly escaped by taking advantage of the terrain and horses.

Since these horse thieves have horses, don’t the officers and soldiers have them?

Not really.

This is simply because most of the horses produced by Ma Zheng are supplied to border officers and soldiers to defend enemy countries outside the wall. The few horses owned in the interior are also used in inns, delivery stations and other institutions.

So, this is embarrassing. Ma Zheng provoked a civil uprising, but local officials were unable to quell it with force.

Then you can only turn a blind eye and close one eye. As long as you don't cause trouble within your own jurisdiction, you will never care.

Of course, it's not easy for these horse thieves either. In order to prevent being surrounded and suppressed, they often hide in the deep mountains and old forests. If they really have no money or food, they will come out to grab it.

After grabbing enough time to go back to the village to relax, they still had to deal with the internal struggle for power.

Many horse thieves did not die in the hands of officers and soldiers, but often died in the merger struggle between two groups of thieves, or even in the hands of their accomplices.

Some very shrewd horse thieves will even collude with local forces and become thugs. With the support of these forces, the strength will become stronger, and it can annex other bandits and strengthen the team.

Even after grabbing more money and grain, and the team became stronger, he could accept recruitment from the court, and suddenly became an official of the court.

The Qianhu Office in Gaoyang Mountain was established by the gang of horse thieves after they accepted the recruitment!

Zhao Jingzi of the Qianhu family originally led 300 horse thieves to plunder Jiangbei, but the encirclement and suppression campaigns by the capital commander failed many times, so the chief envoy Han Shouyue came to recruit them.

However, Han Fantai understood the hardships of Mahu and sympathized with their experiences. After some heartfelt persuasion, Zhao Jingzi burst into tears and dismounted his horse and prostrated himself on the spot.

Although it is said to be a prosperous time these days, there are so many people who cannot survive because there are so many water bandits, mountain bandits, and bandits of all kinds.

After Han Fantai and Dutai discussed it, Zhao Jingzi was appointed Qianhu and stationed in Gaoyang Mountain to guard the borders of the province.

With the original three hundred horse thieves as the backbone, some local braves and strong people were gradually assigned to serve as officers and soldiers of Qianhu Station.

Zhao Qianhu repaid his kindness, and in order to repay Han Fantai for his kindness, he worked hard to train his subordinates and wielded his butcher knife towards other bandits and bandits he was familiar with in the past.

In addition, Wang Ruhai, the county magistrate who took office a year ago, suppressed and appeased the bandits in the mountain. In less than a year, Gaoyang Mountain was restored to purity, and there were no more bandits.

Before Xie Cheng'an took office, the matter was jointly reported to the court through the feudal lord and the capital, with the intention of describing everyone's achievements and promoting Zhao Qianhu again.

Unexpectedly, the court didn't know where the mistake was, and the Ministry of War issued a written scolding Du Si. The reasons are all ready-made. Without the approval of the Ministry of War, Qianhu Station was set up privately and Qianhu military attachés were appointed.

He was dismissed from his post on the grounds that Dusi was ineffective in suppressing bandits. Because Han Fantai was a civil official, and the DPRK and the Central Government had the same year's efforts to protect him, no action was taken.

As for the Qianhu Office where Zhao Qianhu is located, the Fifth Army Governor's Office has issued an order to abolish it.

When the official document was sent to Gaoyang Mountain, Zhao Jingzi was furious on the spot.

I have been busy these past two years in vain. I am trying to kill the donkey!

Zhao Jingzi wanted to rebel, but was worried that Han Fantai would be implicated, so he left with his seal. Dozens of the original 300 horse thieves were killed or wounded in the suppression of the bandits, and the remaining 200 or so people dispersed silently.

Thousand households were eliminated, and these officers and soldiers should have dispersed.

But the new capital commander hadn't arrived yet, and the colleagues and ministers in the capital department didn't know what they were thinking, so they dismissed everyone without making proper arrangements.

The remaining six to seven hundred officers and soldiers of Qianhu Station actually mutinied!