Reborn as a bride, pretending to be virtuous, the prince held his waist and regretted

After the bandits were arrested, the people of Qingshui County began to live in peace.

Although some villagers' family members were bandits, were arrested, and were doing labor reform, the people were not angry.

Because it has been said now that even though you are a bandit, you will be punished if you are caught.

But now you can reduce the crime by doing hard labor, and you can return home after the sentence is over.

Ordinary people can not only visit these prisoners, but also send them food and clothes.

The common people saw that they didn’t have to die and could even eat and drink well.

Although the work was tiring, at least I saved my life.

They would rather this than have their families continue to be bandits.

Because of this, it has gained more support from the people.

Although the bandits were killed directly, they could be suppressed with powerful means.

But it doesn’t matter if these bandits died, but what about their families?

They will take out all their resentment for losing their loved ones on the government.

How can the common people accept the government and farm in peace if they have hatred in their hearts?

Therefore, after Zhou Jin discussed with Gu Xiling, they decided to execute only the main culprit and not pursue the death penalty for some of the ordinary bandits below.

The death penalty can be avoided, but the living crime cannot be forgiven.

Zhou Jin didn't beat these people, he just let them work.

Not only can we reclaim wasteland, but we can also build new water conservancy projects.

With these people doing labor, the government doesn't even have to conscript laborers.

Such a good thing achieves three goals at once, and the effect is even better so far.

After harvesting corn, we start harvesting sweet potatoes.

The common people also came to help, and Zhou Jin even had people set up a big pot.

The smaller sweet potatoes were washed and thrown into the pot to cook.

Cooked sweet potatoes taste sweet and fragrant.

Both adults and children like it very much.

Zhu Laoliu was excited, "Sir, sweet potatoes are delicious. We also planted a few acres in our village. Do we need to pay taxes when we harvest them?"

Zhou Jin replied: "No need. The big ones are for seeds, and you can eat the small ones. Not only can they be boiled, but they can also be roasted."

"By the way, the sweet potatoes need to be stored in the cellar, otherwise they will be frozen, which will not only affect the taste, but also affect next year's planting. As for how to build a cellar, you can learn from Lao Li."

Zhu Laoliu bowed his hands in thanks and said, "Thank you very much, sir. I will go and learn right away."

During the ten days of harvest, many villagers came to see the harvest and spread the news by word of mouth.

One pass ten, ten pass a hundred.

Almost everyone in Qingshui County knew about it, and the people who had been worried were finally relieved.

Qingshui County is peaceful.

Even if there are some fish that have slipped through the net, they dare not show their heads now and are hiding from place to place.

Some even ran away and never dared to cause trouble in Qingshui County again.

All the sweet potatoes of good quality are stored in the cellar.

The corn is also threshed and the ones with full kernels are selected for seeds.

The remaining ones that are not so good are ground into flour and mixed with flour to make corn buns.

Fortunately, it was fermented and quite soft.

There is a kind that is hard, browned on one side, and very fragrant.

After the sweet potatoes and corn stalks are dried, they are cut into small pieces three fingers long and kept to feed livestock.

This way, there will be plenty of fodder for the winter.

Corn stalks can actually be used as dyes and for cooking and heating.

By the time the grain is harvested, the weather turns cold.

Zhou Jin was filled with emotion when he saw the granary full of harvest.

“If we get through this winter, we’ll be able to win big next year.”

Gu Xiling poured Zhou Jin a cup of tea and said, "My husband is wise. I never thought you could use this method to wipe out the bandits in Qingshui County."

"In addition, we should divide the bandits internally, win over most of them, kill the ringleaders, and punish some of the guilty bandits. Although we make them work, we should let them survive and have a way to survive, so that they will not take risks."

Hearing this, Zhou Jin nodded, "In fact, I also received a reminder from my wife to adopt a policy of differentiation. I didn't expect the effect to be so good. Now most of the people can live a peaceful life."

"These bandits behaved well while doing their labor service, and almost none of them escaped. They all hoped to finish their sentences as soon as possible so that they could return home and reunite with their families."

Gu Xiling nodded, "It is said that poor and bad places produce unruly people. In fact, most of the unruly people are forced to do so. The inaction of the government, or the greed, stupidity and corruption of the officials, force the people to rebel. Or the government colludes with evil forces to grab more money."

"Ordinary people can't live a normal life, and they are coerced and bribed by those bad guys, so they can only be forced to become bandits. Even so, it will be very dangerous, but if they don't become bandits, not only will they die, but their families will also die."

"While we are scolding the bandits, the ones who should reflect the most are the government and the people in power in the border army. It's ironic that General Wu is safe and sound now, but we still have to avoid his sharp edge."

Zhou Jin replied in a deep voice: "My father told me to keep General Wu stable before I came. As long as General Wu doesn't rebel, everything else will be easy."

Gu Xiling thought for a moment, and then said, "In fact, General Wu may not be determined to rebel, otherwise he would have done it long ago under such favorable circumstances."

"Now that we have taken control of Qingshui County, although Xie Jin only has 5,000 troops, we can pick out 20,000 young and strong men from those reformed bandits and train them to become elite troops."

Zhou Jin didn't dare to relax, "We can't be careless. After all, I have a family to support now, and I dare not fight with General Wu."

Seeing Zhou Jin's nervous look, Gu Xiling smiled, "My husband is right. We should be careful at that time. But my husband, remember, as long as the court is stable, Qingshui County will not be in chaos."

"I received a letter from my grandmother and mother, and learned that the Crown Princess and the two concubines have all given birth. The Crown Prince already has two sons and one daughter."

"In addition, your majesty and the queen have arranged a few concubines for the prince. They are of ordinary family backgrounds, but they are good-looking, satisfying the prince's pursuit of beauty. I heard that three of them are already pregnant. Judging from this, the prince will not have to worry about having children in the future."

"It is precisely because of this that the court is stable. With the governance level of Your Majesty and the Crown Prince, there will be no chaos in the next twenty years. We know this, and General Wu knows it too. Since rebellion will only lead to death, it is better to take advantage of the court's opportunity to appease him and stay honest. Maybe he can make up for his crime with meritorious service."

Zhou Jin let out a long sigh, "That's good, that's good! Before, I was really worried. Now that I think about it carefully, General Wu really has no need to rebel."

"As long as he doesn't rebel, I will have enough time to govern Qingshui County well. Stability is the most important thing. Once the people in Qingshui County are completely stable, we can start the second step of the plan."

From the outside, it seems like there will be no major action and it will be very easy to wipe out the bandits, but if there is a mistake at any step, there will be a big mess.