Chapter 115: The Armed Bounty Hunters

"What?"
"Then where are we supposed to live?"
"Our ancestors have lived here for generations..."
The crowd at the assembly hall was in an uproar. Only after Xu Wenshan gestured repeatedly did they finally quiet down.
"Wind Stone Village produces no grain of its own. You have eked out a living here by doing odd jobs for the Salt Gang, serving their thugs like masters just to trade for a bit of food. Now that the Salt Gang is gone, there is no more work for you. If you don't go to Deer Crane Gully, where will you go? Will you live on thin air?"
The villagers considered this and realized he was right. Xu Wenshan continued, "At Deer Crane Gully, there is plenty of work for you. You earn according to what you do. Whether you become wealthy or remain poor depends entirely on your own two hands, not on anyone else. As for a place to stay, I will have the engineer battalion construct a temporary settlement for you to live in for the time being. Once you have earned enough to build your own homes, you may move out."
Hearing this, the villagers felt the arrangement was reasonable, though they still felt a pang of reluctance at leaving their ancestral home.
Xu Wenshan said, "There is an opportunity to make money right now. Each of you can go to the engineer battalion to collect equipment. Anyone in Wind Stone Village can join. Form squads of ten and head out to capture the bandits roaming outside the stockade. For every bandit you bring back, you will be rewarded with 1,000 wen."
The villagers began to murmur again. Catching bandits was, to them, an overly daunting challenge. Besides, 1,000 wen split among ten people was only 100 wen each.
Xu Wenshan continued, "Do not underestimate this 1,000 wen. If you catch ten bandits in a day, wouldn't you earn 10 strings of cash? Where else in the world is it so easy to make money? There are far more than a hundred or two bandits outside the stockade. As long as you catch them, you will earn money."
"Each ten-man squad will include two experienced soldiers, so you don't need to worry about being unable to handle the bandits. If you encounter a large group and can't win, you can always run."
Once the villagers did the math, they became excited, appearing as if they wanted to grab their gear and set out immediately. Xu Wenshan had been worried they would be too afraid of the bandits to go, but now it seemed he had pioneered the practice of armed slave-catching.
...
"How many did you catch yesterday?"
"Yesterday? Didn't we only start catching them today?"
"Are you stupid? Start early and catch more—you'll earn more!"
"It was pitch black last night; who would dare go out of the village to catch bandits?"
"Tsk, what bandits? They’re just bottom-tier trash. As soon as we showed up, they were scared witless..."
By the second day in Wind Stone Village, "catching bandits" had become the primary topic of conversation. Greetings changed from "Have you eaten?" to "How many did you catch?"
People referred to these groups of villagers as "Bandit-Catching Squads." The power of money is immense; the villagers' last shred of fear toward the surrounding bandits vanished with the widespread mobilization of the squads.
This simple mountain village had not been "civilized" by the likes of the "triangular trade," and they felt no psychological burden toward these heinous bandits. Naturally, they used every method at their disposal.
Someone invented a pole with a rope loop attached to one end. When they encountered a bandit, they would slip it over the person's neck, preventing escape. It became known as the "Bandit-Snaring Pole."
Years later, young men skilled with the "Bandit-Snaring Pole" were still held in high regard, and the practice was even immortalized in song: "Oh, you sturdy and heroic man of the snare, you caught the bandit and captured the maiden's heart as well."
Ordinary small groups of bandits were no match for the squads. If they encountered bandits who could run fast, the squads would trail them from a distance, wearing them down until they were exhausted before capturing them. Since the squads were well-supplied with rations, they could afford to wear them out.
It was said that one squad followed a group of bandits for a long distance and eventually discovered a bandit den. The squad, bold and skilled, gritted their teeth and managed to take down the entire stronghold, returning home with their pockets full.
Inspired by this, others organized multiple squads to head into the mountains in search of bandit dens. For a time, Wind Stone Village launched a counter-offensive against the bandit strongholds. The various mountain leaders were terrified of these villagers with eyes glinting with greed, and many dens were wiped out just like that.
Some even caught horsemen who were so starved they were easily pulled from their saddles with the snaring poles. The horses were difficult to divide, so they brought them to Xu Wenshan. After calculating, Xu Wenshan realized the horses were worth more than the men, so he purchased them at 1,500 wen each, promising to buy any others they found. Consequently, he stockpiled quite a few horses, though he was now troubled by where to keep them.
Of course, less pleasant things happened as well. One squad discovered tracks and, upon catching up, the leader shouted, "Old Four Wei!"
Old Four Wei had been carrying a bundle, and having encountered several squads on the road, he assumed they were bandit accomplices. He had been hiding in the woods, eventually getting lost and becoming so famished from lack of food that he collapsed on the ground.
Those who recognized Old Four Wei intended to send him back, but others disagreed, arguing that he was also a bandit and should be taken in.
Those who knew him argued, "But he's Old Four Wei! He's not a bandit, don't you remember?"
The dissenters had their own logic: "According to the standards set by Young Master Xu, he has no official registration and no identification. There is no way to prove he is a villager, so he must be treated as a bandit."
"But rules are rigid, while people are flexible."
"If you don't bring him back, you lose out. If you bring him in as a bandit, you can exchange him for a string of cash!"
Thus, everyone quickly reached a consensus and dragged Old Four Wei back as a bandit.
Other squads also found many villagers who had fled the village, many of whom were also taken in as bandits. After two or three days of this, the bandits outside the village were largely wiped out. Xu Wenshan estimated that if he didn't stop it now, these squads would start catching each other, and a new generation of "killing innocents for merit" would be born. He promptly discontinued the policy.
As for Old Four Wei, who had been caught, Xu Wenshan had him sent back to the Wei family estate. After losing face in such a manner, Old Four Wei could no longer hold his head up. Two days later, he left home, and no one knew where he had gone.
Xu Wenshan meticulously planned out the Wind Stone Village salt mines, proposing a complete overhaul. The main change was shifting from boiling salt to sun-drying, which required a thorough renovation of the drying fields and the use of the engineer battalion to properly clear and repair the local irrigation channels.
The new Wind Stone Village salt mines no longer followed the practices of the White Dragon Gang but instead operated under regulations established by Xu Wenshan.
Xu Wenshan initially tried to copy modern corporate systems, but he later discovered that without supporting laws, such businesses were difficult to sustain. He adapted to local conditions, creating rules to ensure the salt mine remained firmly under his control, while leaving the details of future operations to be explored slowly.
With matters in Wind Stone Village settled, Xu Wenshan decided to return to Deer Crane Gully. He had been away for nearly half a month, and the people in Deer Crane Gully were still short of salt; if he didn't return soon, there was no telling what might happen.