After verifying the final accounts and asking the six village cadres to sign and fingerprint them, Han Haitao carefully put away the account book and stood up to bid farewell to the village cadres.

"Tax Collector Han, have a meal before you go," Zhang Qingshan invited.

Han Haitao shook his head. "I have to rush back to town to hand over the accounts. If the town has training arrangements, I will ask the Town Mayor to issue an official document as soon as possible."

Hearing about training, the village cadres were full of anticipation. Zhang Qingshan smiled. "We are all waiting for good news from the town."

Militia Captain Li Zhengqing escorted Han Haitao to the village entrance. Han Haitao admired Li Zhengqing the most in the village. Arriving at the entrance, he didn't say goodbye immediately but couldn't help advising, "Captain Li. The green fodder the town asked the village to produce will definitely be useful. Please seize the time to learn, Captain Li; the official document explains it clearly, just those few key points."

Captain Li Zhengqing laughed. "Tax Collector Han, I still can't recognize all those characters. If the town can send some people to the village for guidance, I will try my best to learn."

"I will explain this matter to the Town Mayor," Han Haitao agreed. "However, Captain Li, I saw the town's plan; this year, people will be sent to the village to organize literacy classes. Please make sure to participate, Captain Li. If Captain Li can read and write, it will be like adding wings to a tiger."

Captain Li smiled. "Tax Collector Han thinks too highly of me."

Just as they were about to part, Captain Li hesitated. This man, who usually had a strong backbone, lowered his voice significantly. "Tax Collector Han, can I really learn those things?"

Han Haitao encouraged him, "It's not hard. Captain Li participated in the training class. I heard a saying in the training class that put it well: literacy is mastering a craft. As long as it's not for the sake of being superior to others after mastering this craft, it's very easy to learn."

Captain Li was somewhat unconfident but replied, "Many thanks, Tax Collector Han. You be careful on the road."

Han Haitao hadn't walked far when he heard several gunshots from the village. Being far away, Han Haitao wasn't completely sure if it was gunfire. He stopped, not knowing how to respond.

At the village entrance, Li Zhengqing ran out quickly and soon arrived in front of Han Haitao. He said anxiously, "Quickly go to the town and inform the Town Mayor. Bandits have come to the village."

"Captain Li, be careful!" Han Haitao urged, then hurried toward the town.

***

The next afternoon, Xu Chengfeng and others who were in a meeting received the news. Zhangjiatun had been attacked by bandits, and a village cadre was injured. Fortunately, the injury wasn't fatal. The bandits wounded someone, but seeing the militia quickly surrounding them under the leadership of the cadres, they didn't dare to rob anything and fled directly.

Finding Zhangjiatun on the map, everyone frowned slightly. Zhangjiatun wasn't too far from Siping, and bandit trouble had always been rare there. In Hu Xiushan's projection, this was a low-risk area for bandits.

Cheng Ruofan couldn't help asking, "Xiushan, where did this group of bandits come from?"

Hu Xiushan stared at the map. Although he didn't answer, his expression was unruffled.

Xu Chengfeng thought for a moment and asked the staff officer to bring the land reform records. He flipped to the Zhangjiatun file, read it for a moment, then handed the materials to Cheng Ruofan. He himself began discussing with Hu Xiushan the possibility of long-range raids by foreign bandits.

Cheng Ruofan read for a while, suddenly realized, and asked unhappily, "Could it be intentional retaliation from the people in Changchun?"

Other officers gathered around to read the materials. Zhangjiatun's richest man, Zhang Debiao, had his family uprooted because of blood debts.

The reason the Zhang family dared to act like that locally was that their family had someone serving as an official in Changchun. Learning that Zhang Debiao's whole family had been arrested, the branch of the Zhang family in Changchun had sent someone to mediate a while ago.

Even though the other party brought a gift of one hundred rifles, He Rui didn't accept it. Instead, he frankly told the other party that Zhang Debiao and other chief culprits owed blood debts and must pay with blood. Only those unrelated personnel of the Zhang family could be released.

However, the purpose of the other party's trip was to make He Rui release Zhang Debiao and the others. Seeing He Rui was completely unaccommodating, after all kinds of persuasion failed, they left angrily.

Zheng Silang slammed the table and stood up, furious. "They all say officials and bandits are one family. Besides fighting bandits, we have to fight the official-bandits too!"

Xu Chengfeng raised his head and ordered, "Everyone sit down!"

In Siping, He Rui was the Governor, and the second-highest ranking officer was Regiment Commander Xu Chengfeng, a Second Lieutenant. Ordered by Xu Chengfeng like this, although Zheng Silang was puffing with rage, he finally sat down.

Only then did Xu Chengfeng say, "Bandits are bandits. Whether they do evil spontaneously or are hired, bandits will always act according to the bandit mode. We will just continue according to the bandit-fighting mode; there will be a day when the bandits are completely wiped out."

After speaking, Xu Chengfeng looked at Zheng Silang. "Silang. Are we here for revenge or for bandit suppression?"

Zheng Silang nodded with a gloomy face. "I understand. Now everything will prioritize bandit suppression; actions must obey bandit suppression."

Seeing Zheng Silang being so sensible, Xu Chengfeng breathed a sigh of relief and turned to everyone. "The Governor said yesterday that we need to mobilize the masses. Recalling this land reform, we knocked down the local tyrants and evil gentry and won over the masses. Now the enemy has started to do the opposite, attacking our cadres. This is a struggle for dominance. Since that's the case, we will mobilize the masses in the villages and towns where those five families of local tyrants and evil gentry were located. I believe the people want their lives to be peaceful."

***

Two days later, Zheng Dabang [Zheng "Big Stick"], disguised as a peddler, appeared outside Lijiaying pushing a small cart. The small leader beside him saw the figure of a woman in the distance and couldn't help craning his neck to look. That impatient look, he almost stood on tiptoes.

Zheng Dabang shouted in a low voice, "Don't be so worthless. Master Zhang's family said that as long as we kill a village cadre, they will give us twenty silver dollars. Twenty silver dollars is enough to sleep with how many women in the brothel?"

Hearing this, the small leader nodded repeatedly, finally recovering his proper appearance.

Zheng Dabang stopped at the village entrance first, shook his hand drum, and shouted in the tone of a traveling merchant, "Take a look, take a look. Floral cloth, needles and thread, we have everything you want!"

Before long, someone stopped in front of Zheng Dabang's cart and began asking prices. Zheng Dabang first observed the villagers in the village. As for selling things, he left it to the small leader. Although the small leader was lecherous, he was also a person who haggle over every penny. He bargained down to the last cent with the buying villagers and actually made a few deals.

Taking advantage of the time when fewer people were around, Zheng Dabang asked a middle-aged man nearby, "Big Brother, I heard the village had land reform. Where does the Village Head live?"

The middle-aged man asked, "What do you want with the Village Head?"

"Having become the Village Head, he definitely has money. I want to shout a few times outside the Village Head's door to see if his family has anything to buy."

Hearing this, the middle-aged man looked Zheng Dabang up and down a few times. "You're an outsider, right?"

"Yes. I came from over Changchun way."

The middle-aged man looked at Zheng Dabang a few more times, dropped a "Don't know," and got up to leave.

Zheng Dabang was stunned. He didn't know what was wrong with this middle-aged man.

Later, he asked a few more people, all answering the same: "Don't know."

Zheng Dabang felt something was wrong but wasn't reconciled. Seeing a young man walking over, he went up with a smile and asked where the Village Head lived.

The youth was enthusiastic. After listening to Zheng Dabang's explanation, he led Zheng Dabang to the door of a family in the village. Pointing to the main gate, he said, "The Village Head lives in this house."

Zheng Dabang hurriedly thanked him and began to peddle his wares. Before long, the door opened, and a person walked out, scolding Zheng Dabang angrily, "Do you know whose house this is? This is the Village Head's house. What are you shouting for at noon! Don't you know people are sleeping?"

Hearing this shouting, Zheng Dabang was sure it should be correct. He hurriedly pretended to be submissive, pushed the cart, and left the village. After walking five or six *li*, seeing no one around, Zheng Dabang took the small leader onto a small path and arrived beside a small temple.

After a few whistles, several people came out of the small temple. They were all Zheng Dabang's brothers. Zheng Dabang said to his brothers, "I've already made the mark. Tonight we go to hit that Village Head's 'soft kiln'!"

Hearing this, the bandits were all overjoyed. Outside the pass, bandit robbery was called "smashing the kiln" (*za yao*). These kilns were divided into "ringing kilns" (*xiang yao* - hard targets) and "soft kilns" (*ruan yao*). A soft kiln referred to a home with very weak defenses. A Village Head's home being a soft kiln was a godsend for bandits.

Not to mention there was a bounty for this robbery; killing someone would grant reward money. Even if they didn't grab anything, they had already earned.

The bandits set up hidden sentries, and the others began to rest. It was just past noon, and the bandits hadn't eaten either. As the autumn wind blew, they all shrunk into the small broken temple to nap.

An unknown amount of time later, the sound of killing suddenly arose. Zheng Dabang scrambled up with a start. He saw that although the temple door was blocked with a broken door, government soldiers climbed directly in from over the wall. After landing, they nimbly raised their guns and aimed at the people inside the temple.

Looking at a row of dark muzzles, how could Zheng Dabang dare to move? His subordinates obediently raised their hands.

Without wasting a single shot or bullet, Zheng Dabang's gang of seven bandits was captured entirely.