Chapter 380 Village Establishes Guard Team
At this moment, the队长 took on the role of the bad cop.
"I'm making this clear today. If we get the grain and someone still spills the beans, the entire village will face punishment when it comes down. Furthermore, the person who talks will have their entire family driven out of the village."
Being driven out of the village in those times was equivalent to having one's lifeline cut. Without any other place to go, they would be unregistered, unable to find work, and would only be left to starve.
"And to those who know, you'll also receive a share of the grain. We hope you won't do anything you'll regret."
The villagers who knew dared not speak out. Their own grain was already insufficient, so being able to receive some was already a great fortune.
"We promise not to speak. If anyone from the Qing Yuan faction talks, they'll be expelled immediately."
The 队长 nodded with satisfaction. If someone disobeyed, there were always ways to deal with them.
"Alright, since that's settled, we'll send it out tonight. As for who we sell it to, don't ask too many questions, but the money earned will be announced to everyone."
The village chief was truly grateful to the new villagers from the Ye family. Not only did they save those who went up the mountain, but they also devised a plan to sell the goods and convert the money into grain.
Without the Ye family, they wouldn't even know who to sell the tiger to. While they knew about the black market, they had no contacts there, and if they were cheated, there would be no recourse.
This solved all the village's difficulties. Therefore, the village chief not only had to refrain from asking questions but also had to help conceal the matter.
By evening, the tiger was sent out of the village. Elder Fan and Elder Dang also followed to the county courtyard to extract the tiger's treasures that night.
The remaining meat was also hauled away that night and sold in the black market of a nearby city.
The next day, Ye Shengsong saw only a pile of bones and the tiger hide. There was only a small amount of meat.
In fact, Ye Mu'en had secretly brought back some meat for his sister to store. After all, tiger meat was also very good for the body.
"Come, come, Shengsong, today your master will teach you about the treasures of a tiger and how to process them."
"Elder Fan, these things must be kept well."
Elder Fan understood instantly and exchanged glances with Ye's father and the elder men of the Bai family.
Ye Shengsong turned her head somewhat awkwardly. Don't treat her like an idiot, she understood!
Of course, Ye Shengsong contributed a lot of good wine. Precious items deserved good ingredients.
After dealing with the tiger, the village chief and others held another meeting in the office.
After all, the situation reported by those who returned from the mountain had not yet been communicated to the rest of the village.
"Uncle, what are your thoughts on this matter?"
The 队长 was at a loss and only wanted to hear if the elder had any good ideas.
The village chief looked at the usually silent village party secretary, Ji Songlin.
"Songlin, what are your thoughts?"
Ji Songlin had always only worked within his scope and avoided involvement in other matters whenever possible. This was because he knew that as long as the old village chief was present, Bai Rong Brigade would be fine.
However, now that it concerned the survival of the entire village, he could no longer remain silent.
"Old village chief, the village is indeed in danger, and it should be reported. But even if they find out, what can they do? Can they kill all the large wild beasts in the entire mountain?
"Moreover, if they send people into the mountains, won't our secretly planted crops be discovered? They've already sprouted, so we can't pull them out now."
The 队长 handed everyone a cigarette and spoke again after taking two drags.
"My suggestion is not to report it. After all, they can't handle the mountain situation. That way, our crops can be saved."
The village chief nodded. He also didn't want the hard-earned crops to be ruined. The villagers wouldn't agree either.
"What about the wild beasts coming down the mountain? And we still need to go up the mountain frequently to tend to the crops."
"Uncle, why don't we organize some skilled individuals to patrol the village daily, and they can also guard when we go up the mountain."
Thinking of the Ye family, the 队长 felt a sense of confidence.
The village chief glanced at Gong Aidang. How many skilled people were there in the village? It all depended on the Ye family to step in.
"Are you suggesting the Ye family take charge?"
"It's not just them. We will also contribute some people."
The village chief shook his head. He didn't have the ability to persuade those people.
"If you say one person per family, they might agree. But for them to mobilize entirely, that's impossible. Have you forgotten that I said they are not ordinary people and don't have that much time to spend guarding the village?"
There was no need to even say such things; even his youngest son would have turned hostile.
The 队长 dejectedly ran his hands through his hair. This wouldn't work, and that wouldn't work. They couldn't just wait for wild beasts to descend and tear them apart.
The village chief sighed. They would have many occasions to rely on them in the future, and they couldn't afford to offend them.
"Let one person from each family participate. The Ye, Bai, Zi, and Ouyang families. That makes four people, which can provide some more confidence."
This was a last resort. In fact, the old village chief was also calculating that if there was real danger, the other members of these families wouldn't just stand by and watch their representatives be in peril, so they would eventually lend a hand.
This could not be blamed on the village chief's selfishness. Those who are capable should do more, and the weaker ones would always subconsciously want to rely on the strong.
The next day, the village established a guard team. Bai Rong Brigade had over a thousand people, consisting of one hundred and three households.
One hundred and three households meant one hundred and three people, and they had to be the able-bodied laborers of the family. These one hundred and three people were divided into six teams, with seventeen people in each small team and one remaining as the captain.
The village chief naturally wanted someone from the Ye family to be a captain, but he was ruthlessly rejected.
Unable to do anything, the 队长 Gong Aidang had to be appointed as the overall captain.
Every day, two teams would be responsible for patrolling the village during the day, two teams for the night, and the remaining two teams would accompany the villagers up the mountain for guard duty.
Zi Yisheng provided three people. The Bai family insisted on providing their own. Chen Tonghua also contributed himself, as he was the only male in the Chen family.
The people provided by Zi Yisheng only joined the teams going up the mountain. Since Ye Shengsong and the others went up the mountain every day, it was more reassuring to have their own people watching over them.
From that day on, Ye Shengsong also produced a large quantity of sleeping drugs for her family, instructing them to carry it with them at all times as a precaution.
Wild beasts occasionally came down from the mountain, but they were all dealt with by the guard team.
What made the villagers happiest was the grain they bought. The hunted game in recent times was also sold to the black market. The village collected over five thousand yuan in total.
Ye Shengsong exchanged the money for grain at slightly above market prices and had it transported back to the village.
Calculated per capita, each person could receive dozens of catties of grain. Although it was mostly coarse grains, the grain for a family could last for a long time.
By August, the fields were so dry that cracks appeared. The river water had almost completely dried up, but not a single drop of rain had fallen.