Since ancient times, the county magistrates have been like flowing water while the government office remains solid as iron. The county magistrates are dispatched from elsewhere, but most of the junior officials and clerks are local, with too many vulnerable points to withstand threats.
This combination of surveillance, investigation, and threats leaves very few county government officials who keep their wealth and lives in the local area able to endure.
With this approach, the bandits were blinded, as their consecutive attempts at plundering were ambushed several times, which made them too scared to act.
Xiao Chong didn't even engage the bandits in large-scale close combat; he merely cut off their road down the mountain, forcing them to chew on wild vegetables and tree bark while cursing Xiao Chong as a treacherous dog.
