To sum up the concerns of these state capitals, the geographical advantages of Lingnan, which is far away on the border, are immediately highlighted.
The underdeveloped Lingnan was not enough to attract the attention of all forces at this moment. Everyone's attention was attracted by the White Disaster, rebels and alien races.
Even the last letter to the court for help was forgotten by everyone. No one in the court cared about the follow-up of Annan's harassment?
The court did not pay attention to Lingnan, but the refugees who were affected by the White Disaster and fled south relied on their survival instincts, and those who had some ability kept fleeing south.
When Chen Yongtian and Yu Quan arrived in Guiyang County, the two caravans parted ways.
Yu Quan led his caravan out of Guiyang County and headed west toward Lingling County.
Chen Yongtian entered Guiyang County to rest and recuperate, and released news that a batch of off-season vegetables were for sale. Many local vendors in Guiyang County were moved after hearing this.
Guiyang County is located in the southernmost part of Jingzhou, close to the Nanling Mountains. Although it is separated from Lingnan by a mountain range, the climate of the two places is very different.
The climate in the south of Lingnan is mild and mild, while in the north of the mountain there are four distinct seasons. Although there is no knee-deep snow in Guiyang County at the moment, the snow that fell on the ground did not reach the ankles.
In winter, the only vegetables here are cold-resistant cabbage, radishes, etc. The out-of-season vegetables brought by the Chen family's caravan are fresh and very popular among the local rich and powerful.
As for the price being more expensive than meat, they expressed their understanding that they should not be more expensive because they can eat rare summer vegetables in disaster years!
What they lack most in life is not money, but materials for enjoyment!
The Chen family's caravan cleared out supplies in Guiyang County. Going further north, the number of refugees obviously increased on the road.
"Leader, there are more and more refugees on the road. If we continue walking, I'm afraid these refugees will take the opportunity to cause trouble!" The leader, the driver, handed the carriage to his apprentice and went to Chen Yongtian to express his concerns.
Chen Yongtian's face was solemn. He knew better than anyone how terrible refugees were. There were still groups of people on the roadside today. He was worried that the further north he went, the more refugees there would be. Even if the refugees attacked and robbed their convoy, they would be killed.
The mules and horses had nothing to do but let these refugees do whatever they wanted.
"Let everyone gather the team, speed up, and come out with a desperate spirit. Try not to make the team too long, and don't show off your wealth. No one can eat during the journey!"
As Chen Yongtian's order was passed on, the momentum of the team suddenly changed, and the speed of the team also increased. The refugees on the roadside were so frightened that they unconsciously avoided the convoy, for fear of standing on the roadside and causing these people's displeasure and being whipped by them!
"Brother, we finally escaped from Jingzhou!"
When the team set foot on the unique cement road in Lingnan, Qiu San ran to Zhu Wei excitedly and said loudly, regardless of fatigue.
With the breeze blowing on his face, Zhu Wei felt the climate that was different from Jingzhou's. He lowered his head and stamped on the cement road, "Is this a cement road? It's really as hard as stone, but smoother than a stone road!"
The cement road is much higher than the roadbed at the edge. The tired men, women and children in the team sat on the edge of the dry and flat cement road, touching here and knocking there. They were all curious about what kind of mud could make such a road.
?
After Qi Qi had seen enough, these people started to use wooden sticks to clean the mud on the soles of the shoes.
"The yellow mud is so sticky. It sticks to it all the time. My shoes now weigh at least two or three kilograms!"
"Who says it's not the case? It's been raining. I slipped three times with one step when going down the mountain. I had to try hard to keep my body steady while going down the mountain. When I came down from the mountain, my legs no longer felt like my own!"
"But, having said that, isn't Lingnan called Nanmanzi? Why do I feel that Lingnan is richer than Jingzhou?"
"Yes, there is no cement road like this in Jingzhou."
Listening to the discussion of the brothers, Wu Zhong, also known as Wu Mie, approached Zhu Wei and asked: "Brother, when we come to Lingnan, should we continue to go up the mountains to become bandits or find a place to settle down and open up wasteland for farming?"
If Xia Jing were here, she would definitely recognize that their voices were familiar when she heard the conversation between several people.
This team was the same group of bandits who hijacked her coffin on the way to the royal tomb in Gyeonggi Province.
Before the snow started, the rebels expanded their territory and occupied Yuzhou. Judging from the current situation, there was a high possibility that the rebels' frontline would be aimed directly at Jingzhou or Yangzhou.
In this tense situation, the rebels seem to be doing well!
Bandits active in several nearby state capitals were even called to join the rebels in Yuzhou.
Bandits from all sides want to gain a share of the merits of being a dragon. Zhu Wei understands this very well, but understanding does not mean that he is willing to change his identity from bandit to traitor.
As long as the bandit is not a heinous person and becomes a good citizen, he can spend some money and become a good citizen.
The traitors were just the opposite. The imperial court hated those who betrayed the imperial court. Generally, they would be executed immediately if they were captured, or they would spend the rest of their lives doing hard labor, digging in mines for the rest of their lives, and they would not be freed until they died from exhaustion.
.
Zhu Wei did not want his brothers and descendants to bear the crime of being traitors forever.
He didn't want to join the rebels, but he couldn't stop his brothers from moving forward.
Everyone has his own ambitions. In the end, the brothers who were willing to defect to the rebels all went to Yuzhou, while the brothers who were unwilling to take risks and the remaining family members followed him to Lingnan.
Zhu Wei looked at the old and the young, "Let's find a county town near Fucheng and settle down first."
Wu Mie was not surprised by Zhu Wei's choice. It can be seen from his refusal to go to Yuzhou that he was not willing to be a bandit for life, let alone a traitor.
"Brother, do you want everyone to settle down and live an ordinary life in peace?"
Zhu Wei nodded and looked at the children sitting on the roadside resting, "For them, we have to make changes. In troubled times, although heroes do not care about their origins, it is also the easiest time for people of our background to clear their name.
."
If they find a place to stay while taking advantage of the chaos, when the world is at peace, they will be truly good people.
Wu Mie glanced at the children, grinned and said, "We listen to the big brother."
With the cement road, the team can move much faster and everyone can walk much more easily.
"Brother, I just asked passers-by, they are all going to build dams near Qujiang River."
Zhu Wei was surprised when he heard this and asked: "It's already the twelfth lunar month, why are Lingnan still doing hard labor? The government doesn't want the people to have a good year!"
"Brother, you misunderstood." Wu Mie chuckled. Seeing Zhu Wei looking over in confusion, he explained: "I just asked passers-by. They said that they were not doing labor service, but the government was recruiting workers to repair the dams. They were responsible for two days a day.
You’ll also be paid for each meal.”
After Zhu Wei heard this, he said in disbelief: "You are responsible for taking care of the food and still getting paid? This is a lie, isn't it? How much does it cost per day?"
Wu Mie stretched out a big slap, which he himself found a bit incredible, "Fifty copper coins!"
"So high?"
The brothers walking beside were shocked!
What kind of fairy-tale government is this? People who serve as slaves are paid with food and wages included?
"Yes, it's that high. It usually only costs about 30 yuan to hire a laborer. But this time, I heard that because of the construction of the dam, sometimes the feet have to be soaked in the water. It is considered as a cold-proof subsidy for the workers."
"Do the officials in Lingnan care so much about the people?" Others expressed doubts.
These statements are all made by passers-by. They have just arrived in Lingnan, and no one knows whether they are true or not.
Passers-by don’t care whether they believe it or not, they still go out to build river embankments at the end of the year just to earn some more copper coins so that they can have food for their families during the New Year and new clothes for their children and wife.
In the past, when I heard that laborers came to build the river embankment, everyone would hide if they could. Now that the government promised to pay the laborers, all the strong laborers from nearby villages came to work on the river embankment.
When he met a passerby again, Zhu Wei would take the initiative to strike up a conversation.
"Brother, are you going to work on the Qujiang embankment?"
When Erfu heard someone talking to him, he turned around and took a look, and said with a naive smile: "Yes, I will take advantage of the opportunity to earn some copper before the end of the year to add two meat dishes to the family."
Zhu Wei asked with a smile: "I'm a good man who cares about his family. Do you really get paid to work on the river embankment? What if he doesn't pay you if you make it to the New Year?"
As Erfu hurried on, he looked him up and down: "I see that you, who are so tired, have come from other places, right? Do you want to come to the river embankment to work?"
Zhu Wei laughed, "He's from out of town. I don't want you to find out more about the situation."
"If you come to work on the Qujiang embankment, you have come to the right place. In order to meet the construction deadline, the government has no limit on the number of people. The more people who come, the better. It can shorten the construction period and complete the project as soon as possible!"
Erfu said with a smile, "However, no matter how many people are recruited, the embankments on both banks will not be completed until the end of January."
Zhu Wei listened very carefully, "I'm very familiar with the river embankment, and it seems that I have a lot of work to do."
Erfu laughed loudly after hearing this: "To tell you the truth, the river embankment was built from the section of our village. It has been built all the way to the vicinity of Qujiang. Do you think I can't be familiar with it?"
Zhu Wei also laughed, and his easy-going attitude brought the two of them closer.
Erfu glanced back at the long queue, suppressed the smile on his face, frowned slightly and said: "It is said that it is difficult to leave one's homeland. Not everyone has the courage to leave their hometown and come to seek life outside. You are dragging your family with you.
It’s really not easy for someone to come here to make a living!”
Zhu Wei smiled bitterly, his tone unavoidably lowered, "For three years of famine, we only care about whether we can survive. We don't care what hometown or homeland you mentioned. As long as there is a place that can accept us and allow us to live on our own.
Just go down."
When Erfu heard what he said, his eyes showed sympathy, pity and other emotions, "Then when you get to the river embankment later, you have to work hard. The river embankment work is done once a day now, which is very convenient. It's okay to get the wages.
Help your family."
Wu Mie followed behind and was shocked. Did the eldest brother really want to work on the river embankment?
Although his eldest brother has now disbanded the original bandit team, a skinny camel is bigger than a horse. His eldest brother has saved a lot of savings over the years. Spending it casually is better than going to the river embankment to make money now.
"It's settled once a day. I thought wages were settled at the end of the year." Zhu Wei looked astonished.
The two of them walked and chatted all the way, feeling that the distance under their feet had become shorter.
Near noon, the group of them finally reached the embankment outside Qujiang City.
There were people coming and going on the river embankment, and it was very lively. There were the sounds of workers shouting and the supervisors scolding.
Looking at the busy scene in front of him, Zhu Wei thought he had made a mistake. After all, in a year of famine, which government would make such a big move to overwork workers and waste money.
It seems that after coming to Lingnan, from what he saw and heard, he could not tell that Lingnan came from a disaster year.
Seeing his stunned look, Erfu originally wanted to pat him on the shoulder, but found that the man was tall and it was really inappropriate to pat him on the shoulder given his height.
He patted the other person's arm instead, pointed to the tent not far from the river embankment and said: "Brother, that's the engineering office responsible for the construction of the river embankment. If you want to work on the river embankment, you have to go there to register first, and wait for registration.
When you do, someone will hand you over to a steward, who is the person who arranges your work.”
"I know, thank you for taking care of me, brother."
"Don't be so polite, it's just a little effort." Erfu looked back at the long team. They were all old and infirm, and he didn't know how much hardship they had to endure in relocating the village.
If you can help out when you are out, please do so. We are all poor people in the world!
Erfu shook his head and went to report to his supervisor.
"Brother, are we really working here?" Wu Mie stepped forward and asked.
Zhu Wei looked back at the team he had brought with him. There were many women, children, old and weak people. There was nothing wrong with working on the river embankment when there was no clue in Lingnan, at least it would not attract the attention of the government.
"Work here first, and then decide what to do next after you figure out the situation in Lingnan!"
When the leader speaks, those who follow him have no objection.
The team rested where they were, and Zhu Wei took a few people to a tent by the river embankment.
If more than a hundred young adults want to work on this river embankment, the leaders in charge must be mentally prepared.
The steward took the registration form and took the lead in registering several people who passed by in detail.
"If you have craftsmanship, you can certainly eat from the craftsmanship. If you don't have craftsmanship, as long as you can endure hardship, your life will not be bad. If you are unwilling to work hard and have no ability, then he may never be able to leave the master for the rest of his life!"
They will always think about lying on the bodies of their masters and elders to suck blood.
Of course, when registering, no one would admit that they couldn't bear the hardship, so the manager just smiled and didn't say much.
The group of bandits who confuse the public temporarily settled down on the Qujiang embankment.
Building river embankments is very tiring. The combination of stone, cement, and mud underfoot makes people really embarrassed.
Zhu Wei and his brothers worked all afternoon, and when they finished work in the evening, they were covered in mud, and not a single part of their body was clean.
Some brothers who were not used to doing strenuous work complained that they were tired, top-heavy, had no appetite, etc. after working for a long time.
Seeing this situation, Wu Mie felt sad!
In the past, when the team had several thousand people, it didn't matter that he was in charge of logistics. Now that the team only has about 200 people, is there something wrong with letting him take care of logistics?
To put it simply, if he was still in charge of the logistics, everyone would be worried about him not going downstairs to help take care of the children.