Although this is the truth, the little girl Hongmei still can't help but worry. It's useless for you to say that her worries are groundless.
When Xia Jing entered the city, she noticed that many refugees had gathered outside the city gate, and there were many porridge shacks outside the city gate. It seemed that the wealthy businessmen and nobles of Jiangxia were sharing the worries of the county governor.
She came to Zeng Yan and said, "Jiangxia is located in the alluvial plain and the land is fertile. I think the grain output is good. Send people to visit various grain stores. If possible, we can order as much grain as possible this time."
"Okay, I will send a team of people out to handle this matter."
Zeng Yan didn't dare to delay. Taking advantage of the early time to enter the city, he immediately sent people out. As for how much food he could order, he could only do his best!
Outside the north gate of Jiangxia.
The embankment outside the moat has now become a place for refugees to wash and wash vegetables.
From early morning to dusk, there is an endless stream of women washing their hands on the river embankment.
From the river embankment to the foot of the mountain five miles away, all the cultivated farmland was occupied by refugees. The trees on the mountain were cut down and turned into straw shacks at the foot of the mountain.
The huts located one next to the other are extremely noisy both day and night, and the sanitary conditions are extremely worrying.
Even the salesman from Jiangxia City was unwilling to enter this smelly shantytown. He only stayed by the moat.
If the refugees want to buy a needle, thread or brain, they have to go to the moat to buy it.
In a corner of the shanty town, the villagers who had escaped from Kanjiao Village in Yanzhou, except for the young people who were out looking for food, and other family members gathered together.
The head of Kanjiao Village was the first to speak: "Yesterday, a notice was posted at the city gate. The county governor has made it clear that Jiangxia will not arrange for refugees. We must either return to our place of origin along the same route, or cross the river to settle in the hilly areas further south. I asked
You have been thinking about it for a night, what do you think? If we make a decision, it would be better for us to leave this place of right and wrong as soon as possible!"
"It has been half a month since we fled to Jiangxia. During this half month, it has not rained even in places close to the river like Jiangxia, let alone our Kanjiao Village. There must not even be a drop of well water.
Going back means a dead end."
"Village Chief, please tell me your decision. Our village belongs to you because you are well-informed. If you ask us, how do we know what to do?"
"In my opinion, it's better to wait and see in Jiangxia first. There are so many people in this shanty town who haven't left yet. It's better for us to just follow the trend."
"If you stay here for a short period of time, there will be wild vegetables to dig. After a while, I guess I will only have to eat dirt. Whoever wants to stay can stay. Anyway, I want to take my family across the river. I heard
It is said that in the south we can plant two crops a year, and we can catch up with the next season by crossing the river."
The villagers in Kanjiao Village expressed their opinions and actively expressed their opinions.
Father Xia, who was sitting next to the village chief, knocked on his cigarette pole. Different from everyone else's disheveled faces, his face was a little blood-colored, and his skin color was also different from the villagers who worked in the fields all day.
As soon as he knocked, the village chief thought of him and turned around and asked: "Dun Hou, you can be considered a capable person in our village. You know many people in the town and have a wide range of knowledge. What can you tell me?
Tell me what you think?"
Father Xia's original name was Xia Dunhou, which was originally given by his grandfather.
He pinned the cigarette rod to his waistband, glanced at everyone, and finally pursed his lower lip slightly and said: "I don't know what the situation is on the other side of the river, but I have opened a shop in the town for so many years, and I have heard a saying:
The deepest impression on me is this: if you move trees, you will die, but if you move people, they will live! Why don’t you just go to the river and try your best when you know that there is no way to survive if you go back home?”
The village chief was stimulated by his sentence of "moving trees to death and people to death", and he said excitedly: "Dunhou is right, the soil and water support the people on one side, and since the people on the other side can live, we who are not afraid of hardship can go there
We will definitely survive. At least there is a lot of rain on the other side of the river, so we won’t be afraid of another drought when we settle there."
Many years later, the village chief realized that what he said today was too ignorant.
Although there is a lot more rain on the other side of the river than in the north, if there is a drought, the fields will still be short of water. But the only advantage is that even if it is drought, there will still be water for humans and animals.
After hearing this, many other villagers became anxious. Farmers attach great importance to the farming season. If they miss the farming season in a year, their work that year will be in vain.
As long as there is no shortage of water on the other side of the river, and they settle there in time for the second planting season, they will be able to survive this year without starving to death.
Besides, they have been delayed outside Jiangxia City for half a month, and the county guard has made it clear that they will not accept the refugees, so they will be in vain if they wait any longer.
Maybe I will freeze to death outside the city this winter.
"Village Chief, I think we should vote by a show of hands. Everyone obeys the majority. If someone really doesn't want to leave, just stay."
"That's right, show of hands. There are fewer people crossing the river in the early morning. How about we go back and clean up now and cross the river early tomorrow?"
The village chief was very satisfied with the performance of the villagers. He asked everyone to vote by a show of hands. The last few families who were reluctant to cross the river had no choice but to go along.
After the matter was discussed and a result was reached, the village chief announced the adjournment of the meeting, and everyone couldn't wait to go back and share the news with their families.
As soon as Mr. Xia returned to his thatched shed, his old wife Chen asked him: "How did you discuss it? Has the result been achieved? If I stay here for a few more days, I believe that I will be the first person in the world to be raped."
People who die from the stench!”
The Xia family had some wealth from doing business in the town. Later, their daughter married into Prince Qian's palace, and their business was even more prosperous.
The accumulated wealth can be used to hire guards to escort them to the other side of the river.
But Father Xia didn't want to be so high-profile.
He took away all the supplies he could from home, took the initiative to take care of the orphans and elderly people in the village, and asked to flee with the village, and the village chief agreed.
Now living in this shantytown, according to Mrs. Xia and Mrs. Chen, the family has to spend some money to stay in an inn in the city.
This time, Father Xia disagreed. He felt that he could not leave the village because there would be no one to help him in case of trouble, and his family would be safer if he hid among the villagers.
Who would have thought there were rich people in refugee camps?
"Don't say anything unlucky!" Father Xia's face darkened, "You guys clean up your house, and when they come back from digging for wild vegetables, you can make more dry food after we eat. The village chief has decided to cross the river early tomorrow morning.
.”
"Finally leaving?!" The second eldest child in the Xia family is named Xia He. His daughter-in-law Ji is young after all. When her grandfather said that she would cross the river tomorrow, she immediately cheered.
Mrs. Chen's expression relaxed and a smile appeared on her face. At this time, she did not forget to joke: "It seems that I am not the only one who has had enough of staying here!"
As her granddaughter-in-law, Mrs. Ji smiled and nodded, this place is really not a place for people to stay.
The smell is one aspect, but the most important thing is that this shantytown is too chaotic. How could a young wife like her dare to walk around in the shantytown.
If any man had evil intentions and dragged her to another shed and killed her, she wouldn't even be able to find a place to die!