The deeper he went into Datong Mansion, the more Zhu Yuanzhang could feel the seriousness of the drought.
The original leisurely mood of traveling around the mountains and rivers has completely disappeared.
The group of people rushed to Datong as fast as possible.
But what surprised Lao Zhu was that the closer he got to Datong, the more and more people were around him.
Lao Zhu encountered several waves of people fleeing towards Datong with their young and old in tow.
For such a large number of people fleeing famine, the experienced Lao Zhu did not directly approach them.
Instead, he took the experts who were protecting him and bypassed him from a distance.
This is not Lao Zhu's cold blood.
But it was Lao Zhu who had climbed up from the bottom and understood the state of these refugees very well.
At this time, the refugees had been hungry for who knows how many days. They had eaten everything they could eat along the way.
In this situation, in order to survive, they can do anything.
Although after entering Datong Mansion, for the sake of safety, all the experts who protected Zhu Yuanzhang gathered around him.
But after all, they were only about twenty strangers.
In addition, although the clothes Zhu Yuanzhang wore were not particularly luxurious for concealment, compared with those people, they still looked very eye-catching.
A group of people like them will definitely attract a lot of unnecessary looks.
At that time, as long as some people give a little guidance, those victims with evil red eyes might do something.
Therefore, in order to avoid such an unexpected situation, Zhu Yuanzhang simply avoided the victims and walked around them.
Anyway, according to Zhu Yuanzhang's understanding of the situation in Datong.
His younger brother was doing disaster relief there, and he did an impressive job.
As long as these people can manage Datong Mansion, I dare not say anything else, there will definitely be no big problem in surviving.
Along this road, there is nothing but desolation. It is not an exaggeration to say that there are ten rooms and nine empty rooms.
Basically, most of the villages have already been completely depopulated.
Only some wild animals can be seen wandering in the village.
Moreover, these beasts are also very alert and will run away immediately if there is even the slightest movement.
After all, if it hadn't been such a vigilant animal, I probably wouldn't be alive today.
Although Zhu Yuanzhang also knew that Zhu Han's disciples used a brand-new method to dig wells, which alleviated the drought in Datong to a certain extent.
But seeing the look in front of him, Zhu Yuanzhang was still worried.
There are so many disaster-stricken places in Datong Prefecture, and I don't know if my brother can solve them well.
There are quite a lot of people on the playground who are dissatisfied with him now. If Datong can't solve it, there will definitely be a lot of trouble.
After all, Zhu Han participated in formulating many of the rules in the court, and he could not violate the "Da Ming Law".
The more he looked at it, the more troubled he became. Zhu Yuanzhang simply ignored these things and hurried towards Datong Mansion.
When he was about to arrive at Datong Mansion, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the masters who protected him to hide.
Only one or two masters were left with him, just in case.
Although he believed in Zhu Han, Zhu Yuanzhang still wanted to see with his own eyes what Zhu Han had done to the Datong Mansion.
As soon as he arrived near Datong Mansion, Zhu Yuanzhang felt an obvious difference.
Compared with other places, the biggest difference here is that you can still see lush trees.
This also means that the people still have something to eat, and they don't have to eat bark and leaves to satisfy their hunger.
When he was still dozens of miles away from Datong Mansion, Zhu Yuanzhang was stopped by a checkpoint next to the road.
Also intercepted with Zhu Yuanzhang were some refugees who looked sallow and thin.
"Be honest!" An official in official uniform yelled impatiently in the checkpoint.
"Listen to me, His Royal Highness the King has promised that as long as you come to our Datong Mansion, you will have something to eat."
"We have only one goal in disaster relief in Datong Prefecture, and we will never let any of the people who come to Datong Prefecture starve to death."
"So as long as you're not dead, just be a damn good boy and listen to me honestly."
"As long as you obey, you will have food to eat."
"But!" The official changed the topic and his voice became more severe: "If you dare to be disobedient, or dare to violate my instructions and prevent me from completing my performance, then don't blame me for being rude."
Although these common people don't know what performance is, they can understand what the officials say.
Anyway, you just have to be obedient. This kind of thing is also common for the people of the Ming Dynasty.
The people, who were still a little confused at first, suddenly became quiet.
The official was very satisfied with their performance: "It looks good. Come on, you have understood that the most important thing in making a living in Datong Mansion is."
"But I still want to emphasize to you again now that the most important thing in our Datong Mansion is to be obedient. You can do whatever you are told. Do you understand?"
He emphasized it over and over again, and his attitude was extremely unkind.
A master who was protecting Zhu Yuanzhang had a sullen face and snorted dissatisfiedly: "Facing these poor victims, this person is so rude. It's too much."
Zhu Yuanzhang indeed smiled and waved his hand: "Special circumstances deserve special treatment. Facing these panicked people, if you are too nice to them, they will become suspicious, which makes it even harder to manage."
"On the contrary, I use my official authority to make them fearful, so that they can do things better."
"Besides, at this time, for these people, as long as they have enough to eat, nothing else matters."
Just as he was talking, the official started to speak again, and he raised a big speaker made of iron sheets: "Listen to me. Now everyone, please line up for me, and then come and register."
"If I ask you anything, just answer it honestly. If I have any special skills, such as carpentry, blacksmith, or anything else, I can also take the initiative to tell you."
After finishing speaking, he pointed to a table next to him and said: "Those who know these skills come here to report."
"Congratulations, as long as you have skills, you will be able to live a good life in Datong Mansion."
Hearing what he said, some people who were originally craftsmen suddenly became excited.
"I, I, I! My lord, I was originally a carpenter."
"I am the blacksmith."
"Sir, I am a mason. I wonder if I can do this?"
Because they were anxious to get over, these people tried desperately to lift out the crowd.
As a result, the crowd who had been queuing suddenly broke into commotion.
When the official saw this, he became furious, raised the whip in his hand, and slapped his head and face hard: "Damn it, you untouchables, didn't you understand what I just said?"
"Just be f*cking honest with me. If I ask you to move, you can move again."
The unlucky ones in front had their faces covered in blood. When the others saw this, they immediately became honest.
Line up obediently and no longer dare to do anything out of the ordinary.
The master who protected Zhu Yuanzhang was unhappy again: "Humph! The fox pretended to be the tiger's power to get through."
Lao Zhu didn't explain anything this time, but looked at him slightly dissatisfied.
Extraordinary times, extraordinary things.
In the situation just now, if the official did not take decisive action to punish
It is very likely that there will be even greater riots. Even if there are not 1,780 refugees here, there are still some.
Once any irreversible commotion occurs, a stampede is likely to occur in the panic.
Even in normal times, there will definitely be casualties when such riots occur.
Not to mention, these refugees have been hungry for a long time and have no strength at all.
If something goes wrong, there will only be greater losses.
At that time, it will not be a problem that can be solved with a few whips.
As for the swear words in the official's mouth, Zhu Yuanzhang not only did not feel disgusted, but actually found them somewhat friendly.
After all, when I led the troops to fight in the past, I only came into contact with those vulgar Qiu Ba.
Swearing, swearing, etc., just open your mouth.
After walking out, it still feels real and friendly.
Compared with these people, Lao Zhu was very disgusted by those officials who spoke of benevolence, righteousness, and morality, and who were open-mouthed and knowledgeable.
After the crowd finished the case again, the official cursed in a rough voice: "Listen to me, you losers, I'll repeat it again."
"In our Datong Mansion, the most important thing is to be obedient. Do whatever I ask you to do. If I don't let you do anything, you must not do it."
"If what happened just now happens again, I will kick you all out."
"Even if you starve to death by then, you still have nothing to do with me. Do you understand me clearly?"
This threat is simply fatal to those fleeing people.
Only those who have experienced famine can understand that starvation is definitely one of the most terrifying things in the world.
They would rather be whipped and do the most painful and tiring thing in the world than be driven away and starve.
"I understand, sir."
"We promise to be obedient, sir. Please don't drive us away!"
"Sir, we will do whatever you ask us to do, as long as you give us a bite to eat."
The feeble voices of the common people sounded sparsely.
In this day and age, people who dare to speak like this in front of officials are actually very rare.
More people just gritted their teeth and endured it silently, not daring to say a word at all.
But this time the official was not angry. Today he picked up the tea cup and drank a few big sips of tea.
Then he raised his trumpet and said loudly: "You can rest assured of this. As long as you work conscientiously, we will have plenty of food in Datong Prefecture."
"These words are not what I said, they are what our Royal Highness the King said."
"You may not believe me, but you can't believe what His Royal Highness the King says."
"Your Majesty, I have no interest in deceiving you idiots."
"Okay, now you all line up for me. Skilled craftsmen, come out slowly, and then come to me and line up to register." Under the command of this official, the fleeing people began to move in an orderly manner.
Register identity.
Zhu Yuanzhang thought for a while and went to ask the team over there to line up.
There is no doubt that Lao Zhu can also do tasks such as carpentry and even blacksmithing.
Therefore, it is not without reason that the Ming Dynasty in the original world and the emperors in later generations had all kinds of strange hobbies.
Lao Zhu is actually a very smart person, and he can understand most of his memories just by looking at them a few times.
I tried it a few more times, and although I couldn't compare to those craftsmen who were skilled in memory, I could still do it in a decent way.
Lao Zhu is confident that there is no problem in pretending to be a craftsman or something.
What's more, you don't have to do the physical work yourself.
Because Lao Zhu is literate, in this era, if he can recognize a few words, he is considered a very powerful person.
Even if you can't write any beautiful articles, there is no problem in working as a bookkeeper or something like that.
While waiting in line, Lao Zhu also looked carefully to see what the officials were registering.
Most of them are name, identity, and where you live.
If you are a person with special skills, would you register what skills you have learned?
Those officials wrote very quickly, and within a short time it was Zhu Yuanzhang's turn.
"Name!"
"The villain's surname is Chang and his given name is Zai."
The surname Chang was a bit unusual, so the registration official raised his head and glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang curiously.
However, Lao Zhu's appearance was really not that good. The other party just glanced at it and lowered his head, no longer paying attention.
"Where is the person?"
"Ying Tianfu!"
The official who lowered his head just now raised his head again: "Ying Tianfu, what are you doing here?"
Zhu Yuanzhang immediately told the reason he had made up before: "I came here to do business, but unfortunately there was a drought."
"So I fled to Datong Mansion."
As for more details, Lao Zhu did not say anything. The more detailed a lie is, the more flaws it contains.
Anyway, these people won't get to the bottom of it, after all, there are still so many victims waiting for them.
There are actually not a few businessmen like Lao Zhu who went bankrupt due to a sudden drought.
"That's it." The official in charge of registration nodded slightly and was about to pick up the pen to continue recording.
The official who was responsible for maintaining security at the checkpoint did suddenly come over.
He stared at Zhu Yuanzhang sharply: "You are really hurting people."
The opponent's momentum was overwhelming, but it was a pity that he chose the wrong target.
For Lao Zhu, the act of making people feel like an ant is provoking a strong human being.
At that moment, Zhu Yuanzhang said calmly: "Sir, I have indeed done some small business."
Lao Zhu actually used some Spring and Autumn style of writing in his words.
Indeed, I did some small business.
But Lao Zhu did not say when he did the business.
No flaws were found in Zhu Yuanzhang, and the official nodded with satisfaction: "So you can settle accounts, right?"
Of course it is impossible for Lao Zhu to say no. If a businessman can't even settle accounts, why should he be a businessman?
"Know a little bit."
Unexpectedly, the official was suddenly overjoyed: "That's really great. We are short of a counting house here! Come with me."