Countless scouts were sent out, and it took two hours to finally invite more than a hundred elders who could make up their minds among the 800,000 refugees.
Su Lao refers to people with high moral character and high respect. They are not all old people. Most of them are middle-aged people in their forties or fifties. There are only a few old people.
These people gathered together and sat on the chairs that had been brought.
Wang Xu led Liu Quan, with more than a dozen healthy servants standing behind him, sitting on the main seat.
Looking at Wang Xu, who is only eight years old but has been presiding over disaster relief matters, the elders below have mixed feelings.
If someone had said before that they would be saved by an eight-year-old child if they fled to Yangzhou, they would have thought that person was crazy.
How an eight-year-old child could do such a big thing is unreasonable.
But now, no one can laugh, because Wang Xu is the one in charge. From them to the 800,000 victims, they all rely on the help of a child to survive.
Some of the victims said that the young master of the Wang family was the reincarnation of a Bodhisattva in heaven.
Someone else said, that's not right. When the young master of the Wang family was born, it was a Taoist priest from Zhongnan Mountain who came, so how could he become the reincarnation of a Bodhisattva?
If we talk about reincarnation, it is also the reincarnation of the Star Lord. I can't guarantee that this young master of the Wang family is some star god in the sky who came down because he didn't want to see the suffering of the people.
Three people make a tiger. If there are too many people talking about it, naturally some people will believe it.
After all, Wang Xu behaved like an ordinary person. Since Dong Zhongshu only respected Confucianism, there have been many prodigies, but not many such prodigies. Gan Luo, who was only twelve years old when he became prime minister, can beat him.
"All the elders here are Wang Xu's elders. If you have anything to say, I won't hide it. I heard from Liu Quan that the situation in Jiaozhou is getting better and that everyone wants to go back. Is this possible? "
Wang Xu sat on the main seat and looked at the more than a hundred elders in front of him.
The elders looked at each other, and after talking quietly for a while, someone stood up and said, "It's true. We have been out for two or three months, and we are very homesick. Now the disaster relief ambassador has presided over the disaster relief in Jiaozhou, and the situation has improved." Things are getting better, and many people want to go back and have a look, but they don’t dare to go on the road because they don’t have enough food left.”
"food"
Wang Xu nodded slightly, glanced at Liu Quan beside him, and said, "How much food do we have?"
"There are also 15 million jins of millet and 8 million jins of beans. Together, we can make 25 million jins of grain."
Grain is just a general term, including corn, soybeans, and rice.
Hearing that there was still so much food, the elders present cheered up and waited for Wang Xu's next words.
Wang Xu pointed at the table with his finger, thought for a while, and then said: "The food in the granary is enough for us to last for more than a month. I can lend you some food to make it easier for everyone to return home, but"
There was a pause in his tone, and when everyone held their breath, Wang Xu said again: "I'm afraid that some people will be greedy and refuse to leave after receiving the food, and will continue to stay as disaster victims. This will be difficult to handle."
"Don't worry, young master. We can't guarantee that elsewhere. At the No. 12 disaster relief point, I promise that those who get the food will not stay and will not cause trouble to the young master." The speaker was an old man who was an Orion. He always looks a bit older in his appearance, but his body is full of muscles. He is not inferior to young people at all. At first glance, he looks like someone like Old Huang Zhong.
"what about you?"
Wang Xu looked at the others. Some of them were pledging their assurances, while others were unclear in their words.
The more than 100 elders present represent the 800,000 victims of the disaster.
On average, each person is the leader among the five to six thousand victims. Some people are tough enough and can certainly suppress dissent.
Some people are able to rise to power, but they rely on mutual checks and balances. They do not have much control over the victims, so there is no guarantee.
After having a clear view of everyone's reactions, only one-third of the people were confident that they would lead the victims away without causing chaos.
After learning about this situation, Wang Xu nodded to Liu Quan and said: "Bring up the pen and ink and issue a military order to those who are confident that they can lead the victims away without causing chaos. Once the military order is established, it will be counted per head.
Those who leave will be given five kilograms of corn, two kilograms of soybeans, and one kilogram of rice. However, I will say something ugly at the front, and those who leave will not be able to come back, otherwise I will talk to you all."
"No, we people are all elected from eight villages in ten miles. No one will choose us even if we don't care. The men below are all good men from the same place. They will leave as soon as they say, and they will never give any
If the young master causes trouble, I will go to their house."
Orion was the first to respond, and the others who were confident also stood up.
Wang Xu nodded slightly and signaled Liu Quan to let these people act as guarantees.
Liu Quan walked up with a pen and ink. Some people couldn't write their names, so they just put their fingerprints on the paper.
After a circle, there were about fifty Su Lao people who were willing to take people back home, accounting for two-fifths of the Su Lao people.
The remaining people shook their heads and said nothing. Some were willing to be victims of the disaster and did not want to go back, while others felt they were incompetent and were afraid that the team would be in chaos if they did not take people back.
Sign, sign, borrow food
Wang Xu also gave each of the victims five jins of millet, two jins of beans, and one jin of rice, for a total of eight jins of grain.
This food is not enough to support these people's return home, but it is enough to support them for more than ten days.
There are wild vegetables and leaves mixed on the road, which should last for half a month. As for what happens next, it is not something that can be considered now.
When they heard the news that they could go home, the victims cheered, and more than 200,000 of them left on the first day.
The remaining people were also waiting and watching. On the second day, hundreds of thousands more people left, on the third day they left tens of thousands, and on the fourth day it was still the same.
One week later, of the 800,000 victims, only 300,000 remained, and most of them left.
Even some people who didn't want to leave before saw everyone leaving and wanted to follow the crowd. After all, they had been out for several months and no one wanted to go back and see if they had the chance.
Ten days later
Those who should leave have all left, come and go. The number of victims outside Jiuquan Town remains at more than 300,000.
The remaining people didn't want to leave. Some people came with their families and had no intention of going back.
There are also people who came to flee the famine with nothing but some wealth.
Seeing that the situation in Jiuquan Town was good, I had no intention of leaving. I ran to the town all day long, thinking about how to transfer my household registration here and settle down here.
There are fewer victims. This is a real feeling. Another feeling is that the New Year is coming.
This year's New Year falls on February 12th, so there are only ten days left.
As the New Year approaches, people's minds are bound to be impetuous.
However, it is not without good news. News came from the county that the victims were gradually dispersing, and County Magistrate Cheng no longer panicked.
It is said above that during the New Year, the county will also provide disaster relief from the first day to the fifteenth day of the new year, which can be regarded as a show off before the disaster passes.
This is good news. In Liyang County now, the Wang family is the family with the largest scale of disaster relief. In addition, there are other disaster relief companies in other places, but they are all small and small.
The county's intervention in providing disaster relief can greatly alleviate the Wang family's food pressure. After all, after experiencing disaster relief in the past two months, and coupled with the food distribution from the victims returning, Wang Xu's food supply was also stretched.
New Year's Eve
“It’s Chinese New Year!”
Wang Xu, dressed in fine clothes, walked on the street happily with his four gangsters.
On the street, the townspeople of Jiuquan Town have begun to decorate with lanterns, put up Spring Festival couplets, and burn firecrackers. It is much more lively than usual.
Walking outside the town, the victims who stayed outside the town also washed themselves up one by one and changed out of the beggar clothes they had never changed in all the way. They looked much more pleasing to the eye.
Seeing Wang Xu come out, the victims cheered and some even knelt down on the spot and kowtowed: "Little Master Wang, I kowtow to you, old man. You are a good person, a very good person!"
"Master Wang, Master Wang, Master Wang!!"
The victims gathered around Wang Xu. Without musical instruments, they beat bamboo sticks and sang and danced together.
Wang Xu's face was full of smiles. Most of the victims left behind will be integrated into Jiuquan Town in the spring.
With these more than 300,000 people, the size of Jiuquan Town can be at least doubled, and these people have all received favors from the Wang family. Even if the favor of dou rice lasts for three years, and the favor of saving lives can be forgotten for ten years, there will be many people in a short period of time.
The support of these people will be expressed by the Wang family in Jiuquan Town.
With this foundation, and after the disaster, the court may reward people based on their merits.
The Wang family will break out of the township and become the new rich in the county, and their reputation will be spread by word of mouth along with the millions of disaster victims.
In a few years, the story will spread to ten, and from ten to a hundred, no one in Yangzhou will give a thumbs up when mentioning the Wang family of Jinshan Prefecture.
"If you don't accumulate small steps, you won't reach a thousand miles. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step today!"
With a smile on his face, Wang Xu greeted the victims with a smile and thought to himself: "The first step to raising hope is completed today!"