Chapter 357: Settling Refugees
There has been no rain for five months since the beginning of the year, and almost all the crops in the fields have died.
When they saw some sorghum planted on both sides of the road in the city, some people broke through the obstruction of the officers and soldiers like crazy, pulled up a sorghum and stuffed it into their mouths.
Some people even saw tea on the counter of a shop on the street and rushed in to pour it into their mouths.
The refugees were in chaos, and finally officers and soldiers were dispatched with swords to maintain order, and things were barely back to normal.
Even though their mouths were so dry that smoking seemed to be coming out of them, these people did not dare to move, for fear that they would become like the people who had been whipped just now. If they got sick in this situation, wouldn't it be fatal?
Anyway, Guancheng has let them in, so they can survive at least!
But who knew that after entering from the south gate, these officers and soldiers would lead them out of the north gate and leave the city.
These people immediately became restless and started making a lot of noise. Some stubborn people who were not easy to deal with even confronted the officers and soldiers. No matter how they explained, they just didn't believe that the safe place for the government was outside the city.
It was best that Magistrate Wang ran to the north city tower with his slightly fat body, panting heavily, and holding a loudspeaker in his hand.
"Fellow villagers, I am the prefect of Guancheng. Don't worry. Since you are welcome to come in, I have already arranged everything. Just follow the officers and soldiers out of the city. There will be food, drink and shelter waiting for you!"
When they met Magistrate Wang, these people didn't dare to say a word, but their expressions were still suspicious.
At this moment, someone below waved his sleeves and shouted, "Sir, we believe you!"
Prefect Wang looked towards the source of the sound, his eyes shone with a chill. Could it be that the disaster in Zhencheng was very serious this time?
After looking around, I found a lot of familiar faces!
"Sir, we have all come to you!"
"Yes, we believe that adults will not give up on us!"
These were the people who served as the chief minister when Wang Zhifu was the magistrate of Zhencheng County in Yuzhou.
After they spread the news, the refugees who were unaware of the situation quickly understood what kind of person Magistrate Wang was.
"Don't worry, Lord Wang always keeps his word. If you all just listen carefully, you will definitely not suffer from hunger again!"
"Yes, if it weren't for Lord Wang, the people of our entire Zhencheng would have been drowned long ago!"
Although he would not be able to continue to carry on in Zhencheng, he heard that everyone yearned for the Guancheng governed by Magistrate Wang, and that there were places for free reading and calligraphy, and as long as he worked, he would not have to worry about food and drink.
The people who were still hesitating about whether to leave their hometown made a decision immediately.
Magistrate Wang was very grateful to these people for speaking up for him. Best of all, they made all kinds of promises and even personally escorted them out of the city, which finally put his mind at ease.
As long as I think about the possibility of having to go through this again and again in the future, it seems that I should take Madam Zhu's advice and hire a few people to spread the word at the city gate...
The refugees who left the city persisted in walking for an hour and finally smelled the fragrance of food in the air.
Everyone couldn't help but quicken their pace. Even though their mouths were dry, a lot of saliva was secreted from their mouths.
Buckets of clean water were placed next to them. The first person passing by tried to scoop a bowl and drank it all in one gulp. Seeing that no one tried to stop him, the others became even more crazy.
"Everyone line up, come one by one, everyone will have a share!"
Someone maintained order and the people gradually calmed down.
After drinking the water, we found that there were indeed people giving out porridge, so we immediately ran over to line up.
When they drank the fragrant thick porridge, which was not the watery soup with only a few grains of rice, some people finally couldn't help crying out loud.
Perhaps it was because the journey was too difficult, and they had seen some towns driving them away like maggots. Now that they received a little warmth, these simple people could no longer bear it.
Put the bowl on the ground and kowtow directly to the person who is giving out porridge.
When they were finally somewhat full, these people realized the purpose of Magistrate Wang moving them here.
There is nothing to be afraid of when building a house, and it is very likely to be built for your future self, and you will have food to eat, water to drink, and wages to get paid.
With such a good job, no one wants to leave.
Men cut down trees to build houses, and women followed suit to reclaim wasteland.
However, in just two days, a simple wooden house was built on the originally empty ground, and thirty acres of wasteland were reclaimed around it.
But it was still too few for a team of nearly three hundred people.
Moreover, it is already past the season to grow crops on the wasteland, but the Ming family took out a kind of sweet potato seeds and distributed them to everyone to plant.
These people had never seen or eaten sweet potatoes, and some of them resisted growing unfamiliar crops. They thought it would be better to grow seasonal vegetables, which at least they could exchange for some food with others.
The person in charge of these people now is Wang Qin. Prefect Wang wants to train his son, so he lets him learn from Madam Zhu.
So that night, Wang Qin had someone steam a pot of sweet potatoes, giving each person half a potato, which was enough to fill their stomachs half full.
"This is the grain we developed in Guancheng. It's only available in Guancheng, and it's not afraid of drought and grows quickly. The Ming family and the government specially purchased these grains to prevent you from going hungry. If you didn't trust us in Guancheng, why did you all flee here in the first place?" Wang Qin stood on a large rock with a serious face. "But if there are still people who don't want to grow it, then I'll be frank: don't come to us if you're hungry!"
Although the wasteland has been reclaimed, it will take some time before it can be fully used as arable land.
It was Zhu Mingqing who discovered a water source on the mountain early on, and then had people dig a canal to divert water, and at the same time added a spirit-gathering stone, which made these barren and dry lands nutritious.
"Young Master, we will definitely grow sweet potatoes!"
Only by following the adults can you have food to eat. This is the common awareness of the people in Zhencheng.
Wang Qin looked over, his eyes suddenly brightened, and he hurried over: "Flower Lady, I didn't expect you to come too!"
Grandma Hua laughed heartily, finding joy in the midst of hardship: "Our whole family has come to seek refuge with the Master!"
Wang Qin nodded, envying the people's respect and love for his father. At the same time, he also guaranteed that the sweet potato yield was very high. Even if he told them the specific yield now, some people would not believe it.
Seeing is believing.
"If you have any difficulties, come to me. If you can't find me, you can find Manager Ma!"
Wang Qin also made a special effort to greet Manager Ma. Manager Ma also knew that there were people here from when the prefect was the county magistrate. He was surprised to learn that these people had come here specifically to seek refuge!
It takes more than half a month to walk from Zhencheng to Guancheng. The road is mostly mountainous, which is not only difficult to walk on, but also bandits appear from time to time.
But these people still came.
Manager Ma couldn't tell what he felt. While he was busy in the back, someone came here to inquire about Madam Zhu's whereabouts. He immediately looked at the other person warily.
Mrs. Hua hurriedly said, "Madam Zhu is the savior of everyone in Zhencheng. We thought since we have come to Guancheng, we should go and see her. Does the steward know where she is?"
So that's how it is.
But thinking of his wife who was trying to cover up the traces of the Luo family, he still said, "I don't know!"
"Well, all right then!"
The old woman can only look for it herself.
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