"Fellow villagers, I am here to hire your people. I know many of you don't understand why you have to work to get food. Shouldn't you give us free porridge? Have you ever thought about this? Not only is there a drought in Anqiu County, but there is also a drought in Qingshan County. The entire Jin Dynasty is suffering from a drought. The court will definitely issue disaster relief grain. The entire Jin Dynasty is suffering from the disaster. There is basically not enough food. Even if we give it to you, you won't be able to eat enough.
I have food, but I can't give it to you for free. My food wasn't blown down by the wind; I bought it with real money. If you want to eat your fill, work for me.
My request is very simple. In a family, all the men between the ages of fourteen and fifty must work for me to earn food for the whole family. The rest of the people do not have to work.
I will pay you ten cents a day for your work and I will arrange accommodation for you. If you are a family with good character and want to settle down in Qingshan County, I can also help you.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have the man’s wages to support himself after the disaster?
What do you think? Should I wait for the imperial court to send out disaster relief grain and then have to eat porridge every day, or should I help me work and keep my family fed and warm? Think about it carefully, everyone?
If you don't want to work, you can find a constable or a yamen runner to register. I will give you food and let you go back to Anqiu County. Qingshan County will not let you in.
I'll only give you a stick of incense to think about it, and I hope you can make the right choice." Li Yun walked away after she finished speaking. She saw An Yi approaching with the troublemaker and three strangers.
After Li Yun finished speaking, the refugees began to talk.
Some people think that Li Yun is right. The Jin Dynasty suffered a large-scale disaster, and the court simply could not provide so much food for disaster relief. At that time, they would probably eat rice soup without a grain of rice in it, and they would basically not be able to fill themselves up.
If what the lady said was true, as long as the men worked, they could feed their family, which would be more cost-effective.
Besides, work means nothing to them. They work in the fields every day and sometimes have to go to the docks to move goods, but they still can't feed their family.
Many men among the refugees agreed to help Li Yun with work, hoping that she would keep her word and ensure that their families could have enough food to eat.
"Master, there is something wrong with this guy. He was instigated by the constables of Anqiu County to lead the trouble. These three people are the confidants of Anqiu County Magistrate Gao and are also constables. They were arranged by County Magistrate Gao to cause trouble." As soon as An saw his master coming, he told Li Yun about following the man and meeting with the three constables, and also told him the results of his interrogation.
"Okay, An Yi, take them over and make them tell everything. Let the people of Anqiu County know what kind of person their county magistrate is." Li Yun was infuriated by County Magistrate Gao's shamelessness and gave An Yi the order.
An Yi brought four people to the refugees and told them everything that Magistrate Gao had asked them to do. They had to tell him everything! An Yi had fed them poison and refused to give them the antidote unless they told him, causing them to die from the poisoning.
After hearing this, the people of Anqiu County realized that they were being used as a tool by County Magistrate Gao and almost made a big mistake. They felt that it was better to help his wife and stay in Qingshan County than to return to Anqiu County.
"Madam, we are willing to stay and help you with the work. We only ask that you keep your word and let our families have enough food to eat." The refugees who were willing to stay stood up and said to Li Yun.
"I can swear to God that as long as you work for me honestly, I will never go back on my word." Li Yun made a guarantee to the refugees who were willing to stay.
"Since you don't want to stay, I won't force you. After all, everyone has their own aspirations. You can go over there and register, and I will have someone distribute food to you when you return to Anqiu County." Li Yun said to the refugees who did not want to stay.
The constable quickly brought the list. Li Yun asked An Yi to go to the rice store and fetch 200 kilograms of rice. She planned to give each person one kilogram of rice per day for five days, which would be 5 kilograms of rice. There were 15 households, exactly 40 people, and 200 kilograms of rice was needed.
When Li Yun suspected that a drought was occurring, she asked people to buy a large amount of grain from the grain stores in various counties in Qingzhou Prefecture, and opened two rice shops in Dongnan Town and Qingshan County to prevent rice merchants from taking the opportunity to raise rice prices during the disaster and making it unaffordable for people.
Distribute food to the refugees and let the constable take the four troublemakers back to the yamen.
"Dear fellow villagers, please line up according to your villages so that I can arrange accommodation for you." Li Yun looked at the refugees who stayed behind, estimating that there were six or seven hundred people. It was impossible to accommodate them all in Daqingshan, so he had no choice but to ask his eldest brother to buy the mountain.
The refugees began to look for villagers in their own village. There were ten villages in total, which was not too many, so it was easier to arrange. It just depended on how many hilltops they could buy.
Li Yun asked An Yi to divide them into three teams, with each team consisting of three or four villages combined, and then find a leader.
She handed this task to An Yi and went into the city to find her elder brother Ma Youcai.
"Brother, why didn't you tell me that there were six or seven hundred refugees? My Daqingshan can't accommodate so many people." Li Yun went to the county government office and started talking about Ma Youcai as soon as he saw him.
"Sister, I'm sorry. Big brother didn't go to check either. He just asked the constables and yamen runners to maintain order." Ma Youcai realized that he had forgotten to ask the constable how many refugees there were. There were six or seven hundred people. The Daqingshan that his sister bought definitely couldn't accommodate so many people.
"Forget it, I was just talking casually. I know that big brother is very busy with official duties and certainly doesn't have time to go and see him." Li Yun also knew that she was being a little unreasonable. Big brother must be very busy with the disaster situation in Qingshan County.
"Sister, you are not here to complain to me this time, right? Just tell me what's the matter. I will help you if I can. Just consider it as your apology." Ma Youcai asked Li Yun.
"My elder brother understands my younger sister more and more, and he almost becomes her tapeworm.
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