"Brother Yun, Brother Zhang, I think we should go and find out the news separately. I'll go over there to read the notice, and then I'll wait for you here after I'm done." Li Xiucai suggested.
"Okay, I'll go to the shack over there to find out some information. They are closer to the city gate and should know more information." Hunter Zhang also said.
"Well, I'll stay here and see how they get into the city," said Yun the Butcher, pointing at the refugees queuing up to enter the city in horse-drawn and donkey-drawn carts.
After saying that, Li Xiucai went to the place where the notices were posted on the city wall.
"Everyone, make way. I'm a scholar. I can understand the notice and I can read it to you." Li Xiucai shouted from the outside of the crowd. The crowd gradually quieted down, and everyone turned around and slowly looked at Li Xiucai.
"Really, I am a scholar. Let me in. I will read it to everyone." Li Xiucai repeated again.
After hearing this, a path was made in the crowd, and Li Xiucai went in to read the notice. After reading it, he read it to everyone.
"The notice means that the government in the city has run out of food, so the city will not accept refugees. If you have relatives or friends in the city to take you in, you can enter the city as long as you pay a deposit. You can ask the soldiers guarding the city how much the deposit is. In addition, to help the refugees, the wealthy families in the city will provide porridge at the city gate every morning, noon, and evening, but the quantity is limited.
Refugees without relatives or friends in the city can enter and shop after paying an entry fee. They must enter at the city gate opening in the morning and leave before the gate closes at night. Anyone found violating this rule and refusing to leave will be caught and executed. Li Xiucai explained the meaning of the notice to everyone.
"Oh, luckily my father-in-law runs a small business in the city, and we came to the capital just to seek refuge with him." A young man said excitedly. After he finished speaking, everyone around him looked at him enviously.
"One of my neighbors is also in the city. I'll ask someone to send a message to see if I can go to him for shelter." Another young man said hesitantly.
"It's great to have someone to turn to. Why don't I have any relatives or friends in the city? I should find a way to collect the entrance fee and go to the city to purchase supplies." A voice said in the crowd.
After a while, the crowd in front of the notice was mostly empty, and Li Xiucai returned to the city gate to wait for Yun the Butcher and Zhang the Hunter.
Hunter Zhang came to a row of shacks near the city wall. He walked all the way to the fourth shack before stopping. Four men sat at the door of this shack. As he approached, he saw they were sorting furs. No wonder, he had seen from afar that the wooden poles at the shack door were filled with furs.
"Uncle, I'm a refugee who escaped here today. I want to ask what the situation is now. Why are there so many people gathered at the city gate?" Hunter Zhang asked one of the older men who was smoking a pipe.
The old man looked to be in his fifties, tall and strong, with a ruddy complexion and full of energy. He looked very smart and strong.
"Where are you from? Why are you here looking for information? Don't people go to the city gate to get information?" The old man took a puff of his cigarette, exhaled, raised his eyes to look at Zhang the Hunter, then lowered his eyes to ask Zhang the Hunter. The other three strong young men also glanced at Zhang the Hunter and continued to work.
"Uncle, I'm from the village below, we call it Yunjia Village, and I just arrived at the city gate this afternoon. I'm also a hunter. When I was in the village, I went out hunting every day. I smelled the scent of fur from afar. I followed the smell and came here, and when I got there I found that you were drying the fur." Hunter Zhang said, pointing at the fur.
"Oh, so you are also a hunter. No wonder you can find this place. We are indeed the only hunter family here among the surrounding shacks." As the old man spoke, he asked Hunter Zhang to sit next to him.
"Uncle, where are you from? How long have you been at the city gate tower?" Hunter Zhang sat down and asked again.
"My last name is Wu. You can just call me Old Man Wu. These are my three sons." Old Man Wu said, pointing at the three young men.
"We are villagers from a nearby village, about five miles away from here. We had no intention of fleeing the famine. We live close to the provincial capital, and it is very convenient for us to buy and sell things in the provincial capital. However, the water output from our village's wells has been decreasing recently, and it will soon be unable to supply the entire village. We had no choice but to flee the famine. We were thinking that we would return to the village after it rained in a while. Unexpectedly, when we got here, we found refugees everywhere," said Old Man Wu with emotion.
"Now you can't just enter the city casually, and the entrance fee is much more expensive than before. If you want to settle down in the city, you must be accepted by relatives or friends, and you must also pay a deposit. If you go to the city to buy things, you have to go in the morning and must leave before the city gate closes at night. Otherwise, the officers and soldiers inside will execute you if they catch you hiding refugees." Old Man Wu said again.
"Uncle, is this news true?" Hunter Zhang asked nervously.
"It's true. Every night soldiers carry corpses out of the city and dump them in the mass grave in the west." Old Man Wu said with lingering fear.
"Any other news, Uncle Wu?"
"Porridge is distributed at the city gate every morning, noon and evening. However, the quantity is limited, so you need to line up early," said Old Man Wu enthusiastically.
"Uncle, our entire village has come out to escape famine. We'll gather some information and purchase some supplies here, and then we'll head south." Hunter Zhang and Old Man Wu said.
"Then where are you planning to escape to?" Old Man Wu asked anxiously.
"There is a scholar in our village. His teacher suggested that we flee to Yunzhou. I heard that the place treats refugees very well, taxes are low, and security is guaranteed. Uncle Wu, if you have nowhere to go, I also suggest you go to Yunzhou." Hunter Zhang also sincerely suggested to Old Man Wu.
"Okay, thank you. I'll think about it." Old man Wu took another deep puff of cigarette and said.
"Okay, Uncle Wu, thank you for talking to me. My last name is Zhang, you can just call me Xiao Zhang."
"You are too polite. What I told you, you will know if you stay a few more days. On the contrary, the information you told me is very valuable. Thank you very much. If we meet again in the future, we can communicate more often." Old Man Wu said politely.
"Okay, Uncle Wu, I'll go back and meet the villagers first. We'll meet again if we're lucky." Hunter Zhang bowed to Old Man Wu and said.
"Okay, see you again if we have the chance." Old man Wu also stood up and bowed.
Hunter Zhang turned and went to the city gate, but found only Scholar Li there. He turned around and saw Butcher Yun talking to the soldiers guarding the city.
Yun the Butcher, standing beside the soldiers, listened for a while and discovered that refugees entering the city were charged one tael of silver per person. They had to enter in the morning and leave by evening, or they would be beheaded if caught. The refugees, queueing up in horse and donkey carts, were waiting for someone to pick them up. If they had relatives in the city willing to take them in and paid a deposit, they could move in and live there.
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