Chapter 335: More and More Want to Escape
"Sir, please let my family leave the city!"
"We are really going to stay with our relatives, not to Heihe Village!"
There was a long line in front of the city gate, all of them were people carrying bags and wanting to leave the village.
"Go away! Don't even think about leaving the city without documents!" the officers shouted sternly.
"But the government won't give us any documents and insists we're going to Heihe Village! Oh my God, they're going to kill us!"
"Can't we even flee famine? There's no precedent in history for not allowing ordinary people to flee famine!"
"The price of food has risen so high that we can't afford it, and we're not allowed to go out and find a way to make a living. Are they trying to trap us here and let us die?"
There was crying at the city gate.
The officers sighed: "What's the point of you crying here? We are just officers, and we are also following orders!"
They also couldn't understand why the court had to resort to this trick. The capital was the capital of a country and the imperial city. Why should they worry that the people would not return after fleeing famine?
But the current situation is that not only people living in the city cannot leave, but even the areas outside Beijing are under control.
Even a fool could see that the imperial court was afraid.
The imperial court was afraid of population outflow, of being abandoned by the people, and of losing the dignity of the country's capital.
Humans are very strange creatures. A sudden ban from the imperial court made those who originally didn't want to leave become eager to escape the capital.
But for ordinary people, it is impossible to get documents to leave the city without silver.
Desperate, they could only cry in front of the city gate every day.
After crying, they gathered together to protest, shouting, "Let us out! We want to get out!"
When the officers and soldiers arrived to arrest the rioters, they dispersed and ran to collect relief food.
Yes, the imperial court has recently opened its granaries to release grain. At least as long as we give them something to eat every day, they won’t starve to death.
But as soon as everyone thought that the evil star was still there, they immediately lost hope in life.
As the saying goes, it is easy to seal the mouth of a jar but difficult to cover the human mouth.
Although the topic of unlucky stars is expressly prohibited, various rumors about lucky stars and unlucky stars are still rampant and cannot be suppressed.
More and more people are protesting in the streets.
"Why won't you let us out? We're not prisoners!"
"You've trapped all of us here, are you trying to make us die with that evil star?"
The imperial court sent officers and soldiers to suppress the rebellion, and a conflict broke out between the two sides, and a large number of people were arrested.
The people no longer dared to cause trouble openly, but this did not stop them from trying their best to escape from prison.
They would come to the city gate every day, whether they had something to do or not, and enviously shout to those who left the city with documents: "Brother, don't come back once you leave! Heihe Village is a blessed place!"
"This place has been cursed by God! Staying here will bring you divine punishment!"
At first, the officers at the city gate tried to arrest those who talked nonsense, but later they became numb and simply pretended to be deaf and let them talk.
On this day, as usual, the people were waiting in front of the city gate when they suddenly heard a loud clatter of horse hooves and someone shouting:
“Get out of the way!”
The people hurriedly made way, only to see an army riding out of the city gate and disappearing into a cloud of dust.
The people were shocked.
"Did you notice that among those who just left was Master Hongkong, the abbot of Lingji Temple?"
"Found it! Why is Master Hongkong leaving the city with the army?"
"What do you think? Could it be... that they went to Heihe Village to capture Zen Master Huineng?"
"What?!" everyone shouted, "Zen Master Huineng hasn't committed any crime, why are they arresting him?"
"Think about it, if it weren't for Zen Master Huineng, why would everyone in the capital rush to Heihe Village? Zen Master Huineng was indeed the one who caused the exodus from the capital! I guess some people really hate Zen Master Huineng!"
"But Zen Master Huineng is not an ordinary person. How dare they touch such a powerful monk?"
"Ah! All under heaven belongs to the king, and all the people in the world are his subjects. No matter how powerful Zen Master Huineng is, he is still a subject after all!"
"What should we do?" Everyone looked worried. "Master Huineng must not be captured by them. If he's taken back to the capital, he'll be in grave danger!"
"In this situation, who wouldn't be in danger?" Everyone sighed for a while and slowly dispersed.
…
Heihe Village.
The morning breeze blew from the river bank, bringing a hint of moisture and coolness.
The sun had not yet risen, and most of the guests in the inn were still asleep.
The village was in front and the villagers were behind. Everyone went out of the city gate and headed straight for the refugee camp.
Heihe Village had previously built a wall between the refugee camp and the inn, separating the two sides and leaving only a gate in the middle.
So now the two sides do not interfere with each other.
As the villagers passed through the door, they heard an arrogant voice, "What time is it? Why don't you guys set up a pot to cook? Are you trying to starve us to death?!"
"Hurry up and cook for me! Otherwise, no one will have a good life!"
When the villagers approached, they saw that the refugees had all gotten up. Some were busy digging, some were busy laying the foundation, and some were busy making mud bricks.
There were also a few people who were lazy and doing nothing, cursing and pushing others.
Seeing the villagers from Heihe Village coming over, those scoundrels immediately put on a smiling face and ran over with bows and nods.
"Zhuang Lizheng, why are you free to come here today?"
The village head ignored them and walked straight past a few people to the refugees. The refugees put down their work and greeted the village head one after another.
The village head said, "I heard from the villagers on duty that someone has been causing trouble here these past two days. Not only is he doing nothing, he's also stealing other people's food and sleeping in other people's beds. Is that true?"
The refugees looked at each other and no one spoke.
"Just speak boldly, Heihe Village will support you!" the villagers encouraged.
The refugees still didn't dare to speak.
A few scoundrels followed, and the bearded man in the lead smiled flatteringly, "Zhuang Lizheng, this is a misunderstanding! There's no such thing at all! We all came from the capital, and we supported each other all the way to Heihe Village. How could anyone bully anyone?"
"Yes! Everyone has a good relationship!" Several others also echoed.
The village head snorted and looked at them coldly, "Just now, you guys forced them to set up the pot to cook. We heard it clearly! We are all civilians who have fled here. Why are you bullying us?"
The bearded man smiled widely, "Village head, we didn't do this on purpose. We just wanted to establish our authority."
"Why are you trying to show off your authority? Is it your turn to show off your authority in Heihe Village?" the villagers shouted.
The bearded man smiled flatteringly, "We're actually doing this for the sake of Heihe Village. Think about it, with so many outsiders making such a commotion all day long, someone has to step in and take care of them! We figured someone has to do this thankless task! Others are afraid of offending people, but we aren't! So we took on this responsibility!"
"So, we have to thank you?"
The village head turned to look at the refugees and said, "Everyone, you heard what these people just said. Do you agree to be controlled by them in the future?"
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