"That's right, Erniu, just tell us quickly, we are all listening." The others also echoed.
"Okay, this is what happened. Everyone should know what happened last night. Refugees entered the village.
Although the casualties were not great, it did cause a lot of panic.
After I sent the person away this morning, I gave the hundred coins that the village chief gave me to the official on duty in the yamen and asked for some news.
I used to be on duty in the town, but now my boss has gone back to his hometown.
As everyone knows, food prices have been rising recently. Furthermore, refugees have begun to appear, and I believe everyone is aware of this, as famine has already struck other places.
Some people may not believe it and think it is alarmist.
But today I asked the officials again, and it is true that there are disasters in some places. The court concealed it because it was afraid of causing panic among the people.
The official also told me about the situation in other villages last night, the most serious of which was in a village called "Hucheng Village".
What's going on in "Hucheng Village"? Some people started to pay attention after hearing about it, including Yu Qingshu. Isn't his father-in-law from Hucheng Village?
I've been so busy these days that I haven't had time to go there. Could something really have happened?
Huang Erniu paused and continued.
"The official said that more than a hundred refugees went to the village to look for food last night, and they were organized. Basically more than 80% of them were armed."
"Also, the village chief of Hucheng Village is called Gou Ersheng. He usually likes to take advantage of others. This time, when the village was in trouble, he was the first to run away, not caring about the lives of the villagers.
It can be said that most of the troubles in the village were caused by his bad habit of taking advantage of others.
The thing is, initially the refugees only sent a woman to inquire about the situation in the village.
The woman was quite pretty and wore clothes like an ordinary person, so you couldn't tell that she was a refugee.
The woman came to "Hucheng Village" and after asking, she went directly to the village chief's house. The woman said that she came to look for relatives, but her relatives had moved away.
It’s not safe for me to go looking for someone by myself, so I just want to find a place to stay in Hucheng Village first.
As the conversation progressed, the topic began to veer off track. The woman inquired about various situations in the village in a roundabout way. The village chief, seeing that someone else was beautiful and his wife was not at home, immediately began to have inappropriate thoughts.
So he would answer every question the woman asked, telling her everything he knew.
In order to gain his trust, the woman naturally gave him some financial benefits.
Later, when the woman saw that she had explored the area enough, she started looking for excuses to go back.
Gou Ersheng looked at the woman's back, his heart surging with emotion. He also promised that the woman could come to him if she had any problems.
The woman walked around the village and then went back. When others saw her coming out of the village chief's house, they thought she was a relative of the village chief and naturally didn't take it seriously.
Then that night, at midnight, the woman led the team and successfully sneaked into the village.
By the time the villagers reacted, it was too late. The men in the village naturally couldn't bear to watch them being robbed, but they were powerless.
In the end, they were defeated. Some young women in the village also fell victim to the refugees.
Seeing that something was not right, Gou Ersheng thought about what the woman had asked him about the village today, and he suddenly felt uneasy. He took his family and ran away early.
Although the people of Hucheng Village quickly reported the incident to the authorities, they suffered heavy losses, including lost food and injuries. Therefore, the mayor took the matter very seriously.
After Huang Erniu finished speaking, the crowd began to cry. Some people were anxious to go back, wanting to go to "Hucheng Village" to check on the situation.
After Huang Erniu finished speaking, Village Chief He Qiang continued.
"Everyone knows this isn't just a drought problem, it's the refugees that have affected our normal lives.
So I decided that we would flee the famine in three days. I have looked at the map and we will go to Dong Yu, the "His Royal Highness Prince Chen".
It was relatively close to us, and not prone to disasters. The produce there was plentiful, though wild animals occasionally appeared.
But as long as you don't run around and don't go to places you shouldn't go, there won't be any problem.
I called you all here today, firstly to let you know how serious the current situation is, and secondly to tell you about this matter.
But if you don't want to go, or want to stay with relatives, that's fine too. I'll arrange for someone to keep watch at the village entrance for the next few days.
Of course, the night watch wasn't in vain. Our village had previously collected some of the grain, and we gave it to the night watchmen. Each person received ten pounds of brown rice and two pounds of corn a day.
The people who keep watch at night are temporarily arranged by Huang Erniu, and those who are about to run out of food at home are given priority.
The person who keeps watch must be a male over the age of sixteen. If you want to keep watch, you can go and sign up with him.
But not everyone can use it. You need to have some skills, such as being strong and able to use fists and feet.
After all, if you really have to confront the refugees head-on, people could die if you’re not careful.
Those who come to watch the night are volunteers. If something happens, the village will provide subsidies and report it to the authorities.
In addition, the remaining food from the village will be packed up for use on the road. We will gather at the village entrance at noon three days later. Those who want to go should go early.
If everyone is fine, then go back first. If you want to escape the famine with the village, remember to prepare well and don't take anything you shouldn't take.
After saying this, Village Chief He Qiang followed the others back home.
When Yu Qingshu heard about "Hucheng Village", he was very anxious, so he hurried home.
"My dear, I'm back." Yu Qingshu was already calling Hua Qinglu before he even reached the door.
"Husband, you're back. Why do you look so bad? What happened? Are you feeling unwell?"
Hua Qinglu came and opened the door, and helped Yu Qingshu back into the house.
Yu Qingshu thought about it for a while and decided to tell his wife about the situation in the village where his father-in-law and mother-in-law lived first.
"My dear, I told you not to worry, this has something to do with my father-in-law and mother-in-law.
It's like this, Huang Erniu said that refugees attacked Hucheng Village last night, and the situation in Hucheng Village is not very good.
Food was stolen, some people were injured, but I don’t know the details.”
After Yu Qingshu finished speaking, he saw Hua Qinglu's face turn pale.
"Madam, what's wrong with you? Don't scare me!"
"No, I'm going to go find my parents, no. They must be fine."
After hearing this, Hua Qinglu's mind went blank. He kept talking about looking for his parents and ignored Yu Qingshu.
"No, we don't know the situation yet. Nothing will happen, don't worry."
After a long period of comfort, Hua Qinglu finally calmed down. At this moment, Yu Qingqing and Yu Qingmei also heard the noise and came to their parents' room.
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