Outside Xiangyang City, at the city gate and under the city wall, countless refugees gathered. Unfortunately, since the refugees arrived, the city gates have remained closed. They are only opened once a day at noon when porridge is distributed. Even when the gates are open, there are many armored soldiers with swords guarding the entrance, and the refugees are still unable to enter the city. They can only stay outside the city gates, lying or sitting, waiting for that small bowl of clear porridge that is so clear you can see the bottom of the bowl once a day.
The rest of the time, everyone stared blankly at the high city walls and the tightly closed city gates, or lay on the ground with their eyes closed to rest, reducing their movement and trying to keep the little food in their stomachs for as long as possible so that they could hold on for a while longer.
Not far from the city wall, large groups of refugees gathered, with large pots and bonfires among them. The soldiers on the wall watched the scene unfolding below, speechless. They knew that only in this way could these people have a better chance of survival, and even then, it would only slightly increase their odds. They had no right to stop or criticize these people; if they weren't soldiers, they probably would have joined them. Although they too were starving, at least they had a few bites to eat, enough to feed their families and prevent them from starving to death.
(This is no exaggeration. During the Ming Dynasty, the Little Ice Age was followed by war, grain requisitioning was carried out everywhere, taxes were increased, and unscrupulous merchants controlled the market. All these factors are documented in the records. It's just that this wasn't the only city affected. Even soldiers had many family members who starved to death.)
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It was noon, just after the time for porridge had passed.
When Wang Han arrived on horseback, he immediately attracted the attention of all the refugees around him. Horses—that meant meat, lots of meat, and not only more meat, but also more food to stave off hunger. However, seeing Wang Han, who was wearing armor and carrying weapons, exuding a fearsome aura and seemingly a general, the refugees shrank back in fear, not daring to approach.
Seeing the gazes of those around them, the three children in Wang Han's arms tightened their grip on his arm. Although the arm armor on Wang Han's arm was cold, it gave them immense peace of mind.
Riding his horse towards the city gate, Wang Han observed the situation while rapidly scanning Xiangyang City ahead using his radar. He knew what the bonfires and large cauldrons under the city walls were without even looking. Wang Han didn't immediately give them food, because even disaster relief required proper methods; otherwise, things could become even more chaotic. Driven by hunger and desperation, these refugees were capable of anything; otherwise, Li Zicheng wouldn't have been able to cause trouble at this time.
"Sigh!" Wang Han sighed. The radar scan results were in. He searched for "grain" and "food" by name. There was hardly any grain left even in the city. The merchants' warehouses were almost empty, with only some grain stored in hidden cellars. The government granaries had even less grain, less than the merchants'. It was rare to find officials here who weren't incompetent.
Although there were no refugees in the city, Wang Han knew that this was to prevent refugees from entering the city and committing crimes.
"My lord." A dirty couple with an equally dirty child suddenly knelt down in front of Wang Han's horse.
This sudden action startled the refugees who had been watching Wang Han closely. A red glint seemed to flash in their eyes, and some even secretly grabbed at the stones and clods of earth by the roadside. If Wang Han made even one mistake in his response, these refugees would suddenly attack, killing and slaughtering horses for food.
"Uncle..." The three little ones gripped Wang Han's armor tightly in fear.
"Hmph!" Wang Han snorted coldly, his terrifying sound waves, filled with murderous intent, resounding like a great bell.
The surrounding refugees groaned, their hands and feet trembling, their bodies weak; some even coughed up blood. Those clutching stones and clods of earth loosened their grip, fear quickly filling their hearts.
"What do you want?" Wang Han asked, looking at the three people kneeling on the ground.
"Sir, my wife and I have a daughter who has just turned fourteen. We hope to sell her to you in exchange for the money to go to town and get some food." Upon hearing this, the man in the couple quickly said, and together with his wife, they used some saliva on their hands to wipe the dirty face of their child.
Wang Han looked at the girl; although her face was still dirty, it was clear she was quite pretty. While she wouldn't be a stunning beauty when she grew up, she would still be considered a pretty girl, though she looked very thin now. When the girl heard that her parents wanted to sell her, she didn't blame or feel sad; instead, she even felt a little anticipation.
"We don't need much, just enough to get into town and two cakes," the couple said quickly, seeing that Wang Han didn't speak, thinking he was hesitating.
"Two cakes and a trip to town?" Wang Han carefully observed the couple, scrutinizing their eyes.
"If we can't go into the city, two cakes will do. We just beg you, sir, to take our daughter into the city. She'll die if she stays outside. Please, sir, sir, we don't need the cakes anymore. We just beg you to take our daughter in, take her into the city, and give her a few bites to eat." Under Wang Han's gaze, the couple dared not meet his eyes and lowered their demands again and again, kowtowing to Wang Han repeatedly.
“Sure, I happen to need a few servants to look after me,” Wang Han nodded and said.
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