Chapter 36: Recruiting Slaves
When the exiled prisoners heard that the officials were going to the lake to get food, they immediately became eager to follow them.
When the refugees at the back of the team heard that there was food, they followed without a second thought.
However, when they arrived at the lake, they were a little disappointed when they saw that the officers were dealing with clams.
This thing has a strong fishy smell, and you might end up with a mouthful of mud and sand.
But now everyone was hungry and didn't care about these things, so they started digging clams out of the mud.
Maybe it was because of the rain that the water level rose, so many clams were on the shore, making it easy to pick them up. After a while, everyone had picked up a lot.
Lu Shiyan also took his younger brother and sister to the lake and picked up two sacks to bring back.
Hearing that they had to rest for an hour, Jiang Tangtang simply used the official's big pot to steam a simple version of pumpkin cake.
While he was busy, Lu Shiyan came back with two large bags of river clams. "What should we do with these clam shells?"
"So many?" Jiang Tangtang looked at the two sacks of river clams in surprise.
"Big brother is quick, so he picked up a lot. In the same amount of time, those people didn't even pick up half as much as big brother!" Lu Shili raised his neck proudly and spoke well of his big brother.
His elder brother is awesome, and he feels even more proud that he is even better than himself.
"Wash it clean and put it in a bucket. I'll do it later!" Jiang Tangtang was just thankful that she had taken out a few stainless steel buckets from the space that day.
Although every time Lu Shiyan fetched water, he would frown and ponder when he saw the bucket, studying the workmanship and material of the bucket.
But Jiang Tangtang insisted that she bought it from a small vendor in the city, and Lu Shiyan couldn't say anything.
Lu Shiyan and Lu Shili returned to the lake with buckets of water. When they were cleaning the clams again, people started coming back from the lake with clams in their hands.
At this time, the pumpkin cake in the steamer was also ready, and the fragrance kept wafting out.
Smelling the fragrance, another refugee knelt in front of Jiang Tangtang and begged, "Sir, please be kind and give us something to eat!"
"I'm just an exiled prisoner. I have no right to give you food." Jiang Tangtang looked away, trying not to look at the poor children.
Seeing Liang Jiamin coming back, she quickly handed the pastries in the pot to Liang Jiamin and turned away.
Liang Jiamin brandished the whip in his hand and said with a fierce look on his face, "Get out! Go get food from the government. We are doing our job here and don't have any extra to give you."
Several women were frightened and the children beside them started crying loudly in fear. Several people quickly took the children and hid away.
The brutality of the officers and soldiers and Jiang Tangtang's indifference made the refugees following the team hesitate whether to continue following.
The reason they followed the exile group was that they had no choice but to go.
Another reason was because Jiang Tangtang had shown kindness to them.
But now, seeing that Jiang Tangtang was frightened by what happened the night before and refused to help them anymore, some people backed down and wanted to take the children to the nearest county town.
A dark-faced woman said, "Let's go, Qiu Niang. They won't help us, and we'll die if we follow them."
He Qiuniang shook her head and said, "But what's the point of going to the county town? When has the court ever helped us when we suffered a disaster? It's good enough that the tax burden hasn't been increased. Do you still want the court to send us grain?"
As soon as she said this, there was a sudden silence at the scene.
They all fled from the same village, and this was not the first time they had suffered disaster.
I remember one year there was a locust plague and the village had no harvest. Everyone had to go to the mountains to find wild vegetables and tree roots to fill their stomachs.
However, the government not only did not provide relief food, but increased the tax burden, forcing many families to sell their children.
This time is only worse than before. No matter how difficult it was before, at least I still had a house and land.
But now, the house and the ground are flooded and everything is gone.
They did not dare to have any hope in the government.
After a while, He Qiuniang continued, "I think that girl has a good heart. If those bastards hadn't tried to rob them last night, she wouldn't have treated us like this today."
"What's the point of having good intentions? She's just a mortal! I don't think she can do anything even if she has the will."
The dark-faced woman stood up with the child and said, "If you ask me, there's always a way to make a living in the city. Whether it's eating porridge given by the rich or finding a job in the city, you can always survive. But following these exiled prisoners? Are you planning to go into exile with them?"
"No matter what you think, I'm going to the city to find a job." After saying that, the black-faced woman took the child and left.
A few other women hesitated for a moment and then followed the black-faced woman.
The remaining ones include He Qiuniang's family and another family.
The two families discussed for a while and found Jiang Tangtang again.
He Qiuniang knelt before Jiang Tangtang and said, "My lord, my family and I are willing to sell ourselves as servants and serve you from now on. All we ask is that you give us something to eat."
Hu Dangui also said, "Sir, please accept us! We are all honest farmers. We can do anything. As long as we can feed the children, we will do anything."
Jiang Tangtang was shocked by what the two said.
"But, we're all exiled prisoners now. How can I buy you? And if you follow us, you'll have to go into exile together. Have you really thought this through?"
"As long as I can survive, nothing else matters." He Qiuniang is with a child, a thirteen-year-old sister-in-law, and an elderly mother-in-law.
Hu Dangui is the woman that Jiang Tangtang couldn't bear to see last night and gave her her own rations.
In addition to a child who is over three years old, she also has a younger brother who is in his teens.
In fact, both families had little labor and were burdened with heavy responsibilities. Normally, people would not buy slaves from a family like this.
Jiang Tangtang is mainly soft-hearted.
But some things need to be made clear first.
"It's not impossible to accept you, but as you can see, we are just exiled prisoners now. Our rations are all distributed by the officials. If I want to feed you, I can only save from my family's rations. I will only give your children grain, and you can eat wild vegetables. Are you willing?"
"Yes, yes!" The two women nodded repeatedly. "As long as we give our children a bite, we'll be satisfied. We can eat anything, even wild vegetables we can dig ourselves."
Jiang Tangtang said, "It's still more than ten days' journey from here to our place of exile. You have to travel with your children every day. Can you bear the hardship?"
"We were used to doing rough work in the countryside. Walking is no problem for us. We even help with the work while walking."
As they spoke, the two women presented the clams they had picked up today, saying that since they were sold to them, the clams they had picked up also belonged to them.
"Then wait a moment, I'll go ask my husband." Jiang Tangtang mainly wanted to ask Lu Shiyan what procedures were required to buy someone.
Although she was soft-hearted again, she still had to be on guard. Since it was agreed to buy her as a slave, she had to complete the necessary procedures.
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