Chapter 306: Shizi Village Resists Refugees
Soon Shen Jinyuan posted a notice at the gate of the county town.
The notice explained two methods of resettling the refugees. First, those who were willing to become citizens of Xuanning County would line up to register their names and original household registration, and the government would step in to resettle the refugees.
Second, those who did not want to stay in Xuanning County had to return along the same route. The government would provide them with funds to ensure that they could return home alive. Moreover, the lost cities had been recaptured, so the refugees could return home with peace of mind.
As soon as the notice came out, many refugees rushed to line up for registration. For example, it snowed heavily today and thousands of people froze to death overnight. It took them a month to walk 300 miles from their original registered place.
The weather is so bad now that it would be a deathly task for them to walk back.
Even if I go back, the things in my house will probably have been snatched away, and I will starve to death if I go back, so I might as well choose to stay.
But there are also some people who are willing to go back. It will only take a month for them to go back. Even if their belongings are robbed, they still have houses to live in. Even if they are resettled here, the government will sooner or later be unable to bear so many people and will eventually send them back.
Shen Jinyuan received the news quickly.
"Sir, those refugees have chosen to stay. How are we going to accommodate them?"
It was such a cold day, but the county magistrate was sweating profusely.
But all this was within Shen Jinyuan's expectations.
"Order people to set up tents immediately, open warehouses to release grain, and gather wealthy merchants to raise funds to provide basic living security for the people, as long as they can survive until the next spring plowing season."
Shen Jinyuan issued a series of resettlement policies and encouraged nearby temples to help resettle the refugees.
Even so, the power of one county is not enough to accommodate the people of two cities. Shen Jinyuan had already written to the prefect a few days ago and is now waiting for a reply from there.
Shizi Village was on guard day and night, and finally welcomed the first wave of refugees.
That night, about a hundred refugees sneaked into Shizi Village, and Ergouzi and Wan Laoer were on duty.
"Uncle Wan Er, I was peeing over there just now and noticed something strange, as if there was someone outside the fence."
Er Gouzi ran over with great effort, stepping on knee-deep snow.
Wan Laoer and his team are patrolling near the village entrance tonight. Wan Er's wife was afraid that Wan Laoer would get cold, so she contributed some of the dry firewood at home. She cleared a space under a big tree at the entrance of the village and lit a brazier. Not only did it illuminate the surroundings, but it also provided warmth for everyone.
Thanks to Wan Laoer, Ergouzi was not very cold.
The patrol team immediately became alert.
"Er Gouzi, where did you see them? How many people were there?"
Wan Laoer looked nervous and quickly pulled Ergouzi over.
Er Gouzi, holding an axe in his hand, turned around and pointed to the place where he urinated.
"Right over there."
"Damn it, they finally found their way to our village. Let's put out the braziers quickly, or we'll all become living targets."
The fire was burning so fiercely that it was impossible to see the dark area clearly. It seemed that they were in the light and the enemy was in the dark.
Changsheng and Changfu quickly shoveled some snow from the ground and threw it into the brazier. The blazing fire soon made a sizzling sound when it met the snow.
In a moment, thick smoke billowed up and the flames became weaker and weaker. At this time, the light reflected by the snow allowed Wan Laoer and others to see the situation outside the fence clearly.
I saw that the outside was already full of people, and they were already building a human ladder to try to climb over the wall. Some of them were hanging on the gap between two wooden stakes, ready to climb in secretly.
"Damn, are these bastards ghosts? They are so quiet?"
Changsheng cursed and rushed towards those people with his axe in hand.
Wan Laoer quickly ran over, picked up the gong on the millstone, and started beating it.
It was the first half of the night and many families had just fallen asleep. In this quiet night, the sound of the gong could be heard from far away. The patrol team closest to Wan Laoer and his men heard the sound and immediately rushed to the village entrance, banging the gong as they ran.
Within a quarter of an hour, all the villagers were awakened by the sound of the gong, and everyone in the village knew that refugees were coming.
Everyone put on their cotton coats and trousers and ran out.
"The refugees are coming, everyone be prepared."
Hundreds of people had gathered at the entrance of the village, confronting the refugees outside.
Jinniu also hurried over. He was on the day shift today and had only slept for two hours when he was awakened by the sound of a gong. He hurried over and saw a sea of people everywhere at the entrance of the village.
"What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and get your weapons ready to drive these people away. Don't show any mercy. If you want to beat them, you have to beat them hard. Let them know how powerful our village is, and they will take a detour next time."
Taurus roared sharply.
The people from Shizi Village, who were originally on opposite sides, suddenly started to move.
What is the most abundant thing in Shizi Village? Of course, stones.
During these ten days, Wan Laoer specially invited Wan Laosan back from the town, and the Wan family shop was closed. In such a chaotic world, the town was not safe. Wan Laosan made a simple stone-throwing device. Although it could not throw large stones, it could still throw scattered gravel.
Just as the refugees were about to rush towards the door, the crowd in Shizi Village dispersed and a medium-sized catapult was slowly pushed out by the crowd.
It was Wan Laoer who shamelessly asked the town mayor Qiu Shi for the blueprint.
The refugees had no idea what this thing was used for, and did not slow down because of the appearance of the catapult. On the contrary, when they saw that no one was blocking the exit, they swarmed to break through the wooden door and enter the village.
"Pretend to be a guy!"
Taurus stood on Mopan Mountain, holding a torch in his hand, commanding the people below.
The men of Shizi Village had never been so united as they were at this moment. They obeyed orders and as soon as Jinniu finished speaking, dozens of people carried several baskets of stones from not far away and poured them into the catapult.
"projection!"
When Jinniu saw that the stones had been loaded, he immediately shouted.
Wan Lao Er, Wan Lao San and several other men pushed down the other end of the catapult, and stones fell outside the fence like raindrops.
The refugees who had originally swarmed to break down the door suddenly screamed like pigs being slaughtered and fled in panic, their heads in their hands.
“Come again!”
Taurus did not feel any compassion, because he knew that if he showed pity to these people at this time, he would mean giving up his village, and being kind to the enemy would be cruel to himself.
The catapult threw out four more times in succession, and screams could be heard outside. Fifty percent of the hundred or so refugees were seriously injured, and the rest had some skin injuries and were trampled. After all, they were crowded together and hit by external force, so trampling was inevitable.
A bloody smell spread all around, and the snow was covered with spots of blood, which looked particularly terrifying when mixed with the white snow.
"Stop throwing rocks!"
Seeing that the refugees outside had lost their ability to fight, Jinniu immediately ordered them to stop fighting.
"All patrol teams in Shizi Village, listen up! Go out now and tie these people up for me."
At this time, whether it was the patrol team or other villagers in Shizi Village, everyone yelled, opened the fence gate and rushed out.
There were hundreds of men and women in Shizi Village who could participate in the battle. They could kill the seriously injured refugees instantly.
Within a quarter of an hour, all the hundreds of refugees outside were tied up by the people from Shizi Village.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
