Chapter 30: Escape from the Troubled Times 28
Lin Xia quietly looked at him, and seeing that he was carrying luggage, she asked tentatively, "I think you are going to the city, brother?"
“Yes, this severe cold weather has killed many people, and the village is powerless to fight back. It’s too dangerous outside, so we are preparing to go into the city to avoid the disaster.
There were only my father and I left at home, and my son didn't want to go to the city, so we had an argument. ”
The little man next to him heard this and retorted silently: "I thought my father was going to sell me, just like a stone, and go to the county town and never come back." As he said this, his nose felt sore and his eyes welled up with tears. He knew that he might never see his little friend again in this life.
"Dad would rather sell himself than sell you. Your mother saved you with great difficulty." The man slapped the child on the back angrily, his back hunched, and his voice choked with sobs.
After the other party calmed down, Lin Xia revealed her true thoughts.
"Brother, since you are going into the city, I wonder if I can discuss something with you."
"What's the matter, girl?"
"Take me with you into the city."
When the other party heard this, he quickly refused. This was absolutely impossible and if caught he would be sent to jail.
"I just want to seek refuge in the city. I see that my eldest brother's family is poor and the expenses in the county are high. I am willing to pay 200 coins."
The other party's expression relaxed slightly, but after hesitating for a moment, he still refused.
Seeing that there was a chance, Lin Xia immediately raised the price from 300 coins to one tael of silver. The other party finally agreed, and it was finally agreed that a deposit of 500 coins would be paid before entering the city, and the remaining 500 coins would be paid after successfully entering the city.
At the same time, Lin Xia had to solve the problem of the big knife.
After the deal was made, Lin Xia walked with the father and son for more than two hours. She already understood their identities and her own future identity.
She is going to play the role of the man's 16-year-old sister, who was washed away during a flood last year and her body has not been found yet.
Because Lin Xia had a different accent and they were worried that the news would be exposed, they asked her to pretend to be mute.
The moment he saw the towering city wall, Lin Xia decided to wait in this county for news from the refugee army before making any arrangements.
The towering walls surround a huge castle. Although it is made of rammed earth, it still gives people a full sense of security.
It is about seven or eight meters thick as a whole, and there is a barbican at the gate for defense. The outermost part even dug through a wide river in the distance to make a moat.
With this level of defense, even an army of 100,000 refugees may not be able to capture it. The small county towns we saw before are completely incomparable to it. No wonder the villagers are fleeing to the city.
Lin Xia first walked with the other party to the grass field one thousand meters away from the city gate, and asked the other party to wait for her at the gate while she looked for a place to bury the knife.
If there is not enough space to put it in, it cannot be thrown away, as it will be needed again.
After dealing with the machete, Lin Xia put the iron pot, all the remaining food, sickle, axe, map, silver and all other suspicious items into the space, and put the rest in the backpack.
After everything was checked, Lin Xia reunited with the father and son and came to the outside of the city. There were more normal people around, and they all brought their families and packed their luggage. It seemed that they were all people who came to seek refuge.
While waiting in line, Lin Xia discovered that the county town did not reject outsiders, but it rejected poor outsiders.
As long as you have money and power, you don't care if the person is from a foreign hometown or not, just give the money directly. For example, the carriage in front was stuffed with silver and people were allowed in easily.
The three of them lined up and soon it was their turn.
"Bring me your household registration. What are your identities?" the soldier asked impatiently.
"Sir, I'm Zhang Er, a farmer from Huiping Village. This is my son Daniu and my sister." Zhang Er was a little nervous. It was the first time he did something illegal in front of officers and soldiers. His heart was pounding and his voice was trembling.
The officer lowered his head to check the household registration, and then glanced at Lin Xia who was following Zhang Er with lowered brows.
"Your sister is old enough, but she's still not married?"
The original owner was pretty, so Lin Xia evenly smeared ash on her face to prevent any trouble.
"Because my sister is mute, it is a little difficult for her to get married." Zhang Er explained.
The officers and soldiers didn't know whether they believed it or not, and their eyes swept over the three people.
"You can't speak. Okay, go over there."
The officer finally did not make things difficult for them and pointed to the luggage inspection area to let them pass.
The three men stepped forward to be checked, and since they had no weapons, they were allowed to pass.
After entering, the three of them breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, it went quite smoothly.
After entering the city, Lin Xia paid the balance and they parted ways.
She walked around the city alone for a while and came to a conclusion.
This county town called Chenxi is a super large county. Although many households in the city have hung white flags, it is still prosperous, with many pedestrians coming and going, roads extending in all directions, and various shops on both sides.
Clothes make the man, and Buddhas depend on gold. Lin Xia decided to go buy some clothes, otherwise no shop owner would be willing to accept her in her tattered beggar clothes.
I randomly found a clothing store and changed everything from inside to outside. I bought an ordinary thin cotton coat and cotton shoes with thousand-layer soles on the spot, and then bought a pair of waterproof leather boots to take away. In total, I spent two taels of high money, mainly because the price of cotton coats had increased several times.
The clothes I brought out also included the bearskin coat, which was so warm that it became cumbersome.
The weather is getting warmer now, and even if winter gets colder, it will be several months away. It will be inconvenient to travel with it, so Lin Xia went into the pawnshop.
She compared the prices in three pawnshops and her face darkened. How could she say that she was cheated? That was right. She was cheated as soon as she entered the pawnshop. Each pawnshop offered a lower price than the last. The cheapest one treated her like a fool and only gave her 100 cents.
My own coarse cotton-padded jacket cost 1 tael, but the bear-skin coat only cost me this much.
There was no other choice, so Lin Xia finally picked the one with the higher price and pawned it at 1 tael. Even so, the shop owner still disliked her poor craftsmanship and smashed it into pieces.
Although I pawned my clothes, I kept all the hat, knee pads and other items. They were small and practical.
After the clothes were dealt with, the backpack became much emptier.
Then there is the one-day trip to the inn. Due to the large number of people entering the city recently, the inns in the city are in short supply and have increased their prices.
It was impossible for Lin Xia to live in the lowest-class dormitory room. Even the medium-class room did not meet her needs because there was no quilt. She could only stay in the superior room that cost 200 wen a night.
Pay the highest price and enjoy the most considerate service.
The bath water was boiled in advance, but it was not free because firewood was expensive. She still paid for it with satisfaction.
Lin Xia relaxed, lying on her back in the bathtub with a look of enjoyment on her face.
But it was not easy to take my first hot bath in nearly a year.
An hour later, Lin Xia got up, wiped the water stains, called the waiter to deal with the dirty water, and ordered food, which was also brought by the waiter.
Lin Xia was satisfied again, finally getting to eat other vegetables and white and fragrant rice.
In fact, the cheapest meat dish in the store is fish, which is even cheaper than vegetarian dishes, but Lin Xia doesn’t care. She is hurt by eating, and now she just wants to enjoy life.
Waiter - a magical profession, they know a little bit about everything, and as long as you spend a little money, you can get the information you want.
Lin Xia paid money to learn from the waiter that Shaobei County had been captured by the refugee army the day before yesterday, but was quickly recaptured by the reinforcements from the provincial capital.
At that time, there were more than 10,000 people gathered in the refugee army, but they had no cohesion. Soon several main leaders were captured, and the remaining half of the refugees saw that the situation was not good and fled in all directions.
Their county town was the first to be hit, but there was no need to worry. After the weather got warmer, a batch of grain was delivered to the grain store in the city. Currently, there was enough food, and with several defenses at the city gates, that group of rabble was simply helpless.
According to him, Shaobei is just a small county town, only a hundred miles away from Chenxi County, and it can be reached in three or four days on foot. We will know whether the war situation is true tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.
On the second day, everything in the city was normal, so Lin Xia went to the grain store to buy food. It was just as the waiter said, there was no shortage of food in the grain store and there was no purchase limit. However, for ordinary people, it was almost unaffordable.
In fact, Xiangzhou was the least affected by the disaster last year. They can barely produce three crops a year, but in previous years only planted two crops of rice. After all, manpower is limited and the fertility of the land is limited. Last year, as the weather was not good, they planted three crops. The late rice was destroyed by heavy rains, and the first two seasons were only slightly affected, but they could still reach 70% to 80% of the harvest in previous years.
Logically speaking, if people had eaten less, so many people in Xiangzhou would not have died during the heavy snow. In fact, many villages were completely wiped out. This was not because the imperial court imposed more taxes and levied heavy taxes. You have to know that people froze to death not only because of insufficient warming measures, but also because of the shortage of food and the lack of energy for the body to survive the winter.
At this time, let’s talk about the importance of having a good official.
I also heard from the waiter that Lingzhou not only did not levy taxes, but also reduced taxes and levies. When the city was closed due to heavy snow, it actively provided relief to refugees.
As a result, many people endured hunger and cold and sneaked to Lingzhou to get help when the snow melted, which further strengthened Lin Xia's determination to rush to Lingzhou.
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