Although the refugees from the northwestern mountains and streams have now fled to Yueyang, the Dali court has also taken relevant countermeasures.
Not only were soldiers sent to suppress the chaos, but a soup kitchen was also opened in the town. Therefore, the situation in Yueyang is relatively good now.
Apart from the fact that the weather suddenly turned into summer during the New Year, the previous madness of hoarding food, and the fact that everyone in the town has now returned to the countryside for refuge, there is no other situation in Yueyang.
Therefore, the people in Yueyang calmed down after the initial frantic food storage. Except for the increase in the number of family members, their daily lives were the same as before: farming, eating, sleeping, gossiping...
However, even though the imperial court came up with countermeasures and set up a porridge relief station in the town, it was still overwhelmed by the large number of disaster victims and refugees.
As a result, many refugees have come to the village to beg recently, most of whom are old, weak and sick.
The thin porridge in the town was not enough to fill everyone up, so everyone had to find ways to pick fruits on the nearby mountains, or beg at the doorsteps of villagers. If they were lucky, they could even work and exchange more food for the villagers.
But as time went by, the weather not only did not return to normal, but became increasingly hotter. All the newly grown seedlings in the fields died, leaving only drought-resistant crops such as sweet potatoes alive.
By March, the temperature had reached over 40 degrees Celsius, the river water level had dropped slightly, and the crops in the fields had not improved.
The court's porridge distribution frequency became less and less frequent, and it was obvious that the court was beginning to be unable to cope with the situation. It could only try its best to let officers and soldiers suppress the people and prevent them from rioting.
It was at this time that everyone began to truly panic. Before, they had only speculated and worried about the victims in the mountain stream, but now they had to worry about themselves. All these situations indicated that a major disaster was coming! ! !
"It's coming, a severe drought, a severe drought, we're going to starve!"
The villagers were in an uproar. It was not normal for winter to change to summer overnight.
Now, in just a few short months, the weather has become as hot as the dog days of summer. The river water level has also dropped. Most of the crops in the fields have died. What shall we do if there is no harvest next year?
Even if we had stored some food before, no one knew how long the drought would last. One or two years would be fine, but if it lasted for three to five years, everyone would definitely die!
Now the imperial court has begun to stop intervening, and everyone can only rely on themselves. Faced with such a serious situation, all the people in Linjiang Village gathered at Qin Laoshuan's house, looking to their village chief for a decision.
"Village Chief, what do we do now? Is a drought really coming?"
"Qin Laoshuan, you are our village chief, give me some advice, should we follow the example of the people in the northwest and find another place to settle down?"
"No, I don't want to leave here. My family has lived in Linjiang Village for generations. If I leave here, who will worship and take care of my ancestors buried in the mountains..."
"Village Chief, please make an idea..."
"Qin Laoshuan, think of a solution..."
Now the villagers are as panicked as headless flies, not knowing what to do. They can only look to Qin Laoshuan, the head of the village, as their backbone and seek guidance and direction.
To be honest, if possible, no one wants to leave the place where they grew up. In ancient times, people valued returning to their roots. If you really escape to the outside world and die, you will just be a lonely ghost...
The villagers didn't know what to do, and Qin Laoshuan didn't know either. As the village chief, he was usually good at resolving trivial disputes in the village, but when it came to making such a big decision, he was nervous and afraid.
It would be fine if he had the right idea, but if he pointed everyone in the wrong direction and led them into a dead end, it wouldn't matter if he died at his old age, but he couldn't take responsibility for the lives of so many people in the village!
Pei Shaorong, who was sitting next to him, pulled Mo Xiaobao to sit in a corner without saying a word, just listening to everyone's discussions.
In fact, he was more inclined to stay. Although the current situation seemed terrible, in Pei Shaorong's opinion, the situation in Linjiang Village had not yet reached a desperate situation.
Even though most of the seedlings and crops in the fields died, some of them were still alive and could hold on for a while. More importantly, Linjiang Village was next to a mountain with rich resources.
There is basically nothing to eat outside the back mountain now, but it is different when you go deeper into the mountain. Pei Shaorong doesn't believe that such a big mountain will become completely barren in a short time.
If we really run out of food, we can take some risks and go into the mountains, where we can always find food to survive. But if we take the food with us and flee, we will definitely die faster than if we stay!
Although Pei Shaorong didn't know the situation outside due to communication problems, he could guess with his toes that the situation outside was definitely not very good. Otherwise, if the situation in Yueyang was the only one that got worse, the court would not be able to manage it so helplessly.
Even if we left Yueyang, as we had seen before, there were so many immigrants and disaster victims on the road. If we were not careful, we would not only be robbed by the disaster victims who had no food, but we might also encounter bandits and lose our lives!
So the best way now, and also the most helpless way, is to stay where you are and rely on the food stored at home to survive for two years...
The villagers discussed for a long time at the village chief's house, but in the end they couldn't come up with any good solution. They stood in the yard of the village chief's house and made a fuss.
But after arguing for a long time, no one could come up with a solution that would satisfy both parties, and in the end, the discussion ended in nothing happening, so everyone could only take things one step at a time.
But no one expected that by April, when the weather became even hotter, Yueyang began to really face a disaster, because - there was no water!
The lack of water does not actually mean that the entire Yueyang area is without water. The situation in Linjiang Village is very good because of the terrain, Linjiang Village is upstream of the river. But the situation downstream is serious.
Ever since the weather suddenly changed from winter to summer during the Chinese New Year, it has been getting hotter and hotter, and now it has reached a high temperature of 40 degrees, and there has not been a cloudy day for several months.
The crops in the fields died one after another, and the only ones that survived were those hidden in the soil.
The water in the river naturally could not withstand the sun. In just a few months, the water in the upper reaches of the river was still fine, but the water in the lower reaches had basically dried up.
The situation with drinking water is still relatively good, as every household has a well. The water in the well has not dried up yet, but the crops in the fields are in a terrible state. Even the most drought-resistant crops cannot completely live without water. If the water in the river dries up, it means that the food in the fields is gone!
Even if the villages downstream run to the upstream to fetch water, it is useless. It cannot save the crops in the fields at all, and the water upstream is also decreasing...
Without water, we cannot grow crops, and without food, we will starve. The villages downstream were in an uproar, and even though people had stockpiled a lot of food, they could not keep up with the consumption.
Judging from the weather, this... there will definitely be a severe drought in the next few years. It will definitely not be relieved for two to three years. Can their food last until then?
Not to mention what will happen in the future, the current situation is enough to give everyone a headache, especially the villagers downstream who are already like ants on hot pot.
The villages downstream are anxious, and the villagers upstream are also worried. Although the situation upstream is better than downstream, everyone is worried about their children and relatives in the downstream villages.
Our ancestors have lived on this land for so many years, and intermarriage between villages is certain. The villages are closely connected.
When the water in the downstream river was almost dry, the villagers could no longer sit still and began to ask for help from their relatives and family members upstream.
Finally, all the sweet potatoes and potatoes that were still alive in the fields were dug out, and the villagers downstream packed up their things and moved their belongings to the homes of relatives and acquaintances in the upstream villages.
The village upstream naturally couldn't accommodate all the people it had at once, but they couldn't just leave their families alone, so those in bigger houses had to live in them, and those in smaller houses had to build temporary additions. The village suddenly became lively.
Even so, many people downstream still can’t find a place to go because they have no relatives or friends in the upstream villages!
But no one would just sit there and wait for death. The river had dried up, the crops had been sun-dried, and staying in the village would only lead to death.
Finally, the remaining villagers discussed it and decided to run to the upstream village, find an empty lot and build houses by themselves. In short, they decided to stay upstream!
Anyway, no one wants to leave Yueyang unless it is absolutely necessary. Our ancestors have taken root here for so many years. If they leave, they will be like floating duckweed, and will become wandering ghosts after death.
Although the people in the upstream villages were somewhat unwilling to see the actions of the downstream villagers, they did not stop them. In this countryside, the villagers are basically all distant relatives. Who can step forward to chase them away?
Although the village has suddenly gained so many people and the consumption of river water has increased a lot, the water upstream seems to be able to support it.
Moreover, with so many people gathered together, the refugees and vagrants who had been wandering around the village and had bad intentions were basically scared away, which made everyone feel more at ease...
The village has undergone such a big change, but it does not have much impact on the Pei family. Pei Shaorong is an outsider and has no relatives, and the Mo family is about the same, so life is still the same as before.
For Pei Shaorong, the only change was that there were two families of downstream villagers who moved to Linjiang Village that he knew.
The first one is the former son-in-law of the village chief and Qin Xiangrong’s ex-husband Cen Ziwen.
In fact, considering that Cen Ziwen had let Qin Xiangrong down, Qin Laoshuan, as the village chief, completely disagreed with the Cen family moving to Linjiang Village.
But Qin Xiangrong didn't know why she asked Qin Laoshuan to agree to let the Cen family stay...
The other one was Old Man Mo’s in-laws, the Sun family, the in-laws of his enemy. The Sun family village was located downstream, so naturally they were unlucky enough to suffer the disaster.
The only family the Sun family knew upstream was the Mo family. Now facing a life-and-death situation, they could not care about the previous unpleasantness with Old Man Mo.
After much persuasion, the Sun family finally settled down in the Mo family's house by paying Old Man Mo thirty copper coins and ten kilograms of grain every month as accommodation fees.
When he heard the news, Pei Shaorong couldn't help but laugh secretly. How come the Sun family members were just like Mo Lanzhu, doing things without thinking.
He had such a big conflict with Old Man Mo before, but he still dared to get close to Old Man Mo and live under the same roof with him. This is really a rhythm to seek death!
After the Sun family moved to the Mo family's house, just as Pei Shaorong had expected, they had a great time playing with Old Man Mo.
The two families stabbed each other with a knife, and under the small eaves of the Mo family, there was a quarrel of swords and blood...
The more the Sun family quarreled with Old Man Mo, the harder Mo Lanzhu's life became in the Sun family. Pei Shaorong was very happy to see this, and he was thinking of a way to push her into the pit to take revenge.
However, before Pei Shaorong could start to implement his plan, he encountered a trouble that was neither too big nor too small, and this trouble led to some exciting things...
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