"What?" A villager couldn't help but exclaimed, five hundred coins, not fifty or five coins, they can't even earn a few hundred coins a month, this is too unfair. Five hundred coins per person, a family with many people needs several taels, and there are really few people who can take out this money, no wonder there are so many disaster victims outside.
Although Lijia Village is still relatively wealthy, after such a long period of fleeing famine, the little silver in everyone's hands has been almost consumed, how many people can afford it. Village Chief Li was also shocked. Knowing the news he wanted, he quickly retreated and left without waiting to be blasted. Finally, he understood why there were only a few people entering and leaving the huge city gate.
I can't afford it at all!
Everyone who returned to the stranded place looked unhappy. They didn't expect this result. Didn't they say that Yunzhou would accept refugees? Could it be that the news they heard was wrong? Everyone looked like they had lost their parents.
So... Is the parent official of Chicheng County doing this to make a fortune or does he not want to take in disaster victims at all to set such harsh conditions.
On second thought, it was true that the disaster victims were difficult to control, and too many people would easily cause chaos, so no one would want to take on such a thing. Even if they were ordinary people, they knew that the court was incompetent and officials were often inactive. Who would care about the displaced people? In order to sleep soundly, shouldn't they have been used to such things along the way?
But there was still a sense of helplessness in their hearts. How could the disaster victims like them, who were like duckweed and wandering around worse than grass, survive.
It was impossible to enter the city, and it was even more impossible to settle down. For a while, the people of Lijia Village were in a low mood, and confusion appeared in their eyes again.
"Okay, don't think too much, a living person can be suffocated to death by urine, Jin is a big country, and you can always find a place to stay. Just keep going."
The village chief, who had been frowning since he came back, knocked on the cigarette holder in his hand and said to the villagers.
What else can we do if we don't keep going? The people of Lijia Village were silent.
Gulan did not express her opinion. From the attitude of the gatekeepers and these harsh conditions, it can be seen that the local officials are not very good. In the small Lingshan Town, there are rich families who provide porridge, but the huge Chicheng uses weapons to target the victims outside the city gate, not to mention providing porridge. Gulan does not want to stay in such a county town.
Leaving Gulan is 100% in agreement.
"Take a break, and continue after noon." Village Chief Li sighed and said.
Since we can't enter the city, there is no need to stay here. Thinking of having to go a long way, Village Chief Li couldn't help sighing. In this situation, Village Chief Li don't know if he can find a place to live before winter comes. The wrinkles between his eyebrows are so deep that they can kill a fly.
Just when everyone was resting, the city gate was opened a little, and a group of people walked out.
Then the sound of gongs rang out, and at the same time, there were shouts. Even the people of Lijia Village could hear it clearly from a distance. It turned out that they were going out of the city to buy people. Except for the elderly, all men and women, regardless of age, are welcome as long as they are qualified. The prices for adults and children are different. Good-looking men and women are given priority, and the price will be doubled. The things obtained can be food or silver, depending on personal circumstances.
Gulan found that many disaster victims at the city gate were very interested, and many came forward to ask.
No one from Lijia Village came forward. This kind of thing was strictly prohibited in their village before fleeing famine. Unless people starve to death, anyone who sells children will be poked by the villagers for the rest of their lives and will not be able to raise their heads. Unless they really can't survive and want to find a way to survive for their children. Of course, there are some people who are born selfish. As long as they can survive, they will do unscrupulous things.
Here Gulan really realized the cruelty of feudal society. The sale of people is legal here as long as it is authorized by the government. Of course, this must be done with the consent of both parties and the existence of a sales contract. Trafficking is still a serious crime here. Once caught, it is a serious crime of beheading. The whole transaction process lasted for an hour, and all the food they brought was exchanged for fresh people, tied with ropes and entered the city like animals.
It was a very ironic scene. They had begged and could not enter the city before, but they entered so easily, using their own family and children to buy breathing time.
"Dad" AnAn was a little scared and snuggled in Gulan's arms. He saw from a distance that the tied people were walking together one by one. Although he was small and didn't know what they were doing, he vaguely felt that it was not a good thing.
"It's okay, AnAn is not afraid, they just want to live." It must be said that this may really be their only way to survive. Although it was very heavy, it seemed that everyone had gotten used to it. Except for Gulan, everyone's expression did not change much.
Time passed unknowingly, and it was past noon. The people in Lijia Village began to pack up and prepare to leave. Gulan also set up the carriage, and the three little guys and Dahei were in the carriage, ready to start at any time. Just like leaving Lingshan Town, the road to Chicheng was blocked, and they had to take a detour to reach the next city. Gulan and her team soon disappeared outside the gate of Chicheng.
A soldier guarding the city on the gate tower shook the pouch in his hand and looked at the direction where the people of Lijia Village left with a gloomy expression.
"Boss, just let them leave like this," the soldier in rattan armor pointed to the direction where Lijia Village disappeared.
"Why are you in a hurry? They can't go far. Let's talk about it after nightfall."
"Then I'm relieved," the soldier said with a sinister smile. The group of disaster victims outside the city gate no longer have any money to gain, and this new fish can't be allowed to run too fast.
Gulan and her team didn't know that they had been targeted by someone, and they were walking on a small road to detour through Chicheng.
The speed was much slower than the previous half of the day. It was obviously affected by the fact that Chicheng didn't accept the news of the disaster victims, and their mood had not yet recovered from the depression. They were a little confused about the future, not knowing how far they would go, when they could stop, and when they could have their own home again. If it weren't for the village chief, the leader, everyone really didn't know what to do.
The village chief also saw that the villagers were in a bad mood, and despite his old age and the worries of his family, he stood on the ox cart. He shouted hard to the back: "Be energetic, as I said before, Jin is so big, there will always be a place for us to stay, not every city is the same."
"Think about our children, if not for anything else, just so that our descendants can have a decent and good citizen status. Do you want your descendants to become refugees and be looked down upon everywhere? Everyone must hold on, isn't it just walking? We have persisted for so long, and the next road will definitely work."
As expected of the village chief, he knows what is the most important thing in the hearts of the villagers. After saying this, everyone's hearts were shocked, and their eyes became much clearer. Looking at the children around them, they instantly knew what to do.
"Village chief, I'm sorry to have worried you," someone in the crowd said immediately.
"There's no need to feel sorry for me. It's good that everyone has figured it out. Let's go. The road is still long. If we can walk a little longer now, we can walk less in the future." Village Chief Li said again.
The people who were awakened nodded one after another, and their steps became faster. This is a good village chief. Gulan finally understood why the people of Lijia Village were so united. After this little episode, the team's speed was obviously much faster, and they stopped by a river before nightfall.