Five or six large pots nearly half the height of a person have been propped up on the firewood. More than a dozen healthy women are going back and forth, constantly throwing rice and thick noodles into the pots. Soon, the thick aroma of rice will follow.
The breeze spreads in all directions!
"Sir, please give me a bite of food!"
"I'm kowtowing to you, sir! Please help me stutter!"
"My lord, my lord..."
These refugees who had been waiting here for a long time crowded towards the front, desperately holding out the broken bowls and cans in their hands, for fear that they would lose their share if they were too late!
"Don't grab, don't grab! Get in line! Everyone has a share!" A strong woman yelled at the top of her lungs, but she couldn't stop the refugees from going crazy!
The young and strong men rushed to the front, while the weak old people, women, children and children were squeezed to the back. They kept crying and cursing, but there was nothing they could do!
The scene was chaotic!
Although he was well prepared, Liu Ruyi basically took out all the grain stored in the Liu Mansion and ordered Laogui to buy grains and rice from Jinan Mansion. However, there were too many refugees. Those wandering on the edge of Jinan City heard about the incident in Caishi Town.
There was someone offering porridge nearby, and the whole family was rushing towards this side, and the pressure suddenly doubled!
"Zhao Sanhu, Huo Lang, whoever dares to mess around again, I will break their legs!" Liu Ruyi looked at the chaotic scene in front of her and shouted an order.
"yes!"
Zhao Sanhu and Huo Lang led more than a dozen heavily armed soldiers and rushed into the crowd to disperse the refugees who were rushing at the front. There were also some refugees who wanted to fish in troubled waters. They were greeted with a merciless beating.
It took a long time before the scene returned to order.
Liu Ruyi shook her head feebly. There were too many refugees. Just relying on your own strength would really be a drop in the bucket!
How hateful!
After all, you don’t have the final say here!
Looking at the sallow and thin faces in front of her, but full of the desire to survive, Liu Ruyi clenched her fists tightly, and her heart was suddenly filled with the desire for power!
Being poor cares themselves, being wealthy cares the world!
If you are not in your position, you will not seek to govern!
But if someone occupies the latrine and refuses to poop, then you can’t blame yourself for being cruel...
***********
"Young Master, if this continues, even if we clean out the family's assets, I'm afraid it won't be enough! Why not push them to the prefect's Yamen..." Uncle Fu said worriedly.
For four or five days, the number of refugees continued unabated!
Originally, most of these refugees came from the direction of Qingzhou, Xincheng (now Zouping County, Zibo City), and most of them gathered outside the north gate of the town. However, that was Huang Baihu's sphere of influence, so Liu Ruyi could only serve porridge at the south gate.
But in just a few days, the refugees crossed the mountains and ridges, carrying their meager belongings, and bypassed the hills to the south. They all gathered outside the south gate and set up camp here.
Some people also set up shacks in the gentle areas between the mountains to the south, as if they were going to fight a long war here!
Liu Ruyi obviously understands Uncle Fu's worries. As the saying goes, 'A half-grown man will eat me to death'.
These refugees traveled long distances and were extremely weak and exhausted physically and mentally. Although Liu Ruyi was not from a medical background, in the era of information explosion in later generations, she also knew some nutritional combinations!
According to the condition of these refugees, just gruel would not allow them to maintain a normal life posture. Therefore, Liu Ruyi strictly ordered the healthy women who cooked the porridge that the porridge must be inserted with chopsticks without falling over, and no corners should be cut in the slightest! And!
, there are too many refugees here, and they cannot be too full. With strength, they must maintain a balanced state of half hungry and half full, which is really a headache!
Seeing Liu Ruyi's lack of reaction, Uncle Fu couldn't help but lower his voice and reminded: "Young master, you must make a decision early! The more people gather together, the more they gather, I'm afraid a hundred taels of silver a day will not be enough to eat! We don't owe anything.
Theirs, whether they are dead or alive, what does it have to do with us? Young Master, why should we go to the trouble of finding fault for ourselves!"
Liu Ruyi slowly shook her head. In prosperous times, fertile land and homesteads may be a guarantee of wealth, but in troubled times, population is the most precious wealth! With population, there is an endless supply of soldiers, and the world is dominated by those who win the hearts of the people.
Liu Ruyi clearly understands this truth!
"Uncle Fu, there is no need to say anything! I have made up my mind. Even if I lose everything, I will protect them!" Liu Ruyi said firmly.
"Young Master, Young Master, think twice..."
***********
"How about that? That little bastard really uses his own money to give porridge to those poor beggars?"
In the Huang Mansion, Huang Hansheng was sitting tall on the official chair of the Hundred Households, but his eyes were fixed on a thin and middle-aged man in the audience.
"Grandpa, how dare my grandson lie to you! It's true. Not only did the man named Liu pay for it out of his own pocket, but I heard he also killed two fat pigs in the past few days to make soup for the beggars?"
As if he was afraid that Huang Baihu would not believe it, he hurriedly took a broken bowl from the hand of the attendant and respectfully presented it to Huang Baihu.
The Huang family is a large family in Caishi Town. Twenty or thirty households in the town, including military and civilian households, are related by blood to Huang Hansheng. They have been breeding in this land for seven or eight generations, and they are deeply rooted!
Huang Baihu picked up the broken bowl, stirred it gently with his fingers, and couldn't help but sneered: "Humph! This little bastard is really willing to give up!"
"Isn't that right, Grandpa! That broth is really delicious, but there are too many people and my grandson didn't grab a few bowls, so that's why I didn't bring it back to you!" The young man seemed to still have some aftertaste of the broth.
the taste of.
Huang Baihu nodded, but there was a sinister smile at the corner of his mouth, "San'er, you are a good boy! You didn't embarrass grandpa, do your best, and after some time, grandpa will give you a small flag official status!"
"
"Thank you, uncle, thank you, uncle!" San'er was overjoyed and kowtowed to Huang Baihu with all his strength!
Huang Baihu smiled and waved his hand, "Come here, Grandpa has something else to tell you!"
"yes!"
San'er hurriedly came forward...
***********
Seven or eight days have passed in a blink of an eye. There are almost two thousand refugees gathered outside the south gate of the town. There are still many refugees rushing towards this direction from the direction of Jinan City!
Ants are still alive, let alone humans? As long as there is a way to survive, who is willing to give up hope easily?
After a few days, Liu Ruyi's soldiers and able-bodied women also found the way, and the refugees also knew that 'Mr. Liu' in this town really had the heart of a Bodhisattva. As long as he obeyed, he would definitely be able to survive.
They were happy to follow Liu Ruyi's plans and arrangements, and everything slowly began to fall into place.
However, if a dragon gives birth to nine sons, and the sons are different, if they drink the same water and eat the same food, some people will still lose their conscience and do all kinds of evil!
In the past few days alone, there have been more than a dozen vicious incidents of raping women and stealing property at night in refugee camps, causing people to panic for a while!
For these people, Liu Ruyi was absolutely not soft-hearted! For the first few thieves, Liu Ruyi had them cut in half, but later on, if there were still others who committed the crime again, Liu Ruyi would have them 'light up lanterns' in the sky, no matter what the means.
Cruel, but it really shocked these people!
This also made them understand that if they obey Mr. Liu's words, everything would be easy to talk about, but if they don't follow the rules, or even commit crimes, the consequences will be clear to everyone!
On this day, after finally finishing the porridge at noon, Liu Ruyi had just returned to the backyard. Before she could take a sip of hot tea, a maid suddenly ran in in panic and reported: "Sir, something is wrong! In the refugee camp.
There's trouble!"
"What?" Liu Ruyi was stunned, "Say it again?"
The maid was only fourteen or fifteen years old, and had never encountered such a scene before. She hesitated and couldn't understand. Fortunately, she finally knew who was reporting the news, and Liu Ruyi hurriedly ran outside.
"Sir, just after serving porridge at noon today, a new group of refugees from Jinan City clashed with the refugees who were originally here. More than a dozen people have died!" Zhao Canghai reported to Liu Ruyi in a low voice as he walked.
arrive.
"Have you sent someone there? What's the situation now?"
"Brothers have passed and the situation is under control. However, some people are still seriously injured!" Zhao Canghai also looked a little embarrassed. He was on the scene when the accident happened. Fortunately, he reacted quickly, otherwise, this kind of thing would
If it escalates, the consequences will be unimaginable!
Soon, the two men and more than ten soldiers rushed to the place where the incident occurred!
There is an open area not far from the porridge. The ground is a mess, with blood, stones, and some torn clothes everywhere. More than a dozen corpses are placed in the middle, with nearly a hundred people standing on each side.
They were facing each other coldly. If there weren't more than ten soldiers in the middle to maintain order, they might have even started fighting!
"Who can tell me what is going on?" Liu Ruyi stood on a piece of brick and loudly questioned everyone on both sides!
During these days, Liu Ruyi spent almost all day running around the porridge shop, doing many things by herself. In addition, Liu Ruyi was wearing the robe of a general flag official, so most of the refugees knew Liu Ruyi.
"Master Liu, these idiots from Texas went too far! They even insulted Master Liu in person. I was so angry that I started fighting with them!" The speaker was a man in his early thirties. He was a Qingzhou Dongshan Ge.
Liu Ruyi also knows the head of the family village!
"Bah! You idiots! When did I say that! Someone heard about Mr. Liu's benevolence and righteousness, so he brought his family here to ask for a way to survive. It's obviously you who are spitting blood! Bastards of Qingzhou Prefecture, come on,
Taste grandpa's fist!" The person speaking on the other side was tall and muscular. As he spoke, he was about to step forward and take action!
"bass!"
With a crisp sound, Liu Ruyi fiercely pulled out the steel knife from his waist and inserted it into the ground, "You are so fucking full, are you strong enough? Ah! In front of someone, you fucking dare to mess around
come!"
Before Liu Ruyi finished speaking, he grabbed the two leaders and slapped more than a dozen mouths on each side, causing their noses to bleed!
Friends who have stayed in rural areas may understand that for some things, violence is often more effective than words. Saying it 10,000 times is far less effective than a punch!
Although the two of them were angry, they did not dare to resist Liu Ruyi's authority. They still faced each other to the death, neither of them willing to bow first!
Liu Ruyi asked someone to bring some hot water and poured a bowl for the two of them. Then she said: "Who said this? Of course, someone will send someone to find out! Liu is not that rich, and he was scolded a few times.
You can still bear it! But, you, you guys are really making me look bad! Do you also have to beat me up so that you can relieve your anger? Ah!"
The two of them did not dare to look into Liu Ruyi's eyes and lowered their heads one after another. The leader of Gejiazhuang, Ge Dazhuang, muttered in a low voice: "It's obviously them who are wrong. Sir, even if you beat me to death, I won't accept it!"
"Damn it, you dare to talk back!" Liu Ruyi slapped his big head hard, "I know right and wrong, I know it in my heart, this matter ends here! Whoever dares to find faults again, that's a shame
Don’t blame me for being rude! Everyone, go down, have a good rest, and don’t cause trouble to me anymore! These brothers who died unjustly, let’s bury them alive! Hey!”
Seeing the corpse lying on the ground, both of them were discouraged. They were both brothers, but they died here for no reason. No one felt good!
However, seeing that Mr. Liu had spoken, they did not dare to resist, so they had to collect the bodies of their respective clansmen and retreat to both sides.
At this time, Huolang quickly ran towards Liu Ruyi's direction and whispered a few words in Liu Ruyi's ear!
Liu Ruyi's face suddenly darkened!
'I'm looking for trouble! Then I have no choice but to accompany you!'