There were men and women, ranging in age from teenagers to forties. Everyone was sitting on the ground, looking weak and just looking at every passerby with their eyes open.
Most of them were wearing coarse clothes, not the cool summer fabrics favored by Yao people. The weather was still a bit hot, so many people were crowded together and sweating, so you can imagine the smell.
Dong Rui covered his nose and said, "I'll go, it smells so bad! What the hell is this place?"
"剻屋." He Lingchuan's expression didn't change. He had smelled no matter how terrible the stench was. Sometimes the smell in the military was even worse than this. "People from other places can't survive, so they come to Yao Kingdom. Tianshui City is known as
The richest place in the Golden Plains, there are more refugees sneaking in here than other places. Tianshui City built these huts for them, called huts, and let them stay here and wait for work. Some people took the fancy.
They will recruit them to work."
"Oh, he's quite humane."
"That's also a last resort. There are so many refugees in Tianshui City that we can't catch them all. They are like weeds that grow again and again after being cut. They hide and seek with the authorities all day long. They steal, kidnap and form gangs here. Can the authorities not
Have a headache?" He Lingchuan had already collected information on Tianshui City so that he could explain it to Dong Rui, "There is nothing we can do. Since we can't catch them all and drive them away, Tianshui City hopes to keep them under control."
While they were talking, a few people who looked like foremen walked into the house, pinched their noses and said:
"Seven men are here to transport wood, and they must be strong and healthy; and there is a woman here to cook."
All the people on the ground suddenly stood up and rushed forward: "I'll come, I'll come!"
"I'm very good at moving things, and I've broken rocks in the mine!"
"I cook delicious food and can cook for fifty people at a time!"
The Shiwu, which was lifeless just now, suddenly became more lively than a vegetable market. Everyone was working hard to promote themselves, and they were so excited that their mouths were flying.
The foreman took two steps back, and someone immediately stood up and shouted: "Back off, back off!"
When the refugees were too slow to retreat, he whipped them with two whips: "Are you looking for death? I told you to retreat!"
Everyone was yelling at him and did not dare to move forward.
He Lingchuan pointed at him: "This kind of person is called a 'muleteer', which means a laborer who looks after mules."
“Are refugees called mules?”
"Yes." He Lingchuan was quite impressed by this passage in the information, "Those who refuse to obey the rules and do not come to demolish houses and engage in illegal activities to make a living are called 'Greyhounds'."
The mule driver turned the tip of his whip and pointed at several people in the room: "You, you, you, and you, yes, come out!"
In the blink of an eye, he had selected seven men and two women.
One of them was really short and weak, with a big head and a small body. The foreman pointed at him and said unhappily: "Give this one to me too? How many straws can he carry?"
The man quickly defended: "I can carry it, I can carry it very well!"
The mule driver also said: "If he can carry it, don't look down on him because he is young, he can carry it very well!"
So in the envious eyes of other refugees, the chosen one followed the foreman and left.
The attention of the refugees then shifted to He Lingchuan outside. The latter made a mistake in his steps and turned around to leave.
"These 'mules' are gangsters in Tianshui City. They can work for more than ten years and still have no status for decades. So they all get the lowest wages and do the dirtiest and hardest work." If you don't work, you will have no money, no money.
He starved to death, "I heard that for the wages of a local from Tianshui City, you can hire at least five mules."
"You have also seen that there are more than 300 people crowded into the house. There are few job opportunities and many people, so the mule who wants to find a job has to bribe the mule driver." He Lingchuan pointed to the mule driver, "The one with a darker heart.
You can ask for three to five days' wages from the mules. If you don't pay, there will be no work."
The soul-catching mirror in his arms couldn't help but say: "It's really not easy for these refugees to make a living."
What He Lingchuan did not say was that the residents of Tianshui City were also particularly dissatisfied with these refugees. The greyhounds stole, kidnapped and disturbed public order, while the mules took away the job opportunities of ordinary people. The huts where the refugees gathered were occasionally destroyed and set on fire.
.
Last year a fire broke out in a squatter's house, killing more than a hundred refugees.
"Some refugees are anxious to find work just to eat. Whether they can earn wages is secondary." He Lingchuan said, "It is so difficult to make a serious living, and some mules have turned into greyhounds and engaged in illegal activities."
You can't make money on the right path, so of course some people will take the wrong path.
"I heard that in the past 20 years, there have been more and more Greyhounds, and they have divided into dozens of factions. They steal money, plunder money, and form gangs. They not only disturb public order, but also do illegal work, giving the officials a lot of headaches."
Dong Rui smiled and said: "How many squat houses are there in the whole city?"
"Let's go up to three hundred."
"One has three hundred people, three hundred is..." Oh, it's not a minority.
"Tianshui City itself has less than a million people, and refugees account for more than 10%." Everyone thought this was a good place and crowded here.
"This is not paradise, but at least there is no war."
"And there is the largest slave market in the country in the west of Tianshui City. No matter how miserable the life of the refugees is, at least they have some personal freedom, which is much better than slaves. After those slaves are bought, they use iron chains when they are not working.
Tie them up; there are always slaves that no one wants, and in the end they will be -" He Lingchuan made a gesture of slitting his throat, "If there is no value, you can't waste food. The dealers and masters kill the slaves, and the officials don't care at all."
There is a popular saying in He Lingchuan's hometown:
If you don't go to hell, you don't know that there are eighteen levels of hell.
A strong wind blew and heavy rain came.
Dong Rui touched his belly and felt hungry: "Find a place to take shelter from the rain and find something to eat. How about that place?"
They walked back to Front Street, where at least the passers-by were neatly dressed.
The dirty and messy things are all hidden in the dark back alleys. The two worlds before and after seem to be disconnected from each other.
What he pointed at was not so much a restaurant as an open-air courtyard. The signboard was actually a pure white cloth flag fluttering in the wind, with "Fireworks World" embroidered on it.
Fortunately, these words are in bright red. If they were in black, then...
However, as the two of them walked along, they noticed that Tianshui City's white signs were everywhere, bringing a bit of vitality to the gray-brown or ocher-red walls.
It was half an hour before dinner time, but the restaurant was almost full, and the aroma of oil wafted out through the window, making people's fingers twitch.
As soon as he entered the store, He Lingchuan heard the sound of sizzling.
Although the courtyard is open to the sky, the corridor is large and wide, so that rain cannot get in. An oilcloth canopy is set up beside the corridor to expand the space. Seven or eight square tables are placed in sequence, with a hole in the middle of each table and a clay stove.
There is also a grill on top. The diners put the pieces of meat on the fire to grill, and the lard drips onto the charcoal, making a sizzling sound.
To eat here, you actually have to cook it yourself.
The walls of the courtyard are covered with food signs. When the two of them took a look, they saw that there were so many varieties.
In addition to the common cows, sheep, pigs and chickens, there are also crocodiles, giant salamanders, pythons, mountain jumping frogs, etc., with different parts, different prices, and different pickling methods, and the prices are clearly marked.
Dong Rui casually ordered four or five plates of meat, one of which even had pickled fruits.
There are many varieties, the portions are small and exquisite... but expensive!
"The spices are quite complete." The country of Yao is also known as the Kingdom of Spice. The spices from the country of origin are of course used in various ways, and are even used in drinks. In addition to the common rice wine, the special wines in this shop also include mint julep.
, pepper wine, etc., the first sip will hit your forehead.
In a short while, Dong Rui roasted two pieces of lamb kidneys and a sheep eyeball, and handed them to He Lingchuan happily: "Come here, let's make up for the shape."
The thick spices cover up the odor of the kidneys, leaving only the tender and crispy texture. The lamb eyes are also grilled to perfection, bursting with juice in your mouth.
Setting up a fire to barbecue in the countryside is called survival in the wilderness; throwing out ingredients to barbecue in the city is called enjoying life.
Dong Rui is good at both.
"On the Golden Plains, the only place where ordinary people can eat so luxuriously is in Tianshui City." He Lingchuan is a businessman. He knows the supply system of Tianshui City just by seeing that any roadside shop can provide a wide variety of food.
It is relatively sound and its logistics and transportation are very developed.
In his mind, the last city with such completeness was Lingxu City.
"What a great place." But the prices are also ridiculously high. A plate of marinated pork strips is less than half a catty, and the price is more than three times that of Jucheng Restaurant.
He Lingchuan also noticed that those who grilled meat and took shelter from the rain in this beautiful courtyard were usually neatly dressed and made of exquisite materials. They sat down to talk about romance or business.
There are very few civilians.
The quality of this store is not for those with no money.
The two of them grilled and ate with the sound of rain, watching the people rushing to take shelter from the rain on the street, and marveled at the unique prosperity of Tianshui City.
Dong Rui sighed with emotion: "This is actually in the Gold Flashing Plains, how strange!"
After saying this, he went to the thatched house.
When he came back from the water and passed the kitchen, he saw four or five people squatting on the ground killing fish, washing vegetables, and sorting ingredients, and two were carrying water. They all had obvious marks on their faces.
One of them had obvious whip marks on his body, which were all inflamed and red and swollen.
slave.
This is the cheapest kind of labor. Sometimes they are not even called people. As long as the owner provides some food, they have to work continuously and earn a steady stream of income for the owner.
The mark on the face is a sign of slavery, and there is no way to survive if you escape secretly.
Slaves come from various sources, sometimes they are prisoners of war, sometimes they are convicts who were confiscated, and most of them are converted refugees.
After becoming a refugee, do you think you have nothing and nothing to lose?
wrong.
He Lingchuan and Dong Rui had been eating and drinking for half an hour when the table next to them was turned over twice. The new diners who sat down were two businessmen, one in white and one in yellow. They ordered three plates of meat and two kilograms of pepper rolls.
Just eat it with the sour pickled cabbage.
"...I'm telling you the truth, General Xue is dead."
The businessman in yellow on the opposite side quickly interrupted: "Don't talk nonsense. There are many people here. Be careful and let the government arrest you. They will accuse you of cursing General Wang Ting and hurting me."
"Oh, I'm serious. I originally made an appointment with a friend to discuss business in Tianshui City, but he was left in Mangzhou. I spent a lot of money to send a message to let him know." The businessman in white said, "Why do you think so? General Xue Zongwu
Qi Yunsheng, the head of the Qi family, was killed, and the entire Mangzhou seemed to have been poked into a hornet's nest and the city was sealed off!"