Because of Zhao Xin's carelessness, something finally happened to the refugees in the 18th century, and the cause of the chaos was insufficient food.
This guy had told Katsusaburo and Rikichi that he would be away for seven to ten days, but he ended up leaving for more than twenty days.
The first time Zhao Xin purchased food, he bought a total of 1,200 kilograms of rice, some eight-treasure porridge and instant noodles. When he left, there were still nine hundred kilograms of rice, several boxes of eight-treasure porridge, and ten boxes of instant noodles.
Let’s talk about ten boxes of instant noodles first. It looks like a lot, but it’s not enough to feed 300 people.
Speaking of rice, you must know that in this era, one pound is not ten taels. In this era, one pound is sixteen taels. If converted according to the metric system, the weight of one pound at this time is greater than one pound in later generations. One pound is 590 grams. So.
According to the measurement of this era, the rice left behind by Zhao Xin was actually only 762 kilograms and 7 taels.
And those boxes of eight-treasure porridge, only a few dozen cans in total, were not enough to fill the gaps between teeth.
More than three hundred people could cook porridge with fifty kilograms of rice a day, two meals a day, which would last for fifteen days. After Zhao Xin left, Katsusaburo had already checked the amount of rice, and he was quite relieved at the time.
As a result, after ten days, Zhao Xin still hadn't come back, so Katsusaburo was a little confused.
"Will you not come back?" Katsuzaburo quietly asked Rikichi and Shino when no one was around.
"No." Li Ji was actually beginning to panic in his heart. He and his wife had only defected to Zhao Xin for a total of more than 20 days. If they really don't come back, what will they do?
By the way, "Master Immortal," why didn't you leave a hundred stones of food before you left?
"If Mr. Zhao is delayed by something, if he comes back late, there won't be enough food." Katsusaburo decided to make the seriousness of the matter clear to Liji and his wife. After all, these two people are Zhao Xin's servants.
"Then, then..." Liji and Shino didn't know what to do. In their eyes, Mr. Zhao Xin was a god. But what if this god returned to heaven and never came back?
So, after discussing with Rikichi, Katsuzaburo decided to reduce the amount of rice used to make porridge in half from fifty kilograms every day, so that the remaining rice could last for some days.
You must know that when there are many people and there is nothing to do, people with ulterior motives will inevitably appear.
Katsusaburo and Rikichi both stood up and explained to everyone the problem of insufficient food. The food supply was halved every day. In the first two days, although some people were dissatisfied, they did not say anything.
In these days, it would be great to have someone to take care of those who stutter. Many people have seen starving people lying dead on the roadside, some farmers who escaped, and even the entire village was deserted, and the old people all starved to death.
Although I don’t know what the master wanted to do by taking us in, at least he gave us white rice porridge. In the world, which landowner or samurai master would feed his servants white rice porridge!
However, rumors began to spread.
Someone described it in a serious way, and I'm afraid that gentleman will never come back. Think about it, which gentleman in these days would give rice to farmers for free? Even if there is a really kind person, if he gives out so much food, he will probably be very poor.
There is nothing left. Can he come back? Impossible!
Some people also said that Katsusaburo and Rikichi were secretly eating white rice behind everyone's back, and that they had noses and eyes.
At first, only two or three people were talking about the rumor, but after two days, almost everyone was talking about it privately.
When the news reached Liji's ears, he was so angry that he wanted to punch someone, but Shino held him tightly.
Of course, he and Shino did secretly drink a few cans of eight-treasure porridge. Keliji believed that as Mr. Zhao Xin's personal servant, the treatment must be different from other people. Although the food supply was reduced, it was white rice porridge.
Ah! These poor devils have never eaten even once since they were young.
Rikichi also gave Katsuzaburo a few cans of eight-treasure porridge. After Katsuzaburo ate it once, he felt that it was a supremely delicious food. He couldn't bear to eat the rest, so he secretly hid it in a tree hole in case of emergency.
need.
On the twentieth day, the rice was finally eaten up, but Zhao Xin had not returned yet.
At this time, everyone thought that Zhao Xin had abandoned them.
As a result, some people began to plan to leave and continue southward; while the restless people were ready to make a move.
Liji and Shino did not leave. Although the rice was gone, there were still ten boxes of instant noodles and the last two boxes of porridge. Moreover, the pots and bowls given by Zhao Xin were still there, and these were rare items that had never been seen before.
Some people want to leave, but they fall in love with these things and want to take them away. For Li Ji, this is absolutely not allowed.
The things belonged to Mr. Zhao Xin, and as Mr. Zhao's domestic servant, Li Ji naturally believed that he had the natural right to inherit these things, so why should others take them away.
At this moment, Katsusaburo only had a wooden stick in his hand. It would be better if he had a samurai sword, but these farmers would not dare to act recklessly.
But who doesn’t have a stick?
The conflict occurred on the night of the twenty-first day.
So when Zhao Xin finally rushed back to the camp in the morning, this was what he saw.
Katsuzaburo was beaten with a wooden stick until his head was bleeding and one of his ribs was broken. His head was wrapped with a rag torn from someone's clothes.
Rikichi and Shino's face was bruised and swollen. Rikichi had a big bump on his forehead, his nose was bleeding, and his stomach had been kicked several times. He was lying next to Katsuzaburo, groaning. Shino's face was also swollen, and his clothes were torn.
.
There is also Wan Zao's family. This family is an honest farmer. Because he helped Li Ji and the others protect the pots and pans, Wan Zao was beaten badly and later started a fever. Wan Zao's youngest son was lying there with a big runny nose.
On the side were people crying loudly, while Wan Zao's wife was feeding Wan Zao water from a bowl, also crying and wiping her tears from time to time.
There were more than a hundred people left in the camp, most of them women and orphans with nowhere to go. There were only about twenty adult men left. These people all gathered together and sighed.
"Holy shit!!!" Zhao Xin was stunned when he came closer and saw that he was being robbed? Who did it?
When this guy came back, he was holding a katana in his left hand and a katana on his shoulder in his right hand, looking very proud of himself.
"Sir! You are finally back!" Sharp-eyed Shino turned around and saw Zhao Xin approaching. He cried and shouted and threw himself at Zhao Xin's feet, crying loudly.
Everyone also discovered Zhao Xin at this time, so they all knelt on the ground and cried bitterly.
"Oops!" After listening to Katsuzaburo and Shino's respective stories, and looking at the crowd of people kneeling on the ground around him, Zhao Xin understood, but it was too late.
This is what you did yourself.
What kind of bicycle do you want? Uh, no, what kind of RV do you want?
But it seems that RVs are still needed...
Zhao Xin asked everyone to leave the open space and go into the woods first. Then he ordered all the people to turn their backs to him and not to look back without his order.
Everyone was uneasy, not knowing what this gentleman was going to do.
After waiting for a moment, a rustling sound was heard from behind. After a while, Zhao Xin shouted: "Okay, everyone, turn around."
Katsuzaburo, who was leaning on a wooden stick and being supported by Shino, was stunned.
Shino was shocked.
Wan Zao's wife was shocked.
Wan Zao's son, who was sniffing heavily, was also shocked.
General Tokugawa was shocked.
Well, General Tokugawa didn't even know about this.
"This this……"
There was nothing in the open space just now, but now it is filled with clothes and food.
Is this a conjuration?
Master Zhao is a god?
No, Mr. Zhao must have been sent by Buddha to save us. That must be the case.
Everyone, except Liji and Wan Zao who were lying down, knelt down.
In the open space, densely packed large bags were piled up like a hill, with a pile of iron rod-like objects placed next to them, and what appeared to be several large green cloth-like objects stacked on top of each other.
"Food, clothes, and tents are all here. There are not enough." Zhao Xin looked at these supplies with a smile and pointed at each item with his finger.
"You must be hungry. Eat first, and then do other things... Hey, why are you kneeling down? Get up, get up."
"Bodhisattva, no, Lord Zhao, Bodhisattva..." Shino stammered and said cautiously.
"It's all a mess, get up first."
"Sir, I would like to follow you from now on. Please agree to your request and become your retainer."
Katsuzaburo raised his head and looked straight at Zhao Xin, his eyes full of hope. In this era, how many people can care about the life and death of farmers? Generals, middlemen, businessmen, and even ordinary samurai... Only Zhao Xin in front of him is working hard to save
Because of these people, Katsusaburo decided to follow this mysterious Master Zhao and contribute his own strength.
"Does this count as subduing one? Should I agree or not?" Zhao Xin kept muttering in his heart.
At this time, Li Ji, who was lying beside him, also woke up and sat up. When he saw Zhao Xin surrounded by everyone in the center, he cried loudly.
"Why are you crying?" Zhao Xin saw that everyone was still not moving, so he pointed at a few women. "You, you, you and the rest of you, make a fire and cook."
Several women hurriedly kowtowed before standing up.
"I won't cook porridge today, I'll eat white rice." Zhao Xin added.
Everyone immediately cheered and burst into laughter.