The dinner in the refugee camp is actually not that sumptuous.
Each of them got two yellow cones of food.
Wang Erniu had never seen this thing before. On the outside, it looked like a rounded triangle, as if it was made of sand and looked very granular.
Moreover, there is a round hole underneath this thing, which is hollow inside.
The person responsible for distributing food told them that this thing was called Wotou.
In addition, everyone also has a small plate of pickles.
And a bowl of broth. Although there is almost no piece of meat visible in the broth, only a little bit of oil floating here and there, but it still looks very delicious.
The number of pickles is not large. After all, in this era, salt was still a relatively valuable item controlled by the imperial court.
Looking at the thing called Wotou, Wang Erniu was a little curious for a moment.
I picked it up curiously and looked at it. As soon as I took it in my hand, I smelled the unique aroma of cereals.
Instead of rushing to eat by himself, he quickly took the food and gave it to his mother.
The official who had taken them to visit the refugee camp came again.
"In the first two days, the refugee camp will provide you with free food. The reason for this is to allow you to recover your strength as soon as possible."
"Then you can go to work and support yourselves."
"Remember, no matter if you have any problems, you can come to me at any time. If you really have difficulties, the government will not ignore you."
"But if someone dares to cheat, be lazy, or even do some evil things, the government will never tolerate it."
After a few simple words, the official said: "I know you have been hungry for a long time, so I won't say more. Let's start dinner."
After hearing his words, the fleeing people who had started to drool immediately began to feast without saying a word.
For a while, the only sounds that could be heard were the people swallowing and chewing.
If you just look at the way they eat, you might have the illusion that these steamed buns are all rare delicacies in the world.
And for these people, steamed buns are indeed a supreme delicacy.
Especially when paired with pickles, they found it even more delicious.
After all, with the price of salt in this era, people in the city are fine, but people in the countryside are reluctant to make pickles.
Because of this, to these people, this kind of pickles is no different from the big fish and meat that later generations would see.
Wang Erniu ate all the steamed bread in two mouthfuls, and then looked at others eagerly.
However, many people around him were in similar situations to him.
Although the steamed bun was about the size of a palm, it was not enough for people like them who had not had a full stomach for who knows how long.
Seeing the appearance of these people, the old man in charge of serving food smiled and explained: "I know you are not full, but I don't dare to feed you too much now."
"You have been hungry for a long time. If you eat too much at once, your stomach will not be able to bear it."
"Now these are just to fill your stomachs. Once you get used to them, you can eat them as long as you are full."
After a pause, the uncle added: "However, even though the cornbread is sufficient, each person can only receive so much pickles. This stuff is pickled with salt and is very valuable."
After some people finished eating the steamed buns, there were still some pickles left, and they didn't mind the saltiness. They grabbed the shredded pickles and put them into their mouths, closing their eyes and looking like they were enjoying it.
For people like them, even grass roots and bark can be eaten, and the taste of pickles is much better than what they ate on the way to Datong Prefecture.
Wang Erniu raised his hand again: "Uncle, what kind of food is this thing called Wotou made of? It's so delicious. Why have I never eaten it before?"
Hearing this, the uncle chuckled and said: "You are hungry now and think everything tastes delicious. When you are full later, you will know that the taste of this thing is not very good. But the biggest advantage of this thing is the quantity.
Great benefit.”
Although Zhu Han also developed a lot of high-yielding grain varieties, because the Ming Dynasty had just been founded and various things were complicated, the energy spent on promoting grain varieties was bound to be limited.
High-yielding grain varieties, with the support of the government, had already been promoted throughout the Ming Dynasty.
But the special thing about food is that no matter where it is grown, it takes more than one or two years to see the effect.
It's okay for farmers in places like Fucheng, but people in some remote mountain villages have yet to see high-yielding grain varieties.
When mentioning food, everyone present's eyes lit up.
They are all farmers, and they are most interested in growing food.
"Uncle, I heard you say that the output of this thing is very high?"
"Of course." The old man's nose was raised to the sky. If he didn't know better, he might think that he grew all the food.
Wang Erniu and others didn't know that just a dozen days ago, this uncle was just like them, knowing nothing.
They were just concentrating on listening to the old man telling them about the origin of Wo Tou.
"The grain used to make this steamed bun is called corn. I know you haven't heard of it, but this is a high-yielding crop specially developed by His Majesty the King of Ming Dynasty."
"In fact, our Datong Prefecture has already started trial planting in the past two years. If it hadn't been for this drought..."
At this point, the old man shook his head and sighed, as if he was beating his chest: "If there hadn't been a sudden severe drought, we would have started to promote corn here this year and next."
Wang Erniu asked anxiously: "Uncle, please tell me how much food this thing can produce?"
The cafeteria man stretched out a finger and said mysteriously: "Let me tell you, this corn can produce more than a thousand kilograms a year."
Wow!
Several people who were still chewing slowly were so excited when they heard this output that they almost choked to death.
Fortunately, someone nearby handed them some broth, allowing them to calm down.
"Uncle, are you teasing us?"
"The yield of one thousand catties per mu is too exaggerated, isn't it? Zhao Laoshi, the man next door to us, is the best at taking care of the crops, and their land is good. In this way, the most they can produce in one year is more than six hundred catties.
Just like this, the county magistrate even made a special trip to see it and said what auspiciousness it was."
"If we really have a thousand kilograms of yield per mu, wouldn't we not have to worry about starvation in the future?"
The cafeteria man rolled his eyes angrily: "Am I too free to tease you? Besides, the food thing is nonsense. Aren't I afraid of retribution?"
As he spoke, the cafeteria man changed the topic and said mysteriously: "And I tell you, Mr. Zhou said, not only does this corn have a high yield, but it is also not particularly picky. Even if it is a low-grade field, the harvest will not be good."
Too much difference."
The people who fled all had complicated expressions, and they didn't know whether to cry or laugh.
Fortunately, with this kind of food that is highly productive and does not require much land picking, they should not go hungry again in the future.
What’s sad is why this kind of high-yielding grain couldn’t come out sooner, and why when it was about to come out, there happened to be such a huge drought in their Datong Prefecture.
Not to mention the heavy losses, it also delayed the promotion of corn.
When all these people finished eating, the uncle urged: "After you finish eating, go back quickly and make room for others. You can come back in the evening and eat as much as you want. The steamed buns and broth are enough."
Although they were not completely full, after eating real food, the energy and spirit of these fleeing people suddenly changed drastically.
Someone laughed and joked after hearing this: "Uncle, what kind of broth is this? Let alone meat, I didn't even see any meat residue."
The cafeteria man rolled his eyes angrily: "It's good to have soup. What little bastard dares to be picky?"
Everyone also burst into good-natured laughter at the same time.
When leaving the cafeteria, Wang Erniu and the others met another group of fleeing people who had been brought over by Datong officials to eat.
Seeing the dull expressions on their faces, Wang Ergou couldn't help but think of himself not long ago.
Now, these sufferings are finally over.
During dinner in the evening, as the cafeteria man said, each person only has a small amount of pickles, but the steamed buns and broth are enough.
Wang Erniu never thought that he would eat it casually the next day.
He was not polite and ate six steamed buns in one go before he stopped.
At this time, he finally understood what the cafeteria man said before.
When he first felt hungry, he felt that the steamed buns were really delicious.
However, after eating it, I found that this food really didn't taste very good.
Datong Prefecture is located in the north of the Ming Dynasty. Most of the people here grow food, namely corn and millet.
Corn is also known as millet in later generations. If it is packed well, the taste will not be bad.
But today’s farmers don’t have the same conditions as those of later generations.
It's not because they are lazy, it's because conditions don't allow it.
Whether it is corn or millet, if it is cleaned, some edible parts will naturally be washed away.
After washing a pound of rice, only eight or nine taels are left.
This is the biggest waste for ordinary people.
Therefore, they usually pour it directly into the pot to cook porridge.
There are countless various toppings in this kind of rice. Pebbles and other ingredients are commonplace. You just need to pick them out.
As for bugs and the like, just add meat.
You can imagine how the rice made from the porridge cooked in this way will taste.
But even compared to the coarse corn porridge, Wang Erniu felt that it was much better than steamed buns.
In this day and age, fine grinding is not possible. Coarse corn really tastes like eating sand, dry, astringent, and scratches the throat.
After drinking several mouthfuls of broth, Wang Erniu swallowed the last mouthful of steamed bun.
Although this food is not that delicious, it makes Wang Ergou feel extremely happy because his stomach feels bloated.
Growing up, there were only a handful of days when he could eat so much.
"Mom, we must grow this corn in the future. The yield per acre is more than a thousand kilograms, so we don't have to worry about going hungry again."
For people like Wang Erniu, taste is secondary.
As long as it fills your stomach, it's no big deal if it tastes bad.
Besides, steamed buns are actually not that unpalatable. If they are freshly steamed and paired with some pickles, they are actually pretty good.
It's just that if it's cooled down, it will be a bit hard to swallow.
After living in the refugee camp for two days, Wang Erniu was extremely satisfied with everything here.
We live in a newly built wooden house, which is clean and tidy. Except for the lack of sound insulation and you can often hear others talking and snoring, there are no other shortcomings at all.
Moreover, these shortcomings are not considered shortcomings for Wang Erniu.
For a rough guy like him, he doesn't snore much less than others when sleeping.
The refugee camp now also provides food, with unlimited meals in the morning and evening, so that he can eat well every time.
Wang Erniu even had some hope that this kind of life could continue forever.
The only thing he couldn't accept was that the rules here were too big.
You have to go to a designated place to go to the toilet, and there are people called urban management who manage it.
In the morning, he also saw an unlucky guy who was caught by the city management and whipped ten times for peeing everywhere.
If it's just a whip, that's it. The most important thing is after being whipped.
The urban management officials punished the man by depriving him of food for a day.
While they were fleeing, the most common thing they experienced was hunger, so this was what they were most afraid of.
The guy who was caught urinating everywhere didn't scream much when he was whipped. When the city management didn't let him speak, he screamed like a slaughtered pig.
It's a pity that no matter how hard he begged, the urban management officials were unmoved, they were simply heartless.
This scene also made Wang Erniu remember one thing.
In this place, no matter who you offend, you can't offend the urban management. These guys are simply inhumane.
The second inconvenience is that you can never drink raw water, you must boil it before drinking.
Although this request is quite strange.
However, in the refugee camp, every once in a while, there is a place called the boiler room, which is manned by people around the clock every day.
No matter when you come, hot water is provided.
Although there were many rules, after getting used to them, Wang Erniu suddenly felt that they seemed pretty good.
When I was in the village, I would always step on something unclean accidentally.
But in the refugee camp, he never encountered such a situation.
Moreover, because there is no such excrement everywhere, the air in the refugee camp is always good, without the faint smell.
Happy days are always short-lived. After two days, the refugee camp will no longer provide free food to them.
There is no problem if you want to eat, you can just work and feed yourself.
Almost no victims have any opinions on this.
In their view, it is only natural to use their own hands to earn food for themselves.