A large number of refugees gathered in Beijing, Zunhua, and outside the barbed wire fence in the Yangfu territory. They all came from Beizhili, Shandong, Shanxi and even Henan this year to seek a living.
They heard that there was a way to survive in the northern part of Beizhili, so they all dragged their children and ran there.
They all heard from fellow villagers that people who came here in the past two years had found a job to support their families in Hukou. Now more and more people are gathering here. Especially, they heard that there was a penny and three kilograms of grain in the capital, and almost their eyes were filled with tears.
famous.
But the officers and soldiers guarded the city gate and refused to let them enter.
More and more refugees are gathering outside the capital. They have reached more than 300,000. There are shacks built by the victims all over the mountains and plains. These people are clamoring to go to the city to beg or find work. They clash with the officers and soldiers guarding the city every day.
Seeing the increasing number of victims outside the city, the cabinet and the emperor were on pins and needles. If someone raised their arms and called out, it would be troublesome.
The emperor had no choice but to use money from the inner treasury to buy three kilograms of cornmeal for one penny in the supermarket and give porridge outside the city.
They were given porridge once in the morning and afternoon every day, and each person was fed a large gourd of cornmeal, which could barely sustain their lives.
The emperor asked Wang Chengen several times to urge the North Canal Railway Headquarters to start construction as soon as possible. Recruit all the victims and let them go to the construction sites of various construction sections to build the railway, instead of gathering outside the capital.
The original plan of the Railway Headquarters was to start construction when the ground thaws in spring. In the current situation, the winter has been so cold in the past few years, especially in Tianjin, where there are many swamps in the lower reaches of the Jiuhe River. The mud and water are frozen and mixed together, and the ground is frozen solid. There is no way
construction.
But now the Supervisor of Ceremonies could no longer withstand the pressure from the emperor and the cabinet. Wang Chengen directly sent a message to Yang Fan, hoping to start recruiting people in advance and get rid of these refugees as soon as possible.
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Outside Yongding Gate, news spread that the recruitment of workers had begun, and the victims who were scattered in Gyeonggi Province immediately gathered from all directions and went straight to the railway recruitment office.
Han Laowu and his family came from Shanxi. The couple had three children and their mother. The family of six fled the famine and came to the capital. There was a severe drought this year. Their hometown is in the Luliang Mountains, and the dry fields are basically out of production.
.The whole village ran away.
Their village is all surnamed Han, and they are a large ancestral family. There are more than 300 members of the family, and they have all fled.
Han Laowu's wife picked up some dead branches and boiled some water for her mother-in-law and children in a broken pot. They only put in a small handful of millet. The rice soup was all wet and was ready to drink. The soup was so thin that people could be seen in the soup.
Come.
Han Laowu hurried back and said to his family: "I don't want to eat, come with me quickly."
"Master, it's all cooked. I've put in half a handful of millet. You can't throw it away."
"What do you know? The railway is recruiting workers. If you don't have family members, don't accept them. Come with me and sign up quickly. If you're late, you won't have a chance. When you get there, you'll be given pancakes to keep you fed."
Han Laowu carried his mother on his back, his wife picked up the youngest child, and the two older ones followed their parents and ran to Yongding Gate. My mother couldn't bear to leave the broken pot and rice porridge, so she wrapped it with a scarf to prevent it from spilling. She held the half pot of porridge in her hands.
.
When I arrived in front of Yongding Gate, I saw an open space surrounded by barbed wire beside the official road. There were rows of tables, and some young men of seventeen or eighteen years old were sitting there.
There was a banner hanging above it that said Railway Job Recruitment Office.
The place is already crowded, and many people have come. Some soldiers from the Five Cities Military and Horse Division are maintaining order and organizing queues according to families.
"Where are you from? How many people are in your family? What is the name of the head of the household? Do you have a household sticker?" A young man came up to ask.
Han Laowu and his family looked around and found that those sitting behind the table and those questioning and maintaining order were all wearing the same strange clothes. He didn't recognize this kind of work jacket from later generations. He was just familiar with this kind of double-breasted clothes.
Something feels strange.
"The younger one is from Luliang, Shanxi. He came here to escape famine. He is a family of six. He has a household sticker, look at it." As he said this, Han Laowu quickly took out the household sticker.
"What kind of work can you do and what skills do you have?" The young man took out a small notebook and pencil and started to record it.
"The younger one knows how to farm, um, and also does some masonry work. During the off-farm time, I follow my uncle to do stone grinding and other such things." Han Laowu said.
"Well, you are a mason, a craftsman. Come with me, come here, you don't have to queue up for the interview." The young man's eyes lit up.
When recruiting people here, the first step is to distinguish between occupations and skills. Those who can contribute are the lowest. Anyone who knows the skills of carpenter, bricklayer, stonemason, etc. will be screened out and directly arranged to a more suitable position.
"Okay, okay," Han Laowu quickly carried his mother on his back and ran over with his family.
There are already many people in the open space here. They are all from families. They are all adults, old people and children.
After a while, a cook came with a heavy load, followed by two soldiers.
"Everyone has lined up, it's time to eat. Don't crowd," the soldiers shouted fiercely, holding whips.
People here have lined up one after another. One by one, they come to the cook to receive food. In front of the cook's burden are layers of steamers, and behind it is a large bucket.
The cook opened the steamer, and inside was a whole piece of cornmeal steamed cake. The lid of the large wooden barrel at the back was opened, and inside was a large bucket of egg soup. This bucket of soup probably only had two or three beaten eggs, but it was enough to satisfy the craving.
These hungry people swallowed their saliva.
The cook took out a sharp knife from his arms, scratched the cake horizontally and vertically, and cut the whole piece of cake into diamond-shaped pieces.
"Don't be anxious. If you don't have enough, we'll give it away. Come and get it. Each person will get a piece of cake and a big spoonful of egg soup." The cook said.
Soon everyone received the food. The rice cake was soft and sweet. These people had never eaten cornmeal food before, so they all devoured it. The egg soup in the broken bowl didn't even bother to burn their mouths, so they drank it in small sips.
In addition to the beaten egg drops, this soup contains some chopped wild vegetables, which are coated with starch to make them sticky. At the same time, some soybean oil and salt are added.
"Mom, please drink more, there is salt in this soup." Han Laowu said excitedly. He poured a large spoonful of egg soup from his own bowl into my mother's bowl.
The old woman poured the egg soup back again and said, "You are a strong laborer. The whole family depends on you. You drink it and eat salt to gain strength. I, an old woman, drink it and it will be wasted."
In the late Ming Dynasty, the price of salt soared, and people generally could not afford salt.
Even in a good year, it is rare to eat salt throughout the year. Every year, my mother sells the chickens she raises in order to buy a piece of salt. The salt is still as black as a stone.
I still can't bear to eat it.
One method that every household hangs salt on the beams of the house with ropes. When eating, if you look up at it, you think you are eating salt. This is called eating and looking at salt.
Another method is to tie the salt block with a rope and quickly dip it in the pot, which is called eating and dipping in salt.
They didn't expect that at this railway construction site, the food given out actually contained salt, and there were a few drops of oil on the egg soup. They were really excited.