After the established goal of capturing the great plain behind the Yunling Mountains at the turn of next spring and summer was set, both the guard camp and the county guard's office began to make intensive preparations.
At this time, the nearly 100,000 refugees who fled from Liaobei County to Yunzhou County finally arrived outside Yunzhou City after nearly half a month of fleeing.
In response to this, the county governor's office, which had been well prepared, responded quickly. All refugees were temporarily restricted outside the city and were not allowed to enter the city at will.
The county governor's office provided enough felt tents for the people at the minimum standard of three people per household, and also provided gruel twice a day, which although not enough to eat, could prevent people from starving to death. At the same time, they also dispatched Wuhou, who patrolled the streets. Patrolling camps where refugees are stationed to stabilize order among the refugees.
Once the three items of housing and food security were solved, the nearly 100,000 refugees who fled quickly settled down.
Immediately, the county governor's office began to organize various workshop owners in the city who were short of workers, and formed an interview team to recruit people in the refugee camps.
Soon, those with skills among the refugees found jobs in the city. After being disinfected by the county governor's office, they were allowed to enter the city.
In this way, it can be regarded as solving the survival problem of some refugees.
At the same time, news of the recruitment of soldiers for the guard camp quickly spread in Yunzhou City. This news was not attractive to the people in the city, but to those outside the city who still relied on the government's two meals of gruel a day. For the refugees, it is a great way out, attracting the attention of most of the refugees.
In a felt tent somewhere, a family of four was eating the porridge they had just received from the porridge shed set up by the county magistrate's office.
Both women and children couldn't wait to sip their own porridge. For them, compared with the migration process of the previous half month, today's days are already considered excellent, although they still can't eat. Full, but not starving.
On the way from Liaobei County to Yunzhou County, they saw how many people they knew in the same village starved to death on the road.
Some extremely hungry people even did some unspeakable things. The old and weak in the team were often taken away by those people and never came back.
Everyone knows what those people are doing, but no one cares about it, and no one tells them. It is very difficult for everyone to survive. As long as it doesn't happen to them, no one will meddle in their own business.
Therefore, they are already very satisfied with the two meals of gruel a day.
However, the male owner of this household looked at the gruel in the bowl, and then thought of the big pancakes brought back from the city by fellow villagers with carpenter skills.
The alluring aroma, the sesame seeds dotted all over the pancake, and the alluring clicking sounds it makes when you eat it!
Suddenly, the porridge in the bowl was no longer as fragrant as the previous day.
Li Erniu silently put down the bowl full of porridge in his hand and sat there without saying a word.
His strange expression was quickly noticed by the woman who had just finished her porridge.
"Master, why don't you eat porridge? This porridge is so delicious!"
Hearing this, Li Erniu said dullly: "No matter how delicious the porridge is, it's not as delicious as the sesame pancakes."
The woman immediately knew that her man had been stimulated by something, but when she heard this, she sighed helplessly and comforted:
"The head of the house is different. Li Laosan can do carpentry work, so he was recruited by the carpentry workshop in the city and received labor wages.
Our family doesn't have any skills, we only know how to farm. As you have seen along the way in Yunzhou County, there is no place for farming at all, and our skills are of no use at all.
Now it's good to have this gruel to drink. At least we can't starve to death. We are already much better than those who starve to death on the road.
Anyway, we think a person should be content, and it would be good to have these two bowls of gruel every day. "
The woman's consolation did not relieve Li Erniu. He had been sitting there dully, not knowing what he was thinking.
After a while, Li Erniu suddenly stood up, picked up the gruel that had been placed aside, divided it into three portions, and poured it into the bowls of the two children and his mother-in-law, and then said to the three of them in a firm voice:
"We no longer want to drink porridge every day, we want to eat pancakes! We want to eat meat!"
The woman was startled by her man's actions. After hearing this, she said, "But, we don't have any skills?"
Li Erniu seemed to have made some kind of decision and said in a deep voice:
"We heard from Li Laosan today that King Yun's guard camp is expanding its recruitment, and the salary is generous, with three taels of silver a month!
The salary is not high, but as long as I join the guard camp, you ladies can live in the military area in the city and no longer have to stay outside the city.
Moreover, our two children can also receive a childcare subsidy of five coins every month until they are eighteen years old.
Then we can eat big pancakes and eat meat! "
Li Erniu's words immediately shocked the woman. She quickly got up and grabbed her man and said:
"You must not do it if you are in charge! Being a soldier means fighting, and people will die! If something happens to you, how will we, the ladies, survive!"
Li Erniu was unmoved, and said in a deep voice: "You don't have to persuade us. We don't want to drink porridge anymore, and you don't want to think about how long the government's porridge can last? We have nearly 100,000 people, and we are the government." No matter how rich you are, you can't stop 100,000 people from eating and drinking freely. Sooner or later, this porridge shack will be removed.
By that time, we can't find the waiter, and our family of four will have to go drink the northwest wind.
Therefore, even if it is for our family, we must find a way!
And don’t worry, we have inquired about it. The pension of the Yunzhou County Guard Camp is very high. If we die in the battle, you will directly have a pension of one hundred taels, and the childcare subsidy for our two children can also be directly converted into The pension allowance of one tael per month is also provided until the age of eighteen.
So even if we die in the battle, I can rest assured about you three.
You don’t need to persuade us anymore! "
After saying that, Li Erniu ignored the woman, let go of her hand, and strode out of the tent. He wanted to quickly go to the registration office at the city gate to sign up.
Li Laosan said that this time the guard camp is recruiting only 15,000 people. If you go late, there will be no spots. He has to go quickly.
He believes that there are definitely not a few people who think the same as him.
Anyone with some discernment in the camp can see that this porridge shed will not last forever, otherwise the government would not personally organize the workshop owners to recruit people in the camp.
If you want to live, if you want to live well, you must find your own way to survive!
Inside the felt tent, watching her man's leaving figure, the woman finally had no choice but to sigh softly, and poured all the porridge in the bowl into the bowls of the two children who were eating without knowing anything about the world.
How could she not know that what her man said was right, but she was just a woman and could only take care of her own small family. What could she do if there was more?
If you were a soldier and fought in a war, you would die. If you didn't have no other choice, a few people in the Song Dynasty would become soldiers.
As the saying goes, a good man should not be a soldier, and a good man should not hammer nails.
But now, their family really has only one way to go, and they can only hope that the lucky person in charge will have his own destiny...
