Qingyan nodded and said: "That's okay, then you can take over for me first. If there is any movement, call me out. The two of us can just switch over in the past few days."
Chou Chou nodded, "Don't worry, everyone is on their way anyway. As long as they don't stop, you shouldn't need to come out."
Qingyan murmured as she climbed into the carriage: "We've even found storage bags along the way, so why didn't we get a puppet? Don't we say that monks know how to use puppets?
Even if you don't have one, it's fine to have a wooden man or an inflatable man or something, as long as it's placed in front of you. Anyway, we have the consciousness and can change it out in advance if something happens. "
Chou Chou's eyes lit up, this is really possible!
Although it can't make puppets, it can make wooden figures. It can be made according to the structure of the wooden bird, and it can move on its own if spiritual stones are placed inside.
Even if it is covered tightly, it cannot be made to look like a real person, so it can only be used temporarily.
But you can ask the blackbird. Maybe it knows how to do it. After all, it has been with the monk for a long time, so maybe it has seen him before.
In the carriage, Chou Chou and Chou Chou changed clothes and asked Chou Chou to go outside first, while the two continued chatting with their spiritual consciousness.
After a while, Chou Chou said: "I asked the blackbird, and it said that Yin Jin's uncle used to have a puppet. Let's look for his storage bag."
Qingyan's eyes lit up, "Really? Haven't we all seen the storage bag? Didn't we see it?"
Chou Chou: "We only had a rough look at it. Wasn't there a bunch of messy ore or something? Let's dig through it, maybe it's buried in there."
Qingyan nodded, "Let's search in the space that night. It's inconvenient to look outside."
Chou Chou nodded, "Okay, I'll look for it carefully when the time comes. There may be some things I got from the Wolf Demon King mixed in there."
Suddenly, there was a burst of noise in front of them, and the two of them quickly put their spiritual senses over to check.
The two of them were chatting just now without looking ahead. Unexpectedly, the road ahead was blocked.
I saw a group of ragged people approaching, old and young, men and women, and even many children.
Most of them walked, and only a few rode in carts pulled by donkeys or pushed by people. However, these people were all shivering from the cold, and their faces were yellow and thin from hunger.
Qingyan frowned and said to Chou Chou: "We are not encountering refugees fleeing, right? No, how come refugees are fleeing north? Don't they usually flee south?"
It snowed so early and heavily this year, so it is normal for snow disasters to occur in places.
Once a snowstorm occurs, the houses will be crushed. There will be no way to build houses or grow food in winter. Many people will flee south. After all, the farther south, the warmer it gets.
Although the world here is different from the world she lives in, many things are parallel to that world, and many things have happened with only slight changes.
So now it is the end of the Five Dynasties and the beginning of the Northern Song Dynasty, which should be the third Little Ice Age.
The first one is from the late Yin Shang Dynasty to the early Western Zhou Dynasty, which is the period when Yin Jin and others encountered it. If it were not for the Little Ice Age, the Yin Shang Dynasty would not have been defeated so completely and so quickly.
The second one is the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the Three Kingdoms and the Western Jin Dynasty, the third one is the late Tang Dynasty, the Five Dynasties and the early Northern Song Dynasty, and the fourth one is the famous late Ming Dynasty and early Qing Dynasty.
The specific manifestations of the Little Ice Age were extremely cold climate disasters. The average temperature was lower than in previous years. Then in summer, there would be severe drought or floods, not only in the north, but also in the south. There would also be heavy snowfalls in some places in the south.
Such weather will significantly reduce food production, cause violent social unrest, and sharply reduce the population. Most of the demise of several famous dynasties is related to this.
Thinking of this, Qingyan was a little confused. If they really caught up, they might not be able to escape the cold of winter by going south.
After all, during this period, there will also be heavy snowfall in the south, and the temperature will be much lower than in previous years. And the most important thing is that the south is not as prepared to keep out the cold as the north. Fire walls, stoves, and houses all have a certain degree of protection against the cold. function, which is not available in the south.
Most of the houses there are made of wooden structure, or houses made of stone, and some are made of bamboo. Once it snows, they will be easily crushed and even more likely to freeze to death.
They are not afraid, after all, even in the north, their wooden houses can keep out the cold, but if that doesn't work, there is also the house with the formation, which can be taken out in a deserted place to ensure that it will not get cold.
If this is the case, the current situation may be turbulent and chaotic, and it will be very difficult for them to spend this year well. After all, in troubled times, if they want to stay in a corner, they must hide in the mountains. Without contact with people, as long as there are people, you will inevitably get involved.
Of course, according to the history of their world, the Little Ice Age during the Five Dynasties and early Song Dynasty was not as severe as the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties.
This time should not be long, but looking at the situation now, it should have an impact. At least this year, it is getting colder every day before the twelfth lunar month, and the snow is heavy enough. Next year's food production is expected to decrease.
Now they still have a lot of food in their space. They will stock up a little more when the time comes, just enough to eat until they leave. They have not thought about stocking up a lot of food. They will leave after a year anyway, and there is no need to compete with others for survival. Opportunity.
Even if they keep the food, it will not be easy to distribute. If it is eaten by others, it is better not to hoard it, which will not affect the destiny of others.
Just thinking about it, Qingyan suddenly felt certain, because she saw several officials behind the crowd, and a few relatively sturdy men with shackles on their feet.
It seems that these people are not refugees, but prisoners who have been sent here.
He must have committed something, and his home was confiscated and he was exiled here. To some officials, this place is considered a bitter cold place, especially over the border. In the villages Chou Chou mentioned before, all the villagers in them are exiles. man of.
Those people are not there to farm. As long as there is a war, they will be recruited to build fortifications, and the young and strong will go directly to the battlefield.
If you can get rid of your criminal record by performing meritorious service and become a military household, then you can receive food and salary. If you can't perform meritorious service, you can only live in the front line as cannon fodder.
So don't think that being exiled means finding a poor place to farm and live a small life. It is really a narrow escape, and it is really rare to go back with all the beards and tails.
Qingyan looked over there with her consciousness and made a rough estimate that there must be about a hundred or so people there.
It is possible to reach this point. At the beginning of the exile, it was estimated to be more than double this. The entire journey was carried out on foot. People lacked food, clothing, and medical care. Only half of them were left in the place of exile. That was all The escorting officer was kinder.
It's not very far from the outside of the customs. If we walk seriously, it's only ten days and a half month's journey.
Although these people are all talented, they are not that sick and they should be able to persevere until the end.
The official over there must have also seen the carriage on their side, and was asking people to move to the side, at least to make way for them to pass, otherwise neither side would be able to go.
Because of the snow, many people over there slid down into the ditch next to the road. Fortunately, it was full of snow and no one was injured. Some simply stood in the ditch, waiting for their cars to pass. , they come up again.
Qingyan noticed this and sent a message to Chou Chou to come in while she went outside.
There are so many people on the other side, and it will take a while. If the other side looks carefully, or something unexpected happens, for example, there is a strong wind and the ugly face is exposed, it will be troublesome.
Chou Chou also thought of this. It was just reported here that Chou Chou had gotten in.
It shrank directly and crawled out from under the cloak. Looking at the cloak that fell softly, Qingyan couldn't help but roll her eyes. Fortunately, there was no one here. If anyone saw this, she wouldn't be able to kill anyone. I was so scared that I thought it was haunted.
Qingyan reached out and picked up the cloak and put it on her body, covering her as before. The temperature inside the carriage was much warmer on her back.
But in this case, the hood cannot be worn.
It didn't matter, anyway, the wind was from the northwest, basically it couldn't blow from the front, and the heat inside the carriage wasn't that uncomfortable.
Not long after she changed out of Chou Chou, the carriage of the father and son in front slowly slowed down, getting closer and closer to her carriage. When they were almost touching, the son jumped out of the carriage.
Qingyan asked Daxiong to slow down, and the other party walked over and followed the carriage and said: "Girl, there should be people who have been exiled in front of you. My father asked me to remind the girl that you must not give them things randomly, or interact with those people." Talking to officials can easily get you into trouble."
Qingyan nodded, "Thank you for reminding me, brother. I won't. I will follow your car and pass by in a while. It won't be too troublesome."
The other party nodded and said: "My name is Fang Dayou, and my father's name is Fang Zhengyi. If the officials stop you, the girl can choose any name she wants. Just say that we are a family."
Qingyan thanked her again: "Thank you, Brother Fang. I understand, thank you for coming here."
Fang Dayou waved his hand, "You're welcome, girl. It's normal to help each other when we go out. Then I'll go back. If anything happens, just call me."
After saying that, he ran two steps to catch up with the carriage in front, and jumped on with a boost.
Originally, his father asked him to come over and help Qingyan drive, so it would be better if both cars were driven by men. However, he felt a little embarrassed when he saw the snow-white sheepskin on the front of the car, fearing that it would be stained by her.
And they knew that Qingyan was good at kung fu. After all, many people knew that she was teaching kung fu to Li Hanyun at Xue Huan'er's house.
Since Li Hanyun learned kung fu from Qingyan, his skills have improved a lot. He often competes with them, the sergeants of the garrison, so many people know that the cousin of Mrs. Li's family is good at kung fu, and she is also a master.
They were just worried that the little girl had a good background and was rather arrogant. If the officials found trouble, she would be forced to go back and be besieged.
After all, it is difficult for two fists to defeat four people. For those who are away from home, they have few people and the other party has many people. It will be really troublesome if something goes wrong, so I came here to give instructions.
Seeing that Qingyan humbly accepted their kindness, he went back with peace of mind.
Of course, Qingyan would not go looking for trouble and go against others. She also knew that the escort officials would not necessarily find trouble with passers-by like them. After all, they had their own tasks, and this was not a wilderness. It's easy to have evil intentions.
Not to mention their two horse-drawn carriages, there were several ox-carts behind them. They were walking very close to each other. Those who didn't know better thought they were together, and the other party had to weigh them.
But it's right to take precautions before they happen. Who knows who you might meet, and maybe you'll meet someone who is short-sighted.
But the problem they imagined did not happen at all. First, these people are exiled criminals. Whether they are real crimes or implicated tribesmen, they are still prisoners. Officials will not let them intercept other passers-by at will to ask for things.
It's not like they were refugees. If they were refugees, it might be possible. At least those people didn't have officials watching over them, and they were unorganized and undisciplined. They would definitely want some food or something.
Another thing to say is that those official servants really don't offend people at will. Who knows who they are who are walking on the official road. If they encounter someone with a backstage, they are not allowed to get involved.
So they were very calm when they passed by those people. Except for the children who stared at their carriage curiously for a while, the adults almost had no expressions and their eyes were numb.
Some people didn't even look at them. They probably met a lot of them along the way. They were not curious. They were tired, hungry, and cold, and they were in no mood to observe others.
Not to mention asking for help, they are very self-aware of their identities, and the officials only focus on those people to prevent them from escaping in the chaos, and don't care about anything else.
Seeing the other party like this, Qingyan didn't look at these people with her eyes, but after walking over, she used her consciousness to take a closer look.
These prisoners seemed to be from two camps, probably from two families or factions. Anyway, they were divided into two groups.
Although a few of the two groups looked numb on their faces, their temperaments suggested that they had once held high positions, and presumably were family members.
Although those women and children were good-looking, with good facial features and a certain temperament, it seemed that these two families were not unknown minor officials, and they probably had some background.
Nowadays, everything is about prosperity for all and loss for everyone. It was better in the early Song Dynasty, but later on it would often involve three or nine tribes.
Of course, the Nine Clans are a little more serious, but it is normal for the three tribes to be implicated, especially those who confiscate their homes and distribute them. Most of them come together.
If this group of people were two families, then the involvement would not be too wide. A few dozen people would not be considered too many, just a large family.
