A large number of refugees gathered outside the barbed wire fences in Beijing, Zunhua, and Yang Mansion 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 dragged their children and ran there.
They all heard from fellow villagers that people who came here in the past two years had found jobs to support their families in Hukou. There are more and more people gathering here now. Especially when they heard that there was a penny and three kilograms of grain in the capital, their eyes almost turned red.
But the officers and soldiers guarded the city gate and prevented them from entering the city.
More and more refugees are gathering outside the capital. It has reached more than 300,000. There are shacks built by victims of the disaster all over the mountains and plains. These people clamored to go to the city to beg or find work. There were conflicts with the officers and soldiers guarding the city every day.
Looking at the increasing number of victims outside the city, the cabinet and the emperor were on pins and needles. If someone raises their arms and shouts, it will be in trouble.
The emperor had no choice but to spend money from the inner treasury to buy three kilograms of cornmeal for one penny in the supermarket and give porridge outside the city.
Porridge was given out once in the morning and afternoon every day, and each person was given a large ladle of cornmeal, barely enough to 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 these victims and let them go to the construction sites of various construction sections to build railways. Don't gather outside the capital.
The railway headquarters' original plan was to start construction only after the ground thawed in spring. The current situation is that winters have been so cold in recent years, especially in Tianjin, where there are many swamps at the bottom of the Jiuhe River. The mud and water are frozen and mixed together, and the ground is frozen solid, making construction impossible.
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. Get these refugees away quickly.
Both Android and Apple are available. 】
Outside Yongding Gate, news spread that workers had begun to be recruited, and the victims who were scattered in Gyeonggi Province suddenly gathered from all over. Go straight to the railway recruitment office.
Han Laowu and his family came from Shanxi. They had three children and their mother. A family of six fled to the capital. There has been a severe drought this year. Their hometown is in the Luliang Mountains, and the dry fields have basically lost production. The whole village ran away.
Everyone in their village has the surname Han, and they belong to a large ancestral family. There are more than 300 people in the whole clan. They all fled in all directions.
Han Laowu's wife picked up some dead branches and boiled some water for her mother-in-law and children in a broken pot. Only a small handful of millet was added. The rice soup is soaked and you can drink it immediately. The soup is so thin that people can be seen in the soup.
Han Laowu hurried back. He said to his family: "If you 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, you won't be accepted. 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. The old lady couldn't bear to part with the broken pot and rice porridge, so she wrapped it with a scarf to prevent it from spilling. Holding a small half pot of porridge in his 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 that said Railway Recruitment Office.
The place is already crowded, 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 later work jacket. I just feel a little strange about this kind of double-breasted clothes.
"The younger one is from Luliang, Shanxi. He came here to escape famine. He is a family of six. There is 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 recording.
"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 so on." Han Laowu said.
"Well, you are a stonemason, a craftsman. Come with me. Come over here. You don't have to queue up for the interview." The young man's eyes lit up.
When recruiting here, we first distinguish between occupations and skills. Those who can contribute are the lowest, but those who know carpentry, bricklayer, stonemason and other crafts 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 one family. They are all adults, as well as 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.
Everyone here has lined up. One by one, families came to the cook to receive food. In front of the cook's burden are layers of steamers. Behind it is a large barrel.
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 barrel of egg soup. This bucket of soup probably only consisted of two or three beaten eggs, but it was enough to make these hungry people swallow 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 of you will get a cake and a big spoonful of egg soup." The cook said.
Soon everyone received the food. The cake was soft and sweet. These people had never eaten cornmeal food before, and they all devoured it. The egg soup in the broken bowl didn't even bother to burn my mouth, so I 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, 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, salt prices soared and people generally could not afford salt.
Even in good years, there is little salt throughout the year. Every year, my mother sells her chickens so that she can buy a piece of salt. The salt is still as black as stone.
I still can't bear to eat it.
Each family hangs the salt on the beam with a rope. When eating, if you look up, 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.
I didn’t expect that at this railway construction site, the food given out contained salt. And there are a few drops of oil on the egg soup. It really excited them.
