In Yongchuan City, which is thousands of miles away from Pengshan City, the people are still doing what they are doing diligently, all they want is a mouthful of food to survive for themselves and their families. The war thousands of miles away seemed far away but closely related to them.
First of all, although the price of food in the city has not increased, the quota has been reduced by 15% compared to when the purchase restriction order was first introduced. In other words, if you meet a man who can eat, a day's ration is not enough. You have to find supplements elsewhere or simply eat less and endure it.
In the past, some wild vegetables could still be found in the woods and fields on the outskirts of the city from time to time, but now they have been wiped out. Even the wild vegetables, wild fruits, and wild fungi in the nearby mountains are almost impossible to find.
When people are hungry, they really don’t mind putting anything in their stomachs. It's not bad, it's just instinctive.
Of course, many people will suffer from hunger, but it will not lead to famine. It is enough for everyone to eat to their fullest. Most people who dig wild vegetables just dry them for storage. I worry that the days to come will become increasingly difficult.
Now that the common people are like this, it is conceivable that the wealthy households, businessmen, and officials who have more resources in their hands are looking for coping methods or other solutions for themselves and their families.
Fortunately for the high-ranking officials, their personal connections were deeply rooted in the Hong Dynasty, and they could always find effective ways to take precautions among the intricate connections. Whether they squeeze into the capital, go to important towns in various places, or even find secret ways to escape the Hong Dynasty and go to surrounding countries, there are many.
It's still the dock in the industrial park, and it's still the teahouse on the dock. Bai Lang once again saw Zhou Yu and Hou Wangtong, two old men wearing a pair of trousers.
"You two, why are you coming to see me so urgently?"
Bailang did not come to the dock by chance today. Instead, he was informed by Zhang Shun on the pier one day in advance that the Zhou family and the Hou family secretly sent greeting cards, saying that they wanted to invite him to tea on the pier. Bailang came over just now. He also wanted to hear what the other party wanted to do with him. And Bailang also wanted to get closer to these two families. After all, he still had the secret order from Liu Jianyu.
Zhou Yu and Hou Wang laughed together, and then Zhou Yu said: "There is indeed something. I originally hoped to wait for a suitable opportunity to talk to Mr. Bai. But now I really can't wait, so I can only be so abrupt. Come here, I hope Mr. Bai will forgive me."
"Oh? It seems that something is really urgent. Please tell me, two of you."
At this time, Hou Wangtong took over the conversation and said: "Master Bai, we have helped you contact a lot of things these days, including grain, cloth and even patent medicines. You also accept them all. But there are only so many warehouses here at the dock. We know it. You didn't leave all the goods in the warehouse, but they disappeared without a trace.
In addition, there is a fleet of ships organized by you at the dock, so we thought you had transferred some of the supplies elsewhere. I don’t know, right? "
"What? Are you two so concerned about the actions of the sword shop?" Bailang answered while picking up the tea cup on the table and blowing on the bubbles, looking at the two old men with half-smiling eyes. In his heart, he guessed the reason why these two people came to him suddenly today.
Hou Wang said he didn't dare, and continued: "Master Bai, please don't misunderstand me. Our two families have no intention of offending you or the knife shop. It's just that we had to pay more attention and discovered some of Master Bai's actions. That’s it. And I would venture to guess that the part of the supplies that disappeared from Master Bai’s hand should have been sent to a safe and hidden place by Master Bai, right? It’s the refuge you mentioned before, right? "
"If you two have anything to say, just say it. We got closer last time, and I didn't even shy away from you about finding a place to avoid trouble in advance. You two don't need to be so outspoken."
The smile on Hou Wangtong's face became brighter when he heard this, and he said with obvious flattery: "Mr. Bai also knows that the world is difficult nowadays. And recently, even the food quota has begun to be reduced, and all the ordnance in the market has been priced. It took one cut, but the quantity went up. The armor needed to be thickened by 30%! There were never enough crossbow arrows.
We are not from the military, and there is no way to get news in the south. But food is in short supply and ordnance is in short supply. Doesn’t this mean that the situation in the south is definitely getting worse and worse?
Once Nanfang can't hold it anymore, why don't we find a way out?
Hehe, to be honest with Mr. Bai, our two families also worked together to build a hiding place to avoid trouble. I thought it was pretty good. But after listening to Mr. Bai's advice last time, we discovered that the place we were looking for was simply not good enough to avoid disaster. The more I thought about it, the more I felt it was inappropriate, and I tried to find another suitable change. But the left and right sides were wrong, and the right place and manpower could not be found at all.
So I discussed it with Lao Zhou, and finally we both felt that instead of trying to figure it out blindly, it would be better to ask Mr. Bai to be merciful and allow our two families to depend on each other. If you have any orders, Mr. Bai, please speak up, but please give us two Just have a place at home. "
Bailang's thoughts turned out to be true. As expected, these two wealthy businessmen took the bait last time after he revealed the news about a place to avoid trouble. Originally, he was just a merchant, and his job was to make money. Finding a place to hide and resisting possible dangers was totally beyond his capabilities. At most, it's just to find a barren mountain and forcibly build a high-walled mansion, which is of no use.
Now it is reasonable for these two families to seek shelter from disaster. After all, the most useful thing in troubled times is not money, but knives.
"These two requests really put Bai Lang in a bit of trouble!" Bai Lang looked embarrassed. Naturally, it is impossible to let the other party board the ship so easily. There must be a price, right? And it has to be something Bailang has been planning for a long time.
Seeing Bailang was very difficult, Zhou Yu and Hou Wangtong did not doubt that he was there. After all, the refuge they wanted to come to Bailang was just a little bigger than Zhuangzi. It had stronger defenses and secluded geographical conditions, and could be self-sufficient inside or around it. Well. A Zhuangzi can only hold a thousand followers. The number of people in the knife shop is almost the same if you include the younger ones. It would be too difficult to include the two families.
However, the recent situation also made Zhou Yu and Hou Wangtong understand that these things cannot wait any longer. Once the situation collapses, it may be a dam-breaking situation. When disaster strikes, and you all fly away, who will take you with you?
So you have to find a way out early!
"Mr. Bai, we know that this request is not easy, but the world is too difficult, so we have to make this request. No matter what Mr. Bai orders, the Zhou and Hou families will do their best to satisfy Mr. Bai. I only hope that Mr. Bai can bring it with him. Our two families.”
Bailang pondered for a moment and then said: "It's not that I don't want to bring my two family members with me, but there are still many unresolved problems over there, and the place is indeed a bit tight."
Several pulls, refusals and pleas. Bai Lang seemed to have made up his mind in the end, frowning and said: "If you two are really determined to join the Swordsmanship Club, you will have to take some risks. It depends on whether you two are brave enough!"
(End of chapter)
