Chapter 16 Hungry People
Due to the transportation of grain, the fleet that had been sailing at sea for more than 20 days had to dock at Denglai Port and unload the grain before it could divert to Liaodong.
Denglai is a military port, but now it is filled with countless civilians.
Zhu Xiongying watched from a distance, the skinny bodies of these people, barely clothed, and seemed to be crying with every step they took, as they were driven into the boat. Filled with righteous indignation for a moment, he said to Yang Zhen: "What's going on?"
Yang Zhen could guess pretty well at first glance. However, he did not dare to talk nonsense and said: "I will send someone to inquire about it."
After a while, I found out clearly.
"This is presided over by Wu Yin, the chief envoy of Shandong. All refugees must be resettled in Liaodong." Yang Zhen said.
Zhu Xiongying said: "Why?"
Yang Zhen said: "Because the governor of Liaodong provides food, they can survive after arriving in Liaodong."
Zhu Xiongying said: "Didn't we bring food?"
Yang Zhen said: "Not enough. Far from enough. Shandong is a populous province in the north with millions of people. Although I have not calculated it, I guess that Shandong's annual grain output must be more than 10 million dan. There is a lack of so much grain. , the food we brought is only so much. What the court has to do now is to spend the food on business, no matter what method is used. Expand food production as much as possible. Let the people survive. Instead of distributing food to the refugees. "
Zhu Xiongying still didn't understand and said, "Why?"
Yang Zhen said: "Because they have no land and have left their place of origin. For any prefecture and county, they are outsiders. A factor of instability."
Without land, the food given to them is pure consumption and it is impossible to bring about food production. Just because the refugees have left their place of origin and are not on the list of their parents' officials, if the people in this county starve to death, then the people in the county will starve to death. This number is too much. The county magistrate will still be punished. Therefore, it is fine for the county magistrate to conceal the report. No matter whether they cover up the facts, they are trying their best to prevent the people in the county from starving to death. And these refugees have nothing to do with their local officials. Anyway, if he doesn't report it, the court won't know about it.
Many local officials also drove away the refugees. Let them die in the wilderness. Just pretend you don’t know.
Of course, this is also because during the Hongwu period, the Ming Dynasty had a strong foundation, and even if there were natural disasters, the people would not suffer much losses. It is not enough to form a wave of refugees. It is enough to deal with a small number of refugees in this way. If a wave of refugees forms, the refugees will besiege the city. That's another way.
Therefore, these people were picked up by Liaodong. The local officials are happy to see this happen.
So there is today's scene.
To say that the people are ignorant is a bit too arbitrary. However, many people in this era are uneducated and are only familiar with the situation near their hometown and are not familiar with other places. Don't understand either. Moreover, there is no civilized law enforcement when officials act. Very rough.
Therefore, these refugees are almost treated as prisoners. Under such circumstances, the refugees who boarded the boat faced an unknown situation. How can we not cry loudly?
Yang Zhen didn't think anything.
Yang Zhen has seen things more cruel than this.
However, Zhu Xiongying couldn't understand it. He is compassionate. Seeing these wolf-like and tiger-like officials, I became disgusted with the matter of relocating the refugees. Zhu Xiongying suddenly thought of something and asked: "This matter was requested by the governor of Liaodong. That is, my uncle?"
Yang Zhen said: "If I guessed correctly, it should have been brought up by adults."
Having said this, Yang Zhen was a little worried. He knew He Xi's current financial difficulties. This time he came over and even brought up Jinghai Company's cash, which was about five hundred thousand taels. This is already the limit that Jinghai Company can raise.
At this time, such immigration consumes a lot of resources. The chief envoy of Shandong will not serve Liaodong, although Liaodong still belongs to Shandong in name. However, since He Xi arrived in Liaodong, the connection between Liaodong and Shandong Province has been so weak that there is only one name left.
If Shandong Province can afford some immigration costs, it’s God’s mercy.
However, Zhu Xiongying couldn't understand this. Originally, He Xi had a very good image in his mind. But at this moment, it plummeted. He thought to himself: "When I arrive in Liaodong, I must ask my uncle face to face why he did this."
"Can't you send more food to Shandong?"
After unloading the grain in Denglai, the fleet turned to Yingkou.
This time there were many more immigrant ships in the fleet. Although they are all in the same fleet, their situations are completely different.
Princess Anqing enjoys a big ship by herself. Princess Anqing, He Yuandao, and Zhu Xiongying all have independent rooms, and they are suites. Outside is where the servants rest. Inside is where the owner rests. In addition, there are also the big shopkeepers headed by Yang Zhen. They are all single rooms. Although, the single rooms on the ship are much smaller than those on land. But at least it is an independent space.
Not to mention, this ship is Princess Anqing's ship, and the interior decoration is not too bad. Even the cabin, where the servants were crowded together, was spacious.
And the ships are huge. Everything is stable in the East China Sea. Not to mention that it is extremely safe in the Bohai Sea. You can barely feel the rocking of the ship.
But whose immigration ship is on the other side is different. The first is small.
He Xi has no choice. Although the Ming Dynasty has signs of excess shipping capacity, there is still a shortage of ships. Not to mention that the commercial atmosphere in Liaodong and Bohai Bay is far inferior to that on the southern coast, so the number of ships is even smaller.
Fortunately, the Bohai Sea is small and has low waves, which allows smaller ships to travel between Liaodong and Shandong.
And boats are cheap.
Therefore, this ocean-covering ship, which cost three to four hundred materials, followed the fleet. Compared with the fleet in front, it was almost like a hen and a chicken. Therefore, the originally small waves were very unfriendly to the people on this boat.
A child similar to Zhu Xiongying's age.
His name was Tang Da, and he was the son of a salt householder who cooked salt for the court. During the Hongwu period, we could still survive. Although you have to farm your own land to supplement some income. But a severe drought came, and the crops in the fields failed. His parents even died of illness. The family's food is all gone. For those who borrow money from relatives, no one will lend it to them in the year of great calamity.
But someone offered to buy his sister. Tang Da flatly refused.
With the situation in front of him, he could only think of one solution. That is to go out and beg for food. So, Tang Da took his younger sister Tang Xiaomei with him. Their parents only gave them nicknames like this and no big names at all. Because, to give a good name, you need to pay your husband.
Parents are reluctant.
Now there are only two brothers and sisters left to depend on each other.
It's not easy to go out to beg for food.
Tang Da tried his best to give his sister a bite of food. When the officials arrested the refugees, Tang Da was actually able to escape. But my sister was caught. He could only be captured obediently. No matter life or death. They all need to be together.
Fortunately, after being caught by the officials, he estimated that the worst case did not happen. Although imprisoned in. But a bowl of rice every day. With this job, the brother and sister can survive. This is enough.
But Tang Da also never expected that they would go to the sea.
Despite his strong body, he actually became seasick. What made him feel even more incredible was that his sister, Tang Xiaomei, was crawling in his arms, sleeping soundly. It seemed that the abnormal rocking of the ship was like a lullaby to her.
But Tang Da was different. Tang Da felt uncomfortable all over his body, and his stomach was churning. Feeling like vomiting.
He bit hard, and he didn't eat much every day. It won't work if I spit it out again. Even though his stomach was probably full of water at the moment, he didn't want to vomit. But his reaction was sensed by Tang Xiaomei.
Little sister Tang rubbed her eyes. The child was covered in dirt. I can't even see his face clearly. It's even more unclear whether it's a boy or a girl. Many people think that Tang Xiaomei is a boy. This is also Tang Da's disguise for his sister. After all, women in disaster years are often commodities.
Tang Xiaomei said: "What's wrong, brother?"
Tang Da was sweating profusely and said, "It's nothing."
How could Tang Xiaomei feel relieved? She looked at her brother helplessly and rubbed his chest with her little hands. The brother and sister spent the night with difficulty. Not far away, Zhu Xiongying was sleeping among the layers of quilts, feeling nothing.
Human joys and sorrows are not the same.
