Chapter 551: The Source of Refugees

Chapter 551: The Source of Refugees

Chapter 551: The Source of Refugees
Fang Xuanling smiled bitterly and said, "Except for the old grudges, the root cause of all other conflicts is the competition for resources. Eighty percent of them are conflicts over accommodation. Two families share a tent with a piece of cloth in the middle. When two families live together, all kinds of small thoughts will appear, and then the conflict will get bigger and bigger, and finally the two families will fight.

Our solution now is to try to shorten the time each family stays in the camp. Previously, they had to stay for five days, but now it has been shortened to three days. This way, many conflicts don’t have time to arise or escalate before everyone breaks up. ”

Xiao Xia nodded, "Three days, this efficiency is not bad!"

At this time, there was a commotion in the distance. Fang Xuanling knew what was going on as soon as he saw it and couldn't help but sigh. Why was there another conflict at this time?

He quickly apologized and hurried over. Xiao Xia was quite interested and followed him.

The two families were seen fighting and twisting into a ball, and the soldiers rushed forward and forcibly separated them.

A bald old man cursed: "Wang, you are going too far, I will never let you go!"

Another middle-aged man angrily said, "Who is going too far? The stove is for everyone, but you guys are occupying it. Each family gets half of the tent, but you guys are occupying 60%. I've been putting up with you for two days!"

"I've put up with you for twenty years."

An official began to prepare to change their tents. Fang Xuanling said to Xiao Xia, "These two people were neighbors for 20 years. They were both from Pingyuan County. They came to Jiangbei Camp together two days ago and asked to live together. We assigned them to the same tent, but after only two days, the two families turned against each other."

Xiao Xia smiled and said, "Go and find out how they became enemies."

Fang Xuanling left in a hurry. Not long after, both families packed up their things and were sent away by the soldiers. Fang Xuanling also returned.

"Your Highness, I have inquired about it. In fact, the conflict between the two families is very deep. The bald man's family is surnamed Zhao, and they have two daughters. The eldest daughter was originally engaged to the son of the Wang family. Later, Liu Badao's bandits came to rob food and raped the eldest daughter. The Wang family despised them and cancelled the engagement. The eldest daughter of the Zhao family could not bear the stimulation and jumped into the river to commit suicide. The two families thus formed a feud. However, the Zhao family's food was robbed, and the Wang family gave them a lot of food. In view of the food, the Zhao family did not pursue the matter of their daughter's suicide.

After the two families fled to Jiangnan together, they began to settle down. The Wang family wanted to marry the Zhao family's youngest daughter to their son, but the Zhao family refused. The Wang family was angry and said something unpleasant, saying that the Zhao family's youngest daughter must have been abused. Since they didn't mind, what right did the Zhao family have to refuse? They immediately brought up the matter of the Zhao family's eldest daughter. With new hatred and old grudges, the Zhao family took action first. "

Xiao Xia snorted and said, "In the final analysis, it was Liu Badao's bandits who were responsible for the evil. If they were in Jiangnan, I would kill them all!"

Liu Wenjing also sighed, "The conflict between the two families is irreconcilable. How do you plan to arrange it?"

"I will arrange for the Zhao family to live in Danyang County and the Wang family to live in Yongjia County. They are thousands of miles apart and the two families will no longer have any connection. I will arrange it today and send them off tomorrow morning."

Xiao Xia left the camp in a carriage and saw the family of three who had just fought at the camp gate. The bald old man named Zhao and the family of three were standing on the side of the road carrying several large bags.

"parking!"

The carriage stopped, Xiao Xia got off the carriage and came to the old man. The old man was so scared that he knelt down immediately.

Xiao Xia smiled and said, "Please stand up, old man. I have a few questions in my mind that I would like to ask you!"

"I will tell you the truth!"

At this time, the soldiers brought a few stools, and Xiao Xia invited them to sit down. Xiao Xia smiled and asked, "Are you from Pingyuan County?"

The old man nodded and said, "I am from Pingchang County, Pingyuan County. My family originally had thirty acres of land. We used to live a decent life, but Pingchang is too close to Douzigang!"

At this point, the old man's eyes slowly turned red. Xiao Xia understood very well. How could the peasant uprising army not rob the people? Even if they could grow crops themselves, it would take at least half a year from sowing to harvesting. If the season was wrong, the waiting time would be even longer. What would they eat and drink during this time?
They dared not provoke the government, so they could only rob the weaker people. Therefore, no matter how the peasants' uprisings from ancient times to the present were promoted, they could not explain where the food and wine they ate came from. Even if they cultivated the land themselves, what did they eat during the eight months from sowing to harvesting?
When Liu Badao rebelled, he gathered hundreds of thousands of people. Each person was given one pound of rice a day. Hundreds of thousands of people would need one thousand dan of rice a day. What about ten days? What about a hundred days?
In the final analysis, they went to rob. Since they didn't dare to rob the county town, they went to rob the surrounding rural areas. This old man is the representative of misfortune. All his food was robbed, his eldest daughter was raped, and finally he jumped into the river and committed suicide.

"How did you get here from Pingyuan County? Didn't you encounter any thieves on the way?"

This is Xiao Xia's biggest question. It is understandable that the people from Jianghuai fled here as it is relatively close. But for those fleeing from Hebei to Jiangnan, they have to travel through many states and cities along the way. In the Central Plains where thieves are as numerous as cattle hairs, these refugees are fat sheep. How could the thieves and bandits not attack them?

"Reporting to the officer, we fled to Jiangnan under the organization of someone. Each person paid three strings of cash, and they were responsible for ensuring our safety on the road and taking us to Jiangdu by boat."

"What kind of people are organizing this?"

"They are from Wagangzhai. I sold all my land at a low price, took my old wife and little daughter, and a neighbor's family, and came to Lujiaoguan by the Yellow River. There were people doing business here, and each person paid three strings of money. Then we got on a big boat. We had to ask them for food and drink along the way. We sat on the boat in a daze for more than ten days. It was not easy to get to Jiangdu, and we had spent all our money."

"Are all the people who fled from Hebei and Central Plains picked up and dropped off by Wagangzhai?"

The old man nodded, "Everyone I know is like that!"

Liu Wenjing beside him said with a smile: "Wagangzhai is very business-minded! They must have made a lot of money in the past few years."

Xiao Xia said slowly: "They dare to act recklessly by taking advantage of the government's fear of refugees, but I don't think Wagang Village can think of this way to make money, nor do they have such a big hand. There must be a force behind it, and Wagang Village is just doing things for them."

"Guanlong nobles?" Liu Wenjing reacted.

Xiao Xia nodded. "They seem to be very quiet in the past few years, but in fact, they are still digging into Sui Dynasty's territory, but they are more covert."

At this time, officials came to pick up the family of three, and they were placed in Danyang County. Xiao Xia gave the officials some instructions, asking them to treat the family well.

Xiao Xia came to the dock again, and just then several large ferries docked. He saw hundreds of people getting off each ferry, with their families and carrying large and small bags. They were all people fleeing from the north.

Xiao Xia was really having a headache. There were already so many refugees before the war broke out at the end of the Sui Dynasty. Once there was a chaos in the north, who knew how many more refugees would come?
It seems they have to plan ahead and prepare early.

Liu Wenjing said to Xiao Xia worriedly: "If this continues, there will be more and more refugees, which will exceed our capacity to accept them."

Xiao Xia shook his head slowly, "What the people want is safety, and they hope that their families will be safe. They trust Jiangnan Dao, which means they trust me. How can I bear to turn them away?"

Wei Zheng sighed and said, "My words may be a little disrespectful, but the emperor really doesn't care about the lives of the people, or he doesn't know it at all. If he could be a little bit more compassionate to the people like Your Highness, there wouldn't be so many people fleeing to the south of the Yangtze River."

(End of this chapter)