The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 511 I've made it here
Su Qier successfully stood on the north bank and was immediately protected by the Northern Song army.

The people on the south bank immediately erupted in commotion: "Wow, he's gone!"

"You'll be safe as soon as you get to the other side."

"The Northern Song soldiers did not bully him; on the contrary, they protected him."

"I've heard that the Northern Song Dynasty loved its people like its own children, and it's true."

"I want to go there too."

The people were making a ruckus, but the soldiers of the Southern Song Dynasty were not happy. A large group of soldiers turned around and glared fiercely at the people. Although they did not speak, the spears, sabers, and bows and arrows in their hands spoke volumes.

The people fell silent.

Just as the Southern Song soldiers had finally brought order to the scene, suddenly, a "plop, plop" sound came from the riverbank not far away. Something jumped into the water. Everyone turned to look and saw two beggars take advantage of the soldiers' attention being focused on the common people, pass through a bush, and jump into the river.

The soldiers were in a panic and quickly fired arrows, but the two beggars were also good swimmers. They dove into the water, and the arrows fired from their light bows softened almost as soon as they hit the water, unable to harm them in the slightest. In no time, the two beggars reached the north bank and turned to the south bank, laughing loudly: "Hahahaha, we've made it across too!"

The Northern Song soldiers surrounded the two beggars and deliberately asked loudly, "Hey, you two beggars, do you still want to be beggars after coming to the Northern Song?"

The two beggars were none other than Wu Changfeng and Ma Dayuan, elders of the Beggars' Sect. Of course, they intended to continue serving as elders in the sect, but they wouldn't say it like that at this moment. Instead, they deliberately said, "Who wants to be a beggar for life? Sir, do you have any work for us to do?"

The Northern Song soldier said, "Because of the war between our Northern Song Dynasty and the puppet state of Qi under the Jin Dynasty, many people have died and a lot of land has been abandoned. If you don't want to be beggars anymore, we will give each of you a piece of land, seeds, farming tools, and exempt you from taxes for one year. The following year, you can pay taxes like ordinary beggars. How about it?"

Wu Changfeng and Ma Dayuan pretended to be overjoyed and knelt down with a thud: "The Northern Song Dynasty is so good to us."

After saying that, Ma Dayuan deliberately looked up and asked, "Sir, if I'm not very good at farming, are there any other jobs I can do?"

The Northern Song soldier said, "If you're not good at farming, go to Chuzhou City to work. There are many factories there, such as furniture factories, shipyards, salt factories, cement factories, steel factories... Every factory is hiring, and there's bound to be a job that suits you. Once you become a formal employee, you'll be paid at least three catties of flour a day, and those with good skills can earn five strings of cash a month."

Ma Dayuan was overjoyed: "I can do carpentry, can I go to the woodworking factory?"

Northern Song soldier: "Alright! Then I'll let you into the factory."

Ma Dayuan: "Thank you, sir!"

This performance was so blatantly explicit. If their acting were put to modern standards, they would only score 20 out of 100. Their acting was stiff, their lines were delivered in a rigid manner, and their expressions were unnatural.

However, people in ancient times had seen very few plays, and the large crowd on the south bank was instantly fooled by the incredibly fake acting.

"Huh? They can find land if they escape to the Northern Song Dynasty?"

"If you can't farm, you can still work as a laborer."

"Only a fool would become a worker; I definitely want a piece of land."

"Was the Northern Song Dynasty really that good?"

“I’ve heard that the Northern Song Dynasty is doing well. Have you been to the docks in Lin’an? The grain transported there is all sourced from the Northern Song Dynasty. It’s said that the purchase price is more than half the price of the grain sold in Lin’an.”

"Huh? More than half lower? Why?"

"Because the Northern Song Dynasty had plenty of grain."

"No, no, no, I heard it's because the toll is expensive."

The people started talking amongst themselves, then stared with red eyes at the north bank of the Tongcheng River...

I want to go back! I really want to go back!

But they didn't have the courage of those beggars; they dared not jump into the river in front of so many Southern Song soldiers, fearing they would be shot to death by arrows. That night, darkness fell.

In ancient times, there was not much light pollution. Once it got dark, all that remained was the moonlight provided by the bright moon.

Under the moonlight, several hundred people sneaked out of Tongcheng Town and hurried along the edge of the town wall, bending low...

Fires were lit on the Tongcheng Bridge at night, and Southern Song soldiers patrolled the area, but the bridge remained impassable.

The people walked a few more steps downstream, several hundred meters away from the bridge, before quietly slipping into the water and swimming desperately to the other side.

Upon reaching the north bank, they stopped hiding and ran towards the north end of Tongcheng Bridge, shouting at the Northern Song soldiers, "We've come! We're from the Southern Song Dynasty! We beg for land and work!"

Of course, some people also cried out, "Please give us travel permits so we can get back to Kaifeng without any problems."

The Northern Song soldiers were clearly prepared, and they welcomed them with smiles, arranging for them to rest in a temporary camp next to the barracks. They would make further arrangements after daybreak the next day.

With hundreds of people making such a commotion in the middle of the night, how could the news be kept secret?

The next day, news spread throughout Tongcheng Town that several hundred brave people had crossed the river in the middle of the night.

The people in the town were greatly encouraged.

But when they prepared to cross using the same method, they discovered that the Southern Song soldiers had intensified their night patrols, and in the dead of night, patrol teams from the Southern Song were sweeping back and forth along the south bank of the Tongcheng River...

Southern Song soldiers even erected layers upon layers of bamboo fences along the south bank to prevent people from approaching the riverbank.

The route for ordinary people in the Southern Song Dynasty to travel north was once blocked!

But five days later, a brave young man appeared. He carried all his luggage on his back, tied his trouser legs tightly with straw rope, and took advantage of the moment when the patrolmen were distracted. He rushed towards the bamboo fence, hurdled over one level with a standard hurdle move, and then hurdled over another level...

By the time the Southern Song soldiers realized what was happening and tried to intercept him, he had already leaped over five layers of bamboo fences and jumped into the Tongcheng River with a splash.

A large number of people in the Southern Song Dynasty cheered loudly!

Before long, the brave young man stood on the north bank, turned around, proudly waved to the south bank, and then strode towards the approaching Northern Song soldiers.

The Northern Song soldier patted the young man on the shoulder happily: "Impressive! With your skills, it's a shame you're not in the army. Why don't you come and be our comrade-in-arms?"

"Can I?"

"No problem at all, the military pay is very high, I guarantee you'll like it."

A group of residents on the south bank watched with envy...

The Southern Song soldiers were furious, their faces turning red with anger. How dare these audacious and unruly people use such a method to cross the river? It's outrageous!

A large group of Southern Song soldiers worked together to replace the bamboo fence with an earthen wall, building it taller than a person, to see who could jump over it.

It was on the very day they finished repairing the mud wall!
A strong wind suddenly swept across the land!
Taking advantage of the wind, a giant kite suddenly took flight from the open space outside Copper Town...

A skinny, impoverished scholar hung from the kite, flying and flying with it, until he plunged to the north bank with a splash.

He climbed up from under the kite and roared with elation, "I made it! I made it! Hahaha! The big kite worked!"

The Northern Song soldiers were overjoyed; how could someone actually get through like this?

"You should join the Ministry of Works! The Ministry of Works definitely needs someone with your talent."

(End of this chapter)