Natural disasters in books: I stockpiled goods to escape famine in ancient times

After returning, Song Shiwei did not go out again, and even did not let Zhang Wu go out to buy groceries. He only bought a bucket of clean water from the innkeeper, and then stayed in the room until the next morning, when the two of them drove away in a carriage.

Not long after the two men left, the young man and his group also got up and went shopping in the city before leaving.

The carriage drove out of Xingren Mansion quickly. Zhang Wu looked back with a dark look in his eyes.

"Just take a break after an hour. It will be hot by then."

Song Shiwei's calm voice came from the carriage. Zhang Wu responded in a deep voice, raised his long whip in the air and shouted "Go", and the horse immediately sped up.

Five days after the two men left Xingren Prefecture, a group of people from Dahe Village also arrived in front of Xingren Prefecture.

Compared to Song Shiwei and the other man who set off easily, this group of people looked a little embarrassed.

Huang Hai stood beside Huang Changyuan, pointed at the city and said happily: "Dad, we are at the city now, we can go shopping in a while."

Huang Changyuan's brows relaxed. They had been walking in the mountains for quite some time. The team felt much more unlucky without Xiao Song. The robbery by disaster victims outside Qitian Town was still fresh in their minds. Later, everyone chose to walk through the mountains and found a secluded cave in the mountains, only to find that Xiao Song and the other man were not with them. This made everyone anxious, and Huang Changyuan was so anxious that he walked back and forth in the cave with his hands behind his back.

Because Song Shiwei and the other person were missing, everyone decided to stay on the mountain for a day, firstly to rest their feet and secondly to wait for them to catch up. Huang Changyuan also arranged for Liu Daming and Huang Hai to search along the foot of the mountain, but to no avail. Finally, everyone had to hit the road, hoping to meet them later.

At least no one thought that anything would happen to Song Shiwei and the others. With their skills, it would not be difficult for them to leave. However, without Song Shiwei in the team, many people felt uneasy, especially in an unfamiliar mountain forest. Even with General Xie around, they still felt uneasy.

Everyone looked at the gate of Xingren Prefecture, and their eyes brightened.

Liu Daming walked out from his family and trotted over to Huang Changyuan: "Uncle village chief, let's go ask around first. I think there are many disaster victims outside the city. We should be careful."

Don’t let it get robbed again like Qitian Town.

Huang Changyuan's face darkened. "Go ask first. The officer has worked hard to guard the city, so remember to give him some money for tea. Finally, ask about the situation in the city. Also, there are so many disaster victims outside, so quietly find out if there is any trouble."

Liu Daming nodded solemnly, put the silver given by the village chief in his pocket and ran towards the city gate.

Huang Changyuan kept looking in the direction of Liu Daming. After a while, he turned back and squinted his eyes to look outside the city. A group of two or three hundred people came over. They only attracted the attention of the victims when they first arrived. Huang Changyuan led everyone to the roadside to rest.

Liu Daming came back soon and had almost learned about the situation in the provincial capital.

Everyone was very excited to hear that the situation in Xingren Prefecture was so good. The heads of each household spontaneously gathered around Huang Changyuan to discuss who should go into the city to buy food and how much food to buy.

Huang Changyuan gave away a truckload of food to protect the villagers from getting hurt when they were robbed by disaster victims before. Huang Hai and his colleagues had no choice but to give away two truckloads of water and food in order to reach the villagers as soon as possible. After that, they walked in the mountains for several days, and the food and water supplies were almost used up. They were able to hold on until now only by holding on for a breath.

Huang Changyuan looked at the exhausted people, thought for a moment and said, "Let Daming and the others go to the city to buy things. We will also move towards the city gate and try to meet them as soon as they come out to avoid any more accidents."

Everyone agreed immediately.

Ge Li came over at this time, said something to Huang Changyuan, and then took the Shen and Xie families to the Xingren Prefecture government office to sign.

The officials of the Dali Dynasty originally had a fixed route for escorting exiles. If they encountered accidents such as natural disasters or man-made disasters during the escort, the leading official at that time could choose another route according to the situation. However, every time they arrived at a prefecture or county, they had to report to the government and explain the situation. The government would then record the details, count the exiles through the escort documents, and finally sign.

After the officials and the Shen and Xie families left, the team was briefly in a panic, but was calmed down by Huang Changyuan. Everyone unanimously decided to rest closer to the city gate and pick up people who came into the city to buy things. As for Ge Li and the others, both parties had discussed it. According to the current weather, the officials in the city estimated that they would not want the exiled prisoners to eat and drink for free, so they should complete the process early and let them out, so they can continue their journey today.

Liu Daming and several others pushed a cart and drove a ox cart into the city to buy things. Liu Daming walked beside Huang Hai and sighed deeply after entering the city.

"Brother Hai, where are Brother Song and the others? Can we meet them again?"

Huang Hai patted Liu Daming on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry, Brother Song and Brother Zhang are capable people. They are also going to the north. I'm sure we'll meet them in the future."

"I know what you said. I just feel empty without them. Although I don't talk much with Brother Song and the others when we are together, at least I feel at ease with them around."

Looking at the lively atmosphere in the city, Huang Hai also sighed: "You are not the only one who thinks so. All of us in the village think so. We have received so much kindness from others, but we have not yet repaid them and we have separated. If we don't meet them in the north, we can ask around. With the abilities of Brother Song and his friends, there must be someone who knows."

"After I settle down my family in the north, I will go look for Brother Song and the others," Liu Daming said with a firm look.

The closer to the north, the fewer disaster victims there are on the road, which means less trouble. However, Song Shiwei knows that in some time, many disaster victims will flock to the north, and who knows how chaotic it will be by then.

Song Shiwei didn't know about the villagers' affairs. He had already arrived at Dafang Town. Two hundred miles ahead was Zhending Prefecture. Only when he reached Zhending Prefecture could he be considered to have truly arrived in the North. The closer he got to the North, the better the conditions in the towns would be.

After paying four hundred coins to enter the town, Zhang Wu found out the address of the inn and drove his carriage directly to the inn. As he walked in, he found that although the situation in Dafang Town could not be compared with the provincial capital, it was better. At least he could see children playing on the streets, and there were many food stalls on the roadside.

After requesting two guest rooms, Zhang Wu went out to investigate the situation. Water was still more expensive than food, and food was twice as much as in previous years. The good news was that the food limit was smaller than in other places, and water could be bought as long as there was silver.

In the past, people always said that the further north you went, the lonelier and poorer it became. Not only were there mountains and trees all around, but there were also large areas that the emperor had not opened up. People living in the north had to worry about attacks by bandits every year. But when natural disasters really happened, it was the numerous mountains and trees that gave the north a glimmer of hope, and also gave life to those who came here to escape.

Zhang Wu brought back the news he had obtained and also bought some food and seasonings on the street. Since he did not know Song Shiwei's size, he only bought himself a pair of thousand-layer cloth shoes.

"Master, I heard that the wonton stand across the street tastes good. Would you like to try it?"

Standing right in front of the window, I could see the steaming wonton stand across the street. I smiled and nodded, "Okay."