Others are fleeing famine, but I am a salted fish

Of course, if we follow what Linjia Village discussed at the beginning and go to the foot of the imperial city to find a safe place to live, we don't necessarily have to stay in Yongzhou City. It's not impossible.

Dayuan Dynasty is very big. Wherever you want to go, your feet are on your body and you can come and go freely.

However, the options offered by Yongzhou City are rare and fair, giving refugees multiple autonomous choices. Other places may not be able to give you so many options.

It is common for refugees, even those who are in epidemics, to be beaten to death over a disagreement. Simply put, it all depends on luck and how the officials you meet view the refugees.

But even if you feel good about yourself and think you can and must stay in Yongzhou City, you must understand that Yongzhou City is not the main city. The main city is already overcrowded, and it is almost impossible to settle down there.

Staying refers to the cities under Yongzhou. As for which city, it depends on the government's "allocation". You go to whichever city is assigned to you. In a word, you have to listen to the allocation.

No matter what you choose, you must first abide by the rules, queue up, and not cause trouble. Otherwise, you will be sentenced to military service or forced labor at the very least, or beheaded at the worst.

Everyone was undecided, so the village head bowed to the officer who led the group and thanked him. He also took out a large silver coin and secretly handed it to him, "Thank you very much, sir. Thank you very much. Please allow us to discuss this before making a decision."

The leading soldier waved his hand indifferently and let them go, and he turned around to continue guiding the refugees coming behind.

Everyone hung their heads and sighed. The women and children had not expected that after finally arriving in the provincial capital, they would not be able to settle down as they had wished. Instead, what awaited them were waves of setbacks.

Although the government of Yongzhou City gave the refugees five options, the first four were not very good choices.

For example, returning to one’s hometown and rebuilding one’s home.

It sounds good. After all, returning to their hometown to have a house and fields is a good idea for farmers who are deeply attached to their hometown. At first glance, they would be excited and would definitely choose to return home. However, the fields are barren and the houses are falling apart. If they go back, they will not only face a lot of rotten beaches, but also corpses everywhere and epidemics everywhere.

At the same time, the road here is long and full of mountains and rivers, and it will take more than two months to go back. It’s such a long road, and many people have lost their lives on the way here. And when we go back, who knows what kind of situations will arise on the way back?

Second, conscription and registration as a soldier.

That is something you dare not even think about. To put it nicely, you can go to the battlefield to kill the enemy. If you have some skills or are young, and meet a superior who is willing to cultivate you, you may have the opportunity to achieve great achievements and become famous in future generations. But military exploits are not that easy to achieve.

Once you enter the battlefield, you must first ensure that you can survive among thousands of troops before you can consider promotion.

Otherwise, if a generation is classified as a military household, they will not be able to get promoted, and will not only be a small fry for the rest of their lives, but even if they want to marry, they can only marry the descendants of military households, and their descendants will be marked as military households from birth.

Third, tattooing and performing corvée labor.

There is no need to think about this, just skip it. Scholars, farmers, workers, merchants, and military households, they were at least farmers with good status in the past, even if their lives were hard, at least they had a good class background.

But tattooing and doing corvée labor means being a slave. Who would be chosen to be a slave if they have never committed a crime? They are afraid that their ancestors are living too peacefully down there, so they have to come up to talk to their descendants about life, right?

Fourth, land reclamation.

Although the conditions offered by the government are extremely attractive, if the reclaimed land cannot produce crops, that is the refugees' own business, and they still have to pay the taxes they owe every year.

I am unfamiliar with the place and the future is bleak.

Finally, settle down.

But you can't settle down just because you want to. The twists and turns involved are more complicated than the previous ones. It depends on how the city officials judge.

To put it bluntly, it all depends on your identity, background and luck. If the official has a headache or is in a bad mood today, and you are stupid enough to bump into him, wouldn't that be courting death?

Everyone was overwhelmed, their hearts felt like being stabbed by thorns, and they felt so frustrated that they wanted to cry. But after all, they had stumbled all the way here, and they had seen all kinds of storms, so they could still hold their emotions.

The head of the village waved to everyone and asked them to line up with their animals, have the doctor feel their pulses, and then get bamboo sticks to make porridge.

Although they have no shortage of food, they still have to follow the crowd when they go to crowded places.

The official soup kitchens don't prohibit people from bringing animals or having supplies to make porridge.

Everyone nodded obediently and just turned around, before they took two steps, the soldiers who had been leading them just now suddenly called out to them.

"Sir, you called us?" The village head was puzzled as to why the official suddenly called them. Could it be that he saw that they were leading a group of animals and wanted to...

"Oh, I forgot to mention this just now. Do you have any special skills? Do you have any talents, or are there any scholars with honors? If so, you can apply for the residence permit. If you are very talented, you can bring your relatives to benefit from it."

The guiding officer and soldier might have just received a considerable bribe from the head of the village, so when he was guiding them, he saw that the group of people here were dejected, so he thought of giving them a few more words to make some good friends. Even if he couldn't help much, it was only a matter of words and not much effort.

When everyone heard this, their hearts suddenly rose high, their eyes widened, great ability? Is it what they think it is? ? ?

Seeing the group of people looking at each other in surprise, the leading officer thought that there might be a scholar among them, so he patiently asked, "Is there any scholar among you?"

Everyone shook their heads.

The guiding officer and soldier said: Well, that's true. Although these people don't look as poor as other refugees, judging from the clothes and fabrics they wear, they are at best rich peasants. It is well known how difficult it is for a peasant family to support a scholar.

The officer who was about to lead the way was about to turn around and find that his sleeves were pulled by several people. The officers and soldiers who were close to him didn't hear their conversation, but saw several men grabbing their colleagues at once, and thought that a conflict was about to break out. "What are you doing?" With a sharp shout, they rushed over with spears and short swords to suppress the situation by force.

The village chief and the other men who were holding the hands of the guiding soldiers were so frightened that they raised their hands high in surrender, "No, no, no, we are just..."

Faced with the rapidly approaching sharp blade, the people here were so frightened that they were trembling and could not speak clearly. Fortunately, the leading soldiers quickly stopped the three people who rushed up and said a few good words for them. Only then did everyone nod in panic. They were really just excited for the moment and grabbed the people, and they didn't intend to do anything bad.

Several officers and soldiers with spears and short swords in hand looked at the group of people and asked them contemptuously what they were so excited about. If they couldn't answer, they would be suspected of intending to attack the officers and soldiers.

Seeing the arrogance of the people who came later, Lin Xiaoyue clearly looked like ruffians. She couldn't help but tighten her grip on her fists, but when she thought of so many officers and soldiers around her, if a conflict broke out, although she could retreat safely, what about the more than 30 people?