Crossing the famine, I am a poor fish, and my descendants have to work hard

Everyone ate mutton and no staple food.

After dinner, Li Zhijuan strung all the copper coins she received with a rope and handed them to Zhao Yuanzhen.

Two sheep, with a total of about 60 kilograms of meat, plus the money for the sheep heads and bones, the total cost was less than 2000 coins, which is less than 2 taels of silver.

Zhao Yuanzhen put away the copper coins. The two big strings were still quite heavy and difficult to put away.

Because I didn’t have lunch today, I ate the stewed meat for dinner early.

After cleaning up after dinner, Qian Xiaohui and Li Zhijuan found some ferns and chestnuts.

I decided to blanch the bracken first to remove the toxicity. This way I can just cut it and stir-fry it later.

Prepare chestnuts to make sugar-roasted chestnuts.

My mother said that the sugar-roasted chestnuts were delicious. She was going to try it. While she was still in the mountains, she would cook more and eat them on the way.

Score the chestnuts crosswise with a knife.

This step is more difficult. Zhang Xinbai and his three brothers saw it and hurried over to help.

It took five people about 40 minutes to row a basket of chestnuts.

Pour the cooking oil given by the mother into the pot. The mother said it was rapeseed oil, which is easy to grow. They can also try to grow and extract oil in the future.

Then pour in the chestnuts and a large bowl of sugar, and stir-fry over low heat until they melt. Then pour in enough boiling water to cover the chestnuts. Cover the pot and simmer over low heat for half an hour, then turn up the heat and stir-fry until the sauce is absorbed.

Looking at the amount of sugar, the hearts of the distressed people were pounding.

But when the sugar-roasted chestnuts came out of the pot, I ate one regardless of how hot it was.

I found that this sugar-roasted chestnut is really fragrant. It is soft and sticky, and even sweeter.

If I set up a stall to sell this, it will definitely be a big hit. I really hope I can settle down soon!

I kept some for myself to eat and packed the rest for the journey.

Then everyone went to practice sword fighting.

Practice sword skills early and rest early. We will set off tomorrow.

After practicing sword skills and washing up, Zhao Yuanzhen asked everyone to come over for a small meeting.

They have lived in the cave for nearly 10 days. The Jin people are expected to break through the pass, and with the sudden flood, there will be more refugees.

This time they were going down the mountain, and the situation would be even more difficult, so they needed to be careful about some things, and Zhao Yuanzhen had explained them clearly in advance to avoid trouble.

“First of all, no matter who asks for food, water, etc., it must not be given.

Secondly, don't show off your wealth, money, or food. Don't meddle in other people's business. Be tough-hearted. You are all just ordinary people and can't control others.

Again, if you really encounter danger, you should sacrifice your money to save your life when necessary. Don't get hurt or lose your life because of money.

Finally, each person needs to develop a unique symbol.

Starting from the youngest to the oldest, follow the Arabic numerals in order. Each person has a representative number.

Zhang Zijin is 1, Zhang Xinshu is 2, Li Zhijuan is 3, Zhang Xinnian is 4, Qian Xiaohui is 5, Zhang Xinbai is 6, and Zhao Yuanzhen is 7.

If we become refugees or for other reasons, we will be separated.

Then these numbers represent yourself, and you should leave marks in places where you can remind your family.

If you encounter danger and need help, write SOS1, which means Zhang Zijin needs help.

Please remember SOS, which means asking for help. If you really can't write it, just write S.

You all just practice on the ground, it's very simple.

If there is no danger and it is safe, write a, which means you are safe now. The signal transmitted is a1, which means Zhang Zijin is safe.

You should also learn this a.

Then replace the direction with →. Up is north, down is south, left is west, right is east.

That is, the arrow pointing up represents north, the arrow pointing down represents south, the arrow pointing left represents west, and the arrow pointing right represents east.

The overall way of leaving signals is: a1→ This means Zhang Zijin is safe and heading east.

Remember this direction formula.

The Yellow River is flooding now, so the previous route is probably no longer available.

That should be along the Yellow River to Xingzhou. The village chief should tell us when we gather tomorrow morning.

If we are separated, we will go to Xingzhou City to meet up, find the largest restaurant, and wait nearby. If we don't get there in one day, we will keep waiting, and we must not leave on our own.

Okay, that’s about it, just remember it.

The purses I had sewn before were all well hidden inside the clothes. The visible purses also had to be well hidden.

When you are out and about and need money, you should not take out your entire purse. Take only as much money as you need. Don't let others stare at you.

Do you remember everything?"

"Remember, mother, we will pay attention"

Fortunately, everyone is very nice and sensible, and knows the importance of the matter.

Then we memorized the letters and formulas a little bit and became familiar with everyone's numbers.

Just went to sleep.

She was afraid that she would not be able to get up tomorrow. As a modern person, she really could not get up earlier!

The next day, Zhang Xinbai and his colleagues got up at around four o'clock and started moving things and loading them into the truck.

Zhao Yuanzhen also stood up after hearing the sound.

"Mom, you're awake."

"Well, don't make breakfast, let's eat buns later." This is more convenient.

He took out the milk and handed it to Qian Xiaohui.

Qian Xiaohui took a ceramic jug to heat the milk. Then, thinking that the other pots were no longer needed, she asked Zhang Xinbai to take down all the pots and scrape the ash off the bottom of the pots with a wooden stick. Then they were ready to load the pots.

The large water tank was first moved to the car, and then Zhao Yuanzhen added more water. Otherwise it would be too heavy.

Put the bags of food that were left behind on purpose into the car.

Li Zhijuan folded all the luggage on the bed, carried it into the carriage, and put it in the sitting cabinet.

Zhao Yuanzhen put away the wooden boxes that she had used to make beds.

There are several boxes of silver in these wooden boxes. I don't know if they will be surprised later.

Put the bag of grain at the bottom, leave a bag of food on top, then put the sundries, pots and pans, and finally cover it with oilcloth.

Li Zhijuan had already cleaned the carriage and put the small table on the bed, along with a small clay stove and a large teapot, and her mother's tea sets were also washed and put away.

Wash and dry the small plates that I had saved before and put the fruits on them. Wash the fruits, pears, hawthorns, sour dates, grapes, kiwis, etc. Sugar-fried chestnuts were also put on a plate.

Qian Xiaohui organized and packed the various seasonings and put them in the drawer of the carriage.

The spices are precious and should be kept well. This way they will be easier to find when cooking.

Seeing the cave become empty again, Zhang Xinbai looked at the empty space on the carriage and loaded the firewood.

Everyone started to eat breakfast. Since everything was packed, everyone drank milk from a bowl and ate the buns in their hands.

After eating, Qian Xiaohui collected the bowls, washed them, and put them away carefully.

Feeling that the time was about right, Zhang Xinbai started to harness the horse.

Looking back at the cave, this cave is only a temporary shelter from the rain.

But in this cave, they ate the best food, learned more knowledge, and felt happier than outside.

Everyone drove their cars back to the road they came from and gathered at the intersection where the trees were cut.

The village chief counted the number of people and they were all there.

Then he called everyone to set off in an orderly manner according to the order in which they arrived.

The road up the mountain is difficult to walk on, and it is even more difficult to walk down the mountain. Although it has been exposed to the sun for two days, some low-lying areas are still watery and muddy.

Several people did not sit in the carriage, but walked on both sides of the carriage. They only put Zhang Zijin on the carriage.

When going up the mountain, we had to deal with trees in narrow places, but this time we don’t need to deal with the trees, just follow the path.

When we went up the mountain, it took us more than two hours because we had to cut trees, find the road and the cave. This time, we went down the mountain much faster.

After more than an hour, the official road could be seen.

There were a lot of people on the official road. They all looked like they were fleeing.

Some were like the refugees who went up the mountain before, with nothing. Some pushed carts or drove ox carts. But there was no village like theirs, where almost every family had a horse.

As soon as their village appeared, it instantly attracted the attention of people on the official road.

Then I found out that they had so many carriages! I was shocked.

All kinds of gazes gathered around: envious, jealous, malicious, indifferent, and scrutinizing.

Because their team was quite long, the village chief sent a few people to meet them on the official road to prevent the carriage from hitting anyone or being scammed when going down the mountain.

More than 20 men were divided into two rows, holding weapons, and standing on both sides of the intersection where the carriage was going down the mountain.

Help the carriage to enter the official road smoothly and prevent others from coming.

It took a team of people half an hour to successfully enter the official road.

The village chief arranged people to protect the team in front and behind. On the sides of the carriage team, he asked the strong men in the families to take up their weapons and guard the team.

Zhao Yuanzhen knew that the high-profile appearance of their village's carriage today would definitely attract everyone's attention and concern.

But there was nothing we could do. It had been raining heavily for days, and if we didn't take the official road, we didn't know what the other roads would be like, so we couldn't take the risk.

In the end, be careful and go quickly.

The village chief obviously understood this. He kept asking everyone to hurry up. They didn't stop to rest at noon. They couldn't follow their original route.

The Yellow River is flooding on a large scale now and it is impossible to cross it. We can only go to Xingzhou Prefecture first.

It takes at least 10 days to get from here to Xingzhou Prefecture.

This period of time is really long. For everyone's safety, it is best to speed up the journey. The sooner you enter the city, the safer you will be.

Zhao Yuanzhen's house was more conspicuous because they had a covered carriage.

But there is no other way, the carriage is a must, and comfort and privacy cannot be sacrificed.

But if someone really dares to do so.

Then kill them all.

Now we have no choice but to speed up and move forward along with everyone else.

The village chief walked and inquired about the news, and learned that the Jin people had indeed broken through the pass.

After breaking through the border cities, they rushed into Yanshan Prefecture. They burned, killed and looted along the way, leaving no one alive wherever they passed. Now Yanshan Prefecture has also been occupied.

Many of these refugees came from Yanshan Prefecture.

The brutality of the Jin people was so frightening that they did not dare to stop even when it rained and kept on moving.

The village chief was very grateful that his village received the news early and had made all the necessary preparations for escape.

When the flood came, they also survived safely in the cave. All this was thanks to Qinghe's wife!

The ancestors of the clan blessed us and chose such a good granddaughter-in-law.

I will listen to my granddaughter-in-law's advice. She is well-educated and came from a wealthy family. If I listen to her, I won't go wrong.