Traveling through the mountains and farming

Lin Wan followed Li Chonghao and ran to Li's house breathlessly.

Inside the house, the people who arrived had already started discussing among themselves.

After Lin Wan entered the room, she saw that everyone had serious expressions and the whole atmosphere was depressing and dull.

Luo Dashan, who was usually taciturn, sat there anxiously, rubbing his hands constantly, his face full of anxiety.

Li Changyi and Li Changli sat together and discussed in a low voice.

Old Man Wang and Uncle Luo were surrounding Uncle Li and asking him about the details of the news he had received from Li Rou.

Others, in groups of two or three, discussed anxiously.

Seeing Lin Wan and the others arrive, Uncle Li waved and motioned for them to come over and sit down.

After they sat down, Uncle Li coughed lightly, and the originally noisy room instantly became quiet.

When Uncle Wang saw that everyone was present, he anxiously suggested:

"Why don't we flee to Jiangbei County like Li Changren did? Perhaps we can avoid this forced conscription."

However, Mr. Luo next to him immediately refused with difficulty:

"No, if we don't pay the autumn tax and keep all our grain, the amount will be at least three times more than Li Changren's family. We can't take all this grain away."

As he spoke, his face was full of worry and he kept gesturing with his hands, as if he wanted everyone to understand the huge amount of food.

Li Changyi gritted his teeth, stood up and spoke excitedly:

"Survival is the most important thing for us now! Are we going to lose our lives just to guard the food? At worst, we can just give up some of the food and hide it somewhere, and come back to get it when we have the chance."

After saying this, there was a hint of determination in his eyes, as if he had prepared for the worst.

At this time, Luo Dashan rubbed his hands and spoke hesitantly:

“How about we hide some of the food first, then take some of the food and our families and hide in the mountains, and come back after the storm has passed.”

This proposal made everyone fall into deep thought. Some people thought it was feasible, while others were still worried that they could not avoid it.

After hearing what Luo Dashan said, Lin Wan immediately asked:

"Uncle Dashan, when you go hunting in the mountains, have you ever seen a hidden cave or valley deep in the mountains? It would be best if there is a water source nearby and a place that can be turned into farmland."

Luo Dashan frowned and thought for a moment, then said uncertainly:

"I think I went hunting in the mountains once and saw a large cave in a valley. As for whether there were the conditions you described around it, it's been so long that I can't remember clearly."

After hearing Luo Dashan's answer, Lin Wan became more determined about the countermeasures she had thought of on the way.

At this time, everyone heard the conversation between Lin Wan and Luo Dashan and fell silent.

Seeing this, Lin Wan took the opportunity to speak, "My dear uncles and aunts, I have an idea. Let's listen to it first. If you think it is feasible, that would be great. If not, we can continue to discuss it."

Seeing everyone looking at her, she continued:

"We have analyzed it in detail before. It is not realistic to take so many women, girls and children on a long journey to Jiangbei. Since we can't leave, we have to stay. But we can't stay in the village anymore. We are backed by the mountains. I think Uncle Dashan's suggestion to go to the mountains to avoid the limelight is a good one, but I think we should be prepared to live there for a long time, because we don't know when the war will end."

Li Chonghao also thought that it was more reliable to go into the mountains to avoid disaster, so he agreed: "If you live here for a long time, you must bring all the food and other supplies at home and be prepared for a protracted war."

Lin Wan nodded: "Yes, take everything with you, so we need to find a place that is large enough and hidden enough, and preferably has a place to open up wasteland and farm."

After hearing this, everyone fell into deep thought and seriously considered Lin Wan's countermeasure.

"I also think this idea is feasible. We must quickly go and check whether the place Dashan mentioned is suitable. If not, we must quickly look for other places." Li Changli said.

"Yes, we need to check it out quickly."

"Luo Dashan, go now."

Everyone was already anxiously urging Luo Dashan to check out the secluded place.

Seeing that Luo Dashan was about to be pushed out, Uncle Li hurriedly stopped him.

"Everyone, don't be so anxious. We still need to think about this matter in the long run. I also think that what Lin Wan said is very reasonable. It is indeed the best solution at the moment. Besides, after the war is over, we can return to our respective homes."

Old people always find it hard to leave their hometown, so it would be best if they could stay.

After hearing what Uncle Li said, everyone calmed down.

Afterwards, everyone began to discuss in an orderly manner how to arrange to hide in the mountains as soon as possible.

After some discussion, they finally decided that Luo Dashan would lead a few people to explore the way first, and they must make sure to find out the truth today.

The main considerations are whether the secluded place is secluded enough, far away from crowded places, whether the surrounding area is safe, and the nearby resources, such as whether there is sufficient water, whether there are wild vegetables and fruits to collect, whether the surrounding terrain is conducive to defense, etc.

They also discussed the next steps:

In order to deal with the government officials who might appear at any time, they decided to arrange two teams to patrol one kilometer away from the village in shifts at different times.

Once they noticed the officers approaching, they would immediately light the prepared firewood and use the thick smoke to send a signal.

Once the people in the village discovered the signal, they immediately went to the mountains to avoid disaster.

Given that each household has a large amount of food, it is recommended to first find a cave or other hidden place close to the village to hide the food.

In case the officers suddenly raided the place and were unable to take away the food.

After determining a place to live in seclusion in the mountains, we will arrange for a grain transport team to transfer the food there.

As time was running out, Lin Wan emphasized again before the meeting ended that every family must choose a place nearby to hide important supplies such as food.

By the time everyone had finished discussing things, Li Chonghai and Li Chongzheng had already withdrawn and were ready to start patrolling.

Others also ran back to prepare to hide supplies.

Seeing that the meeting was about to end, Li Chongshan suddenly asked:

"Should we tell the rest of the village about the forced conscription?"

"I think those who sell grain will flee to Jiangbei County in the next two days. As for the others, I don't know if they have any plans." Li Changli continued worriedly.

Uncle Li pondered for a moment and said, "They are all from the same village, so I still have to inform them. I will go and tell Wu Cunzheng, and we will see how he arranges it next."

After he said that, he walked quickly towards Wu Cunzheng's house.

Lin Wan did not stay to follow up on the subsequent developments after Muramasa heard about this matter.

When she returned home, she was immediately dragged to the dining table by the two siblings to have lunch.

Lin Wan took a few bites and thought about what other supplies she needed to buy.

She has to go to the county town tomorrow to prepare the most urgently needed common herbs.

The sweet sauce, sweet and sour biscuits and melon seeds made in the past six days were also sent to Qinxin Teahouse.

Then I settled the recent ice jelly bill with the teahouse and informed them that they would not be able to supply ice jelly in the future.