The end of natural disasters: the daily life of child brides in ancient times

There was a panic in the three small earthen houses.

Seeing this, Lu Tianming said loudly:

"Everyone, we are all common people. We are just passing through the village and want to borrow some water. I wonder if anyone is home?"

After hearing this, the people in the room gradually quieted down.

Soon, an old man popped his head out from behind the door.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Lu Tianming and others were really not wearing official uniforms.

The old man straightened his messy hair and called his two sons to come out.

When they saw Lu Tianming and his group, especially when they saw the big swords hanging on their waists, they all shrank back.

They were all extremely nervous, fearing that Lu Tianming and his group would suddenly attack.

When Lu Tianming saw them coming out, he bowed and said politely:

"Hey, old man, we are passing by here and would like to borrow some water. This is a small token of our appreciation."

As he spoke, he handed forward the small bag of coarse grains in his hand.

The old man was a little stunned when he saw this scene.

Seeing Lu Tianming's sincere and humble attitude, he said a little embarrassedly:

"We also go to the ditch to fetch water, which is just the water that can be found everywhere in the fields. How can we harvest so much grain from you?"

Having said that, his eyes were fixed on the half bag of grain.

His family didn't have much food to begin with, and these days they had to rely on digging wild vegetables to survive.

Now that I saw the food, my stomach started to rumble uncontrollably.

Seeing this, Lu Tianming took the initiative to say:

"Don't be polite, old man, you can accept these grains.

We not only want to borrow water, but also want to ask you about the situation in this area.

To be honest, we were able to escape because our superiors arrested us as soldiers.

No, I came here and I really didn't know the road conditions, so I took the liberty to disturb you."

When the old man heard him say this, he hurriedly asked a few people to sit inside.

"Dear guests, my house is shabby, please don't despise it, come in and have a drink of water first."

Lu Tianming and others followed the father-in-law into the house.

In the cramped earthen house, there were a few wooden blocks next to an old table.

Lu Tianming and his companions sat down with the old man, and a thin woman came out of the room with a few bowls of water.

The old man looked at the bag of grain on the table, swallowed his saliva and said:

"Dear guest, I have lived in Jiangzhuang all my life. No one knows the situation here better than me. I wonder what you would like to know?"

"Father, I see the village is almost empty, I'm sure you know about the capture of the soldiers.

Our village escaped together, and we also wanted to escape from Prince Jing's fiefdom and find a way to survive.

I want to know what villages are nearby and how to get there."

After hearing what Lu Tianming said, the father-in-law said without hesitation:

"You're right to ask me this. There's a man in our village who does business outside and often goes south.

He knew a waterway that could go directly through Xixing County in the south.

This time, as soon as he received the letter to capture the soldiers, the whole village followed him.

Alas, out of the hundreds of people in the village, only my family is left!"

When Lu Tianming heard about a waterway, his eyes lit up and he asked hurriedly:

"Father, do you know how to get here?"

“My eldest son had been there to move goods before, so he knew the way there.

Dagen, come here quickly and talk to this person."

As the father-in-law spoke, he called his eldest son who was standing next to him to come over.

Then a thin man standing in the corner of the room came over and said with his head down:

"Walking eastward from our Jiangzhuang, we pass through Xitaitou Village, Dongtaitou Village, and Linwang Village.

Then walk directly south along a small road to Shanguan Town.

If you continue eastward from the main road of Shanguan Town, you will see Pujiang River.

Keep walking along the Pujiang River, turn a few roads, and you will see a large pier.

When I followed Jiang Hai to work before, there would be a boat passing by the dock and taking away the people and goods waiting at the dock.

The ship charges according to the size of the cargo, but I don’t know the exact fee. Every time I go there, Jianghai pays for it.”

Lu Tianming and the others were very happy to hear this and asked hurriedly:

"Brother, I wonder how big that ship is and whether it can carry a carriage."

The thin man thought for a moment and nodded.

"The ship I was on couldn't carry carriages, but I remember seeing carriages on some passing ships.

The Pujiang River is very wide, and many large ships often pass by the pier.

If you want to take the carriage boat, you can wait at the dock and you should be able to get there."

Upon hearing this, Lu Tianming and the others all breathed a sigh of relief and began to express their gratitude repeatedly.

If we can really do as this person says, we can take a boat directly through Xixing County.

Not only can you avoid being blocked by officials on the road, but you can also save a lot of distance.

Of course, it would be best if we could find a ship heading further south that could take them directly to the south.

Thinking of this, several people became a little excited.

Lu Tianming asked Dagen about the details again and stopped only after making sure that nothing was missed.

Seeing that everyone in the family looked honest, he wanted to help them.

"Father, why don't you follow the villagers?"

Hearing this, the old man sighed deeply.