She picked up the young prime minister while fleeing famine

With so many fishing nets, Banxia couldn't personally oversee each one. She gathered the boys pulling the nets together in front of the first net, taught them how to listen to the sound and watch the water flow to pull the nets up, and then let them disperse to guard their own nets.

Two people can easily make a net.

Today, because we waited long enough, and the net was large enough with finer mesh than the one Banxia hastily made yesterday, the first net caught eight big fish weighing about two pounds each, and five more weighing nearly a pound each, which delighted the boys.

Everyone was full of enthusiasm and began their fishing plan.

Banxia, ​​having successfully completed her mission, took the fishing net she had been drying by the river and returned to her camp.

After all that fuss, just as they were casting their first net, Yao Lizheng was watching from the opposite bank. He had already decided to give her two fish, one big and one small, so Banxia wasn't really interested in fish for the time being.

She still has six fish left from yesterday's catch. Banxia plans to eat two more large ones today, and then salt and dry the rest to eat later.

Without further ado, Banxia took the fish that Lianchengmo had hung up the day before and processed them together. After a lot of work, it was lunchtime.

Meanwhile, the boys returned with a bountiful catch. With ten fishing nets, each net was used three times, and they managed to bring back over a hundred fish.

Of course, not all of them are big fish; some weigh less than a pound, and some even weigh less than half a pound.

This is all thanks to those honest and hardworking, yet frugal, aunties in the village.

In Banxia's eyes, if there were no shortage of meat, then half-sized fish would be nothing but fish bones, and they couldn't be fried or grilled like small whitebait.

Banxia's family has many children, and eating these small, half-grown fish is too dangerous. But in the eyes of the villagers, as long as it's meat, it's fine, and they don't mind even the smallest mosquitoes.

This resulted in three nets having very small mesh, catching fish weighing less than half a pound each – a truly ineffective method.

In this way, more than a hundred fish were enough to share with the whole village. If Banxia hadn't refused to take any more, Yao Lizheng would have wanted to give her two more small fish.

"Uncle Village Head, these small fish have many bones and little meat. Please tell everyone to be careful when eating them. If you're making fish soup, try not to let the children eat them."

"You have to pick out all the fish bones before eating, otherwise it will be bad if you get one stuck in your throat."

"However, if you roast it until it's charred and crispy enough to chew, then you don't need to worry too much," Banxia kindly reminded her.

"We know that, thank you for reminding me, girl. Since you don't want the fish, then I won't stand on ceremony with you. I thank you on behalf of everyone." Yao Lizheng thanked Banxia with a cheerful smile.

He's been smiling a lot more lately, unlike before when he always had a worried look on his face. He looks much younger now.

"No need to thank me, Uncle Village Head. We're all on the same side." Banxia waved her hand and replied with a smile.

Through Lian Chengmo's explanation, Banxia realized how miserable military households were in that era, far more than just a simple sentence she had read in history books.

Military households in that era were truly miserable, truly miserable.

In times of peace, ordinary families did not have to serve in the military, not because the army was not needed, but because soldiers were drawn from military households.

During times of war, it was even more so. What people thought was military service and conscription only happened when all the twelve-year-old male soldiers in border military households had died.

The imperial court would not treat military households the same way it would treat ordinary farmers. It was impossible for any family to send one soldier. Anyone who could go to the battlefield would be conscripted into the army.

In the army, soldiers from military households ate the worst food and were always at the forefront; they accounted for eight or nine out of ten soldiers who died each year.

That's not all. Any soldier who is convicted and sent to the army will not be rewarded or promoted even if they make meritorious contributions. Unless they die, they are left with only the option of being wounded or discharged. The cruelty of that time is beyond description.

In a country in such chaos, with various vassal kings vying for power, the territories of other vassal kings are one thing, but the northern frontier is beset by internal and external troubles. Military households, regardless of age or gender, are all dragged down to be cannon fodder. Since they are all descendants of criminals, no one will sympathize with them.

Otherwise, Yao Lizheng wouldn't have led the entire village to flee the moment he heard the news.

In order to quell the anger of the local garrison and to avoid holding the children back, all the elderly people over the age of 55 in the village volunteered to stay.

In this way, the local garrison won't be left with no one to arrest, and they won't end up chasing after Yao Lizheng and his men in a fit of rage.

Watching Yao Lizheng leave with a smile, Banxia glanced at the several uncles who were missing limbs or ears and waiting to be divided into fish, and sighed. That was all she could do to help.

Banxia took a two-pound fish and stewed a pot of yam and fish soup. She also cooked a pot of porridge and ate her fill.

After finishing their meal, Banxia, ​​unusually, didn't go up the mountain to cause trouble. Instead, she led the little ones to practice calligraphy for a while, following Lian Chengmo's instructions.

Banxia agreed with Lianchengmo on this point. Being illiterate is no good. In her previous life, although Banxia was not a top student, she still managed to go to university by working part-time to earn her living expenses, as well as through national scholarships and loans.

She was really not used to suddenly becoming illiterate.

However, Banxia is not a real child after all. Although it is awkward for her to learn traditional Chinese characters, she is much better than the younger children. Right now, she can write by herself while supervising her two younger brothers.

As for Xiao Shuang'er, Lian Chengyu is looking after her. Although Lian Chengyu's studies are not as good as his cousin's, he also started his education at the age of three.

Now five years old, Lian Chengyu has already mastered the Three Character Classic and is more than capable of teaching Xiao Shuang'er.

When the children got tired of writing, Banxia let them rest and take an afternoon nap, while she went to learn the art of processing ginseng from the nearby physician, Li Langzhong.

Now that Lian Chengmo is gone, although Banxia trusts Yao Lizheng to take good care of the children, she still feels more at ease watching over them herself.

Anyway, we don't lack food these days, and we don't even lack meat.

Throughout the day, except for leaving the camp at the beginning when she went up the mountain to pull vines, Banxia stayed around the camp to make sure the children were always within her sight.

After Banxia had finished her day's work, finished dinner, fed the chickens and geese, and then lay down with the children to tell them bedtime stories, Lian Chengmo and the others had just arrived at the entrance of Qingyang County.

This place is the same as the one Lian Chengmo saw in his previous life, but it is different from what Yao Dahe imagined.

A large number of disaster victims and refugees were gathered at the entrance of Qingyang County. They were all emaciated from hunger, but their eyes lit up when they saw Lian Chengmo and his oxcart coming.

However, upon seeing the empty oxcart and the ten burly men on it, they turned their heads stiffly, seemingly quite disappointed, and continued to gaze at the county town.

Of course, some extremely hungry people stared at the old ox pulling the cart with shining eyes, for it was meat.