The room goes through the late Ming Dynasty, and the back door leads to North America at the beginni

Kaifeng.

At this time, more than ten days have passed since the Yellow River burst its banks.

With the flooding of the Yellow River, Zhongmu, Lanyang, Chenliu, Zhuxian Town, Qixian, Yifeng, and even most areas of Tongxu have become a swamp.

The flooded area is connected with Shahe River, Woishui River and Xiaoyang River, and has spread as far as Fugou and Taikang.

Compared with the history of the Yellow River bursting its banks during the autumn floods this autumn (around mid-September), this time the Yellow River burst its banks in early April is actually quite "gentle".

Historically, the Yellow River burst its banks during the autumn floods, and the floods were so fierce that six to seven hundred miles southeast of Kaifeng became a water town!

Someone went from Kaifeng to Gushi. For six or seven days, there was no human habitation. There were only weeds everywhere and hordes of wild wolves and dogs. There was no trace of human beings for three years!

Similarly, in history, the invasion army besieged Kaifeng for four months from May to September when the flood broke out.

When the siege lasted until August, many people in the city starved to death, and prices were completely out of control - rice cost a hundred taels per dou, and vegetables cost a thousand yuan per catty. Cattle, horses, mules, donkeys, dogs and other livestock are all preyed upon.

The government and the Ming army directly searched and exterminated the grain caches of wealthy households, and used acupuncture and torture methods to interrogate them and extract all their grains. Finally, it expanded to ordinary households, making things completely out of control.

Later, in order to save food in the city, the Ming army even expelled the women, old and weak people from the city and left them to fend for themselves.

By the end of August, almost all the edible food in Kaifeng City had been eaten, and civilians began to feed on cowhide, medicinal materials, water plants, bark, tea leaves, moss, water bugs, dung maggots, and clay.

By early September, there were only three words in the relevant records: people eat each other!

At that time, an article recorded the scene of Kaifeng City as follows: mountains of bones, broken hair all over the ground, roads cut off, gods howling and ghosts crying, and the sun falling into darkness. There are one or two people in the room, with withered shapes and dirty faces like ghosts, living under the wall, knocking on human bones and sucking out the marrow!

It can be said that even without the huge flood in mid-September, not many of the hundreds of thousands of people in Kaifeng City would have survived.

In this time and space, due to various changes, the Chuang army began to besiege Kaifeng in late February. By early April, the siege had only lasted more than a month.

Kaifeng City still retains a lot of vitality, whether it is the government, the gentry, the Ming army, or the people.

In addition, the Yellow River burst its banks this time, and the floods were far less severe than during the autumn floods. Except for Kaifeng City, which was slightly affected by the floods, other places were basically flooded.

In this case, many people have the opportunity to save themselves, or temporarily save their lives.

Scholar Zhang Kun and his family have survived until now through their hard work and some luck.

It took some time for the Yellow River to burst its banks and flood the city. Taking advantage of this time, Zhang Kun took his parents, wife, and son to move the food and other edible items at home to the second-floor attic of the shop.

His family had been wealthy a few generations ago. His ancestors bought dozens of acres of farmland outside the city and three shops in the city. Unfortunately, when it passed into the hands of his father, only one shop in a poor location remained.

Fortunately, Kaifeng is a big city with prosperous commerce, so the profits earned by this shop can feed and drink the whole family, and also allow him to study, marry and have children.

It's a pity that his reading talent is so mediocre that he failed to pass the exam several times. Two years ago, his father suffered a serious illness and his health became worse than before. He gave up his thoughts on scientific examination and took over the family shop.

This shop is connected with a family's residence - in the front is a small street-facing shop with a two-story attic, and in the back is an ordinary courtyard.

When floods flooded the city, Zhang Kun's first thought was to seek refuge at higher ground.

Wanting to survive after the flood, food alone was not enough, so Zhang Kun then moved the firewood and other things that could be used as firewood at home into the attic.

At that time, his wife Deng reminded: "There is still water! I heard that the flood water is not clean, and you will get sick if you drink it!"

So Zhang Kun saved some more water.

As for the valuables at home, such as money, jewelry, etc., because they were very small in quantity, they were sent up to the attic.

After that, it was difficult for Zhang Kun to do more because the water level in the city rose very quickly. Just as they were carrying things, the water had already reached his house - it should be noted that because his house was relatively remote, it was on a slightly higher ground in the city.

Most of the houses in low-lying areas were probably submerged not long after the floodwaters entered the city.

The following days were torturous for Zhang Kun's family, and even for the entire city of Kaifeng.

The first few days were fine. Everyone in the city who could escape fled, and those who didn't escaped were trapped in their homes.

But a few days later, someone came to borrow rice, noodles and firewood from Zhang Kun's family. Because they were all acquaintances, Zhang Kun was embarrassed to refuse at first, so he borrowed some.

Seeing that his own food and firewood were getting less and less, but people still came to borrow food, he finally made up his mind to refuse.

There were some gangsters who wanted to rob. Fortunately, Zhang Kun had already discussed with several neighbors and helped each other, so he was able to scare the gangsters away.

After that, Zhang Kun's father, mother, and son became ill one after another.

He had to use a simple raft modified from a door panel to go to a nearby pharmacy to seek medicine. Although I finally got some medicine, it also cost a lot to store food at home.

Now Kaifeng City has been flooded for more than ten days, and the water level is still at the top of the first floor. However, Zhang Kun's family is almost at the end of their rope because their food supply has bottomed out.

His father Zhang Shuo's condition improved slightly after taking some medicine, but now he fell ill again due to hunger.

So he called him to his side and whispered: "Make the raft bigger and escape with Deng, Xiaobao and the remaining food."

Zhang Kun felt very uncomfortable after hearing this and said, "How is this possible? What will you and your mother do if your son is gone? Isn't it unfilial for a son to leave his parents alone?"

"You brat, are you stupid because of studying?" Zhang Shuo yelled and scolded, "If you die here with us, it would be the greatest unfilial piety for our old Zhang family to be cut off!"

Zhang Kun's eyes were red, tears streaming down his face, and he couldn't make a choice.

His parents raised him, provided for him to study, and gave him a wife and children. If he abandoned his parents and ran away to survive when a disaster came, he would probably have a bad conscience for the rest of his life.

However, if he stayed here with his parents, it would be fine for him to die. Xiaobao was only five years old and so smart. He might be able to pass the exam in the future. Should he die here with him?

What a shame for a young child!

After some struggle, Zhang Kun began to frantically try to expand the previous raft, and even began to look for opportunities to obtain more food.

But now most of the people who are still trapped in the city have exhausted their food reserves. Even those who still had some food kept it secret and did not dare to let others know.

In this situation, let alone Zhang Kun, who was just a scholar and a small shop owner before, even a bandit with many years of experience may not be able to find food.

After two days of futile efforts, Zhang Kun even suffered a slight injury.

His parents started a hunger strike to force him to leave with his wife and son as soon as possible.

At this time, Zhao Erlang, who was in the grocery store next to him, had already taken his son on a simple raft and was about to leave.

Zhao Erlang is also in his thirties, but his son is already in his teens. His mother died early, and his wife also died of illness the year before last. Now only his father is left.

His old father was also too sick and hungry to move, so he planned to stay on the roof of his house and wait to die.