Xianyu Infrastructure, I have a lot of troops in my hands

Inside the county government office, Xie Zezhi frowned and looked out the window worriedly. The autumn drizzle seemed to chill him to the bone, and the gray sky was covered with dark clouds, which could sweep across Que County at any time.

He stood under the eaves, as if carrying a heavy burden: "The wind and rain never stop, and I don't know when this disaster of refugees will end."

At the beginning of this year, there was a flood in the south, and the Guannei Road was hit by a large number of victims. The major families joined forces to put a stop to the disaster, but at the end of the year they encountered a war in the north, which really made them restless.

County Magistrate Bai paused with his pen in hand, and a solemn expression appeared on his face. He took a sip of tea and said slowly, "Zezhi, the refugee problem has not been solved yet, and the aristocratic families are not at peace either!"

Seeing Xie Zezhi looking at him in surprise, he smiled bitterly and raised the note in his hand: "They actually want me to take back the East Street Guards, and threatened that if I don't agree, they will cut off the county's charcoal supply in winter.

Xie Zezhi's face was a little haggard due to overwork, and his lips trembled slightly. "This is taking advantage of the situation."

"Could it be that just because winter is approaching, they can do whatever they want? The Wen family thinks they can cover the sky with one hand in Que County. Where do they put you villagers?" Xie Zezhi was shaking with anger, and his body seemed to have aged ten years.

He said this, but he felt bitter in his heart. The Wen family controlled most of the charcoal supply in Que County and the county town. If they really did this, I'm afraid other families would join forces to put pressure on the county lord.

In normal years, the villagers would go to the mountains to make charcoal themselves, but ever since the Wen family bought the mountains and forests near Que County, the price of charcoal in the county has gone up, which has already caused complaints from the villagers, and now it is even more excessive.

"Sir, what's the difference between withdrawing the guards at this critical moment and cutting off your own limbs?"

County Magistrate Bai did not speak after hearing this. He looked thoughtful and said, "Zezhi, now is a time of unrest among the refugees. We must not lose any of the militiamen!"

In order to reassure Xie Zezhi, he added: "I know what's going on."

Xie Xiancheng frowned, "Why is the Wen family so dirty with the second branch of the Xie family? It seems that the two families are fighting over their children? It's just making people laugh."

The old man's beard was curled up. He really couldn't understand why the Wen family jumped out to make trouble when the disaster was just around the corner and everyone needed to work together. "Humph! Su Shuer."

County Magistrate Bai tapped the table with his finger and said, "I heard that the Wen family had some arguments with the village elders when they were collecting wood in Heishi Village, and they didn't get any advantage."

This was seen by a police officer who was patrolling the village a few days ago. The officer came back and just told it casually as a funny thing. After all, it was rare for someone to have the guts to cause trouble in Heishi Village. He didn't take it seriously, but today he thought that there must be something fishy going on.

The Xie family of Chen County has always been low-key in the county. The family members like to live in the countryside. The family territory is vast and has a deep heritage. The rising common people dare not provoke them easily, but if there is a branch of the Xie family that should not be provoked, it is the second branch of the Xie family. It is said that it is a clan with few military inheritance.

The second branch of the Xie family was too powerful in the previous dynasty and was feared by the court. The old men put away their weapons and put their armor into storage, which led to their decline.

All the aristocratic families with a hundred-year heritage are connected to each other. Although the Xie family has declined, it is quite prestigious among Chen Jun. County Magistrate Bai glanced at County Magistrate Xie.

I don't know whether the Wen family is so impatient intentionally or not, but their level of picking on the weak is really amazing.

Xie Zezhi lowered his head and thought back. He heard that the second wife and the elder of the clan had something dirty going on the other day. Regardless of right or wrong, this was a family scandal, and he was not in a position to discuss it outside. But he heard that the Wen family's affairs were related to the second wife.

He muttered to himself that this second wife's daughter was indeed Xie Yun's child.

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In the wilderness outside the city, refugees surged like a tide. Shuang'er and her mother walked numbly, their haggard figures looking particularly weak in the crowd.

Most of the hungry people were wearing tattered cloth clothes, which had long lost their original colors, leaving only the grayness of dust and fatigue. Shuang'er's face was thin, but her eyes were extremely firm. She held her mother's rough hand tightly and walked in silence.

The woman staggered, each step seemed to be a struggle against hunger. Her eyes showed deep fatigue, but she kept staring at the front, which was the direction to Que County. She grabbed her daughter's hand and said, "Don't stop, don't look back, there will be help when we get to Que County, we can survive."

The girl nodded weakly and only moved her fingers to show that she heard it. She remembered what the county magistrate next door told them before they left: "Go to Que County, there may be help there." This sentence was like a life-saving straw, and it was also the driving force that kept these hungry people moving forward.

They headed westward. My father was hit by two sticks when he was fighting for a bowl of porridge and died the next day. My mother simply covered my father's body with grass and brought her here.

Hunger followed me everywhere, and my steps became heavier. I went to the neighboring county and finally had a bowl of porridge to fill my stomach. The porridge was bland and the rice grains were sparse, but it was like a sweet rain that moistened my dry life.

After drinking, everyone felt a little more refreshed and had the strength to move on.

Suddenly, Shuang'er's eyes fell on a boy of her age not far away, who was stuffing a handful of soil into his mouth. Soon, the boy's face was distorted by the swelling, his eyes were wide open, but there was no life. Shuang'er hid behind her mother in fear and asked tremblingly: "Mom, what happened to him...what happened to him?"

The mother sighed softly, a trace of sadness flashed in her eyes, and she murmured: "That's because they are extremely hungry, and they eat dirt to fill their stomachs. But the dirt only goes in and never goes out, and it will make people die of starvation." She pulled Shuang'er away and quickened her pace.

The refugees around walked numbly, their eyes also filled with fear and helplessness. An old man whispered hoarsely, "Alas, everyone knows that those who can get here will have a hard time surviving. But we are risking our lives to avoid being caught up by those behind us."

"Hurry up, those people will come to snatch the children when they are full." He urged in a hoarse voice.

There were a few men not far from the team, their faces were ferocious, their eyes were red, and they stared at the crowd in front of them like predators. Their wolf-like eyes made people feel cold.

A hunchbacked man said greedily: "Why don't we have another meal? We might not be full when we get to the front!" His eyes patrolled the crowd as if he was selecting prey.

The sturdy man behind him pushed him aside and pointed to the place where the boy had just eaten dirt, "Go find a pot, for one last meal."

What the manager said yesterday sounded nice, saying that they would have a chance to survive if they went to Que County, but he didn't believe it. They passed through so many cities along the way, but none of them gave them a chance to survive.

The good ones were given a few pots of porridge, and the evil ones were simply driven away by soldiers. Only those who were more evil than them could survive in this Avici Hell.

He had no choice. Who knew whether the end of this wilderness was the human world or hell?