Through the troubled times and famine, I just want to farm peacefully

Longtan County was once their hometown. Aunt Liang's heart tightened when she heard this. "Are those damn Japanese pirates coming again?"

"It is said that the Japanese pirates were driven away last year. A few days ago, Longtan County held an investment promotion conference. I heard that the county town has been fully built and many wealthy families have gone there to buy houses."

"That's something rich people do." Aunt Liang drooped her eyelids and twisted the thread in her hand.

Their family escaped after Japanese pirates massacred Xihe County and took refuge with their sister-in-law who married here.

My sister-in-law's family of seven or eight people were crowded in a shabby thatched house of four or five rooms. Aunt Liang came here to seek refuge, and she couldn't even afford to rent a shabby house in the village, so her family built two shacks at the foot of the mountain, so they had a place to stay.

Without money to buy land, Aunt Liang's husband and two sons all did odd jobs in the county town. After spending money on food and sleeping, they only had a few copper coins left from the money they earned every day.

The days passed in such agony, and I didn't know when it would end.

Not knowing the bitterness in Aunt Liang's heart, Chen Dazui continued to chatter on.

"I heard that the new city owner of Longtan is very kind and exempted the people who came to seek refuge from taxes for two years."

Aunt Liang was somewhat tempted when she heard this, but she was afraid that the news was unreliable.

"Can we go back to our original village?"

"That's not possible. It seems we have to make new arrangements for our residence. My family is going to leave early tomorrow morning. Will your family go too?"

"But my husband and son are still working in the city. I'm afraid they won't be back tomorrow."

As Aunt Liang was speaking, she looked up and saw her husband and two sons walking home with bags on their backs. She quickly put down her clothes and stood up.

"Why are you back at this time?"

The man said with joy, "Let's go back and pack our things. We will return to Longtan tomorrow."

"You knew already."

"Well, instead of staying here and living a miserable life, I might as well go back and give it a try."

Aunt Liang patted her thigh and said to Chen Dazui, "Dazui, I will go with you tomorrow."

"Hey, I'll go home and clean up now."

As the saying goes, a broken home is worth a fortune. If the journey wasn’t so long, I’d probably have to take even the thatched roof with me.

At the same time, in a haystack behind the shack, there were two skinny beggars, one big and one small.

"Sister, if we go with them tomorrow we won't get lost." The little beggar said in a low voice.

The older beggar's eyes lit up frighteningly, "Yeah."

The next morning, at the entrance of Hamawo Village, villagers watched as several relatives came to seek refuge.

After leaving the village, two little beggars emerged from the bushes and followed them closely.

On the official road of Liuguan County, a group of ragged refugees said to the people they were traveling with.

"Let's go! Let's go! We can still go back now and catch up with the land division and spring ploughing."

"Brother Da, you said that we have lost our household registration, so we can still get land after we go there?"

"It's okay. A businessman in Longtan told me personally that Longtan is very short of people now. Even if you don't have a household registration, you can still get land!"

"Well, let's go quickly, before we get there too late and end up in a bad village."

The villager carrying dry firewood stopped the refugee and asked, "My dear brother, do you think we can get land when we go to Longtan?"

The refugee was stopped and startled. He patted his thin chest and said, "Uncle, this is absolutely true. I helped a businessman in Longtan, so he kindly told me."

"Did he say how to resettle those who were originally from Longtan County?"

The refugee was stunned for a moment and said, "That's not the case, uncle. Think about it, they can even accept people without household registration, let alone those with household registration."

The villager thought about it and the beggar clapped his hands.

"Uncle, do you have anything else to do?"

"Oh, no more." The villager reacted and withdrew his hand embarrassedly.

After saying goodbye to the refugees, the villager ran home as fast as he could to tell his family the good news.

The same scene took place in the counties under the jurisdiction of Nanzhou Prefecture. After hearing the news about Longtan, those who had left their hometowns in the past packed up their bags and settled down in Longtan.

As many as fifty to sixty thousand people returned to Longtan County from various counties. Together with the refugees who fled from the Central Plains, before the spring plowing, the total population of the villages and towns under the jurisdiction of Longtan County reached about one hundred thousand.

In the Yun Mansion, Yun Zhentian was arguing with the county magistrates under Nanzhou Prefecture.

"Lord Yun, you really need to think of a solution for us this time. Three or four out of ten people under my rule have gone to Longtan. If they leave again, there will be no one to farm the fields."

"Spring ploughing is about to begin."

"We can't be careless about food!"

Yun Zhentian drank the cup of tea leisurely, and after a while he slowly spit out the tea leaves in his mouth.

"Have you forgotten that I am no longer the governor of Nanzhou Prefecture? I can do nothing about your problems!"

As early as he learned that Yun Mo and his team had made the salt, Yun Zhentian handed over all the official seals and documents.

"Sir Yun, the new governor has not arrived yet, so you should continue to handle the affairs of Nanzhou Prefecture."

One county magistrate was almost in tears. If the planting was delayed, how would they give the Yu family food when they asked for it later?

Finally, the county magistrates had no choice but to go to Yu Shida again. Unfortunately, Yu Shida had led his troops to Xihe and was unable to solve their problem.

Nanman Prefecture, Xihe County

Yu Shida led five thousand troops and stationed them in an open space fifty miles north of the iron mine.

He planned to set up camp there and rest for three days before challenging the enemy again.

However, their every move was seen by the scout team led by Yun Qi.

Yun Qi used a telescope to look at the soldiers over there. Some were cooking and some were setting up tents. There was a small river passing not far from Yu Shida's tent, and he understood.

"Retreat!" he said to the soldiers around him.

"Seventh Brother, are they going to set up camp here?"

"Yes, let's go back and report to the Second Master first."

In the Xihe camp, after listening to Yun Qi's report, Yun Ye looked carefully at the map.

I have to say that Yu Shida is quite good at leading troops. Judging from the place he chose to set up camp, he is no show-off.

"Second Master, should we rob their food and supplies tonight while they are sleeping?" Yun Yi asked.

They are best at robbery. In the past, as long as the enemy's strength was not strong, they would use their inherent advantages to strike first.

Yun Ye raised his hand and pointed at the map. "No, look at this. According to the information collected by Yun Si, Yu Shida, as the illegitimate son of Patriarch Yu, has been taught by a famous teacher hired by Patriarch Yu since he was a child. We should not underestimate his strength."

"Then we just wait like this?"

"Don't worry, they are the ones who can't wait. Yu Shida will definitely come to challenge us the day after tomorrow at the latest."

Yun Yi, "Okay, I'll ask my brothers to sharpen the blades."

Just as Yunye expected, on the afternoon of the second day, Yu Shida came with a group of people to challenge.