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

The man coming down the mountain pulled at the bag on his back and said with disdain, "There is nothing on the mountain, only endless work to do every day. I don't know what you are trying to achieve by going there."

After hearing what he said, others echoed him.

"Others tried their best to get out, but they insisted on running to this godforsaken place."

"Bah! A bunch of ignorant idiots!"

"That's right. We only get two meals a day, and we can't even get enough to eat."

"Not as good as our old hunting days."

The teams going up the mountain were all tired and hot, and even though they heard the complaints from the mountain people, no one wanted to pay attention to them.

Everyone has their eyes open. After entering Longtan, they see that the fields in the nearby villages are full of green rice, which is enough food to fill their stomachs.

The leader told them that as long as they could grow food, they would have enough food to eat and a house to live in.

These days, people often fight to the point of bleeding just for a bite of food.

They were originally farmers, but could no longer stay at home, so the whole family came out to find a way out.

A hunchbacked middle-aged man walking at the back of the team couldn't help but say, "I don't mind if it's a bit hard and tiring, as long as I have food to eat."

A kind-hearted lady advised, "It's chaotic outside, be careful when you go out!"

"We are going to Nanzhou Prefecture. It's prosperous there, better than staying in the mountains." The mountain people said proudly.

This was something they had already discussed long ago, and they would not even go to Yongqing City and Shigong City.

The kind-hearted aunt wanted to persuade her again, but her husband rolled his eyes at her, pulled her and walked quickly forward.

"Hurry up and leave. It's hard to persuade a damned ghost with kind words. Don't interfere in other people's affairs."

When the villagers heard this, their faces turned pale and they wanted to pull someone over to ask, but the person avoided them.

Everyone sighed and shook their heads in silence, continuing to walk towards the village. There was no point in saying more, as these people had never experienced the cruelty of the outside world, and they would regret it only when they hit a wall.

There was a timid woman with a pale face. She held her child tightly and shrank back, not daring to move. As early as when she heard about the war and chaos, she had already felt a little timid about the unknown future life.

"Dad, are we still leaving?"

"Let's go! Let's go to Nanzhou Prefecture. I don't believe that I can starve to death even though I have hands and feet."

After saying this, the man strode down the mountain.

The boy following behind them turned around and glared at the cottage fiercely. He would definitely make a name for himself to show them!

Lin Yinan was helping Yun Shijiu, who had just taken a shower, to get dressed in the room when he heard Qian Wu come to report.

She hurriedly dressed Yun Shijiu and asked Qianxia and her sister to stay in the house to look after the children. Then she followed the secret guards to the open space where the crowd gathered.

Chen Shi had already arrived, supporting Lin Shuo, and was whispering something to the secret guard who had come to meet them.

Lin Yinan glanced at the huge crowd. There were more than a hundred people, many of whom were recognizable as northerners.

They are tall, with slender eyes and high noses, and their appearance is slightly different from that of people in the South.

Lin Shuo had already communicated with the secret guards and was holding a thick stack of papers in his hand.

"An Nan, the secret guards who left said that we bought back 42 people this time, and there were 50 to 60 refugees who followed us. How do you think we should place them?"

"There are not many houses in the mountain stronghold. Now they are all occupied by soldiers. Let's build shacks outside for them to stay temporarily. Then we will choose a place and build houses for them all."

Lin Shuo nodded. He had the same idea. After all, if Chi'an developed in the future, they would still have to send people to garrison here from time to time.

"Then how to solve their food problem?"

Lin Yinan frowned slightly, staring into the distance, thinking silently in his mind.

Food is not a problem, but we cannot feed the mountain people with big appetites like we did before. We still have to make some sacrifices.

"We are naturally responsible for the people we buy. As for those who come here voluntarily, we will hire them for a while and see how they perform. The good ones will stay, and the bad ones will leave!"

"Is it monthly salary or food?"

"The monthly salary for hired workers is 450 coins. At the end of the month, they can ask for silver or exchange it for food. The price of food is calculated based on the purchase price." Lin Yinan paused and continued, "As for the people who were bought and those in the mountain village who signed a contract to sell themselves, they will be paid 300 coins per month, with food and accommodation provided."

“Would that be too much?”

The world outside is not good, and everyone is lucky to have food to eat. Lin Shuo is afraid that Lin Yinan will drain all his savings.

"If you want the horse to run, you have to feed it. Second uncle, we want to develop for the long term. If we want to develop, the most important thing is people." Lin Yinan said with a smile.

Lin Shuo frowned and thought, "You are right, it is Second Uncle who is thinking the wrong thing."

"Then let's settle them today. Get a book and register the people first."

The two were talking at a distance, so the people in the crowd couldn't hear them and kept looking at them.

Lin Shuo turned to Chen Shi beside him and instructed him to find someone to bring tables, chairs, paper, ink, and inkstone over.

Lin Yinan took two steps forward, cleared his throat and said, "Those who have signed the indenture please stand on my left, and the rest of you please stand on my right."

No one knew what she was going to do, and after a while the team started to move.

In the purchased team, one can see at a glance that the number of people exceeds the limit by a lot.

Lin Yinan raised a stack of papers in his hand and said, "Please stand in the right line. If you haven't signed a contract to sell yourself, please don't stand in the wrong line."

"Those who haven't signed the indenture can sign it now?"

Someone in the crowd shouted.

"If you want to sell your body, we can talk later. Now please line up consciously for registration."

Chen Shi and the secret guards quickly brought the things that Lin Shuo needed.

Before registration began, Lin Yinan told everyone about the treatment of selling oneself and being employed, and the crowd immediately became agitated.

Everyone is considering whether it is more cost-effective to sell themselves or to hire someone.

Soon, there were only a dozen or so people left in the team that continued to choose to be hired.

Lin Yinan looked carefully and soon found a clue. The families chosen for employment should be relatively well-off, as there were large and small bags of luggage on the ground.

The secret guards cooperated with the registration and signed a selling agreement with those who chose to sell themselves.

Everything has been settled, and the first team of people recruited by Chi'an has arrived.

Soon, the remaining soldiers took them to another open space in the village for resettlement.

Lin Yinan did not place them together with the previous mountain people to avoid conflicts.

In addition to bringing back people, the secret guard also purchased a lot of fruit trees in Huaizhou City, and it would take a few days for the fruit trees to be transported here.

Chi'an was short of manpower and Lin Shuo was only good at planting. The next day, Lin Yinan took the secret guards and rushed to various hilltops to choose a suitable place to build a house.

Finally, she saw a flat hillside after coming out of the forest and saw a piece of land on it.

Lin Yinan decided to build everyone's house in this place.