When I woke up at around five o'clock, it was fine in summer, but it was a huge torture in winter. I don't know how much perseverance it takes to get out of the bed.
Although it was already winter, it was not snowing here in Pingjiang. Lin Yuan put on his cotton-padded coat and went to have breakfast lazily, a bowl of porridge, a plate of side dishes and two steamed buns. Siniang is still working as a cook. She The craftsmanship is average and cannot be compared with the family chef, but Lin Yuan is used to it and is not ready to change.
Lin Yuan lived a lazy life, but the people were not like him, but the winter days were better than in previous years, and the poor felt the deepest.
It has been more than a month since the winter began. Compared with previous years, this winter has not continued to cool down, but it has not been able to warm up. However, all the prefectures and counties under Lin Yuan's rule have not reported news of mass deaths.
In winter, what Lin Yuan is most afraid of is freezing people to death. A large amount of population consumption will reduce the vitality of the market. There is no other way than replenishing the population. They have all been bought, and now there is a large population gap, the only way is to wait for people to give birth, recuperate, and give birth slowly.
But children are not born to be able to do things, to be able to activate the market and enter the industry, they need at least ten years.
This winter, less than 10,000 people froze to death, at least two-thirds less than in previous years.
Lin Yuan praised the governors and county magistrates everywhere, and he was relieved.
Compared with the situation on Lin Yuan's side, other places are completely different.
After several years of unpaid harvests and a large loss of labor, many peasant families suffered a fatal blow. Most of them began to flee. Some fled to the territory under Lin Yuan's rule, and some fled to other places.
For example, Haozhou.
Without Zhu Yuanzhang, it is Sun Deya who succeeds Guo Zixing now. Sun Deya is a villain. He will pay his revenge, and he has many tricks. With a flap of his wings, he had a good time.
—
"General" He attaches great importance to this, and his aides have a lot of them, but they are not willing to call them officials.
The dancers are graceful and graceful, with looks like spring flowers, willows with slender waists, swaying like catkins in the wind, wearing only light spun yarn and dyed red nails, they look thin, but they are very plump where they should be plump.
Sun Deya laughed while watching, and generously asked the dancers to serve his subordinates.
He liked the feeling of reward and grace.
This gave him a feeling of being in control of everything. The joys, sorrows, sorrows, and joys of his subordinates were given to him by him.
Here, he is not an emperor, but also holds the rights of an emperor.
As for King Xiaoming
The corner of Sun Deya's mouth evoked a sneer, a boy with no hair, how could He De tell him to bow his head
After the dancers stopped singing and dancing and went to serve the men one after another, Sun Deya picked up his wine glass, restrained his smile, and said to the guard, "What's the matter?"
The guard whispered softly: "General, the reporter from below, a few villagers were gone last night..."
Sun Deya was stunned: "Everyone ran away?"
Guard: "...starved to death, frozen to death, can't tell the difference..."
Sun Deya: "How many people died?"
Guard: "There are more than 20,000..."
This is only reported, and more is not reported.
Sun Deya pondered for a moment: "Tell people to collect the corpses for them. If there is not enough food, let the people in that place put food."
The guard bowed his head and said yes.
—
Yangjia Village, the village chief's home.
"Where's the food?" Yang Rong kept pacing in the house, the cigarette in his hand was lit, but he didn't take a puff. His sons sat on the chairs and didn't say a word.
Yang Rong frowned and looked sad. Although he was the head of the village, his family had to farm and support their own family. Every year they had to harvest grain. Good land, there are several types of land, the first-class land is distributed to the family of the native surname, the lower-class land is distributed to the foreign family, and the lower-class land is distributed to the outside households.
But in a village, some people can't make it, what about others? It is impossible to wait for the superiors to come and ask the guilt.
Only he, the village chief, can find a way to hand it over.
Enough has been given to the boss, but the village has no food at all.
Last year was not like this year. This year's tax was heavier than last year's. Last year, it lasted until the beginning of the spring, but this year is obviously not enough.
Yang Rong's hands trembled a little, and the dry smoke fell to the ground: "We are told to put grain... Where is there any grain in the granary?"
If you don't let it go, you just do the right thing with the one above, and their house will be finished. If you let it go, whose food will you put it? Let them own? They don't have enough food at home? !
Even if you eat bean dregs cake every day, you will not be able to survive this winter.
There is not enough firewood, and coal and carbon cannot be bought. Firewood seems easy to get, but all the trees that can be cut down in previous years have been cut down, and if you go deeper, you will encounter wild animals.
Yang Rong's eldest son said, "Dad... or we... run."
Yang Rong's sons followed their eldest brother's lead, and hurriedly said, "Yes, Dad, there is no way to survive!"
The eldest said: "I heard that in Gaoyou, as long as you can farm the land, you will be able to eat enough, and you will not be hungry or frozen."
"Let's go to Gaoyou, and the officials above can't control us."
Yang Rong: "Do you think Dad never thought about it? Then why don't you think about it, can we run as a family? How many people are there in the Yang family? Hundreds of people! How can they run away with so many people? The officials are all blind! Look! Can't see so many of us?"
"Your second uncle, your third grandfather, do you have the heart to leave without taking them with you?"
The child muttered: "My life is almost gone, who cares about them..."
Yang Rong shouted: "It's ridiculous! I tell you! As long as I'm still alive, you should rest your thoughts as soon as possible! Our Yang family is today because of family teachings! No matter when and where, the Yang family will be twisted into a rope! Only in this way can others not come to bully and grow stronger, is there anyone in this world who is more credible than relatives?"
Xiaoer grew up in the palm of his hand, he is Yang Rong's old son, the old clam produces pearls, and his nickname is Zhuzhu, so he is especially not afraid of his parents, and now he replied: "That can't be a few hundred Let everyone die together? Then why don’t you ask them if they are willing to provide food to help our family get through this difficult time?”
Yang Rong suddenly lost his words.
Grain is the lifeblood of a peasant household, and it is possible to live without food, but not without grain.
Yang Rong knew in his heart that if he asked the Yang family to take out the food, they would be the first to turn their backs.
"Besides, didn't you think of a way to keep a few of our brothers last time you were recruited?" Xiao'er said, "A few cousins have gone, but none of the second uncle's house has been retained. I hate you!"
"Maybe when I hear about this, I wish our whole family would die."
Yang Rong: "Beast! Shut up!"
Xiao'er is quite dissatisfied: "I'm telling the truth, you don't want to listen to it, so what do you want to listen to? Listen to me now that the Yang family is all in one mind, and they all listen to you, the village chief, and they will do what you say. ?"
"I dare to say this, can you believe it?"
Yang Rong couldn't catch his breath and kept coughing. Several sons hurried up to help him and pat him on the back.
At this time, the eldest said: "Dad, although what the pig said is a bit ugly, but the truth is also the truth, think about it again."
Yang Rong grabbed the eldest's wrist, his cloudy eyes stared at the tall and strong eldest son, and asked in a trembling voice, "Boss, do you think so too?"
The eldest: "... Dad, about the conscription, several uncles hate us..."
Yang Rong has a total of five brothers, plus he has a total of six.
Each of these five brothers has four more sons and one less.
The conscription is based on the same surname, that is, each surname counts as a family.
A few years ago, in order to prevent his sons from being conscripted, Yang Rong reported the sons of his brothers every year.
After leaving, no one will be seen in life, no corpse will be seen in death, there is not even a message during festivals, and no one knows how people are.
The brothers hated him to the bone, even the best relatives would become enemies after such a thing.
But Yang Rong was still hiding his ears and stealing the bell, conscious that the relationship between the brothers was still there, but they couldn't get around this corner for a while, and when this corner was bypassed, they were still as brothers as they used to be, and their relationship was broken.
The eldest said, "Father, you are already selfish, don't blame your uncle for hating you."
Yang Rong coughed so hard: "Who am I for? Who am I for?!"
Xiao'er: "Father, you are here for our small family! Since you are all for survival, how can you think about our family when you recruit, but now you have to think about the whole family?"
Yang Rong: "I am the patriarch!"
Xiao'er whispered: "Not many people recognize it."
Yang Rong didn't get angry, pointed at the child and said out of breath, "I shouldn't have given birth to you back then! Even if I did, I should have drowned in the potty! You don't need to come at this age. I'm mad at you!"
Child: "Father, we are reasoning!"
The sons are all grown up and have their own ideas. The younger ones listen to the boss. I don’t know when it started. They listened to the elder brother rather than his own father. Man listens to himself, the sons just find him a step down.
Yang Rong closed his eyes and said softly, "Boss, listen to you."
"You are very capable, so take care of your brothers in the future."
The boss replied in a sullen voice: "Dad, I know, brothers are together."
Yang Rong: "...Hey."
He had hurt his brothers so badly that he had no face to say this to his sons.
And many villages and towns in Haozhou are performing the same drama.
Sun Deya could not have imagined how this method of benefiting the people and pity for the people ended up like this.