Update time 2014-12-14 18:42:27 Word count: 6520
From Hangzhou to Haizhou, it was the time when the wind was down, but the ship was too heavy, and Ling Qingyu did not dare to sail with full sail. Even so, it took only three days to reach the sea off Haizhou. However, although Haizhou is close to the sea, it does not have a large seaport, so we can only put down the small boat first, let an accompanying official take a few officers and soldiers to go ashore first, contact the local officials, and find a way to unload the ship.
After waiting for a day, the boat did not come back, and at noon of the second day, no one was seen. The officials who stayed on the boat couldn't help but feel a little anxious, but he had the responsibility of taking care of the food and couldn't send people ashore, so he came to find Ling Qingyu , I hope she can send someone to see what happened.
Ling Qingyu thought over and over again, and decided to go with Yan San, and agreed that he would only go to Haizhou to investigate, not in-depth.
Ding Dong and the others put down the boat and escorted the two of them ashore with some sailors. The official kindly gave her a horse to travel. So Ling Qingyu asked Yan San to bring as much food as possible.
When we arrived at the shore, a ship in front was moored in the bay. The sailors said that the team of officers and soldiers had landed safely early, but there is no news so far.
Ling Qingyu ordered to leave one ship to continue waiting, and the other one to return to the Fengshen first. Then he went ashore with Yan San, took the map drawn by the official and looked at it carefully, only to be sure that the narrow path should lead to Haizhou County.
Yan San helped Ling Qingyu onto the horse's back, and then led the horse forward.
Not long after we left the bay, there was a plain in front of us. The rivers on the plain were crisscrossed, but at this time most of them were dry, and occasionally there was a little water, which was also a piece of mud. The land was so dry and cracked that the original fertile fields were left with rolling loess.
In this way, not only food, but also drinking water will be a problem. Ling Qingyu and Yan San looked at each other the same way, Yan San clenched the hilt of his sword tightly.
Turning around a small soil bag, the place in front of me should be a river bend, and there are still some water stains in the depth of the river bend. There are many huts and firewood nests gathered by the river beach, and refugees in a dark patch.
A group of refugees who were digging grass roots on the hillside saw a figure turning around from the top of the hill. After seeing someone riding a horse, someone yelled: "There are horses!"
Many people rushed out of the huts on the river beach, just like the people digging grass roots on the hillside, looking at the horse standing on the hillside. Those green eyes seemed to be seeing plates of braised pork rather than two people fighting each other.
Ling Qingyu, who was regarded as braised pork, said that he began to feel guilty. There are probably hundreds of people below. They are dressed in rags, their faces are yellow, and it seems that every bone can be seen on their bodies. Those children are even more skinny, as if they only have a big head left. These are people who have reached the end of the road. .
"Master, please give me something to eat, my child." A woman with a shriveled chest was holding a baby, and she staggered towards the two of them.
Whoops, Yan Sanming Lu unsheathed, and the blade drew a dazzling light in the sun.
"From Dong Xu's family, come back quickly!" Seeing Yan San drawing his sword, everyone took two steps back, and an old woman anxiously wanted to pull that woman.
But the woman broke free from her, and still insisted on walking towards the two of them, saying in her mouth: "One bite is enough, save the child, I will make you a cow or a horse, whatever you want."
"Don't come here again, or else, don't blame me for being ruthless." Yan San's long sword pointed at her throat, forcing her to take two steps back.
Looking at the gleaming sword blade, the woman stood still, but still stretched out the child in her hand as far as possible, trying to hand it to Ling Qingyu, and said: "Why don't you buy him, as long as you can live, I beg you , save him."
The child was still in his infancy, and he was so skinny that Ling Qingyu couldn't even be sure that he was still alive.
"Sanniang!" A man stumbled over from a distance, shouting the woman's name, and seeing the blade of the woman's throat, he unconsciously shouted: "Master's sword is keeping people, we have no Malicious, not malicious."
Ling Qingyu pulled the reins of the horse, and Yan San led the horse back two steps, but the tip of the sword was still pointing at the woman.
"Sanniang, let's go back, go back, just now there is news from Haizhou that the imperial court has distributed relief food, we will have food soon, San'er will be fine, nothing will happen." The man said happily while supporting the woman.
"Everyone, the government has notified you to go to Haizhou County to receive relief food. Let's go quickly." A shout came from the side of the river beach, and the people who stared at Ling Qingyu and the others cheered, turned around and picked up the bag that could hold the food and ran away.
Most of the people brushing and pulling on the river beach are empty, and everyone who can run has run away, only some old people and some children are left.
Ling Qingyu frowned even tighter, the relief food was still on the Fengshen, did Haizhou get another food
"Sister, sit here and don't move. Brother goes to get the food, and we will have something to eat when we come back." A little boy put a two-year-old girl on the tree stump, and said: "Don't go away. Oh."
Ling Qingyu heard that his accent sounded like Mandarin in the Central Plains, got off the horse, walked up to the two brothers and sisters, and asked, "Aren't you from Haizhou?"
"We are from Daming Mansion." The little boy looked at Ling Qingyu and said.
"Daming Mansion, how did you get to Haizhou?" Ling Qingyu asked as softly as possible.
"I heard from my father that Haizhou is close to the sea, maybe there is water, and there will be stuttering, so we followed."
"What about your parents?" Looking at the girls' cheeks, Ling Qingyu took out a steamed bun from the bag and handed it to her.
"I'm starving to death. Daddy died half a month ago, and mother also died three days ago." The little boy snatched the steamed bun from his sister, then tore a small piece and fed it to her, saying, "Slow down!" Eat, don't choke."
"There's no one else?"
"No, our village, just the two of us, and Erhu, Daniel and the others." The little boy pointed to the two boys standing in the distance, looking eagerly at the steamed buns in his hands.
Ling Qingyu stood up, beckoned the remaining children to come over, and distributed the steamed buns in the bundle to them. Seeing that some children stuffed it into their mouths when they got it, they hurriedly said: "Don't worry, eat slowly, don't choke."
"Let's go first." Yan San reminded Ling Qingyu from behind. If those hungry people come back and see these grains, then they don't know what will happen.
Ling Qingyu stood up, knowing in his heart that if it was just one or two steamed buns, these children would not be saved for long, so he bit his lips and said, "You wait here, and when I come back, I will take you away."
"Is the master going to buy us?" A slightly older child asked timidly.
More than a dozen pairs of eyes stared at her, filled with hope and fear.
"Well, master, I bought you, and I will take care of food and housing, but you must listen to me in the future. If you don't listen, master will throw you back." Ling Qingyu said very powerfully.
"I will be obedient!" The children knelt down and kowtowed in unison.
"It's not just obedience, but life belongs to the master, can you do it?" Yan San's voice faintly sounded behind Ling Qingyu.
Ling Qingyu suddenly turned her head and wanted to say, I didn't intend to buy their lives with a steamed bun, but after seeing Yan San's expression, he couldn't say anything.
"If the master doesn't save us, we'll just starve to death." Pulling my sister into his arms, the little brother stood up and said, "As long as I can save my sister, I can do anything."
"Me too." "Me too." "Me too."
"Remember your words, if one day you violate today's oath, you will realize that life is worse than death." Yan San said coldly.
"Ah, ah," Ling Qingyu drove the children to a mountain nest, and said, "Find a safe place to wait first, and I will come when I finish my work."
"No need to go." Yan San nodded his chin on the road on the other side of the river, and said, "The man has already returned."
Ling Qingyu looked back and saw dust billowing on the road in the distance, and a group of people was galloping over.
Ling Qingyu hid the children behind him, saw the pair of men and horses approaching, and saw that the leaders were indeed those officers and soldiers going to Haizhou, so he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
"Master Ling? Why are you here?" The leading officers and soldiers asked in surprise when they saw Ling Qingyu.
"Your lord saw that you hadn't returned for two days, and was afraid that something might go wrong, so he asked us to come and have a look." Ling Qingyu said.
"Fortunately, we met here. There are many refugees ahead. If you go over, I'm afraid, let's go back to the ship first. The prefect of Haizhou has sent people to deliver food." The officer said gently.
"The boat is waiting in the bay, you go there first, we will be right back."
"Then let's take a step first." The officers and soldiers looked at the child hiding behind Ling Qingyu, their hearts softened, and they said warmly.
"Okay, let me go with the master." Ling Qingyu picked up the two youngest children and put them on the horse's back. After thinking about it, he untied the grain bag on the horse's back, put it on the side of the road, and then took the children We headed for the bay.
Not long after they left, a few old people who had been staring at this side came over, picked up the grain bag, put their hands together, and said, "Amitabha, good man."
Ling Qingyu asked the sailors to bring the children aboard, but he and Yan San were not in a hurry to get on board, watching the officers and soldiers build simple sheds on the shore.
Ling Qingyu looked left and right, but didn't see any other boats coming, so he asked the leading officer and soldier suspiciously: "Master, are there no boats in Haizhou? No fishing boats?"
"Haizhou is also suffering from a severe drought this time. Most of the fishing boats go out to sea to fish. I'm afraid they won't be able to come back for a while." The officer said. Naturally, this is not the truth. The truth is that there were too many refugees, and some good-natured people gathered to snatch the fishing boats. As a result, after several conflicts, the refugees and fishermen suffered heavy casualties, and the fishing boats were completely destroyed. A large number of refugees came here because they hoped that there would be fish on the seashore, which was always a way to survive, but the water source in Haizhou had been exhausted, and so many refugees came. The local people were very resentful towards the refugees. The behavior of robbing the boat, so Zhizhou sent troops to suppress it, and drove the refugees out of Haizhou County. After several massacres, the riot was temporarily suppressed. Only then can their team of officers and soldiers reach Haizhou safely in the wilderness full of hungry people.
That is to rely only on the lifeboat on the Fengshen. How long will it take to move! Ling Qingyu felt sad.
Hungry officers and soldiers from Haizhou built simple work on the bay, and the unloaded grain was piled up on the shore first, and then transported away by tricycles pushed by people. The prefect of Haizhou summoned some laborers and promised to pay a bucket of rice for three days. In this way, there are still more and more refugees gathering outside, looking for something to do in exchange for rations.
"Master, master." Ling Qingyu had just rested on the nearby cliff when a man came out from below and kowtowed to her.
"If you have something to say, don't knock it!" Ling Qingyu shouted.
The man raised his bleeding head and said, "Master, please hire me. I have strength and I can do anything. It only takes one fight, no, half a fight, one bowl is all it takes."
Ling Qingyu frowned, looked at the heavily guarded bay, and said, "Did you find the wrong person? I'm not from the government. Besides, hasn't the government already started distributing disaster relief food?"
"The government said that the local disaster victims in Haizhou should come first, and those of us who fled from other places have to wait for the next batch of relief food. Even the recruited laborers are coming closely to the local people, but the family members can't wait anymore. I'm going to starve to death." The eight-foot man had tears streaming down his face.
Ling Qingyu was in a dilemma. She sympathized with this man, but she knew better that she couldn't agree. First, she was only responsible for delivering food, and she couldn't interfere with other things. Second, if she sent them food, then there would be More people came to her, and she was unable to save so many people. The more terrible consequences were that the disaster was so serious now that the situation was on the verge of breaking out. Once there was a possibility, it would probably hit the bay.
"We don't hire workers, but I want to buy some servants." Ling Qingyu thought about it and said, "Think about it, if you sell yourself to me, you will follow my boat away from your hometown, and I'm afraid you won't be able to come back. Moreover, you can't pass this news on to others, I only buy your family, if you pass it on to others, I won't recognize it."
"The villain is willing, the villain is willing!" The man kowtowed again.
"Don't knock it, don't knock it." Ling Qingyu hurriedly helped him up, seeing that someone on the other side of the bay had noticed this side, and hurriedly said: "Our ship will leave tomorrow, if you can survive until that time, you will arrive in the early morning Come here, before that, you can't reveal half a word."
"The villain understands, and will never cause trouble for the master." The man kowtowed again, turned around and quietly retreated from the seaside.
"Wait," Ling Qingyu took out a bun from his bosom and threw it to him.
"Your kindness will kill me one day." Yan San said coldly under the cliff.
Ling Qingyu was taken aback, and thought, why do you seem to be a professional listener! ! !
"I know, I'm not that capable. I can save everyone," Ling Qingyu lowered his head and said, "It's just that since I have this fate, I can help a little. Everyone will die. If at that time..." Ling Qingyu was silent, if that was the case, her mother would not have died. Since this man can meet her, it is also a kind of fate.
Say hello anyway.
Ling Qingyu jumped off the cliff and went to the bay to find the officials in charge of escorting the food. The officials are making the final handover with the officials in Haizhou. All the food has been disembarked and handed over to the Haizhou government. If something happens again, nothing will happen to him.
Ling Qingyu looked at the grain in the bay, and estimated that it would take a few hours to transport it all away. He said to the official, "Master Zheng, are you ready soon?"
"Okay, okay, we can return to the voyage tomorrow. Thank you, Master Ling." Mr. Zheng was in a good mood. When he went ashore and saw the tragic scene, he was also drumming in his heart. He has been a small official for many years and knows this well Under such circumstances, civil uprisings are most likely to occur, but fortunately, the handover was carried out safely.
"I want to buy some servants. I don't know what the price is here?" Ling Qingyu smiled with an expression that you understand.
"What kind of money do you need now? A bucket of grain for a young and middle-aged laborer, and half a bucket of grain for a girl like a flower. The head of the family wants sailors?" Mr. Zheng smiled. He also knew that Ling Qingyu had bought some children to board the boat. Think about Fengshen The return voyage can accommodate at least a few hundred people. If it is sold to Hangzhou, it can be sold for two to ten taels of silver per person. Well, this girl is a master who can make money. This business can be done together together, and the round trip is only a few thousand taels of silver.
Mr. Zheng rubbed his hands, and said in a low voice: "Anyway, there is still some time, and the lower officials can help the head of the house choose some people, but, that." Blinking at Ling Qingyu non-stop.
Ling Qingyu was stunned for a while before realizing that Master Zheng had misunderstood that she wanted to be a human trafficker. After thinking about it, she is not short of this kind of money, so if she can save one person, it is one person.
Taking out a thousand taels of silver bills from the bag, Ling Qingyu also whispered: "Then trouble Mr. Zheng, this is for you to drink, and the food will be delivered by the people on the boat after I stay."
Mr. Zheng whispered a few words to the local official in Haizhou. The official glanced at Ling Qingyu, accepted a silver note of one hundred taels, and left with Mr. Zheng first.
Ling Qingyu sighed. She only packed a few hundred shi of grain in private, and now there are less than two hundred shi left. At least she can’t shorten the food for the officers and soldiers when she goes back. One shi of rice is about one hundred and twenty catties. She bought hundreds of people back, so the food for the people would cost dozens of shi, let's eat porridge.
At dawn, the morning glow is like fire, rendering the sky crimson.
"Your family... has such a large population..." Looking at dozens of people, old or young, standing under the cliff, Ling Qingyu sighed unconsciously.
The man rubbed his hands, and said embarrassedly: "Master, there is really no way, they are all from the same village, and they are all relatives." He didn't want to break his promise, but his wife immediately notified his parents when he saw that there was a way out, and then spread the word , Ten to hundreds of rumors, spread throughout the gathering place of their village. Fortunately, their village was alone in one place because of their quarrel with other people, so they didn't get all alarmed.
Yan San looked at Ling Qingyu's twitching eyes amusedly, and thought to himself, luckily he asked Eleven to steal a lot of food and put it in his cabin.
He took the villager on board, and the officers and soldiers over there also reported that Mr. Zheng and the others had returned with them.
"Ding Dong, bring people into the cargo hold, be more vigilant, don't put people with hatred together." Ling Qingyu was very depressed, but the matter has been done, there is no need to regret it, but you must pay attention to what should be paid attention to, so many people, Who knows what could go wrong.
"This young man," a middle-aged man with a long beard who followed the man walked up to Ling Qingyu and said, "I have a reputation. I ask where to live with my family," pointing to the cabin, and then Said: "And our patriarch."
"Ding Dong, all those who haven't signed the deed of sale get off the ship!" Ling Qingyu said directly to Ding Dong: "Don't be idle, take it to the cargo hold and lock the door for me."
"You can't treat us like this, I have a reputation, I want to sue the court!" The middle-aged man shouted.
"The head of the family, the imperial court stipulates that scholars cannot be bought or sold." An officer and soldier approached Ling Qingyu and said.
"Then can the scholar take the boat for nothing?" Ling Qingyu asked with staring eyes.
"Of course not." The officers and soldiers laughed and took a step back.
"Master, please do me a favor," the man quickly pulled the middle-aged man away, bowed to Ling Qingyu repeatedly, and said, "Please, don't drive them off the boat."
The middle-aged man still wanted to refute, this is, the people bought by Mr. Zheng have already started boarding the boat one after another. The middle-aged man saw that all those people had their hands bound, connected into a row, and climbed up like animals. The boat stopped immediately, and silently walked with the man to the cargo hold below.
Ding Dong was annoyed at them, and stuffed the innermost and darkest place, and said: "Don't think about messing around, our family is soft-hearted, our brothers are not so kind, be careful not to starve to death, and then be thrown into the sea and drown."
That man unconsciously complained about the death of that dead scholar. He saved you, but you still went to show off, and you will not bring anyone in the village into trouble if you seek death.
Mr. Zheng bought a total of 600 people, and he really selected them carefully. The men were all young and laboring, and the women were also young and beautiful. He also selected a lot of good-looking boys and girls.
Ling Qingyu looked at the person, and unconsciously glanced at Yan San again. Are these intended to be sold to brothels
Seeing some scholars in tattered gowns inside, Ling Qingyu unconsciously asked Mr. Zheng: "Those people don't have fame, do they?"
Mr. Zheng was stunned for a moment, and said: "I don't know, anyway, I have written the deed of sale, and the Haizhou Yamen has also given me the official document. A scholar can also be a slave."
talent! Ling Qingyu secretly gave a thumbs up. He said to Mr. Zheng: "The villain still wants to open some shops in Lin'an Mansion. I wonder if Mr. Zheng has any suggestions?"
"That's good! You can ask me about this. What do you think of the West Market? The business of opening a restaurant and soup restaurant over there is very good!" Zheng Jin said to the refugees again, "It just so happens that you have a good one. Good thing, it's a pity that you can't open the brothel in Lin'an Prefecture, otherwise, you don't have to look for anyone."
"Then I have to ask Mr. Zheng for help. After the restaurant and the fragrant soup restaurant are opened, Mr. Zheng will also have to take care of them. Why don't Mr. Zheng participate in the shares?" Ling Qingyu raised his eyebrows and said with a smile.
"Hehe, the kindness of the head of the family, but the official position is low, and the maximum vote is 10%." The translation of this sentence is, you understand the meaning, but my official position is relatively low, and I probably have to manage other people, so I only take 10% of your bonus .
"make a deal."