Xiao Man got up early today, and after breakfast, he was on duty at the city gate.

Since the last time the Heavenly Sparrow Division made such a big noise, everyone had set their eyes on the Great Xia Dragon Sparrow to see what the next move of this mysterious palm order was.

However, they waited for several days, but they didn't see any movement from the Great Xia Dragon Sparrow.

At this time, many people were speculating whether this Great Xia Dragon Sparrow contained a wave of action?

The various forces and families in Ningdu were cautious, and the whole city seemed to have become harmonious.

Ningdu City, where no one was making trouble, suddenly became so quiet, which made Xiao Man a little unaccustomed, and there were often some aristocratic sons and brothers who roamed the streets, he could go and brush his face and deal with it, but now he has almost nothing to do.

You can only squat on top of the city tower, make a pot of tea, and count the number of people entering and leaving the city to survive.

From a distance, he saw two carriages turning from Yunyan Street to Pujia Street, heading straight for the city gate.

He looked at the carriage in front of him, the person driving the carriage was a little familiar, and looked at it, isn't this the housekeeper in Xu Changsha's mansion? Looks like you're going out of town?

So he went down the tower and waited at the gate.

"Steward Yang!" The carriage stopped at the city gate, and it was common for the carriage to be checked to see if there were any harboring prisoners, so it was natural for the carriage to stop before leaving the city.

Yang Dianfeng put down the reins, jumped off the carriage, and greeted him with his hand: "Captain Xiao!" How can you be at the city gate today? ”

"It's not that the city gate is close to the chickens you gnaw! I thought that when I waited for noon, I would try the fried chicken that was making a lot of noise in Ningdu, your business was so hot a few days ago that I couldn't squeeze in the machine! Xiao Man said with a smile.

"If Captain Xiao wants to eat fried chicken, say it early, I'll send someone to send some over." At this time, Xu Xiang in the carriage lifted the curtain, walked down, and said to Xiao Man.

"Thank you Xu Gongzi, you don't have to be so troublesome. I'll just buy it from your store later! Xiao Man replied, and asked, "Where is Xu Gongzi going?" ”

"Just go out of the city, before I came to Ningdu, I saw those hungry homeless people in the big tent outside the city, and I always wanted to do something, so I didn't spare my hands and sent them some food."

Xiao Man frowned and said, "Young Master Xu is really kind!" It's just that Xiao thinks that Xu Gongzi had better not do this! ”

"Oh? But why? ”

"These homeless people, obviously have a family, but they do not go home to produce and work, but follow the public to Ningdu. King Zhongshan and His Majesty both explicitly ordered that the homeless people should not be allowed to enter the city, and only let the household department allocate some rice porridge every day. This good deed had been done before, but it was warned by the people of the King of Zhongshan soon after. Xiao Man explained.

"Xiao Duwei is saying that the King of Zhongshan does not allow the people in Ningdu City to help the displaced people outside the city?" Xu Xiang frowned and asked.

"Indeed!" Xiao Man said.

Xu Xiang fell into deep thought, and then asked, "What if I want to select some people from among them to come into the city and work for me?" ”

Xiao Man pondered for a moment before saying, "If that's the case, it should be okay." It's just that you have to explain the situation to the King of Zhongshan. ”

"Thank you Captain Xiao for telling me!" Xu Xiang said gratefully, and then said to Yang Dianfeng: "Old Yang, you go back to the relevant yamen and report this matter." ”

"These homeless people have not had a meal, and they will be extremely crazy when they see food. In this way, Xiao is fine at this time, why don't you go with Xu Gongzi, so as not to cause chaos among the homeless, how about it? ”

"Then thank you Captain Xiao!" Xu Xiang said gratefully.

In the corridor of history, the homeless people live together, and they pay attention to hygiene at all, and they can sleep when they find a place to lie.

Because they don't give birth, they wait for relief every day, and if they have relief food, they can still eat their stomachs, and if they don't, they can only rely on sleep to fight hunger.

They came to the tent, where the homeless people lay on the dead grass, the tattered bowls smelling of rancidity, and flies and mosquitoes everywhere.

There are more than 1,000 displaced people outside the Pujia Gate, including men, women and children, who have no food and medical care, and can easily cause epidemics.

Xu Xiang frowned, many of these homeless people coughed vigorously, and some of them were pale, their lips were as dry as wood, and they had not received nutritional supplements, so they were afraid that they would not live long.

The intermittent coughing sound made Xu Xiang feel bad for a while, now it is late September, the weather has begun to slowly turn cooler, if they are allowed to fall under this big tent, most people will fall ill, as long as there are dead people, and no one in the government will collect the corpses, bacteria will grow wildly, and epidemics will follow.

"Is it the same with the other twelve gates?" Xu Xiang's face was a little pale and asked Xiao Man.

"Well, it's even worse on the Yangyimen side, Beimeng launched a war against the Chu State, and some of the people of the Shiyuan City of the Chu State fled to Zhongshan, and then came to Ningdu and settled in Yangyimen. There are probably more than 5,000 displaced people over there, right? I heard that there are still many homeless people starving to death, and there is no way to do it......"

"You mean, the people of Chu are on the other side of Yangyimen? And there were cases of people dying of starvation? So how did the government deal with it? Xu Xiang's heart was shocked, and when he heard that it was the people of Chu State, he naturally paid special attention.

"What else? Bury it on the spot! ”

Xu Xiang's fists clenched, and he once again became disgusted with the government of this world.

"Lao Yang, send the lunch box!" Xu Xiang's voice was a little hoarse, and he felt like something was blocking his throat.

The two carriages stopped at the tent, and the homeless people naturally noticed.

Since coming to Ningdu, the government has only given some gruel every day, except that it will not starve to death, and the stomach has always been empty.

At this time, some merchants in Ningdu City arrived, and if they took a fancy to a certain child, they would buy it at a very low price and bring it back to be a maid and a housekeeper.

The hungry homeless people could not manage so much, so they naturally sold their children, took the money to exchange for some clothes, and went into the city to find some work.

When the carriage arrived, the homeless people thought that the wealthy families in the city were coming to buy maids and housekeepers, and they took away their children who were only skinny and bones and came to the carriage.

"Sir! Look at this girl of mine, nine years old this year, able to carry water and cook! Just thirty big bucks! No, sell it for twenty big bucks! ”

"My baby is 12 years old this year, and she used to go to the village school and read and write. This lord, you only need to pay fifty dollars, and you can take it! ”

The homeless people took their children, surrounded Xu Xiang, and vigorously promoted their own children.

This scene made Xu Xiang very sad, twenty big coins, converted into Huaxia coins in later generations, is just over a hundred!

A nine-year-old child, who was clearly marked, these homeless people have completely lost the last of their humanity, just to be able to change into clean clothes and blend into this city.

However, how would they know how many people were in the city, and how much better than them?

Yang Dianfeng stepped forward and said loudly: "Everyone, calm down first!" Our son-in-law is not here to buy maids and housekeepers, can you give up your position first? ”

When the homeless people heard this, they looked disappointed and left with their children.

But there was a little girl who did not leave, and she came with the group of displaced people, not with her parents.

She was pale, her hair was disheveled, and she was dressed in a shabby cloth that did not match her figure at all, her legs covered by long trouser legs, and the corners of her pants were covered with mud as if they were her shoes.

"Childe, please buy me, I'm very obedient and will work hard! Just give me ten big money, and let me grab a pair of medicine for my mother......" There was a hint of sadness in the little girl's voice, and tears flowed down her cheeks, which were stained with mud and dust.

When Xu Xiang heard this, he squatted down, and gently reached over to wipe the dirt off her face, but then his hand kept trembling, and finally failed to reach out.

"What's wrong with your mother?" Xu Xiang wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and asked kindly.

"My mother is sick, and we have an uncle here who knows how to heal and said that he was infected with a cold, and he had to go to the city to grab a side herb to get better, and he needed ten big money." The little girl's crisp voice was accompanied by a cry.

"Lao Yang, you go and take the guys to distribute the lunch box to all the homeless." Xu Xiang ignored the fact that the little girl was very dirty, hugged her, and said softly: "Go, take my brother to meet your mother." ”

"Young Master Xu, you ......," Xiao Man said in shock.

He didn't expect Xu Xiang to care about the dirt on the little girl's body at all, which made him question Xu Xiang's identity.

In the environment where the distinction between the aristocracy and the commoner class is very sharp, if the commoner wants to come out, it is too difficult for the commoner to have such a deep relationship with Qin Zhiwei, at least he is also a nobleman, right? But would the aristocracy treat the homeless like this?

Even if he's not a nobleman, shouldn't he be?

Xu Xiang followed the guidance of the little girl and came all the way to the tent, and the surrounding homeless people saw that Xu Xiang was wearing a valuable dress, and they all turned their eyes to him.

From their eyes, Xu Xiang saw doubts and envy.

At the end of the tent, there were seven or eight men lying flat on the floor of the straw mats, each of them scrawny, and there was no movement except for the faint breath and the occasional cough or two, which proved that they were not dead.

Xu Xiang saw her mother, a woman with a face like yellow wax and ragged clothes, with a bowl with two missing mouths beside her, lying quietly on the ground, her eyes closed, and only a slight sound of breathing.

In the midst of the group was a man chewing the bark of a tree, and beside him was a small open wooden box containing several silver needles and linen.

Xu Xiang put the little girl down, and the little girl walked up to the man who was chewing the bark and said, "Uncle, I will soon be rich, and when I sell myself, I will be able to save my mother!" ”

The man glanced at Xu Xiang, and then said: "Childe, look at what you are wearing, you should be a person who is not short of money, the old man knows some Qihuang techniques, you can go to the prince's mansion to be a doctor, as long as the son can give five taels of silver to help go to the city to buy medicinal materials, the old man will be the servant of the son in the future." ”

Xu Xiang didn't make a sound, but stepped forward, rolled the eyelids of those lying on the ground, and touched their foreheads, feeling nervous for a while.