The water in the village has receded, and the muddy earth emits wisps of water vapor in the sun. There was black mud and branches, weeds and driftwood everywhere. The crops that had been washed away by the flood were rotting in the muddy water, and the rotting animal carcasses: chickens, dogs, pigs, sheep, and occasionally people, were scattered in the mud, and the bellies were invariably bulging and exuding a disgusting stench.

The green-headed flies arrived at the first time, and the flies flew around, and there were several human and animal corpses over there.

Villages and towns that have been hit by the flood, and the houses that did not collapse when the flood struck will collapse a lot as the water recedes, but the owners of the houses no longer need them, either dead or fleeing.

This is the Great Flood of Yizhou in 1631. The flood once again swept across the land that had been barren due to frequent natural disasters**, sweeping away the people who were barely struggling to survive here - since the beginning of the Apocalypse, Yizhou and the nearby prefectures and counties of Lunan and Nanzhibei have encountered floods almost every two or three years.

Hungry people staggered along the road in droves, leaving corpses along the way, blindly heading towards the county seat, the prefecture or any other city, and the victims knew that only when they arrived in the city could they have a glimmer of life. Otherwise, even if they do not starve to death, the great plague will be followed by a great plague, and the plague god will harvest the living creatures more fiercely than the flood. If the local city can't accommodate them, they'll have to flee to states and counties that haven't been hit by the disaster.

Driven by hunger and forced to survive, the flow of refugees slowly squirmed across the continents of Lunan, with people dying every day and joining every day. Everywhere they walked, they ate everything, and none of the bark, grass, roots, or even the carcasses of animals survived.

The big families in the villages and towns along the way have fled, they have either entered the provincial capital or farther to the more stable Jiangnan, since Lunan has passed the White Lotus Sect, this place has become very dangerous, many people with assets have fled to the provincial capital or Jiangnan, "escaped" to go.

In some villages and towns, they have built walled walls, practiced village bravery, and the hand holding the hoe handle is now tightly holding the whistle stick and wooden gun... Vigilantly watching the refugees passing near the villages and towns - the hungry and red-eyed victims all have the consciousness of "eat enough and die". The little food stored in the villages and towns should be given to their own families! The human heart is as cold and hard as iron. The landlord who did not "escape" with his own family and long-term workers, stood on the wall, holding bows and arrows and broadswords, and he supervised the village Yong... also seems to be "leading the way", after all, he is the richest person in this village. The body that was originally dressed in silk and satin is now wrapped in cotton armor that was made in a hurry. It's summer now, but there is not a drop of sweat on their bodies, what they see in their eyes is the black and oppressive refugees, and what comes to mind is the news that came a few days ago: which village, town, and which village were eaten by the refugees, who and whose family was robbed, and whose whole family was killed by the refugees, and the terrifying past of the White Lotus Sect ten years ago seemed to resurface in front of their eyes. The head of the house looked at the villagers who shrank their necks and frowned one by one, stomped their feet and roared: "Show me tight!" Eat a treat at night... All-you-can-eat pork dish box! ”

Then there was a burst of "Thank you, master!" "The roar was like singing. Then there was a mocking roar: "Everyone hold on to knives and guns tightly!" ”

"Hold it tight!"

"The stockade is secure!"

"Hold the technetium!"

This is a scene that is repeated several times a day. On weekdays, don't say that it is eaten for long-term workers and farmers, even the big farmers themselves are reluctant to eat white noodles and pork, and these days they take it out as a reward to buy people's hearts.

But at the same time, they are distressed, fearful and worried, but they also have a secret joy. The flood washed away the boundaries of the land, washed away the title deeds, and left many lands ownerless, even those that still had owners... The owner also had to be sold out to survive in a disaster year. For some, it's a good opportunity to expand the industry, and as for the farmers who farm the land, they are dead... When the water recedes, those who did not starve to death will always come back the following spring.

The premise is that they have not been "eaten by the refugees" before this, and they have not been "eaten by the big households" by the refugees before this, and they have not been killed by the prefectures, counties and prefectures in the sāo chaos, and the officials and lords who show off their power on weekdays are unwilling to interfere with the actions of the refugees. If large households want to protect their lives and property, they can only lead the team by themselves.

In the state and county, although the city gates have not been closed to prohibit refugees from entering the city... However, Lian Yong had already been set up in the city, and Ding Zhuang from Guan Xiang and nearby villages had organized themselves and were ready to "suppress" at any time. The few heads hanging at the gate of the city are always bloody and fresh, and the trees outside the city are hastily built sheds, and there is a pot of "gruel" that can be seen clearly and musty. It's such a gruel... Not every one of the refugees gathered in the vicinity can afford to eat, and the number of "chips" distributed every day is fixed, and those who do not have their turn can only starve.

Near the porridge shed, is a feeding ground for another type of fly. From Jinan Prefecture, and even as far as Shuntian and Jiangnan, people from the country hid in sedan chairs and mule carts, carefully calculating how much "prey" they could get and how much benefit they would give to their local counterparts. Others wander through the crowd, looking for objects that can be bought. Teenage men and women were their first target, followed by young women. In this way, the population with grass labels was constantly loaded onto mule carts, and transported to Linqing and Xuzhou one by one, where they were transported to various places for sale.

Zhang Zuo Chen wore a self-designed Taoist uniform and walked through the crowd. From time to time, he greets the people around him, he practices medicine here to help people, and has the reputation of "living immortals". Not only the refugees, but also the officials and villagers who maintained order around the porridge field also received medical treatment from him and respected him like a god.

"Rotten Dao Chief, you gave my child the medicine, and sure enough, the diarrhea stopped, you are really a living immortal" A ragged woman blocked his way, "Please take another look.................."

"Oh? Since the diarrhea has been stopped, xìng's life is out of the way. Zhang Yingchen said with a smile, "Poor Dao is going to see a patient now, and I will come back to see your child." You give him this packet first. ”

He walked through it with a thousand thanks from women, and he was almost overwhelmed with such things along the way. Even if he came to the porridge field from time to time and the deputy regiment of the county, he had to be polite when he saw him.

He knew that the officials and gentry in the city were very wary of him, and that the monks and monks who appeared after the catastrophe were for the purpose of practicing medicine, and that there was almost certainly an attempt to "plot against him", and that the ruling class had accumulated enough experience in its thousands of years of rule.

and Zhang Yingchen appeared in the porridge field one after another, as well as several so-called "Taoist priests" or "monks", as well as the so-called "Shenhan witches" and other characters who did not have any religious attire, and soon attracted the attention of the local government.

Zhang Yingchen was able to win in the competition, firstly, because of his excellent medical skills and medicine; Second, he had an official Taoist priest and a name post he got from a gentleman's house in Hangzhou, which played a great role in protecting his safety. You must know that the government of this time and space does not have any concept of human rights, and it is common practice to arrest suspicious characters and torture them. Moreover, these are extraordinary times: many people have been beheaded or tortured to death in the yamen simply because their words and deeds are suspicious, and some have died in prisons and in cages at the entrance of the yamen.

He was very careful when he was treating the sick and practicing medicine, and when he was treating the sick, he only said ordinary words such as doing good deeds and accumulating virtues, and did not preach too much doctrine. Although he sometimes said it to the refugees, it was all the content of the official Taoist collection, and everywhere it was put it was the content of righteousness and light.

"I don't know what happened to Lao Zhao in Shandong?" He often thought this when he was busy with these things, knowing that with his current influence, it would be easy to encourage the refugees to go to Denglai to join Zhao Yinggong.

He and Zhao Yinggong left Hangzhou at the same time, but he did not leave after he arrived in Yizhou, but moved in place.

In ancient Chinese society, whenever a natural disaster occurred, it was often a great opportunity for cults to carry out propaganda. One of the main purposes of Zhang Yingchen's in-depth visit to Yizhou was to inspect the activities and instigation capabilities of the local White Lotus Sect, Luo Sect, Wenxiang Sect, and other organizations.

Now it seems that these organizations are indeed active, but the government is very concerned about this, after all, the White Lotus Sect rebellion has passed less than ten years, and the local vigilance is still there. It is not so easy to use religious means to incite the population.

After he came back from his inspection, he found that a few days ago he had cured a teenager who had been bought by Jiangnan to get a human tooth. I can't help but secretly regret it. This young man is smart and clever, and his appearance is also very handsome, he originally looked at the seedlings of haode "Taoism", but now he is actually the first to get it.

This kind of thing has happened several times, and every time it makes him sad to watch the loss of good seedlings in vain, and he can't do anything, which is too painful.

But he has already taken in two children as Taoist students, and there were originally Ming and Qing dynasties brought from Hangzhou by his side, and it would be too ostentatious to accommodate more boys by his side.

"I have to send a letter to Lao Zhao as soon as possible, otherwise all the resources on the haode will be taken away by this group of people." He secretly thought to himself and returned to a broken Taoist temple in Guanxiang.

It is said to be a Taoist temple, but in fact there is no Taoist priest, only a fire dwelling Taoist lives there, barely making a living. Zhao Yinggong rented a house for a few small bucks as his activity base in Yizhou.