In the evening of that day, in a ruined temple outside the city of Shaochun County, more than 100 homeless people were sleeping on the hay-covered floor.

Few people spoke, and most of them lay motionless on the ground resting, their expressions numb and their eyes glazed, as if they were waiting for death.

In fact, many hungry and cold homeless people have no choice but to sleep as a way to survive because they can't find anything to eat.

But often some people fall asleep and go straight away, without even a place to bury them.

In the end, it either became food for other homeless people, or it became food for wild dogs, and the end was extremely miserable.

In one corner of the ruined temple, an old man was holding his grandson in front of the fire.

Since they hadn't eaten for several days, the grandfather and grandson had long been so hungry that their hands and feet were weak, and the child, who was only a few years old, was even more skinny and looked very pitiful.

When it was almost dark, two passers-by hurried in to find a place to spend the night.

For the scene in the temple, these two passers-by are no longer surprised, after all, this is almost the scene everywhere.

Since the weather was still relatively cold, the two passers-by saw the grandfather and grandson who were roasting the fire, and after looking at each other, they quickly came over and asked, "Uncle, can you let our brothers bake the fire here?" ”

"Roast if you want, but I don't have anything to eat." The old man said indifferently.

One of the taller men smiled: "Uncle, don't worry, we are just here to roast the fire, and we won't be so cheeky to ask you for something." After the two had finished speaking, they sat down in front of the fire.

The old man didn't look like a villain, so he relaxed a little, but he was still very vigilant and carried his sleeping grandson to the other side, away from the two people, to prevent his grandson from being secretly taken away.

In today's world, children who have no ability to resist are the most likely to be targeted by hungry adults.

Many parents are not careful, and their children may be taken away by gangsters, and finally become someone else's rations.

Although most of the villagers who live here are from the same village, if there is an incident, these villagers who are already unable to protect themselves may not have the leisure to save them, so it is not a big mistake to be careful.

After sitting down, the two men in their thirties did not take out the dry food they had brought with them to eat, but took out the gourd filled with water and drank a few sips of water to suppress the hunger in their stomachs.

They knew very well that in such a situation where everyone was hungry, it was not unusual for them to be robbed by a group of homeless people once they did take out what they had eaten.

Taking advantage of the fact that there was nothing to do, the taller man asked with some curiosity: "Uncle, there are so many people here, are you all from the same village?" ”

"Hmm." The old man, who didn't want to speak, responded very perfunctorily.

The man didn't seem to notice the old man's indifferent attitude, and continued to ask enthusiastically: "Uncle, I see that you have been hungry for several days, why don't you go back to the village to farm?" At least there's something to eat. ”

"There is a plague in the village, and hundreds of people have died.

But even if it comes out, it's not the same as waiting for death. The old man laughed miserably.

"You can go to the government to get vaccinated, as long as you are vaccinated with the miracle medicine, you won't have sores anymore.

And the government will organize you to go back to your hometown to farm, it's better than staying here and starving. ”

The old man suddenly scolded very excitedly: "Liar, what vaccination method is all deceptive!"

My son and daughter-in-law's family were infected with the plague and died of illness because they believed in the government's nonsense.

Those dog officers are not good people at all, they are all a bunch of liars. ”

Because the old man's voice was very loud, it immediately attracted the attention of the other homeless people, and they all looked over here.

The man said in surprise: "Why, you don't know about such a big thing recently, uncle?" ”

"What are you talking about?" The old man asked impatiently.

"I don't know, no wonder you're so angry.

This matter is clearly stated in the "Seeking Truth".

And the government has also posted a list article more than ten days ago, which can be regarded as confirming the news. ”

"What truth-seeking, what example? What are you talking about? The more the old man listened, the more confused he became.

"It's a long time to say this, uncle, listen to me slowly, don't worry."

"Okay, you can say it quickly."

Only then did the man tell the story of what had been disclosed in the latest issue of the Truth-seeking Daily.

Because the news was so exciting, the other homeless people couldn't help but gather around and listen to him quietly.

After he finished speaking, the old man asked with a shocked face: "You mean, the medicine used by those people in the Tai Hospital is really fake?" ”

"Yes, the truth-seeking report said very clearly, it is not that there is a problem with the vaccination method, but that the medicine used in the hospital is fake, so it does not work at all.

Otherwise, it is the same inoculation method, why it works in the northwest but not in the south of the Yangtze River, this must be a problem of medicine.

And the truth-seeking newspaper also said that all this was done by An Guogong's family, and they asked the hospital to do this, these people are really dark. ”

When the old man heard this, he suddenly howled and cried, "My son, you died so miserably!

It turned out that it was these beasts who killed a thousand knives who made you die in vain.

My son, you died so unjustly, so unjustly......"

Because the crying was so loud, the child who had been sleeping soundly was finally woken up by his grandfather. When I opened my eyes and saw that there were people in front of me, I was so frightened that I cried.

The other homeless people who came around were anxious to know what was going on, and someone simply urged: "Brother Tai, you don't care about their grandchildren for a while, they just cry for a while, you continue." ”

"yes, you go on, is there anything else?"

At the urging of the homeless people, the man had no choice but to continue: "I have already said about this matter of seeking truth, and then I will talk about this example.

Ten days ago, the local government posted a poster, which said that the new Minister of Prison, Lord Ning, personally ordered that from now on, the people of the whole south of the Yangtze River will be vaccinated free of charge to prevent the plague from continuing to spread.

And the medicine used in this vaccination is not the fake medicine used in the previous Tai Hospital, but the real miracle medicine produced by the Northwest.

The specific location and time of vaccination in each region will be arranged by the local government itself, and there must be no mistakes.

Those who are successfully vaccinated with the miracle medicine will not only no longer have sores to disperse, but the government will also arrange for them to return to their hometowns to farm and provide them with seeds, tools and other necessary things.

Those who are willing to take the initiative to vaccinate, the government will also give porridge relief.

The reason why my brothers and I were in a hurry was to go to Shaochun County to get the miracle medicine and then return to their hometown to farm. ”

As soon as these words were finished, they immediately exploded in the crowd.

Many homeless people couldn't believe that the court, which had always been mean, would be so good, not only inoculating the people with magic medicine for free, but also arranging for them to return to their hometowns to farm.

And most importantly, the local government is even willing to give free porridge to the homeless.

How can there be such a good thing in this world? It can't be fake, right?

For a while, many people were skeptical, and many people suspected that this so-called vaccination might be the same as the last time, and it was another method used by the government to coax people.

"Two brothers, do you really believe that the imperial court will be so kind? It's not going to be the same as before, is it? "One homeless man spoke everyone's mind, and everyone else agreed.

The man smiled, "To be honest, I was as skeptical as you at first, after all, we have already suffered a loss.

It wasn't until I saw my cousin's family that I changed my mind.

My cousin, a farmer from a village near Shaochun County, was a family fleeing the plague just like us.

In the past few months, the food that the family has brought out has quickly run out.

As a last resort, they could only feed on tree bark, and the family was about to starve to death.

It was at this time that he heard that the government had posted this list, saying that the government would not only inoculate the people with miracle medicines, but also give porridge to the people who were willing to be vaccinated.

My cousin's family had reached the point of exhaustion, and as soon as they heard that the government would give porridge to the vaccinated people, they hurriedly took the family into the city to be vaccinated.

At first, they didn't believe in the inoculation method, but they just went for the rice porridge.

After they were vaccinated, they really ate the rice porridge distributed by the government.

Next, the family returned to their original village together with other vaccinated villagers, escorted by officers and soldiers.

My cousin's family originally thought that they would definitely be infected with the plague this time, but they didn't expect that more than ten days had passed, and no one in the village had been infected.

That's when my cousin really believed that the inoculation method really worked.

So he immediately informed me about this and told me to hurry to the city to get vaccinated so as not to miss the opportunity. ”

Hearing him say this, the originally skeptical homeless people couldn't help but start to waver, and they asked, "Is what you said true?" Is it true that your cousin's family is not infected with the plague? ”

"Isn't this inoculation tricky, really useful?"

"Brother Tai, you just said that the government will give porridge to those who are willing to be vaccinated, is this true?"

"Yes, can I really eat rice porridge after vaccination?"

The man said with certainty: "My cousin will not lie to me, since he has said so, of course I believe what he says."

No, my brothers and I are preparing to go to the city, and we just want to go there to get vaccinated. ”

Speaking of this, he suddenly lowered his voice and said mysteriously, "Do you know why the imperial court suddenly became so generous? Not only did they give us free vaccination, but they also asked the government to give porridge relief to those who took the initiative to vaccinate.

That's because the people who are now in charge of the house are no longer the Zhao family, nor the An Guogong family, but the Ning family, who led hundreds of thousands of Northwest Army to defeat the Hu people.

Zhenguo Gongning's family, understood? That's the true Lord. ”

When everyone heard this, they suddenly realized.

Soon, someone shouted, "In that case, let's go into the city and get vaccinated." Anyway, sooner or later, you have to die, it's better to fight, at least you can eat porridge before you die. ”

"That's right, instead of waiting here to die, you might as well try."

A homeless person excitedly said to the two passers-by, "Two brothers, can we go into the city with you?" Please, take us along, okay? ”

"Yes, I beg the two big brothers to take us into the city together, and we will not forget your kindness."

The man said briskly: "Okay, then let's go into the city together, anyway, stop by the way." ”

Hearing him say this, many homeless people danced with excitement and burst into tears.

"Great, I don't have to starve to death now. the kid, we've got it. ”

"Great, we have a way to live, we have a way to live!"

The originally lifeless and dilapidated temple was instantly full of vitality.

Looking at the excited crowd of homeless people around them, the two men looked at each other for a moment, and their eyes showed smug eyes at the same time.

Now I can make another profit.

In fact, the two men were not ordinary passers-by, but Freemasons who were responsible for pulling people to the city to be vaccinated.

It turned out that Chi Fei, who was the founder behind the Freemasonry, set a new rule in order to improve the enthusiasm of the members: all members who could move the displaced people to the city for vaccination would be rewarded according to the number of people brought in. Regardless of gender, young and old, each prize is a penny.

For example, if the two of them moved more than 100 displaced people to the city to be vaccinated, they would be rewarded with more than 100 yuan. If the two of them divide it, it is more than 50 yuan per person.

This money was not a lot in the past, but in this year when almost everyone has lost their livelihood, it is also a rare extra income.

This incentive policy of more work and more rewards has really had a great effect, and many Freemasons have gone to various places to persuade the displaced people to go to the city for vaccination.

In the early stage, some lucky people successfully persuaded thousands of homeless people to enter the city, and they got thousands of dollars at once, that is, several taels of silver.

This is a lot of money, and for the vast majority of the members who are from ordinary people, the temptation is too great.

Under such stimulation, it naturally attracted more members to desperately go to farther places to attract people to be vaccinated.

Whether you can successfully pull people in, not only depends on whether the place is far enough and enough, but also has a certain number of rules.

For example, we must first find a way to get close to the homeless people and lower their vigilance. Then ask them why they don't go back to their hometowns and things like that.

When they say that they won't go back because of the plague, they should arouse each other's curiosity with a surprised tone of "what, you don't even know about such a big thing".

Then the persuader should tell the displaced people about the contents of the latest issue of Qiuzhenbao, so that they can know what has happened recently.

Then explain the latest list of the government and let them know the benefits of vaccination.

In the end, the credit was pushed to the Ning family to increase the popularity of the Ning family among the people.

That's the general process of persuasion.

Chi Fei knew that not everyone would make up stories, so he made up the content to be persuaded early in the morning, and then asked each member who was responsible for pulling people to memorize it, and then improvised to persuade him.

In particular, it is important to emphasize that this is a real person and a real story seen from a certain relative to increase the persuasiveness of the story.

In less than half a month, tens of thousands of Freemasonry members scattered among the people have successfully persuaded millions of displaced people to be vaccinated with cowpox in their neighboring counties.

After vaccination, the displaced people, under the guidance of the soldiers of the Northwest Army, returned to their original places to start farming or working again.

According to the current progress, there should be great hope that before the spring ploughing, the wandering people will return to their hometowns to resume farming.

Seeing that the little son-in-law's "bad idea" really worked, Ning Zhiyuan was happy, and then he really put his mind at ease.

Since the comprehensive promotion of potato cultivation in the northwest and northeast, the people of the two places and the hundreds of thousands of troops in the northwest have been able to truly achieve self-sufficiency in food output and no longer rely on external supplies.

In other words, today's Northwest Army is enough to feed the entire army by relying on the grain output of the northwest and northeast alone.

For the northwest, which has always been barren and arid, short of food and grain, this is an unprecedented miracle and great achievement.

On the other hand, due to the annihilation of the Hu people, the Ning family not only got a large number of high-quality war horses, but also obtained a huge amount of property from the Hu people.

It is not an exaggeration to use the word "huge" to describe this batch of possessions.

Because these belongings are all treasures that the Hu army snatched from the imperial palace in Xinjingli, various families and officials.

Needless to say, the palace is naturally the most conspicuous fat, and the only person who is qualified to go in and get things is a leader like the eldest prince Arrob.

And those families who have been in the capital for many years, as well as the Beijing officials who are greedy for a lot of money, the amount of property in their families is also very amazing.

Hard currencies such as jewelry, jade, gold and silver ingots alone are not counted by one at all, but by catties.

Almost every Hu soldier carried several pounds of goods on his back.

A high-ranking general of the level of 10,000 people even had to use extra war horses to carry the spoils.

The sheer amount of this amount of property can be imagined.

It can be said that after the Ning family got this batch of loot, it was equivalent to getting 99% of the property in the entire new capital, and they were truly rich and rivaled the country.

With the character of Ning Zhiyuan, the leader of the bandits, how can there be a reason to spit out what he swallows.

Unless a family like the Yao family that is close to the Ning family, or a family that has always been good friends with the Ning family, can be returned, no one will want to get a penny back from him.

Now that the treasury is empty, but there is a war to be fought and the disaster victims to be resettled in various places to resume farming and production, there are too many places to spend money, and it can really be said that the money is like flowing water.

If it were the previous Ning family, if they wanted to deal with such a big plate in Jiangnan, they would have lost all their pants long ago.

But because of this huge amount of ill-gotten gains, Ning Zhiyuan didn't have to worry about the lack of military pay at all.

Ning Zhiyuan went to Jiangnan this time and brought a total of more than 500,000 horses over.

Although 90,000 people had to be assigned to serve as the southern expeditionary force, and nearly 100,000 people had to be sent to guide the displaced people from various places to return to their hometowns and farm, there were still more than 300,000 horses and horses in hand, and there were also more than 12,000 musketeers stationed in the new capital, and the military strength was still very strong.

Since there were so many soldiers and horses still idle, Ning Zhiyuan decided to do something big now after discussing with Chi Fei, Zhang Wenxuan and others.

That is, like the Northeast, a large army was mobilized to carry out a comprehensive and thorough campaign to re-measure the land and check the hidden households in the entire territory south of the Yangtze River, and to regain back the state-owned land that had been embezzled by the local families and the land taxes that they had exempted by various means.

In this way, under the background of the comprehensive implementation of free vaccination in Jiangnan and the introduction of people to return to their hometowns, a vigorous large-scale clearance campaign officially began in the rumbling sound of horses' hooves of the Northwest Army, which was later known as the "Jiangnan Great Liquidation".