After listening to Sima Xin's words, Zheng Sheng was a little stunned: "Jiamo in the service, and Mao Jian, the imperial historian? I don't know them! Why would they speak for me? ”

Sima Xin said in a deep voice: "Maybe they don't know you, but they are good ministers in the court, and helping the victims has always been a difficult thing in the court. So, you have to do it well. ”

Zheng Sheng nodded: "I will go to Hongnong in person." ”

"That's very good."

……

Hangu Pass, a Xiongguan between Guanzhong and Luoyang.

On the north and south sides of Hangu Pass are the continuous Kunshan Mountain Range, and a turbulent river, the valley water, flows through it. Hangu Pass is Luoyang to the east and Guanzhong to the west, which is the hub connecting the two places, and its importance is self-evident.

Zheng Sheng looked up at this majestic pass that was comparable to Luoyang, and the shock in his heart was even stronger than when he first saw Luoyang - after all, the location of Hangu Pass was in the canyon, and it was much more difficult to build than Luoyang City on the plain.

Zheng Sheng stood outside the gate, watching the full grain trucks slowly drive into the gate.

"After passing through Hangu Pass, and then passing through Xin'an County, you will arrive at Hongnong County." Behind him, Liu Wei'er said softly.

"yes." Zheng Sheng muttered.

Hangu Pass is not big, and the east and west are only a few hundred meters long. Passed the Hanya Pass. They set foot in Xin'an County, west of Henan County.

After passing the Hangu Pass, the mountain road is more tortuous, and the mountains on both sides are steeper, so the grain cart is more difficult to travel. Everyone got out of the carriage and pushed the cart together. Despite this, after passing through Hangu Pass for half a day, they only walked more than ten miles to the west.

In the end, they spent the night at a place called Bai Chaobei. This is a very steep pass: on the north side of the mountain road, this is next to the mountain, built up with stones, several zhang high, is the white super base.

When the convoy arrived, nearly 100 men, women, and children gathered on the road south of the barrier, shivering in the cold wind, waiting.

When they saw this convoy, they immediately cheered. Then the crowd swarmed up and rushed to the grain cart like a madman.

Yang immediately ordered the soldiers to move forward and force the people back.

"This is Xin'an County, not Hongnong yet!" Zheng Sheng couldn't help but have a big head.

"Let me do it." Zheng Wen stepped forward, comforted the people, and finally announced: "According to 30 catties of grain per household, please come forward to receive food." ”

Zheng's men stepped forward and began to distribute food.

"Alas, in this case, there is only one option." Zheng Wen sighed.

"Is it unfair to divide food by household? After all, some households have a large number of people, and some have a small number of people, will some people be dissatisfied? Zheng Sheng frowned.

Zheng Wen said: "If you don't divide it according to the household, then divide it according to Dingkou?" Is this an injustice to the old and the young; Is it unfair to adults to divide according to people? There is no real fairness in this world, and we divide food according to households, which is already very just. ”

Zheng Sheng scratched his head: "A household has thirty catties of grain, I remember that there are tens of thousands of households in Hongnong County." We only have enough food to distribute two or three percent, right? ”

"We can't help too many people."

"So a little less for each household? But 30 catties of grain may not be enough for a family to eat for a month. Zheng Sheng was indeed a little helpless.

And the people who had received the bread were scattered.

"These people should all be villagers from the village called Xianghou in Leixi." Liu Wei'er said.

"Xianghou Village?" Zheng Sheng asked a little strangely.

"Because there is a tomb in the south of the village that is a former Wei Xianghou and will be a master craftsman. And the tomb of Biqiuxing will be here because it has been a water smelting workshop with the help of water power to smelt weapons since a few decades ago. Biqiu Xing was the official in charge here until his death, and he was buried here after his death. ”

"I see." Zheng Sheng stood on the base and looked west, only to see a dense house on the bank of the valley in the distance, and the sound of striking iron could be faintly heard.

"An armory workshop!" Zheng Sheng couldn't help but sigh, and he could vaguely see groups of soldiers patrolling.

And Yang Yizheng sent people over, as if to inform them of their situation.

Although there is a water metallurgical arsenal here, there is no army stationed in Bai Chaoli, which is in a key location. The area of the white superbase was flat and large enough, and the grain team and the soldiers camped together on the base for the night.

Nothing happened overnight, and the next morning, the convoy continued to set off.

Zheng Sheng looked at the steeper and steeper mountains, and couldn't help but feel worried, so he asked Liu Wei'er: "Xin'an County is already an inaccessible place, and further west, isn't the mountain higher and fewer people?" We can't be in the wrong place, right? ”

Liu Wei'er said with a smile: "Shizi, Xin'an is indeed a county located in the mountains of Kunshan, with a sparse population. But to the west, I went to Hongnong County, where there were tens of thousands of households! ”

Zheng Sheng nodded.

In the next few days, Zheng Sheng's grain team walked on the mountain road next to Gushui and encountered many victims.

On this morning, they left the border of Xin'an County and came to Mianchi County. Soon, they came to a relatively flat hilly area, and they could no longer take a single step forward.

Zheng Sheng looked at the red-eyed people in front of him with red eyes and seemed to have completely lost their minds with some panic. Dirty, thin hands, withered yellow hair, but faces that swelled crimson, and bloodshot eyes that seemed to devour everything.

All this made him subconsciously think that he had met a wild man. But when he saw the thin layers of clothes on their bodies, he knew that these were the real victims who had suffered the most.

Zheng Sheng trembled, Liu Wei'er held his hand and looked at him worriedly: "Shizi." ”

Yang dispersed the people and tried to maintain order, so that the Zheng people began to distribute food.

But instead of decreasing, the number of people gathering is increasing.

"Have the people who received the food come to receive it again?" Zheng Sheng asked Zheng Wen.

Zheng Wen wiped the sweat from his face and said, "No, we will find out the origin of everyone, and it is true that they are people who have never received food." But because there is a steady stream of people coming from farther away, the number of people will increase instead of decreasing! ”

Zheng Sheng muttered: "Our food is not enough!" ”

Zheng Wen nodded heavily: "At that time, we will be in trouble!" ”

Zheng Sheng watched the grain on the grain cart disappear little by little, but he couldn't think of a solution.

Liu Wei'er stepped forward and said in a low voice: "Shizi." ”

Zheng Sheng happily held her hand: "Sniff, have you thought of any way?" ”

Liu Wen'er said softly: "No." It's just that it's getting dark, and we haven't eaten for almost a day. Shizi, let's make a fire and cook! ”

"What?" Zheng Sheng was a little angry, when was it time, and he still cared about eating?

"Shizi, not only us, but also the generals and soldiers of the Chinese army, these people who rushed here, everyone has not eaten. Many of the people have children, and those children are very pitiful. Liu Wei'er said in a low voice.

Zheng Sheng turned around and looked at the children shivering in the cold wind, who were waiting with the same joy and anxiety as their parents, and the children who were extremely excited to receive the food. Their faces were red from the cold, but their stomachs were shriveled.

Zheng Sheng's heart moved, and he immediately found Zheng Wen: "Brother, start a fire!" Cook all the leftover food into rice! It's time for us to eat! ”