Thus, the first business alliance of the Ming Dynasty was born. Because Liu Meng has Zhu Cihong behind him, officials everywhere don't dare to be too embarrassed. Some of the necessary formalities were quickly completed. Soon Liu Meng was on the right track and began to make money continuously.

Three months later, in February of the sixth year of Chongzhen, Zhu Cihong, as usual, went to the village outside the city to inspect the Flying Tigers, and was stunned by the scene in front of him as soon as he left the city.

In the wilderness outside the city, a large number of refugees gathered. Some of them had built rudimentary cloaks out of twigs and rags, some had wrapped themselves in shabby quilts, and some had nothing at all, and just lay down on the ground.

Seeing this, Zhu Cihong hurriedly stepped forward and saw the seventy-year-old man and the infant baby, all of them in ragged clothes and pale.

Seeing Zhu Cihong step forward, those who still had the strength to walk all ran to Zhu Cihong's side in an instant and surrounded Zhu Cihong and his party.

An old woman stretched out her hand full of frostbite, held a broken bowl, and begged in a hoarse voice: "This young master, please have mercy on the poor old woman, our family has not eaten water and rice for two days, please do well, give the old man something!" ”

The others stared at Zhu Cihong with hopeful eyes, hoping to get some food from Zhu Cihong. And those old and weak women and children who don't even have the strength to stand up, they are all pale, their eyes are dull, they don't blink for a long time, and if they don't look carefully, they think they are dead!

Zhu Cihong looked a little sad, and hurriedly touched it into his arms. But after touching it for a long time, there was not even a copper plate, and then I remembered that I never brought silver when I went out. So he set his eyes on Xia Nuan.

Xia Nuan saw Zhu Cihong glance at herself, and knew what Zhu Cihong thought, and said with some embarrassment: "Master, the slave didn't bring any silver when she went out today. ”

Zhu Cihong was a little displeased after hearing this, and said coldly: "Why don't you pull you down." ”

Liu Wu, the guard beside him, stood up, gently pulled the corner of Zhu Cihong's clothes, and whispered: "Master, even if you give them money, it's useless!" They are simply useless. They can't even enter the city gates, and even if they have money, they have nowhere to spend it. Besides, there are so many people, even if you usually go out with money, some people get the money, and those who don't get it will definitely get it, and it will inevitably happen when the time comes. ”

Zhu Cihong asked puzzledly: "Why can't they even enter the city gate?" ”

Xia Nuan hurriedly explained: "When these refugees enter the city, they are in rags and unsightly. Second, because there is no money to buy something to eat, it is easy to gather crowds to make trouble, and if you accidentally cause death, you have to prevent it. In addition to this, dead bodies are also prone to spreading the plague, and if someone is infected with the plague, then it is a big deal. ”

After listening to Xia Nuan's explanation, Zhu Cihong couldn't help asking, "How do you know this?" ”

Xia Nuan's eyes turned red after hearing this, and she held back her tears and said: "This is how the slave and maid fled with their families, and fled outside the city to prevent them from entering the city......"

Before Zhu Cihong could comfort Xia Nuan, a terrible wail suddenly came from the crowd: "My child, why are you so ruthless, you leave your mother alone like this, how can your mother still live..."

Zhu Cihong raised his head and looked at the source of the sound, only to see a skinny woman, holding a young child and crying bitterly.

Then a group of homeless people gathered around the woman, and I don't know who said first: "Anyway, your child is starving to death, it's useless for you to cry, it's better to let the big guy share it, we can last two more days, and we will all thank your child." ”

The woman was terrified and yelled that no one should approach the child's body. When the people around saw the child's corpse, greedy eyes burst out in their eyes, and they forced it step by step.

Zhu Cihong had never seen this kind of human tragedy even in his previous life, and when he saw that people were so ruthless that he wanted to eat his own kind, he hurriedly shouted: "Stop!" You are not even as good as wild beasts. Even wild beasts know not to eat their own kind! ”

The group of homeless people paused when they heard this, and when they reacted, they turned around and glared at Zhu Cihong, their eyes flashing with hatred and anger.

"You don't have a backache when you stand and talk, and you're hungry for a few days? If there is food, who will eat human flesh? Seeing that your little doll is richly dressed, hurry up and hand over the money and dry food, and we are grateful for your great kindness. If not, get out of here, or everyone will be hungry and eat you alive. ”

I don't know who shouted, and the homeless people surrounded Zhu Cihong one after another, shouting one after another: "Hand over the money and food, otherwise we will do it ourselves!" ”

Zhu Cihong's face turned pale with fright after hearing this, thinking that rabbits would bite people if they were in a hurry, and this group of people was extremely hungry, so they might really eat themselves.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Liu Wu beside him hurriedly stood up and said coldly: "I think who dares to come over?" ”

"I'll just come over and drop it!" A young man shouted, and then pounced on Liu Wu, intending to knock Liu Wu down.

Seeing this, Liu Wu didn't panic, and kicked out directly, kicking the guy in the chest. The guy flew out like a kite with a broken string, and after the guy fell to the ground, he foamed at the mouth and fainted randomly.

When the displaced people saw Liu Wu hurt people, their long-suppressed anger was completely ignited, and a large group of people rushed up and shouted: "They even dare to beat people!" Kill them! ”

In fact, Liu Wu's kick was still merciful, otherwise the guy would have been kicked to death on the spot. At this time, he saw the rebellion of the homeless, drew the sword at his waist, pulled a sword flower, and then the tip of the sword was pointed at the throat of a man who rushed to the front. was so frightened that the man didn't dare to move a single bit.

The homeless people who followed the commotion were just poor people, and they were all just bluffing. Seeing Liu Wu pull out his sword, one was so frightened that he stopped and didn't dare to move forward any further.

Liu Wu saw that he was shocked and shouted: "You Diao people, my son-in-law has pity on you and others, and he originally planned to help you, who asked you to interrupt him?" If you are honest, everyone will have something to eat, and if anyone dares to make trouble, I first asked the sword in my hand if I agree. ”

As soon as the words fell, the homeless people surrounding Zhu Cihong knelt down and cried loudly: "Masters, we don't want to make trouble, but we are really hungry and can't stand it." ”

Zhu Cihong was heartbroken when he saw everyone crying, the corners of his eyes were red, and tears flowed out as if he didn't want money. Liu Wu saw that Zhu Cihong couldn't speak, so he could only say for him: "Don't worry, big guys, our son-in-law is here to help you, everyone bear with it, our son-in-law will enter the city and transport a batch of dry food first!" Make sure that everyone will not go hungry anymore and that everyone will have something to eat. ”