"Boom!" When the first grenade was thrown out and exploded in the crowd, the crazy horse bandit finally came to his senses, and Eagle Mountain Claw, who was staying behind and preparing to send out the gunners, was also surprised, he thought it was a soft persimmon, but he didn't expect that there would be a burst of short guns, he thought that he could be pushed over with the number of people, but he didn't expect that there were still cannons! The idea is too strong, it is estimated that the foreigners in this north do not have such powerful firepower, is it Yuan Shikai's personal soldiers? We're in big trouble!

"The wind is howling!" Eagle Mountain Claw shouted, and the clever minions immediately turned around and ran, and in the blink of an eye, more than a hundred people ran away without a trace, leaving only dozens of horse bandit corpses on the hillside, as well as corpses scattered everywhere, dozens of young women who had not yet been dismembered, at this time they actually supported themselves to get up, staggering towards the cauldrons.

"Let's go!" Looking at the movements of the women, they knew what they were going to do, and the crowd could no longer stand it, and without the slightest joy of victory in battle, they turned and walked down the hill.

At about 12 o'clock in the afternoon, Zhou Shuren and others finally arrived at the city of Xuchang, and after paying the entrance tax, everyone first went to a restaurant for a full meal. It is not that there is no grain in the north, but it is all in the hands of the military, the imperial court, the big landlords and grain merchants, and these people are in collusion with each other.

Hungry? It's easy to do, as long as you have money, you can eat enough! There are more than a dozen people outside the restaurant who want to eat, and they can't leave, but Zhou Shuren and others have run out of money, and they will have enough money for themselves and others to eat, and there is no money left to give to those beggars.

Compared with the apocalyptic scene outside, Xuchang City is still prosperous, most of the shops on the street are not closed, and the goods and grain from the south are the most scarce materials. In the inner courtyard of the largest department store in Nanchang, the shopkeeper is receiving seven people including Zhou Shuren.

"Mr. Zhou, you should wash off the dust on the way first, I will ask people to prepare a table of wine and food, arrange accommodation, and then arrange for you to go back. What does Mr. Chow think? Xu Shi, the head of the Xuchang Branch of the Investigation Bureau and the shopkeeper of the firm, asked with a smile, as if there was a look of ridicule on everyone's face.

It's no wonder that people ridicule me, I really don't have any image at all, except for being physically stronger and in better spirits, there is no difference between them and the refugees outside. Zhou Shuren, the leader of the group, was speechless, he didn't expect the people from the Investigation Bureau to be so difficult. Why is it deliberately difficult?

"Dad, don't talk nonsense, we're almost tired, rest first, and then take the next step according to the instructions of our superiors, what are you doing in a weird way?" Unexpectedly, Xiao Xu stood up at the critical moment, and what he said made everyone cry and laugh, it turned out that this shopkeeper was Xiao Xu's father!

"Hey, hey. Just kidding, I was meticulous when I was training in the Investigation Bureau, and I had to adapt to my current role after performing an expatriate mission, so there are some philistines, Mr. Zhou don't mind! Xu Shi touched his head and smiled honestly, judging from the disdainful appearance just now, the speed of changing his face made people see the level of the agent.

Don't talk nonsense, Xu Shi hurriedly arranged. He didn't know Zhou Shuren and others, but he felt sorry for his son. He knows the situation best outside, and knows what these people have been through.

The telegram was soon sent, and the detailed manuscript and report were brought back by the caravan of the comptoir, and after receiving the news that the group was safe and sound, the newspaper also informed the superiors that the company that was preparing to set out from the Xinyang transit point to find the investigation team also suspended its mission. It was to assist the displaced people to move south, distribute food, and maintain order.

Xinyang is located in the southern part of Henan, about 250 kilometers from Wuhan, and the establishment of a transit point for displaced people here is carefully considered. From the end of the First Northern Expedition, Manchu officials, nobles and large families in Hubei north of the Yangtze River began to run north. The order of the imperial court is to require officials to strictly guard the north bank of the Yangtze River, but at this time it is difficult for the order of the imperial court to be implemented, and everyone in the officialdom knows that Hubei on the north bank of the Yangtze River will soon be included in the rule of Hua, isn't it waiting for death here? The big men in Beijing turned a blind eye to this matter, and the old ladies of Cixi were also concealed from below, so the whole province of Hubei has in fact been taken over by Huaguo, but in order not to provoke Yuan Shikai too much, Huaguo did not garrison troops here, but only sent a small number of administrative personnel to temporarily maintain order here.

In Xiaogan, Jingmen, Jingzhou, Xiangyang and other big cities still have garrisons of the Qing court, in addition, the second town of the Beiyang New Army also has a garrison in the Suizhou area north of Xiaogan, but the local administrative affairs are in charge of the south, and there is a peculiar situation of military control in the north and administrative control in the south.

According to the consensus reached by the two sides, the south provided a certain amount of military rations for the Manchu and Beiyang garrisons in Hubei, and the northern garrison opened a passage for the displaced people to go south. Therefore, from the border of Henan, through the territory of Hubei, to the north bank of the Yangtze River, it is not only unimpeded, but also has grain supply points along the way. Just going north to Xinyang, it was too deep into the core of the Qing court's rule, and before the military preparations were completed, Lü Liang did not want to stimulate the sensitive and fragile nerves of the north too much.

Although it is named Xinyang transit point, the actual location is not located in Xinyang City, three kilometers in the eastern suburbs, and the Wulidian ferry port of Shihe River is the location of the transit point. When the rumbling convoy arrived here, thousands of soldiers pulled out the cordon, and more than 200 trucks unloaded a huge amount of grain and posted signs of "food distribution points", they were instantly surrounded by tens of thousands of victims.

The victims who can walk hundreds of miles to get here are people with discernment, and it is clear what people are easy to mess with and what people should not be provoked. Just look at the tall figures, muscular bodies, handsome uniforms, and murderous weapons of those soldiers, and you know that this is the most unprovoked person.

Enduring the hunger in their stomachs, under the command of the loudspeaker of the staff at the transit point, the victims walked in according to the direction of the cordon, and once someone wanted to cut in line or make trouble, the serious soldiers would not hesitate to drop the butt of their rifles. The more we are at such a time, the more we should be vigilant, and we must not be soft-hearted at critical moments; if we allow order to be chaotic and cause tens of thousands of people to compete for food, then the loss of disaster victims, food and other materials will be immeasurable.

"Line up, five catties of grain per person, one catty of bacon, after receiving it from Xinyang to the south, there are official grain distribution points set up by Huaguo along the way, and there is a ferry from Huaguo after arriving on the north bank of the Yangtze River, which can carry everyone across the river!"

The sound of the tweeter came far away, and Xia Lu, who was pulling the cart and walking in front, looked at the crowded crowd with some doubts, listened to the sound floating in the air and was not clear, and turned back to Hua Zhi and said, "Son, why did you hear the wood clearly?" ”

"Mu You, go over and have a look!" From the south of Xuchang to here, nearly two hundred kilometers of road, Xia Lu and Hua Zhi finally came over. When they walked together, the Fan family was still with themselves, and before they arrived in Luohe, the daughter-in-law of the Fan family was snatched away by bandits, and she was still pregnant with the flesh and blood of the Fan family in her stomach, and the landlord's wife cried to death on the spot, Fan Dianyuan chased after him and was hacked to death by a bandit.

Further on, tragedy also befell Xia Lu, who secretly took out the food in the cloth bag in his arms at night and prepared to cook it, but was discovered by another nearby victim. Xia Lu's family only had one full meal, and the next day they were robbed by more than a dozen victims who were helpless.

ran out of food, and walked dozens of miles further, Xia Lu finally couldn't help it, and was ready to sell the younger child, and because of this, Xia Lu and Huazhi had a big quarrel. Quarrel after quarrel, the child still has to be sold, and finally, when he arrived near Zhumadian, the second child was also sold. The two of them are awkward, don't talk all the way, and describe it with their hearts like ashes. Near Xinyang, the conversation just now was the first time the two of them had spoken.

Put down the cart and let Huazhi look at the old lady, Xia Lu walked over by himself. Speaking of which, Xia Lu's old lady is hard, she has no food, she doesn't sleep well, and the cold wind is howling, but she didn't get sick along the way, let alone anything else. Sometimes the old woman of Huazhi complains that she can live, and she has to be pulled by her son along the way, so it is better to die and pull down!

"Big brother, what's going on inside, what's going on?" Xia Lu grabbed a middle-aged man who was about to line up, and the man replied angrily: "Listen to yourself, someone gives out food, five catties, and a catty of pork!" ”

"God, where did this come from, a big landlord and a good man, not to mention food, but also pork, isn't this preparing to live?" Xia Lu exclaimed.

"If you don't want to get out of the way, you can get in line!" The victims who ran behind urged them, and Xia Lu, who was dizzy, became a member of the food collection. The speed of the team is fast, and when you get to the place, you can leave from the other side, and the staff has arranged five distribution points to maximize efficiency.

Xia Lu saw the people who were leaving with pork, and his heart was so anxious that he suddenly thought of a good way, he went to get the grain himself, and then let the flower branches also come to collect it, and then he went to line up another team, and he said that he would receive hundreds of thousands of catties of grain today!

There are not a few people who have the same mind as Xia Lu, and no one can underestimate the IQ of the peasants, throughout history, how many dynasties were established by the peasants? How many great uprisings were started by the peasants? This is called peasant cunning, except that the distributors at the transit point are not ready to take measures against this problem. Food, take it! Pork, take it all-you-can-take! As long as you can take it away, you can get it as many times as you want, in fact, the standard of five catties per person is just to get people to the next distribution point. (To be continued.) )