Zuo Shaoyang smiled bitterly; "Mother, now there are more than 100,000 officers and soldiers plus ordinary people, and you can imagine how much food there is in the city with your eyes closed. It was definitely not enough for more than 100,000 people to support it for more than three months, and the officers and men must have conducted a thorough investigation, otherwise, they would not have risked confrontation with the people of the city to make such a cruel decision to impose a forced grain requisition order. Even if you want to give food to the people, you shouldn't be able to get much, at most it is just a symbol, and a drop in the bucket can't solve any problems. ”

Liang Nuonuo said: "No matter how bad it is, there are still wild vegetables to eat, it's not like we haven't eaten them." ”

"Mother! There are not many flowers and trees all over the mountains, there are not many that can satisfy hunger, most of them are not edible, and there are more than 100,000 people in the city, and it will not be long before all the food on the mountain will be eaten! -- Eat up the grain, eat wild vegetables, tree bark, grass roots, and even dirt! Many people will be poisoned by eating wild vegetables that they can't eat, or they will die in agony because they can't excrete after eating Kannon soil! When these are eaten up, a large number of soft-hearted people will only starve to death, and a few ruthless will eat human flesh! By that time, there will be hordes and hordes of people starving to death every day! As long as we hand over the surplus grain, it is estimated that no one in our family will be willing to eat human flesh, so we can only wait to starve to death and be thrown into mass graves outside the city! No, at that time, I was afraid that there was no one to carry the body, so I could only die at home or on the street. There are more than 20 people, and Huangquan Road is also lively! ”

Zuo Gui and Liang were both so cold that their hairs stood on end when he said it. Liang also felt that what he expected was too simple, and Nuo Nuo said: "Or, let's keep a little more, leave enough rations, and sell the rest to the officers and soldiers, maybe they won't cut off their heads if they find out?" ”

Zuo Shaoyang smiled bitterly: "Leave enough rations?" There are twenty of us, and we need one hundred and thirty-six buckets of food rations for four months. Fan said with a black face, more than one bucket, kill the parents, more than three buckets, kill the whole family. Therefore, staying less is also death, and staying more is also death, why not ask for the surname to stay and bet this time? If the bet is right, we can all live, but if the bet is not right, the family will die together, but there will be companions! If all the surplus grain is sold to the officers and soldiers and handed over, then there will be no hope at all, and there will be a complete dead end! ”

Liang was dumbfounded, he didn't know what to do, and looked at Zuo Gui.

Zuo Gui stroked his beard and groaned for a moment, and finally said in a deep voice: "Zhong'er is right, anyway, the left and right are dead, it is better to gamble to the death!" That's it! ”

The old man made a decision, what else could Liang say, so he had to nod gloomily and agree.

Zuo Gui said: "However, it's okay for our family to take risks, don't involve others." As soon as the grain requisition order is announced, we will distribute the grain to Fennel's family, as well as Master Qu's family and Miss Miao's family according to the standard of one person and one bucket. lest if we are discovered, all the food will be scavenged, and they will have nothing to eat. Although one person and one bucket of rice can't last long, it's better than nothing. At the same time, this matter is only a matter of our family of three, and it has nothing to do with the three of them. Especially Miss Bai, her current identity is our slave maid, once the grain requisition order is announced, let her go back to Qu's house. Don't bother other other girls. ”

"Okay!" Zuo Shaoyang was originally reluctant to ask this Bai Zhihan to be a maid, but he was forced to let her go back in desperation.

After Zuo Gui finished speaking, he and the Liang family got up to leave, and Zuo Shaoyang stopped them again and said, "Dad, I still have something to discuss with the second elder." ”

Zuo Gui sat back again: "Let's talk about it." ”

Zuo Shaoyang thought for a while and said: "Since we have earned back the capital, we have left enough basic rations for twenty people to live, and there are thirty buckets of grain left, I don't want to sell it." ”

"Oh? So what are you going to do with it? ”

"Boil porridge to help the starving people who are dying. -- On the way today, I saw many hungry people dying, and if there was no food, I was afraid that I would not live for a few days! ”

Zuo Gui stroked his beard and said: "It's a good thing to put porridge to help the people, but we only have a total of more than 30 buckets of surplus food, which is tantamount to a drop in the bucket for the hungry people in the city." ”

Liang said: "Yes, if the officials and soldiers know, they will guess that there is still surplus grain in our house, and when the time comes, they will search carefully and find out the hidden grain!" ”

Zuo Shaoyang said: "I have already thought of these two questions, thirty buckets of grain is indeed not enough to relieve many people, but we still have a room of medicinal materials!" These medicinal materials are all bought by me from Hengchang Pharmacy, almost all of them are medicinal materials that can satisfy hunger, they can be chopped and ground into powder, and boiled porridge with rice and noodles, so that more people can be relieved. We have ten full cars of these medicinal herbs. Thirty buckets of grain together, all boiled into gruel, this is not to be underestimated, and it can save the lives of many people! Besides, we are not saving the hunger, it should be enough. ”

Zuo Gui and Liang glanced at each other and asked, "What do you mean by emergency or hunger?" ”

"I've thought about it, we boil the gruel with medicinal herbs and batter, and for more than an hour after dark to before the curfew, and for more than an hour after the end of the curfew at the fifth watch in the morning and before dawn, we use a cart to push the streets and alleys, especially for those hungry people who are dying, so that they can survive the threshold of life and death, and maybe they can live."

"I see." Zuo Gui stroked his beard and said, "In other words, our porridge only helps those who are so hungry that they are about to die, which is called emergency relief, and other hungry people who can still move and pick wild vegetables to satisfy their hunger will not be relieved for the time being." ”

That's exactly what it means. This is called good steel for use on the blade. There is no way out, otherwise, even if we don't eat a bite, all the food will not be enough to relieve the hungry people in the city. Not to mention that there are tens of thousands of officers and soldiers. ”

Zuo Gui nodded: "This idea is good, we who practice medicine, it is our duty to hang a pot to help the world, to cure diseases and save people is to save, to give porridge to save lives is also to save, and to do it is to be benevolent." ”

Liang carefully interjected: "Then how do we know which ones are starving to death?" You can't look at them one by one, can you? ”

Zuo Shaoyang said: "That's too troublesome, and when everyone is hungry, it's difficult to accurately judge who needs relief more." I thought of a way, can the second elder take a look? ”

"What's the solution?"

"We boiled a large vat of very thin gruel in a large wooden barrel to relieve the general hungry, and a small vat of normal gruel to save the lives of the dying hungry. Every time you go to a street, the person who pushes the big wooden barrel knocks on the wooden barrel to give porridge, and all those who can get up and wait in line for the porridge should not be at the point of dying, and those who lie on the ground and can't get up, but are still alive, most of them are hungry and dying, and these people generally have a big porcelain bowl in front of them, and the person who carries the small wooden barrel is responsible for pouring life-saving gruel for these people. All of us are to be masked, so that we may not be recognized. ”

Zuo Gui nodded frequently: "This method is good, fast and accurate." Not bad! So be it. ”

Liang was always worried about the issue of the grain requisition order, and said: "If the grain requisition order comes down, what will I do?" Do you still give alms? ”

Zuo Shaoyang said: "I've thought about this, if the big bucket is relieved of the general hungry, no more food can be added, and the porridge can only be boiled after grinding the noodles with pure medicinal materials." And because the keg is quietly hidden, it is best to mask it so that people don't see it, so you can still boil life-saving gruel. ”

"Then what if you are caught by the official army?"

"It doesn't matter, just say that you pity these victims and take out your own rations for relief, anyway, a bucket of gruel can't use a bucket of rice, and if you don't exceed the export grain limit, the officers and soldiers can't punish the crime. Of course, it is better not to be discovered by the officers and soldiers. Otherwise, it will affect the soup kitchen later. ”

"Okay, then do it! Do it now! Zuo Gui immediately clapped his hands and said.

After making this decision, the family was at ease.

It's getting dark, and you have to hurry up and implement your plan. The family cooks porridge together. Zuo Shaoyang and Daddy Zuo Gui cut the medicinal materials, Liang and Miao Peilan ground the medicinal materials into powder, and Bai Zhihan was responsible for boiling porridge.

Zuo Shaoyang took advantage of their unpreparedness, and secretly took a small half of the old ginseng and ground it and added it to the life-saving gruel, the old ginseng is to benefit the qi and take off the yang to save the adversity, and can hang his life, anyway, these four old ginseng trees were also stolen by Xiao Yunfei to himself, so that he could cure the disease and save people, and now it is used to help the dying and hungry, and it is also to save people.

Since these old ginseng trees are all hundreds of years old, only a small point of each bucket can make a big difference. The number of parameters in Laoshan is limited, and there are too many dying and hungry people who need relief, which will appear one after another, and the number will definitely be more and more serious, so we must make long-term plans, especially for the future. Therefore, he is going to use these four trees for three months, and he can only use a small amount of them every day.

Everyone worked together and finally got through it before dark. The amount of grain and medicinal herbs in general gruel is about half the amount, while life-saving gruel is mainly boiled with grain.

After everyone discussed, Zuo Gui, Liang's family, Miao's mother and Bai Zhihan, who was dressed as a man, were responsible for transporting the very thin medicinal herb gruel in a large bucket to help the ordinary hungry people, and Miao Peilan carried the life-saving gruel with old ginseng on her back, and Zuo Shaoyang and the two went to help the dying hungry people who could no longer get up to receive the porridge.

After the division of labor, it was also dark, and the two groups of them walked separately, and when they arrived at an alley where there were more hungry people, Zuo Gui stood on the cart, knocked on the wooden spoon and said loudly: "Put porridge to help the people......!" If you want to receive porridge, please line up, one bowl per person, no more! ”

The hungry people were stunned for a moment, and they couldn't believe it, but when they got closer, they smelled the smell of gruel with the fragrance of medicine, and suddenly their spirits were greatly lifted, and they got up and rushed up, and raised the porridge bowl high.

Liang's, Miao Mu and Bai Zhihan told them to line up, but the black light was blind, and they smelled the fragrance of the gruel, where was there any order, and they all surrounded the cart three layers inside and three layers outside. His eyes were full of porridge bowls and a pair of anxious and eager eyes, as well as the sound of begging. The hungry people in other places soon got the news, and they rushed in, crowding people, and the order was soon in chaos. The Liang family shouted that they couldn't get them to line up to get the porridge, and they all rushed up.

(To be continued)