In the next three months, Zhang Erzhen suggested that the Jin family reduce the expenses of the house, and all the money saved was bought and piled up in the warehouse. The price of grain has increased at a rate visible to the naked eye, from nine taels of silver per stone to five taels of silver per stone. When the people were busy repairing their houses, building houses, and arranging shelters, they suddenly found that they could not eat. Because the surplus grain has been eaten, most of the new grain is rotten in the ground, the weather is getting colder, there is no clothing to cover the body, there is no food inside, and there is mourning all over the field for a while. Zhang Luan had already made preparations, and when the people had no food at home, ten porridge sheds rose rapidly, temporarily relieving the people's hearts.

Jin is five months pregnant, and it is already inconvenient to move, so Zhang Erzhen has become half of the housekeeper in the house, and the access control is naturally lifted. She took Mingyue and Li to many rice grain stores in Guanghua County, and found that there was not much grain in the stores; and went to the villages outside the city to see, all of them were women and young children digging wild vegetables with baskets, and the baskets were sporadically filled with some houttuynia cordata, plantain, and wolfberry buds.

Now the famine can be alleviated, as long as the imperial court can bring relief grain before the heavy snow falls, and it will last until the new grain comes down next year.

After going back, Zhang Erzhen began to prepare for the opening of a porridge shop.

"Girl, the master's porridge shop has already opened many homes, do we need to open another one?" Mo Mingyue didn't understand, even the Yang family next to him also disagreed: "The government mansion opened a porridge shop for the people, and the grain in the warehouse in the mansion is not endless, so the girl will go to ...... at this time."

"Will it make the people think that we have a lot of food, so much that we can't eat it all?" Zhang Erzhen nodded on the table with her small hand and pondered: "Although it will be so, there are more terrible ones. Recently, the famine has become more and more serious, and there is still a lot of grain in the warehouse, and if the people make a fuss and rob the grain, will they rob people at that time? Will they rob things? They will do everything when they are hungry. ”

"This time, the porridge shop was not located in the county, so we quietly transported the grain to Xinghua Village and Taohua Village, where we set up porridge shops to attract displaced people. Now it is not a good thing for a large number of displaced people to enter the city, and besides, those two villages are close to the mountains and forests, as long as there are more courageous people to go in and find something to eat. ”

Yang said: "But this road is not easy to walk, don't say that the road is bumpy, and there are many displaced people, and the girl is not suitable to go along." ”

"Now that the world is unstable, where is there any absolute security. I'm going to go and dress up as a man. Zhang Erzhen knew Yang's worries, but this was within her power, so she didn't say more, and immediately ordered Li Xingli to prepare the car and arrange for people to quietly load the corn grain into the carriage.

When Zhang Erzhen was preparing to transport grain, Zhizhou sent someone to bring fifty stone of grain, including some coarse grains such as dried beans and wheat bran. Zhang Luan arranged to put the grain in the county's warehouse, and there were a few more porridge shops.

The porridge in Xinghua Village and Taohua Village was laid for a few days, and it attracted a large number of displaced people. They were all poor people who had suffered from the disaster, and even if the simple villagers did not take them in, they did not drive them out, and the homeless people were just wrapped in broken straw mats and snuggled up to each other.

Zhang Erzhen has to go to the village every few days to see in person, because she has been dressed as a man, and people in the village will say when they see her: "The little son of the county magistrate is here." ”

"Little boy, when will the relief grain from the imperial court come down, seeing that it is winter, the old man heard that there is not much food in the state capital, is the court ignoring us?" An old man wearing dark linen cloth and stepping on a pair of broken straw shoes was holding a bowl of porridge, and asked Zhang Erzhen boldly.

"Don't worry, the envoy sent by the imperial court has already arrived in Jinan Mansion, and it is time to come from Jinan Mansion to make some preparations. Zhang Erzhen comforted the homeless people and said: "The magistrate has prepared some food in the big family's house, and it will be there in a few days." ”

The old and weak women and children who came to receive the porridge lined up in a long line, and there were also displaced people from far away gradually joining, and the porridge in the big bucket became less and less, and Zhang Erzhen was also anxious to see it on the side.

Last night, Zhang Erzhen rarely saw Zhang Luan. Zhang Luan looked at the little face of his daughter dressed as a man who was not as round and cute as before, and sighed: "Zhen Zhen, don't go out of the house again, firstly, it is unsafe for many homeless people, and secondly, it will affect the reputation of a little girl." ”

Zhang Erzhen hammered Zhang Luan's shoulder with her little hand and said, "Daddy is tired of running around all day, how can my daughter enjoy her success in the house." I was reliable, and I was well protected every time, and those who wanted to lean over were beaten outside. Dad, now that there are many displaced people, you should also pay attention to the complete. ”

"What about your reputation, your mother has no time to take care of you now, so she lets you be outside, but you are a girl, what can you do in the future?" Zhang Luan knew that her daughter had always been a strong temper, and it was difficult to change the things she recognized, but she was still young, how long could she think about it.

"Dad, now everyone thinks I'm your son, I acquiesce, you don't have to worry about me, I can save it. "Zhang Erzhen doesn't care about any reputation, reputation, now that she can't eat enough, who still has time to care if someone else is a girl or a son.

"That's it, go if you like it, Dad is never willing to force you. But everything you do is to follow you closely, and you are not allowed to leave half a step. The food has been consumed quickly in the past few days, and the grain allocated by the imperial court has arrived in Jinan Mansion, and it must be half a month before it can reach Wuchang. If the homeless people outside are chaotic and can't be controlled, you must protect yourself, do you hear?"

"Thank you, Dad, my daughter dresses up as a man, and she will not cause trouble for Dad. Zhang Erzhen knocked more diligently, Zhang Luan only thought that his daughter was disgusted with the boring house and wanted to go out to see the excitement, his daughter was used to being naughty.

Seeing that the big bucket of porridge was empty, Zhang Erzhen was ready to go back, and ordered Lixing to bring the carriage and be helped up by Mingyue: "Mingyue, don't look at it." ”

"Girls, they are so pathetic. Mingyue sniffled, her voice crying.

"The disaster will pass soon. Zhang Erzhen closed her eyes tiredly, leaning against the wall of the carriage, not knowing what she was thinking.

It was already cold, Zhang Erzhen was sitting in the carriage and still felt the cold wind pouring in from the small window, she tightened the goose-yellow cloak on her body, opened her eyes and reached out to lift the curtain of the dancing car to look out. The willows and cypress trees are all bare, and everything they can eat has been plucked. In the distance, a few toddlers could be seen bending over and digging grass roots in the ground. Giving porridge once a day is completely unable to meet people's survival needs, and how many old people are reluctant to drink the porridge and leave it for their young grandchildren, and they themselves are starved to death. Zhang Erzhen looked at the white sky and the desolate earth, and there was nothing but a helpless sigh.

The warehouse was empty after half a month, and Zhang Erzhen no longer went out, and she couldn't see the hopeful eyes of the walking dead people on the street looking at her.

"Dad, when will the envoy of the imperial court arrive?" asked Zhang Erzhen, looking at the gruel in the bowl.

"Alas, Zhizhou said that it would be a few days. Zhang Luan looked at his daughter's emaciated face and said distressedly: "Zhenzhen, I've been suffering from you recently." ”

"Dad, I'm not bitter. After Zhang Erzhen finished speaking, she started to eat the rice in the bowl, ate it in three or two, and said softly: "My daughter is full." Now that there is food to eat, how can it be bitter. ”

Zhang Erzhen walked back to the butterfly garden along the corridor, looking at the starry sky and couldn't stop her tears.

Three days later, Zhizhou rushed to Guanghua County with the imperial court envoy and a thousand stone grains, and finally solved the disaster that lasted for six months, and the people finally felt the joy brought by the new year, and began the eighteen years of peace and happiness in Chenghua.