Most of these people who come to the city to buy people are subordinates or stewards of large families in the city, and they take advantage of the lack of food and clothing for the refugees to buy people at very low prices.

The young and strong can be a servant, or go to the countryside to work in the village, the price is relatively high; the little girl can be bought back to be a maid, and the price can be warmed for a few years; although the little cub can be bought back to be a servant, but the food is too much, and it is not useful for the time being, so the price is not high.

This was despicable, but it allowed many of the victims to survive.

However, there were too many refugees this time, and the rich squires in the city were all "fed", after all, the people who bought them all needed to eat, the landlord's family had no surplus grain, and the big families were not open to the good church, so it was unprofitable, so naturally they would not come to buy people again.

These refugees can only accumulate more and more under the city, relying on the government's daily soup kitchens to survive.

Then, some people came out of the city and began to buy and sell people, they were more picky, they picked cute and beautiful boys and girls, and everyone knew what to do when they bought them, so unless they really couldn't survive, parents were naturally reluctant to sell their children to them.

It is better to sell their children to large families as servants and servants than to fall into the fire pit.

When some of the victims saw Chen Qi, who was dressed in gorgeous clothes, he looked like the young master of a big family, and their numb eyes lit up, and they came forward one after another to sell themselves or their wives and children.

"Little master, I have a lot of strength and can work......"

"Young master, my daughter is skillful and eats less, you can keep her, just give her a stutter......"

"My second boy has a flexible brain, knows a few words, and can be a scholar for you!"

......

Chen Qi was stunned, he didn't expect to encounter this situation, although these victims didn't seem to have malicious intentions, but they pushed and shouted, swarmed, and practiced kung fu for a few days, but they were too young, short and weak, in case they were accidentally pushed down and trampled, the consequences were unimaginable.

Seeing that there was danger, the two brothers Xiao A and Xiao B hurriedly stepped forward and protected Chen Qi behind them, especially Xiao Yi, although he was only fourteen years old, he was already seven feet tall, standing in front of him, like a big mountain, separating the refugees. And Xiao Xiang'er was very frightened, and Chen Qi protected her behind her.

At this time, a few soldiers watching the city gate noticed the commotion, picked up whips and clubs, and beat them indiscriminately, barely maintaining order.

"Little master, it's very dangerous here, let's leave quickly," Xiao Jia said nervously, if something happened to the little master, his whole family would not survive.

"Well," Chen Qi nodded, he didn't have any chances, it was himself Meng Lang today. After walking a few steps, everyone entered the city gate, which was considered safe, and the refugees did not dare to storm the city gate.

"Xiao Jia," Chen Qi instructed, "you take this silver, buy some broken rice, and go to the city gate to give porridge!" These silver are enough for ten taels, because Lingnan has a warm climate, abundant water resources, and high grain production, so the price of grain is not high, and the best rice can not be sold for two taels of silver for one stone, ten taels of silver, and broken rice can be bought for seven or eight stones.

This rice, if boiled into porridge, is enough for more than 2,000 refugees outside the city to eat a few full meals. Although it is a drop in the bucket, I just want peace of mind.

"But, young master, I can't do this soup soup work alone!" Chen Xiaojia said helplessly, "Why don't I send them the grain?"

"No, that would be worse," Chen Qi refused. In addition to making it easier for officials to fill their pockets, the more important reason is that it is impossible for refugees to keep the food in their hands.

In the face of hunger, human nature is so fragile that the physically strong will naturally snatch the food of others, and those who are old and weak will naturally starve to death, or they will snatch the food of others according to the village nationality, because there are fights, riots, and riots because of the food, and more people will die of starvation.

At this moment, a gong sounded, and someone was heard shouting, "Soup kitchen!"

When everyone looked back, they saw twenty or thirty neatly dressed housekeepers, armed with swords, guns, sticks, and sticks, guarding a palanquin, coming towards the city gate.

A few soldiers guarding the door, seeing the sedan chair, hurriedly stepped forward to bow down, the people in the sedan chair seemed to say something, more than a dozen male servants, skillfully carried down the grain, set up the cauldron, began to boil porridge, while the other family began to maintain order.

"Xiao Jia, you go and inquire about who is giving porridge, if it is convenient, give them the rice you bought, and ask them to give it on their behalf," Chen Qi thought of a solution.

"Little young master, the soup kitchen is the county guard's family, and the sedan chair is the county guard's wife, Tian Jiang's," Xiao Jia went not long ago, and came back, "I heard that Mrs. Jiang believes in the Buddha, and has often come to the city gate to give porridge in the past few months, hoping to accumulate good fortune and yin virtue for her daughter who died early, so that she can be reincarnated into a good family as soon as possible." ”

"Oh," Chen Qi suddenly remembered the daughter of the county guard who was ravaged to death by flower thieves a few months ago, and his mood suddenly became a little bad.

"What a good man!"

"Female Bodhisattva!"

"Madame lives a long life!"

The refugees suddenly knelt on the ground, kowtowed gratefully, it turned out that the sedan chair was opened, and out came a middle-aged woman dressed plainly dressed and haggard, she walked to the cauldron, checked the concentration of the porridge, and then, picked up the spoon and personally gave the refugees porridge, without disliking the pungent smell on their bodies.

"Alas, let's go, Xiao Jia, you go buy rice, and then transport it to the east gate, ask them to give soup porridge on your behalf, and we will go back first." Chen Qi sighed.

"Little master, this is not good, we don't know them. Chen Xiaojia was a little puzzled, but when he saw the little young master's ugly face, he knew that he was in a bad mood, so he didn't dare to say more.

Just as Mrs. Jiang was giving porridge, a group of people came up on the city wall, although there was no guard of honor, but more than a dozen powerful and tall guards, alert guards left and right, indicating that the identity of the person who came was extraordinary.

"Hehe, Yuanfeng, you are so blessed to have a good wife!" led by an old man in his sixties, with a tall figure, a ruddy complexion, and a long white beard flowing on his chest, he was very dignified, and he had obviously been in a high position for a long time.

He is Chen Shou, the governor of Lingnan Province, and also Xiaoyu's grandfather. Chen Shou was an official to the Ministry of Rites, a high-ranking official of the imperial court, with a straightforward personality and the courage to speak out, ten years ago, because he offended the emperor, he was demoted to the governor of Lingnan.

However, he did not give up on himself like other degraded officials, but made great efforts in Lingnan Province, persuaded the farmers to build Sangsang, built water conservancy, built sea ships, encouraged overseas trade, and connected the originally isolated Lingnan Province with the Central Plains through sea routes, and achieved tremendous economic and cultural development.

"The teacher praised it falsely!" said a middle-aged official next to him humbly, his face was like a crown of jade, his face was slender, his eyebrows were clear, his clothes were neat, and his demeanor was good, obviously he was a beautiful man when he was young, but at this time his face was a little pale and haggard, and his spirit did not seem to be very good.

He is Tian Hao, the county guard of Nanhai County, and he is also a proud disciple of Chen Shou, but he has no power as the county guard attached to Guo, and he follows behind the governor Chen Shou every day, and the dignified county guard has simply become a staff member, but he himself doesn't care about it.

"Yuanfeng, can there be news from Jiangnan and the Central Plains? Over the mountains and mountains, more and more refugees have come to Lingnan, which shows that the situation is not optimistic. Chen Shou sighed.

"Teacher, the day before yesterday, there was a report from the palace, the drought in Jiangnan and the Central Plains lasted for more than a year, most of the land was out of harvest, the hungry people were everywhere, there were thieves Zhang Shun gathered people to rebel, they wrapped their heads in red scarves and called themselves the Red Turban Army, Zhang Shun proclaimed himself the general of Pingtian, and proposed "Juntian and the world are level", the world responded, and most of the Jiangnan and Central Plains were eroded. Tian Hao replied.

"The state affairs are difficult, but Lingnan is located in a remote area, and we can't wait for it, so we can only hope that although the princes of the court are fighting for me, they are not all stupid. Chen Shou complained.

Tian Hao didn't answer, changed the topic and said, "Teacher, the top priority now is to resettle these refugees, although there is no shortage of food in the city, and soup can be allowed, but many refugees gather, it is inevitable that right and wrong will arise, in case people with ulterior motives instigate and instigate, the consequences will be unimaginable." ”

"What Yuanfeng said is very true," Chen Shou nodded, "Can you call on the squires in the city to share the worries of the country?"

In feudal society, whenever a disaster occurred and refugees gathered outside the city, in addition to government relief, most of the gentry and wealthy households in the city, except for a small number of rich and unkind, contributed to relief and resettlement.

Anyone with a modicum of wisdom understands that if refugees are allowed to gather outside the city, regardless of the question, it is a time bomb, and in case of a riot, everyone will finish playing together.

In the human market outside the city, there is also the secret support of the government, encouraging large families to buy the population, reducing the number of refugees, the rich have obtained the wealth of the population, and the government has stabilized the local order, as for the refugees, it is good for them to survive, what other luxury do they dare to have?!

"Teacher, the squires have tried their best, but there are too many refugees outside the city," Tian Hao was a little helpless.

"Hmph, these people, when is it, give up your life and money!" Of course, Chen Shou knew the virtues of these people, "The old man will resettle another 200 families of refugees on behalf of the Chen family, and go outside the city to reclaim wasteland next year." ”