readytorunbook Chapter 122 Farewell
Chapter 122 Farewell
After more than ten days of hard work, everyone embarked on the last official road to Jiangzhou.
After setting foot on this official road, the number of refugees increased significantly, and occasionally one could see horse-drawn carriages with flags of various countries speeding by.
Seeing this scene, Mr. Zhou and Mrs. Zhou breathed a sigh of relief.
It seems that the situation in Jiangzhou is not bad.
Although there were more and more refugees on the road, they were actually safer than before.
The one-month-long journey from Daxi Village to Jiangzhou has enabled most people to clearly recognize that these refugees, who are carrying large and small bags and families like them, are in far less danger than other refugees.
Occasionally, during breaks, they can exchange items with other refugees.
Most of them are food and some small things, such as needles and thread, fire starters and so on.
Of course, the old trick of selling children was also inevitable, but the people in Daxi Village were tired of it and rejected all those who came with a tough attitude. Over time, no one dared to offend them and rushed up.
As they walked towards Jiangzhou, they could clearly feel that water resources were not so scarce. At least after walking for a few days, they would be able to find an uninhabited well or a flowing stream.
With this water, everyone not only didn’t have to worry about dying of thirst, but they also got to take a bath after a long time.
Jiang Jiang still remembers the villagers cheering and jumping for joy at that time, and he can't forget the feeling of relief as if he had rubbed off several pounds of dirt.
When washing for the first time, the water turned black, and Jiang Jiang was afraid that the water would poison the surrounding plants.
Fortunately, after washing for the second and third time, the water became much cleaner.
The new piece of soap at home was taken out by Jiang Jiang from the space. It has no fragrance, but its cleaning ability is incomparable to the soap made casually by farmers.
After Jiang Jiang's family finished washing, the piece of soap was passed to other families. As it was passed around, the palm-sized piece of soap became smaller and smaller, and finally disappeared.
When Li Changfeng scratched his head and told Jiang Jiang the news embarrassedly, she was rarely angry.
Just use it. Anyway, she has tens of thousands of unscented soaps and soaps in her space. It's so rare that she is so happy. The whole village can take a bath and be clean. How great it is.
Without Jiang Jiang noticing, many families in the village had a better impression of her. With such good soap, everyone would hide it and use it secretly. Aunt Jiang was really generous.
With hope, the days on the road are not so difficult.
Mr. Zhou was in high spirits and kept talking about how to find a good teacher for the children. In his opinion, if the children concentrated on the imperial examinations, several of them would become scholars. As for Laibao, he could even go a step further and achieve the same success as his brother-in-law.
When he got engaged to Mrs. Zhou, his brother-in-law was still just a scholar. As the saying goes, rich candidates are more likely to be successful than poor scholars. He also put in a lot of effort in the imperial examination.
Fortunately, when he was over 30, my brother-in-law was very lucky and passed the imperial examination under the name of Sun Shan. Although he had no hope of becoming a Jinshi, a juren could still be promoted to an official position.
At that time, Jiangzhou was severely flooded and the bureaucrats were corrupt, so the imperial envoys sent by the court conducted a thorough investigation. Many people were killed and many official positions were vacant.
Big fish eat small fish, small fish eat shrimps. Some scraps are looked down upon by others, which gives them an opportunity. Mr. Zhou paid money to let his brother-in-law be appointed as the chief clerk of a county under Jiangzhou. Although he is a ninth-rank official, he is still an official after all.
Under the care of his brother-in-law, Mr. Zhou's business grew bigger and bigger, and the two families visited each other frequently. It was only last year when Mr. Zhou's father passed away that he returned home to attend the funeral and take over the family business, which is why he spent so much time on this.
Otherwise, even if there was no drought, they were planning to move their business to Jiangzhou, and now they were just doing it ahead of schedule.
Zhou Wan'er's eldest brother is studying in Jiangzhou, and Miss Zhou is married. For Mr. Zhou, arriving in Jiangzhou can be considered a family reunion.
That's why Mr. Zhou had the confidence to say that he would find a good private school for Laibao and his friends in Jiangzhou. If he just had money, he wouldn't dare to make such a boast.
"Look! Jiangzhou is just ahead!"
Everyone looked up in the direction Li Cuicui pointed.
The majestic and towering city walls are thick and solemn, several meters high. There is a moat near the wall, but the water level is a little shallow now, but it is enough to surprise everyone in Daxi Village.
At the city gate, soldiers in armor holding spears and with serious expressions strictly checked everyone entering the city.
But as they got closer, the excitement on everyone's faces gradually turned into disappointment.
There were various gathering points of varying sizes outside the city. The people in those gathering points were raggedly dressed and had sallow faces. One could tell at a glance that they were refugees who had come here just like them.
If they can't enter the city, what about me and the others?
If they can't get help, wouldn't all their suffering along the way be in vain?
Seeing that the villagers were a little agitated, Li Shuming had to calm them down, saying, "Don't worry, let's see what the situation is. At least there is no shortage of water here, so we won't die of thirst or hunger."
The place closest to Jiangzhou had already been occupied by the refugees who had arrived earlier, so the people of Daxi Village had to walk around the city wall and find a slightly farther but more spacious place to camp.
The Zhou family was unable to enter the city immediately. They first sent housekeeper Zhou to give money to the soldiers guarding the city and asked him to help deliver a letter.
When Mrs. Zhou's brother sees the envelope, he will know that they have arrived in Jiangzhou and will send someone to pick them up.
The Zhou family was easy to deal with. Before they left, they dismissed many servants. Now there are only a dozen servants and five or six maids, a total of more than twenty people.
These servants and maids were still slaves and could withstand interrogation.
But there are hundreds of people in Daxi Village. If they all want to enter the city, it would be almost impossible.
"Village Chief Li, don't worry. I have kept all the affairs of Daxi Village in mind. When I enter Jiangzhou, I will ask my brother-in-law for advice."
If it were before, Master Zhou would not have to care about their lives or deaths. After all, it was agreed at the beginning that the people of Daxi Village could only follow the Zhou family, and the Zhou family would not help them if they encountered danger.
That’s because when the Zhou family was in danger, everyone in Daxi Village risked their lives to help, which led to this friendship.
Li Shuming was naturally very grateful that Mr. Zhou was willing to help.
He also knew that it was unrealistic to move all the villagers into the city, and even if Mr. Zhou had the ability to do so, the people of Daxi Village would not be able to survive.
Apart from farming, they don't know how to do anything else.
As long as Mr. Zhou could help solve the household registration problem and find them a place to stay, Li Shuming would be very grateful.
After waiting outside the city for more than an hour, the people of Daxi Village watched with envy as the Zhou family's carriage slowly drove into Jiangzhou City.
During their escape, they thought for a moment that everyone was the same, but when they arrived in Jiangzhou, reality told them that the Zhou family and they were never the same kind of people.