Chapter 38

It was downwind from Hangzhou to Haizhou, but the boat was too heavy, and Ling Qingyu didn't dare to sail with full sail. Even so, he arrived outside Haizhou in only three days. However, although Haizhou is close to the sea, there is no large seaport, so we can only put down the boat first, and let an official with several officers and soldiers go ashore first. After contacting local officials, we can find a way to unload the ship.

After waiting for a day, the boat didn't come back. By noon of the next day, there was no human figure. The officer left on the boat couldn't help but be a little anxious, but he had the responsibility to take care of the food and couldn't send people ashore, so he came to find Ling Qingyu, hoping that she could send someone to see what happened.

Ling Qingyu thought twice, decided to go with Yan San, and said that he would only go to Haizhou to investigate, but not in-depth.

Ding dong put down the boat and sent them ashore with some sailors. The official was kind and sent a horse to her instead. So ling Qingyu asked Yan San to bring as much grain as possible.

Arriving at the shore, a ship in front docked in the bay. The sailors said that the team of officers and soldiers had landed safely long ago, but there was no news until now.

Ling Qingyu ordered to leave one ship to wait, and the other to return to the Aeolus first. Then he went ashore with Yan San, took the map drawn by the official, looked carefully and looked again, and then determined that the narrow path should lead to Haizhou county.

Yan San helped Ling Qingyu onto the horse's back, and then led the horse forward.

Not long after leaving the Bay, there was a plain in front of me. The rivers on the plain were crisscross, but most of them were dry at this time, and occasionally there was a little water, which was also a piece of mud. The land is seriously dry and cracked, and the original fertile fields are only left with rolling loess.

This is not only food, but also water. Ling Qingyu and Yan San looked at each other, and Yan San clenched the handle of the sword.

Turning around a small earthen bag, the place in front of me should be a bend of the river. Some water stains are still left in the deep turning of the river. There are many refugees with thatched cottages and firewood nests on the Bank of the river.

A group of refugees digging grass roots on the hillside saw the figure turning around at the top of the mountain. After seeing someone riding a horse, someone shouted, "there is a horse!"

Many people rushed out of the huts on the beach. Like the people digging grass roots on the hillside, they looked eagerly at the horses standing on the hill. The green eyes seemed to see not two people and a horse, but plates of braised meat.

Ling Qingyu, who was regarded as braised meat, said that she began to feel empty. There are probably hundreds of people below. They are ragged, yellow faced, and hungry. They all seem to see bones and bones. Those children are even skinny, as if there is only one big head left. These are people who have reached a desperate situation.

"Master, please give me something to eat, my child." a woman with a withered chest and a child in her arms staggered towards the two.

Miso, Yan Sanming Lu took out his scabbard, and the blade drew a dazzling light in the sun.

"Xu Dongjia's, come back quickly!" Seeing Yan San pulling out his sword, the people stepped back a little, and an old woman was anxious to pull the woman.

The woman broke away from her, and still insisted on walking to them, saying, "just a mouthful of food, save the child, I'll make you a cow and a horse, whatever."

"Don't come again, otherwise, don't blame my ruthlessness under the sword." Yan San's long sword pointed to her throat and forced her back two steps.

Looking at the cold glittering blade, the woman stood motionless, but still stretched the child in her hand forward as far as possible, trying to hand it to Ling Qingyu, and said, "otherwise, if you buy him, as long as you can live, please, save him."

The child is still in his infancy and has lost his shape. Ling Qingyu is not even sure that he is still alive.

"Sanniang!" A man stumbled over from a distance, shouting the woman's name in his mouth. When he saw the blade against the woman's throat, he cried out: "master, there are people under the sword. We have no malice, no malice."

Ling Qingyu pulled the reins of the horse, and Yan San took the horse back two steps, but the tip of the sword still pointed to the woman.

"Sanniang, let's go back, go back. Just now there's news from Haizhou. The imperial court has sent disaster relief food. We'll have food soon. Saner will be fine, fine." The man held the woman and said happily.

"Everyone, the government has informed you to go to Haizhou county to receive disaster relief food. Everyone, go quickly." A cry came from the Bank of the river, and the people who stared at Ling Qingyu and them shouted cheerfully, turned around, picked up the bag that could hold food and ran away.

The beach is half empty, and all the running things are gone, leaving only some old people and some children.

Ling Qingyu frowned even tighter. The relief grain was still on the Aeolus. Did Haizhou get another grain?

"Sister, you sit here and don't move. Brother goes to get grain, and we will have food when we come back." A little boy put a two-year-old girl on the stump and said, "don't go away."

Lingqingyu heard his accent like Zhongyuan Mandarin, got off his horse, walked up to the two brothers and sisters, and asked, "aren't you from Haizhou?"

"We are from Daming Prefecture." The little boy looked at Ling Qingyu and said.

"Daming mansion, how did you get to Haizhou?" Ling Qingyu asked in a soft voice.

"Listen to Dad, Haizhou is close to the sea. Maybe there is water and stuttering, so we followed."

"What about your parents?" Looking at the girls' buttoned cheeks, Ling Qingyu took out a steamed bun from the bag and handed it to her.

"I'm starving. My father died half a month ago and my mother died three days ago." The little boy grabbed the steamed bread from his sister's hand, then tore a small piece and fed it to her mouth, saying, "eat slowly, don't choke."

"No one else?"

"No, in our village, there are only two of us, two tigers and Daniel." The little boy pointed to the two boys standing in the distance, looking at the steamed bread in his hand.

Ling Qingyu stood up, waved the remaining children over and gave them the steamed bread in the bag. Seeing some children get it, he stuffed it into his mouth and hurriedly said, "don't worry, eat slowly and don't choke."

"Let's go first." Yan San reminded Ling Qingyu behind. If those hungry people come back and see these grains, then they don't know what will happen.

Ling Qingyu stood up and knew in his heart that if it was just oneortwo steamed buns, it would not save these children for long. He bit his lip and said, "wait here. When I come back, I will take you away."

"Does the master want to buy us?" A slightly older child timidly asked.

A dozen pairs of eyes stared at her, with hope and fear inside.

"Well, master, I bought you, eat and live, but you must listen to me in the future. If you don't listen, master will throw you back." Ling Qingyu has a powerful way.

"I will obey!" The children knelt down and kowtowed together.

"Not only obedience, but also life belongs to the master. Can you do it?" Yan San's voice sounded faintly behind Ling Qingyu.

Ling Qingyu suddenly looked back and wanted to say that I didn't want to buy their lives with a steamed bun, but when I saw Yan San's look, I couldn't say it.

"If the master doesn't save us, we can only starve to death." Holding his sister in his arms, the little brother stood up and said, "as long as I can save my sister, I can do anything."

"Me too." "Me too." "Me too."

"Remember your words. If one day you break today's oath, you will realize that life is better than death." Yan San said coldly.

"Ah ah ah," Ling Qingyu rushed the children to a mountain nest and said, "you first find a safe place to wait, and I'll come after I finish my work."

"Don't go." Yan San nodded his chin on the road over the beach and said, "people have come back."

Ling Qingyu looked back and saw that the dust was rolling on the road in the distance, and a team of people and horses were galloping over.

Ling Qingyu hid the children behind him and watched the couple run close. Seeing that the leader was indeed the officers and soldiers who went to Haizhou, she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Ling Dang? Why are you here?" Seeing Ling Qingyu, the leading officer and soldier asked in surprise.

"Your adults see that you haven't returned for two days. They're afraid of problems. Let's come and have a look." Lingqingyu said.

"Fortunately, we met a lot of refugees here. If you go there, I'm afraid we'll go back to the ship first. The governor of Haizhou has sent someone to deliver food." The officer and soldier said gently.

"The ship is waiting in the bay. You go first and we'll be back soon."

"Then let's go first." The soldiers looked at the child hiding behind Ling Qingyu, and their hearts softened, saying in a warm voice.

auzw. "Well, let's go with the master." Ling Qingyu picked up the youngest two children and put them on the horse's back. Thinking about it, he took off the grain bag carried on the horse's back, put it on the roadside, and then took the children to the bay.

Not long after they left, several old people who had been staring at this side came over, picked up the food bag, folded their hands and said, "Amitabha, good man."

Ling Qingyu asked the sailors to take the children on board. Yan San and himself didn't hurry on board and watched the soldiers build a simple shed on the bank.

Ling Qingyu looked left and right. He didn't see any other ships coming. He asked the leading officer and soldier in doubt, "officer, is there no ship in Haizhou? No fishing boats?"

"Haizhou has also suffered from a severe drought this time. Most fishing boats go out to sea to catch fish. I'm afraid they won't come back for a while." Soldiers said. Naturally, this is not the truth. The truth is that there were too many refugees, and some good people gathered to rob the fishing boat. As a result, after several conflicts, refugees and fishermen were killed and injured, and the fishing boat was destroyed completely. A large number of refugees came here hoping for fish on the coast, which was always a way to survive. However, the water source of Haizhou had been dry for seven or eight years, and so many refugees came again. The local people were already very angry with the refugees. Coupled with the act of robbing ships, the prefecture magistrate sent troops to suppress the refugees and drove them out of Haizhou county. After several massacres, the riot was temporarily suppressed. And their team of officers and soldiers can also safely reach Haizhou on the fields full of hungry people.

That is to rely only on the lifeboat on the Aeolus. How long will it take to move! Ling Qingyu is gloomy.

Hungry Haizhou officers and soldiers repaired simple business on the bay. The unloaded grain was first piled up on the bank, and then carried away by people pushing tricycles. The governor of Haizhou summoned some labor and promised to pay a bucket of rice for three days. In this way, there are still more and more refugees gathered outside, looking for something to do in exchange for rations.

"Master, master." Lingqingyu just went to rest on the cliff next to her, but suddenly a man came out and kowtowed to her.

"If you have something to say, don't knock, don't knock!" Ling Qingyu shouted.

The man raised his bleeding head and said, "please hire me. I have strength and can do anything. Just a fight, no, half a fight, a bowl."

Ling Qingyu frowned, looked at the heavily guarded Bay, and said, "you find the wrong person, right? I'm not from the government. Besides, the government has begun to distribute relief food?"

"The government said that we should keep close contact with the local victims of Haizhou first. Those who escaped from other places must wait for the next batch of disaster relief food. Even the labor recruited is close to the local people, but the family can't wait, and they are starving." The eight foot man shed tears all over his face.

Ling Qingyu is very embarrassed. She sympathizes with this man, but she knows better that she can't promise. First, she is only responsible for delivering food, and she can't intervene in other things. Second, if she sends their food, then more people will come to her. She is unable to save so many people. The more terrible consequence is that now the disaster is so serious, and the situation is imminent. Once there is a little possibility, I'm afraid it will hit the bay.

"We don't hire workers, but I want to buy some servants." Ling Qingyu thought again and said, "if you want to sell yourself to me, you should follow my boat away from your hometown, for fear that you will never come back. Moreover, you can't pass this message on to others. I only buy you. If you pass it on to others, I won't recognize it."

"Villain is willing, villain is willing!" The man will kowtow again.

"Stop knocking, stop knocking." Ling Qingyu hurriedly picked him up and saw that someone had noticed this side of the bay. He hurriedly said, "our ship will leave tomorrow. If you can stay up until that time, come here in the early morning. Before that, you can't leak a word."

"The villain knows that he will never cause trouble to the master." The man kowtowed again, turned around and quietly retreated from the beach.

"Wait," Ling Qingyu took a nest out of her arms and threw it to him.

"Your kindness will kill you one day." Yan San said coldly under the cliff stone.

Ling Qingyu was surprised and thought, why do you seem to be a professional listener!!!

"I know, I'm not so good at saving everyone," Ling Qingyu bowed his head. "But now that I have this fate, I can help a little bit. Everyone will die. If at that time..." Ling Qingyu was silent. If at that time, his mother would not die. Since this man can meet her, it is also a kind of fate.

But I still want to say hello.

Ling Qingyu jumped off the cliff and went to the bay to find the official in charge of escorting food. The officials are making the final handover with Haizhou officials. The grain has been unloaded and handed over to Haizhou government. If there is another accident, there will be nothing wrong with him.

Ling Qingyu looked at the grain in the bay. It was estimated that he would be able to carry it all away in a few hours. He said to the official, "adult Zheng, are you ready?"

"Well, well, we can sail back tomorrow. Thank you for being in charge of Ling this time." Lord Zheng was in a good mood. When he went ashore to see that kind of tragedy, he was also a drummer in his heart. He had been a petty official for many years and knew that under such circumstances, civil commotion was the most likely to happen. Fortunately, he was handed over safely.

"I want to buy some servants. I don't know the price here now?" Ling Qingyu laughed with an expression you know.

"Now what's the money? A bucket of grain, a young man's labor, and half a bucket of grain, a girl like a flower. The man in charge is a sailor?" Lord Zheng laughed. He also knew that Ling Qingyu had bought some children to board the ship. Think that the Aeolus could seat at least hundreds of people on its return voyage. If it was sold to Hangzhou mansion, it could be sold for two to ten liang of silver per person. Well, this girl is a money maker. This business can be done together, and it will cost thousands of liang of silver back and forth.

Lord Zheng rubbed his hands and whispered, "anyway, there's still some time. The lower officials can help the head of the family choose some people, just, that." Blink at Ling Qingyu constantly.

Ling Qingyu was stunned for a while before he realized that this adult Zheng misunderstood that she wanted to be a human trafficker. After thinking about it, she doesn't lack this money. If she can save one person, it's one person.

Taking out onethousand taels of silver from his bag, Ling Qingyu also whispered, "then please Lord Zheng, give this to adults to drink, and I'll ask the people on board to deliver the food later."

Lord Zheng found a local official in Haizhou to whisper a few words. The official looked at Ling Qingyu, received a silver ticket of onehundred Liang, and left with Lord Zheng first.

Ling Qingyu sighed. She only had a few hundred stones of grain in her private clothes. Now there are less than two hundred stones left. At least she can't short the food of the officers and soldiers when she goes back. A stone of rice is about 120 kilograms. If Lord Zheng buys hundreds of people for her, then the food of the people who buy them will cost tens of stones. Eat porridge.

At dawn, the morning glow is like fire, rendering the horizon crimson.

"Your family... Has a large population..." looking at dozens of people, old or young, standing under the cliff stone, Ling Qingyu unconsciously helped her forehead and sighed.

The man rubbed his hands and said sheepishly, "master, I really can't help it. They are all relatives from the same village." He didn't want to renege on his promise, but his wife immediately informed his parents when she saw that there was a way to live, and then spread it all over the place where their village gathered. Fortunately, their village was alone in the same place because of discord with other people, and they were not all shocked at last.

Yan San looked at Ling Qingyu with a smile, thinking that it was lucky to ask Xi to steal some food and put it in his cabin first.

He took the villager on board, and the officers and soldiers over there also reported that Lord Zheng and his men had come back.

"Ding Dong, take people into the cargo hold, be alert, and don't put people with hatred together." Ling Qingyu is very depressed, but things have been done, there is no need to regret, but we must pay attention to what we should pay attention to. Who knows what will happen to so many people.

"This young man," a middle-aged man with a long beard who followed the man walked up to Ling Qingyu and said, "I have a reputation. Where do I ask to live with my family?" he pointed to the cabin and then said, "and our patriarch."

"Ding Dong, all those who did not sign the deed of sale got off the ship!" Lingqingyu directly said to Ding Dong, "don't be idle. Take it to the cargo hold and lock the hatch for me." Fame, you uncle!

"You can't do this to us. I have a reputation. I want to appeal to the court!" The middle-aged man shouted.

"The imperial court stipulates that scholars cannot be bought or sold." A soldier came up to Ling Qingyu and said.

"Can the scholar take the boat for nothing?" Lingqingyu glared and asked.

"Of course not." The soldiers laughed, and then stepped back.

"Master, please be kind," the man hurried away the middle-aged man, bowed to Ling Qingyu repeatedly, and said, "please, don't drive them off the ship."

The middle-aged man also wanted to refute. This was that the people bought by Lord Zheng had begun to get on the ship one after another. The middle-aged man looked at those people who were all tied up in a row and climbed on the ship like animals. He immediately stopped talking and silently walked with the man to the cargo hold below.

Ding Dong annoyed them and stuffed the innermost and darkest place. Then he said, "don't try to mess around. Our head is soft hearted. Our brother is not so kind-hearted. Be careful not to be drowned in the sea without starvation."

The man complained in his heart that the dead scholar was dead. If someone saved you, you still went to play tricks. If you want to die, you won't bring trouble to the people of the village.

Lord Zheng bought a total of 600 people. They were really carefully selected. The top men were young workers, and the women were also young and beautiful. He also selected many beautiful teenagers and girls.

Ling Qingyu looked at people and unconsciously glanced at Yan San. Are these going to be sold to brothels?

Seeing some scholars in ragged long shirts inside, Ling Qingyu unconsciously asked Lord Zheng, "those people won't have fame?"

Lord Zheng was stunned for a moment and said, "I don't know. Anyway, they all wrote a deed of betrayal, and the Haizhou yamen also gave official documents. Scholars can also be slaves."

Talent! Ling Qingyu secretly raised her thumb. To Zheng dahen: "the villain also wants to open some shops in Lin'an mansion. I don't know what advice does Lord Zheng have?"

"That's nice! Just ask me about it. What do you think of the west market? The restaurant and soup restaurant over there are good businesses!" Facing those refugees Nunu mouth again, ZHENG Jin said, "it's a pity that you have good goods in your hand. It's a pity that you can't open the brothel in Lin'an mansion. Otherwise, people don't have to look for it anymore."

"Then you have to ask Lord Zheng for help. After the restaurant and soup restaurant open, you also need Lord Zheng to look after them. Why don't you ask Lord Zheng to participate in some shares?" Ling Qingyu raised her eyebrows and said with a smile.

"Hehe, the good intention of taking charge of the family, but if you leave the official position for micro, you can invest 10% at most." The translation of this sentence is that you know the taste very well, but my position is relatively low, and it is estimated that I have to deal with others, so I only take 10% of your bonus.

"Deal."