My father Zhu Gaoxu

Chapter 841 Escape (Part )

If they can't enter the city, they won't be able to find immigrant merchants, and there will be no way to replenish food. Without food, it is impossible for Gouzi and the others to reach Laizhou Port in their current situation.

"Gouzi, Qingzhou City is not allowed to enter, what should we do now?"

Uncle Qi looked at the closed city gate and asked Gouzi worriedly. The other clan members also looked at Gouzi, hoping that he would come up with an idea.

"Don't worry, everyone. I'm going to find out. Maybe the city gate is only temporarily closed. After all, such a big Qingzhou City cannot keep the city gate closed all the time."

Gouzi comforted everyone, then he put Uncle Qi down and went to the city gate to inquire about the situation.

The city gate was crowded with victims, and the dog finally managed to get to the front. Although the city gate was closed, there were officers and soldiers guarding the front, and a notice was posted beside the city gate.

Gouzi was originally illiterate, but later he went to Dahan and studied at night school for half a year. He also likes to read newspapers, so now he can understand notices and is considered a semi-literate person among the villagers.

There was not much content on the notice. It just announced to the victims that Qingzhou City had limited space and could not accommodate too many victims, so the city gate was closed. However, the notice also told the victims not to worry, as the government would not ignore them. Every morning someone would go out of the city to give porridge, so that the victims could wait outside the city with peace of mind.

After reading the content on the notice, Gouzi also frowned. This was not the first time he had seen similar notices. When passing through some big cities on the road, similar notices would be posted, but the so-called soup kitchen had never been seen before.

However, Gouzi soon noticed that some victims had already set up sheds at the base of the city wall, and they seemed to have been there for a while.

So Gouzi squeezed out of the crowd and came to these sheds. There happened to be a kind-faced old man sitting in front of the sheds to bask in the sun, so Gouzi asked very politely: "Old sir, is there really anyone giving porridge in Qingzhou City?"

The old man raised his head and glanced at Gouzi. He probably thought he was being polite, so he forced a smile and replied, "It's true that we are giving porridge, but we only have one meal a day, so we can barely survive the hunger."

"Then can we go into the city? I have some things to do when I go into the city?"

When Gouzi heard that someone was really giving porridge, he immediately felt certain, and then continued to ask.

"You want to enter the city? That's not easy. Anyway, I've been here for half a month, and not many people can enter the city."

The old man shook his head and replied.

"Listening to what you say, there are still people who can enter the city?"

Gouzi's eyes lit up when he heard this. As long as there was a possibility of entering the city, there was still hope for them.

"Hey, if you want to enter the city, you must have money, otherwise how can they let you in?"

The old man said and looked at the ragged dog. From the look of the other person, he really didn't look like a rich person. After all, how could a truly rich person become a disaster victim?

"Thank you, old gentleman, for your advice!"

Gouzi did not defend himself. After thanking the other party, he immediately turned around and returned to the place where Uncle Qi and the rest were resting, telling them the good news about the porridge. As for entering the city, Gouzi wanted to see it again. Although he still had some hidden things. Money, but don't dare to show it easily, otherwise if others see it, it will kill someone.

People like Uncle Qi were also very happy to learn that porridge was actually being given out in the city. After all, as long as they had food to eat, they could at least save their lives for the time being. As for the future, we could only talk about it later.

It was getting dark at this time, so Gouzi and the others found an open space. The men slept outside, and the women and children slept inside. After all, the more victims there were, the less safe they were. It was said that there were specialized human traffickers who kidnapped women and children and sold them. Therefore, dogs and the like must also be vigilant when sleeping.

Early the next morning, some experienced victims began to line up in front of the city gate. Then as soon as the city gate opened, someone actually drove a carriage out, and then set up a big pot at the city gate and started cooking porridge. In order to prevent the victims from looting, there were officers and soldiers guarding the area.

Gouzi took Uncle Qi and the others to queue together. After about an hour, everyone finally received two spoons of thick porridge. Although it was brown rice and there were a lot of impurities, it was at least real food. Everyone who received the porridge People also drank in small sips.

However, Gouzi finished the porridge in a few mouthfuls, and then hid aside and secretly observed the people who were giving porridge, because he had just discovered that these people who were giving porridge were not people from the government, but were dressed in different clothes and looked more like It was a wealthy businessman in the city who organized his servants to go out to the city to give porridge.

Since he was going out of the city to give porridge privately, it meant that there were holes to take advantage of. So Gouzi found an opportunity and took the initiative to help with the work, such as adding firewood and washing pots. Those people who were giving porridge saw someone Taking the initiative to help is also a pleasure.

Gouzi was very patient. He took the initiative to help with the work for several days, and gradually became familiar with the porridge people.

After giving out porridge this morning, Gouzi helped the porridge giver pack his things. Taking advantage of this gap, he quietly found one of the fat stewards and said, "Steward Yu, can I ask you a favor?"

"what's up?"

Guanshi Yu glanced at Gouzi and asked. Among these porridge people, Guanshi Yu was kind and admired Gouzi, so Gouzi found him.

"I want you to take me into the city!"

Gouzi didn't beat around the bush and said directly. "Going into the city? This is not possible. Although we can go out of the city to give porridge, it is also approved by Master Zhizhou, and the number of people entering and leaving is fixed every day. I can't account for one more person."

Manager Yu immediately shook his head and said that although he felt that Gouzi was a diligent young man, he was not willing to take such a big risk for the other party.

"Please be kind to me, Manager Yu. I really need to go to the city for something urgent!"

Gouzi said, suddenly reaching out and holding the steward's hand.

Manager Yu also felt that there was a stack of things stuffed in his hand. When he took a peek, he saw that it was a stack of big man's banknotes, and they were all in denominations of one hundred cents. There were five of them in total, which was five hundred cents.

Although it is a Han Dynasty banknote, it can also be circulated in the Ming Dynasty, and it is stronger than the Ming Dynasty banknotes.

The main reason is that banks in the Ming Dynasty began to issue more banknotes in the past few years, which caused the new banknotes produced by Zhu Zhanhe to begin to depreciate. On the surface, the banknotes of the Ming Dynasty and the Han Dynasty were still one to one, but in fact, in private, the ratio had been greatly increased. Nearly two to one.

"Where did you get so much money?"

Yu Guan was shocked at first, but then he looked at Gouzi warily and asked, "There are all kinds of people among the victims, so he was worried that Gouzi's money was not clean and would implicate him."

"Don't worry, Manager Yu. These are all my hard-earned money. I went overseas to do business a few years ago. This time I went back to my hometown to visit my relatives. As a result, I encountered a big disaster, so I took my parents and fellow villagers to flee together. This time I came to Qingzhou I also want to find an opportunity to go to Laizhou Port and take a boat out to sea."

Gouzi didn't hide anything and directly told him his purpose.

In fact, this is not a secret. After all, most of the victims who came to Qingzhou City came to emigrate overseas. This was an open matter.

"So you are a Han man?"

When Manager Yu heard Gouzi's words, he looked at him in surprise and asked.

"Exactly."

Gouzi nodded and admitted that the relationship between the Han Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty was close, especially the businessmen from the two countries often communicated with each other, and some even had household registrations in both countries, so Gouzi had nothing to hide.

"If that's the case, it'll be easy. You don't need to go into the city, because some people from the Han Dynasty came to the city a few days ago and are preparing to organize the victims outside the city to go to Laizhou. It is estimated that it will start in the next two days. action."

Manager Yu said with a smile.

"Really? Someone is coming from the big man's side?"

Gouzi's eyes lit up when he heard this. If this was really the case, then not only them, but all the victims outside the city would be saved.

"Of course, so you don't have to worry, just wait for two days with peace of mind!"

As Manager Yu said that, he actually put the banknotes in Gouzi's hand again. He was not short of this money, and his family started out in the immigration business and had close ties with the big man, so he met Gouzi. It’s considered fate.

"Manager Yu, you are so polite. Thank you for telling me this news. This little money will be used for your tea. I will definitely reward you generously if I have the opportunity in the future!"

Gou Zi very generously put the money into the hands of the steward and said, no matter whether there are big men in the city or not, it is not a bad thing to spend a little money to get to know the steward of a wealthy family.

"This... Okay, then I'm not polite. I think you are also a cheerful person, little brother. Maybe we will have a chance to meet again in the future."

Manager Yu didn't refuse anymore. After accepting the banknotes immediately, he took a pack of big cakes from the car and stuffed it to Gouzi. Gouzi was not polite about it. After accepting it, he thanked him again, and then watched the other person take it with him. The team entered the city.

Gouzi returned to his residence carrying a bag of big cakes, summoned everyone to tell them what he had learned, and distributed the big cakes to the elderly and children.

Knowing that there were big men in the city and that they could be sent to Laizhou, everyone almost jumped up with joy, but Gouzi still told everyone to keep it secret. After all, he only heard the steward mention it. , no one knows the real situation, so they still have to wait patiently.

However, Gouzi and the others did not wait too long. Just three days later, when Guanzhang and others were out of the city to give porridge, a group of people suddenly appeared. This group of people claimed to be businessmen from the Han Dynasty and could organize the victims to take a boat to Laizhou.

As soon as the news came out, all the victims went crazy, scrambling to sign up one by one.

Gouzi also took this opportunity to reveal his identity to these people. As a result, he was warmly welcomed by these people and asked Uncle Qi and others to rush to Laizhou first. As for Gouzi, he stayed to help these people organize the victims. After all, there were too many victims, and these Han merchants were also somewhat short of manpower.

It was during this process that Gouzi learned that these Han merchants were all natives of Shandong, and many of them were the first batch of immigrants to go to the Han Dynasty. They learned that their hometown had suffered a disaster, so with the help of the Han Dynasty court, they Return to your hometown to help the victims.

(End of this chapter)