Republic of China

Chapter 259 Sense of dissonance

It takes about ten days to travel from the Imperial Capital to Shimen. It is located 200 kilometers southwest of the Imperial Capital and is close to the Taihang Mountains.

For Zhao Sanyuan and Lao Liu, every step forward is refreshing because they have never left the Northeast and are very interested in the customs and customs in the pass.

The ice and snow melt and spring flowers bloom.

There are more and more pedestrians coming and going on the muddy dirt road. Most of the traffic is on the road. It is rare to see a car passing by. At most, it is a donkey cart, a horse, or an animal cart.

If you observe carefully, there are fewer going from north to south and east to west, but more going from south to north and west to east.

Firstly, there was a food harvest in the Central Plains last year, and secondly, Wu Peifu and Sun Chuanfang were hung up and beaten by the revolutionary army, which caused a large number of refugees to seek a way to the north. The west was actually more chaotic than the Central Plains and Linhai areas. Four horses and one Feng, Sichuan The level of chaos such as scuffles and so on was more serious than imagined, but it was just that it was located in a remote location and was not well-known.

It can be summed up in one word.

Bulk.

The Chinese autumn leaf crabapple is in pieces.

Looking at the relatively stable areas in Yanhuang, it is the areas controlled by Fengjun. Since entering the customs as the last single seedling in Beiyang, there has been no big trouble. There is only one Guo devil who eats the Zhang family's food and smashes the Zhang family's bowl.

How do people care who is in charge these days? The chaos has been going on for decades, and there is always a way to survive, and many people who embark on the road to leave their homes are equivalent to embarking on a dead end, and not many can reach the end of living and working in peace and contentment in their minds.

Hunger, war, disease, banditry, wild beasts, natural disasters, etc. can kill you.

Therefore, while Zhao Sanyuan felt the local customs and customs in Guan, he also saw the dire straits with his own eyes. The excitement and freshness were quickly worn away, and more and more heaviness and helplessness lingered in his heart.

Starved to death on the roadside.

Bit to pieces by wild beasts.

He was tied to a tree trunk by bandits and tortured to death.

The clothes do not cover the body, and the skin is as thin as firewood.

You can barely walk two miles to see unburied bodies.

This does not include those who fainted from hunger and disease.

The brothers see each other helping each other, and it is indispensable to give food and drinks. Maybe their abilities are limited, and how much can they help if they try their best?

Just like treating difficult and complicated diseases, we only treat the symptoms but not the root cause.

If Lao Liu hadn't withheld the last grain, Lu Xiu could have sent out all the supplies on the donkey cart.

Zhao Sanyuan raised his head and looked at the sky, "Don't save the poor scholar. If you don't wait until Shimen, you, a living Bodhisattva, will starve to death first. You still need to be strong to make iron. Let's find a town to replenish it first. When we have enough money, we can help the poor." "

Old Liu Shen nodded in agreement, holding on to the last piece of dry food without letting go, "Yes, yes, the map shows that this place has no access to any village and no store. It takes at least two days to travel to the nearest town. It’s not like we haven’t asked about the surrounding small villages. They sell anything but not food. Every family is almost unable to open the pot, so let’s make sure we don’t starve to death first.”

"Ugh"

Lu Xiucai sighed heavily. How could he not know the principle of acting within his ability? But when you really see old people and children dying of starvation on the roadside, how can you be so cruel as to pretend not to see them?

But there is a bright future.

At the end of the road, there were two people beating gongs and shouting as they walked, saying that there would be a porridge relief farm five miles further.

This news was like a thunderbolt from the blue.

Pedestrians on the road, even if they have run out of gas and lamps, will squeeze out the last of their strength and struggle to finish the five-mile journey with the light of day.

The brothers are also happy. It's great to have a porridge restaurant. In addition to eating and drinking for free, you can also spend money to buy some food and help more people on the road in the future.

Zhao Sanyuan said with emotion: "There are still good people. There are not many people who can provide relief and set up porridge these days."

Lu Xiucai was so moved that he said, "What is a living Bodhisattva? This is called a living Bodhisattva. Setting up a memorial tablet for immortality is not an exaggeration."

Lao Liu and Lao Kang also breathed a sigh of relief. There were really too many victims and refugees on this road, and their moods had been heavy and depressed. Meeting the kind man who set up a porridge at this critical moment was indeed a blessing after a long drought.

Only Mo Wenshan's expression remained unchanged, cross-legged and smoking his old pipe.

Living Bodhisattva?

A good person?

Ah.

What do these brats know?

Whether it’s a Bodhisattva or a demon, we won’t know until we get there.

The five-mile journey was not that far, and the donkey, who had eaten two pounds of bean cakes at noon, arrived quickly.

At the foot of a small hillside, an extremely simple porridge was filled with huge smoke, and the fragrance of rice could be smelled from a long distance away. There was a sea of ​​people outside the porridge, and the hungry people rushed forward like crazy, even if they had to crawl, they had to climb over. Have a bowl of porridge.

For thousands of years, the Yanhuang people have insisted on being a well-fed ghost even if they die, otherwise they will not die in peace.

Looking at the refugees on the three floors inside and three outside, Zhao Sanyuan was about to cry, "Okay, I originally wanted to take advantage, but now I think it's better to pull him down. Let's not compete with the refugees for food. Without the four of us lining up, maybe there will be more people." Save four."

The brothers all nodded, thinking there was nothing wrong.

Although Lao Liu is a master who loves to take advantage of small things, he is never ambiguous when it comes to big matters.

"Lao Kang, how much money do we still have on hand?"

"Now there are five or six hundred in Dayang, and there are also about 20,000 yuan in copper yuan coupons. Oh, yes, there are also a few gold bars."

Zhao Sanyuan pondered slightly.

I thought that I didn’t know how many places I would go to on this trip. If I had to go further south to escape from Fengjun’s territory in the future, the ticket would be useless, because the relationship between the old Zhang family and Yanhuang Bank and Bank of Communications was not good. , so the tickets were not circulated across the country, and silver dollars, gold, and grain were the hard currencies.

But in Fengjun's territory, Fengqiao is still relatively strong. Unlike other warlords who frequently print five or six zeros on banknotes, leading to a rapid economic collapse. People are too lazy to wipe their skin with banknotes when going to the toilet, and Fengqiao has the highest denomination. There is only one hundred, and there is no short-sightedness to add zeros to the top, and we have been doing our best to suppress inflation.

"Bring all the tickets, let's go to the porridge shop to see if we can buy some food." Zhao Sanyuan inserted the horse card into his lower back.

Safety comes first. I heard that refugees in the porridge are prone to riots due to fighting, and there are also horse bandits who come down from the mountain to rob after hearing the news, so it’s not wrong to bring them along.

Lao Kang kicked out the banknotes and followed Zhao Sanyuan to the porridge.

But after walking for a while, I discovered something strange, because not only were the people eating porridge naked, there were also many wearing silk and satin.

Zhao Sanyuan was slightly confused and asked in a low voice: "Rich people also come to the porridge shop to eat for free? It doesn't make sense. Isn't it good to take your gold and silver to eat and drink in the town?"

Lao Kang, who had traveled south and north and almost kissed a zombie, was more knowledgeable and replied: "Brother, think about it carefully, whether a place is hit by natural disasters or military disasters, the rich cannot survive just like the poor. , can the home nursing home be better than the army? To say the least, even if the fighting army has strict military discipline, big households still dare not open fire to cook, otherwise hundreds of hungry and anxious people will destroy their homes and leave nothing behind. They couldn’t live there, so the wealthy households sold off their grain in advance, took their land deeds and gold and silver, and fled with their families, waiting for the storm to pass before going back.”

"I understand the truth. What I mean is that since you have money in your pocket, why should you suffer like this? Is it uncomfortable to go to the town?"

"Oh, brother, you haven't turned around. What happened to the big family? The reason why they are big is because of their local prestige and influence in the peaceful years. How can they still be considered big when they have left their hometowns? At best, they are just big fat sheep, and they don't show off their wealth. Don't you know the truth? Both officials and bandits have spies in the towns. They watch these fat sheep come into the city every day, come and eat one by one, and end up selling their sons and daughters. There is no place to cry. "

Zhao Sanyuan suddenly realized it and smiled bitterly again and again.

Don't you think the officials and bandits are all members of the same family?

But I have to say that it is definitely a violent business. It is difficult for ordinary people to imagine how deep the water is inside.

The poor can't afford it, and the rich can't seem to afford it either.

Somehow, Zhao Sanyuan suddenly remembered the bearded gentleman who was executed in public. The scholar said that they wanted to create a Yanhuang where everyone was well fed, clothed warmly, and everyone lived with dignity. Now combined with what Lao Kang said , understand how difficult the path they have chosen is.

What we are facing is the community of interests of officials and bandits. Only when the world becomes more chaotic can we exploit troubled waters, completely solidify the superstructure, and suck the blood and marrow of the middle and lower layers forever from generation to generation. "The way you put it, it's really sad." Zhao Sanyuan rubbed his temples, feeling that there were some things that his little mind couldn't figure out, let alone that an ordinary person like him could think of a solution to, so he had better take care of himself. .

When we came to the back of the porridge, bags and bags of grain were piled up like mountains, and there were countless rice and white noodles.

Of course, there are more gun-wielding guards on strict guard, not military police, but civilian armed forces, which shows that the people who set up the porridge are not simple.

"The rest of you are waiting and go away quickly!"

Seeing Zhao Sanyuan and Kang Muang approaching, several guards pulled the bolts of their guns and were ready to shoot.

sense of violation.

At this moment, Zhao Sanyuan felt an extremely profound sense of violation.

It's unclear.

You may say that you are doing good deeds and doing good deeds, but there are so many armed guards here, and they all look fierce.

You think it's nonsense to say it's all about saving face, but people are actually giving out porridge for charity, and everyone is welcome. At least everyone has a bowl of porridge.

awkward.

Very awkward.

In the end, Zhao Sanyuan thought it was due to the world's laws, and it was probably the arrangement made by the good man who was afraid of being robbed.

Lao Kang hurried forward, fearing that the other party would offend his younger brother by speaking too hastily, "Brother, don't get me wrong, we are here to buy food. If there are any rich people, we will see if we can sell some."

Upon hearing this, the guards immediately became friendly and welcomed the two brothers with the kindest smiles. They led them to a temporary straw shed, where sat a middle-aged scholar wearing a Confucian shirt. They first looked at the two brothers up and down. Especially after seeing Zhao Sanyuantu's shabby dress, he frowned slightly, but after seeing the decent Kang Muang, his frown relaxed slightly.

"Do you two want to buy food? Or do you want to take care of the children?"

Zhao Sanyuan and Lao Kang looked at each other.

child?

What child?

Isn’t this a porridge shop?

And help take care of the kids?

Too much information?

Could it be that the good man behind the porridge shop is really a living Bodhisattva descending to earth?

The middle-aged literati noticed the brothers' doubts and thought they didn't trust them, so he pretended to sigh and said: "It's like this when there is a disaster, and when there is war and chaos, the world is difficult. Fortunately, there is a man in Boye more than a hundred miles away. The Western Church has a nursery under the church, and we guarantee that there will be no problem if the children are entrusted to us. A lot of the food in this porridge is provided by the Western Church."

Zhao Sanyuan stared into the other person's eyes.

On the surface, there was nothing wrong with the words, but I intuitively told myself that something was unusual.

You must know that more than twenty years ago, the Boxer Rebellion in this area made a lot of noise, killing many Western missionaries and fake foreign devils, which led the eight countries to use this as an excuse to form a coalition to invade Yanhuang. How ruthless the Boxer Rebellion was against foreigners back then, here is I won’t go into details. The direct cause of the conflict is the extraterritoriality of the missionaries. For example, if the missionaries kill your own father with one shot, the laws of Yan and Huang cannot sanction him. Only the country of the missionaries can judge, and the dignity of Yan and Huang will be severely punished. Trampling, there were too many humiliating incidents during this period.

Therefore, both emotionally and logically, it seems that Western missionaries should not return to this land, let alone provide a large amount of food to help adopt children.

Because of fraternity?

Because of kindness?

That’s not to say it’s not possible, I can only say that the probability is extremely low.

The most important thing is still that in the current Republic of China, Western missionaries actually continued to retain extraterritorial rights.

Zhao Sanyuan didn't think too much and replied: "We don't have children, we just want to buy some food."

The middle-aged scholar looked a little disappointed, "I have the raw materials of white flour, cornmeal, red sorghum, rice, and millet here, as well as finished dry food. Can you guys tell me which one you need?"

"Would you like rice? How much does it cost per pound?" Lao Kang chose rice. Firstly, it is easy to cook, and secondly, it can be used to make porridge.

Some people may not understand. When a refugee who has been hungry for a long time is dying, his stomach and intestines are too weak to eat solid food. Even half a piece of cornbread may kill him. He can only eat some soup and water first. The scientific term is called refeeding. syndrome.

So Lao Kang chooses relatively easy-to-use rice.

The middle-aged scholar stretched out his palm and said, "Easy to say, a pound of rice costs five hundred."

Zhao Sanyuan's eyes widened and he asked in astonishment: "Are your rice particles made of gold or are your rice bran made of gold?"

The middle-aged scholar chuckled, "Look at how many rice sellers there are within a few hundred miles? This is rice shipped from Jiangsu and Zhejiang. If you think it's expensive, I think it's too expensive."

"Okay, okay, five hundred is five hundred, give me twenty kilograms." Lao Kang grabbed Zhao Sanyuan and quickly took out the money.

Unexpectedly, the other party almost burst out laughing when he saw that he was offering tickets. He originally thought that the well-dressed Kang Muang was a smart money, but now he saw that it was just that.

"Friend, five hundred means five hundred big bucks, and it must be paid in cash, not five hundred in votes."

This time even Lao Kang was dumbfounded.

Five hundred dollars can be exchanged for a pound of rice?

Are you crazy or am I crazy?

Even the rice for Zhang Dashuai can't be so expensive, right?

After all, the two brothers were people who had dined in big brothels and witnessed big scenes, but now they were really shocked.

Lao Kang was particularly embarrassed as he held a stack of tickets, while Zhao Sanyuan was still confused.

Can't figure it out.

I can't figure it out at all.

That sense of dissonance came to its peak at this moment.

Outside, regardless of age or gender, people cast magic porridge and water to do good deeds.

Inside, grain is sold at sky-high prices.

Is this middle-aged man committing theft?

From the corner of his eye, Zhao Sanyuan saw a lot of gold and silver in the corner of the hut. This showed that the other party was definitely not guarding theft, but was acting according to the instructions above.

But what is the point of doing this?

Standing and acting?

That doesn't make sense either.

"Do you still want to buy it? If you don't want to buy it, please leave." The middle-aged scholar coldly issued an order to expel the guests. The guards on the side stepped forward and looked unhappy.

When Zhao Sanyuan and Lao Kang walked out of the porridge, their brains were still buzzing, and they racked their brains and couldn't figure out what was going on.

Although everyone knows that in the chaotic years, the price of food will soar exponentially, but it is still too crazy to pay 500 yuan for 16 taels of rice, and even the wrongdoer will not accept this price.

There are too many weird places in this porridge, and there is a sense of dissonance everywhere.

Zhao Sanyuan chuckled and was amused, "Old Kang, Old Kang, we have finally seen the world. Five hundred dollars can equal a pound of rice. If our old fairy eats it, can he ascend to the same place?"

Lao Kang also smiled, "I don't know. Anyway, I must taste it carefully one by one. I can't bear to eat it."

At this time, a decently dressed man walked towards the hay shed. Zhao Sanyuan made up his mind at once, "Lao Kang, you go back first. I want to see what's going on with the sky-high price of food. I can't even sleep if I don't understand."

(End of this chapter)