My younger brother Lü Fengxian

Chapter 101 Recruiting Refugees
The five large iron pots borrowed from the Zhen family were roasting over a fierce fire at the bottom of the pots, and the aroma of the rice porridge in the pots spread far away.

Thousands of refugees, already starving, swarmed over, scrambling and crowding to get to the pot to be the first to get the rice porridge.

However, these people were firmly controlled by the guards who were following the orders of the Zhongshan County Magistrate and were kept outside the area designated by Lu Yi.

Lu Yi's recruitment of refugees back to Jiuyuan and Mayi could also share some of the pressure on Zhongshan County. Therefore, the prefect of Zhongshan County not only agreed to his request to recruit refugees back to build the fort, but even took the initiative to send guards to enforce order, and was determined to do his best to promote this matter.

These refugees are all pale and thin, with weak limbs. How can they defeat the energetic and ruddy-faced guards?

These guards were no more than five or six hundred strong, but they easily controlled thousands of refugees ten feet away from the big iron pot. No refugee could break through their blockade, and even the two hundred men that Lu Yi was going to mobilize had no chance to take action.

For such a large number of refugees, this amount of food is only enough to sustain them for two or three days, so it is naturally impossible for Lu Yi to feed everyone.

When he saw that the situation was under control, he immediately stepped out of the crowd and spoke loudly to the refugees who were gradually calming down.

"I am Lü Yi from Jiuyuan. If there are any of you from Bingzhou, you may have heard of my name."

"This time I am not distributing porridge as usual, but to recruit refugees who are willing to return to Jiuyuan or Mayi with me to build and repair the fort to replenish their physical strength."

"I promise you, as long as you are willing to follow me, listen to my orders, work hard and don't cheat, I, Lu Yi, will ensure that you have a full meal every day while you work!"

Lu Yi's words immediately caused an uproar among the refugees.

It seems that Lu Yi wants to provide them with porridge not just once, but to provide them with long-term meals.

Although there is no mention of wages, for the refugees who are struggling to survive hunger and cold every day, just being given a bowl of porridge every day is enough to sell their lives to you, so there is no need to talk about wages.

This is the biggest reason why, more than four years later, when Zhang Jue raised his arms and shouted, millions of people across the country responded, almost reaching the point of nationwide rebellion.

I can't even get enough food to eat and I'm almost starving to death. You come to talk to me about loyalty to the emperor and patriotism. Isn't that nonsense?

The Han people can be the most hardworking and obedient citizens in the world, and at the same time they can be the most fearless mob in the world, daring enough to fight against all powerful forces!
Seeing that the speech was effective, Lu Yi continued to add to it.

"But you have at least 5,000 to 6,000 people here. My Luyi family is small and cannot feed so many mouths. I can only recruit 1,000 refugees at most, and the Zhang family of Mayi can only recruit 500 at most!"

"Therefore, if there are people who are willing to earn a living for themselves and their families with their own hands, please line up one by one and be selected by the stewards I have arranged. As long as you pass the selection, you can come here to drink porridge!"

"However, if there are people who do not follow the order, or who want to take advantage of the opportunity to incite unrest, the governor has also issued an order that not only will they not be able to drink a single porridge, but they will also be caught and punished, and the leader will be killed without mercy!"

The refugees, who were originally fighting fiercely, restored some order after hearing Lu Yi's warning.

Upon seeing this, Lu Yi immediately struck when the iron was hot and arranged for his 200 men to join the queue to maintain order. He divided the male refugees who came to respond to the call into five long queues and patrolled back and forth along the queues.

Once anyone is found cutting in line, they will be immediately sent back to the end of the line. If there are troublemakers, they will be arrested and handed over to the Zhongshan City guards for punishment.

After a long time, the situation was finally under control.

Soon, the first refugee passed through the crowd and came to Lu Yi with the permission of the guards and the servants. "Where are you from?" Lu Yi first observed the physical condition of the middle-aged man, and then asked gently.

"Sir, I am from Henei. Because of the locust plague, I followed everyone to the wealthy Jizhou to beg for food. Please show mercy and accept my family. We are willing to be your servants for generations to come to repay your kindness!"

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man immediately started crying and wanted to kowtow to Lu Yi, but was stopped by Lu Yi.

"You don't have to do that. If you can meet my standards, I will accept you even if you don't beg me. If you can't meet my standards, I won't accept you even if you bow down to me."

"Let me ask you, what kind of work can you do? How many people are there in your family?"

"Sir, I am a good farmer. During my spare time, I worked as a bricklayer for a wealthy family in the county. I have an old mother and three children at home. My wife starved to death while wandering."

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man immediately answered Lu Yi's questions honestly one by one.

"Having experience in bricklaying work does qualify, but there are too many of them with families..." Lu Yi frowned when he heard this.

The Han Dynasty had a population of 50 million. If we add in the fugitives, slaves, and tenants dependent on the great families, the number would be no less than 60 to 70 million. Lu Yi's current family fortune could not withstand the turmoil, and he could not save too many people.

According to Lu Yi's expectations, he could only carefully plan the resources he currently had and try his best to rescue those who could be rescued and had the ability to support themselves.

Therefore, the number of people with families cannot be too large.

A monogamous couple with three children, or a strong man with his parents or two children under ten years old.

In this way, in addition to feeding an able-bodied man, Lu Yi only needs to pay the ration of an additional able-bodied laborer to support their families.

Although this middle-aged refugee was weak, he could become a strong laborer if he was fed for a few months. However, he had to support his elderly mother and three children, and the burden was too heavy. If Lu Yi accepted him, it would be unfair to others.

Thinking of this, Lu Yi couldn't help but sigh in his heart. He was about to refuse him politely, but suddenly he felt something in his heart and looked at the group of women and children at the back of the crowd. There seemed to be an old woman with three little kids who were looking at him anxiously.

Although the people were some distance apart, Lu Yi had excellent eyesight and could see the worry, fear and hope on their faces.

He turned his head again and looked at the honest and eager middle-aged refugee in front of him. He was silent for a while, but finally said words of agreement.

"You have been recruited. Bring your family over to register and you can have porridge..."

After saying this, Lu Yi suddenly felt angry with himself.

Why are you always so soft-hearted? How can you achieve great things in the future if you continue like this?
"Thank you very much, sir. Thank you very much, sir. I will work hard and will not let you down..."

The honest middle-aged refugee had no idea what was in Lu Yi's mind, and immediately bowed down to him with joy.

……

(End of this chapter)