My younger brother Lü Fengxian

Chapter 102 Changes in Jiuheli
"Mother! Children! We are saved!"

"Lord Lu Yi recruited me!"

"Woo woo woo... we finally have something to eat!"

After thanking Lu Yi, the middle-aged refugee could no longer suppress his excitement and ran towards his family crying.

This scene caused a commotion in the queue nearby. The refugees became anxious when they saw this. They were afraid that Lu Yi would have recruited enough workers by the time it was their turn, and they were also worried that they would not meet the requirements and would be turned away.

The guards who were there to maintain order saw this and started pushing and scolding the crowd. It took them a long time to suppress the surging crowd.

"Gao Shun, come here!" Lu Yi thought that this was not a solution and waved at Gao Shun.

"Brother, what can I do for you?" Upon hearing this, Gao Shun immediately came to Lu Yi and bowed.

This time when Lu Yi came out to sell horses, he had already decided to recruit refugees, so he brought all the caravan members with him to help maintain order. Gao Shun was naturally among them.

"You are responsible for selecting people." Lu Yi said with a sigh.

"I..." Gao Shun was stunned at first, then he understood what Lu Yi meant, and nodded with a straight face: "Brother, don't worry, I will definitely take care of this matter."

"Very good." Lu Yi nodded when he heard it, and immediately told Gao Shun the recruitment standards, asking him to be the first step in the front and eliminate the refugees who were too burdened.

He himself retreated behind the scenes and took over Gao Shun's clerical work.

With Gao Shun's joining, the recruitment process became much smoother.

Gao Shun is a strict person who values ​​rules and will not act according to his personal preferences. Therefore, he will not make concessions to anyone who does not pass the selection.

Soon, Lu Yi's one thousand men and Zhang's five hundred men were recruited.

Along with them, their families were recruited, and their number was even greater than theirs, totaling two thousand people.

They drank all the five large iron pots clean. Even the remaining rice porridge on the iron pots was carefully scraped off and stuffed into their mouths. It was obvious that they were extremely hungry.

The other refugees who were not recruited could only watch their former companions, strangers from a distance, while being stopped by the guards. They ate comfortably and contentedly.

For a moment, the regretful voices of the men who were not selected, as well as the disappointment and painful cries of the elderly, the weak, women and children, rang out, making Lu Yi feel heavy in his heart.

He was silent for a long time, and simply took out some of the remaining food, and started cooking again in the five large iron pots, so that the refugees who were not selected could also eat the thick rice porridge together.

"Alas... Even if I can't save you forever, saving you for just one day is good enough..."

After arranging all this, Lu Yi said goodbye to Zhen Yi and left Zhongshan with more than 3,000 refugees.

After arriving in Bingzhou, Lu Yi said goodbye to Zhang Xun who was about to return to Mayi, and headed towards Jiuyuan with two hundred men, a thousand strong refugees hired by him, and more than a thousand elderly and weak people.

This time, because there were many old and weak people, the speed of Lu Yi's team was slowed down a lot.

Fortunately, there were 250 mares ready to be taken back to expand the cavalry team, so that the elderly and the weak who were unable to move could ride one horse each. Otherwise, it would be a blessing to be able to walk ten miles a day. When Liu Bei fled south from Xinye with people, he was probably in the same state as Lu Yi at the moment.

However, Liu Bei was facing the pursuit of the world-famous Tiger and Leopard Cavalry under Cao Cao, while Lu Yi did not have any major enemies for the time being and could travel leisurely.

However, even so, it was already ten days later, mid-May, when Lu Yi and others returned to Jiuyuan.

Fifty days after leaving Jiuheli, when Lu Yi returned again, he found that the base camp had changed a lot.

Not only has the foundation of Luwu been almost laid, but even the original wasteland around Luwu has now been turned into farmland with crisscrossing paths. The one thousand oxen that Lu Yi brought back from the Hunye tribe have been sent to Jiuyuan by Zhang. At this moment, five hundred ruddy-cheeked tenants are working in the fields with their sleeves and trouser legs rolled up. They are either following the ox Shen Ou to drive the iron plow to continue to dig new fields, or pulling out weeds in the fields.

The 250 hectares of farmland nearby have basically been developed, and the wheat seedlings in them have already sprouted, revealing a pleasing green color.

"Brother, with so many good fields, I'm afraid that starting from this autumn, we won't have to worry about food shortage!" Cheng Lian, who was next to Lu Yi, had a happy look on his face.

"Twenty-five thousand acres of farmland, even if we calculate based on a two-dan grain yield, there are still a full fifty thousand dan of grain, enough to supply the annual consumption of two to three thousand people!" Gao Shun nodded repeatedly. He is currently in charge of clerical work under Lu Yi, so he has easy access to this information.

"Two or three thousand people is just a start. A mere two hundred and fifty hectares of land is still not enough. But this is all a matter for the future. These refugees are weak in body, and now they have come through mountains and rivers. We should first settle them properly." Lu Yi ordered calmly.

His power is still too weak now, and he has not yet become complacent. Moreover, this little achievement is far from reaching his goal.

"Brother, you're back!" At this time, Lu Bu, who was left at home by Lu Yi to look after the house, also learned the news of Lu Yi's return, and immediately rode over.

"Haha, I haven't seen you for nearly two months. You must have worked hard, my brother!" Lu Yi felt relieved when he saw Lu Bu, whose face looked a little haggard, and hurried to comfort him.

"It's our family's livelihood, why should we work so hard?" Lu Bu waved his hands repeatedly, not caring at all.

"I know you hate this kind of tedious literary work the most in your life. I have already considered your future path, which will surely make you happy." Seeing this, Lu Yi suddenly had an idea and said to Lu Bu.

"Oh! I wonder what brother has arranged for me?" Lu Bu immediately became interested when he heard this and asked hurriedly.

"Don't worry, you will know in half a month!" Lu Yi smiled and kept the secret.

"I wonder how the temporary house I asked you to build next to Luwu is progressing before I left?"

Without waiting for Lu Bu to ask any more questions, Lu Yi changed the subject and asked.

"I followed my brother's instructions and organized five hundred servants to farm during the day and cut wood and build houses in my spare time."

"Hundreds of wooden houses have been built now, but most of them can only be used for temporary living. I'm afraid they will be uninhabitable after a long time." Upon hearing this, Lu Bu immediately answered honestly.

"It's okay. These houses are just temporary accommodation. Before winter, when Lvwu and the brick houses in it are completed, everyone will move in. You should quickly take people to settle these refugees in one room with two families. They are tired from the journey and need a good meal and a good night's sleep."

"Yes!" Upon hearing this, Lu Bu immediately began to arrange the matter.

Lu Yi also asked Gao Shuncheng Lian and more than 200 employees to take a day's rest, and he would arrange for them to recruit new employees tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)