Chapter 44 The closed city gate of Yunzhou City

It was okay for the refugees who stole things. If they caught them, they would beat them up and leave them on the roadside.

But bandits often come in groups and are extremely ferocious.

Although there are many people in Qingshui Village, most of them are old people, women and children, and during the fight, people will inevitably be injured or even killed!

Instead of losing his life, it is better to wait in Yunzhou for the government to settle him!

As long as I can have a place to stay here, I can save my life. If I work harder in the future, I can at least support my family.

When the village chief saw that both the Wang family and Qiao Dewang's family stood up to object, he was not surprised at all. These two families were the most restless in the village.

The old village chief ignored them, turned to look at the other villagers, and asked, "What about you? Have you decided to stay too?"

Some shook their heads, some hesitated.

The old village chief said: "Then let's vote with a show of hands! Those who agree to continue moving forward will raise their hands."

Hu La La, more than half of the people raised their hands, including the Qiao family and those who Qiao Ran had helped. They all supported Qiao Ran's suggestion unconditionally and resolutely followed her.

Seeing that there were still many people who were hesitant and did not raise their hands, the village chief added, "Those who agree to stay, raise their hands."

The Wang family and Qiao Dewang's family raised their hands impatiently.

Wang Lusheng quickly went to stop his parents. He didn't want to be separated from Qiao Ran. He wanted to follow Qiao Ran. He still didn't believe that Qiao Ran didn't like him anymore.

Even if Qiao Ran is really not stupid anymore and doesn't like him anymore, he still has the confidence to make her obsessed with him again. By then, everything in the Qiao family will be his.

Wang Lusheng wanted to follow Qiao Ran, but his parents were unwilling.

His family had no food left at all, and that dead girl Qiao Ran was no longer deceived by their son into using her own food to support them.

They felt that if they continued to follow the people from Qingshui Village, they would definitely starve to death on the road.

The three members of the Wang family were arguing non-stop. Two or three other families also raised their hands, but everyone else was still hesitating.

Seeing this, the old village chief said: "In this case, those who agree to stay can stay! Those who agree to move forward, let's take a short rest when we arrive in Yunzhou and continue moving forward."

"Anyway, there are still two days of journey to Yunzhou. You can think about it carefully. When we get to Yunzhou City, we will vote again. If you don't want to leave, we won't force it."

What the old village chief wanted to say was that if people like the Qiao Dewang family and the Wang family decided to stay, he would be happy to do so!

Although it is said that there is strength in numbers, if the extra families are not united and will affect the unity of the village, then he would rather not do it.

Anyway, Qiao Ran was right. There shouldn't be many refugees going forward. As long as they carefully avoid the mountain tops of those bandits, there shouldn't be that much danger.

As long as the whole village works together, there will be no difficulty that cannot be overcome.

What's more, Ran Yatou is still the apprentice of the old god. Who knows that the old god will also bless them and the whole village to reach the next destination safely!

Everyone continued on their way with various thoughts, and finally arrived at the gate of Yunzhou Fucheng two days later.

But when they arrived, they were all a little dumbfounded.

I saw that the open space at the gate of Yunzhou Prefecture was already densely packed with refugees. They could not find a place for them to rest at the gate of the city.

Some people had been waiting here for who knows how many days. The bedding was spread directly on the ground. Some people were lying on it dying, and some were motionless. It was not known whether they were still alive.

Most of them were sallow, thin, and in rags, sitting weakly on the ground, looking at the city gate with empty eyes.

Those who seemed to have just arrived had helpless and desperate eyes.

Because the gates of Yunzhou City were closed, no one came to care about these poor refugees.

Qiao Ran's group was too large to escape, which attracted the attention of the refugees at the city gate, and many people looked this way.

Seeing that they actually still had carriages and food, and they didn't look like other refugees who were so hungry that they were skin and bones, many people looked at them with greed in their eyes.

Qiao Ran and the others could not settle near the city gate, so they had to stop on the grass some distance away from the city gate.

Several village chiefs sent people to inquire and soon came back to report.

It turned out that because there were too many refugees, Yunzhou City had closed its gates ten days ago and no longer accepted refugees.

There was originally a notice posted at the city gate, advising the refugees to go to other prefectures and not stay here, because the city already had enough refugees and could not accept so many more people.

However, the notice was torn down by the angry refugees.

Not long ago, wealthy households in the city sent people out to give out porridge and steamed buns.

However, there were too many refugees, and the porridge, water and steamed buns were simply not enough to share.

In order to grab some food, the refugees fought, killing and injuring dozens of people. Even the servants of the wealthy families who came to give porridge were injured.

In order to avoid more riots, the prefect ordered the city gates to be closed tightly and not allow wealthy households to come out to give porridge.

As a result, these refugees who have completely run out of food can only sit here helplessly.

They don't want to leave, and they can't.

The food had been eaten long ago, and they were able to get here only because of their strong willpower. They thought that when they arrived at Yunzhou Mansion, the officials would take them in and help them.

As a result, now facing such a situation, they no longer have the energy to go to the next state capital.

"How about it? Do you still want to stay here?"

The old village chief asked the village chiefs of the other three villages.

The three village chiefs looked at each other. They did not expect that Yunzhou Fucheng would be in such a situation.

"Then what can we do? We really can't walk anymore, and we can't go anywhere else without food!"

"I want to wait. Maybe the government will come out to help us because we are pitiful? Or the prefect will definitely contact people from other prefectures and ask other prefectures to come to help us. We are all citizens of Dai Viet, and the government cannot You don’t care if you see us starving to death!”

Seeing that the other three village chiefs still insisted on staying in Yunzhou, the old village chief was a little disappointed.

In fact, everyone can see that if you stay here, there is very little hope of receiving government relief.

As more and more refugees gather here, I am afraid that the government will eventually disperse them by force, and they will eventually have to look for a way out in other state capitals.

However, although everyone knew that there was little hope, they were too tired and hungry to go any further.

The old village chief tried to persuade them for a while, but when he saw that the people from the three villages still insisted on staying, he could only helplessly say to the three village chiefs: "Then we can only part ways here. The people in our village still want to go back." Let’s take a look beforehand.”

The three village chiefs looked at each other, and unexpectedly looked at the two carriages in Qingshui Village.

When the old village chief saw them staring at the carriage, his heart skipped a beat.