Chapter 1445

Most of them wore coarse cloth clothes, rather than the cool summer fabrics that the Yao people like. The weather was still a bit hot, and so many people were crowded together sweating, so the smell could be imagined.

Dong Rui covered his nose and said: "Damn, such a big smell! What kind of place is this?"

"Pei House." He Lingchuan was expressionless; he had smelled even worse stenches in the army. "People from other places can't live, so they come to the Yao Nation. Tianshui City claims to be the most prosperous place on the Flash Gold Plain, and there are more refugees sneaking into here than anywhere else. Tianshui City built these small houses for them, called Pei Houses, letting them wait here for work. If someone likes them, they will be recruited to work."

"Yo, quite humane."

"That's also a last resort. There are so many refugees in Tianshui City that they can't be caught, just like wild grass, cut a crop and grow another, playing hide-and-seek with the official all day long. They steal, rob, and cheat here and form gangs, so can the official not have a headache?" He Lingchuan had long collected information on Tianshui City, so he could explain it to Dong Rui. "No way, since they can't be caught and can't be driven away, Tianshui City hopes to manage them."

While talking, a few people who looked like foremen walked into the Pei House, pinching their noses and saying: "Come seven men to transport wood, must be strong; come another woman to cook."

The people on the ground all stood up and rushed forward: "I'll come, I'll come!"

"I move things nimbly, I've hit stones in the mine!"

"I cook well, I can cook for fifty people at once!"

The Pei House, which was dead silent just now, suddenly became more lively than the vegetable market. Everyone tried their best to promote themselves, excited to the point of spitting.

The foreman took two steps back, and someone stood out from the side and shouted: "Back off, back off!"

The refugees retreated slowly, and he whipped them twice: "Are you looking for death, I told you to retreat!"

The crowd was screamed by him, but they didn't dare to move forward.

He Lingchuan pointed to him: "This kind of person is called a 'Mule Husband,' meaning a servant who looks after mules."

"Are refugees called mules?"

"Yes." He Lingchuan had a deep impression of this passage in the information. "Those who don't obey management and don't come to the Pei House, but make a living by illegal activities, are called 'Gray Dogs'."

The Mule Husband turned the whip tip and pointed to a few people in the Pei House: "You, you, you, and you, yes, come out!"

In the blink of an eye, he had picked seven men and two women.

One of them was really short and weak, with a big head and a small body. The foreman pointed to him and was unhappy: "You picked this one for me too? How many straws can he carry?"

This man hurriedly argued: "I can carry, I can carry very well!"

The Mule Husband also said: "Can carry, don't look at him small, he can lift things very well!"

So, in the envious eyes of other refugees, the chosen people left with the foreman.

The attention of the refugees shifted to He Lingchuan outside, who took a step and turned to leave.

"These 'mules' are black households in Tianshui City. They won't have an identity even if they work for ten or twenty years, so they take the lowest wages and do the dirtiest and hardest work." If they don't work, they have no money, and if they have no money, they starve to death. "I heard that the wages for hiring a local in Tianshui City can hire at least five mules."

"You also saw that more than 300 people were crowded in the Pei House. There are few job opportunities, and there are many people, so the mules who want to find work have to bribe that Mule Husband." He Lingchuan pointed to the Mule Husband. "The black-hearted ones can take away three or five days' wages from the mules. If you don't give it, there is no work."

The Soul-Sucking Mirror in his arms couldn't help but say: "It's really not easy for these refugees to mix a meal."

What He Lingchuan didn't say was that the residents of Tianshui City were also particularly dissatisfied with these refugees. Gray Dogs steal, rob, and cheat to disturb public order, while mules snatch job opportunities from ordinary people. The Pei Houses where refugees gather are occasionally destroyed and set on fire by people.

Last year, a Pei House caught fire and burned more than 100 refugees to death.

"Some refugees are in a hurry to find work just to eat a meal, whether they can earn wages is secondary." He Lingchuan said, "It's so difficult to make a living in a proper way, so some mules turn into Gray Dogs and do illegal activities."

If you can't make money on the right path, of course, some people will take the evil path.

"I heard that in the past twenty years, 'Gray Dogs' have become more and more numerous, and they have split into dozens of factions. They rape, loot, and form gangs, which not only disturbs public order but also does black work, making the official very headache."

Dong Rui laughed: "How many Pei Houses are there in the whole city?"

"More than 300."

"300 people in one, 300 is..." Huo, it's not a small number.

"Tianshui City itself has less than a million people, and refugees account for more than 10%." Everyone thinks this is a good place, and they all squeeze here.

"This is not heaven, but at least there is no war."

"And there is the largest slave market in the country west of Tianshui City. No matter how miserable the refugees' lives are, at least they have some personal freedom, which is much better than slaves, right? Those slaves are tied with iron chains when they are not working after being bought; slaves who are always unwanted will eventually be—" He Lingchuan made a throat-slitting gesture. "If there is no value, you can't waste food. If the traffickers and masters kill slaves, the official doesn't care at all."

There is a saying in He Lingchuan's hometown:

If you don't go to hell, you don't know that hell has eighteen layers.

A strong wind blew, and the rain poured down.

Dong Rui touched his belly, hungry: "Find a place to avoid the rain, and find something to eat by the way. How about that one?"

They walked back to the front street, and the pedestrians coming and going were at least neatly dressed.

The dirty, messy, and poor were all covered in the dark back alleys. Two worlds, front and back, as if they were not connected.

The restaurant he pointed to was not so much a restaurant as an open-air small courtyard. The sign was actually a pure white cloth banner fluttering in the wind, with "Fireworks in the Human World" embroidered on it.

Fortunately, these words are bright red. If they were black, that would be...

However, the two walked all the way, and the white signs in Tianshui City were actually everywhere, bringing a bit of vitality to the gray-brown or ochre-red walls.

It was still half an hour before mealtime, but this shop was basically full, and the oily fragrance drifted out through the window, making people's index fingers move.

Just entering the shop, He Lingchuan heard the sound of sizzling.

Although the courtyard was open-air, the corridors were large and wide, the rain couldn't pour in, and there were oilcloth canopies supported by the side of the corridor, expanding the space outward, placing seven or eight square tables in turn, each with a hole in the middle, putting a mud stove, and a grill on the stove. Diners put meat pieces on the fire to roast, and pork fat dripped onto the charcoal, making a sizzling sound.

Eating here actually requires doing it yourself.

The courtyard wall was covered with food signs, and the two looked at them, and the variety was ridiculously large.

In addition to common beef, mutton, pork, and chicken, there were also crocodile, giant salamander, python, jumping mountain frog, etc., and the parts were different, the prices were different, and the marinating methods were different, all clearly marked.

Dong Rui ordered four or five plates of meat, one of which was even marinated with fruit.

The variety is large, the portion is small and exquisite... but expensive!

"The spices are quite complete." The Yao Nation is also known as the Spice Kingdom. The use of spices from the origin is of course varied, and even used in wine. The special wine provided by this shop, in addition to common rice wine, also has mint wine, pepper wine, etc., which goes straight to the forehead at the first sip.

After a while, Dong Rui roasted two pieces of lamb kidney and one lamb eyeball, and handed them to He Lingchuan happily: "Come, come, supplement shape with shape."

The thick spices covered the mutton smell of the kidney, leaving only freshness and crispness. The lamb eyeball was also roasted just right, bursting in the mouth.

Setting a fire to roast meat in the wilderness is called wilderness survival; roasting meat with spices in the city is called enjoying life.

Dong Rui is very good at both.

"On the Flash Gold Plain, if ordinary people want to eat so luxuriously, I'm afraid it's only in Tianshui City." He Lingchuan is a businessman. Just seeing that any roadside small shop can provide a dazzling array of food, he knows that Tianshui City's supply system is relatively sound and logistics and transportation are very developed.

In his impression, the last city that was so complete was Lingxu City.

"It's really a good place." But the price is also ridiculously high. A plate of marinated pork tongue is less than half a jin, and the price is more than three times that of a restaurant in Jucheng.

He Lingchuan also noticed that those who roast meat and avoid rain in this beautiful small courtyard are usually neatly dressed, with exquisite materials, and what they talk about when they sit down is not romance or business.

Civilians are few and far between.

The grade of this shop is not to receive people without money.

The two roasted and ate to the sound of rain, watching the crowd rushing to avoid the rain on the street, sighing at the unique prosperity of Tianshui City.

Dong Rui sighed: "This is actually on the Flash Gold Plain, strange!"

After saying this, he went to the latrine.

Passing by the kitchen on the way back, he saw four or five people squatting on the ground killing fish, washing vegetables, and organizing ingredients, and two were carrying water, all with a clear brand on their faces.

One of them even had obvious whip marks on his body, which were inflamed and red and swollen.

Slaves.

This is the cheapest labor, sometimes not even called a human. The master only needs to provide some food, and they have to work continuously, earning income for the master continuously.

The brand on the face is the symbol of a slave, and there is no way to live if you run away.

The sources of slaves are varied. Sometimes they are prisoners of war, sometimes they are descendants of criminals who have been confiscated, and the most are transformed from refugees.

After becoming a refugee, do you think you have nothing and have nothing to lose?

Wrong.

He Lingchuan and Dong Rui ate and drank for half an hour, and the table next to them turned over twice. The new diners were two merchants, one in white and one in yellow, who ordered three plates of meat, and then two jin of pepper rolls, eating with pickled cabbage.

"... I'm telling you the truth, General Xue is dead."

The yellow-clothed merchant hurriedly interrupted: "Don't talk nonsense, there are many people here, be careful of being caught by the official, pointing at you for cursing the Royal Court general, and implicating me."

"Alas, I'm telling the truth. I originally made an appointment with a friend to talk about business in Tianshui City, but he was left in Mangzhou and spent a lot of money to send a flying message to inform me." The white-clothed merchant said, "Do you know why? General Xue Zongwu and the head of the Qi family, Qi Yunsheng, were killed, and the whole Mangzhou was like a hornet's nest, and the city was sealed!"

(End of chapter)