Chapter 239: Trouble, Bankrupt Farmers, Take Them Along

The caravan only rested for about half an hour during the peak of the midday sun; firstly to avoid the hottest moment, and secondly to give the horses pulling the carts time to drink water and cool down.

Therefore, after the drivers had watered all the horses in the caravan, the caravan had to set off again.

"Hey, Aoni, we're leaving. Some of the people who left the ranks earlier haven't returned yet, go find them!" As the caravan was organizing, Jier noticed his warriors were not all present and immediately shouted at the Warrior Captain Aoni.

Aoni took off the metal helmet from his head and scratched it with an embarrassed look on his face. He had told those lads to go and return quickly just a moment ago, but not a single one listened to him, and now he had brought criticism upon himself from Lord Jier.

"I will bring them back right away, my Lord, please wait a moment."

After saying this, Aoni pulled his helmet over his head, fastened the strap tightly under his chin, and trotted off aggressively to catch the people.

Jier chuckled when he saw Aoni's appearance.

But soon he heard Aoni's cursing coming from a shop by the side of the road ahead, and after another short while, when Aoni returned with the warriors, Jier could no longer laugh.

Because the people who returned with them, besides Aoni himself and the few warriors who had gone out for a stroll, included a dozen or twenty people of all ages and sizes.

Looking from afar, those extra people included men, women, old, and young. They wore tattered and worn-out clothes, were covered in dirt, their faces and arms were tanned dark by the harsh sun, and their hair was messy and dry, looking like a broom that had swept the floor.

Seeing these people, Jier secretly thought, "This is bad."

"What is going on? Who are these people..."

Jier rode his horse to meet them. This situation looked as if the warriors had encountered distressed family members or relatives, but in reality, that was impossible. The warriors under his command were basically people from the Viscount's territory under the jurisdiction of Borisfa City, or at most from the Monta Viscount's territory in Monta Valley City to the north; it was unlikely they would encounter fleeing family or friends on the other side of Ke'er Shan Jun.

After all, when fleeing, people always move toward safer and more accessible regions. No one would think of trying to cross the dangerous Ke'er Shan Jun without security guarantees—after all, the checkpoints and bandit extortions scattered along that road were no joke. The toll checkpoints set up privately by local residents truly wouldn't let you pass without money, and the extortion checkpoints set up by bandits would truly kill and kidnap people.

Ke'er Shan Jun naturally blocked the fleeing crowds often seen in Cuikuang. Previously, at the Wierstu Checkpoint, one could occasionally see bankrupt farmers begging on the streets, but the numbers were not large, appearing as a situation that would naturally arise in a wartime context. Moreover, this Bendige Jun was quite wealthy and safe; it didn't look like a region that would produce large numbers of refugees, did it?

Aoni approached, wanting to scratch his head in embarrassment, but since he was wearing a helmet, he gave up after his fingers tapped against it: "My Lord, these people are some landless farmer families who fled from the east. I briefly asked for the reason; most of them couldn't pay the extra war taxes raised last year and this year, and couldn't repay the high-interest loans after mortgaging their land and houses, so their original land and houses were seized. They couldn't survive in their hometowns and came out to flee."

"Stop, stop, stop. I don't want to know why these people left their original land; that is a matter for the local rulers to consider. I only want to know why they have returned along with my warriors."

Aoni and the warriors who had returned late looked embarrassed. Many of them looked at the refugee farmer families with shame. The situation of these people was different from the refugees who had followed Jier since the Baishiguan. At least at that time, although the refugees at Baishiguan were hungry, they were clean, and many wore decent clothes. This implied that they hadn't been fleeing for long.

But these bankrupt farmers from the road south of Dīdì Zhen were different. These people looked not only hungry but also as if they had been begging for quite a long time.

Everyone, regardless of whether they were adults or children, men or women, was dark and thin. The children's bellies were highly distended, while their limbs were as thin as withered branches, looking very pitiful. Experienced people knew that a highly distended belly was not a sign of being full; on the contrary, it was because the person was starving, had eaten dirt or some hard-to-digest plant roots, bark, or leaves, and at the same time had parasites in their stomachs. No matter how much these children ate, most of the nutrition was taken by those parasites.

The adults did not have this situation, not because they didn't have parasites, but because the adults mostly gave whatever edible things they could get to their own children, while they themselves ate very little.

"My Lord, they are so pitiful..."

"Lord Jier, I'm really sorry, but when I see them, especially those children, I think of the younger brothers and sisters at Baishiguan. I hope they have already been taken in and well settled by the other companions in Xinxiwang..."

"Help them, my Lord. There are less than twenty of them, they won't eat much. If it really doesn't work, I still have some money here; count their food and drink as mine!"

The warriors began to pity these bankrupt refugee families one by one, which instead put Jier on the spot: "Fine, fine, fine. You are all kind, good people, and I am the only bad guy, right? You, this fellow, have a kind heart and are willing to use your own money to support these people. What does that make the others? Hmph."

He snorted a few times and tapped the metal armor on his horse's head with his finger: "Why don't the locals take in and hire these bankrupt families from out of town? You, yes, you answer that."

Jier finally asked the families who were not daring to approach nearby.

These people were afraid of Jier. Although Jier looked young, a young man under twenty, and his voice sounded like that of a teenager, Jier was riding a tall horse protected by silver-shining metal armor, and he himself was wearing armor protected by black metal armor plates. The long sword at his waist glowed, and the tall, sharp metal long spear on the weapon rack behind the horse pointed straight to the sky, looking terrifying.

They dared not speak to Jier and could only explain the situation in low, hoarse voices to the few young warriors they had just met.

Actually, Jier had sharp ears and heard it all.

"My Lord, they say the locals only took in some women and children. Some women went to nearby towns to work as maids, and some children capable of work were taken in by some craftsmen in the town, but overall the numbers are small. The nearby villages are very xenophobic. You can do business with the villages, but no village welcomes outsiders. Begging is also not allowed; they will be driven out by the local villages."

Jier nodded: "Then ask them, since they were all farmer families with land before, have they sought help from their hometown or local Agricultural God Church?"

Unexpectedly, Jier's question made those pitiful refugees feel low. Only after the close warriors asked several times did they have an answer.

Jier heard the answer; there was no expression on his face, but he still took a deep breath.

"My Lord, they, they are all farmer families who lost their arable land. In their original places, they had already received quite a bit of help from the Agricultural God Church, but they still couldn't maintain farming because the land had been seized by other wealthy households who lent money. And locally, the local Agricultural God Church is not very willing to provide help to outsiders without land. Those priests only prioritize providing help to local farmers who own land."

This situation was different from the refugees encountered before.

Aoni and the young refugees who had followed Jier all the way from Baishiguan were all people who had to pack their belongings when the public security in their hometowns failed and the situation became chaotic. Either the whole family went to a big town, or they went to the wealthy Mengtuoka City in the neighboring province to make a living, at least to take refuge until the war ended. Once the bandits causing trouble in their hometowns were all killed or arrested by the returning lords and the security situation improved, many of them could return to their hometowns to rebuild their homes.

Simply put, the land and houses in their hometowns (if their own houses were still there) were still there. They were just fleeing, not abandoning everything in their hometown; they had a place to return to and continue living.

But these bankrupt farmer families who lost their land and were driven out of their hometowns were different. They had no property in their hometowns, no farmland to cultivate, and no place to return to.

They had no hometown anymore.

This was the most miserable kind.

Because they had no future, they could only work for others to survive. But where would agricultural towns like Dīdì Zhen, including the various agricultural villages nearby, have so many jobs needing to hire outsiders?

Besides, if there really were such jobs, why wouldn't the locals give these jobs to their own people?

After taking in a limited number of women and children who could be integrated into the local area, the others, like the elderly and adult men, were excluded. Apart from begging along the roads with relatively prosperous shops, these people had no other way to survive.

Not only that, these people were also closely watched by local security forces, who were afraid that these people would commit theft, robbery, or other evil crimes. Therefore, most of these people could only beg or struggle to survive in the wooded areas on the outskirts of the villages and towns.

Everyone was looking at him, not only the warriors under his command but also those bankrupt farmers huddled together. Even some locals not far away were secretly peeking over here, and some local Town Guards wearing half-body leather armor and long swords at their waists were standing on tiptoe, looking over here.

"Why is everyone looking at me..."

Jier said in a troubled tone.

He jumped off his horse and walked slowly toward these bankrupt farmers. Seeing such an obvious young Knight lord walking over, these people retreated a step. The adults either knelt down or lowered their heads, not daring to look at Jier. Only the small children who couldn't work yet held their distended bellies and looked at Jier curiously.

The Hunting Sword at Jier's waist, which emitted a faint glow, was very eye-catching and clearly very popular with the children.

"You..." Jier didn't know what to say. Should he save them? This would bring a lot of trouble to his team.

He would have to feed them, treat their illnesses, prepare sets of suitable clothes for them, and sleeping bags or bedding for rest. He would also have to guard against them stealing or making off with some of the team's public supplies. And he had to be careful not to let the shapeshifter Ruier'erui eat these people.

It was all quite troublesome to deal with.

And even if he could save them for a moment, could he save them for a lifetime? The caravan was heading to Tianguang Zhen in the east to join the Kendall Army; they were going to fight a war. How could they fight a war while carrying these sick and thin bankrupt farmers?

This was not the western counties that had suffered disasters, where there were too many places to settle these landless farmers. He couldn't just say he would send people to escort them back to Xiwang Town in Sasi County for their sake, could he?

That would be another twenty-plus days of travel.

"You, what can you all do? What kind of work can you do?" Jier asked in a bitter tone.

Most of the bankrupt farmers didn't dare to look at Jier, let alone talk to a Knight lord like Jier. Only a withered, dark-skinned old man dared to step forward and replied in a dry, hoarse voice: "My Lord, in response to your question. We are all generations of farmers who have farmed the land. If your territory needs people to develop, if nothing else, I am a first-generation immigrant from the Empire and still have some experience in development."

He paused: "Besides this, the men among us can also fell some small trees to help your team prepare the firewood needed daily. The women can collect some wild mushrooms and berries at the edge of the forest. It's just that the rain hasn't been good this year, so there are many fewer mushrooms and berries."

Jier was silent for a while: "Anything else?"

The old man looked at one of the thin, middle-aged men among them: "The head of the Kuli family knows how to fish; as long as he has a net, he can catch fish from the river or lake by the bank or on the bridge. Everyone survived the winter before by relying on Kuli's fishing. It's just that in the spring, to raise money to save the children at home, the fishing net was sold for medicine..."

The middle-aged man mentioned by the old man looked like the pillar of a family; generally, as long as such a pillar of a family does not collapse, the family can be maintained.

But after losing the ability to fish brought by the fishing net, they could only survive by begging.

The middle-aged man introduced by the old man seemed afraid to speak to Jier; he first lowered his head, then knelt down and pushed his wife and children toward a young Warrior who had spoken up for them earlier, the meaning self-evident: adult males eat a lot and are at high risk, and he would rather entrust his wife and children to a kind-hearted stranger Soldier than have them follow him to beg and starve to death.

If nothing else, at least his wife and children should be able to eat their fill following the other party; even if they suffer some unknown hardships and difficulties, it is still better than following him to beg and die of hunger or illness, right?

"This..." The Warrior who had previously said he would rather pay out of his own pocket to give these people a bite to eat stood frozen, at a loss; some of his companions wanted to push the man away, while others stood up willing to offer help.

The Warriors immediately began to argue; of course, with Jier here, and since they were all comrades-in-arms who had fought together, no one intended to resort to violence over this.

"Alright, stop arguing!"

Jier shouted, and the scene fell silent for a moment; the bankrupt Farmers were startled by Jier's loud shout, two fragile women immediately fainted, and even the children were so scared they shrank behind their families, shivering.

Seeing this scene, Jier sighed; he knew these troubles had entangled him once again, but what could he do? Although he had no heart in his chest, it did not mean that Jier was a person without kindness.

"Stop arguing, we must get on the road."

Upon hearing this, some of the Warriors looked regretful and disappointed.

But Jier hadn't finished speaking: "Clear out two of our own carriages; since many people are riding horses now, their original carriages are more than half empty. Clear out two carriages for these poor people and let them stay in the carriages by family unit."

Smiles returned to the Warriors' faces, and many were so happy that the uvulas in their throats could be seen.

"You bankrupt Farmers, just as this old man said, help us prepare some firewood for the overnight campfire every day, and pick some wild Mushrooms and berries or something. As for you, if there is a chance later, I will find you some tools for fishing. Now, all get on the carriages; we, no, we are going to set off. There is still a long way to go today, and we may have to travel until evening. If you feel uncomfortable while riding later, our caravan has a dedicated Herbalist, you must speak up."

Amidst the cheers of the Warriors, Jier jumped back onto Tianxuecao huffily; he watched as the bankrupt Farmers, who were somewhat at a loss and feeling fortunate, were pushed onto the carriages by the Warriors, and saw the drivers pulling the carts take out the Bread bought at Wierstu Checkpoint like a magic trick and distribute it to these hungry people.

Many people in the caravan became happy, as if it made those Warriors even more excited and happy than defeating a large Bandit Group. The Dwarves were indifferent to this; they did not care about not being in a hurry to travel, as long as Jier could keep his promise and take them to find the Dwarf community in Human society.

Soon, the caravan drove onto the road and continued to move quickly toward the east of the road.

?? Sorry, only one chapter today, there is no more.