Chapter 1058: First Volume _ Chapter 1058: Traveling with the Refugees

First Volume _ Chapter 1058: Traveling with the Refugees

Hearing Qin Feng's explanation, Jing Qianying felt she had benefited greatly and secretly committed it to memory.

As for the tragic scene before her, even though Jing Qianying's current status had reached its limit, she still could not do anything about it.

The caravan left the village. Although everyone was deeply worried because of the village's tragic state, no one lingered.

Things like this were far too common!

Moreover, all of this was the inevitable result of long-accumulated ills in the Northern Di. To change the current situation, one had to start from the most basic principles of governance. Otherwise, treating only the head when the head hurts and only the foot when the foot hurts would merely delay the Northern Di's decline and could not change the actual circumstances at all.

During the following day, the caravan encountered no enemies whatsoever.

However, as more and more refugees appeared before them, Jing Qianying's expression subtly changed.

Qin Feng knew that no matter how much he talked, he could not soothe Jing Qianying's sorrowful heart, so he chose a more decisive method—directly ordering Wu Tang to allow the refugees to travel alongside the caravan.

With a "wealthy household" accompanying them, and the elite soldiers around the caravan armed to the teeth, the refugees were naturally overflowing with gratitude.

As time passed, in just two days, over a hundred refugees had joined the homeward-bound army.

When the caravan stopped to rest, Qin Feng jumped straight off the carriage and began strolling back and forth among the refugees.

After a while, Jing Qianying and Li Xiaolan also came over, accompanied by Xiao Xiangxiang and Shu Feng. Only Shen Qingci stayed alone in the carriage, unable to bear the tragic scene.

The refugees present were all the old, weak, sick, and disabled; all the able-bodied men combined numbered fewer than ten.

Looking at Qin Feng and the women's "noble" aura from their fine attire, the refugees inexplicably grew nervous.

To them, any wealthy household was not something common folk could afford to offend. A single wrong word, or even a single glance, might bring deadly disaster.

The refugees huddled together in twos and threes, not daring to look up at Qin Feng and the others.

Qin Feng had dealt with many common folk and thus understood the refugees' thoughts, so he did not dwell on it.

He squatted down, directly took out a millet cake he had prepared in advance, and held it out to the grandfather and grandson.

The little boy, five or six years old and filthy all over, appeared very shy. Though clearly starving, he did not dare reach out to take it.

The old man, however, threw caution to the wind. With trembling hands, he took the millet cake, then knelt on the ground with his grandson to kowtow.

"Thank you, kind sir."

Qin Feng disliked being kowtowed to, but facing the refugees before him, he did not stop them.

For these refugees, kowtowing in gratitude was the most sincere expression of emotion.

If Qin Feng refused, the refugees would only feel uneasy in their hearts.

At this moment, Wu Tang, very perceptive, brought over a few small stools and tucked them behind Qin Feng and the two pregnant women.

Qin Feng sat down with the two women, hands tucked into his sleeves, also curling up into a ball. After all, winter had not yet passed, and when the wind blew, it cut like a small knife, bitterly cold.

If he were not interested in these refugees, Qin Feng would never have left the warm carriage so easily.

Qin Feng smiled and nodded, signaling to the grandfather and grandson that if they were hungry, they could eat the millet cake right now.

The old man broke off a piece and stuffed it into his grandson's hand. Watching his grandson devour the rice cake ravenously, he could not help but show a dirty yet simple smile.

Seeing that they had let down their guard, Qin Feng casually asked, "Old man, we've already traveled together for two days, but I still don't know where you're headed?"

Hearing this, not only the old man but even the surrounding refugees cast surprised glances.

They thought to themselves: this young noble's heart was far too careless—he didn't even know these people's origins before daring to travel together.

These times were far too chaotic; the slightest carelessness could lead to a death with no burial place.

But when they looked at Wu Tang standing behind Qin Feng, their doubts were dispelled.

This soldier, at a glance, clearly had extraordinary origins. Protected by such valiant warriors, this young man and his family must also be of great background.

The old man found it even stranger—how could a young man of such illustrious status be so tolerant toward refugees?

Sensing the gentle smile on Qin Feng's face, the old man, though full of doubts, did not feel afraid, and quietly responded.

"We're fleeing to Sangzhou."

Hearing the refugees' destination, it was now Qin Feng's turn to be puzzled.

"In this freezing cold, and Sangzhou is so far away—even if you make it, won't the losses be terrible?"

Facing Qin Feng's question, the old man sighed deeply and said helplessly, "If we weren't driven to the point of having no way to survive, who would be willing to take such a risk?"

"Sangzhou is indeed far, and the journey is full of difficulties. But as long as we reach Sangzhou, everyone can survive. If we stay in our hometown, even if we don't starve to death, we'll be killed by bandits."

Saying this, the old man's eyes were full of longing: "People say life in Sangzhou is really good!"

"Not only can you eat your fill, there's even surplus firewood for winter."

"And once you go to Sangzhou, you're a Sangzhou person—no one will look down on us for being refugees from elsewhere."

"They say Sangzhou benefited from Beixi County. Only under Marquis Qin's governance can common people live like human beings."

"Unlike us? Living like neither humans nor ghosts every day."

How does the saying go? The masses' eyes are sharp!

Wherever life is good, they migrate there. Perhaps they have no grand ambitions, but their thinking is very simple.

The old man put it well—go to Sangzhou, and you're a Sangzhou person.

Looking across the entire Northern Di realm, Sangzhou was not only unrelated to "prosperity," it even had vast Wuren Districts that had long served as a border buffer zone. Whether the former Northern Di kings or the local gentry of Sangzhou, none had any intention of developing Sangzhou—they would squeeze out whatever they could.

But ever since Sangzhou fell under Qin Feng's control, Qin Feng, well aware of the importance of "development," had provided strong support to Sangzhou.

According to Li Zhang's statistics, Sangzhou, which originally had only a few hundred thousand people, had seen its population soar to a million.

Moreover, with the constant arrival of the refugee army, this number was still climbing steadily.

This made Qin Feng recall the past glory of Beixi County, when countless vagrants and refugees traveled thousands of miles to Beixi County to seek a new life.

Besides having enough to eat and warm clothes to wear, the most attractive thing about Sangzhou was naturally the word "peace."

That land was, after all, controlled by Qin Feng, and the flames of war could not reach it.

Without war, it meant the common people could devote themselves to production and further develop and grow.

Jing Qianying and Li Xiaolan exchanged a glance, simultaneously revealing playful smiles.