fifth form

Chapter 1838 The End and the Beginning

"There's food!"

Zhang Baojia murmured.

From peace to desolation, to ruin, and to the present, Zhang Baojia does not know whether Zhangjiazhuang is in its dying struggle or rebirth after escaping Huainan.

They escaped from the heavily guarded mine and no longer had to worry about being pulled out and never coming back.

But it is difficult for many homeless people to survive.

When they fled from Huainan to the vicinity of Chang'an City, their herd of horses was discovered by patrolling soldiers, forcing Zhang Cigong to negotiate, while they fled on foot until they reached the vicinity of a large city.

There was no food, no water, no shelter, and they didn't even have bowls to hold their food.

Zhang Baojia and others only had some simple knives brought from Huainan.

The area outside Chang'an City was not a peaceful place. As new outsiders entering this area, they were excluded by the previous occupiers, which often caused various disputes.

They retreated all the way to the edge of this civilian area.

Rong Tianding hastily arranged and determined the resettlement area and rushed to Huainan again.

They started out with nothing, but fortunately they met the real owner when they were managing the land of a man named "Xu Yuan".

A few days later, Rong Tianding hurried back again, and Zhang Baojia and others began to further bind themselves with Xu Yuan and Xu Ji.

After that, they were busy searching for wild vegetables, hunting, fishing, and cultivating land.

In this densely populated area, filling one's stomach is a luxury. All edible food has been looted clean. Even field mice that come to steal food will be skinned and eaten.

Life was difficult for the people of Zhangjiazhuang, and there was also controversy surrounding whether to migrate to an area with more wildlife.

As the village chief, Zhang Baojia's authority almost fell to the bottom, but at the same time, the prestige of Zhang Xuezhou, who had never appeared, soared to an indescribable level among the people of Zhangjiazhuang.

All the disputes were finally resolved with Zhang Zhong's words "Xuezhou allowed us to come here to make a living", and even Xu Ji, who had repeatedly made suggestions, had to give up.

The people of Zhangjiazhuang were waiting anxiously, wanting to know whether Zhang Xuezhou had escaped from Huainan, whether he had rescued other people, and how they should survive in this unfamiliar area.

It wasn't until last night that many things had a preliminary answer.

Looking at the brand new golden bronze tripod, the new containers, the baskets of millet, and the pork that made Zhang Baojia swallow his saliva.

His tense nerves finally relaxed, and Zhang Baojia even felt dizzy and black before his eyes.

He glanced at the crowd and saw that many of the elders had gray hair and beards. He was well aware of the pressure and blows that many of them had endured over the years.

"It's over, it's finally over!"

Zhang Baojia muttered to himself.

"This is the end, but also our new beginning!"

Zhang Zhong on the side corrected Zhang Baojia's words.

He looked at Zhang Xuezhou who was surrounded by many young people, and listened to Zhang Xuezhou's orderly arrangements.

Zhang Xuezhou calmed the hearts of everyone in the village last night, and the large amount of food he brought today filled people's hearts with hope.

Even though the people in Zhangjiazhuang had never eaten so much meat and millet in a month, the food they were eating now was unlimited and they would be full as long as they could eat.

This food will not just be eaten once or twice, it will be supplied for a very long time, long enough for the people of Zhangjiazhuang to have a completely stable life.

"We are old," Zhang Baojia muttered in a low voice.

"They are still young," Zhang Zhong said, "as long as they can support their families, it won't be difficult for them to find wives outside Chang'an. There will also be new people joining our village continuously!"

"you're right!"

The once strong generation in Zhangjiazhuang has grown old, but they still have middle-aged and young generations, and there will be new generations in the future.

The village is gone, but their village can still continue.

Zhang Baojia had a feeling of letting go of everything, but Zhang Zhong's words brought him back. "Xuezhou is an official in the court, he can't always come to manage us," Zhang Zhong whispered, "We have to continue to work hard and strive to achieve self-sufficiency and independence as soon as possible. We even need to provide him with people and power. Only when he stands higher can we live better, just like we are in the Northern Border Military Region. As long as the leader we follow is capable, the treatment in the team will be better!"

"it is good!"

Zhang Baojia didn't need Zhang Zhong to give examples, he also understood the logic behind it.

The two men discussed with each other in a low voice, Rong supplemented the discussion from time to time, while Zhang Houtu, Zhang Houmu, Zhang Changgong and others nodded and talked about the related issues from time to time.

"Hey guys, we've come a long way and we're tired and hungry. Can we get some food from you?"

Zhang Baojia and others were discussing in a low voice, when they heard someone asking questions from behind the thorns behind them.

This made Zhang Baojia look back.

He looked at everyone's yellow faces that were tired and hungry, and then looked at the other person's rosy cheeks.

"What a coincidence! We have received some food from the kind people in the city and are preparing to line up to eat. If you don't mind the mess here, come and have some!"

Zhang Baojia is physically old, but his eyes are not blind.

Not only had he met some masters in the army, he had also met those high-ranking figures in Huainan.

The rich young man in front of him may look gentle, but his swordsmanship is extremely powerful.

He will not cause new trouble if the problem can be solved at a cost he can afford at the moment.

Zhang Baojia stood up, and Zhang Zhong took a hatchet and cleared away the thorns blocking the road, and let the people in.

"This food is very rich," said the rich young man, "what do you usually eat so that the kind people can send you food and meat!"

"Tuotuo grass, Tailin grass, Houttuynia cordata, white grass root, and some fish." Zhang Baojia replied cautiously: "Why do you ask this, guest?"

"Grass, grass, grass, roots?"

The rich and noble young man is the new emperor who follows him.

He had already dressed very simply at this time, wearing just an ordinary suit.

If Zhang Xuezhou had not used intimidation to suppress the rebellion, the new emperor would have just taken a look from afar to understand the basic situation.

But the presence of a cultivator in the realm of supernatural powers forced him to get closer, and he also sought to insert himself into the area where the poor gathered.

They can dig all kinds of grasses whose names have never been heard of and fish. These people are not lazy, nor are there hundreds of lazy men and women gathered together waiting to die.

Excluding the possibility of poverty caused by laziness, the new emperor was actually quite curious about why these people had ended up in such a state.

If it weren't for the tripods and plates brought by Zhang Xuezhou and others, the black earthenware jars piled in the corner should be the containers for these people to cook food, and the less than ten bowls should be public tableware.

There are no decent houses here, just two simple sheds made of dead branches and grass to provide temporary shelter from the rain.

The clumps of grass piled up in the corner of the ground looked like blankets for these people to sleep on.

Apart from the tattered clothes on these people, the new emperor couldn't even find a piece of extra cloth.

He found it difficult to imagine how people could be so poor.

"What happened to you to put you in this predicament?" asked the new emperor.

"We were cheated," Zhang Baojia said through gritted teeth.

"Being cheated?"

The new emperor was slightly startled, and felt that the reason why these people were poor was beyond his expectation.

He thought that these people had to leave their homes due to floods, droughts and other situations, but he never imagined that these people were deceived into this situation.

This kind of being deceived is too embarrassing, and many people are obviously unwilling to continue responding.

It was not until Zhang Xuezhou brought over a bowl of food that the new emperor blinked and looked at the newcomer who was the first to reach the realm of supernatural powers.