sister-in-law

Chapter 224 Settlement of Refugees
There was warmth in the tent, and I don't know what Gu Zhang threw into the brazier just now, but now it exudes a sweet fragrance, which is refreshing.

Su Ruoli, who was already a little drowsy in the warmth, was aroused by the sweet fragrance, and couldn't help but ask Gu Zhang, "What is it? It smells so good?"

"Hehe, little greedy cat, I know I can't hide it from you!" Gu Zhang stuffed a pillow on her back, got out of the bed, picked up the ashes on the brazier with tongs, and picked out a black, fragrant something to come.

Su Ruoli glanced at it and immediately cheered, "Sweet potato? Where did it come from?"

Gu Zhang quickly peeled off the ashes on the top, and handed it to Su Ruoli himself. Seeing that she dropped half a dollar as soon as she wanted to go down, she smiled contentedly, "I exchanged the iron blocks mined from the iron ore with those merchants." Come here, I know you're hungry these days, so let me satisfy your hunger first!"

Su Ruoli gave him a blank look, and poked him with his elbow, "Are you hungry? It's just for you to eat in my name."

Gu Zhang didn't take it seriously, and just kept feeding Su Ruoli, "Eat it quickly, it won't taste like this when it's cold."

Every time Su Ruoli took a bite, she felt like she was drinking honey. In the past, she was not short of money in Beijing, but now even if she had money, she had nowhere to buy it.It's a pity that I didn't eat more delicious food at the beginning, otherwise, I still have something to think about now.

After eating a big sweet potato, Su Ruoli felt that her stomach was full. Gu Zhang took out the second one for her, but she couldn't take a bite.

Seeing that she was full, Gu Zhang ate the second one. After eating, both of them drank some hot water and rinsed their mouths before they rested.

I don't know whether it's because the brazier is burning hot or because Gu Zhang's body is hot, anyway, Su Ruoli just feels that the bed has warmed up all of a sudden, and she doesn't have to be shy anymore.

Gu Zhang hugged her into his arms, stroking her back lovingly, and said in a warm voice, "When the conditions in Yicheng improve in the future, we will build a big house there, and we won't be afraid of the wind and rain when we live in it."

"Let's just have two big houses." Su Ruoli giggled, "I built it once in Gu's Village, and entered the Emperor Jing and rewarded you with a general's mansion. It's a pity that until now, we are here In the freezing weather, they lived in tents."

She let out a long sigh, and became cheerful again, "It's just that it's man-made, and the Jedi is reborn. The emperor may not want to know the way of heaven and earth, right?"

Gu Zhang turned sideways, hugged her tightly, and said with a smile, "If a husband and wife are of the same heart, their benefits can cut through gold. It's true!"

Both of them were in a good mood, and after talking for a while, naturally they did not forget about the cloud and rain.

Waking up the next day, Su Ruoli found that Gu Zhang had disappeared.He touched the place next to him, leaving room for the remaining warmth, it seemed that he had been gone for an indefinite amount of time.

The tent was still warm and cozy, and the charcoal fire was crackling in the brazier in the corner, and it seemed that Gu Zhang added some charcoal before he left.

She exhaled refreshedly, stretched her waist, and got dressed just now.

The water in the large copper pot on the brazier was lukewarm just for washing. She poured some into the copper basin on the basin stand, and her hands were surrounded by warm water, which warmed her heart.

This Gu Zhang is really careful with her, and he can still think of such trivial things under such a simple condition.

Such a man is indeed worth cherishing by her!

This is true, right?

As soon as he finished washing, Gu Zhang came in from outside in the air-conditioning, holding a food box in his hand. Seeing that Su Ruoli had got up, he quickly put down the food box and went to hold her hand.

Su Ruoli was not used to it, but he was so strong that she couldn't break free, so she had to let him go.

He raised his eyebrows in satisfaction, "His hands are quite warm today!" It turned out that he came to feel whether she was cold or not.

I was so moved in my heart, before I said anything, Gu Zhang led her to sit at the table again, and brought out the food in the food box.

A large bowl of brown rice porridge, a small plate of scrambled eggs, and the most rare thing is a few white flour steamed buns.

After arriving here, the military rations were not picked up soon, and in addition to the heavy snow in the winter, the two meals a day were porridge so scarce that people could see it.

Su Ruoli's chin, which was originally round, has become an awl now.

The white flour steamed bun has been missing for a long time, and Su Ruoli moved his index finger when he smelled the aroma, and his stomach groaned a few times in disbelief.

With a look of pity on Gu Zhang's face, he hurriedly took a big steamed bun and stuffed it into her hand, urging her, "Eat it quickly if you're hungry."

Su Ruoli took a big bite of the soft big steamed bun in Xiang's hand, and swallowed it without chewing much.

Gu Zhang hurriedly handed the porridge bowl to her mouth thoughtfully, and said distressedly, "Slow down, there are still plenty."

Su Ruoli ate two in a row before she felt that her stomach was full, but Gu Zhang was eating slowly with a steamed bun. Seeing that she finally raised her head to look at him, she hurriedly said, "Wait until the spring meeting starts." It's better, don't be afraid!"

The words "Don't be afraid" almost made Su Ruoli's eyes wet.This man always held her on top of his heart, and this life was worth it.

As expected, the days were getting better day by day, and as the year approached, they even ate some fish.

According to Gu Zhang, the iron produced in the mine is very popular among the barbarians, and in exchange for a large number of cattle, sheep and horses, and a lot of grain and dried vegetables with the inland merchants, this year is not a sad one.

The military spirit, which was a little restless because of the food and salary, was firmly in Gu Zhang's hands.

This year, Gu Zhang and Su Ruoli still had a good time. Although the weather was cold and they lived in tents, their hearts were as warm as fire, and they saw hope.

When spring started, Gu Zhang called the army into action as soon as the snow fell, and began to farm the fields for spring plowing.

Years ago, he exchanged the mined iron and merchants for a large amount of seed grain, and exchanged some cattle from the barbarians, and now all of them have been allocated and distributed to these garrisons.

Seeing that Yicheng is thriving under Gu Zhang's management, it is expected to become the largest city on the border.But the fortunes are not as good as people's calculations. Since the beginning of spring, the Longxi area near the border has experienced severe drought. There has not been a drop of rain for four or five months, and even the spring plowing has been delayed.

It was the time when the crops were not harvested, and many people starved to death. Some people could no longer stay in their hometowns, and fled everywhere with their old and young.

Previously, Gu Zhang secretly recruited refugees, but now he spread the word, and many refugees flocked to him.

Although the rations in the army were barely enough, but in order to be invincible in the future, Gu Zhang still gritted his teeth and recruited all the refugees.

Su Ruoli was also idle, wearing a small military uniform and following Gu Zhang every day, busy with settling the refugees.

These refugees dragged their families along and had to live in addition to food.However, Yicheng has no free houses to accommodate them.

So Gu Zhang set up a porridge pot in the open air, and boiled more than a dozen pots of porridge every day, and the porridge would not fall over with chopsticks.

As for the residence, Gu Zhang had already planned it.If Yicheng wants to develop into a decent town, it must have a population to support it.Now that people come, they have to settle where they live.

So he ordered that all strong and strong men go to the mine to mine iron ore. After working for one year, they can build three small houses for him.

This news was a great joy for these refugees, so they rushed to the mine one by one.

The remaining old and weak women and children were temporarily placed in tents in the army.Su Ruoli divided them into teams according to age.

Five or six-year-old children are all gathered in one place, and some young and careful women are specially assigned to take care of them. She spends an hour every day teaching these children how to read and read, and explaining some simple truths to them.

Young girls and old women can mend and make clothes, shoes and socks for the soldiers in the army.

In this way, the grassland will soon flourish.

It's just that Su Ruoli was a little worried about Gu Zhang's previous boast about Haikou, if so many refugees were to build a house in Yicheng, how much bricks, tiles and wood would it take?

When the time comes, where can I find it?

A year later, if he can't fulfill his previous promise, how will he establish prestige among these people?
Although he was worried, Su Ruoli knew that Gu Zhang was not a person who just talked about it. He promised to build houses for each family in a year, and it must be a bit of a deal.

Fearing that Gu Zhang would be under pressure, she didn't ask in depth, and Gu Zhang didn't reveal it to her.

After a few days, Gu Zhang suddenly summoned the army, saying that there was an emergency situation.For some reason, Su Ruoli thought that the barbarians had come to invade again.

But looking at Gu Zhang's appearance, it's clearly not the case.

She didn't know why, and Gu Zhang didn't tell her. He just set off with thousands of people at dusk one day.

All the people who went there rode horses, which was still a luxury for Da Zhou's army.

Looking at the team of strong soldiers and horses, with their armors and flags flying, Su Ruoli couldn't help but sigh, how dare this guy put all the horses he bought from the barbarians to use?

One of the important reasons why Dazhou was always attacked by Hu people was that the Central Plains was a farming economy, lacking horses and cavalry.

Now Gu Zhang has pulled up a cavalry team by himself, which is quite remarkable.

Gu Zhang, who was fully dressed in armor and saber, was riding on the majestic big black horse. The bright red cape against the silver-white armor was simply so handsome.

Su Ruoli, who was leaning against the door of the tent, was stunned by his fierce look, and couldn't even close his mouth.

Gu Zhang, who was riding on the horse, just smiled at her from a distance, and led the troops to set off.

The orderly cavalry across the vast expanse of grass, kicked up waves of flying dust.

Looking at the team leaving in the dust, deep sorrow flooded her heart.

Two days later, Gu Zhang returned victorious, behind him was an endless cart full of wood, bricks and tiles.

Only then did Su Ruoli know that he was looking for these things, but he didn't know where he got them from.

Afterwards, I found out that Gu Zhang had sent scouts out to find out the news these days. If there were bandits occupying the mountains nearby and doing evil, he would dispatch cavalry to carry out the old dens of the bandits and remove the wood from their houses. Wait for it to be shipped back.

I went out several times in this way, without any damage, and brought back a large amount of construction materials.

When she found out, she was really angry and funny. He is really bold, so he is not afraid of danger?

But Gu Zhang said seriously that it was time to train the cavalry. Anyway, the cavalry hadn't been in battle yet, so they had to practice with these bandits first. If the barbarians invaded in the future, they would be useful.

This is killing two birds with one stone.

Su Ruoli also couldn't help admiring his wisdom for being brave and resourceful, daring to think and act.

(End of this chapter)