After the fairy disappeared

Chapter 1423: The Two Sides of Tianshui City

There were men and women, ranging in age from teenagers to forty-somethings. Each of them sat on the ground, looking listless, just staring at every passerby with their eyes open.

Most of them were wearing coarse cloth, not the cool summer fabrics that Yao people liked. The weather was still a bit hot, and with so many people huddled together and sweating, you could imagine the smell.

Dong Rui covered his nose and said, "Oh my god, it smells so bad! Where on earth is this place?"

"Haowu." He Lingchuan remained calm. He had smelled the most terrible stench. Sometimes the smell in the army was even worse than this. "People from other places couldn't survive, so they came to Yao Country. Tianshui City is known as the richest place in the Golden Plains, and there are more refugees sneaking in here than anywhere else. Tianshui City built these small houses for them, called Haowu, and let them stay here and wait for work. If someone likes them, they will be recruited to work."

"Oh, that's quite humane."

"That's a last resort. There are too many refugees in Tianshui City to catch them all. They are like weeds. They grow again after being cut. They play hide-and-seek with the authorities all day long. They steal, rob, kidnap and form gangs here. How can the authorities not have a headache?" He Lingchuan had already collected information about Tianshui City, so he could explain it to Dong Rui. "There's no choice. Since they can't be caught or driven away, Tianshui City hopes to control them."

As they were talking, a few foreman-like people walked into the room and pinched their noses and said:
"Seven strong men to carry the wood, and one woman to cook."

All of the people on the ground suddenly stood up and rushed forward: "I'll do it, I'll do it!"

"I'm good at moving things. I've worked in a mine and worked with rocks!"

"I cook delicious food. I can cook for fifty people at a time!"

The dead shop just now suddenly became more lively than a market. Everyone was trying their best to promote themselves, and their mouths were drooling with excitement.

The foreman took two steps back, and someone immediately stood up and shouted, "Back off, back off!"

If the refugees were slow to retreat, he would whip them twice: "Are you looking for death? I told you to retreat!"

Everyone was screaming at his charge and didn't dare to move forward.

He Lingchuan pointed at him and said, "This kind of person is called a 'mule driver', which means a servant who looks after mules."

"Are refugees called mules?"

"Yes." He Lingchuan was deeply impressed by this passage in the information, "Those who refuse to obey the rules and do illegal activities to make a living are called 'greyhounds'."

The muleteer turned the whip and pointed at several people in the room: "You, you, you, and you, yes, come out!"

In a blink of an eye, he had selected seven men and two women.

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

The man quickly defended himself: "I can carry it, I can carry it very well!"

The muleteer also said: "He can carry it. Don't look at his small size, he can carry a lot!"

So, under the envious eyes of other refugees, the chosen person followed the foreman and left.

The refugees' attention then shifted to He Lingchuan outside, who misstepped and turned away.

"These 'mules' are illegal in Tianshui City. They will not have an identity card even if they work for more than ten years or even decades, so they get the lowest wages and do the dirtiest and hardest work." If they don't work, they will have no money, and if they have no money, they will starve to death. "I heard that the wages of hiring a local in Tianshui City can hire at least five mules."

"You can see that there are more than 300 people crowded in the shed. There are few job opportunities and many people, so the mules who want to find a job have to bribe the muleteer." He Lingchuan pointed at the muleteer, "The more ruthless ones can take away the mules' wages for three to five days. If they don't give, there will be no job."

The soul-catching mirror in his arms couldn't help but say, "It's really not easy for these refugees to make a living."

What He Lingchuan didn't say was that the residents of Tianshui City were also very dissatisfied with these refugees. The Greyhounds stole, robbed, kidnapped, and disrupted public order, while the Mules took away job opportunities for ordinary people. The houses where the refugees gathered were occasionally vandalized and set on fire.

Last year, a house caught fire and more than a hundred refugees were burned to death.

"Some refugees are anxious to find work just to have a meal, whether they can earn wages is secondary." He Lingchuan said, "It is so difficult to make a living, some mules have turned into greyhounds and engaged in illegal activities."

Since they can’t make money by taking the right path, of course some people will take the wrong path.

"I heard that in the past twenty years, the number of 'Greyhounds' has increased, and they have split into dozens of factions. They engage in treasonous money, robbery, and gang-building, which not only disrupts public order, but also does illegal work, causing headaches for the authorities."

Dong Rui laughed and asked, "How many gang houses are there in the whole city?"

"Three hundred or more."

"Three hundred people for one, three hundred is..." Wow, that's not a small number.

"Tianshui City itself has less than a million people, and refugees account for more than 10% of them." Everyone thought this was a good place and they all crowded here.

"This isn't a paradise, but at least there's no war."

"And there is the largest slave market in the country to the west of Tianshui City. No matter how miserable the lives of refugees are, at least they have some personal freedom, which is much better than being slaves, right? After those slaves were bought, they were tied up with iron chains when they were not working. Slaves that were always unwanted would eventually be..." He Lingchuan made a throat-cutting gesture, "Food cannot be wasted if it has no value. The traffickers and the owners killed the slaves, and the government didn't care at all."

There is a popular saying in He Lingchuan’s hometown:

If you don’t go to hell, you won’t know that there are eighteen levels of hell.

A strong wind blew and heavy rain came pouring down.

Dong Rui touched his belly, feeling hungry: "Let's find a place to shelter from the rain and find something to eat. How about that restaurant?"

They walked back to the front street, where the pedestrians at least were neatly dressed.

The filth and mess were hidden in the dark back alleys. The two worlds seemed to be disconnected.

What he was pointing at was more like an open-air courtyard than a restaurant. The sign was actually a pure white cloth banner fluttering in the wind, with the words "Fireworks in the World" embroidered on it.

Luckily, the words were in bright red. If they were in black, then...

However, as the two walked along the way, they found that Tianshui City's white signs were actually everywhere, bringing a bit of vitality to the gray-brown or ochre-red walls.

It was still another half hour before dinner time, but the restaurant was already almost full. The aroma of oil wafting through the window made people's mouths water.

As soon as he entered the store, He Lingchuan heard a sizzling sound.

Although the courtyard is open to the sky, the corridor is large and wide, so the rain cannot get in. A tarpaulin roof is set up on the side of the corridor to expand the space outward. Seven or eight square tables are placed in order, and a hole is dug in the middle of each table to place a clay stove with a grill on top. Diners put the meat on the fire to roast, and the lard drips onto the charcoal, making a hissing sound.

To eat here, you have to cook it yourself.

The walls of the yard were covered with food signs, and when the two of them looked, they saw an outrageous variety of food.

In addition to the common cattle, sheep, pigs and chickens, there are also crocodiles, giant salamanders, pythons, mountain jumping frogs, etc., and different parts have different prices and pickling methods, and the prices are clearly marked.

Dong Rui ordered four or five plates of meat, one of which was even served with pickled fruits.

Lots of variety, small and exquisite portions...but expensive!

"The spices are quite complete." Yao Country is also known as the Kingdom of Spices. The spices from their origin are of course used in a variety of ways, even in drinks. In addition to the common rice wine, this store also provides mint wine, pepper wine, etc. The first sip will make you feel refreshed.

After a short while, Dong Rui finished roasting two pieces of lamb kidney and one lamb eyeball, and happily handed them to He Lingchuan: "Come on, like cures like."

The strong spices masked the muttony smell of the kidneys, leaving only the freshness and crispness. The sheep's eyeballs were also roasted to perfection, bursting with juice when eaten.

Building a fire and barbecuing in the countryside is called wilderness survival; spreading ingredients and barbecuing in the city is called enjoying life.

Dong Rui is very good at both of these.

"On the Golden Plains, if ordinary people want to eat so luxuriously, they can probably only go to Tianshui City." He Lingchuan is a businessman. Just by looking at the wide variety of food available in any roadside shop, he knows that Tianshui City's supply system is relatively sound and its logistics and transportation are very developed.

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

"It's a great place." But the prices are ridiculously high. A plate of pickled pork belly weighs less than half a pound, and costs more than three times as much as in Jucheng Restaurant.

He Lingchuan also noticed that those who were barbecuing and taking shelter from the rain in this beautiful courtyard were usually neatly dressed in fine fabrics, and when they sat down to talk about anything, they would either talk about love or business.

There were very few civilians.

This store is not of such a standard that it can accommodate poor people.

The two of them grilled and ate to the sound of rain, looking at the people rushing to take shelter from the rain on the street, and marveled at the unique prosperity of Tianshui City.

Dong Rui sighed: "This is actually in the Shining Gold Plains, how strange!"

After saying this, he went to the thatched cottage.

When he came back from draining the water and passed by the kitchen, he saw four or five people squatting on the ground killing fish, washing vegetables, and sorting out the ingredients. There were also two people carrying water, and there were obvious marks on their faces.

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

slave.

These are the cheapest labor, and sometimes they are not even called human beings. As long as their masters provide them with some food, they have to work around the clock and continuously earn income for their masters.

The brand on the face is a sign of slavery, and there is no way to survive if you run away.

The sources of slaves varied. Sometimes they were prisoners of war, sometimes they were criminals who were confiscated, and most of them were converted refugees.

After becoming a refugee, do you think you have nothing left 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 businessmen, one in white and one in yellow. They ordered three plates of meat and two pounds of pepper rolls, which they ate with sour pickled cabbage.

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

The yellow-clothed merchant on the other side quickly interrupted: "Don't talk nonsense, there are too many people here, be careful if the government arrests you, and accuses you of cursing the general of the royal court and implicating me."

"Oh, I'm serious. I originally made an appointment with a friend to discuss business in Tianshui City, but he was left in Mangzhou. He spent a lot of money to send a message to inform me." The white-clothed businessman said, "Why do you think it was? General Xue Zongwu and Qi Yunsheng, the head of the Qi family, were killed. The whole Mangzhou was like a hornet's nest, and the city was sealed off!"

(End of this chapter)