The fifth year of Taiping, December 15th.

There is only the last half month left before the New Year. Every household in Fengjing City is making final preparations for the upcoming New Year. At this time, many relatives who are away from home are returning one after another to reunite with their families, and some

Officials, whose hometown is not very far from Fengjing, have also begun to take leave, return to their hometowns, and celebrate the New Year with their families. Fengjing is full of joy everywhere.

But dozens of miles outside Fengjing City, in the cold weather, there are tens of thousands of refugees gathered. They have no land, wander around all day long, and make a living by begging. Their lives are worse than those of dogs.

It started to snow heavily again, and the sky and the earth were completely white.

Dozens of carriages, escorted by hundreds of soldiers, left Fengjing City and headed towards the gathering place for the refugees.

Although the court sent disaster relief, it was of little avail and many people died of hunger and oppression.

Li Xun looked at the tragic scene in front of him and couldn't help but think of himself five years ago, struggling on the edge of death, letting his life slip away little by little in a desperate situation.

"The burden of land annexation has reached an unprecedented level. This is the root of the war."

Fan Zhongyun shook his head and sighed softly.

"The powerful are wantonly grabbing land, causing countless people to be displaced. Will the court just ignore it?"

Li Xun once lived at the bottom of society and knows this very well. Tyrants from all over the country often take advantage of the disaster years to seize land and buy and sell it by force. In order to maintain the stability of taxation, some local governments do whatever they want without looking at the actual situation.

With the additional taxes, many people, even those with land, were overwhelmed and abandoned their land and fled. However, those dignitaries with official titles and titles, who owned vast lands, did not pay taxes and the court. No matter how chaotic the world was, they would still

They can live a luxurious and wealthy life, but those people who are forced into desperate situations will either fend for themselves or rise up and cause chaos in all directions.

Fan Zhongyun said silently: "The emperor once thought about reform, but it involved too much, so in the end it was nothing."

Li Xun remained silent. He was just a small person now, and it was not his turn to consider these important military and national affairs.

Zhu Zhengguo rode up to Li Xun and said: "Brother Gou'er, there is a gathering place for refugees a few miles ahead. If we faint with so much food, if the refugees see it, it may cause riots."

Li Xun nodded: "In this way, leave the food here and let Yan Yi lead a hundred soldiers to guard it. You lead the remaining soldiers and follow me to the refugee gathering place to recruit soldiers."

Zhu Zhengguo smiled and said: "This is best, I will give you the instructions right away."

Zhao Zhi had agreed to set up a new inspection camp and let Li Xun lead it under the command of Jingzhao Mansion. Li Xun was overjoyed and raised 3,000 dan of food by himself. He also approached Zhu Zhengguo and asked him to lead hundreds of soldiers in his headquarters.

Along with the escort, Zhu Zhengguo reported this matter to his superior right guard general Zhao Feidu. Because Li Xun had spoken kind words for him in front of Zhao Zhi some time ago, Zhao Feidu did not refuse and agreed to Li Xun's request to let Zhu Zhengguo go out to train troops.

As an excuse, I went with Li Xun on this trip.

Li Xun and others arrived at the refugee gathering place. It was almost an hour after noon, and meals were just being served at dozens of disaster relief points set up by the government.

Li Xun walked to a disaster relief site, took a look at the large pot, picked up a spoon and stirred it. The clear soup was not watery, and there was not much rice at all. Is this porridge? It is no different from water.

The person distributing food took a look at Li Xun and saw that he was dressed in an extraordinary way and that there were soldiers following behind him, so he did not dare to say anything.

Li Xun put down the spoon in his hand and said quietly: "What is the difference between this kind of thing and water?"

Li Xun remembered that five years ago, when the court was providing disaster relief, they had two meals a day, porridge at noon and porridge plus a steamed bun at night. Although it was very poor, the porridge in the big pot contained more or less rice, and he could barely save his life. Looking at it now

, it is almost the same as that time.

The person distributing the food smiled bitterly: "Sir, our disaster relief site has been without food for more than ten days. We are able to survive until now thanks to donations from large households in the city. In a few days, we may not even have this food."

It’s all gone.”

Li Xun sighed deeply and had nothing to say.

"Let's get started!"

Li Xun ordered to go down.

Several chefs took out a large pot of firewood and began to cook.

Jiang Daxiong moved a fine iron stone pier, and someone else brought swords, guns and sticks, and a simple examination place was quickly formed.

The soldiers began to enter the refugees and loudly publicized that the imperial court was building a new inspection camp. The soldiers needed would be recruited from the refugees. All young and strong men aged eighteen but not more than forty-five could participate.

The refugees suddenly became commotion, and some people began to walk towards Li Xun.

"Sir, I want to join the army."

Li Xun glanced at the person who came. He was about thirty years old, with a square face and a tall and strong build. However, he looked a little weak and was obviously hungry.

"This stone pier weighs one hundred and twenty kilograms. If you can lift it over the top ten times in a row, you will pass."

The man nodded, came to the stone pier, held up his hands, and lifted them ten times in a row, all over his head. He seemed very relaxed. Although he was a little out of breath, it was obvious that he was weak because he had no food in his stomach.

Yes, if you take good care of yourself, it won't be like this.

"May I have your name?"

"Lei Fanghai, a small citizen, is from Liaozhou, Hedong."

Li Xun nodded: "You passed, go and register your name next to it!"

Lei Wanhai was about to walk to the table next to him, but he hesitated for a moment, then turned back to Li Xun and clasped his fists and said, "Sir, the common people with swords and guns are better at it."

Li Xun was stunned and asked, "Can you ride a horse?"

Seeing Lei Wanhai nod, Li Xun said happily: "Use your methods. If you are really good at martial arts, I will give you the position of team leader."

Lei Wanhai's spirit was shaken. He strode forward, jumped on his horse, and wielded his sword and spear in a very systematic way. It was obvious that he must have practiced martial arts before.

Li Xun was very happy. Unexpectedly, he got off to a good start right after he started recruiting troops. He patted Lei Wanhai on the shoulder and laughed and said, "Follow me from now on. Go and have a meal nearby!"

Lei Wanhai received a large bowl of rice. He smelled the aroma of the rice and felt hungry, but he did not eat it. Li Xun looked on and said in surprise: "Lei Wanhai, you have the food, why don't you

eat?"

Lei Wanhai smiled bitterly and said: "There are five other people below me, my mother, my young brother, and I haven't had food for several days. How dare I enjoy their food to myself?"

"But he is a filial person."

Li Xun glanced at Lei Wanhai appreciatively and said with a smile: "You can take your relatives with you. I will arrange a place for you later."

Hearing this, Lei Wanhai was overjoyed. He knelt down on the ground, kowtowed several times, and said loudly: "If this is possible, I am willing to die for you."

The recruitment went very smoothly. In less than two hours, a thousand young and strong men were recruited. Those who were not selected kept crying and begging. Li Xun shook his head and could only make up his mind to let Zhu Zhengguo lead the soldiers.

After they dispersed the tens of thousands of refugees, what method and ability did Li Xun have to manage them?

The recruited 1,000 soldiers plus their relatives, totaling 5,000 to 6,000 people, led them to the food location several miles away. Li Xun immediately gave each soldier a piece of food.

"Thank you, sir."

The refugees burst into tears of gratitude, immediately knelt down on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly. For them, Li Xun at this moment was like their reborn parent, helping them escape from the edge of life and death.

Li Xun arranged for these people to go to Qinghua Mountain thirty miles away. At the foot of the mountain was a vast manor covering an area of ​​500 acres. It was Zhao Zhi who had given it to Li Mancang some time ago. This manor has always been owned by the royal family and has been vacant.

It has been here for more than ten years, and now it is just the time to accommodate these people.

Li Xun watched the refugees leaving happily and couldn't help but shook his head. The rich and powerful owned a lot of land. Even if they didn't have enough manpower, they would rather let the land be abandoned than let it be cultivated by the poor. And what kind of attitude do these people have towards life?

Simple?

Fan Zhongyun patted Li Xun on the shoulder: "Go home!"

Li Xun nodded, glanced at him, and said slightly apologetically: "I'm really sorry for making you have a tiring day."
Chapter completed!