jdhmnovel Chapter 149: Treatment of Refugees
Chapter 149: Treatment of Refugees
When they were almost at the ancestral hall, the little guy slowly said, "Daddy~"
"Hmm?" Xiao Li looked up at him, "What's wrong?"
"With Daddy." Little Jingnian said as he touched his head, "Daddy, be good~"
Xiao Li:???
Xiao Li was stunned for a moment, then he laughed helplessly, "Who did you learn this from?"
Little Jingnian looked at him without saying a word, his meaning was obvious.
Xiao Li raised an eyebrow, refusing to take the blame. "Daddy didn't teach you this. Did you learn it on your own?"
Little Jingnian thought about it and nodded slowly, "Oh~"
"...You!" Xiao Li suddenly felt that this was irrelevant, but they understood each other.
Little Jingnian just looked at him obediently, not hearing the helplessness in his tone.
In the ancestral hall, Shuino stood with the people from Yangliu Village, but his eyes were fixed on the door, as if he was waiting for someone to show up.
When the figures of Xiao Li and Xiao Jingnian appeared in his sight, he could not stay any longer. He said something to Erzhuzi beside him and was about to walk towards them, but was quickly stopped by Erzhuzi.
As he looked over, Er Zhuzi shook his head at him and told him, "Your little master will be fine with Fourth Brother Xiao. We're talking about serious matters now. Don't wander around, or you might upset others and cause trouble for them when things get arranged!"
Although Erzhuzi has not been doing things as long as Ma Xiaozuo, he has learned something after all, and what he said now is also sincerely considering Shuinu.
At this moment, his grandfather was speaking, and other elders and clan members were still listening. If he, an outsider, made any noise at this time, it would inevitably cause others' displeasure.
His grandfather was okay and didn't care so much, but it was hard to say about others.
When times are not peaceful, everyone can unite to face the outside world, but when times stabilize, those trivial conflicts will come out again.
Shui Nu stopped and looked towards Xiao Li and the others with a hesitant look on his face. "Can't I do it quietly?"
Er Zhuzi still shook his head, "Fourth Brother Xiao is here and won't run away. You should wait. Once you're settled, you can look at your young master however you want, right? There's no need to rush for the time being, right?"
"Yes." Shuinu knew that what he said made sense. As a boy, he had to follow the local rules if he wanted others to accept him and let him settle down here.
He was sold to the young master's house. The young master treated him very well and regarded him as a half-brother. So when the young master got married, he followed him and later took care of the young master's son.
Twenty years of good life had passed, but before he followed the young master and was sold by his family, he had suffered a lot and seen how others bullied orphans and widows who had no one to support them.
He was even worse than those orphans and widows. At least their identities were recognized, while he was just an outsider with nothing. If he wanted to settle down, it depended on whether the people here were willing to take him in.
It would be fine if the people here agreed to let him settle down with the young master, but if not, he and the young master would probably have to continue wandering.
When the young master was still alive, he treated him so well. It would have been fine if he couldn't save the young master, but how come he couldn't even take care of the young master now? If this is the case, how will he go to the underworld to see the young master in the future?
After thinking it over again and again, Shui Nu finally withdrew his gaze reluctantly, and listened absentmindedly to the voices of everyone talking in the ancestral hall, but his eyes couldn't help but keep wanting to look towards the door.
Xiao Li stood at the door holding little Jingnian. He did not rush in, but listened quietly at the door.
Little Jingnian sat in his arms, staring at the direction of Shui Nu with sparkling eyes, but he was obedient and didn't shout out loud, just staring in that direction.
Xiao Li listened to the conversations inside for a while and soon found out what everyone was arguing about.
In order to deal with the refugees, the villagers were roughly divided into two factions.
One group felt that these people could not be let off easily and should just be drowned in a pond; the other group felt that if they dealt with so many people themselves, they would have a hard time explaining themselves if the government found out and asked about it one day.
The two factions were similar, so neither side could convince the other. The emotionally excited people even had red faces, looking like they would faint at any moment.
"..." Xiao Li had already mentioned this matter to the young and strong men who went up the mountain when they were in the mountains. Logically, Xiao Laofu should have made the decision.
At the moment he was confused, everyone in the ancestral hall finally noticed his arrival and couldn't help but ask for his opinion.
"Xiao Si, you're back? What do you think about this?"
"Xiao Si is back?"
"Hurry, hurry, let Xiao Si tell us what to do!"
"Xiao Si is a scholar, and he's been to a big place like the capital. He must have a way!"
"That's right, I listen to Xiao Si!"
"Me too!"
"And I!"
No one could have imagined such a situation, but Xiao Li was fine.
This era places too much emphasis on scholars. People think that if they have read a few books by sages, they will definitely know more than those who have not read. In fact, this is not the case.
There is a sequence in learning, and everyone has their own specializations. Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses, and we cannot generalize.
However, facing everyone's inquiries, Xiao Li did not refuse. He carried little Jingnian into the ancestral hall and pondered for a moment before repeating the solution he had mentioned in the mountains, "After all, these refugees were once citizens of the Great Zhou. If one or two are dealt with according to clan rules, it will be fine. The government will probably turn a blind eye.
But there are more than 30 refugees here, and it is a bit difficult to prevent the outside world from knowing that so many people died in Yangliu Village. No one can guarantee that the people present will not leak the news one day and attract the government.
Even if we put the government aside, so many people died in Yangliu Village, and we still have to find a place to bury them. If we are not careful, it might cause an epidemic. This is somewhat not worth the loss.
However, it is naturally impossible for us to release these refugees easily, and everyone may be angry if we hand them over to the government directly.
In my opinion, it would be better to take these refugees to an open place and tie them up. If anyone is angry and wants to vent his anger, as long as they don't beat anyone to death, we can do whatever we want.
After everyone has vented their anger, they will be sent to the government. During this period, they do not need to be fed, just give them a sip of water and don't let them die.
What do you uncles and elders think of this method? "
When he started speaking, everyone began to quiet down and think about whether it was okay to do so as he spoke.
The answer is of course yes.
"Xiao Si's brain is still good!"
"Studying is still useful. When life gets better next year, even if I have to tighten my belt, I will send my son to school."
"Yes! Being educated makes all the difference. I'm also prepared to work a little harder and save up some money to send my son to school. I don't ask him to be as smart as Xiao Si and pass the imperial examination, but I just hope he can read more and understand more so that he can have more options in the future and not have to dig for food in the fields like us all our lives."
"A drought suddenly struck out of nowhere. If we hadn't stockpiled food in advance, we wouldn't have survived this year."
"Yes! If it weren't for this drought, my family would have sent our little boy to school this year. But this incident happened, and life has become a bit tight. This matter will be delayed for a while."
……
That's how it is in the village. Once a matter is resolved, it's easy for the discussion to go off track. In the end, it was Xiao Laofu who spoke up, "Since everyone agrees with what Xiao Si said, let's start tying up these refugees now, and then each household will go back and tell their families.
You can vent your anger if you want, but if anyone dares to beat someone to death, the village will not send you to the government now, but if one day the government finds out about these things and starts to investigate, the village will not speak for you, so when you vent your anger, you should control yourself and don't kill anyone, otherwise no one can help you if something happens.
Did you hear everything clearly?"
After saying this, Xiao Laofu stood up and looked at everyone with a serious warning look.
After all, he is the head of a village and the patriarch of the Xiao family. Even if Xiao Laofu is usually kind, he still makes the villagers a little scared when he needs to be imposing. Otherwise, Erzhuzi would not have asked Shui Nu to stop making any noise just now.
"Don't worry, Village Chief. We know how to control our actions. We'll have people watching us when we're doing it. If we really can't control ourselves, we'll have people pull us apart."
"That's right! We can't control ourselves, so how can we control others with so many people? Don't worry, Chief! We will definitely not kill these scumbags!"
"Death is too easy for them. We just heard Erzhuzi and the others talk about what these people have done, especially the leader. Killing these scumbags would be too easy for them!"
"That's what I mean! These people want to rob the girls and boys in our village, and they want us men to work like slaves for them. I won't be able to vent my anger unless I beat them up for three to five days."
……
Everyone kept talking, and they quickly tied up the people again and dragged them out of the ancestral hall.
Erzhuzi and Shuinu were the last to fall. The latter subconsciously wanted to hug Xiao Jingnian when he saw him, but Xiao Li raised his hand to stop him. "He just took a shower. Why don't you go to my house and take a shower first? I'll settle things with you later. How about that?"
Because Shui Nu was thinking about the young master, he didn't notice that Xiao Jingnian had changed his clothes. Only after hearing what he said did he see Xiao Jingnian in his new clothes, with a rosy complexion.
Looking at the little Jingnian's pointed chin, Shui Nu nodded distressedly, "Shui Nu will listen to Master Xiao."
"Come with me." Xiao Li turned around holding little Jingnian and returned the same way.
Erzhuzi looked left and right, and finally followed them, following behind them with a conflicted look on his face.