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墨書 Inktalez
Zhao Yun nodded slightly and gestured to those present, saying, "These buildings have been constructed with the divine power of the Immortal Sir, specifically to accommodate all of you. Each building has three floors, with ten rooms on each floor. Shortly, I will assign rooms based on the list, with four people sharing one room. For couples or family members, they can stay in one room together."
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone in the crowd stared blankly at Zhao Yun, speechless. After a moment, a wanderer could not help but shed tears. This wave of sorrow washed over the surrounding crowd. Soon, thousands of people in the army began to weep uncontrollably, unable to suppress their inner emotions.
Zhao Yun was taken aback by this scene; it was the first time he had encountered such a situation and he did not know how to respond. After forcing himself to regain his composure, he approached one of the displaced individuals and asked, "Why are you crying? Is there something you are dissatisfied with? The accommodations may seem a bit cramped, but given the large number of people, the Immortal Sir's capabilities are limited to this. For now, I ask you all to bear with it until more buildings can be constructed in the future."
The person before him, who appeared to have weathered many hardships, wiped away his tears with his sleeve and choked out, "Zhao Da Ren, it's not that our demands are too high; we would be grateful just to have a place to stay. We are truly overwhelmed with emotion. In all these years, no one has treated us this way. Not only have we been given food, but now we also have shelter. In the past, wealthy landowners never regarded us as human beings. They only thought about how to exploit every ounce of our strength."
Then this individual began recounting his past. He had once owned ten acres of fertile land but later faced misfortune. The villagers took this opportunity to seize his good land through so-called loan agreements.
Little did he know that it was a debt that would continue to accumulate year after year. Even if he were to sell all his crops to repay it, he would barely be able to cover the interest. Faced with an insurmountable debt, the landowner forcibly reclaimed all his land, reducing him to a Tenant Farmer.
Life as a Tenant Farmer did not alleviate his burdens; instead, the interest only grew heavier. Eventually, after another greater disaster struck, even a significant reduction in crop yield would not help, as there were few members in his household. Even with diminished production, it was still enough to sustain them for several years. However, they were mercilessly driven away when they could no longer support the tenants.
With no means of survival left, they found it increasingly difficult to make ends meet. Ultimately, with nowhere else to turn, they had no choice but to abandon their homes and flee, becoming part of the Displaced Persons population.
This is not just an individual story; it reflects the experiences of thousands of Wanderers on this land. Among this group of over a thousand people, nearly half have faced similar fates, victims of exploitation during times of disaster. By providing loans secured against their land or purchasing their farmland at low prices, tragedies sometimes proved more devastating than natural disasters.
If the local gentry and wealthy families had stepped in to help by sharing some of their stored grain to assist the people, perhaps they would not have faced such dire circumstances during years of famine and disaster. Although drought caused severe declines in food production in certain areas, China is vast, and not all regions suffered from drought at the same time. For instance, Yi Province, Jingzhou, and Yangzhou were not directly affected by the prolonged drought.
If food resources from these unaffected areas could have been allocated in time, the food shortages caused by drought in Ji Province, Yu Province, Yan Province, and Bingzhou could have been easily resolved. Yet in reality, no one took such action; instead of offering assistance, they seized the opportunity for war profits and aggressively expanded their landholdings. In some regions, entire counties became monopolized by one or two Clans.
Zhao An fell into deep thought upon hearing this. In contrast, Zhao Jia Village was a fortunate exception. This was thanks to the wisdom of the Zhao Clan's ancestors who established collective ownership of the land.
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