"Brother Ming, are you sure you want to take these porcelains to Qingshui County?"
"My father just went there yesterday afternoon, and now the gates of Qingshui County are full of refugees."
"Even the main road leading to Qingshui County has quite a few."
Most of the people who could escape from Liangyou Prefecture have already done so, and this is just the first batch.
It won't be long before Liuzhou Prefecture and other counties near Liangyou Prefecture will be flooded with refugees.
"Has the new magistrate of Qingshui County arrived yet?"
"He arrived yesterday afternoon. My father went to the county seat yesterday. He reported the current household registration."
"Has the new magistrate organized disaster relief?"
Liu Qiang shook his head, indicating he wasn't sure.
If that was the case, Ye Ming would have to think carefully.
Although he wasn't carrying food, he was worried that the hungry refugees might mistake him for someone to steal.
These porcelains were precious items and couldn't be damaged.
As for food, Ye Ming wasn't worried. He had bought nearly fifty taels of grain when he returned yesterday. It was enough to feed the entire Qingshi Village for two or three months.
"Forget it. Making money is urgent."
"Brother Qiang, I'll take Yang Xiong and you to Qingshui County later."
"We won't take all the porcelain bowls this time. We'll each take ten."
"If something goes wrong, we'll retreat. If we can, we can sell some of these porcelains."
Ye Ming had fired over sixty pieces in the first batch, with the white porcelain bowls being the most numerous.
If he took thirty pieces and sold them all, the profit would be enough to buy several shops in Qingshui County.
With shops, he wouldn't have to carry things around like he does now.
Liu Qiang hesitated, feeling that even this move would still be risky.
But he finally agreed. After all, his wife was expected to give birth in just over twenty days, and he needed to go to the city to buy supplies for the birth.
'"Husband, be careful."
Su Xiaorong clearly didn't want Ye Ming to go; the family still had enough food.
But she couldn't persuade him otherwise. She had seen everyone's hard work during this period.
Everyone in Qingshi Village depended on this for their livelihood.
"Don't worry, your husband isn't stupid enough not to run away when he sees danger."
"Don't worry, madam. I, Yang Xiong, will protect you even if I die."
Seeing Su Xiaorong's worried face, Ye Ming couldn't help but go over to comfort her.
"Don't worry about me. You know how powerful your husband is."
"By the way, is there anything you particularly want? I'll buy it for you when we get to the city."
As for what she wanted, Su Xiaorong wasn't sure.
She was happy now with food and drink, and she even had clothes made for herself and her husband. Besides cooking every day, there was nothing else to do.
"Husband, can you buy some thread and fabric? I want to embroider something and sell it to make some money."
"Okay, just wait for me at home."
"Okay, Brother Qiang, Yang Xiong, let's go."
And so the three of them, carrying the white porcelain, left Qingshi Village.
Less than two miles from Qingshui County, they began to see refugees one after another.
Liu Qiang was a little worried.
"Brother Ming, why don't we retreat? There are too many refugees."
The air was filled with the unpleasant smell of feces.
"Don't worry, let's walk around a bit."
As the refugees piled up, Yang Xiong consciously walked ahead of Ye Ming.
"Gentlemen, please be kind and give us some food..."
Today's situation was even worse than when Ye Ming had gone to Qingshui County yesterday.
Corpses could already be seen on the road.
If things weren't handled properly, there was a risk of an epidemic.
Thinking of this, Ye Ming quickly purchased several bags of masks from the system and took out three more.
"Yang Xiong, Brother Qiang, put them on."
"Brother Ming, what's this?"
"This is a mask. Try wearing it like me."
"People are already dying, and it's early spring. There's a risk of an epidemic. Wearing this will significantly reduce your chances of contracting the disease."
Hearing the possibility of contracting the disease, the two men immediately imitated Ye Ming and began wearing them.
Arriving outside the Qingshui County gates, there were even more refugees.
Fortunately, the yamen runners maintained order, so the situation wasn't too chaotic.
Furthermore, the newly appointed county magistrate had opened several more porridge stalls, so the refugees had a place to stay and no riots occurred.
"So many refugees? I'm afraid the rebels in Liangzhou City deliberately released them."
"Brother Ming, what are you saying? Shouldn't the rebels keep these people and build up their army?"
That's what most people like Liu Qiang thought.
So, they were puzzled by Ye Ming's words.
"Yes, benefactor, Lin Weichen only has 10,000 soldiers at most. If he hadn't forced conscription, why would I have fled with my family?"
"It's because he only has 10,000 soldiers, and Dayun is negotiating peace with the barbarians, so he can't take action. That's why he released these refugees to Liuzhou and these counties."
"You wouldn't understand if I told you more. All you need to know is that Lin Weichen wants to cause chaos in the surrounding counties."
Dayun paid a lot of money in peace talks with the barbarians, plus the money spent on suppressing the rebellion.
The national treasury is now empty before the autumn harvest.
Rescuing the earthquake is extremely difficult.
If the court fails to provide assistance, the refugees will riot, and Liangzhou and Liangzhou will fall without a fight.
By then, these counties will no longer belong to Dayun. While Lin Weichen's power is still not fully established, he can easily send troops to take them.
This way, it wouldn't violate the agreement between Manzi and Dayun.
..
Piaoxiang Tower.
"Hey, Brother Li, why are you here again?"
"It's been very uneasy outside the city these days. You should quickly stock up on food and leave."
Li Youde hadn't expected Ye Ming to come to see him two days in a row.
"Haha, thank you, Shopkeeper Li, but I brought you a few more white porcelain bowls today."
"See how many you can take?"
Li Youde's eyes lit up.
This thing is really good, I didn't expect Ye Ming to have more.
The last time he bought white porcelain bowls, the boss saw them and bought them back for him at a high price. He made over ten taels of silver.
"I wonder how many you have, little brother Ye?"
"Not many, just over thirty. If Shopkeeper Li doesn't want them, I'll go find someone else."
"Yes, I want them all!"
Li Youde was not going to give them to anyone else. It just so happened that the boss wanted more white porcelain.
If he kept them, he could make a profit.
Ye Ming hadn't expected that a middle-aged shopkeeper like Li Youde could take over thirty white porcelain bowls.
But this saved him from having to carry the items around.
"As usual, these white porcelain bowls are five taels each."
"These ten wine bottles are quite exquisite in appearance, so you can give them ten taels each."
"That's two hundred taels of silver in total, keep it for yourself."
Wow, he made two hundred taels of money with only half of the kiln fired. What if he sold all of it?
No, this is just the beginning. Once there are more white porcelains, they will be worthless.
Forget it, I don't want to think too much about it now. At least I have made back my investment. No matter how much I earn in the future, it will be a profit.
"By the way, Shopkeeper Li, do you know of any shops selling it nearby?"
If Ye Ming had asked a few days ago, there might not be any, but some people have sold their shops and run away in recent days.
"Well, you can go to the pawnshop to have a look."