Flying Clouds in Another World

Chapter 145 Refugees, Scars!

Ten years ago, the current Zhenyuan Duke Yan Bo publicly announced to the world that anyone willing to come to the Zhenyuan Principality to open up wasteland, whether they were civilians or slaves, would be exempt from taxes for three years, and after three years, half of the land they reclaimed would belong to them.

After these years, the first group of people who went to Jinzhou Zhenyuan Principality began to return to the heartland of the empire to recruit people for the Yuan Yan family because the Yuan Yan family fulfilled their promise and promised to give a certain reward based on the number of people who could recruit more people.

Therefore, in recent years, more and more refugees want to go to Jinzhou. For these refugees who have difficulty making a living in their hometown, even if Jinzhou is bitter and cold, as long as they are willing to work hard, they can always have food to eat and may even get their own land, which is enough to attract them.

However, compared to the bitter cold Jinzhou, Anping County is actually more attractive. Because of the existence of the Liu family, various workshops are spread throughout the county, and the living standard is much better than Jinzhou. However, Anping County is too small compared to the one county of the Zhenyuan Principality of the Yuanyan family. Jinzhou is vast and sparsely populated, and the jurisdiction of one county can even be equivalent to half of the state in the heart of the empire.

Although Zhenyuan Principality is only a county, it can absorb millions of refugees, while Anping County can only absorb a hundred thousand at most. In addition, Anping County under the control of the Liu family is also selective in absorbing refugees, generally only those who have a skill to rely on. However, many of these refugees who went to Jinzhou would still stay in Anping County for a few days to try their luck.

Most of these refugees gathered near the city gate because Anping County Magistrate Gao Xian had ordered that, except for the elderly, the weak, women and children, young and strong refugees were not allowed to enter the city at will.

When the Tiemu brothers first arrived in Anping County, they almost had a conflict with the local soldiers guarding the city because they were too ragged and too poor. However, the local soldiers saw that the two were too tall and difficult to deal with, and with the mother and daughter of the Bian family beside them, they decided to let the two enter the city.

Although there were many refugees gathered near the city gate, few of them caused trouble. Firstly, the Green Willow Chamber of Commerce of the Liu family provided them with five days of free food. If they were lucky, they might be hired temporarily to do odd jobs and earn a few dozen copper coins. Secondly, the local soldiers and yamen runners in the county were not vegetarians. Even if they encountered a tough opponent that they could not deal with, they could still seek help from the martial artists among the Green Willow Guards.

Therefore, these vagrants usually stay in Anping County for a few days, and if they cannot find a job, they will leave for Jinzhou.

After Liu Feiyun and his companions walked through all the refugee gathering places at the four gates, it was almost noon before they knew it.

The stomachs of the two Tiemu brothers were already growling with hunger. Tiemuling could not help but complain, "My Lord! How long are we going to wander around? We have almost walked through the entire Anping County. It's time to take a break, right? At least let us fill our stomachs first!"

"You foodie, you only know how to eat! It's not even noon yet and you're already so hungry! Let's stay hungry a little longer now, and later, when Mr. Gao treats us, we'll be able to eat more! Only by eating him until he loses all his wealth can we relieve my sister's hatred for being bullied by him, so just bear with it for now!" Tiemushan said with some regret.

Gao Jinda smiled bitterly again after hearing this, and then suggested going to Zhenhuang Tower first to eat some food, drink some water, take a rest, and wait for the arrival of the two guards, Sun and Qian.

Liu Feiyun couldn't help but secretly sympathize with Gao Jinda. Zhenhuanglou was the most luxurious restaurant in Anping County, and the prices of the dishes there were naturally very high. If Tiemu brothers were allowed to let go of their appetites and eat those expensive dishes, they would probably really eat up all of Gao Jinda's small treasury.

However, this Zhenhuang Tower is also a business of his Liu family's Green Willow Chamber of Commerce. Since a sucker has come to his doorstep, why not do it!

Soon everyone arrived at the Zhenhuang Tower. This Zhenhun Tower has five floors, and it is a landmark building in the county town of Anping County. Go up to the Tianzi private room on the fifth floor, and you can overlook the entire Anping County while drinking and chatting.

Gao Jinda was treating, so he naturally couldn't be stingy, and he directly booked all the private rooms on the fifth floor. The two brothers Tiemu, one carrying an axe and the other carrying a hammer, walked to the fifth floor. On the way up, the stairs creaked loudly, which made Liu Feiyun a little scared. He thought, don't damage the stairs. After all, this is also his family's business.

Gao Jinda asked the Tiemu brothers, Tuodajun and Si Mingrui to go to another room, while he and Liu Feiyun sat down in a private room facing the street and chatted.

After Liu Feiyun sipped a small cup, he asked with a smile: "Brother Gao, I actually wanted to ask you three days ago! Why haven't the scars on your face completely disappeared? This shouldn't be the case! Although the healing ointment I prepared can't be said to have any miraculous effects, after a month, it should have healed these scars!"

Gao Jinda replied with a smile: "Haha! The prince misunderstood. It's not that your elixir is ineffective, but that I didn't use it at all! The lesson given by the prince that day made me completely wake up. However, I am a person with a fickle mind. I am afraid that I will forget the prince's lesson in the future and cause trouble again. So, I didn't use the elixir, just to let these scars remind me from time to time not to do stupid things again!"

"Oh! I see! Oh! I didn't expect Brother Gao to be such a wonderful person! But, Brother Gao, why are you doing this? These days, I've heard some things about Brother Gao. I feel that although Brother Gao was a bit dissolute before, he still has some good points. Now Brother Gao has come to his senses and decided to change his ways. I think he will be able to do it. Why does he need scars as a warning? You should use my ointment as soon as possible to remove the scars and turn back into the tall and handsome young man you used to be! Hahaha!"

"Sir, please stop making fun of me! Come on, come on! Drink!"

"Haha! Brother Gao, I don't mean to make fun of you! I'm serious! If you don't take medicine in time, those nine scars may really leave permanent scars! If you get married and have children in the future, do you still want to face them with this scarred face? No way!"

For some reason, when Gao Jinda heard the words "get married and have children", he couldn't help but shudder slightly, his eyes darkened, but he immediately laughed to cover it up and continued, "Your Highness is right! I will use the medicine when I go back today, I hope it's not too late! Let's not talk about these disappointing things, I'd better introduce you to some interesting places in Anping County! I think your Highness has been away from home for many years, and you may be a little unfamiliar with Anping County now! Your Highness, look, do you see the garden in the west of the city? This is extremely rare in our northern border counties. Back then..."