Yang Da Niu first went back to put on his clothes, then woke up his parents who had already gone to sleep. After Yang Da Niu roughly repeated what the two yamen runners had told him, he left his parents to quickly pack their belongings, while Yang Da Niu followed the two yamen runners to notify the other people in the village.
It is hard to leave one's homeland, and the prerequisite for not leaving one's homeland is to be able to live on that homeland and to be able to marry a wife on that homeland.
Seeing that if they didn't leave soon, the Qing soldiers would come to slaughter the village and city, who would still talk about the difficulty of leaving their homeland at this time?
As for the so-called belongings... there really wasn't much to pack.
Let alone Yang Da Niu, the financial situation of the dozens of households in the entire Xiao Yang Village was similar. The best-off family was Yang Er Wai at the head of the village; his family had a crowing rooster and two laying hens.
The rest were basically the same as Yang Da Niu's family. Besides the grain that might not last until the autumn harvest, there were only some broken plates and rotten bowls.
Of course, if the small single-wheeled carts cobbled together by the farmers themselves were also considered vehicles, then eight out of every ten households in Xiao Yang Village had their own vehicles, and these vehicles did not burn oil, which was quite environmentally friendly.
As the east gradually revealed a hint of fish belly white, the two yamen runners who had rested at Yang Da Niu's house for a night called all the farmers of Xiao Yang Village together.
The two yamen runners stood in front of the crowd. One of them shouted loudly, "Never mind whether you've finished packing or not, hurry up and go. If you delay for another day or two, the Tartars might send soldiers."
"At that time, whether the village is slaughtered or not will be the same, but the little grain you have in your hands will definitely not be kept."
Another yamen runner also shouted loudly, "Hurry up! Those who are old and can't walk, and those who can't walk, sit on the single-wheeled carts and have your families push you. Those who are young and can walk, without broken arms or legs, all follow obediently."
"Look out for each other along the way. It's hundreds of miles from here to Shandong. If anyone falls behind, they might be left on the road."
"Think about the good life in Shandong. Not only will you get your own land, but you won't have to pay taxes to the government. The grain you grow is your own, and you can eat as much as you want. Those single men might even get wives."
"If anyone can't keep up and is beheaded by the pursuing Tartars, it will be a huge loss!"
The farmers looked at the two yamen runners as if they were looking at idiots.
A village of people traveling hundreds of miles together would naturally look out for each other. Did they need these two to remind them?
Besides, these farmers had been working hard since childhood, and traveling was not a problem for them. It was the two hawk-nosed bastards who should not collapse on the road!
Just as the farmers of Xiao Yang Village were complaining in their hearts about the two yamen runners, one of the yamen runners shouted again, "Don't forget what I told you just now. We will look after you along the way. After arriving in Shandong, even if you are unwilling to push us, you must testify for us, proving that we did not bully you much in the past."
In fact, everyone had a scale in their hearts. How these two yamen runners treated the people of Xiao Yang Village normally, without them saying it, the people of Xiao Yang Village knew it very well.
If they came to collect taxes in Xiao Yang Village and stayed for a meal, that was definitely the case. It was also certain that they often plucked a few ears of corn from someone's cornfield to take home.
However, as the two yamen runners had told Yang Da Niu before, they came to Xiao Yang Village to collect taxes just to complete the tasks assigned by the government. They were not like some yamen runners who dug up graves of deceased relatives and extorted from widows who harmed the common people.
Therefore, after hearing the demands of the two yamen runners, the farmers of Xiao Yang Village all shouted, "We will testify for you!"
"We will definitely push you as yamen runners, but you must also be like before and not harm us!"
"We will look out for each other along the way!"
"..."
Having received the promise of the farmers of Xiao Yang Village, the two yamen runners felt relieved. After exchanging glances, one of them shouted, "Let's go!"
Yang Da Niu helped his father to help his half-blind old mother onto the single-wheeled cart. He then spat into his palm, rubbed his hands, and pushed the cart, shouting, "Let's go!"
Along the way, there were many other villages like Xiao Yang Village fleeing together. Some were organized by yamen runners like Xiao Yang Village, while others were the farmers of the entire village looking out for each other.
In the eyes of these people, the rolling wheels of the single-wheeled carts carried their families forward, heading towards a better life.
However, the road to this better life was a bit long.
From Qing County, where Xiao Yang Village was located, to Leling, which now belonged to the Menglianggu Rebel Group, the straight-line distance was only over two hundred li. But during the Qing Dynasty, the only official roads wound around mountains and bypassed water, so the actual distance might have been three to four hundred li.
Fortunately, the two yamen runners did not break their promise. They took good care of the farmers of Xiao Yang Village along the way, and the entire village did not fall behind. By the time the farmers of Xiao Yang Village arrived at the Xuanhui River north of Leling, many of them had lost a lot of weight.
After resting by the Xuanhui River for a night, as soon as dawn broke the next day, the two yamen runners shouted and called the farmers of Xiao Yang Village.
"Keep moving!"
"We've already crossed the Xuanhui River, and ahead should be the Gejin River. After crossing the Gejin River, we will have reached Shandong."
"Let me tell you in advance, once we reach Shandong, I don't care if you have relatives there or not. You all must listen to their arrangements obediently. If you encounter porridge distribution, all line up properly, don't swarm like a bunch of ants."
After repeatedly instructing the people of Xiao Yang Village, the two yamen runners then led the farmers of Xiao Yang Village to continue their journey.
However, when the two yamen runners led the people of Xiao Yang Village to the Gejin River, they found that what they saw was not quite what they had imagined.
In front of the two yamen runners and the farmers of Xiao Yang Village was a tightly formed military camp. A large red banner fluttered in the center of the camp, and a large number of soldiers shuttled back and forth. Nearly a hundred tents were scattered around the camp, but there was no sign of the porridge stalls they had expected.
The two yamen runners were confused.
Could it be that Shandong was not receiving the people as rumored, but was preparing to drive them back?
If Shandong was really preparing to drive the people back to Zhili, wouldn't the people of Zhili face the butcher's knife of our Qing Dynasty?
And as the two yamen runners looked at each other blankly, and the farmers of Xiao Yang Village were bewildered, several people in armor, whether soldiers or generals, walked out of a tent in front of the camp.
The two yamen runners continued to be confused, and the people of Xiao Yang Village continued to look at each other.
No one could figure out what was going on in this extremely strange scene.
And while the two yamen runners and the farmers of Xiao Yang Village were still bewildered, these people, whether soldiers or generals, had already walked directly towards the farmers of Xiao Yang Village.
One of them looked at the people of Xiao Yang Village and smiled, "You are refugees from Zhili, right? My surname is Li, and my name is Li Ergou. I am the commander of the first battalion of the first regiment of the Menglianggu Volunteer Army. I wonder if there is a leader among you?"
The name Li Ergou quickly narrowed the distance between the common people and the "soldier" Li Ergou.
The farmers of Xiao Yang Village all cast their eyes on the two yamen runners.
The two yamen runners, suppressing the tingling sensation on their scalps, came up to Li Ergou and said obsequiously, "Greetings, my lord."
Li Ergou sized up the two yamen runners, then suddenly gestured to the soldiers behind him, and then asked with a frown, "Are you yamen runners from the government?"
The two yamen runners were immediately greatly alarmed. One shouted, "No!" while the other replied softly, "Yes!"
Li Ergou's frown deepened, and he said in a deep voice, "Are you or are you not?"
The two yamen runners exchanged glances. One of them replied obsequiously, "Replying to my lord, we used to be yamen runners for the Tartar government, but we have long since rebelled. We have not harmed the people. If you don't believe us, ask the people of Xiao Yang Village. They can testify for us."
Li Ergou then hummed, and a rather smug smile appeared on his face, "Let me tell you, I used to be a yamen runner for the Tartar government too. Don't think that because you are wearing civilian clothes, I can smell that scent from afar!"
The two yamen runners were immediately dumbfounded.
What, do you, Li Ergou, think it's glorious to have been a yamen runner for the Tartars?
Don't you see that we are ashamed and have thrown away our dog-skin uniforms?
Seeing the peculiar glances of the two yamen runners, the smile on Li Ergou's face instantly froze. He snorted coldly, then looked at the common people of Xiao Yang Village and said, "No, that was all in the past. I, Li Ergou, have been rebelling against the Qing with the leader since Ningyang County."
After forcibly defending himself, Li Ergou continued to say to the common people, "Have you all seen those tents? Line up later, and I will arrange for someone to lead you to the tents to register, uh, yes, register!"
"The purpose of registration is very simple, which is to record where you are from, how many people are in your family, and whether anyone has skills like blacksmithing or carpentry, so that the government can arrange work for you."
"In addition, after registration is completed, someone will lead you to bathe. Our leader has already prepared new clothes for everyone. Your original clothes will be sent for cleaning, and they will be returned to you after they are dried."
"Also, when our camp has meals, we will also prepare a portion for everyone. The food might not be very good, just ordinary food. Everyone should fill their stomachs first. Once the government arranges work for you and you receive your wages, you can eat well!"
After thinking for a moment, Li Ergou added, "You all must follow the arrangements, be obedient, and if you have any opinions, you can express them to us, but you cannot cause trouble. Whoever dares to cause trouble will be sent back!"
Hearing Li Ergou's words, Yang Da Niu and others' hearts trembled, and they quickly lined up under the command of several soldiers and followed the soldiers towards the tents.
Upon entering the first tent, they saw a table set up inside, with a scribe sitting behind it.
The scribe carefully examined Yang Da Niu and asked, "Name? Year of birth? Tribe? Original hometown?"
Yang Da Niu's heart tightened, and he honestly replied, "Yang Da Niu, I am twenty years old this year, born in the thirty-first year of Qianlong. I, I am Han, and my original hometown is Xiao Yang Village in Qing County."
As Yang Da Niu answered, the scribe wrote rapidly. After Yang Da Niu finished answering, the scribe picked up a piece of paper that had already been written and said to Yang Da Niu, "Take this with you. It is your identity certificate. Do not lose it."
"After you are settled, you must take your family's identity certificates to the local farmers' association. Someone there will take you to the government for registration and exchange them for household registration books."
"With the household registration books, you will be allocated your own land. When you marry and have children, your child's name must also be registered and they will enter school."
Yang Da Niu carefully took the piece of paper.
The paper was light, yet it felt very heavy.