Chapter 11: With grain in hand, there's no need to panic!

  The transport team returned with a full load and as soon as they arrived at Wangrenshan, they caused a huge sensation among the refugees.

  When the refugees learned that these life-saving supplies were all taken by Di Lie, they couldn't help but look up at the towering figure standing atop the giant boulder, paying their respects with reverence.

  Behind Di Lie, the Yang brothers looked down at the countless people bowing their heads in submission, and a surge of unspoken passion and hot blood filled their chests. The four scorching gazes of the two brothers met, and they nodded vigorously, making some kind of decision in their hearts. In turbulent times, the most important thing was to find a capable and ambitious strongman to rely on, and since heaven had sent such an opportunity before them, they absolutely could not miss it.

  Next, Hou Fangjing was busy to the point of exhaustion. After Di Lie handed over the work of counting people and distributing rations to him, he became a absentee boss. Although there were many refugees, most of them were skilled craftsmen who didn't know how to read or write, so they couldn't help much in this regard. In the end, Ye Die'er, who was slightly literate, and several Taoist priests among the refugees had to be pulled in to complete the preliminary statistics and ration distribution work.

  When Hou Fangjing handed over the well-organized account book to Di Lie, Di Lie flipped through a few pages and then returned it to Hou Fangjing. This ancient method of keeping accounts with flowing water was quite different from later generations, and it used complex characters, which made his eyes dizzy.

  "Old Hou, just give a brief report, just talk about the personnel and food situation."

  According to statistics, there were 2,614 people in total, including 2,258 craftsmen, 28 medical diviners, 82 musicians, more than 200 young men captured by the Jin army, as well as 9 Buddhist and Taoist monks.

  "Wait, what? There are still monks and Taoist priests?"

  Hou Fangjing carefully replied, "The imperial family values the Taoist arts, so there are many temples and monasteries in Bianjing. The Jin people also have a strong Buddhist tradition, and these monks were all invited to Shangjing. The other day, when the camp was in chaos, the monks were swept out by the crowd..."

  On the side, Ye Die'er said softly: "These days, people's hearts are in a state of anxiety, fortunately, several masters have used Buddhist teachings to calm people's minds. Moreover, the distribution of rations was also assisted by several masters..."

  Di Lie nodded, and in this era, most monks and Taoist priests were literate and could indeed be of help. As for calming people's minds, it was not a problem at all, as this was one of the functions of both Buddhism and Taoism.

  Only Yang Zhechong dissatisfiedly said on the side: "These materials were originally obtained by Di Xiaoge at great risk, but those monks and Taoists are good, with their mouths full of Buddha's ancestors and gods having spirit, descending upon Di Xiaoge such a heavenly messenger, saving all living beings from suffering. According to Di Xiaoge's life and death, his merits are actually ranked last."

  Di Lie burst out laughing: "We're just ordinary people, no need to compete with gods for ranking, let them say what they want. Old Hou, continue speaking."

  Hou Fangjing cleared his throat and reported a string of data with flying eyebrows: "About 10,900 dan of various grains, 5,700 dan of bean feed, 2,000 pieces of cloth and hemp, 10 carts of leather, as well as some firework materials, in addition to nearly 1,000 mules, cattle and sheep, among which there are more than 700 war horses..."

  Every time Hou Fangjing saw this string of data, he became excited. As a border merchant, he was more familiar with the prices of these materials than anyone else present. He asked himself, having been a smuggler for nearly ten years, the total amount of transactions he had handled was less than one-fifth of this number. Indeed, the fastest way to accumulate wealth is through plunder! No wonder the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty, despite being exhausted, would launch a military campaign every half year, sparing no effort to exhaust the Song Dynasty and return with spoils. Now they only got a little something that slipped from the fingers of the Jurchens, which was enough for several thousand people to live comfortably for several months...

  Alas! Unfortunately, I don't have that kind of ability... However, in this chaotic world, being able to follow a heroic figure with such abilities doesn't feel too bad, does it?

  Di Lie rubbed his face, which was still numb from laughing, and thought to himself that Old Man Mao was right after all. With food in hand, one's heart is at ease. Now he had both food and people, it seemed like he had the qualifications of a grasshead king... Di Lie quickly shook his head, chasing away this thought, thinking that it was too early to think about this now. After thinking for a moment, he asked Yang brothers, who were in charge of scouting: "What's been going on with the Jin people these past two days?"

  Yang Jia Lao Da Yang Fen shook his head: "Since we burned down the Jin army camp and eliminated all traces, the Jin people sent a small team of cavalry to patrol the original camp site on the scorched earth yesterday, but found nothing and left with their troops. There has been no movement since then."

  Di Lie sank into thought for a moment, then said: "To prevent the Jin people from coming back or playing any tricks, before we get news that the Jin people have really left, everyone should still stay in this valley with peace of mind. In addition, we need to cut down trees and build a temporary stockade. Once there is an alarm, it will be easier to defend. This matter will be handed over to Old Man Zhou to organize the manpower."

  Zhou Dewang readily agreed.

  At this point, they naturally formed an organization with Di Lie as the core: Hou Fangjing and Ye Die'er managed the money and food; Yang Jia brothers and several Western soldiers with combat experience organized a group of brave young men, armed themselves with weapons and armor obtained from the Jin army, and were responsible for sentry duty, reconnaissance, and defense work. Zhou Dewang and Lu Laoer, on the other hand, used their reputation among craftsmen to manage and comfort the majority of refugees who were also craftsmen. Everyone did their part, and for a while, there was no chaos, but it's hard to say what would happen in the long run.

  Just as they were about to reach an agreement, Ajie poked out half of his small body from behind a rock not far away, secretly beckoning in this direction.

  Di Lie nodded and smiled at him, then waved his hand: "Let's stop here for today, let's disperse first." He immediately stepped forward towards Aji.

  Di Lie has been extremely busy for the past two days, after all, managing several thousand people is not an easy task. His highest position in the army was as a sergeant major, and he had only managed a dozen or so trained soldiers at most. Now, with these thousands of unrefined and disorderly people, it's easy to imagine how difficult management would be. Although he is currently worried about the sudden appearance of several thousand mouths to feed, now that the food supply problem has been temporarily solved, what should he do next? If these people are used well, they will be valuable assets; if not, they will become a burden.

  Di Lie walked while pondering and soon arrived in front of Ah Ji, looking at the excited young man: "What's wrong? You seem to be in a very happy mood."

  "Aji couldn't help but exclaim excitedly: 'It's done!'"

  Di Lie's eyes lit up, and he was quite curious, wanting to see what the explosive weapons of this era looked like. He patted the young man on the shoulder: "Let's go take a look."

  Zhou Dewang received Di Lie's order and hastily gathered a group of strong young men, distributing a batch of axes, saws, and ropes, ordering them to disperse and cut down trees. Due to the limited number of tools, everyone could only take turns using them.

  Liu, the eldest of the Liu brothers who was leading the way, asked in a low voice: "Master Zhou, why do you need to cut so much wood? And it has to be thick branches too. Didn't we say that we can't light fires at will?"

  "Not for starting a fire, but... setting up camp..."

  "What, build a stockade?" The Liu brothers and several nearby workers were shocked and gathered around, chattering, "What's going on? Is Brother Di planning to lead us into becoming bandits?"

  "We may be engaged in a humble occupation, but we are all descendants of respectable families, how can we stoop to such a level?"

  "Master Zhou, you previously led us to escape and said we would return home. Now our family is just a hundred miles away, and after crossing the Yellow River, we can return to Bianjing. We don't want to become fugitives!"

  "Enough! What's the point of saying all this? The Golden People have not yet left our borders, how can we rashly return to the capital? Let's set up a camp here, in case there's an alarm, it's also good for defense. If nothing else, it can prevent wild beasts from invading and disturbing us. It's a win-win situation."

  Liu's eldest hesitated: "Well, after the Jin army withdraws, you can discuss it with Di Xiaoge, we have to go back..."

  The voices of all workers should be as one.

  Zhou Dewang stroked his grey hair, nodding heavily: "Everyone please rest assured, when it comes to going home, no one is more eager than me, we will definitely be able to go back..."

  Before the words were finished, a faint explosion sound came from the top of the distant mountain. The workers were stunned, looked up at the mountain together, and whispered to each other.

  Zhou Dewang shook his head inwardly, no need to say, it must be that little nephew of his who came up with this "big explosion". That thing isn't bad, but if you want to defend the city, making a few bed crossbows or bows and arrows would be much more useful. What is this Di Xiaoge thinking...