Chapter 2 Part 2 (continued)

  Yang Yingqi listened to Ouyang Yi's words and said, "This is going to take some effort. In any case, we have to communicate with them, which is better than being stuck here guessing blindly! This matter can't be rushed. The last thing is also the most urgent thing, which is the issue of rations. How should they be allocated?"

  Yang Kaiyuan said: "I just calculated it, if we divide it evenly, this grain is only enough for six tenths!"

  Yang Yingqi said: "Well, let's do it this way, prioritize taking care of the weak and sick..."

  "Absolutely not!" Zhang Yan suddenly waved his hand and said.

  Yang Yingqi was taken aback: "Not allowed?"

  "Rations will be distributed as follows: based on physical condition and age, each person's food allowance will be determined. Those who are strong and healthy will receive seven-tenths of a full ration; those who are not ill but weak will receive six-tenths; the sick and weak will receive five-tenths."

  Yang Yingqi couldn't help but say: "A sick person's body is originally weak! If it's like this, it's clearly pushing them towards the road of death!"

  "Your heart is kind, that's good, but it won't work! Because we can maintain this situation, relying on those strong and powerful people who tacitly agree to our leadership. With these people following us, we can continue to move forward. So we must lean towards them, first of all. If they participate in the naked scramble, they will be able to eat their fill, not just seven-tenths full. If we let the weak go first, they will have opinions and overthrow us! We'll end up back in that chaotic situation, secondly. Once we're back in that chaotic situation, those weak people won't even be able to get three-tenths full, thirdly!"

  Yang Yingqi said: "Big brother! For those who have power, we can move them with emotion and enlighten them with reason. I think they might..."

  Ouyang Shi let out a cold laugh, leaving Yang Yingji speechless. Zhe Yan-chong said: "These people are refugees, they're starving, not heroes! We don't have time to reform them!"

  Yang Kaiyuan's expression was gloomy, but he still nodded and said, "In an emergency, there is no other way."

  A few people discussed some details, Di Yu was ill and had been speaking with a strong spirit. After the discussion, he suddenly fainted. Yang Kaiyuan quickly carried him into the thatched hut. Yang Yingqi looked at Zhe Yan Chong and said: "Big brother! You really don't remember anything about 'the past'?"

  Zhe Yan shook his head, Yang Yingqi sighed and stopped talking. Several people went their separate ways, and Yang Yingqi didn't have time to consider whether he really came from the future or not. Everything had to wait until the current situation was resolved.

  The distribution of food went relatively smoothly today, even if some people were dissatisfied, one or two meals would not be enough to accumulate the anger that would make them erupt.

  The next day, Di Yu woke up and accompanied Zhe Yan Chong and Yang Ying Qi to various places, selecting twenty-five people, of which twenty were leaders, each responsible for managing about forty people. The other five served as assistants to Zhe Yan Chong and others in mobile operations.

  Once this hierarchical system was established, the entire valley became well-organized. Yang Yung-chi carefully told those twenty or so leaders how to pay attention to hygiene, how to avoid contracting diseases, not to pollute water sources and so on - because he was just a kid, his words were not persuasive, so all these had to be conveyed through Chuo Yen-chung's authority, every sentence starting with "Big Brother Chuo told me to tell everyone..." Finally, let these twenty-five people pass it on to the eight hundred.

  Yang Kaiyuan found it quite strange that Yang Yingqi knew so much, but he didn't ask any more questions.

  After three days, due to fair and effective handling of affairs, the prestige of the leadership team led by Zhe Yan Chong had been established. The grain could be stored in the thatched shed without worrying about rain. After replacing two, the 25 leaders also became the second tier of trustworthy people. Therefore, Yang Ying Qi began to divide the crowd into three parts: healthy, mild and severe, respectively.

  After the patient statistics came out, Yang Yingqi found that there were more than 100 people who were healthy. Among these people, some were not sick at all but were involved for various reasons, such as Yang Kaiyuan who accompanied Yang Yingqi to take care of him, and Alu was also like this for Di Yu; Some had other illnesses but were mistaken for epidemic diseases, such as Yang Yingqi and Di Yu; There were also those who suffered from the epidemic disease but relied on their physical strength to get through it, such as Zhang Lao Yu, a blacksmith among the 25 leaders - This old guy was over 50 years old, but his body was tough and strong like a 20-year-old young man.

  When Zhang Lao Yu was handling the corpse, he inadvertently revealed a piece of information that made Yang Ying Qi extremely happy: it turned out that this mountain valley had been visited by Zhang Lao Yu before, and in the past, it was an iron-smelting site. Not only was there coal nearby, but also iron ore. The reason for its abandonment was probably due to the depletion of the surrounding iron ore deposits, but there were still some shallow coal seams and residual iron materials available for use.

  Under Zhang Lao Yu's leadership, everyone found the buried kiln opening. Zhe Yan Chong and A Lu Man used stones to knock down the largest tree in the valley, and then lifted the tree to crash open the kiln opening. This kiln opening was not very large, and it couldn't accommodate so many people, but the tools left behind made Yang Ying Qi very interested. He asked Zhang Lao Yu if these tools could be used or not, and after getting a positive answer, he tested Zhang Lao Yu's skills again. Zhang Lao Yu laughed loudly: "I, Zhang Lao Yu, am a treasure on the road to Nanjing! Although I'm just a head-down household (similar to a slave), if I hadn't contracted the plague, those masters wouldn't have been willing to drive me here either. The strongest bows of Daliao, the sharpest swords, and the sturdiest armor - I can make them all!"

  Yang Yingqi looked at his calloused hands and thought that he might not be bragging. Among the more than 100 healthy people, there were a dozen or so who used to be blacksmiths, and he borrowed Zhang's name to pick them out and put them under Zhang Lao Yu's command. He didn't know how many useful things could be made from the remaining iron materials and iron ore, but if they could make weapons, that might change their fate in a desperate situation.

  During this time, Ouyang Xiu, who had initially indicated that it was "impossible" to negotiate with the Khitan people, unexpectedly established some sort of connection with the guarding soldiers. The Khitan soldiers also seemed to have sensed some changes in the valley and were willing to convey some information through Ouyang Xiu to reassure these slaves.

  "They said if we can get through this winter, those who are healthy will be allowed to leave."

  "This winter, there are still four or five months left......" Yang Yingqi and others looked at each other in dismay, seeing worry in each other's eyes.

  Di Yu sighed: "In any case, this is a good omen."

  Zhe Yan Chong said: "But we can't be too careless, everything must be prepared for the worst. If possible, I really hope to find another way out of the valley."

  Yang Yingqi said, "This urgency is not coming, but since the Khitan people have said that we will get through this spring and then talk about it, they should not make any bad moves before that. As for the heating problem, I have already thought of some countermeasures. In these four months, we can do many things - except that food has to rely on the Khitan people."

  Ouyang Yi suddenly said: "Right, what if the Khitan people get impatient one day and cut off our grain supply?"

  Yang Yingqi said: "For now, there's no need to worry about this. If it really comes down to it, we'll have no choice but to take a risk."

  Ouyang Yi smiled and said: "I heard that the kiln has already started forging iron, are they going to make swords?"

  He Diyu exchanged a glance with him, and Yang Yingqi said: "It's better to have one's fate in one's own hands than in someone else's!"

  Ouyang Shidao said: "There's something I'd like to remind everyone about. Does anyone know of a kind of person called a Han traitor?"

  Yang Yingqi's heart moved, and he said: "You're saying..."

  Ouyang Shidao said, "Now, since I've been taking turns with Liu Qi to guard the valley entrance every day, no one has gone out for a while. The Khitan people who have always looked down on us should still be unclear about everything in the valley. However, I don't dare guarantee that there aren't one or two traitors among those eight hundred bandits - if there are, and they make a move at a critical moment, it'll be enough to give us trouble."

  Zhe Yan nodded and lowered his head, thinking for a moment before saying: "I understand. I'll pay attention to this matter."

  Ouyang Yi nodded and then said to Zhe Yan Chong, "To say something unrelated to the main topic, are you someone with a background? You're actually making me feel like I won't lose face following you. Your background must not be simple!"

  Yang Yingqi thought: "Big brother and I are from the same future - it must be so. Really hope he can remember one day."

  Zhe Yan Chong shook his head and said: "I really don't remember anything - even the name Zhe Yan Chong, was told to me by Yang Kai Yuan."

  Ouyang Yi turned his head towards Yang Kaiyuan, and Yang Kaiyuan said: "I remember Quan Yan Chong telling me that his father was a general of the Great Song Dynasty, who was captured by the Liao army and had him with a female slave." He looked at Quan Yan Chong and said: "There's another thing I don't know if I should say or not."

  Zhe Yan said calmly: "Everyone here is one of us, so it doesn't matter if Ouyang knows what I just told you."

  Yang Kaiyuan then said: "I heard Brother Zhao say that his mother has passed away, and Brother Zhao's father doesn't seem to care about him much - your meaning at the time was roughly like this."

  Ouyang Yi burst out laughing and said: "How interesting, how interesting."

  Zhe Yan let out a cold snort and said: "Is that so? That's even better, I don't have to worry about my own past anymore."

  Yang Yingqi looked at him with a strange expression on his face.