As the weather gradually turned cold and began to rain with snow, refugees from the south started pouring into Suzhou City.

  At first, there were over a dozen people in one wave, and then another small wave moved this way. Zhou Zhi had already prepared with the officials of Suzhou, and as soon as the refugees entered Suzhou, they were identified and assigned to different counties for resettlement.

  In this era, everything is in short supply, and labor is particularly scarce. The government welcomes people from all over the world to come and settle here. Although the treatment may not be very good, they can provide a few acres of land, help them build a simple house, and introduce some work for them to do.

  To say nothing of other things, the various counties and towns in Suzhou need to clean up the river channels and fill in the official roads. These tasks are not good at forcing labor during busy farming seasons, and are generally carried out in winter.

  Zhou Zhi Shi has already discussed with his subordinates and decided that this year they will reduce the labor service, and allocate some of these tasks to the refugees.

  It won't let them idle and make trouble, but also give them a livelihood. Due to the rise in grain prices, Zhou Xie Shi also considerately ordered each county to calculate wages with food instead of issuing copper coins.

  But as the weather gets colder, more and more refugees are pouring in. Yesterday alone, 128 refugees entered Suzhou City, not counting those scattered outside the city.

  As the number of refugees grew, they also found it increasingly difficult to obey the arrangements made by the authorities.

  They fled here in distress and have been supporting each other all along. How can the government possibly disperse and resettle them?

  The crowd was making a fuss and refused to disperse, but how could the government dare to let over a hundred people gather in one place?

  And these refugees do not know whether they are clever or foolish. Except for a small number who follow the government's arrangements to leave and settle down, most of them are unwilling to take on labor work. They gather in one place every day, either begging in the city or gathering at the city gate. As long as they see refugees entering the city, they will come forward to associate with them.

  However, in just four or five days, they gathered together 500-600 people.

  Fang Datong sent two former scouts, Zhuang Hu and four clever long workers to set up a stall at the city gate. Lin Quan and Yu Yu moved into the Lin Mansion in the west of the city and contacted various families. Lin Qingyuan's news was more timely than some households in the city.

  As she saw the situation getting worse and worse, Lin Qingyan couldn't help but think about whether or not to move back to the Lin Manor.

  It may be safer inside the city than outside.

  Before she could make up her mind, Fang Datong came over with a gloomy face, "Miss, something has happened in the city."

  Lin Qingwan saw him panting and handed him a cup of tea, "Speak slowly."

  Fang Datong drank the tea in one gulp and said with a serious face: "There are refugees who rushed into the Qian family, looted their money and grain, and also...also took away the young mistress of the Qian family..."

  Lin Qingwan's pupils constricted, and she clenched her fists, asking, "What happened to him?"

  "They're all alive, but the guards only caught two on the spot, and the others escaped. The governor was furious, and when I left the city, the gates were already closed, as if they were going to make a big arrest of refugees." Fang Dasong said in a low voice: "Miss, I think there will be chaos in the city for a while, why don't you stay at another house?"

  Lin Qingyan furrowed her brow.

  "The Qian family is just in the west of the city, although that house is a side branch, but it's actually not far from the main house. However, those refugees seemed to be very familiar with those alleys and grabbed things before running away, making it impossible to catch them," Fang Dasong said in a calm tone: "If the two who were caught weren't so greedy and didn't lay hands on Qian Xiaoniang, they wouldn't have been caught by the neighbors."

  "The Lin Mansion and the Na family are just two streets apart... " Fang Dasan gritted his teeth, "Miss, if you return to the city, how many people can you bring? The refugees in the city are getting more and more, but if we stay outside, we have not only people and horses, but also weapons."

  Not to mention the villagers, tenants and long-term workers, there are over 300 young and strong men. With this period of training and deployment, unless the surrounding refugees have thousands of people, they can't break into the other courtyard.

  At worst, there are still guards and good horses. Even if they run, there is a way to go, but in the city, once the gates are closed and the alleys are blocked, it's hard for them to escape.

  Lin Qingwan walked in circles on the spot, finally nodding solemnly with a serious face. "Alright, I won't leave. Pass down the order to have everyone start packing up and moving to another courtyard. As for the pasture, let Chen Dage and his men handle it, tell them to enter the mountains immediately."

  Fang Datong immediately went to make arrangements.

  Mr. Chen used to herd cattle and sheep in Cangzhou, every winter when the Liao people came south to cut grass, they would drive their cattle and sheep into the mountains, not coming out until just before the new year.

  Some can tolerate cold and even come out until spring begins.

  It's hard in the mountains and there's even a risk of encountering wild beasts, but it's still better than staying outside and being robbed by the Liao people who would take away our cattle and kill us.

  Although many people know it's not good to enter the mountain in winter, a lot of people still choose to enter the mountain at that time.

  Lin Qingwan had been thinking about how to deal with the situation at Mu Yuan, and she thought of dividing the long workers into two groups, one group staying in the other courtyard for protection, and the other going to Mu Yuan.

  As more and more refugees poured in, they became increasingly united, and it was clear that the few Long Workers could not hold onto the pasture.

  This batch of cattle and sheep was bought back at a great price, the sheep can be let go, although the price is high, it's easy to get, but the cow is hard to come by, if you want to buy again, you have to wait until next summer.

  Fang Datong is now in charge of security issues, so he naturally attaches great importance to this matter. He had served in the Northeast Army and had seen nomads fleeing into the mountains, so he mentioned it to Lin Qingyu.

  Mr. Chen and several tenant farmers from the north voluntarily took on this task, and as soon as there was any danger, they would take dry rations and cattle and sheep to hide in the mountains, not believing that refugees dared to come in and rob.

  Everything was already prepared, and the villagers and long workers who went into the mountains with them had also been selected. At this time, Lin Qingwen gave an order, and Chen Dage and others immediately put their bundles on the cow's back and slowly walked towards the distant mountains on a sunny day.

  Lin Qingwan could only stand at the top of the mountain and see them off from afar.

  Lin Yuhong stood beside her, looking at the tiny figures in the distance, and couldn't help but ask, "Auntie, in the past when Father dealt with refugees, he would always provide them with food and shelter, and our family would also donate a lot of grain. Why is it different this time?"

  "Our family also donated grain this time, donating twenty dan, and the wealthy households in the city donated some more or less. Otherwise, do you think where did Zhou Cishi get the courage to ask the refugees for labor? Lin Qingwen looked into the distance and sighed: "But people's hearts are never satisfied, thinking that it's good enough to survive when life and death are uncertain, thinking that it's good enough not to starve after escaping to a safe place, and thinking that it's even better to be full after having food..."

  "This is inevitable, many people are willing to work hard for it, but there are always some people who can't bear the hardship and want to gain without labor. With the instigation of malicious people, this disaster relief is naturally different from the past." Lin Qingwen's eyes showed a sad color, "These people are hateful, but also pitiful, they crazily harm others, but don't know that their own life and death are in someone else's hands."

  Lin Yuhong felt a pang in his heart, "When can this world be at peace?"

  "It must be a great bloodshed, after great sorrow," Lin Qingyan murmured: "Is it so simple to pacify the chaotic world?"

  How many lives will be lost before it can be filled up.

  At this time, Prefect Zhou had just given the order to clear out the refugees, and with the affair at the Qian's having occurred, every citizen in the city was frightened for their own safety, and from yesterday on, they all closed their doors tightly, and even more than half of the shops on the streets were closed.

  People no longer pity those who beg on the streets, and most avoid them with disgust as soon as they see them from afar.

  The contradiction between refugees and local people has reached its peak.

  Zhou Zhi knew that if they didn't resolve it now, things would become difficult to handle.

  He had to discuss urgent matters with the garrison commander in Suzhou, and from today on, they began to take precautions. The yamen led soldiers to search for refugees, disperse them, and then settle them separately.

  Those who refused to obey orders were expelled from Suzhou City and sent back to South Han.

  Of course, this is just talk, they can't possibly push people all the way to the southern border of Han, at most they would only be able to get rid of them within the borders of Suzhou.

  In addition to this, the refugees who committed crimes yesterday will also be arrested, Governor Zhou wants to kill a chicken to scare the monkeys, in a chaotic world use heavy punishment, don't talk about what law doesn't blame the masses.

  If we don't give an account to the people of Suzhou and the family, this matter can't be passed.

  The city of Suzhou was in chaos for four or five days, and after slowly calming down, the refugees in the city were hardly seen, and the common people also began to slowly come out of their homes.

  But the number of refugees wandering outside the city is increasing, and the relationship between the refugees and the local people seems to be harmonious, but it has become more acute.

  Lin Qingwan no longer allowed anyone to return to the city to buy things, and every day, except for those who came to gather information at the city gate and other courtyards, everyone else stayed in the villa to practice martial arts and fight.

  Just at this moment of tension and depression, Cao Jin and Meng Fu came to Lin Qingwen with three bundles of paper, "Sister, we've made the grass paper."

  The production process of bamboo paper is well known to Lin Qingyuan, they only need to learn it, but for grass paper, they need to study it themselves.

  So during this period they were all focused on their research on grass paper, and external affairs didn't even enter their ears, naturally they also didn't know what was happening outside.

  At this time, the grass paper was made, and they came to offer treasures with excitement.

  Lin Qingwan was worried about foreign affairs, but at this moment she couldn't help feeling excited. She looked at the three stacks of paper, each with a different quality.

  She touched them and found that the first one was relatively soft, the second one could be written on but had more impurities, the third one also had impurities but fewer and smoother.

  She raised an eyebrow and said, "Is this a matter of proportion?"

  Cao Jin Meng nodded, "Because we didn't know the formula, Meng Fu and I experimented several times. At first, it didn't turn out to be paper, or if it did, it was easy to break. We slowly adjusted the proportions, this time trying a total of twelve formulas, only succeeding with these three. The little ones think they're similar to what Miss said, so they brought them for you to take a look."

  Lin Qingwan smiled and nodded, "Indeed it's almost done, didn't expect you guys to figure it out so quickly."

  Cao Jin and Meng Fu smiled with their mouths open.

  Lin Qingwan wrote a few words on the second and third types of paper, testing their ink penetration and writing effect. She nodded slightly: "Not bad, better than I thought."

  Lin Qingwan put down her pen and said, "You will record the formula, try to make the first type of paper softer, remove impurities from the second type, and if possible, make the third type whiter. If not, it's okay, just make the ink penetration weaker."

  Cao Jin and Meng Fu scratched their heads, "This first one is already very soft, it's hard to write with, if it gets any softer..."

  Lin Qingwan smiled, "I don't use them as writing paper, they have other uses."