Chapter 965: Resettling the Old Military Master [2]

There was an old soldier who had lost his legs. After getting off the yamen's mule cart, he was supported by his grandchildren, placed on a wooden board, and tied to the board with a rope. Then his grandchildren pulled him forward.

With a clattering sound, the bottom of the wooden board was worn down a little with every half meter it was dragged.

His family was from Beixiong Prefecture. He dragged the wooden planks from Beixiong Prefecture to Baofu County, Dongming Prefecture, and he didn't know how many wooden boards were worn out.

Even someone as sarcastic and stingy as Qin Liupo fell silent upon seeing this.

But she was always a gossip, so she asked, "Did you injure your leg in the camp? You should have received compensation and received preferential treatment when you returned home. How did your life become like this? Were you victimized by the bullies back home? If you're right, you can complain to Captain Wang of the Imperial Guard or to the Heavenly Emperor Qi and ask them to make the decision."

Old Man Jing hurriedly waved his calloused hands and explained, "No, no, my family is in Guanyu County, Beixiong Prefecture. We have no lawsuits or grievances. My two sons and one grandson were injured in labor service. I spent all my money to save their lives, even selling my land. They died from their injuries. We couldn't make ends meet anymore. I heard that Old Master Qin had been canonized, so I came here to seek refuge, hoping for a chance to save my grandchildren."

In fact, the Jing family also suffered grievances in their hometown.

The injustice he suffered was that the local brothel saw that he had no son and no land, so they took a fancy to his two granddaughters and planned to force him to sell them.

After learning about this from his acquaintances, Old Man Jing knew that he could no longer stay in his hometown. He gritted his teeth, sold his old house, raised enough money for the trip, took his armor, and brought his grandchildren to Dongming Prefecture.

He thought that if the Qin family didn't accept them, he would go to Tianmang Mansion and let his grandson become a military household... In short, as long as he, Old Jingtou, was still alive, he couldn't bear to see his granddaughter being tricked into becoming a prostitute!

He also explained this matter to Grandpa Qin, but he made it clear that he did not want to pursue it. He just wanted to help his grandchildren settle down here while he was still alive.

"Oh my God, two sons and one grandson are gone because of corvee labor? The corvee labor in your Beixiong Prefecture is so heavy!" Qin Liupo exclaimed.

Grandpa Qin's face darkened, and he looked at Qin Laoliu, who was still happily listening to gossip: "Sixth cousin, does your family want to have their money withheld again?"

Qin Laoliu was startled and immediately scolded Qin Liupo: "You damn old woman, you think you can talk about corvée labor? Shut up now, or you will use your own private money to make up for the dividends that were withheld from your family!"

Although corvee labor is more ferocious than a tiger, Your Majesty has been quite good to us famine victims. At least he has exempted us from corvee labor for five years.

When it came time to recruit corvée laborers for the places that accepted the disaster victims, they were either deliberately omitted or assigned to corvée labor areas that were closer to home and provided less labor.

That is why in the past three years, there has been no news of any villagers dying from forced labor in Baofu County. Otherwise, the locals would hate the disaster victims even more.

Qin Liupo had already hidden behind Qin Laoliu, pretending nothing had happened.

After hearing this, Old Man Jing and the other 183 old soldiers who had come to seek refuge, as well as their families, all looked down at their straw sandals nervously.

They didn’t dare to look at Grandpa Qin.

Grandpa Qin has already helped them a lot. If he continues to look at them pitifully, it seems like he is deliberately trying to beg for help.

Grandpa Qin was also a little embarrassed, worried that his family would blame him.

But he had to explain the situation at the old soldier's home to his family, especially Grandma Qin and Qin Xiaomi.

"My dear brothers, please wait here for a while. I will go home and then come out to settle you." Grandpa Qin said to Master Han and the others, "Master Han, Lu, Scribe Shen, and General Gong, take the list and go to my home."

As for the old soldiers, nothing will happen to them with Chen Xiaoqi leading the troops to watch over them.

Grandma Qin hid in the crowd and watched what was happening. Seeing what was happening, she hurriedly took a shortcut and slipped back home.

When I got home, I was out of breath, but in a much better mood.

The old man knew to tell his family about the situation first and then make arrangements for the old soldier. He is not senile at all!

"Grandma, I'll go stop Grandpa. You should take a rest and come out after your breathing is stable." Qin Xiaomi smiled secretly. After being rolled eyes by Grandma Qin, she took Jiang Xiaozhu to the front bunk first.

When Uncle Qin learned that Grandpa Qin had returned, he immediately became diligent and took the initiative to pick up Grandpa Qin.

After a while, he followed Grandpa Qin into the front bunk.

"Xiaomi, where is your grandma?" Grandpa Qin's voice was a little hoarse.

Grandma Qin couldn't stand him being like this, so she stepped out and said, "Let's get down to business. What time is it now? There are so many people here. Wait until you're done with the pleasantries before making arrangements. It's already dark."

If you can help, please help. If you can’t, just tell us directly. There is no reason to leave people out in the cold.

Shen Du was very clever and quickly handed the list to Grandma Qin: "Grandma Qin, this is the detailed list of the thirty-three old military families."

"Mom, let me read it to you." Uncle Qin was very diligent. He took the initiative to find work and read the detailed records of these families to Grandma Qin. The more he read, the gloomier his face became...

Grandma Qin even wiped away her tears.

It is clear from these detailed books that "the lives of the people in Wei are getting worse and worse", much worse than when she was young.

When she and Grandpa Qin were young, when Grandpa Qin retired from the army, he received a silver subsidy and preferential treatment from the villagers, and he was treated preferentially for many years.

But these old military families...

Some of their sons died because of labor service.

My family property was being plotted against, and I couldn't survive, but I didn't want to sell myself into slavery, so I came to seek refuge with Grandpa Qin... After all, the news that Grandpa Qin was given an official position caused quite a big stir and celebration in the Northeast Province. Coming to seek refuge with Grandpa Qin is better than selling myself into slavery.

Some old military masters already had their children sold into slavery, and they just wanted to leave a good foundation for their family, so they brought their younger grandchildren to seek refuge.

But what worries Grandma Qin the most is that... the output of the old soldier's family is getting worse year by year, and the number of people in the family is increasing. Now, they really can't support the whole family. In order to give her family food, she has the audacity to come and seek refuge with him.

"Old woman, it's my fault." Grandpa Qin comforted Grandma Qin.

It was he who brought the person back and made the old woman sad.

Grandma Qin slapped Grandpa Qin's hand away and said, "Don't talk nonsense. I just want to ask you one thing: can these people be trusted? Has anyone suffered a grievance? Has anyone asked you to help them seek justice?"

Grandpa Qin said, "At the moment, they're all trustworthy. We still have the government office and the Wei army helping us check and investigate people, so you can rest assured. The people who have been wronged are very sensible and haven't asked us for help to redress their grievances, they just want a job."

Nine families were targeted, but the scheme was legal and acknowledged by the local government, so these families had no choice but to accept it.

Now they don’t ask for justice, they just want to survive and retain their good citizenship.

If you leave your hometown for a year and still have no place to live, according to the law you will be deregistered and become a hooligan. You will then be arrested by the government and forced to perform labor service or become a slave in the mines, which is worse than selling yourself.

On behalf of the yamen, Mr. Han said, "Don't worry, Madam Qin. His Excellency has already asked the government office and the provincial government to send someone to their registered place to verify the details in their detailed register. Until the verification person returns, the yamen will register them every ten days. If they do anything unkind, the yamen will immediately take them away without the Qin family's order."

After hearing this, Grandma Qin felt relieved: "Wait a minute."

Grandma Qin stood up and called Qin Xiaomi back to the backyard, asking her what she thought. She also said, "If you are worried, there is no need to settle them down. Just leave them to your grandfather. If your grandfather has the ability to bring people back, he must also have the ability to settle them down."