The Humble Family's Daughter Has A Spatial Pocket!-Chapter 1030 - 868, Refugees

As the caravan drew closer to the city gate, Daohua noticed that quite a few refugees had gathered outside.

In the piercing cold and amidst the snowflakes, the refugees shivered and huddled together. When they saw the caravan approaching, they eagerly crowded around it.

The Guard Squad, upon seeing this, immediately drew their sabers, vigilantly watching the refugees.

The refugees, scared by the sight of the Guard Squad drawing their swords, hastily backed away.

Atop the city wall, the commanding officer in charge of the gate spotted the caravan below and immediately guessed that it was the family of the new official taking office. In a hurry, he ordered the city gates to be opened and, along with his men, went out to disperse the refugees, allowing the caravan to pass through freely.

"This is the family of the official taking office; no disturbances allowed."

Hearing this, the originally greedy-eyed refugees staring at the supplies on the carriages silently withdrew their gazes.

The new official was a good one, as on his second day, he set up a porridge stall at the city gate and had straw sheds erected, preventing them from freezing to death in this frigid snow land.

Inside the carriage, Daohua frowned tightly as she saw that each of the refugees was emaciated and poorly clad, their lives more miserable than she had imagined.

Seeing that the caravan had safely entered Beijing, the commanding officer guarding the gate breathed a sigh of relief.

The last time the Xiao Residence’s Guard Squad entered the city with a large amount of supplies, the refugees rushed forward recklessly, resulting in many casualties.

Fortunately, this time there had been no incidents.

As the caravan entered the city and the city gates closed again, the refugees retreated to the straw sheds, looking longingly towards the porridge stall, waiting for the evening’s distribution.

Xiliang implemented a military management system without setting up prefectures, states, or counties. The Commandant Offices integrated military construction and civil administration.

The Commandant Office located in Liangdu was equivalent to the capital of other provinces, with the nine below it akin to prefectural cities.

Ganzhou Guard was Xiliang’s largest defense area and the closest to Xiliao. Ganzhou City was built on a grand scale, with thick and towering walls that looked majestic from the outside, but the city itself was somewhat depressed.

There were not many open businesses on the streets until it got somewhat livelier near the city center.

"This economy is really not thriving."

It wasn’t long before the soldiers at the gate brought Daohua and the others to the Xiao Residence.

Deshou, having received the message in advance, was already waiting at the front door.

"Crown Princess, you’ve finally arrived!"

Deshou gave the gate soldiers a piece of fragmented silver and, outside the carriage, paid his respects to Daohua and Gu Jian before leading the caravan directly into the residence through a side door.

...

"This residence is quite large!"

After entering, Daohua wrapped in her cloak, stepped down from the carriage and carefully examined the house that would be her future home.

Deshou smiled, "This residence has been home to successive Commanders, naturally it’s built large."

Listening, Daohua couldn’t help but smile, "Your Princely Heir is not at all modest. Just a new official, and he’s living in the Commander’s residence."

She understood why Xiao Yeyang would do such a thing.

Everything she had seen upon entering Xiliang clearly showed that the situation was dire.

In such a situation, Xiao Yeyang had no time for slow development, to negotiate or coordinate with others. He needed to appear more high-profile and domineering, to implement his orders more effectively later on.

Moving into the residence of the past Commanders was a statement to everyone that he had taken over the Ganzhou Guard permanently and that his word was law here.

Deshou glanced at Daohua’s expression, seeing that she was not surprised nor did she find it inappropriate, he thought to himself, the Crown Princess truly understood the master.

When Master first wanted to move in, he and Defu really tried to dissuade him.

Master gave them a look that said, "You don’t understand."

As Daohua walked, she asked, "Where is the Crown Prince?"

Deshou replied, "The Master has taken people to inspect the defense perimeter."

Daohua asked again, "Why are there so many refugees gathered outside the city gates?"

At the mention of this, Deshou looked furious, "It’s all the doings of the Xiliao people. Every winter, they like to cross the border to plunder our wealth and grain. Several villages and towns under the jurisdiction of the centurions have been robbed by the Xiliao people."

"Not to mention the Xiliao people stealing things, they also set fire to houses. The commoners, left without money or grain to get through the winter and no homes to stay in, had no choice but to flock to Ganzhou City looking for a way to survive."

At this point, Deshou grew even angrier.

"Crown Princess, you have no idea. Before the Master arrived, not a single official stepped forward to take care of the refugees outside the city. It’s said that many have died from freezing or starvation."

Daohua frowned, "The officials at the Gan State Guard are really negligent." With Xiliang being so vast yet sparsely populated, the population is already scarce. If the people can’t survive, who will defend the borders?

The residence had five courtyards; Xiao Yeyang made do with a slight tidy up of the front courtyard upon moving in, and there was simply no time to take care of the other courtyards.

Daohua roamed around briefly, then had people tidy up two adjoining courtyards in the second courtyard.

With only her, Xiao Yeyang, and her master – the three family members – they didn’t need to live too spaciously. Having just arrived in a strange place, she was worried that her master might not adapt, feeling it would be better to stay closer together.

The other courtyards could wait until she had free time.

After traveling on the road for two consecutive months, both Daohua and Gu Jian were exhausted. After settling into their rooms and eating something, they rested separately.

The very next morning, while Daohua was still curled up in the warm bed, Guyu came in saying Deshou was looking for her.

Listening to the howling wind outside, Daohua didn’t want to get up and asked, "What does Deshou want with me?"

Guyu replied, "The Crown Prince had previously allocated a batch of grain to be distributed. Deshou and the officials from the guard were supposed to serve porridge to the refugees outside the city. Now it seems that the grain has run out."

Upon hearing this, Daohua immediately sat up. After getting dressed and washing up, she went to see Deshou.

"Who is in charge of the porridge shed?"

Deshou answered, "It’s me, along with an official from the guard."

Daohua nodded and turned to Guyu and Lixia, "You two take some people and go tally the stock in the storeroom."

Although she brought a considerable amount of supplies, Xiao Yeyang had used quite a bit. Now she needed to see how much was left before she could make an informed decision.

Daohua looked at Deshou, "Replicate the same amount of grain the Crown Prince previously allocated, and make sure you keep an eye on it. We cannot have any embezzlement."

Deshou quickly nodded, "Rest assured, Crown Princess, I shall keep a close watch.

Daohua ’hmm’ed and then pondered for a moment, "Just serving porridge might not be enough. It’s too cold outside, the wind and snow are relentless. Even inside, it’s unbearable, how can the refugees outside endure it?"

"Like this, after you get the grain, go find Guyu and take a batch of medicinal herbs with you. Cook two pots of warming medicinal soup for the refugees to drink each day."

"Right, if you don’t have enough hands, go find Doctor Ge, he has several medical disciples under him."

Deshou agreed with a nod, "I will get right on it."

Once Deshou had left, Daohua draped on her cloak and went to accompany Gu Jian for breakfast in his courtyard.

In the front courtyard, upon seeing Deshou bring out several carts of grain, the official Zhang Da’s heart finally settled back in his stomach.

God knows how worried he was, fearing that without Xiao Yeyang present, they wouldn’t receive any grain. Without the grain, at least half of the refugees outside the city would die.