Lin Yu's life of traveling through time

Chapter 134: Survival in the Ancient World (3)

After Lin Yu settled Hu Zi, Ya Ya and Qin Su, he sat in the lobby, closed his eyes and immersed himself in the sea of consciousness to call the Lao Liu system.

"Sixth brother, help me."

"Host? What's going on?"

"Tell me about the general background of this world and the situation in Daliang City."

"Wait, let me check. Hiss! Host, the place you went to this time wasn't good enough. People were eating each other. Tsk tsk, eh? Okay, you've passed the first hurdle, host. Let me take a look at Daliang City."

After a quick scan and search, Lao Liu stroked his chin and said, "Daliang City is now a dead city, but there are still some survivors inside. Their condition is not very good, and they are all waiting to die or on the verge of death.

"And the governor here had already abandoned the city with his family five days ago, leaving behind a sycophantic chief secretary. He was the biggest loser without his leadership. Wars were raging everywhere, and even the garrison troops in Daliang had been transferred, not to mention the Sima, a position he held part-time. He was a coward, lacking any ability, and it was he who suggested holding on to the closed city gates. It wasn't because of the plague, but because the higher-ups had ordered the gates sealed shut, like abandoning the people here. After three days of waiting, almost everyone was dead, and the guards at the East, North, and South gates were withdrawn. You, Mantou Mountain, are at the West Gate, with no way out, and the people didn't have the energy to leave, so this is what's happened."

"That's not right. Where are the guards at the west gate? It makes no sense for them not to run away." Lin Yu frowned in confusion.

"Hey! Why are you running? You're all abandoned. They're threatening the guards' families. What can they do? They'll just die at the city gate. Who would dare to run in ancient times? Guess what, why wouldn't they resist and run away when they're threatened with exile and the death of their entire clan?"

"That's right, so they don't want Daliang City anymore?"

"It's not that we don't want to, it's that we can't manage it anymore. There are more than a dozen small countries on this piece of land, fighting each other every day. The Ju State, to which Daliang City belongs, has rebelled and declared itself king. It's in chaos. Daliang City is remote enough, so we can't take care of it for the time being. What's more, there are floods in other places, and the famine is not limited to Daliang City. There is also plague. The population is sparse. Daliang City is not an important place, so it is normal to be temporarily abandoned."

"Okay, I got it, you can leave." Lin Yu unilaterally cut off contact after receiving the information, which made Lao Liu very crazy. This kind of host who was thrown away after use really made him want to cheat him, but Lao Liu didn't dare to do so now.

Lin Yu thought that since no one was paying attention to this place for the time being, it would be a good idea for them to develop themselves first. As for going to other places to be ordinary citizens, Lin Yu had never thought about it, because none of these so-called heroes were reliable, and they would be cannon fodder if they went there.

Yan Ping took Niu Wa to the city gate to bring the people in. Gou'er had already told them the situation, and everyone was very cooperative. They first arranged a few people who were unable to move due to hunger in an empty house and then went to the yamen to find Lin Yu.

"Boss, I've brought everyone here, fifty people in total. I'll let the ten weak ones stay in the empty house first."

"Okay, Yan Ping, let's have the food first. After that, I have some white cloth handkerchiefs. Give them to everyone to wear around their mouths and noses. Go door to door searching for the living, and carry out the dead and place them in their respective houses. By the way, is there anyone among you who can read?"

Yan Ping and an old man stood up. The old man was no more than fifty years old and was very hunched.

"I am Tian Hong, a scholar from Sishui Village in Yuncheng."

Lin Yu nodded. "Okay! Yan Ping, Tian Hong, you two, keep a record. I'll give you the household registration in a moment. Let's bury the bodies first! Please be patient. The bodies can't be left here for long. Send a few people to Mantou Mountain outside the city to dig a large pit for them to be buried together. Remember to sprinkle plenty of lime. I think there's some in the government warehouse. You can take it with you later."

"Yes, boss."

Yan Ping took his men out to eat something first and then started to work from house to house. They divided the work and cooperated with each other. They took carts to make records and compared them with the household registration. They loaded the bodies onto the carts and took them to Mantou Mountain for centralized burial.

Daliang City is not too big and has a small population, with a maximum of one thousand people and only two hundred households.

While Yan Ping and the others were busy, Lin Yu was not idle either. He sprinkled medicinal powder on each well and took the female refugees to disinfect the cleared areas with the medicinal powder.

After five or six days of sporadic busy work, all the bodies that needed to be buried were dealt with properly. Lin Yu also erected a monument in front of the huge tomb, recited the Sutra of Rebirth and observed three minutes of silence.

As soon as I returned to the yamen and entered the room, I asked someone to come over to report the situation.

Yan Ping and Tian Hong presented the re-registered population.

Yan Ping said, "Boss, Daliang City originally had a population of 200 households, including 20 officials and their families, 50 military personnel, 30 merchants and artisans, and about 100 ordinary farmers. We re-registered them and found that after the plague and famine, only 81 people survived. The only officials who stayed were the county lieutenant and the chief clerk. The county lieutenant contracted the plague and died, and the chief clerk was saved by you two days ago. He's the one with the surname Li, Li Cunshu."

Lin Yu thought for a moment and suddenly said, "It's him! Go on."

Yan Ping continued, "There were originally fifty households of military dependents, totaling approximately 250 people. Now, only twenty people remain, including their families."

"Excluding their families, how many soldiers are there?"

"Fifteen people."

"continue."

"Most of the merchants had left before the famine closed the city. Only one family remained, with only three people. Two families of craftsmen, twelve people, remained. Farmers... twenty families, fifty people, remained."

Tian Hong continued, "This is the result of your pills saving those on the verge of death. There are eighty-one people in total, plus the fifty we brought over from Mantou Mountain. There are now a total of one hundred and thirty-one people in Daliang City, including three elderly people, sixty young and middle-aged people, and thirty women. There are twenty children under the age of twelve, and the remaining dozen or so are in poor health, so there is currently no labor force."

Lin Yumo calculated that there were only about seventy people who could be used, which was barely enough.

"Okay, it seems we're the only ones here. Let's take a day off first. Tomorrow, have everyone gather at the government office and hold a meeting to determine how to survive. The food I provide is limited and can't be supplied continuously, but I have seeds. We must ensure self-sufficiency first. We also need to discuss the issue of city defense security."

"Yes, Boss, we listen to you. We can live a good life following you."

"Let's all work together."

The next day, the open space in front of the yamen gate was full of people. Lin Yu asked people to sit on the ground, and he stood at the front.

"Everyone, I'm Lin Yu. I won't waste any time talking to you. I'll just say that we're the only ones left in Daliang City. Everyone knows what's happened these past few days. I'm not very talented, but I plan to become the master of Daliang City. What are your opinions?"

The people below chattered about it for a while, and those who came out of Mantou Mountain naturally had no objections.

The natives of Daliang City were unsure what to do, so Li Cunshu, the Chief Secretary, stood up and said, "Your Excellency is the savior of the people of Daliang City. This city has been completely abandoned. I am willing to follow Master Lin and serve him as my master."

"We would like that too."

"I'm willing too. Those damn officials have left us to fend for ourselves. It's Master Lin who gave us a way to survive, so I'll follow you."

"Me too! This world leaves us no way to survive."

"I would also like to..."

Lin Yu pressed his hand: "Okay, everyone, be quiet. Since I'm the leader, let's talk about the future arrangements first. But before that, we have to establish some rules. As the saying goes, there is no order without rules."

Lin Yu paused, seeing that no one had any objections, and continued, "In troubled times, I only hope that you will share my common aspirations and obey my orders. Of course, if you have any opinions, you can raise them for discussion. I also hope that you will abide by the laws and regulations. I will renegotiate these laws and regulations with Li Zhubo, Yan Ping, and other knowledgeable people later."