Thousands of miles away, more than 500 refugees gathered around Wang Quan, and the food was consumed quickly like running water. Outside a willow forest under the Yellow River embankment, piles of bonfires were lit on the ground. Wang Quan's confidant Zhang Shiwen picked a rice bag from the horse's back, lifted the rice bag inverted, aimed the bag at the iron pot, but only a few pitiful grains of rice were poured out.

"Go and take all those bags." Zhang Shiwen ordered another caravan fellow Wu Hao.

After a while, Wu Hao took all the grain bags on the horse's back, and poured all the remaining grains in the dozen bags into the pot. There were only a few grains of rice, wheat grains and millet, not even a pound of grain.

"Boss, we're almost out of food!" Zhang Shiwen shouted anxiously.

Zhang Shiwen shouted loudly, and all the victims waiting to drink porridge heard it.

"Mom, my husband is almost out of food. Do we still have food to eat?" A little boy about twelve and three years old, dark and thin, but very clever eyes heard the shout and asked a woman beside him worriedly.

The woman hugged her son tightly in her arms: "Child, my husband is a great man. If we had no husband, we would have died long ago, either starved to death or eaten by others. It would have been a profit for us to survive to this day. Even if we starve to death, we would have lived for a long time than others."

The little boy nodded sensibly: "Mom, my husband is a great man. I believe God will bless you."

Wang Quan and two friends walked down the river bank and carried a few small fish in their hands. They made a hook with sewing needles and then used the locusts they caught as bait to catch a few small fish in the river.

"Wash the fish, there are the wild ginger and wild onions that have just been dug, and then add some wild vegetables." Wang Quan threw the fish in front of Zhang Shiwen.

Zhang Shiwen and Wu Hao scraped the scales of the fish, opened the intestines and broke the belly, took out the internal organs, cleaned them, and then applied the wild ginger to the pot, poured a little soybean oil into the pot, fryed both sides of the fish yellow, then poured in water and grain, and boiled in the pot.

Soybean oil is squeezed by oneself. When Wang Quan took his guys to set off, he brought three large bags of soybeans. Soybeans can be squeezed into oil. The oil-squeezed soybeans are the best feed for war horses. Eating fresh grass is like people drinking porridge, eating hay is like people eating dry rice, and feed like bean cakes is equivalent to supplementing nutrition for people.

The protein content of bean cakes is extremely high. It is easy to gain weight after eating the war horses, which can improve the endurance of the war horses. In Li Guodong's own city, cooking oil is also soybean oil. The soybean cakes that have been squeezed after oil are used for cavalry.

The fried fish soup soon turned milky white. Then Zhang Shiwen added water to the pot. Although the color became lighter and the soup became thinner, there were so many people, it would be nice to drink a little fish porridge. If it was thinner, it would be thinner.

When the porridge was almost ready, Zhang Shiwen put some wild vegetables into the pot, finally poured in coarse salt, stirred for a few times, then added wild vegetables and wild green onions, and a large pot of fragrant fish porridge was ready.

"Line up, everyone has a share." Wang Quan invited the refugees to line up to get the porridge.

With less than a pound of grain, I made porridge that more than 500 people drank. Needless to say, I knew how thin this fish porridge was, it was almost the same as clear water, and it could reflect people's reflections. However, wild ginger and wild green onions mixed with the aroma of fish, and the faint fragrance of water celery, it smelled quite fragrant. But if you drink this kind of porridge, you will soon be hungry.

"Boss, our last food is used up. When will we take these refugees to go?" Zhang Shiwen asked anxiously.

Wang Quan took out the map given to him by Li Guodong, spread it on a stone slab, gestured on the map, and finally landed on the location of Hongze Lake: "This is a hanging lake on the ground, which was formed by the influx of the Yellow River water in the early years of this dynasty. The bottom of the lake is higher than the ground. My brother told me that the water of the Huai River flowed into here, and the Yellow River changed its route to seize the Huai River into the sea, so this big lake was formed. Because of the frequent flooding of this lake, the surrounding area is surrounded by saline-alkali land flooded by the Yellow River. The people nearby moved away, and only some water bandits who were thinking about canals from time to time were active nearby. We just went to suppress the water bandits and seize their nests, and then we could resettle the victims. Perhaps the eldest brother was not a long-term place outside the border. We built a nest by the canal. If there was anything in the future, it would be better to have a place to live."

Although Wang Quan is not the second person in Li Guodong's team, he is an important soul figure. Li Guodong's trade and trade money, the source of intelligence depends entirely on Wang Quan's caravan. Although he is not a time traveler, he keenly judged that the Ming Dynasty would be over sooner or later. With the power of his elder brother, he could not help the Ming Dynasty solve internal and external troubles. Occupying a stronghold by the water, the Ming Dynasty and his brothers would be able to settle down after the Ming Dynasty is over. Where there is water, not only is the transportation convenient, but it can also block the Eight Banners Cavalry.

To defend the river, you must defend the Huai River. Wang Quan considered that the army was stationed in the Huai River area in the future to guard the Yangtze River defense line. Perhaps this time the Ming Dynasty would become the same as the Southern Song Dynasty, and it would be a corner of peace. His eldest brother would be Han Shizhong of the Ming Dynasty, who would defend the Jianghuai River for the Ming Dynasty.

"Our family, we have to walk to Hongze Lake at least for more than a month. The problem now is that there is no food." Zhang Shiwen said anxiously.

"Go and buy some. We have gold and silver on us, but we are afraid we won't be able to buy food?" Wu Hao said.

"Where to buy it? Now that the war is in chaos, food is much more important than gold and silver." Zhang Shiwen shook his head.

Wang Quan said calmly: "Let's take a step by step. Let's look for it tomorrow. There are villages and cities nearby. Go and buy some food. You can buy it at a higher price. We can also get some wild boars and wild dogs. As long as there are dead people, there will be countless wild dogs."

The next morning, the team set out on the itinerary again. It was obvious that yesterday's fish porridge was not enough. When everyone woke up in the morning, they were so hungry that they were roaring.

After walking for more than an hour, an abandoned village came into view. That village was no different from the village they passed along the way. It was a village that was robbed by bandits, and the village was empty. Around the village, there were really many wild dogs walking back and forth. The wild dogs ate dead human flesh, and not only did their eyes emit a fierce light like a wolf, but even their screams became a bit like a wolf.

These wild dogs are very alert. When they see the crowd from afar, they quickly rush into the woods.

Wang Quan told Zhang Shiwen: "You stay here and take the young and strong protection team, and the six of us will shoot and kill the wild dogs."

The six people rode on their horses and chased them into the woods. In a short while, Wang Quan and five men came back. Each of them had two to four wild dogs corpses hanging on their horses. The six of them were extremely skilled in archery. In a blink of an eye, they shot and killed sixteen wild dogs and returned with their prey.

"These dogs have eaten human flesh. Can their meat be eaten?" a refugee asked.
Chapter completed!