Chapter 310: The Refugees on the Island

Lu Yang thought to himself that he still remembered the basics of geometry and algebra he had learned. If he couldn’t find a topic of conversation, he could just discuss mathematics with him—he believed his mathematical skills were enough to crush Sun Yuanhua.

“This is…”

“I am Lu Yang,” Lu Yang said respectfully. “I am a friend of Master Lu, and I have come specially to be your guide, sir.”

“Oh,” Sun Yuanhua nodded. “Are you also from Guangdong, sir?”

“I am from Ningxia.”

Sun Yuanhua sized up the young man. He had originally thought Lu Wenyan was young enough, but this one was even younger. He looked to be only in his twenties, with fair and delicate skin. If it weren’t for his relatively dark complexion, he would have looked like a young master from a wealthy family.

The other person accompanying them was a Western missionary, none other than Father Jin Lige.

This missionary was very busy on Qimu Island. Besides comforting the people with religious teachings, his other task was to root out “heretics.” Shandong had a wide variety of local folk religions, and the Civil Affairs Department and the Religious Affairs Office paid great attention to this. Ordinary believers were not a concern, but the key was to prevent organizers from mixing in. The first countermeasure was elimination. The Political Security Bureau had already secretly identified and developed the first batch of informants to specifically watch for refugees spreading such rhetoric in the camp. The second was to provide an alternative faith for the refugees who were eager to find spiritual solace. Father Jin Lige was naturally one choice, and a group of new Taoist students sent by Daozhang Dai from Lingao was another.

Whether it was Catholicism or New Taoism, their targets were limited. The task given to them by the Civil Affairs Committee was to compete with various folk religions for believers. In particular, their main task was to try to get the grassroots organizers and small leaders of folk religions among the refugees to change their faith.

He Ying’s instructions to them included the directive to “use all means necessary.” Therefore, Father Jin Lige and the new Taoist students worked with great fanaticism, engaging in a day-and-night competition to eradicate “heresy.”

A few days ago, Father Jin Lige had just broken up a “heretical” organization organized by a small incense master. The incense master and the activists had been isolated. As for the ordinary believers, according to the principle of “whoever breaks it benefits,” the party that broke up the organization would gain the right to preach to these believers.

Those who refused to change would not be wasted either. They would neither be expelled nor burned. After all, Lingao had already spent a lot of money on them. They would just be held incommunicado, and once a certain number had been gathered, a ship would be sent to take them to the mines in Sanya.

Father Jin Lige worked with such fanaticism that the special commissioner of the Political Security Bureau had to deal with his “denunciations” every day. To ensure that this work did not turn into a religious persecution frenzy, the Political Security Bureau sent a specially trained special commissioner to be responsible for authenticating such denunciations.

This priest’s face was beaming with a happy smile from constantly “saving souls.” Although he was only wearing a thin woolen robe, his whole body exuded vigorous vitality.

Seeing Sun Yuanhua, he warmly welcomed him and then greatly praised Master Lu as a “true servant of God” and a “fearless defender of the faith.”

Such high praise could not help but increase Sun Yuanhua’s trust in Lu Wenyan by a few degrees. Leaving Father Jin Lige in Shandong was originally intended for him to work on Sun Yuanhua.

Sun was a very devout believer and regarded Western missionaries as teachers and friends. Having such a person around was of great use in reducing his hostility and increasing his sense of trust.

The Jesuits would also spare no effort to help the Senate in order to preserve Sun Yuanhua, this “pillar of the Holy Church in China.” In the land of the Great Ming, no one could help Sun Yuanhua except the Senate.

The appearance of Father Jin Lige indeed greatly soothed Sun Yuanhua’s originally somewhat anxious and restless heart. Seeing his expression relax, Lu Yang led him up to the stockade.

Sun Yuanhua looked around. He could see at a glance that this was a stockade built using the “Western method.” Although it was not very obvious, the protruding bastions protecting the stockade gate and the staggered towers of different heights were common in the pictures of Western fortifications brought by the missionaries.

He himself had also built “Western-style blockhouses.” When he was in Liaodong, he had once tried to promote this fortification technique locally, so he was quite familiar with it.

Of course, Master Lu was also a believer and had a deep relationship with the missionaries, so it was not surprising that he knew these things.

The problem was that the stockade he saw, although not large, was built with great care and was exquisitely designed. It was pushed to the extreme in its use of terrain, materials, and firepower. Sun Yuanhua had to admit that even he could not have designed it to such a degree.

It was too strange for a local gentleman from Guangdong to be so proficient in the art of fortification.

In the late Ming Dynasty, scholar-officials were very enthusiastic about military studies. There were people who wrote books on firearms, military science, and fortification. But most of them were based on hearsay, picking up bits and pieces from ancient military books or Western military science brought by Western missionaries, and then adding their own “fantastic ideas” and fabricating things. Sun Yuanhua was a “professional” and could see at a glance that the layout here was far from what an ordinary amateur scholar-official could produce.

On the stockade wall, militia wearing sheepskin vests and fur-lined hats were patrolling. They looked more energetic than the government soldiers: full of spirit and not afraid of the cold. It was obvious that they were well-fed and warmly dressed. The weapons they held were not the common clubs or wooden spears used by militia, but well-made long spears with three-edged, black, and shiny heads. Each person also had a straight sword in a wooden scabbard hanging from their waist.

Although they had no armor, their appearance was already more presentable than most of the government soldiers in Dengzhou—good enough to be the best combat troops. If they had a suit of armor, there would be no problem using them as elite household troops.

He rested his hand on the battlement and looked out. About a hundred zhang from the stockade wall was a row of long houses, surrounded by ditches and fences, with a few wooden towers dotted in between. It looked like a large military camp. However, the sounds of adults and children coming from the direction of the camp told him that the people living there were all civilians.

The morning cooking smoke was rising. Although he couldn’t see clearly, he could vaguely make out the figures of people coming and going in the camp.

People were already coming out of the camp, in teams of ten, dispersing to work on the island. Some were shoveling snow, some were collecting fish on the beach, and others were building and repairing. It all seemed orderly and well-organized.

Sun Yuanhua had long been involved in military affairs and could tell at a glance that these people who were working had been trained. There must be a very skilled general on the island to train them.

“What is that place?”

“It’s the refugee camp,” Lu Yang said. “It houses all the displaced people.”

Sun Yuanhua let out a long sigh and said after a long while, “Master Lu has taken in so many people. It must have cost a lot.”

“Yes, but this is a matter of saving lives. The cost is not a concern,” Lu Yang said.

As they were talking, another group of militia escorted a crowd of staggering refugees towards the refugee camp from the direction of the willow fence. Most of them were from the villages and towns around Dengzhou. They had heard that after Kong Youde and the others took Dengzhou, they had carried out a large-scale massacre of the local people. The villages and towns were afraid that the Liaodong people would carry out a large-scale retaliatory massacre of the local people, so they fled with their old and young.

It was said that Qimu Island, which was heavily defended and bordered the sea on three sides, became the first choice for the refugees. After all, in this icy and snowy weather, with men, women, old, and young staggering along, and without enough food, it was impossible to go far. The news that Qimu Island had food, shelter, and many militia guards had already spread throughout the Dengzhou area through the propaganda of spies. Therefore, a large number of refugees had been coming to escape the rebel army every day recently.

“These are all refugees fleeing the rebel army…” Lu Yang said. Father Jin Lige couldn’t help but make the sign of the cross.

Although Lu Wenyan had sent out many reception teams composed of army and civil affairs personnel with food and medicine to meet the refugees dozens of li away, the refugees were frozen and hungry on the road, and they were also plundered by bandits. The roads were littered with corpses. Those who were finally taken in were all like hungry ghosts from hell.

The three of them did not speak. It was a long time before they saw the refugees finish entering the camp. Although they all had their own thoughts, they were inevitably moved by the scene of great suffering.

Besides sighing, Sun Yuanhua couldn’t help but feel surprised. There were five or six thousand people in this refugee camp, and more refugees were being taken in every day. Qimu Island was just a small island. How many people could it hold?

Furthermore, what was Master Lu’s purpose in taking in so many people? Sun Yuanhua did not believe that Lu Wenyan’s large-scale reception of refugees was purely out of kindness. The daily food and drink for so many people was a huge expense, not to mention the cost of heating and clothing in winter.

“Master Lu is kind-hearted. It is a great fortune for the people of Shandong!” Sun Yuanhua said. “But with so many refugees gathered on the island, Master Lu can save them for a while, but not forever. What are your plans for them in the future?”

“We will just wait for the situation in Shandong to calm down, and the refugees will naturally be able to return to their homes…” Lu Yang said. “But after this great chaos, even if they can return safely, they will still become starving people.”

The three eastern prefectures were originally a place where the people suffered greatly. After such a great chaos, the cattle and donkeys were killed or stolen, the houses were burned, and their property was lost. The destitute people who returned to their villages would have no farm tools, livestock, seeds, or grain. Without government relief, they would not be able to survive until the next harvest.

“This matter…” Sun Yuanhua originally wanted to say that he would definitely find a way, but then he thought that he had lost Dengzhou, the rebel army was only a few dozen li away, and his own life was in danger. What way could he think of?

Even if he was still the governor of Deng-Lai, providing relief to the people and distributing cattle and seeds were matters for the Provincial Administration Commission. He had no control over civil affairs.

As for whether the court could provide relief, and whether it was willing to provide relief, that was another matter.

Judging from the current situation of the court, with fires breaking out in all directions, even if there was some relief, it would be a drop in the bucket.