Chapter 83: Lanshantou

“What a wretched place.” Despite the clear, windless weather, Wang Ruixiang couldn’t help but shiver. The Shandong winter was not easy to bear. Although he was a Shandong native in another life, and was now wrapped in a thick, fur-lined coat exclusively for Elders and thermal underwear from his old world, with a fleece cap on his head, he still felt the biting cold.

But to maintain the image of an Elder in front of the naturalized citizens, Wang Ruixiang kept his head high and chest out, projecting an air of confidence before the refugees and soldiers.

The last time he had felt the hardship of such a cold winter was probably over a decade ago. Wang Ruixiang looked back down the hillside. A thousand refugees were arranged in five neat columns, forming three hollow squares around several large cauldrons, eating in an orderly manner. The refugees, holding two-meter-long wooden staffs, knelt on one knee. Only the squad leaders at the inner end of each row scurried back and forth, taking bowls of hot relief gruel from the cooks and passing them to the other four people in their squad. After everyone had their bowl, a musician at the center of the square blew his bugle three times.

“To save the world and aid the people, bringing peace to the realm, the Yuanlao Yuan is supreme!” Although the refugees’ chant was not perfectly synchronized, and few likely understood the full meaning of the phrase, the sound of a thousand people shouting in unison was still impressive. After the pre-meal ritual, the refugees set down the staffs they were leaning on, pulled out the relief biscuits warmed by their body heat from within their clothes, and began to devour them with the gruel.

It seemed the weeks of training before their departure had not been in vain. It was this sense of accomplishment, of changing the world, that made him feel that abandoning everything in his old life to come to this impoverished land for this transmigration was worth it.

Destruction and construction both provide the greatest sense of achievement, not to mention that what he was doing was destroying this old world to build a new one.

In his old world, before the advent of various high-tech warming products, he too had stood on this winter-swept land as a youth, dressed in a thick, bulky cotton coat. But his situation now was vastly different. In his old life, he had been disgusted with his status as a “diaosi” military otaku, full of regret and nostalgia for the past. He had fantasized more than once about how he would change his life if he could return to that age. Although this transmigration was not exactly what he had hoped for, after much hesitation, he had finally made up his mind: “If I can’t change my own past, then I will change myself, along with the future of this world.” It was with this chuunibyou-like conviction that he had firmly set foot on this uncertain path.

Wang Ruixiang pressed his forehead, clearing these memories from his mind. He glanced at his watch, then looked out at the vast wilderness before turning to walk down the slope with the Special Reconnaissance Team members guarding him.

At the foot of the hill, several soldiers from the Northbound Detachment, tasked with escort duty, were cooking. The army provided each soldier with higher-quality grassland rations that tasted better, but they could also get an extra bowl of relief gruel. Trekking long distances in such severe cold consumed far more calories than the standard version of the grassland rations could replenish. However, the high-calorie arctic version of the rations was only issued to Elders and the Special Reconnaissance Team.

“Sir!” The soldiers gathered around the pot saw an Elder approaching and immediately stood at attention, saluting. Wang Ruixiang returned the salute and waved for them to continue. He and the Special Reconnaissance Team ate from the same pot. It also contained gruel, but with the addition of dried vegetable leaves. Their grassland rations were the arctic version, containing more fat and minced meat.

Eaten on its own, the taste was rather bland. But the chili sauce Wang Ruixiang brought with him made the difference between their small pot and the refugees’ large cauldrons like night and day.

After they finished their meal, Wang Ruixiang checked his watch. It was about time. He signaled to the people around him to continue moving. The musicians returned to the column and blew their bugles. The refugees picked up their staffs and stood up. After drinking the remaining warm water in their bowls, they shook them dry, stuffed them into the bags at their waists, and then began to march in place to the beat of a short drum roll to re-form their ranks. The squad leaders returned from the center of the square to the rightmost flank of their units. After a few more bugle calls, the refugees slowly transitioned from their square formations back into a five-column marching formation.

The entire refugee column had become a marching procession half a mile long. Several soldiers carrying flags moved to the front. A few cavalrymen from the Northbound Detachment, acting as scouts, rode out a mile ahead.

“Move out!” With the order given and a few horn blasts, the drumbeat changed abruptly. The entire column began to move forward, slow but steady, continuing their long and arduous journey.

“This is the fourth day. It looks like we can arrive on time tomorrow,” Wang Ruixiang thought to himself as he returned to the front of the central baggage train.

The route Wang Ruixiang’s group was taking was not the one they had used before the Dengzhou rebellion, which ran from the Juyang River to Laizhou Bay. Although the conflict had subsided, the several temporary supply points established along that route had all been abandoned. It would be too difficult for the refugees to carry all their own rations and walk that distance. The amount of food consumed along the way would also be too great. Therefore, the plan was changed to depart by sea from Lanshantou.

To be precise, they were departing from Foshou Bay at Lanshantou. This was the area of the Lanshan Port in his old world. The waters of Lanshan Port were wide, and the water was deep. The natural water depth in front of the 20,000-ton berth could reach 10 meters. Lanshan Port was an ice-free port. During the Ming Dynasty, it was under the jurisdiction of Rizhao County, Qingzhou Prefecture, Juzhou.

This was the departure port Wang Ruixiang had selected after multiple reconnaissance missions. Besides the hydrological data obtained from old-world sources, he found that the area was sparsely populated during the Ming Dynasty and was a full 40 kilometers from the nearest Ming garrison, Andongwei. The entire defense force consisted of a single beacon tower and five guards. Without a major alarm, the starving and freezing canal army soldiers of Andongwei would not come here. Neither the docking of ships nor the movement of refugees would attract attention.

Moreover, the location was only 128 kilometers by road from Yishui City, roughly following the path of Provincial Roads 335 and 222 in his old world. If the refugees marched at an average speed of 30 kilometers per day, they could reach Foshou Bay in at most five days. This would also significantly reduce the amount of rations they needed to carry for the journey.

According to the Song Dynasty saying, a soldier carrying six dou of grain could last for ten days. This was the maximum amount of rations a soldier could carry. But this applied to healthy, able-bodied young men, not a group of chronically malnourished refugees of all ages and genders.

Given their physical condition, the refugees could not carry ten days’ worth of rations. Besides, Wang Ruixiang wouldn’t dare let them carry that much. If unsupervised, many would eat three days’ worth of food on the first day. Some might even choke to death on the dry rations without water, and others might take the opportunity to flee with the food—such incidents had happened many times before.

Therefore, Wang Ruixiang currently employed a system where the baggage train, using wheelbarrows, carried the rations centrally. The work of pushing and pulling the carts was rotated daily among the able-bodied refugees. The baggage train was escorted by a guard detachment. This ensured the safe distribution of food without adding extra manpower.

The refugees marched in five-person squads. Everyone except for young children carried a wooden staff—it could effectively save energy during long treks and be used for self-defense if necessary. During the march, the able-bodied refugees were on the outside, while the baggage train and the women and children were in the center. Toddlers and the infirm rode on the wheelbarrows with the baggage train. If anyone fell ill or fell behind, they were also picked up by the baggage train.

Each refugee column heading to Foshou Bay was accompanied by a guard detachment, a mix of the Northbound Detachment and the Cloud Ascension Temple militia. The temple militia was responsible for maintaining order and guarding the baggage train. The Northbound Detachment sent out reconnaissance cavalry to scout ahead and, if necessary, use force to disperse hostile groups.

Leading several thousand people through over a hundred kilometers of a disaster-ravaged region was no easy task. The famine had left most settlements along the road abandoned, and the area was swarming with starving refugees and bandits. It was difficult to find not only food but also firewood and drinking water. The weather was brutally cold. By the fourth day, they had already lost dozens of people—and this was considered a successful operation with few losses. On several occasions, due to blizzards or other natural disasters, it was not uncommon for hundreds to die or go missing at once.

At noon on the fifth day, the refugee column finally reached Foshou Bay. There was only a small fishing village and a beacon tower here. Since Wang Ruixiang and the Daoist priest had chosen this as the refugees’ departure point, the Northbound Detachment had sent a platoon to take direct control of the area. Most of the villagers had already been taken to Jeju Island, leaving only a few fishermen familiar with the local tides and currents to serve as pilots.

The beacon tower was also controlled by the Northbound Detachment. The five guards and their families were taken captive. Wang Ruixiang did not treat them harshly; he only required them to “carry on as usual” every day. Of course, they had to be tactful enough to “not see” anything that was happening at Foshou Bay.

Seeing the beacon tower of Foshou Bay in the distance, the young men of the guard detachment let out a quiet cheer. To facilitate the transfer of refugees, a temporary transit point had been established at Foshou Bay. In addition to a pier for boarding ships, other supporting structures had been built. A simple camp was constructed around the fishing village, with many huts that could accommodate up to two thousand refugees and three hundred guards and laborers. There was also a simple warehouse capable of storing rations for one hundred thousand people.

The ships that came to pick up the refugees were fully loaded with relief supplies. They would unload their cargo and then take on the refugees. The unloaded grain was then transported back by the returning guard detachments. Sometimes, a dedicated transport team had to be sent to Foshou Bay to pick up the grain. The round-trip consumption of food was significant. If not for the purpose of acquiring more population, this operation would be quite uneconomical.