This burst of gunfire came very suddenly, and Zhao Hao was very strange. According to military discipline, it is a serious crime to indiscriminately discharge a gun without hostile circumstances, and it is even more punishable by capital punishment in war, and even if a soldier accidentally misfires, it will only be a gunshot, but it will not be a ringing sound. However, if there is an enemy situation, the large army travels in a vast way, and a small group of enemy troops does not dare to move, and there are sentinels released in the front, rear, left and right of the marching procession, which have searched the surrounding area for thirty miles, and the enemy army in the brigade will be discovered early. In addition, there are troops stationed along the way, and if an enemy crosses the line, it will not go undetected.

In addition, Zhao Yu also knows that the natural environment in this era is still very good, and the population is much smaller, and the population of 100,000 can be assessed as Shangxian. Therefore, wolves, insects, tigers and leopards are very common, and even in the fully developed Jiangnan, there are often reports of tigers attacking villages, which are standard pests, unlike modern protected animals. But the wild beasts did not dare to attack the marching brigade, and they had already fled far away from the wind.

Just when Zhao Hao couldn't figure it out, the horn of lifting the guard sounded, and the peace flag was raised in the camp. The situation was quickly ascertained, and it turned out that a patrol had found someone in the woods at the edge of the camp and wanted to go in to check it, but before they could get closer, a group of people suddenly rushed out and fled in all directions. The driving was nearby, and how dare the officers and men on patrol slack off and shoot as a warning after the drink was ineffective.

Then a large number of men and horses arrived, surrounded the fleeing crowd, and conducted a strict search of the woods, and caught more than 200 people. After a brief inquiry, it was learned that these people were all fugitives, who had arrived here yesterday and had planned to flee across the battle line to the area controlled by Meng Yuan after dark. Unexpectedly, the Song army suddenly strengthened the inspection of the main road, so he did not dare to act rashly, and some people wanted to come out to find water because they couldn't bear their thirst, but they were discovered.

"Can you find out where they came from?" Zhao Hao listened to the briefing and asked.

Zhao Yu knew that in ancient times, all dynasties would strictly control the movement of ordinary households, because in ancient times, when productivity was low, manpower was far scarcer than land, and it was the object of contention from all sides. Since Qin Xiangong implemented the policy of "being registered with each other", the state began to directly control the heads of the people. The role of the household registration is multifaceted, and the most fundamental point is that registering on the official household register means accepting official rule, obtaining the status of "people", land, and fulfilling obligations for the country.

Fleeing and leaving the country are common means of mobility, and the imperial court responded by encouraging the people to return to themselves, fake land, recruit people to emigrate, check their registration, and bracket households; the second is to prohibit the movement of the people through severe punishment, and once caught, they will be punished; Third, in addition to officials and the military, other people must have road guides and reasons issued by the government when they travel, otherwise they will also be punished if they are seized. The imperial court would also use the population as an important indicator for evaluating local officials, so as to prevent officials from slacking off.

In peacetime, the movement of ordinary people must be strictly managed, and in wartime it will only be stricter, and the army will not only set up cards on the road for checking, without corresponding certificates, it will be difficult for you to move an inch, and the local government will also reorganize the people into naturalization and implement the system of protecting the armor and sitting together. In addition, there are some methods that cannot be put on the table, they will control Ding Zhuang in various ways, because the male is the pillar of the family, and if the man is controlled, it is difficult for the remaining orphans and widows to have a chance to escape.

Although the 200-odd fugitives found now do not seem like a lot, it indicates that there is a problem with the local government's population control, and that it happened to be caught, and perhaps the problem will be more serious. In the Lianghuai region, because of the war that lasted for decades, the population was already small, and if there was another large-scale exodus, it would have a great negative impact on the economic recovery and even the development strategy of the Lianghuai region, so Zhao Yu was also anxious to find out the situation.

"Your Majesty, these fugitives come from several places, but most of them are people from Haozhou!" Ma Duanlin, who went to inquire about the situation, replied.

"Why did you flee your place of origin?" Zhao Hao asked again.

"Your Majesty, time is in a hurry, and the reason has not yet been clarified!" Ma Duanlin replied again.

"Hmm!" Zhao Yu nodded and said, "I'll take a look." ”

"Your Majesty, the identities of those people have not yet been ascertained, and what they said is only one-sided, it is very likely that there are remnants of Meng Yuan hidden in them, Your Majesty can't go, or your subordinates go to ask for a reply!" Ma Duanlin hurriedly dissuaded.

"I still want to ask for myself!" Zhao Yu thought about it and still felt that he was saying hello, after all, it was difficult to understand the real situation just by all kinds of music.

"Your Majesty, that subordinate immediately ordered someone to bring those fugitives over!" Ma Duanlin knew the temper of the little emperor and knew that it was difficult to persuade him, so he retreated to the next option.

"You don't have to work to mobilize the people, I just have to go." Zhao Yu waved his hand.

"Your Majesty......" Seeing that the little emperor said to leave, Ma Duanlin hurriedly called a team of guards to catch up.

Zhao Yu arrived at the camp of the 1st Brigade and 2nd Regiment stationed on the outskirts of the camp, where the captured fugitives were temporarily detained. From a distance, the fugitives were locked up in a corner of the camp, and it was already dark and torches were lit around it, and it was clear that there was a mixture of old and young men and women, who were in rags or standing or sitting, some sighed, some wept quietly, and some children kept crying, which was very pitiful.

"Your Majesty, how did you get here?" After receiving the report of His Majesty's sudden visit, Tian Zhong, the commander of the first brigade, hurriedly came and saluted.

"Have the fugitives eaten?" Zhao Yu asked.

"Not yet, the subordinates are ready to be interrogated and then sent to the local government for disposal!" Tian Zhong replied.

"Prepare some food and hot water, and I'll bring them over." Zhao Yu nodded and said.

"This ...... This is not possible! Tian Zhong was stunned for a moment, glanced at Ma Duanlin, and said vaguely.

"Just ask a few firefighters to go with me, and you don't want to follow, you will frighten them when you wait for these big officials to go!" Zhao Yu didn't say anything more, and ordered directly.

"......"

"But what? Even if they want to kill me, they don't know me, so you don't have to worry! Zhao Yu saw that he was nervous and persuaded him, and said with a smile.

"......" The two looked at each other and didn't speak, the little emperor was dressed in an old military uniform on weekdays, and he was white, and he was not very old, no one who knew him would think that he was the emperor, but would only be regarded as an ordinary soldier.

The effort was not large, everything was ready, seven or eight firefighters carried two large baskets of cooking cakes and a few buckets of water, and Zhao Yu carried a pot of pickles to the prison fugitive camp. Of course, everyone didn't dare to take the safety of the little emperor lightly, Tian Zhong and Ma Duanlin both changed into old clothes and two guards followed behind. Tian Zhong is already nearly fifty years old, and he is from the bottom, plus he has been leading troops outside all the year round, so he looks like an old fire army. And Ma Duanlin couldn't hide the bookish anger on his body no matter how he dressed up, and he walked three times in one step, no matter how he looked at it, he looked like a scribe who was in charge of accounts, which made him laugh.

"It's time to eat, it's time ......to eat," Zhao Yu walked into the camp first, found an open space to put down the vegetable bowl, and shouted while beating the spoon while shouting. Several other people also put the water and rice away and shouted along.

But the crowd did not move forward, but shrank back, only a few children wanted to step forward, but they were pulled back and hugged tightly in their arms, but Zhao Yu saw that people were licking their lips incessantly, and the sound of swallowing saliva was even more clearly audible. Apparently they were not hungry, but they were scared and did not know what would happen to the meal.

"A group of fugitives should have been severely punished, and it is already a great grace to give you food, and I don't know what to do!" Seeing that everyone was not moving, Zhao Yu was not in a hurry, but Tian Zhong was in a hurry, you must know that although this meal is not good, it can be regarded as the emperor's 'banquet', so he was anxious at the moment and shouted loudly.

"It's been a long way, hasn't it? Those who are hiding in Tibet on the road must have been hungry for a long time, so come and eat, otherwise the officials will be angry and will retreat! Zhao Yu pointed at Tian Zhong and persuaded everyone.

"......" looked at the fugitives again, although they had not moved, they were already moved, but they still did not dare to come forward. A half-grown child couldn't resist the temptation, rushed out while the adults were not paying attention, grabbed two cooking cakes in one hand and stuffed them into his mouth.

"Slow down, slow down, don't choke, eat and be full!" Seeing that the child took a few big mouthfuls and choked and rolled his eyes, Zhao Yu quickly took a bite of the scoop of water and sent it to his mouth, and the child was also very hungry, so he drank a few big mouthfuls of the cooking cake in his mouth and ate it again.

Seeing that the child was eating and drinking and there was nothing wrong, and the others finally couldn't bear it, someone else stepped forward, and there was one and there were two, and everyone finally couldn't hold it anymore, and rushed up to grab it, and in a blink of an eye, the cooking cakes and water were at the bottom. Zhao Yu hurriedly looked at him again and asked people to get some more food, but people ate and took it, and put it in their arms, and they were hungry and scared at first glance.

"Uncle, let's eat some!" Zhao Yu saw that an old man had been squeezed out several times, he quickly grabbed two cooking cakes, scooped up a scoop of water and pulled it aside to sit down, handed it to him and said with a smile.

"Thank you, little brother!" The old man was stunned for a moment, and then he couldn't believe it, and thanked him.

"Where did my husband come from?" After Zhao Yu waited for the old man to eat half full, he sat down next to him.

"Lao Yu was originally from Hebei, and he was captured by the Tartars to farm in Haozhou, and it has been many years!" The old man replied.

"If today's division recovers the two Huai, and the land is exempted, why do you want to escape?" Zhao Hao asked again.

"Alas......" asked about this, the old man sighed before saying, "We have also heard that the emperor of the Celestial Empire is a wise monarch and loves the people very much. And the Tartars are cruel and unkind, and their hard work is not enough for food and clothing for a year, so they are all looking forward to the Northern Expedition of the Heavenly Master and can live a good life, but as soon as the Heavenly Master arrives, our days will not be able to live, and we will have to flee north! ”