Chapter 261 The reason why the civilian husband escaped
During the march, it is not good to stop and look for wood. It is better to wait until the evening when we set up camp.
Li Mengxi went to inspect various places again.
There is one thing that I talked with Liu Bei and Guan Yu for a long time last night, but I forgot to ask.
That is, why would any civilian husband want to escape?
It shouldn’t be, there’s no shortage of food for them, so it’s good enough for the people. However, why would anyone want to escape?
With confusion, Li Mengxi went to find the answer on his own.
Not far away, Li Mengxi saw an old man in the procession of civilians.
The old man has a shoe on one foot and no shoe on the other.
This old man looked physically strong, but he seemed to have some mental problems. He would cry sometimes, laugh sometimes, mutter to himself, and shake his head from time to time with unknown meaning.
"Old man, stop."
Li Mengxi called to the old man.
Li Mengxi was still a little scared. He was afraid that the old man was really mentally ill or a madman.
When I was a child, there was an old madman in the village, and his family tied him up at home.
Once, I heard from a friend that I saw an old madman.
When he was young, Li Mengxi was curious and followed him to see it.
A group of friends met the madman on the way, and everyone called him "Old Madman".
Unexpectedly, the lunatic became angry and ran after Li Mengxi, frightening the young man to the point of crying. He threw away his schoolbag and ran home crying.
This is the shadow of my childhood.
Li Mengxi is very afraid of people with mental problems and is afraid of being beaten.
There is no reason for a mentally ill person to hit someone, and it cannot be treated with common sense.
Li Mengxi got off the horse, took two steps back, and stood further away, cautiously.
"Why did you call me young man?" The old man wiped his tears and saluted Li Mengxi.
The old man who was considered mentally ill by Li Mengxi turned out to be polite and elegant. The old man who came back to his senses no longer looked like a mental patient at all.
Most of Li Mengxi's fear has gone away.
As long as it's not mental illness.
Li Mengxi started chatting with the old man.
During the conversation, Li Mengxi asked the old man why he was so sad and inexplicable.
The old man sighed, wiped away tears and talked about the past.
It turned out that the old man fled with his son and daughter-in-law. The son died first, and the pregnant daughter-in-law gave birth to a baby halfway. The baby was fat and white, and it made people happy to see it.
But the daughter-in-law passed away shortly after giving birth to the child.
This old man was alone, holding a little baby in his arms. While fleeing with the yellow scarf, he looked around to see who had milk and gave him a mouthful of milk to eat.
But how could milk be so easy to find? Not long after, the little grandson, who was not yet one month old, vomited and soaked in gruel even after being fed some gruel.
Someone gave the grain in exchange for food, and the old man scolded that person.
I found a place and, seeing no one there, buried my grandson in a pit.
When the old man spoke, his tone was calm, as if he was not sad.
But Li Mengxi saw that the old man's eyes were full of deathly silence and desolation.
Li Mengxi probably understood.
The old man's son died one after another, and the little grandson he left behind originally had hope of survival, but he watched his grandson starve to death and was helpless. Both his children and grandchildren were dead, and now that they were old, they had no hope of living.
Not everyone wants to live.
This old man is missing a shoe. Does he have no shoes? This is not the key.
There is grass all over the roadside. If you really want shoes, just pull two handfuls of grass and you will be able to knit a shoe.
It's not a question of whether there can be anything, but that this old man has no idea of living anymore.
He doesn’t even want to live anymore, why should he care if his shoes are gone?
After listening to the old man's story, Li Mengxi was silent for a long time.
"...Old man, our army will not lack food rations for you and other civilians. And...just follow us." Not knowing how to persuade the old man, Li Mengxi could only say this.
When Li Mengxi left, the old man couldn't help but praise the rebels for their benevolence and righteousness, and he said a lot of good things.
Climbing on the horse's back, Li Mengxi said goodbye to the old man on the horse.
Li Mengxi patted the cavalryman on the shoulder and said, "Move forward." He ordered.
"Drive." The cavalryman lightly clamped the horse's belly and drove the horse forward slowly.
Looking back, Li Mengxi paid special attention to the feet of the peasants. With this careful observation, he really discovered the details that had been ignored before.
There are indeed many civilians who lack shoes on their feet. Either one is missing, or they have no shoes at all and their feet are bare.
As for other supplies, you have to spend money to buy them along the way. As for straw sandals, grass can be found everywhere, so it doesn’t cost anything.
However, there are so many people and so many people have no shoes.
Why is this?
It can't be possible. Are all these old people who are short of shoes just like that old man? They are determined to die and don't want to live anymore?
It shouldn't happen.
The problem may lie in subjective initiative.
These civilians do whatever they are told, and do not do anything without being told. They really do not take the initiative to do anything. Their entire mental state is numb and confused, like wood.
In addition, there should be management issues.
No matter when marching or setting up camp, civilians are not allowed to wander around.
In fact, after setting up camp, the civilians can be allowed to go out and move around for a while.
In this way, I have time to collect materials, pull some grass, and have something to knit shoes.
Otherwise, when marching, the control is very strict. If you walk a little to the side and want to pick up a few pieces of grass, you will be yelled at by the local brave, and you will not have a piece of grass in your hand, and you will make straw sandals with a hammer.
That's the problem.
The big problem is the subjective initiative of the people.
The small problem is that the management style of civilian husbands can be changed.
As for the unresolved question, why do some civilians want to escape?
Thinking back on the difference between the civilian husbands in the army today and the refugees recruited by Zhuozhou, the answer becomes obvious after a comparison.
The refugees in Zhuozhou really couldn't survive anymore, so they went to Zhuozhou to join them.
Naturally, the refugees in Zhuozhou are all desperate. Once they have a way to survive, they will naturally stop running away.
And now the civilian husband in the army is a prisoner captured after Wen'an County was captured.
The captives are not refugees with no way out. In fact, these refugees may feel that their future is bleak. They may feel that if they follow the army, they may be sent to the government to be killed at any time, and they worry that they may be forced to attack the city.
Therefore, some civilians think that staying in the army is very dangerous, and escaping is the only way to survive.
Therefore, it is easy to explain why there is no shortage of food rations in the army, but some people often escape at night.
So, how to solve this problem?
Specific issues can be analyzed in detail.
What are the possible psychological reasons for civilian husbands to escape?
First, the people are afraid that although Liu Bei has not taken action now, they are afraid that sooner or later Liu Bei will kill him.
To solve this problem, we must dispel some people's concerns and make some people believe that Liu Bei will no longer treat them as prisoners.
Let the civilian husbands think that they are also a member of the rebel army, and they will no longer be afraid of being massacred.
This is the solution.
Just give some flags to the refugees and let them hold them, and say, from now on, they will be under my command, Liu Xuande.
In this way, the refugees no longer consider themselves prisoners, and no longer worry about being killed, let alone being taken to the government, and often want to escape.
As for the second reason why the civilians fled, they were afraid of being forced to attack the city.
There is no way to solve this.
Chapter completed!