Chapter 268: Confucian people struggling to survive
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He bit the bullet and studied "New Confucianism" for a period of time, and took two new provincial examinations.
In the end, I had to admit in despair that I was really not the type to study New Confucianism, and the road to becoming an official in the new dynasty was basically impossible.
Just when he was feeling disheartened, he was overjoyed when he learned that three high-ranking officials in Zhejiang wanted to establish Dongshan College to resist the new imperial examination system and seek justice for students like them who had studied the Four Books and Five Classics so hard.
I rushed to Qixialing almost without hesitation, but the result... I was in Yinzhou and had just disembarked.
After hearing Yan Xiangdong's request, the soldier first looked at him strangely, then smiled coldly and said sarcastically: "Who do you think you are now? Or a scholar from the Ming Dynasty? Bah..."
"You are sinners in exile now! Do you know what exile means? The Emperor is showing great mercy by not killing you. As for you... you deserve to freeze to death and starve to death! How dare you ask us for supplies? Haha..."
Yan Xiangdong's face turned blue and red after hearing what the soldier said.
But he couldn't help but said angrily: "It is because of the emperor's kindness that he sent us here, and he also wanted to save our lives. If we freeze and starve to death here, you will be disobeying the emperor's order!"
"Haha!" The soldier was infuriated by Yan Xiangdong's absurd reasoning. Just as he was about to speak, he saw the prisoners who had noticed the movement here all rushing over, shouting and shouting wildly.
"Give us food and clothing to keep out the cold!"
"Yes! Give us supplies. If we die here, you will be disobeying the emperor's order!"
"Supplies! Give us supplies to keep us warm during the winter!"
It is already extremely cold in the American continent during this season. The families of these exiled prisoners are also unhappy in their hearts. They just have to bow their heads under the eaves, so they can only hide their dissatisfaction in their hearts.
.
At this moment, with Yan Xiangdong taking the lead, their courage suddenly increased and they burst out the anger in their hearts.
Seeing the commotion among these exiled criminals, the soldiers who were still on the boat also heard the commotion and quickly got off the boat to form a battle formation.
It's said to form a battle formation, but in fact it means that five thousand soldiers first come down, raise their firearms and shoot blank guns into the sky.
The Ming army currently stationed in the Americas has basically put cold weapons in the second batch. The combat mode is basically to use the muskets to move forward first and discharge all the gunpowder pellets. The enemy's strength is greatly damaged and morale is almost reduced.
, and then fight with cold weapons.
Listening to the loud gunfire, the fear in many people's hearts rose again.
The current situation is that this group of exiled prisoners naturally dare not enter, but if they retreat, they will definitely die of cold and starvation, a sure way to die...
For a while, the two sides faced off like this.
"Why are you so noisy!" Suddenly, a rough and impatient voice sounded from the boat.
I saw Hu Dahai coming down along the cheekbones with a gloomy face.
The Grand Governor felt very unhappy at the moment, and his words were even more rude.
"On the ship just now, I heard it very clearly. Someone said that if you died here, we were disobeying the emperor's order? What a fart!"
Hu Dahai raised his voice fiercely, pointed to the ground under his feet, and said loudly: "Where is this? This is Yinzhou, thousands of miles away from the Ming Dynasty!"
"Not to mention a few people died, even if you all died here, I will go back to report a native for causing rebellion and massacre all the exiled prisoners. This matter will be over. Do you believe it?"
The wind in Yinzhou overseas is very cold, but Hu Dahai's voice is even colder.
For a moment, the prisoners and their relatives who were noisy just now fell silent, because they all understood that Hu Dahai was not lying.
Yes, their lives are so worthless now. Death is not much different from the death of a cat or a dog.
Seeing that everyone stopped making trouble, Hu Dahai breathed a sigh of relief.
To be honest, he was not happy with the troublemakers, but he didn't really want to kill them.
After all, he spent so much effort to bring these people to America just to bring advanced productivity and carry out large-scale development, not to kill them and bury them here in fertile land.
Suddenly, another tired voice came: "Captain Hu, but at this moment, the weather is freezing, and our supplies are really insufficient, not enough for us to survive. I don't know if the Governor can save us.
If so, I would be grateful!"
Hu Dahai looked up and saw that the person speaking was actually the head of the Nankong family, Kong Mingde.
When Zhejiang was captured, Kong Mingde personally went to Zhu Yuanzhang's camp to present a congratulatory message. At that time, Kong Mingde's aura of wealth and elegance could put the still humble Hu Dahai to shame.
But when I saw him today, Hu Dahai almost didn't recognize him. The head of the Nankong family was really miserable. Also, his family was confiscated and his family was exiled to this barbaric land. No matter how big-hearted Kong Mingde was,
At this moment, I was also a little distracted.
Thinking of this, Hu Dahai laughed: "Isn't this the head of the Kong family?"
Kong Mingde gave a bitter smile: "There is no family leader at this moment. Governor Hu, please show us a clear path."
Hu Dahai nodded: "Actually, what the young man just said was right, that is, the emperor sent you here because of his kindness. If he really let you wait to die here, it would hurt the emperor.
Kind heart!"
"But I won't hide it from you. This time when we crossed the sea, we only brought our own food and grass. Those food and grass must not be touched, and there is nothing extra!"
Hearing this, everyone's faces couldn't help but show a look of despair.
Unexpectedly, Hu Dahai suddenly changed the topic: "But, although this land of Yinzhou is wild, it is rich in products. There is a big river in this area, with countless fish, turtles, shrimps and crabs..."
"There are also many forests and mountains. Although there are occasional wild beasts, there are more deer, pheasants and rabbits. As long as you are willing to fish and hunt, you will not starve to death!"
"As for keeping out the cold, I still have a lot of tents on my boat. Although it is impossible for every household to get one, they are of some use to you. If you go to the forest to cut down some trees and light a fire to keep warm, it won't be enough.
You will freeze to death!"
Hu Dahai kept talking, and some people's eyes showed the light of hope that they could finally survive.
Some people also showed dissatisfaction. It was the same as Hu Dahai's words or not. He still had to fish and hunt by himself. So what was the difference between him and the aboriginal savages?
What hasn’t Hu Dahai seen in all these years?
He immediately knew what those people with dissatisfied faces were thinking, and he couldn't help but look cold: "Lao Hu, I gave you a way to survive, but I know there are still people who are dissatisfied!"
"I just want to tell you... remember! From the day the imperial edict was issued, you are sinners. If you can survive to this day, you should thank the emperor for his kindness!"
"Although Yinzhou is a barbaric land, it is also a place of great potential! When our Chinese ancestors founded the country on both sides of the Yellow River, didn't they make a living by fishing and hunting?"
"At that time, they could only explore and survive step by step, but now, you already know what you should do next... Your conditions are much better than those of our Chinese ancestors!"
"If this is the case and you still can't survive, then die here!"
Hu Dahai's words were so inspiring that Yan Xiangdong, Kong Mingde and others were stunned after hearing them. Although the others didn't know if they really listened, they at least bowed to Hu Dahai on the surface.
Dare to offend Hu Dahai.
Upon seeing this, Hu Dahai nodded with satisfaction. He immediately waved his hand and a sergeant immediately brought down some dilapidated tents, even rusty spears and broadswords, and threw them to the families of the prisoners.
Although the tent is shabby, it can somewhat keep out the cold.
Although the spears and broadswords are rusty, they are enough to deal with wild beasts.
Some soldiers also advised Hu Dahai and threw these weapons to the criminals' family papers in case they rebelled...
Hu Dahai just glanced at the soldier coldly: "If a bunch of old, weak, sick and disabled people who are usually well-dressed and well-fed can defeat you with just a few rusty weapons... Haha, then you might as well stay where you are.
Just kill yourself!"
There were not many tents and inferior weapons, so they were all divided quickly.
The tents are basically divided into one for each household.
As for weapons, basically only several families can get one or two spears or knives.
But it's already pretty good, better than nothing.
After the division of more than 10,000 people, they were separated according to family or close relationship.
The reason is very simple. In this kind of place and this kind of situation, the most dangerous thing is not the animals, but the people.
If you are with people you don't know well, God knows if they will cut your throat in the middle of the night, take off your clothes to keep out the cold, and steal your food rations to satisfy your hunger.
Soon, the ten thousand people dispersed, and only the Nankong clan remained in place.
There are more than 300 members of the Nankong clan, including men, women, old and young. They are looking longingly at the head of the family, Kong Mingde.
Kong Mingde looked at what he had been given and couldn't help but smile bitterly.
Among all the prisoners who were exiled this time, those from Nankong had the largest number, so when the tents were divided, two more tents were divided.
As for the weapons, they were given three long knives with missing blades and two rusty spears, that's all.
In a sense, he already took great care of Nan Kong.
Suddenly, an excited voice said: "But Nan Kong, Mr. Mingde?"
Kong Mingde was stunned, turned around and saw a young man looking at him with excitement.
Kong Mingde frowned for a while and then said in surprise: "Are you... are you Yan Sheng?"
But it turned out that when Yan Xiangdong was studying in the past, he personally went to Quzhou to climb the Southern Confucius Gate and asked Kong Mingde for advice on the essence of Confucianism.
At that time, Yan Xiangdong's eager attitude towards Confucianism left a deep impression on Kong Mingde, and he even gave him a few words of encouragement. He didn't expect that the two of them would meet here again today. It was really a trick of fate.
Yan Xiangdong grinned and said, "It's just a student! It's just...Mr. Mingde, you are a descendant of the Saint Miao, an authentic member of the Kong family, how did you end up in this barbaric land?"
Kong Mingde sighed: "I am related to Hou Fangnai, and I have a share in the establishment of Dongshan College this time. Your Majesty, your kindness, spared the lives of my family, and that's why I was exiled here. But you, Yan Sheng, how did you end up here?"
Yan Xiangdong also sighed: "Students have been studying the Five Classics since childhood, and originally wanted to show off their skills in the examination room. Unexpectedly, today's saints actually don't use the learning of saints..."
"My skills in the Four Books and Five Classics have nowhere to go. I heard that the three masters Hou, Zhang, and Liu were going to establish Dongshan College to open the eyes of the students in the world who were still struggling to learn the ways of saints, so I came to join them. Unexpectedly..."
Yan Xiangdong couldn't sleep after saying this, what else could he say...
Instead, Kong Mingde patted Yan Xiangdong on the shoulder: "Confucius said: Three armies can seize the commander, but one man cannot seize the will! Although our situation is dangerous at the moment, we must not lose our confidence in the learning of the saints!"
Kong Mingde's encouragement cheered up Yan Xiangdong a lot. He nodded hard: "What Mr. Mingde said is true. Students must carry forward the learning of the saints in this barbarian land!"
Kong Mingde was overjoyed: "Okay! If you have such an ambition, why worry about Confucius not being popular!"
The two of them were talking enthusiastically alone, and the old housekeeper of the Kong family finally couldn't bear it anymore and said with a sad face: "Master, it's getting dark now. Please tell me how the clan members should arrange it!"
Kong Mingde suddenly felt embarrassed and said helplessly: "There is an old forest ahead. Let's go there tonight to find some dead branches and leaves and make a fire for the night!"
After saying that, he turned to look at Yan Xiangdong: "Yan Sheng, I think you are here alone, why don't we go together?"
Yan Xiangdong's parents died young and he had few relatives, so he was exiled alone.
When he came up to strike up a conversation just now, it was actually not necessarily because of the surprise of meeting an old friend in a foreign country, but more because he wanted to travel with others. At least it was safer to find an acquaintance to accompany him.
Seeing Kong Mingde take the initiative at this moment, he couldn't help but secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said quickly: "Thank you, Mr. Mingde!"
At this time, the sun was almost completely setting. The Kong clan members hurriedly took advantage of the remaining light of the setting sun and finally entered the forest.
What to do next?
Let’s set up a tent first…
For this big family, not only do they have fine clothes and fine food at home, but it is also the first time that they open their mouths, stretch out their hands, and pitch tents.
A group of people stumbled around and couldn't put it up for a long time. In the end, Yan Xiangdong couldn't stand it anymore and took the initiative to help put up the tent.
Kong Mingde looked embarrassed: "Xiangdong, thanks to you coming with us this time, otherwise the Nankong clan would freeze to death tonight!"
The head of the Nankong family, grateful, stopped calling Yan Sheng and directly called Xiang Dong.
Yan Xiangdong said he didn't dare: "Students are at home, because they can't afford servants, so they can only do housework by themselves from time to time, which makes Mr. Mingde laugh!"
Kong Mingde praised again: "You are so virtuous, come back! With a basket of food and a ladle of drink, in the back alleys, people can't bear their worries, but they won't change their joy even after returning... To the east, you have the style of ancient sages!"
This was Kong Mingde. He used Confucius' words of praise for Yan Hui's poverty and happiness to preach and praise Yan Xiangdong, which made Yan Xiangdong a little embarrassed for a while.
The tents were set up, but they faced a new problem. Even though there were two tents, more than 300 people from the Kong family couldn't fit in them.
Reluctantly, the women were forced to squeeze into one tent, and the old and weak were forced to squeeze into another tent.
