In mid-March of 1789, just when Xu Dayong was thinking about how to transport more trackers out of Sichuan, spring arrived early in the outer Northeast.
The surging snowwater surged out of the valley and merged into the Xila River at the foot of the mountain. The ice gradually opened up and the river began to flow slowly again. The ice sheets made a loud noise and surged in the middle of the river. Waiting for these ice sheets to be blown away.
When it rushed into the sea to the south, it had turned into countless undulating pieces of ice.
The large smoke cannons that were randomly raging in the wilderness have disappeared. The icicles like candied haws under the eaves are slowly melting under the warm sunlight, and drops of rosin-colored water droplets are dripping in front of and behind the house.
The days of cat winter in Beihai Town are over, and the whole city seems to come alive. In the fields, the snow begins to melt, and with the roar of the large combined land preparation machine, the midday sun shines steamingly on the black soil rolled out by the plow. The mountains
Can Xue, who was riddled with holes like fish scales on the post, was shining with the last light impatiently.
At dawn, hundreds of tractors of various sizes from the agricultural machinery units under the Civil Affairs Bureau from Beihai Town to Fuldan City roared out one after another, starting another year of spring plowing.
As Zhao Xin has bought more tractors in recent years, more than 300,000 acres of farmland have been newly reclaimed north of Fuldan City from the year before last year to now. Many new farmers have seen endless tracts of land.
When plowing the land, they would be surprised and fall down on the ground, and then greedily grab a handful of soil and bring it to their noses to smell it deeply. This is something that many farmers will never be able to do in their lifetimes!
Outside the town of Khabarovsk, which is located at the confluence of the Heilongjiang and Ussuri rivers, the wasteland in the wilderness has not yet thawed. Several giant tractors with land preparation machines drove in, and the huge plows were separated by a finger's thickness.
of ice, and then dug out the still-frozen mud underneath.
Zhu Dagui, the new director of Boli Farm in Beihai Town, stood at the edge of the field, his dark cheeks turned red by the chilly spring breeze. He introduced to several new Shandong farmers around him: "Look, this kind of farm
It has to be turned over when it's frozen. Otherwise, when someone steps on it and it squirts, it's like stepping on a jar of soybean paste. Then it's even more impossible to do it. I remember when we were in Fuldan
When the city was being developed, the land was even busier than here, and everywhere was filled with what the Hezhe people called 'red rusty water'."
Several farmers from Wendeng sat slumped on the ground, dumbfounded. They watched in astonishment as the green crawler monster easily used its long rows of plows to dig out the hard ground to a depth of one foot.
deep groove, feeling happy and scared at the same time.
"Come on, my mother! With this animal, I'm afraid I won't be able to plant dozens of acres of land in one day."
"Brother Dagui, do you know how to fertilize this animal?"
"Yes, I can do everything. If you put on a plow, you can plow the ground, and if you put on a harvester, you can harvest crops. To tell you the truth, this is called mechanization!"
"What? Turning into chicken blood? Renting a big green animal, what does it have to do with chickens? What's the point of returning blood?"
Zhu Dagui smiled slightly after hearing this. This joke, including him, has been made by almost everyone new to Beihai Town. Newly arrived refugees like to call machines "cattle", including red animals, green animals, and animals with wheels.
, an animal with tracks; a giant animal, a large animal.
While they were talking, they saw a tractor a few hundred meters away suddenly stopped. Several new young refugees were talking quietly on the other side of the field.
"Why are you lying down?"
"I guess the people who took care of the animals in the morning didn't give them enough food, right?"
After hearing this, Xu Sanshui on the side rolled his eyes and looked at the bundle of hay sitting under his butt.
"Hey~ Sanshui, what are you doing?"
"Wait a minute, Sanshui, I'll help you feed him."
Zhu Dagui, who was explaining to a few old farmers what "machinery" was, suddenly looked up and saw two young men in the distance holding two bundles of hay and running towards the stopped tractor.
"What are you two doing?! Stay right here! It's dangerous!"
Unexpectedly, the two young men seemed not to have heard it. When they ran to the giant tractor and circled around it, they quickly became overwhelmed.
"Sanshui, where is this guy's mouth?"
Xu Sanshui looked up at the track wheels that were taller than him, and felt more and more that this thing was not a living thing. But how could it be so strong? It easily dug out the frozen soil that even a pickaxe could not dig out.
A foot-thick deep trench.
"Why don't you go to the front and try?" My companion tentatively gave me an idea.
Xu Sanshui, who was holding the grass in his arms, was about to walk in front of the tractor when suddenly he heard a loud "beep" sound above his head. He and his companions were so frightened that they fell into the ditch, and the hay was scattered all over the ground.
"Hahahahaha~~" A hearty laughter came from above his head. Xu Sanshui looked up in shock, and then noticed that there was a large window as bright as glass above the "giant animal".
At the window, a handsome girl wearing a brown fox fur hat was smiling.
The reason why Xu Sanshui could tell it was a girl was because there were two big shiny black braids hanging from her shoulders.
"Female? How is this a woman?!"
Xu Sanshui's face turned red immediately. He was a straight man. He stood up in a hurry, jumped on his feet and shouted: "Whose girl, get down here! Ouch~"
At this time, Zhu Dagui had already walked over. He raised his foot and kicked Xu Sanshui's knee. He cursed loudly: "You're such a bastard! What are you looking at? Get out of here. That hay is for you to feed the cows."
Horse feeder, who told you that you can feed the machine? Get away!"
"I know, Uncle Dagui."
When Zhu Dagui walked back to the field laughing and cursing, an old farmer asked: "Uncle Zhu, tell me, the big animals have taken away all our farming work, what can we do in the future?"
Zhu Dagui laughed and said, "What are you doing? Weeding crops, raising cattle and pigs, setting up greenhouses, what are you talking about? You'll be busy all year round!"
The old farmer also laughed. No farmer is afraid of being busy. He is only afraid if he is not busy. But he turned around and said suspiciously: "But this big animal, oh, no, it is a machine that takes care of all the farming. Raising cattle can
What are you doing? No matter how strong the cow is, there is no machine that can do it, right?"
Xu Laoshuan rubbed the back of his head where his braids had just been shaved off, and laughed.
At this time, in the horse farm far to the northwest of Beihai Town, the horses were in their early spring mood and were making a lot of noise. The hair balls flying off their bodies were flying off, and the pungent smell of horse sweat could be smelled from a distance.
Zhao Xin sat hunched over on the wooden fence, looking at his white horse that was circling happily, while chatting with Yalha beside him.
No one can manage horses better than Yarha. He has gradually become the director of the Beihai Town Army Horse Farm from an unassuming groom. Before that, he learned veterinary medicine from Liu Zheng. Every spring, when the wild flowers bloom,
During the spring season, Yalha went to collect various medicinal herbs and dug medicinal roots in dry caves and wet caves in the wilderness.
On the wall of the stable not far away, bundles of hay with different leaf shapes are hung high. Spring grass buds to treat burns, snake eye medicine to treat snake bites, and black leaf grass to treat leg injuries grow next to the roots of willow trees in the woods.
A very inconspicuous white grass that can cure internal injuries, and there are many unknown herbs that can cure various diseases of horses and seasonal diseases.
"Sir, your horse is fat."
"Lao Ya, how can a horse be called fat? That's called gaining weight."
Yarha slapped his forehead and laughed: "There are so many ways to learn Chinese that I can't remember them all."
Zhao Xin didn't laugh at him, and changed the subject: "I say, after so many years, it's time for you to find a woman."
Yarha held a dry tobacco bag in his mouth, heheheihehe, and said vaguely: "Forget it, who would want to find a cripple like me."
"You can't say that. You are not a hard-working person like Chunlai. You have to leave a wife, right?"
"Haha, we'll talk about it later. Now I'm in charge of thousands of horses, so how can I have that free time?"
The army horses in Beihai Town started with a dozen or so, and today the inventory has reached more than 5,000. Except for the few Soviet heavy-duty draft horses that Zhao Xin bought in the early days, the largest number of horses in the horse farm are those captured from the Qing army.
Mongolian horses. As for the Don horses captured from the Rakshasa side, they are now kept in captivity outside the city of Yaksa.
Due to the traffic conditions in the outer Northeast, all kinds of military horses are still necessary for the Northern Navy to travel. Among them are riding horses that are fast and easy to ride, and there are also draft horses used to pull artillery, baggage vehicles, etc., and there are also horses used to
A packhorse carrying supplies.
Historically, until the Second World War, except for a few countries such as Britain and the United States, the main method for pulling field artillery and transporting mountain artillery was still relying on horse power.
Now in the entire Beihai Town, only Serdan and Zhao Xin are able to deal with Yalhati's search for a wife. Others ignore them and may end up choking. The former saved him in the ice and snow.
However, the latter used poor medical skills to bring him back from the brink of death.
Yalha clumsily struck the match with his remaining fingers, lit a cigarette, then turned to Zhao Xin and said, "I heard you are leaving again? Where are you going back?"
"Leave early tomorrow morning. News came back from Irkutsk that the Rakshasa people are still evil. I feel uneasy unless I go and take a look."
"Are we going to fight again?"
"Yeah. I guess after this fight, the Rakshasa people will stop." Zhao Xin jumped to the ground holding on to the railing, with a few drops of mud splashing on his shiny black boots. He patted Yalha's shoulder and smiled.
He said: "Go back and ask Wan Zao's wife to introduce you to your marriage. Hey, I say, don't drag her away this time! Wait until I come back after the war to drink your wedding wine."
Watching Zhao Xinyuan disappear, Yalha limped toward his office with his hands behind his back. Before he could enter, a scholar-looking guy in his early thirties came out with a few booklets under his arm.
come over.
"Director, this is the record of the horses taken by the cavalry battalion leader in the past few days and the feed list allocated by the civil affairs department. You need to check and sign."
This man's name was Lu Zigao, who was responsible for keeping accounts at the military horse farm. He boarded a ship from Sheyang Lake in northern Jiangsu Province in the 51st year of Qianlong's reign. Because he had a history of engaging in horse business outside the country, he was arranged by the Civil Affairs Bureau.
"Well, tell me before you sign." After that, Yarha walked in and sat down. Lu Zigao flipped through the account book and explained to him the horse allocation records item by item. Yarha had worked with Liu Zheng for two times before.
Years ago, I can now understand some numbers and Chinese characters. As for signing, Yarha’s hands are not convenient, so he usually stamps.
When he had finished talking, Lu Zigao handed over the transfer slips one after another for the other party to stamp, and asked seemingly casually: "Director, is Mr. Zhao planning to go on a long trip?"
"Hmm." As soon as Yaerha finished speaking, he felt something was wrong and immediately raised his head to look at the other party. Unexpectedly, Lu Zigao continued to ask: "Where is King Zhao going?"
Yalha frowned immediately. He put down his seal, stared into the other person's eyes and asked, "What exactly do you want to ask? Is this something you can know?"
Lu Zigao's expression became a little flustered, and he shook his hands and quickly explained: "No, don't get me wrong, I just asked casually."
After Lu Zigao left with the stamped list and account book, the more Yaerha thought about it, the more he felt that something was wrong. This man had been keeping quiet since he came to the military horse farm, never asked around, and was very serious about his work, but
what is it today?
Moreover, Zhao Xin's whereabouts are top secret in Beihai Town. Except for a few people closest to him, others never dare to ask. In the eyes of many old residents of Beihai Town, Zhao Xin is a god, and Yalha is no exception.
.
In his opinion, only gods can use such means to turn the originally desolate Beihai Town into so rich.
Thinking of this, Yarha picked up the magnet phone on the table, grasped the crank handle with the remaining three fingers of his right hand and shook it hard a few times. After getting through, he said: "Junma Chang, this is Yarha.
I'll take..."
Before he finished speaking, the door opened quietly, and a black figure rushed in like a whirlwind. He reached out and put his hand on Yalha's wrist. Yalha suddenly felt weak in his wrist, and the phone receiver
He got out. Just when he was about to call someone out, a trace of coldness was already stuck to his throat. Then he heard someone beside him say coldly: "If you want to survive, don't speak! Otherwise, I'll cut your throat with a knife!"
At this time, the operator's voice came faintly from the magnet phone receiver hanging next to the table.
"Hello? Hello? Military horse farm, where do you want? Hello?"
The blade of the knife was pressed tightly against Yalha's throat. He knew that if he made any movement, he would be dismembered. At this moment, he heard the man behind him shout in a low voice: "What's going on? Who is talking about this?"
Immediately afterwards, a figure flashed at the door, and Lu Zigao hurriedly walked in. He leaned over to pick up the phone receiver and said to the operator: "I'm sorry, the farm manager suddenly had something urgent to go to the stable. It seems that your horse is a little uneasy."
Something’s wrong, hang up first.”
After that, he put the phone away and explained to the person behind Yalha: "This is called a phone. We can communicate with each other even if we are dozens of miles away, but we have to ask the operator to help connect."
"Bullshit! Beihai Town is full of monsters! I've been here these days, and it looks even more evil than the fucking Hunyuan Sect!"