The larch shows an emerald green color, bringing vitality to the vast mountain forests on both sides of the Mixing River and Lalin River. On the thawed river, the rapids roared and ice sheets collided, making an ear-splitting roar. Red-crowned cranes flew back from their winter places.
, the high-pitched and loud cry echoed in the sky, reminding people that the sowing season has arrived.
Nature is overflowing with the vitality of spring, but people in Lalin and Alchuka have not felt the joy of spring. Many families of "Huitun Banners" and "Faqi Banners" have once again fallen into trouble as in previous years.
Stop cooking.
Since the Yongzheng era, due to the continuous expansion of the Eight Banners, the Qing government's financial burden has become increasingly heavy. Furthermore, the increase in the number of bannermen in the capital has also made "vacancies on errands" a big problem.
In later generations, people often say that bannermen will receive money and food as soon as they land. In fact, this is wrong. Except for the clan, generally bannermen have to pass examinations to fill vacancies, and they cannot get money and food without picking up the vacancies. Bannermen who no longer have formal jobs,
It has brought many housing and public security problems to the capital.
In addition, as the trend of Chinese Manchus in the pass became more and more serious, many Qiding families not only had completely different living habits from Han people, but also could not even speak Manchu. Faced with such a severe situation, Qianlong knew very well that the Manchus must
In order for people to regain control of Manchu customs and Manchu language, they must allow idle bannermen to return to the Northeast.
In view of this, after many years of preparations by the Qing government, in the more than 20 years from the ninth year of Qianlong's reign to the thirty-fourth year of Qianlong's reign, 3,000 households from Beijing banners came to settle in Lalin and Alchuka. These people were called
They are "Huitun Banner People". As for "Faqian Banner People", to put it bluntly, they are domestic slaves and account holders who have committed crimes, such as those who secretly dug ginseng, injured people to death, committed serious corruption, and cheated in examination rooms.
Delaying military aircraft, etc.
The Qing government set up 24 villages in the area from Lalin to Alchuka to accommodate these people, and provided care in all aspects of life. They helped dig wells, build houses, reclaim farmland, and even paid maintenance fees, food and accommodation.
Fees, bank deposits, etc.
It is said that once people fall into hunger, their immunity will decrease, so during this period of drought, the plague broke out in several villages near Lalin. The sick people first vomited and had chills all over, and then they could only lie in bed with a fever and say
Nonsense. On the eighth day, red bumps will be found on the patient's body and face. Those bumps will fester and ooze smelly, yellow mucus, attracting buzzing flies.
Frail old people and children died one after another, and screams and howls could be heard almost every night in the villages. There was only one medical clinic in Lalin City, so the assistant leader invited a doctor from Alchuka.
, as a result, several doctors themselves fell ill.
"Get up, hurry up!"
Early that morning, in a house located in Lantun, 25 miles west of Lalin City, Yongshan, who was sleeping soundly and curled up in a shabby quilt, was woken up by his brother Debao. After he woke up in confusion, Yongshan stared.
Shan muttered. He was only eleven years old this year. His mother died of illness the year before last. He, his mother, and a fifteen-year-old brother were the only ones in the family.
Although the age of a bannerman is at least sixteen years old, and Debao is barely old enough to fill the gap as an errand boy, but if he leaves, only his mother and younger brother will be left in the family, and no one will even be able to farm the land.
, so Debao planned to wait until Yongshan was older in two years.
While Yongshan was taking his time getting dressed, Debao had already slowly fed his mother Li, who was lying on the kang, a bowl of medicinal soup, and then started making breakfast. He used the key to open a locked cabinet in the house.
, which contains the family’s rations, more than fifty kilograms of light yellow millet noodles.
Debao carefully filled a bowl with more than half of the bowl and poured it into the boiling pot. Thinking that he had to work in the fields today, he put in another half of the bowl. Yongshan kept stirring with a spoon in front of the stove, waiting for the millet noodles.
When it was almost cooked, I threw in two more handfuls of wild vegetable leaves picked yesterday.
Mother Li couldn't eat after drinking less than half a bowl. She complained of chest tightness and nausea. In fact, she wanted the brothers to eat more. After all, it was impossible to work in the fields without being full. After breakfast, Debao and Yongshan took it.
Pick up a hoe and a knife, and then go out together.
His family has a hectare of land eight miles south of the village - that is, one hundred acres. It was cultivated in the early years with the help of flag men dispatched from Jilin. It sounds big, but the Debao family of three is an orphan and a widowed mother.
I can't handle it.
In fact, not only his family, but also most other families in the village are like this. Because they are not familiar with farming, the highest harvest of each family is only sixty-seven percent, and many people can’t even get half of it. Most of them are living in poverty or can only make ends meet.
The vast majority of them can barely make ends meet by relying on the annual allocation of grain and silver rewards from their superiors.
From the moment they moved here, many people used various methods to escape back to the capital, and the worst cases even went so far as to beg for food. Once the bannermen who escaped in the early days were captured, they were either beheaded, or their entire families were sent to Urumqi or Ili to work as slaves.
.And the officers and soldiers on duty at important checkpoints along the way will also be implicated.
Since the 51st year of Qianlong's reign, due to the rise of Beihai Town, the border guarding tasks of the bannermen have become more and more arduous. In addition, Qianlong has also increased the intensity of punishment, requiring that whether they are "returning bannermen" or "dispatching bannermen",
Anyone who escapes will be beheaded on the spot after being caught, and his wife and children will be made into slaves wearing armor. But even so, the bannermen who escape secretly cannot be stopped.
The brothers left Zhuangzi and walked around for half an hour before arriving at the field. On the way, Yongshan saw a hare running past. He chased it for a while with gleaming eyes, throwing stones and "
"A hungry tiger pounces on its food." Not only did he not catch it, he also consumed a lot of energy.
In these years, before sowing in the spring, the wasteland must be burned first to warm the ground. In addition, the plant ash can also be regarded as fertilizer. However, you cannot directly burn the wasteland during spring plowing. You must clear a fire break zone around your own land. Because there are fire breaks between each farm.
As for the boundary tree, it is impossible to burn the tree. In addition, we must get some hay and branches, otherwise the fire will not start.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! How could the Debao family know this when they first came from the capital! Like many banner families, his Ama looked at the hectare of land allocated to his family
It was really like "the tiger eats the hedgehog" - there was no way to start. Only a year later, the cattle assigned to his family also died of illness, and he couldn't afford to buy them anymore.
Debao asked his younger brother to pick up branches in the forest, while he wielded a hoe to clean the firebreak. He worked for a while and rested for a while, and soon he was tired and sweating profusely. After two sticks of incense, Yongshan suddenly had empty hands.
He ran back from the woods, gasping for breath and looking frightened.
"Brother, there is a monster in the woods!"
"Monster? Where is it?"
Debao didn't believe what his brother said. Where did the monster come from in the clear sky and white sun? He casually said: "Where is the firewood I asked you to collect?"
"Lost......"
Debao was a little angry. He picked up the hoe and asked his brother to follow him. He ran towards the forest and walked towards it. When he got to the place where the branches fell, Debao grabbed the hoe and looked into the forest for a while. The surroundings were quiet except for the sound of the wind.
There was nothing more, and then he had the courage to shout loudly: "Who?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a few "swish" sounds, and several figures suddenly appeared from behind the tree.
"Ah~~~" Debao screamed in fright, and his younger brother Yongshan behind him also shouted. However, the two brothers were so hungry that they had no strength at this time. Coupled with the fright, they only felt that their legs were sore and weak, and it was difficult to take steps.
.
At first Debao thought he had really encountered a monster, but as the other party walked towards him, he soon realized that those guys were human beings; people who were different from him, but also had two hands and two feet, two eyes and one nose.
.
These people are all wearing colorful coats and helmets of the same color, which makes people feel dizzy. They have bulging bags on their chests and waists, many things hanging on them, and a strange object on their shoulders. The most special thing is
, these people's faces were painted black and green, with white eyes exposed, and they looked very penetrating. Debao felt that if he bumped into them at night, they would definitely scare people to death.
"Young man, what are you doing here?"
Hearing the other party's question to him in Manchu, Debao took a deep breath and stammered: "Open, open up wasteland and cultivate the land."
"How far is it from Lalin City?"
"No, it's not that far. Just walk more than 30 miles east and you'll be there."
The person who asked the first question grinned, stepped forward and pulled Debao up from where he was lying on the ground, patted the dirt behind his butt, and asked again: "What's your name?"
"Debao, the one with the blue flag. This is my brother." As soon as Debao finished speaking, there was a growl in his stomach. He blushed and felt a little embarrassed.
"My name is Bamagon. I come from Bertune. I used to wear a red flag. Here, here are biscuits, oh, they are also pastries."
While the man was talking, he took out several rectangular objects half the size of a palm from the backpack behind the person next to him. Then, under the surprised eyes of the two brothers, he tore off two pieces of paper wrapped in them and handed them over.
The aroma of the food made Debao ignore the content of Bamanggong's words. His and Yongshan's mouths began to secrete saliva. Bamangon couldn't help but handed two compressed biscuits to their hands and said with a smile.
: "Eat it. This piece can serve as a meal."
What? Debao and Yongshan took a small bite curiously, and their mouths and noses were soon filled with an inexplicable aroma, and there was also a sweet taste. Debao was very surprised, and he took a big bite
It went down, just like Zhu Bajie eating ginseng fruit, and it went into his stomach in a blink of an eye. Looking at Yongshan, his thin face was stretched out and bulging, like a squirrel.
"Brother, I want more."
"Yongshan, it's not that I don't want to eat for you. You are a sensible child. Take the rest back to Eni."
"But I'm not full."
"You..." Debao felt a little embarrassed and wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl in.
Baman Gong smiled and purred twice on the little guy's head, and said: "Little guy, don't underestimate this pastry. Drink some water and it will make you sick. If you eat another piece, your belly will burst.
It’s better to take it back and cook it.”
"Ah? Okay." Yongshan smacked his fingers and nodded helplessly.
"Young man, we still have things to do. Let's meet again when we have the chance. Remember, don't tell anyone you've seen us!"
"Oh." The two silly boys nodded ignorantly.
When the figures of Baman Gong and others disappeared, Debao felt that he seemed to have strength, so he asked his younger brother to gather the branches on the ground, and he went back to work in the field. When Yongshan picked up the branches, he saw
When he arrived at the cookie wrapper that had been thrown away before, he picked it up without thinking and then put it in his arms.
The two brothers were busy until the afternoon, and picked some wild vegetables on the way home. As soon as they entered the door, Yongshan greeted his mother who was lying on the kang, and said excitedly: "Well, we met a good person today.
, treated us to some cakes and gave us several extra pieces!"
Although Mrs. Li had a fever and was not energetic at all, she still stroked her youngest son's head lovingly a few times. The two brothers had not been at home all day, and the kang was cold, so they were busy lighting a fire, and then cooking and making medicine.
.
When Debao was cooking, he thought about Baman Gong's words, so he took a piece of compressed biscuit and put it into the pot, and started cooking it. Unexpectedly, this thing could not be melted after boiling for a long time, so Yongshan took it again
The wooden spoon kept stirring.
At this moment, someone banging on the door was heard outside, and a familiar voice called Debao's name. Yongshan went out and saw that the person who came was an armored man named Shuangcheng. This man and their father used to work together in the same area.
I work as an errand and have a good relationship. I have taken care of their family in the past two years.
As soon as Shuangcheng entered the house, he said: "You two pack your things immediately. The deputy governor has sent word to the Yamen, asking all the residents of our former Lantun to go to Lalin City."
"What happened?"
"The pirates from the North Sea are coming, and they are attacking Bodune. The superiors have asked all the residents in the surrounding villages to go to Lalin City to help defend. They will send people here early tomorrow morning. I will come over in advance to take you into the city, and find a place to stay first.
There is no space, otherwise there will be too many people tomorrow and there will be no space."
Hearing this, Debao looked embarrassed and said: "Uncle Shuangcheng, Eni is so ill that it is difficult to walk. We don't even have a horse at home, how can we get there?"
"The Vice-President has given an order. If you don't leave tonight, don't you have to leave tomorrow?! How about this? You guys pack up your things at home and take everything you can carry with you. I'll let you ride my horse and give me the quilt."
She put it on."
While Shuangcheng was talking, the piece of compressed biscuit boiling in the pot began to dissolve and emitted bursts of aroma. He asked in surprise: "What is cooking in the pot?"
After that, he opened the lid of the pot. As the steam rose, the aroma mixed with sesame seeds, soybean flour, wheat, milk, beef and other flavors hit his face, making Shuangcheng's throat unable to help but make a "gurgling" sound.
Since Shuangcheng was not an outsider, Debao explained: "When I was burning the wasteland during the day, I met a few officials who came from Bertune and said that it was decorated with red flags. They gave it to me."
Bertune? With a red flag? Shuangcheng asked with surprise on his face: "What do those people look like?"
After listening to Debao's narration, Shuangcheng's expression became even weirder. He tilted his head and swept the two brothers' faces, which made Debao feel a little uncomfortable.
"Do you still have the pastry? Take it out and let me see."
Debao then went to the back room and took out the remaining two pieces from the food cabinet. Shuangcheng took them and looked at them over and over in the light of the stove, and suddenly took a breath of air. He saw the compressed biscuits.
On one side of the wrapping paper, there are a few small blue characters printed on it - "Northern Navy Logistics Department System"!
Oh my god! What are you afraid of? It suddenly dawned on Shuangcheng that the people the brothers met were wearing red flags. They were clearly pirates from the North!
Without any explanation, he tore open the packaging of the two biscuits and threw them into the pot, and then threw the wrapping paper into the fire. He felt at ease until they were reduced to ashes.
"You two, remember, the things that happened during the day must be kept in your stomach, and you can't mention it to anyone. If anyone knows about it, they will lose their heads!"
Debao and Yongshan were both startled and asked in astonishment: "Why?"
"Do you know who those people you met are? They are pirates from the North! Maybe they are sentinels!"
"Ah?!" Debao and Yongshan's eyes widened, and their faces instantly turned pale.