Fu Buer set off. When he set off, he felt very complicated. Because this was the second time he went to the "Kun Thief". This time, he went as the leader of his village.
To say that the biggest landowner and the most authoritative person in Meiyang Village is not his turn, Fu Fu Er, but his clan uncle Fu You San - the invitation to the meeting was given to him. But this uncle is old, a countryman with little experience, and rarely goes out. Even the book office in the county treats him as a big shot. Not to mention the overseas visitors arriving in big iron ships. I also heard that the "Kun Thief" was extremely powerful, so I thought he was always a monster-like figure with green eyebrows and red eyes who would not go away even if he was killed. The clan had no choice but to ask Fu Fu Er, the only one who had ever dealt with the "Kun Thief", for advice. Fu Yousan's wives and sons all knelt in the hall of his house crying, begging him to do something for him, and gave him a lot of money and silk.
Although Fu Buer was a little scared, he had finally been a prisoner of "Kon Thieves" himself, and he knew that although these people were powerful, they were not evil people. Be reasonable and know right from wrong. What kind of "Meeting for Consultation and Business Association" is being held now is nothing more than a matter of sending food and missions. At that time, I was not killed when I participated in the encirclement and suppression team and became a prisoner. Now I will not lose my life if I go to the meeting. He heard that his former long-term worker, Ma Peng, was also working for "Short Hair", so he took the old lady over - a gang that allows its subordinates to take care of the old lady can't be too bad. In addition, he couldn't resist the temptation of the property Fu Yousan sent and the people's pleading, so he agreed immediately.
Fu Buer's wife knew that he was going to a meeting, so she made a few quarrels behind his back, and didn't want him to go - last time she had to go to war with Huang De, and she was injured, so she finally spent money to redeem him. Now he has thrown himself into a trap again. The fufu caused a lot of trouble for several days. Finally, he took the little boy out for a meeting.
Fu Fu'er's village is actually not far from Bairentan. If you don't count the straight-line distance, it's about forty miles away. In ancient society, it was already a very long distance. Even if there are good roads, the average person has to walk for four or five hours, let alone remote counties where road conditions are very poor.
Winter is a good season for traveling far away. The temperature in winter is pleasant. There are no typhoons or heavy rain. The roads are dry and easy to travel. Most of the rivers have been reduced to the point where you can ford them. You don’t need to go around in a big circle to find a fordable one. And where there is a bridge.
Even so, it is not easy to go out once. There are not many livestock such as donkeys and mules in Hainan. Unless you are a gentry who can raise a sedan or a rarer horse, whether you are a landowner or a long-term worker, you have to go out with two feet. What makes Fu Buer better than ordinary farmers when going out is that he brings a domestic boy to help him carry his luggage. A child of fourteen or five and a half years old, I heard that he could follow him to Dongmen City, and he was much more positive than this old man. Everything was packed the night before.
Going out in ancient times was not easy. Hotels are rare. There are no Yuelai Inns like those in martial arts movies. To stay in a hotel, you have to go to a larger market or city. It's not like in movies and TV shows where you can coolly "ask for an upper room". In fact, there are very few single rooms. Even if there is a single room, the hotel does not provide bedding and bedding - these must be brought by travelers.
There is no way to eat or drink without encountering a larger market. Therefore, you have to prepare everything by yourself, including food, sleep, supplies, and clothing. It's quite a big bag when you pack it.
After leaving the village, I walked on the road for several hours, and along the way I met people from various villages who were also going to "meetings." Various representatives from each village came, including clan leaders, big family members, Baojia chiefs, and gentry. Some villages sent talented students from their own villages--these people had more or less seen the world. Everyone walks together, someone talks to relieve boredom, and it also strengthens their courage. Most people were asking each other, wanting to know how much the other villages were prepared to pay to defeat the "Konmen". Everyone estimated that this group of people probably didn't care about money, so they were more likely to be sent on missions.
The gentry, who were riding in sedans and riding horses with many servants, naturally did not get along with the commoners like them. Although a few poor scholars did not have a sedan to sit in, they also trotted along beside the gentry's cool sedans. , speaking breathlessly to show that his identity is different from the mud-legged people beside him.
We talked all the way. Near the Wenlan River, this place is already the territory of the "Kun people". The road has become wide and flat, and you can't walk up. There is a wooden shed on the side of the road, and there is a man wearing a gray short coat and a leather belt standing inside. Soldier, standing up straight with a black gun, Fu Buer couldn't help but shudder when he saw the sharp dagger on the muzzle - he saw with his own eyes a few months ago that this kind of dagger was as effortless as cutting tofu. It stabbed into the chest of a dying regiment member from a neighboring village.
There are several tables in the shed, the kind used by the richest people here. There are several people sitting behind the tables working on things. They were all wearing similar clothes as soldiers, but without armed belts. There was a notice sign outside the shed, with some words written on it. Fu Buer couldn't read it, so he begged a boy to read it. It turns out that people who are coming to the meeting are here to check their invitation registration.
I saw four or five teenage children standing outside the shed. They were all dressed like the people in the shed, except that they had a red cloth strip tied around their necks. They looked like short-haired people with chopped heads. They were all tall and tall. All the visitors with big breasts and belly should queue up and register in order.
"I heard that this short-haired man bought countless children from the mainland and came here. They are probably these people." A man who looked like a scholar said to others.
"I just don't know what to do with these half-grown children?"
"I don't know, this generation is very scheming, and I am in great danger." The scholar said in a pretense of surprise.
Fu Buer couldn't care about all this and just followed the crowd. When it was his turn, the person behind the table looked at his invitation and took out a small piece of hard paper from the table with a thin rope tied to it. Start filling in his village name and first name.
"Is this your entourage?"
"Yes." Fu Buer said quickly, "My family's domestic boy."
The person doing the work took a look at it and wrote in the notes column on the paper, "One of the attendants, a male teenager."
"Hang it around your neck," the man in gray clothes said, "This is your voucher for attending the meeting. With this, you can go to designated places for free accommodation and meals - don't lose it. The place you are going to doesn't have this card." He will be arrested."
"Fu Er quickly hung the card around his neck and walked to the side.
I heard an argument broke out in the team next to me: "Sorry, you can only bring a maximum of 5 followers to the meeting."
"I won't eat your food. I'll bring my own dry food!" The gentleman-looking man was arguing.
"This won't work either. There aren't that many places to accommodate people."
I heard the gentleman get angry: "What are you so arrogant about! Aren't you just the poor guy from Qiancun who can't even go to school at the age of forty? You've been following the 'Kun Thief' for a few days, and then you want to rebel!"
The crowd started to commotion, and a "real man" came out from behind the shed, wearing a colorful short coat, and whispered: "Who wants to rebel?"
Everyone fell silent immediately, and several of the "fake men" who were doing things stood up straight. Someone shouted: "Reporter--"
"No need to report." Dugu's proposing eyes glanced at the gentleman in front of the table, "You want to rebel?"
Dugu proposed because he had been dealing with the locals in Dongmen City. Although he couldn't speak Lingao dialect, he could learn some local Hainan Mandarin.
The gentleman naturally understood what he said. Seeing this "true Kun" come out, he was already timid a lot, but when he asked him this question again, his courage was almost torn. Standing speechless.
Someone nearby said: "Chief, no one is rebelling, we are all good people, good people."
When Dugu proposed, he felt embarrassed when someone said that he was a good citizen, making him look like a Japanese devil. Then he waved his hand: "Continue to register!"
The gentleman was helped to the side, and some flatterers gave him water and encouraged him to stir up trouble. It took him a while to recover. Naturally, his arrogance was gone, so he obediently registered five followers.
Fu Bu'er felt quite happy when he saw this live drama. In the past, these gentry had eyes on their foreheads, and they were not as shy in front of "Kun people".
"Just take a look at the world today -" The sour scholar walking by him wanted to say something else, but was pulled back by the person next to him, "You don't want to live anymore!"
Fu Buer didn't know what this meant, so he walked over on his own.
In Bairentan, Fu Buer had spent some time as a prisoner, squatting in a thatched shed for dozens of days in a barbed wire circle outside the bandit's village. When I come here again, I don’t recognize it at all. There are houses built everywhere. The houses are all built with red bricks and red tiles. Although the style is not the same as the local ones, they look strong and beautiful. Compared with my own tribe, Uncle Fu Yousan's house seemed very simple. The streets in the market are paved with bricks and stones, and there are many shops along the streets. There were many people on the street, people coming to the market to buy things, and among them there were many real and fake kuns walking around and talking. Fu Buer saw something fresh and asked the clerk in the shop: where is this place? The clerk looked at him as if he were a fool:
"This is Dongmen City. You didn't even know it when you came here?"
It turns out that this is the famous Dongmen City! Fu Bu'er knew this place. He also sent long-term workers here to sell grain and pound rice. He knew from the mouths of the long-term workers that this place was very prosperous, with cheap salt and many good things to buy, as well as big houses that he had never seen before.
While I was looking around, someone came over and asked, "Are you a representative coming to the meeting?"
"Yes, yes, I'm from Meiyang Village." Fu Fuji quickly pulled the paper card from his chest and showed it to him.
"I'll take you to your residence." The visitor was very polite.
Immediately he was taken to the inn. The inn was newly built, an imposing two-story red brick house. There were so many corridors and stairs inside that he was confused, especially the countless doors in the corridor. He stayed in a double room with two double rooms. The bed and the room are also equipped with candlesticks, which are thoughtful and convenient. ! ~!
