Most of these slaves were people who had been plundered from the pass in the past few years. After arriving in Liaodong, they were assigned to work on the village. Their wives and children were separated. They did heavy work, ate pig and dog food, and lived in shacks on the ground with village heads above them. The housekeepers oppressed her at all levels and subjected her to all kinds of bullying and abuse, making her a hell on earth. 【Read full text】
After being transferred to this "Master from Tai'ao", they were already numb - they had long since become people who had left their hometowns and separated from their wives and children. It made no difference whether they were slaves in Liaodong or in "Tai'ao" somewhere. Some were even somewhat happy: being a coater was better than working hard on a farm.
Now seeing that the master actually cared for them so much, personally arranged accommodation for them, and asked people to spare clothes for them to wear, and asked them about their welfare, their long-tortured and numb souls began to revive. Not only the maids and maids had long been in the eyes of With tears in their eyes, even a few men couldn't help wiping their eyes - only because they were afraid that their master would think it was unlucky, they held back their tears.
After the clothes were distributed, several more soldiers came over carrying bundles of blankets.
"Sir...sir..." said the corporal at the head, "This is the blanket that everyone gathered together. There are no extra blankets. We thought that we have a fire pit in the house. One is enough for two people. We gathered ten blankets for the new brothers. Yes, this big room is cold and there is no fire-"
Before he finished speaking, someone couldn't help crying anymore. This cry didn't matter, it immediately touched all kinds of pain in my heart, and finally gathered into a cry.
Huang Hua was shocked and wondered what kind of evil these new slaves were. Lan Bian quickly stood up and said loudly: "Why cry when it's so good! Don't bring bad luck to the master's family! Stop crying!"
He shouted. The crying subsided. Lan Bian quickly turned around and gave Huang Hua another thousand dollars: "Master, this is everyone's gratitude. I have a kind heart... I wish my descendants to be prosperous and princes to last forever..." He choked up as he spoke. .
Only then did Huang Hua realize that he was distributing clothes for himself. This seemed to him the most normal thing. He didn't expect them to be so grateful. You can imagine how deeply they have suffered over the years.
Then he comforted everyone with a few words of warmth and ordered them to change clothes first. He also asked people to cook meals based on their heads. Give everyone a "good meal".
Having said that, there is a shortage of fine grains such as rice and flour in Houjin. That is to say, "guests" like Huang Hua can provide rice on a daily basis, and the soldiers accompanying them can only eat white sorghum rice. As for these slaves sent. Although it was promised that it would be "supplied by the Ministry of Rites," the actual rations delivered were only one pound of sorghum rice per person per day. Vegetables and salt are not provided. This amount is not enough for a strong man to be full, let alone eat well.
Huang Hua found Bi Tie Shi, the Ministry of Rites who was stationed in the temple and was responsible for looking after the merchant group. Taking out money and asking him to buy some wine, meat and food - this is not an easy task in Shengjing where everything is scarce and everything is expensive. I went out for a run, and finally managed to get the two-chambered sheep as well as firewood, grain, seasonings, etc.
Two sheep were obviously not enough for more than 40 people, so Huang Hua decided to make dumplings stuffed with mutton. Everyone started to remove all the mutton and chop it into fillings. There is naturally too little mutton. Fortunately, there are enough cabbage and radish. But white flour was nowhere to be found, so I had to use sorghum rice bread boxes - sorghum rice noodles were not sticky enough, so they could only be made into large boxes and steamed in a basket.
Huang Hua also asked the soldiers to take out the compressed instant soup they brought with them and cook a large pot of soup for the new slaves to eat - add more salt, Houjin was short of salt, and the upper class were stingy with salt for cooking, and the lower class slaves could They eat very little salt, and these people have symptoms of long-term lack of salt intake.
This meal was not surprising to the soldiers - they were even a little bit unaccustomed to sorghum rice. In Lingao, rice is always available. But for the new slaves, this was the first time they had eaten decent food in many years. most of them. Not to mention the years he was taken as a slave, even in the customs he lived a life of half hunger and half full. Eating a fine meal is a luxury, let alone eating meat. Many people eat while crying.
Huang Hua sat at the front seat, drank a few glasses of rice wine provided by the Ministry of Etiquette, and ate something: he barely ate one of the sorghum noodle boxes filled with mutton and cabbage before he was full - he really had no appetite. But seeing the grateful expressions of the slaves, he somewhat couldn't understand.
From Huang Hua's point of view, it is normal for a general boss to give out a few pieces of clothing to keep out the cold to a poor man and have everyone have a meal together. He did not expect that his actions would have such a big effect. It seems that in this time and space, it is an era of bad things. Whoever does a little better will be able to "return to the heart of the world."
After dinner, Lan Bian came to say hello again and asked if he wanted to "pass the girls to the room to serve", and said very attentively that he had already called the four girls outside and was just waiting for the master to speak. It took Huang Hua thirty seconds to realize that he was talking about the four maids.
He didn't pay much attention to these four maids today. He only remembered them when Lan Bian mentioned them. Houjin sent four maids to him. It was obvious that he was deliberately trying to win over him, but he had to be wary of the other party's attempt to give him a pillow to act as a spy. Hong Chengchou was so loyal to the Manchus that Dorgon forced a Manchu woman to be his concubine and serve as a supervisor in bed.
"Where did these four girls come from?"
"I don't know, this servant is not from Zhuangzi." Lan Bian bowed his head and said, "I heard that they are all from Amin Beile's house. Beile was recently convicted, and these women were not included in the official ranks..."
"Master is not interested today."
"Master Qi: There is one who is from North Korea, she is only fifteen, and she is from a Yangban family..." Lan Bian narrowed his eyes and smiled, "I heard that North Korean women are different, do you want to ask her to come in and serve her?"
Huang Hua chuckled: "You are really good at figuring out what is going on. I think you are also a famous figure in Zhuangzi."
Lan Bian's face changed slightly, and he smiled again: "I don't dare, I am still a small leader in Zhuangzi..."
"This is not right." Huang Hua took the face towel sent by the orderly as if nothing had happened, "Your ability to serve others was not developed by being a long-term worker in Zhuangzi - now that you are under my sect, you are not telling the truth. Tell the truth: Which Baylor family did you originally serve as a servant?"
Lan Bian was a little panicked at first, but now he calmed down: "The master has traveled thousands of miles away! I was originally an errand in the Mangbeile Mansion. This time I came specially to serve the master."
"So you are familiar with Shengjing?"
"After staying there for many years, I am familiar with the road."
"I want to open a store here. Where would you say it should be?"
"Well," Lan Bian hesitated, "Master, it's not my servant's turn to speak on this matter. Besides, the imperial court is not sure about land rewards..."
Huang Hua stopped asking and changed the subject: "Would you like to go to Tai O with me?"
"Since the slave belongs to the master, he will go wherever the master goes. No problem."
"Haha, don't you want your wife and children?"
Lan Bian smiled and said: "The slave is alone, so he has a wife and children. Otherwise, why would he be sent as a servant to the master?" Although he said this, Huang Hua was keenly aware of the expressions and body language training he had received in the intelligence bureau training class. realized he was lying.
Obviously there is something wrong with the blue border. Otherwise, there is no need for him to hide the fact that he has a wife and children - the normal reaction would be to beg his new master to help him reunite his family.
When we get to Jeju Island, we will examine them carefully. Huang Hua made up his mind, yawned and said: "There is no need to ask them to wait. Let everyone rest early. We have to rush tomorrow."
No matter how good the maid is, he can't mess with her - firstly, she has not been purified, and secondly, this is considered "infringement of state-owned property" and it is easy for others to scratch her hair.
Early the next morning, Huang Hua expressed his farewell through the Ministry of Rites. Soon an edict came down and many gifts were given. Huang Hua was given ten East Pearls individually. They were all fine pearls. Not only were each the size of a gourd, but they were all walking beads, very valuable. But for Huang Hua, who is used to seeing cultured pearls, it was not a big shock. After completing all matters, the business group left Shengjing and returned to Zhenjiang Fort. When I went there, it was still very impressive. Not only was there still a cavalry escort, but there were also ten carts of gifts. They are all local specialties such as ginseng, fur, mountain delicacies, etc., and slaves and horses accompany them, making the momentum even stronger.
The journey back to Zhenjiang Fort went smoothly. The Manchu and Mongolian guards at Zhenjiang Fort looked forward to their return with ecstasy - almost crying. They received orders to Zhenjiang Fort to try their best to supply the Haitian. Xue Weini and others on the ship were of course not polite and issued a list of various items they requested: except for grains such as sorghum and rice, which they were really not interested in, Zhenjiang Fort would supply everything from firewood, vegetables, meat, etc.
The Haitian has now consumed half of the winter vegetables stored in Zhenjiang Fort, and even more of the frozen mutton and pigs. The defenders had to hunt to provide meat. The defenders were in such an embarrassment that they did not dare not to provide supplies: on the one hand, the imperial court had the will, and on the other hand, the cannons on the Haitian had already taught them a sufficient lesson. If there was a conflict, it would be easy for these people to directly destroy the fortress. To the Great Khan If you pursue it, you will have to lose your head.
Not only that, Haitian also built a camp on Duozhi Island in a grand manner, built a stove to boil water, built a bathroom, and took a sauna on the island every day. The whole ship was also cleaned, clothes and bedding were washed and hung, and the cleaning and sanitation work was carried out in full swing. The defenders of Zhenjiang Fort were inexplicably astonished every day when they saw the naked Tai'ao people rushing out of the white-smelling stone houses and jumping directly into the river to swim, as well as the underwear and sheets hanging out to dry everywhere on the island. (To be continued...)
