Serdan looked at the people in front of him. They were all wearing the same style of black cotton robes, thick cotton trousers, and a pair of low-waisted leather boots. The style is exactly the same as what Yalha brought back before.
The leader, a short young man, held a long knife in his hand. The scabbard was black and shiny, which was very eye-catching. The other hand held a long knife with a red scabbard, which was also bright and eye-catching. Except for these two people, several others were holding a wooden spear as tall as one person and leaning on the ground.
As for the tall man behind him, who was as strong as a black bear, he passed the father and son and walked into the camp gate.
Serdan saw the strong man gesticulating with the young man holding the black scabbard, and the young man hurriedly took out something like a book from his arms.
The strong man immediately opened the "book" and picked up a pen to write something on it.
This man is actually a scholar? When Serdan thought of this, his eyes immediately turned to respect as he looked at the other party.
When he went to Hunchun City to pay tribute to bear skins to Lord Xie Ling, he once passed by the official school. Serdan, who didn't understand at the time, asked Geshhar who was leading the way what the place was for. Nagoshha arrogantly introduced that this was a place where people were taught how to read and write, and they would become officials after they came out.
Serdan thought about this place. It seems that this tall man is the official here?
Liu Sheng first wrote two words on Sheng Haizhou's booklet, "Change salt", and then wrote "Friends of Yalha? Be careful."
The very eye-catching question mark immediately caught Sheng Haizhou's attention. Zhao Xin taught him this symbol, which means question. It seems that Mr. Liu is not sure of the other party’s identity.
Katsu Kaishu put away the book, walked lightly, walked to Huji, whispered a few words into his ear. Torogychi, who was quite relaxed at first, immediately focused his attention on the two people opposite him, ready to start at any time.
After Liu Sheng confessed to Wansheng Haizhou, he walked to Lu Shoushan and said to Lu Shoushan: "Whatever I say, you can interpret it as you want. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Mr. Liu." Lu Shoushan was very surprised, but I can't interpret what you say. Could it be that I'm talking nonsense?
"How much salt do you want to change?" Liu Sheng asked, looking at Serdan and his son.
"I don't know how you changed it here, Yalha didn't say anything. But we brought the animal skins." After listening to Lu Shoushan's words, Serdan thought for a while and then said. He asked Elu to go to the sledge and take off the animal skin.
Liu Sheng looked at the dozens of animal skins of various colors in front of him and thought to himself: How can I understand this? Then he looked at Lu Shoushan.
Lu Shoushan glanced at it, then stood up and said, "Mr. Liu, these skins are of good color. Most of them are deer skins, but there are also fine fox skins, and a few otter skins."
Liu Sheng said casually: "I heard that people in the Northeast like to wear mink. Do you have any mink?"
Lu Shoushan shook his head, then turned around and asked Serdan a few questions. Serdan began to explain. After listening to this, Liu Sheng understood what was going on.
It turns out that the Qing government set up Karens near the pass of each Gongshan mountain in the Guan area, and sent armored soldiers to guard them, and no one was allowed to enter the mountains for hunting without permission.
Even when serdans like Serdan and others go into the mountains to hunt, they must stamp the checkpoint first, otherwise it will be a crime of stealing private goods.
There has always been a tradition outside the customs of "digging ginseng in autumn and hunting sable in winter". The fur of sable is thickest in winter.
When Serdan and others go into the mountains to hunt sables, they will use the traces left by the sables on the snow to track the sables' footholds. The colder the climate, the purer the coat color and the better the coat quality. If even fine white hairs are hidden in the dark brown fur of sable, it is called "needle hidden in the ink" and is very valuable.
Every year after heavy snow falls and the river freezes, mink hunters will drive horse-drawn sledges and dog-drawn sledges, load tents, food supplies, and several hounds into the mountains and forests to catch mink until December 1. You will not be able to return until September or the following spring.
When hunting mink in winter, the entire hunting process is full of danger. This danger does not come from the mink, but from other beasts and various accidents in the mountain forest, such as tigers and wild boars, as well as hibernating bears.
Every time before and after hunting mink, a ceremony to sacrifice and thank the mink god is held. The sacrifice to the mink god is performed by "Diao Da" (the leader of the mink hunters).
When "Diao Da" sacrifices to the Diao God, he can neither wear a waist bell like a shaman, nor can he beat the sacred drum, nor can he hold a mink condom. This is mainly because the Diao God is timid and is afraid of disturbing it.
They just sprinkle wine on the ground, and then burn incense and offer it in front of the shrine of the Mink God. When raising incense, you have to look at the direction of the incense. If the incense drifts to the east, it means that there are minks in the east, and you can hunt eastward. If the smoke drifts to the south, it indicates that there are martens in the south and you can hunt south.
Both the Kurkaqi and Feyaka people have a knack for catching mink. It is said that "to catch minks, you need to catch them alive, using nets instead of arrows."
(Yang Bin, who was exiled to Ninggu Pagoda in the early Qing Dynasty, also recorded it in "Liu Bian Ji Lue". Minks generally live in burrows in pine forests, either in earth caves or tree holes. Hunters first cover the entrance of the cave with a hunting net, and then click on it. Wet firewood and pour thick smoke into the hole. When the mink can't stand the smoke, it will escape from the hole and throw itself into a trap; even more extreme is to directly smoke the mink to death, and then cut down the big tree to collect it. mink.)
After the annual "Wulin Appreciation", the Dutong Yamen of Sanxing and Ningguta will register the qualified mink skins collected previously, and send armored soldiers to escort them to the capital; at the same time, the Dutong Yamen of the two places will also report to Jilin. The general and the Heilongjiang general submitted a report detailing the quantity and coat color of the tribute.
The reason why the Qing court needed so many tribute minks was to differentiate between superior and inferior. Mink clothing represented the social status of the time. Whether it is mink jackets, mink coats, pointed mink hats, or mink caps, anything related to mink can only be worn by high-ranking officials.
After listening to this, Liu Sheng suddenly realized that it was not easy to get mink skins these days; it might as well be in the future, at least there would be breeding.
While the three of them were talking, Ping Tai ran over. When he got closer, he saw that the two people didn't know each other at all. He also saw Liu Sheng and Lu Shoushan talking to each other, so he didn't step forward, but stopped behind Sheng Haizhou and waited.
After a while, Liu Sheng turned back and asked Sheng Haizhou how he changed salt in the past.
Sheng Haizhou replied that he had not changed it, and the one he gave to Yalha last time was a gift.
Although Liu Sheng's temper is sometimes too irritable, he is still a kind person after all. After appraising the leather the other party brought, he asked Sheng Haizhou to find Li Ji and bring a large bag of salt over.
One hundred pounds!
Serdan and Erlu looked at the big bag of salt in front of them, their eyes straightened and they fell into a daze. So much, all salt?
They usually go to Hunchun City to buy salt; or they secretly go to the fishing village on the seaside to exchange salt with Hengji, although they can't exchange much each time.
In the middle and early Qing Dynasty, there were salt fields in Northeast China. In today's Yingkou, there are a total of six branches. However, they cannot eat the salt Serdan here, and they have to pay tribute to the palace every year (the annual tribute is 68,000 jins, which increased to 88,000 jins in the 50th year of Qianlong's reign).
The salt here in Hunchun is actually purchased from North Korea. Every October, Ning Guta sends people to Huitong Mansion in North Korea to buy salt, cattle, sheep, horses and even cloth. North Korea sent an official to Huitong Mansion to wait for the transaction. (It has been recorded that Huitongfu was even more dilapidated than Ninggu Pagoda.)
After the purchased salt was transported back to Ningguta, it was distributed to various Manchu families in Ningguta and Hunchun according to their household registration. After the Manchus got the salt, they sold it to foreigners at a high price, which ordinary people couldn't afford.
(Not to mention the Han people who were sent here. They boiled the mustard lumps and put them on the hot kang, waiting for the vegetable soup to ferment naturally. After fermentation, they scraped the white frost from the soup surface, and then soaked it with water and baked it many times. After preparation, it becomes a salty slurry that replaces salt.)
Serdan opened the bag and couldn't believe it when he saw that it was full of snow-white salt. The son, Erlu, dipped a little of it in his mouth and put it in his mouth.
"Amma, good refined salt! It's the same as what Uncle Yalha brought back last time!" Elu shouted to his father in surprise.
Seldan also dipped a little on his little finger and put it in his mouth, and then his face burst into laughter.
"Yariha. GUCU." Pingtai saw that the deal here was completed, so he came forward and asked Serdan with gestures.
When Serdan saw that the man opposite claimed to be Yarha's friend, he pondered for a long time before saying to Lu Shoushan: "Yarha is sick. It's frostbite. He was caught by the officers and soldiers because he was exchanging things with you, and he escaped on the way. He came out. Everyone in his family was also dead."
Lu Shoushan turned around and told Liu Sheng after hearing this. The surprised Liu Sheng didn't know how to explain to Pingtai, so he had to write the word "disease" on Sheng Haizhou's booklet first.
Suddenly, Liu Sheng said to Lu Shoushan: "You tell them not to leave yet, wait a minute, I will get something."
After saying that, he quickly ran back to the car. After getting into the car, I found the medicine box, rummaged through it, and found a box of Yunnan Baiyao capsules and a box of painkillers.
Before going out, Liu Sheng first took off the outer packaging of the two boxes of medicine, and then tore off the trademarks on the medicine bottles. Then he returned to the camp gate.
The people waiting at the gate of the camp didn't know what he was doing as he came and went, and they didn't know why for a while.
Liu Sheng first handed the Baiyao capsule to Serdan, and then asked Lu Shoushan to translate the dosage in the instructions to the other party. After Serdan said that he remembered it, he followed the same method and gave the painkillers to the other party.
Serdan doubtfully unscrewed the bottle cap as taught by Liu Sheng, and saw yellow pills inside, with a small red pill in the middle.
He took it to his nose and smelled it. There was a special, slightly refreshing medicinal fragrance floating in the nasal cavity; and the other kind, after opening it, was a white round flake. After smelling it, there was no smell at all.
Lu Shoushan told him Liu Sheng's advice again, that he must take the little red pill (safety pill) for Yalha as soon as possible after returning. That pill is life-saving.
After the transaction was completed, the father and son, who had always thought of Yalha, hurried back to the village on their sledge.
After the two returned to the village, just as they were about to tie up their horses, Hengji, who heard the sound of horses, hurried out of the house and asked Serdan to go see Yalha.
"What's wrong?" Seldan asked casually as he asked his son to tie up the horse.
"He started to have a fever after you left. His body was terribly hot, and he kept talking nonsense." Hengji said nervously.
Serdan entered the room and took a look, and sure enough. Yarha was lying on the kang and fell into a coma. He kept shouting "Kill you, kill you."
He probed the other person's forehead, and his tentacles were hot. This is troublesome!
Serdan was so anxious that he suddenly remembered the medicine in his arms. So he quickly asked Hengji to pour a bowl of hot water, while he carefully took out the medicine from his arms. The room was too dark, so he walked to the door and followed Lu Shoushan's instructions. He first took out the small red pill from the larger bottle and held it in his hand.
After Henji brought the hot water, Serdan stuffed the red pill into Yalha's mouth, and asked Henji to help feed Yalha a few mouthfuls of hot water to swallow. Then, he gave Yalha the two kinds of medicine according to the dosage Lu Shoushan said.
"What is this?" Hengji on the side asked curiously.
After Seldan helped Yalha lie down, he said: "The medicine they gave me is said to be life-saving."
"You mean those people on Bear Island?" Hengji became more curious now.
Serdan nodded and said to Henji: "Hengji, you have been so helpful. I thank you on behalf of Brother Yalha."
Hengji waved his hand indifferently and said: "Yalha is also my friend, you shouldn't say that."
Serdan thought for a while and said to Erlu who had just entered the house: "You take care of it first." Then he said to Henji: "You follow me."
The two of them left the house and walked to Serdan's sledge.
"This is the salt exchanged from Bear Island, and half of it belongs to you." Serdan pointed to the bag of salt on the sledge and said to Henji
Henji looked at Serdan in surprise, then stepped forward and picked up the salt bag.
Hengji lifted it gently, and the salt bag just shook. He then said in surprise: "So many?"
"Well, this is a hundred pounds. I exchanged it for animal skins."
When Hengji heard that it weighed a hundred kilograms, he stood up the salt bag with some suspicion, untied the rope, and opened it to take a look. The fine salt inside is like white snow, which dazzles the eyes.
Henji also dipped a little bit of it with his finger and put it into his mouth just like the Seldan father and son before him.
Hiss~~ He has never eaten such good salt in his more than thirty years of life.
"Brother Serdan, you, this is too expensive! I can just pack two bowls." Hengji understood that the half bag of salt had already exceeded the value of the leather goods he lent to the other party.
"The salt they sell there is cheap, and it's better than what's sold in Hunchun. You can just change it after you finish eating." Serdan couldn't help but take out an empty animal skin bag and put it in with his hands. It can't be filled any more.
After Hengji happily put away the salt, Serdan said to him again: "Brother Hengji, I still want to trouble you about something."
"Brother Serdan, don't worry. I will definitely do it!" Hengji said, patting his chest.
"I have to rush home and have a look. E'niang is old and there are only three women in the house. I'm really worried. I'll let Elu stay. You can help him take care of Brother Yalha for a few days. Wait for the family to settle down. Okay, I'll come back soon."
"Brother, don't worry."
"Bring me some dried fish." Serdan thought for a while and said to Henji.
After a while, Hengji took out a bag containing more than 20 dried fish. Serdan took it and put it on the sledge.
Then, Serdan called Erlu outside the house, handed the medicine in his arms to his son, and relayed the dosage.
"Amma, I have written it all down."
"You have to remember what I say next." Serdan paused, stared into his son's eyes, and said: "The people on Bear Island are generous in their business and not deceptive. It seems that they are not bad, and they are also There are swords and guns..."
"Amma, what are you talking about?" Erlu asked doubtfully.
"Remember, if I don't come back within three days, you, Henji, and Yalha will go to Bear Island to find those people and beg them to take me in."
"What?" Erlu was very surprised. He didn't understand what Ama meant.
"I estimate that officers and soldiers will come to the village in the next few days to look for people. If they find out that you, Uncle Yalha, were rescued by me..."
"Amma, I want to go back with you!" Erlu finally understood what his father meant.
"If anything happens, I will bring your Mama (grandmother in Manchu) and the others back to you." Serdan patted his son on the shoulder and said slowly: "Son, don't worry, your Mama is not old yet." Yeah. If they really dare to catch me, let them taste my arrows!"
