In Beihai Town, in the power plant dormitory at the foot of the mountain on the east bank of the Xila River, two members of the Chuanchuan group, who were more than ten years apart in age, were drinking and chatting. Snowflakes are flying outside the house and covering the hills in the distance. If you don't go out and sit in front of the window to drink tea and watch the snow scene, it can be regarded as one of the great pleasures of winter.
On the stove in the corner of the room, the kettle was squeaking. There were two steamed buns baking on the edge of the stove, emitting a burnt aroma.
“I really don’t understand why you always like to use a coal stove to boil water when you don’t have an electric kettle?”
The speaker was a young man in his early thirties. He had a pair of eyebrows like lying silkworms, single eyelids, a high nose bridge, a Chinese character face, and spoke with a northern accent.
"Hey, don't you understand? This is called nostalgia. When you reach my age, you will often think of your childhood." Sitting opposite the young man was a middle-aged man in his forties, wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. , looks very leadership-like. But this time because he was drinking and the room was hot, he took off his coat and was only wearing underwear and a blue sweater.
Between the two of them was a small table, with a bottle of white wine, peanuts, pig head meat, and a bowl of crispy pheasant stewed roe deer meat.
After hearing what the middle-aged man said, the young man curled his lips, showing a disapproving look. However, what he didn't notice was that the middle-aged man raised his eyes and glanced at him, then quickly looked away.
"Have you heard? That guy left again and took the Thunderbolt away."
"Well, I went to Lao Yu's place the day before yesterday and heard what he said. He said he was going to buy soybeans, but I don't think so."
"Oh? What do you say?"
"I heard from people over at Whale Harbor that he took away a regiment and a guard camp." After that, the middle-aged man got up and walked to the stove, flipped the buns, then sat back in his chair and raised a glass to the young man. Someone touched one.
"Have you thought clearly? Where are you going?" The middle-aged man picked up a few peanuts and chewed them leisurely.
"Three surnames."
"Yeah." The middle-aged man thought for a while, nodded and said, "I'll go do some work with Fatty Chen and Lao Yu. By the way, how was your chat with Xiaobai?"
"That kid only goes to work and sleeps. When he comes back, he only eats and plays games. I hinted to him twice, but he didn't respond. Hey, I'm so anxious."
The middle-aged man took a sip of wine and sighed: "You can't rush this matter, you have to take your time."
The young man had drunk almost two taels of liquor, and his face had begun to turn red under the heat of the room. He looked at the middle-aged man and said, "Still too late? If it's too late, he will become the emperor!"
The middle-aged man's mouth moved slightly, he raised his glass and touched the other person again, raised his hand and put it on the other person's shoulder, and whispered word by word: "I have told you this, and I will say it to you for the last time today. Remember it. ! There are eight skills that mortal ministers can achieve: sharing the same bed, being by the side, father and brother, raising disaster, people's cuteness, popularity, power and strength, and four directions. The most important ones here are people's cuteness, power and strength, and four directions. No benefit is not enough. It touches people's hearts, but it cannot become popular without power, and there is no obedience from all directions!"
The young man smiled and said: "It's your Han Feizi theory again, I understand. But..."
"In the army, we must have talented people, and we can't rely on others alone. We have to control the barrel of the gun ourselves." The middle-aged man interrupted in a low voice: "The end of the year is coming, remember, we must find a way to get more bullets back. . Now the ammunition is controlled by that bitch of his, and no one can get it out without his order. Xiaobai, you continue to do his job. The united front means that you have to kill more friends and less enemies. .”
"I understand, but if his parents leave, we will lose a card."
"His wife hasn't given birth yet. I guess the old couple won't be able to leave for a while." After that, the middle-aged man showed a cold look in his eyes and said to the young man: "Humph, just wait and see, I will have to break up when I go back this time." They want to return home!"
The middle-aged man actually missed a word in the passage he quoted before. Perhaps it was because the word didn't sound good, so he ignored it.
That sentence is published in "Han Feizi" and is called "Eight Traitors".
...
"Hurry up, hurry up! Follow us!"
"Master, where are we going?"
"Shut up! We'll find out when we get there."
On November 30, 1789, which was the eighteenth day of October in the fifty-fourth year of Qianlong's reign, early in the morning, more than 500 victims from all over Hebei were roped off on the post road from Tianjin City to Dagukou. With their arms tied, they were grouped into groups of ten and hurried along like a swarm. The dense crowd was like a wriggling worm, extending for more than a mile.
The people responsible for escorting these people were the Green Camp troops transferred from Gu'an to support Tianjin's city defense. Although doing this kind of job in the cold weather is hard work, for them, not having to go to the battlefield is better than anything else.
Following the imperial envoy's order, the government system from the Tianjin Dao Yamen to the surrounding county Yamen was operating at full speed. With the cooperation of the Green Camp people, it took only two days to collect thousands of people from inside and outside the city.
Fortunately for the people in the government, the Beihai pirates anchored outside the entrance of Dagu were not "picky eaters" and wanted all men, women, old and young. If we really only need young and strong people, we can't get these people together no matter what.
So, inside and outside the city, whether they were those who built shacks or begged along the streets, as long as they were wearing rags, had no proof of insurance, and no road guide, they were all arrested, regardless of whether they were men, women, old or young, regardless of whether they were monks or not. These people were brought to gather outside the east gate of Tianjin City. As long as 500 people were gathered, they would be bundled into a group by Gu'an soldiers and escorted to Dagokou.
At the rear of the team, the scarred Zhang Bingwen was leaning on a willow branch as a crutch; a few willow branches were clamped on the broken bone of his left arm to serve as a splint, and he hung it around his neck with a grass rope. Beside him was his eight-year-old son, who was limping forward, and behind him was his wife, who was dragging her daughter with her huge belly.
In the end, Zhang Bingwen failed to get a share of Baoju's money. During the beating that day, after Zhang Bingwen broke an arm and a leg, he finally couldn't bear the pain and screamed twice, so all the previous efforts were in vain.
As soon as he called out, the onlookers immediately started to boo and then dispersed; and those who beat him also stopped after the thug leader Liu Ye stopped him. Not only did he get a beating in vain, but he had to pay for the medicine himself.
Fortunately, there was a businessman in the crowd watching the excitement. Seeing that Zhang Bingwen's family was pitiful, he gave his wife a bunch of money to treat her injuries. Zhang Bingwen couldn't bear to go to the drug store. The whole family was still hungry. So I found a wandering doctor on the side of the road and spent 20 cents on some trauma medicine, so I could make do with just one pack.
"I said to you, Sir, can we take a break? This is still more than thirty miles away from Taku." In the team, the gangster Jin San said to the escorting soldiers with a smile on his face. He bowed.
"Walk another five miles and rest. Hurry up!"
"Okay! Thank you."
Because the number of victims was not enough, the government issued an order to Lijia inside and outside the city to use gangsters to make up the number. So Mr. Jin San and his gang were called together by Mr. Liu to draw the "lots of life and death". As a result, he won the "jackpot", and he was the first one.
Although Jin San felt quite unlucky, he was not going to kill someone else's head. However, as a landlubber, Jin San was still a little afraid of going out to sea by boat; and thinking that he might never come back to Tianjin in the future, he was full of worries about the future.
The group of people walked forward for almost five miles when they suddenly saw smoke and dust billowing on the road to the east, as if a large group of people were coming. At this time, the manager who was leading the team from the front rushed to the back and shouted: "Get out of the way! Get out of the way quickly!"
When the crowd of refugees and the escorting soldiers all exited the official road and entered the fields beside the road, when they were wondering what happened, they saw several sturdy armored soldiers riding on horses, flying with bright yellow pennants rimmed with red flames. And passed.
Not long after, the big gong to clear the way sounded, and another large group of horseback soldiers with various honor guards came over, in an extremely strict formation.
At this moment, I heard the commander-in-chief's soldiers say: "Let all of them kneel down! Quick! This is the Imperial Envoy!"
As the soldiers scolded them, all five hundred men, women, and children knelt on the cold ground, each one shivering and not daring to breathe.
In this long guard of various colors, the leader is a golden flying tiger flag, followed by a large sedan with a red cover, red eaves and red curtains carrying the royal flag, surrounded by hundreds of people carrying muskets on their shoulders. The cavalrymen all wore various colorful tassels on their crotch horses, which were very gorgeous.
Next came a large group holding avoidance signs, silence signs, dozens of tiger head signs, yellow umbrellas, golden fans, soldier fists, wild goose feathers, knives, beasts, swords, yellow sticks, tong sticks, spears, spears and various flags. The men and horses dazzled the refugees and the Green Camp soldiers.
After the large group of people in front had almost passed by, three silver-curtained soap covers appeared in the procession one after another; behind each set of soap covers was a large green cloth sedan surrounded by several mounted guards. Behind the imperial envoy's carriage were seven or eight blue baize carriages that were covered tightly from the outside.
Needless to say, sitting in the first sedan chair is He Shen, followed by Liu Yong and Fu Changan in the next two chairs. As for those carriages, they were gifts from Macartney to Qianlong.
The men and horses of the brigade were moving very fast. After the delayed cavalry passed by, the green battalion commander asked everyone to get up and continue on their way.
Zhang Bingwen walked slower and slower because of his injury, so the escorting soldiers asked Jin San, who was jumping around, and another gangster to carry him on his way. Jin San was so exhausted that he almost died. He cursed and scolded Zhang Bingwen along the way. He didn't shut up until he reached the mouth of Dagu and saw the big ship in the distance.
Three days ago, under the threat of the Northern Navy's powerful ships and cannons, Qianlong, who was on his sick bed, had no choice but to agree to the Northern Navy's conditions, which included 80,000 shi of soybeans and 500,000 refugees within six months.
After the edict was issued, King Jiaqing went to the Ancestral Temple to apologize for Qianlong. Shame! The great Qing Dynasty was actually threatened by a group of rebels. Not to mention that the land of our ancestors cannot be saved, now people are even breaking in at the door of our house.
Only then did Qianlong and his son realize that the Qing Dynasty's thousands of miles of coastal defense was like a piece of window paper in front of Beihai Town, which could be torn apart at any time. And the most embarrassing thing is that the British people saw the whole incident.
Fortunately, Beihai Town proposed a two-year truce, allowing Qianlong and his son to feel that they could take a breather so that they could reorganize their army and fight again to the death. At the moment, He Shen, Fu Chang'an, and Liu Yong had just returned from Chaoyin Temple after signing the agreement. They were all holding back their anger, and no one paid any attention to the group of people kneeling on the roadside in the cold weather.
In the car, Liu Quan, who was standing by, took out his pocket watch, looked at it, and reminded: "Sir, it's time to take medicine."
After that, he took out a white bottle from his body and carefully poured out a yellow and green pill from it. He Shen took the medicine, hesitated for a moment, then raised his neck and put it into his mouth, then took the water glass and took a sip.
This was the medicine he asked Liu Quan to ask for from the Thunderbolt. The name of the drug is very difficult to pronounce. It is called "Minocycline Hydrochloride".
At that time, when Liu Quan followed Qiao Renjie on board the ship, he thought it was made by mixing salt, vinegar and rice. He thought to himself, how could this be called medicine? It's not as good as those "Dali Pills" that Tianqiao sells in a trick-or-treating way.
As soon as Zhao Xin saw Liu Quan's expression, he knew that Liu Quan had gone astray, so he scolded him with explanations and lessons. Liu Quan dared to act wild in front of others, relying on He Shen to be domineering, but Zhao Xin was as honest as a rabbit in front of him.
Zhao Xin said it very straightforwardly, if I want to kill your He Zhongtang Yiru, I can just log in and catch him and kill him with one shot. There is no need to engage in those conspiracies. He knows what dirty things your master has done to Beihai Town, but he can't do it again. If he finds some quacks to make trouble in Beihai Town again, I will go directly to Shichahai Mansion to settle the account with him.
Liu Quan was frightened after what he said. Finally, he took the white medicine bottle and two rectangular gift boxes that Zhao Xin gave him and returned to the shore in a daze.
When the master and servant met in the evening, they opened the gift box and were surprised to find that it contained ginseng as thick as a radish, with thick and long beards. Twenty in total.
There is also a letter in the box, written by Zhao Xin himself to He Shen. The content of the letter only said two or three things:
First, if he continues to do things that are not on the table, Zhao Xin will go to Beijing to find He Shen to settle the accounts.
Second, the share of ginseng will be a total of 10,000 kilograms in the next two years. The reason why there are so few is because your court has been pursuing "only digging but not planting" ginseng, which has led to a sharp decline in the production of special and first-class ginseng in various places. As for the twenty ginseng roots in the box, they were grown (bought) in Beihai Town. Adults may wish to try the effect.
Third, since Flower Bird Island has been abandoned for more than a year, starting next year, if you want to buy goods again, the location will be changed to the south of Jeju Island.
He Shen was noncommittal after reading the letter, and then burned the letter to ashes. He knew that Zhao Xin's threat was true, but he didn't know what methods the other party would use.
As for the medicine bottle, unscrew the lid and you will find cylindrical pills inside, yellow and green in color, fifty pills in total. He Shen observed carefully through the light and found that the shell was actually transparent and could be pulled off. Inside were yellow-brown particles, the same size.
Can this cure "bayberry sore"?
Facing He Shen's question, Liu Quan nodded in affirmation and said that Qiao Renjie and the British who went together gave him this kind of medicine. The doctor on the ship and Zhao Xin both said that you should take two pills of this medicine at the first time, and then take one pill every six hours for half a month.
It should be noted that in addition to "bayberry sore", this medicine can also treat other acne, dysentery, typhoid fever, febrile syndrome, etc., but it must not be given to pregnant women; if children take it, their teeth will turn yellow.
He Shen's eyes widened after hearing this, thinking that it can cure so many diseases, wouldn't it become a miracle medicine?
Even so, He Shen still didn't dare to eat it directly. He first asked Liu Quan to find a dog to try, and found that nothing happened. Then he asked Liu Quan to try it on a subordinate who was having a stomachache, and after a long time, he really felt better.
He Shen had already believed most of it. Thinking of Zhao Xin's words threatening Liu Quan and his itchy and painful affected area, he gritted his teeth and took two pills. Unexpectedly, when I woke up the next day, I felt much better, so I felt relieved and followed Zhao Xin's instructions, taking one pill every six hours. It has been two days now, and the symptoms that have tortured Heshen for many years have been relieved a lot, which makes him feel relieved.
Although Beihai Town and the imperial court are life-and-death enemies, there are still a lot of good things! Thinking that his unspeakable secret had been lifted, He Shen's originally depressed mood due to the outcome of the negotiation finally improved, and he was able to sleep soundly on the way back to the capital.
Because the grant period in Beihai Town was only half a year, Qianlong's edict had already been sent to Sichuan and Huguang before the group returned to the capital.
In this winter, groups of trackers gathered outside Chongqing were escorted by the government to board the fleet out of Sichuan; the refugees from various places who were hiding in the old forests of Nanba and Nanshan were lured out of the mountains by various means by the government. Head east along the Yangtze River or overland, and then embark on the road to Beihai Town.
So far, in the fifty-fourth year of Qianlong's reign, during this operation to buy soybeans for grinding tofu, Beihai Town finally came to Dagokou, shocking the Qing court, and thus realized a large-scale transfer of refugee trackers from Sichuan in a short period of time. plan.
And these people also laid a solid foundation for Beihai Town to move eastward across the sea two years later.
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