When Zhao Xin received Deng Fei's telegram, he had already left Heilongjiang City and was making a short stop at the mouth of the Huma River.
Today's Huma River Estuary is no longer the size of a military station plus more than 30 wooden houses a few years ago. With the great improvement of transportation conditions, more and more Daur and Oroqen people have settled here, and even a few Mongol. Coupled with the immigrants settled here, this village, which is only 160 kilometers north of Heilongjiang City, has become a "small town" with more than 600 households and a population of more than 3,000.
Although the local mountainous areas in the west and north are rich in gold, coal and quartz sand, the civil government only arranged for small-scale coal mining, mainly for heating in the winter.
The current economy of the entire town is still based on agriculture and fishing. You must know that in Huma in another time and space, the county's cultivated land area exceeded 400,000 acres. In this time and space, a total of just over 30,000 acres were cultivated, which is far behind!
In order to better protect the gold mines in the entire outer Northeast and Siberia regions - in fact, to keep an eye on Prince Zhao's pocketbook, Zhao Xin plans to set up a special gold force next year, whose main task is to inspect and protect gold mines in various places. Mine resource points to prevent illegal mining by new immigrants in the customs.
Zhao Xin had to visit every settlement he passed along the way north this time, and Humar Town was no exception. He took A Miao and Wu Long under the secret protection of several guards. After breakfast early in the morning, he wandered around the town and chatted with whomever he caught. The purpose was to learn more about Humar. The actual living conditions of the people in the town and the views of the border residents on the ethnic policies of Beihai Town.
Because Zhao Xin had a beard and a straw hat, the local people did not recognize the tall man in front of them as the prestigious "Prince Zhao" and thought he was someone from the civil affairs department inspecting farmland and water conservancy.
In the afternoon, he met several Daur people who came together to sell grain at the Beihai Trading Company in the town, and they started chatting.
In recent years, under the guidance of technicians sent by the Civil Affairs Bureau, the Daur people first purchased high-yield rye seeds through a five-year interest-free loan provided by Beihai Trading Company, and at the same time changed their previous extensive planting methods. And because Daur people raise horses (an important symbol for distinguishing rich and poor Daur people is the number of livestock), the civil administration provided them with advanced horse-drawn agricultural tools and taught them intensive farming. Over the past two years, the agricultural production level of the Daur people has improved a lot compared to the era of Manchu rule. The grain produced by the 50 acres of land every year cannot be eaten except for the repayment of the loan, so they go to trading companies to sell grain in exchange for daily necessities.
The days are getting better and better, which makes the Daur people very grateful to the officials of Beihai Town. They saw that Zhao Xin had no official airs, so they talked more. Zhao Xin was very happy chatting, so he bought some cigarettes and wine as gifts for them.
The simple Daur people were not as humble and courteous as the Han people. They accepted the gifts generously. One of them, a man named Fu Mingtai, invited Zhao Xin and his party to his home, and Zhao Xin and others went happily.
Fu Mingtai's family was the first batch of residents after the completion of the Humaer Military Station. At first, they lived in a single-room wooden house provided by Beihai Town for free. As they became more affluent in the past few years, he moved to a sloping land at the west end of the town. A new house was built, and the original wooden tiles were given over to the new arrivals.
The yard of Fumingtai's family is surrounded by a half-person-high wicker fence. On the east side of the yard wall are several livestock sheds, which contain more than a dozen Mongolian horses, two cows and a dozen sheep; there are also open animals in the yard. I built a small vegetable plot and planted some eggplants, beans, pumpkins and green onions. In addition, I also raised a few chickens.
The main house in the courtyard is made of pine wood. As the Beihai Trading Company provided a large number of steel tools to the border residents, logging became an easy task, so wood-carved buildings were also spread throughout the Northeast. However, the houses of the Daur people have a typical Manchu style of architecture, with front porches at the back and four thick pine pillars standing in front of the doors. As their saying goes, "wolf fangs emerge from the front and beasts emerge from the rear."
Fu Mingtai's wife saw the guests and invited everyone to sit in the west room. Following Oolong's suggestion, Zhao Xin and others first said hello to Fu Mingtai's father who was sitting on the south kang as soon as they entered the room.
"Hello, old man!"
The old man, who was over sixty this year, was sitting cross-legged on the kang and smoking a pot. When he saw Zhao Xin reaching out, he knew that this was the "new etiquette" for Han officials, so he put down his pipe and raised his hand to shake it with Zhao Xin. Got it.
"The distinguished guest is here! I'm sorry, I only have one arm left."
At this time, Fu Mingtai on the side quickly explained that his mother's name was Amusu, and he had been a soldier for the Manchu Qing Dynasty since he was a boy. In the twenty-fourth year of Qianlong's reign, he followed Zhaohui in the war to pacify Huo Jizhan, and lost an arm in the "Siege of Blackwater Camp". At that time, Zhaohui thought that he fought bravely and killed many people, and wanted to take credit for him. However, Amusu felt that his life was not long at that time, so he asked for credit in exchange for returning to his hometown in the Northeast. Zhaohui agreed without much thought. After Amusu returned to the Northeast, his injuries gradually improved under the treatment of the tribal shaman. Then he married a wife and started a family with the money he had accumulated over the years.
According to the custom of the Daur people, the west room of the main room is on top, and the south kang is the first place, which is for the elderly in the family; the north kang is for the younger generations; when guests come, they have to sit on the west kang.
As soon as he sat down, the old man took a cigarette pot and asked Zhao Xin to smoke a pack. Zhao Xin also took out a cigarette and asked the old man to smoke. The problem was that the pot was too strong, and after just two puffs, Zhao Xin choked and burped, causing A Miao, who was standing beside him, to giggle.
Because Zhao Xin is a civil affairs official and a guest, his status is like that of an elder. When he was talking to Amusu, Fu Mingtai could only stand under the kang and talk to him while his wife went. He went to the kitchen to prepare a meal, and soon he brought out the home-made dried milk and milk tea, and then went to prepare the meal for the guests.
Daur people are sincere and warm to others, and they are not like those who are vain. As long as they come, they are guests. Even if the poorest people come to visit, they have to kill chickens and have a good meal, and they will never be slow to say anything. And if the guest refuses to eat, it is the greatest insult and disrespect to the host. Sure enough, after a while, several chickens screamed in the yard...
Amusu was getting older, and while chatting, he started talking about the old days when he followed Zhaohui on his expedition to the west. Fu Mingtai was a little worried at first, fearing that Ama would offend Zhao Xin by talking about the Qing army, but after a while he felt relieved when he saw that Zhao Xin listened with interest.
"It was really hard to fight against the Blackwater Camp! It lasted from October to the first month of the next year. It was freezing cold for three months, and within a few days there was not enough food to eat. If the soldiers couldn't get in, they went upstream to break the river. During the camp filling, we worked desperately to dig ditches outside the city to drain the water. When the returning soldiers fired, it was like thunder on the ground. People on both sides shot at each other, and the muskets were like splashing water, and many people died just like that. It's too awful!"
"Then what happened next? How did you get through it?" Zhao Xin was fascinated by what he heard, and unconsciously took another puff from his cigarette pipe. The spicy smell of tobacco made him roll his eyes.
"The commander-in-chief still has a way! During the day, we hid in the forest, hiding behind trees and shooting at the returning soldiers. At night, the commander-in-chief asked us to cut down the trees and take out the muskets from the trunks. .....”
The old man then told how the Qing army first killed the horses when there was no food or water. Later, in order to ensure the number of horses, they had to remove the leather from the saddles and roast them. If it hadn't been for two rooms of old grain dug out from the ground when digging a well, many thousands of people would have starved to death. At that time, everyone said it was God's help and the emperor's blessing.
"Alas! My arm was broken by a musket when I broke through. It's been almost thirty years."
After listening to the old man's words, Zhao Xin couldn't help but picture the scene of the vast sea and the flames of war in front of his eyes. You must know that the Qing army is not the Northern Navy armed to the teeth. Thousands of people went deep behind enemy lines, were surrounded by tens of thousands of enemy troops, built a city of earth, and were isolated and helpless. They could persist for nearly three months under such harsh conditions.
Regardless of their stance, Zhaohui and the Qing troops who participated in the siege of Blackwater Camp are definitely role models for soldiers. Without the bloody battles of the Qing army, there would be no 1.9 million square kilometers of Tianshan South Road, and there would be no saying of "indivisible since ancient times"!
Thinking of this, his eyes looked at Old Man Amusu with respect.
Alas, just because Zhaohui is a Manchu, if he were a Han, he would not be allowed to be blown up to the sky by someone from another time and space. I remember when Li Rusong killed and wounded more than a thousand Japanese pirates at the Bi Ti Pavilion with four thousand against twenty thousand, he was praised as a god by some people.
Just as Zhao Xin was deep in thought because of Amusu's story, he heard a loud voice shouting from outside: "Is Brother Fumingtai at home?"
"Here he is!" Fu Mingtai hurriedly came out of the house and saw that several familiar Ewenki hunters were standing outside the courtyard gate. Because several of Zhao Xin's guards were staying in the yard, the Ewenki people didn't know what was going on, so they didn't dare to come in.
At this time, Zhao Xin said a few words to Amusu, then stood up and came out. He saw three strong men wearing roe deer leather jackets standing at the door of the yard, with muskets on their backs, and a wooden frame hanging on their shoulders. wild boar.
Fu Mingtai smiled and explained to Zhao Xin that these three were his good friends. They killed a wild boar today and wanted to come over and exchange some food with him to take back. Beihai Trading Co., Ltd. collects fur products and mountain medicinal materials from border residents, but wild boars are not accepted. You must know that Beihai Town itself has opened five pig farms.
They were all guests. After Fu Mingtai finished speaking, he greeted the other party to come in. However, Zhao Xin's guard wanted to stop him, but saw Zhao Xin shaking his head slightly and stopped.
Several Ewenki people put down their prey and first went to the west room to say hello to Amusu. So many people came at once that there was no room to sit in the room, so Zhao Xin suggested going to the yard to sit and chat, since the weather wasn't cold now anyway.
Everyone worked together, first setting up a Kang table in the yard and using wood as stools. Fu Mingtai also lit a bunch of wormwood in the open space to drive away mosquitoes.
Amusu saw the wild boar and said happily: "The shaman God has given me a blessing to celebrate the New Year in advance!"
The hands and feet of the three Ewenki hunters were very quick. It only took an hour to pluck out the hair, disembowel and clean up. After Fumingtai's wife stewed the pork, they came to sit on the ground and drank milk tea.
Zhao Xin took out cigarettes from his pocket and motioned for them to help themselves. Several Ewenki people did not hesitate, each lit one and smiled at Zhao Xin. Xiao Wulong, who was acting as a translator on the side, stretched out his hand to take one, but was slapped back by Zhao Xin.
"Kids with big butts don't learn well!" At this moment, Prince Zhao had completely forgotten that when he learned to smoke, he was only fifteen years old.
"I'm not young anymore, I'll be sixteen after the New Year." Oolong lowered his head and muttered, showing a hint of dissatisfaction.
Zhao Xin slapped the back of the other person's head twice and said, "I'll talk to you after you turn 18!"
The Ewenki hunters laughed when they saw this, and Zhao Xin introduced himself, saying that he was a civil affairs clerk from Heilongjiang City, and started chatting with the three of them. Only then did he learn that the three Ewenki people were named Dawa, Nayanzhuo and Ubuli. The three of them all lived in the nearby mountains and did not settle in Humar Town. Zhao Xin couldn't help but feel a little strange, so he asked.
Dawa puffed out mist and said: "Sir, the government not only sent people to build a house for us, but also built a circle and dug a well to bring water for the animals to drink. Ordinarily we have to thank the officials. But sir, the officials This thing is used to drinking mountain spring water, and it will stick to its mouth with water drawn from the well and will not drink at all."
Zhao Xin knew that the "銴" in the other person's mouth refers to reindeer, so he asked curiously: "Is it so difficult to raise?"
"Alas! I listened to the government and went down the mountain with my more than twenty animals. Six of them died of illness in three months." After Dawa finished speaking, he raised his hand to wipe the tears from the corners of his eyes. He was really distressed!
After hearing Oolong's translation, Zhao Xin patted the other party on the shoulder sympathetically, and then asked: "How are you doing raising sika deer now?"
"This is good!" Wu Buli, who is in his forties, said: "I have raised more than ten sika deer. Last year, I made a lot of money just by cutting the antlers and selling them to Beihai Trading Co., Ltd. This year I plan to sell all the sika deer at home. Raise sika deer.”
As soon as these words came out, Dawa and Nayanzhuo showed envy on their faces. If there were not too many reindeer at home and it was too difficult to take care of, they would also like to settle down and raise sika deer. In the past two years, the sika deer antlers cut by border residents have been purchased by Beihai trading companies, and then sold to the south and island countries by the Ministry of Trade, as much as they want.
"Compendium of Materia Medica" says that deer antler produces essence and replenishes marrow, nourishes blood and yang, strengthens muscles and bones, and can cure all kinds of weakness, deafness, dark eyes, dizziness and dysentery. It has been a valuable medicinal material since ancient times.
Zhao Xin didn't understand anything about deer antlers at first, and thought they were all the same. Later, I casually said a few words while having dinner at Shen Jingdan's house, and Wu Xianning, who happened to be visiting, was taught a lesson. Only then did he realize that the importance of velvet antler is tenderness, the less bone, the better. Sika deer antler has the least bone and the best medicinal properties, followed by red deer, and reindeer the worst.
In the past, due to the Qing Dynasty's ban on the Northeast, the supply of deer antlers in the south was not large, so some drug dealers used red deer antlers from the Shaanxi-Gansu area to sell them as sika deer antlers. Wu's pharmacy was once fooled. Later, when Wu Xianning was running a clinic in Heilongjiang City, he heard that some Sauron people raised reindeer, so he had some antler cut off. Unexpectedly, when he tried it on patients, the medicinal properties were worse than that of red deer.
Zhao Xin said to Dawa and Nayanzhuo: "Did you hear that? Why do you have to raise wild animals? Wouldn't it be better to raise sika deer? Besides, each family will be given fifty acres of land to settle down the mountain. The civil administration will give you seeds, tools, and canals." Everything has been fixed for you."
Dawa just kept silent after hearing this and told him to give up dozens of animals, which he was really unwilling to do. Nayanzhuo hesitated for a moment, and finally plucked up the courage to say: "Master, let me put it bluntly, the court also allowed us to farm in Zhao'elisu back then, but we were not allowed to do it after only three years. Drive us back to the mountains to let the animals hunt."
After hearing this, Zhao Xin quickly asked. Na Yanzhuo saw that the other party was not angry, so he simply told the story.
It turned out that in the 20th year of Qianlong's reign, Hu'erqi, who was then the general manager of Hulun Bu'er, was ordered to lead the officers and soldiers of Sauron and Baerhu troops to go to Xinjiang. However, when they returned in triumph five years later, they found that the local Sauron and Baer The livelihood of the tiger people is very difficult, and many of them have been reduced to fishing and some even begging to survive.
So Huerqi petitioned Qianlong, requesting to cultivate wasteland and farm in Hulunbuer. Although the attitude of the Military Aircraft Department was ambiguous, Qianlong still agreed. After that, the Qing government allocated seeds, built canals, and returned livestock. In addition, the Qing government specially transferred "Tali Yaqin Huizi" from the northwest to teach them how to farm.
Although the Sauron people are not good at farming and their harvests are not high, they can still solve the problem of food and clothing, and they are getting stronger year by year. But who would have expected that in the third year, the imperial court suddenly issued an order to withdraw the tools and oxen issued by "Tali Yaqin Huizi" and the cultivated land that had been cultivated was not allowed to be cultivated after the harvest that year, and the farmland was returned to the farmland. Pastoral.
After hearing this, Zhao Xin roughly understood what was going on, so he smiled and said: "The Manchu and Qing court did not allow you to farm because the Manchus in the pass are no longer able to fight. They are all eating, drinking and having fun, but what about you? You are here all the year round. Living in the mountains and forests, you make a living by hunting all day long. What you encounter are either wild boars, bears or tigers, and you are as tough as ever. That’s why they don’t let you learn to farm, so that you can continue to work as soldiers for the Manchus. But we in Beihai Town It’s different, the happier we are when the common people live up to their promises.”
Dawa suddenly said: "What's the difference? Hunting is a skill passed down from our ancestors! Besides, didn't the Beihai Navy recruit hundreds of people from our tribe? My brother went there."
"Haha, brother Dawa, you are still a member of the military! Do you know that in addition to training, they also have to learn Mandarin and read and write every day?"
"What! Are you teaching them how to read? Then can my Wen Dai become a scholar in the future? My family can also produce scholars!" Dawa was illiterate, and he didn't even open the letter Wen Dai sent before leaving for Nanyang. After hearing Zhao Xin's words, his mouth opened in disbelief. The shaman of the clan once said that scholars are like stars in the sky descending to earth.
"Of course, after a few years when they retire from the army, they can go to work in factories or towns, and they will never go hungry again. You see, now there are openings in Heilongjiang City, Yaksa, and even Nerchinsk School. Even if you don’t want to live in Heilongjiang City, you can still go to Yaksa and Nerchinsk? The civil affairs department will send people to teach you how to raise sika deer and teach you how to grow rye and sugar beets. Isn’t this life better than hunting and herding wild animals? "
Along the way, Zhao Xin's biggest feeling is that he has to teach the border residents advanced agricultural technology to help them come out of the mountains; the other is to popularize education and spread Chinese culture.
Advanced productivity and strong culture are the driving forces for the integration of minority groups. Coupled with intermarriage, in less than a hundred years, most of the border residents on this land will become members of the Han nationality.
In the evening, Fumingtai's son and daughter also returned home from school in Humar Town. Zhao Xin and his party and three Ewenki people had a hearty meal of wild boar meat and stewed chicken at Fumingtai's house, but Zhao Xin thought the most delicious thing was the bowl of mixed willow sprouts. He bit the bullet and drank two glasses of white wine before he couldn't drink anymore. If A Miao hadn't stopped him and said that Zhao Xin was not in good health and couldn't drink more, he would have been carried back by the guards.
However, Zhao Xin felt that this time was enough and he would not eat anything next time. Not only did he not pluck all the pig hair from the meat, but Old Amusu came up and put both chicken heads into his bowl, saying that only distinguished guests could eat chicken heads.
Seeing Oolong devouring chicken wings, Zhao Xin really wanted a change!
