The larch shows an emerald green color, bringing vitality to the vast mountain forests on both sides of the Bongtong River and the Lalin River. On the thawed river, rapids roared and ice sheets collided, making an ear-splitting roar. The red-crowned cranes have flown back from where they spent the winter, and their high-pitched and loud calls echo in the sky, reminding people that the sowing season has arrived.
Nature is overflowing with the vitality of spring, but people in Lalin and Alchuka have not felt the joy of spring. Many families of "Huitun Banners" and "Faqi Banners" have fallen into trouble again just like in previous years. Stop cooking.
Since the Yongzheng era, due to the continuous expansion of the Eight Banners, the Qing government's financial burden has become increasingly heavy. Furthermore, the increase in the number of bannermen in the capital has also made "vacancies on errands" a big problem.
In later generations, people often say that bannermen will have money and food as soon as they land. In fact, this is wrong. Except for the clan, general bannermen have to pass examinations to fill vacancies, and they cannot get money or food without picking up the vacancies. Bannermen without formal jobs have brought many housing and security problems to the capital.
In addition, as the trend of Chinese Manchus in the pass becomes more and more serious, many Qiding families not only have completely different living habits from Han people, but they can't even speak Manchu. Faced with such a severe situation, Qianlong knew that in order for the Manchus to regain control of Manchu customs and Manchu language, they had to let the idle bannermen return to the northeast.
In view of this, after many years of preparations by the Qing government, in the more than 20 years from the ninth year of Qianlong's reign to the thirty-fourth year of Qianlong's reign, 3,000 households from Beijing banners came to settle in Lalin and Alchuka. These people were called He is a "Huitun Bannerman". As for the "banner people", to put it bluntly, they are the domestic slaves and account holders under the banner who have committed crimes, such as those who secretly dug ginseng, injured people to death, committed serious corruption, cheated in exams, delayed military flights, etc.
The Qing government established 24 villages in the area from Lalin to Alchuka to accommodate these people, providing care in all aspects of life. Help dig wells, build houses, reclaim farmland, and even pay for renovations, room and board, property investment, etc.
It is said that once people fall into hunger, their immunity will decrease, so during this lean period, another plague broke out in several villages near Lalin. The sick person first vomits and gets chills, and then he can only lie in bed with a fever and talk nonsense. On the eighth day, red bumps will be found on the patient's body and face. Those bumps will fester and ooze smelly, yellow mucus, attracting buzzing flies.
Frail old people and children died one after another, and screams and howls could be heard almost every night in the villages. There was only one medical clinic in Lalin City, so the leaders invited doctors from Alchuqa. As a result, several doctors themselves fell ill.
"Get up, hurry up!"
Early that morning, in a house located in Lantun, 25 miles west of Lalin City, Yongshan, who was sleeping soundly in a shabby quilt, was woken up by his brother Debao. After MiMi stared, Yongshan muttered. He is only eleven years old this year. Amma died of illness the year before last. He, his mother, and a fifteen-year-old brother are the only ones in the family.
Although the age of becoming a bannerman is at least sixteen years old, and Debao is barely old enough to fill in the gap as an errand boy, but if he leaves, only his mother and younger brother will be left in the family, and no one will even be able to farm the land. , so Debao planned to wait until Yongshan was older in two years.
While Yongshan was taking his time getting dressed, Debao had already slowly fed his mother Li Shi, who was lying on the kang, a bowl of medicinal soup, and then started making breakfast. He used the key to open a locked cabinet in the house, which contained the family's rations, more than fifty kilograms of light yellow millet noodles.
Debao carefully filled a bowl with more than half of the bowl and poured it into the boiling pot. Thinking that he had to work in the fields today, he added half a bowl more. Yongshan kept stirring it with a spoon in front of the stove. When the millet noodles were almost cooked, he threw in two handfuls of wild vegetable leaves picked yesterday.
Mother Li couldn't eat after drinking less than half a bowl. She complained of chest tightness and nausea. In fact, she wanted the brothers to eat more. After all, it was impossible to work in the fields without eating enough. After breakfast, Debao and Yongshan took their hoes and hatchets and went out together.
His family has a hectare of land eight miles south of the village - that is, one hundred acres. It was cultivated in the early years with the help of flag men dispatched from Jilin. It sounds huge, but the three orphans and widowed Debao family cannot handle it.
In fact, not only his family, but also most other families in the village were like this. Because they are not familiar with farming, each family's harvest is only sixty-seven out of ten, and many people can't even get half of it. The vast majority of people live in poverty or can only make ends meet, and they all rely on the annual allocation of grain and rewards from the authorities. Yincai could barely make ends meet.
From the moment they moved here, many people tried their best to escape back to the capital. The worst cases even went so far as to beg for food. Once the bannermen who escaped in the early days were captured, they were either beheaded or their families were sent to Urumqi or Ili to work as slaves. Moreover, officers and soldiers on duty at important checkpoints along the way will also be implicated.
Since the 51st year of Qianlong's reign, due to the rise of Beihai Town, the border guarding tasks of the bannermen have become more and more arduous. In addition, Qianlong also intensified the punishment, requiring whether they were "returning bannermen" or "dispatching bannermen", Anyone who escapes will be beheaded on the spot after being caught, and his wife and children will be made into slaves wearing armor. But even so, the flag men who escaped back could not be stopped.
The two brothers left Zhuangzi and walked around for half an hour before arriving at the field. On the road, Yongshan saw a hare running by. He chased it with gleaming eyes for a long time, throwing stones and "hungry tigers pounce on food". Not only did he not catch it, but he also consumed a lot of energy.
In these years, before sowing in spring, the wasteland must be burned first to warm the ground. In addition, the plant ash can also be regarded as fertilizer. However, you cannot directly burn the land during spring plowing. You have to clear a fire break zone around your land. Because there are boundary trees between each property, it is not feasible to burn the trees. In addition, some hay and branches must be obtained, otherwise the fire will not start.
How could the Debao family know this when they first came from the capital! Like many bannermen families, his mother looked at the hectare of land allocated to her family as a "tiger eating a hedgehog" - she had no idea what to do. Only a year later, the cattle assigned to his family also died of illness, and he could no longer afford to buy them.
Debao asked his younger brother to pick up branches at the edge of the forest, while he wielded a hoe to clear the firebreak. He worked for a while and rested for a while, and soon he was tired and sweating profusely. After two sticks of incense, Yongshan suddenly ran back from the forest with empty hands, gasping for breath and looking frightened.
"Brother, there is a monster in the woods!"
"Monster? Where is it?"
Debao didn't believe what his brother said. Where did the monster come from in the clear sky and white sun? He casually said: "Where is the firewood I asked you to collect?"
"Lost."
Debao was a little angry. He picked up the hoe, asked his brother to follow him, and walked through the forest. When he arrived at the place where the branch fell, Debao grabbed the hoe and looked into the forest for a while. The surroundings were quiet, except for the sound of the wind. Then he bravely shouted loudly: "Who?"
As soon as he finished speaking, there were a few "swish" sounds, and several figures suddenly appeared from behind the tree.
"Ah~~~" Debao was frightened and shouted, and his younger brother Yongshan behind him also shouted. However, the brothers were too hungry and frightened to have any strength. Their legs felt weak and it was difficult to move.
At first, Debao thought he had really encountered a monster, but as the other party walked towards him, he soon realized that those guys were human beings; different from himself, but also with two hands, two feet, two eyes and one nose. .
These people were all wearing colorful coats and helmets of the same color, which made people dizzy. They had bulging bags on their chests and waists, many things hanging on them, and a strange object on their shoulders. The most special thing is that these people's faces are painted black and green, with white eyes exposed, making them look very penetrating. Debao felt that if he bumped into it at night, it would scare people to death.
"Young man, what are you doing here?"
Hearing the other party's question to him in Manchu, Debao took a deep breath and stammered: "Open, open up wasteland and cultivate the land."
"How far is it from Lalin City?"
"No, it's not that far. Just walk more than 30 miles east and you'll be there."
The person who asked the first question grinned, stepped forward and pulled Debao up from where he was lying on the ground, patted the dirt behind his butt, and asked again: "What is your name?"
"Debao, the one with the blue flag. This is my brother." As soon as Debao finished speaking, there was a "gurgling" sound in his stomach. He blushed and felt a little embarrassed.
"My name is Bamagon. I come from Bertune. I used to wear a red flag. Here, here are biscuits, oh, they are also pastries."
While the man was talking, he took out several rectangular objects half the size of a palm from the backpack behind the person next to him. Then, under the surprised eyes of the two brothers, he tore off two pieces of paper wrapped in them and handed them over.
The aroma of the food made Debao ignore the content of Baman Gong's words, and his and Yongshan's mouths began to secrete saliva continuously. Baman Gong handed two pieces of compressed biscuits to their hands without any explanation, and said with a smile: "Eat it. This one can last a meal."
What? Debao and Yongshan took a small bite curiously, and their mouths and noses were soon filled with an inexplicable aroma, and there was also a sweet taste. Debao was very surprised, and he immediately took a big bite, just like Zhu Bajie eating ginseng fruit, and it was in his stomach in the blink of an eye. Looking at Yong Shan, his thin face was bulging out, like a squirrel.
"Brother, I want more."
"Yongshan, it's not that I don't want to eat for you. You are a sensible child. Take the rest back to Eni."
"But I'm not full."
"You" Debao felt a little embarrassed and wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl in.
Baman Gong smiled and purred twice on the little guy's head, and said: "Little guy, don't underestimate this pastry. Drink some water and it will make you sick. If you eat another piece, your belly will burst. It’s better to take it back and cook it.”
"Ah? Okay." Yongshan smacked his fingers and nodded helplessly.
"Young man, we still have things to do. Let's meet again when we have the chance. Remember, don't tell anyone you've seen us!"
"Oh." The two silly boys nodded ignorantly.
When the figures of Baman Gong and others disappeared, Debao felt that he seemed to have strength, so he asked his younger brother to gather the branches on the ground, and he went back to work in the fields. When Yongshan was picking up branches, he saw the cookie wrapper that had been thrown away before. He picked it up without thinking and then put it in his arms.
The brothers stayed busy until the afternoon and picked some wild vegetables on the way home. As soon as he entered the door, Yongshan greeted his mother who was lying on the kang, and said excitedly: "Well, we met a good person today. He treated us to some cakes and gave us several extra pieces!"
Although Mrs. Li had a fever and no energy at all, she still stroked her youngest son's head lovingly a few times. The two brothers had been away from home all day, and the kang was getting cold, so they were busy lighting a fire, and then cooking and making medicine.
While Debao was cooking, thinking about Bamangon's words, he took a piece of compressed biscuit, put it into the pot, and started cooking it. Unexpectedly, this stuff couldn't be melted after boiling for a long time, so Yongshan kept stirring it with a wooden spoon.
At this moment, someone banging on the door was heard outside, and a familiar voice called Debao's name. Yongshan went out and saw that the person who came was a man named Shuangcheng. This man and their father used to work in the same department and had a good relationship. He had taken care of their family in the past two years.
As soon as Shuangcheng entered the house, he said: "You two pack your things immediately. The deputy governor has sent word to the Yamen, asking all the residents of our former Lantun to go to Lalin City."
"What happened?"
"The Northern Pirates are coming, and they are attacking Bodune. The superiors have asked all the residents in the surrounding villages to go to Lalin City to help defend themselves, and they will send people here early tomorrow morning. I will come here in advance to take you into the city, and find a place to stay first. There is no place, otherwise there will be too many people tomorrow and there will be no space at all.”
Hearing this, Debao looked embarrassed and said: "Uncle Shuangcheng, Eni is so ill that it's hard to walk. We don't even have a horse at home, how can we get there?"
"The Vice-President has given an order. If you don't leave tonight, don't you have to leave tomorrow?! How about this? You guys pack up your things at home and take whatever you can with you. I'll let you ride my horse and give me the quilt. She put it on."
While Shuangcheng was talking, the piece of compressed biscuit cooking in the pot began to dissolve and emitted bursts of aroma. He asked in surprise: "What is cooking in the pot?"
After that, he opened the lid of the pot. As the water vapor rose, the aroma mixed with sesame seeds, soybean flour, wheat, milk, beef and other flavors hit his face, making Shuangcheng's throat unable to help but make a "gurgling" sound.
Since Shuangcheng was not an outsider, Debao explained: "When I was burning the wasteland during the day, I met a few officials from Bertune who said it was decorated with red flags. They gave it to me."
Bertune? Raise a red flag? Shuangcheng asked with a surprised look on his face: "What do those people look like?"
After listening to Debao's narration, Shuangcheng's expression became even weirder. He tilted his head and swept around the two brothers' faces, which made Debao feel a little uncomfortable.
"Do you still have the pastry? Take it out and let me see."
Debao then went to the back room and took out the remaining two pieces from the food cabinet. Shuangcheng took it and looked at it over and over in the light of the stove, and suddenly took a breath of air. On one side of the compressed biscuit wrapper, there are a few small blue characters printed on it - "Beijing Navy Logistics Department System"!
God! I'm really afraid of what I'm going to do. Shuangcheng suddenly realized that those people the brothers met were obviously pirates from the North!
He couldn't help but tore open the packaging of the two biscuits and threw them into the pot, and then threw the wrapping paper into the fire. He felt at ease until they were reduced to ashes.
"You two, remember, what happened during the day must be kept in your stomach, and you can't mention it to anyone. If anyone knows about it, they will lose their heads!"
Debao and Yongshan were both startled and asked in astonishment: "Why?"
"Do you know who those people you met are? They are pirates from the North! Maybe they are sentinels!"
"Ah?!" Debao and Yongshan's eyes widened, and their faces instantly turned pale.
