"Ah Sheng, Ah Sheng!" When the familiar local accent reached Chen Asheng's ears, he had an illusion as if he was back on the Guangzhou dock again. At that time, Brother Yonglin, who had been separated from him, shouted to him to meet on the "Rangoon".
Unfortunately, even though Chen Yonglin had repeatedly told Chen Asheng to go to the east side of the pier, Asheng, a silly boy, still got on the wrong boat. After he was dizzy and was scattered by the crowd, he ran to the west side of the Guangzhou pier, where there was a ship called "Ocean". "鏏Hao" is pronounced similarly to "Yangon", but it goes to Annan.
Chen Asheng, who was illiterate, confirmed with others several times and was completely convinced that this was the "Rangoon", so he waited for Chen Yonglin on the wrong ship, and was finally pulled to Annan. ——Although he didn’t find Chen Yonglin on the boat at that time, he thought he was on the right boat, so he could only wait for Brother Yonglin to come to him at the bow. Chen Yonglin, who was on the right boat, chose the same thing as him. So separated.
It is really common and common for cousins like Chen Yonglin and Chen Asheng to be separated in the tide of immigration. Unfortunately, the two brothers separated very easily - one arrived in Bago and the other in Guangning.
It was not until the boat left that Chen Asheng realized that this was not a boat going to Myanmar, and he was so anxious that he wanted to jump into the sea. Fortunately, a Guizhou fellow on the same boat stopped him and said, "What are you afraid of? Guangning is not far from Guangzhou. When you get rich and go home, are you afraid that you won't be able to see your brother?"
With the help of fellow villagers, Chen Asheng made up his mind and was dragged to Annan Halong Port. Although this place is called a port, there are only a few wooden piers built in the early days. As soon as Chen Asheng got off the boat, he followed his fellow villagers.
The fellow was from the city of Guizhou and was already in his thirties. After he stepped onto the wooden plank road that extended into the sea, he turned to Chen Asheng and said, "Would you rather farm or work? I want to work." "
Chen Asheng was good at serving rice fields and had also worked part-time in the city. He was afraid that he and this fellow villager would also be separated, so he said with a hint of pleading in his voice: "I have worked as a worker, and I want to follow Uncle Huang."
Hearing this, the man knew what was going on with this big boy. He couldn't help but feel sympathy, and said, "Then you follow me. My name is Huang Yisheng. I am the second uncle in the family. You call me second uncle - forget it. We have different surnames, so you can call me Second Uncle, and it will seem more intimate." Chen Asheng heard the care in his words, and excitedly shouted "Second Uncle!"
When the two "nephews" walked onto the beach from the plank road, they were stunned by the scene on the beach. The place was full of touts with various accents. They seemed to have entered the den of human traffickers:
"Come, come, come! The Annan Governor's Mansion has started recruiting troops! Han'er has priority, and will be paid for two months before entering the barracks!"
"Look at the big banner - Dingguo Gong's business! Call in the stewards and supervisors! It doesn't matter if you don't know how to read! It's a big trading company, guaranteed!"
"Is there anyone who knows how to take care of the rice fields? If you come here, you will be given a hundred acres of good rice fields and two slave laborers! There is no restriction on Han Chinese or Miaozi. Those from China will be counted!"
"I am the honored guest of the Jin Dynasty. I hire Shuitianli for a high salary and work as a supervisor without having to work. The monthly salary is two taels, and there will be dividends at the end of the year!"
"Is there anyone who can handle a buffalo? Is there anyone who can handle a buffalo?"
Although Huang Yisheng was twice as old as Chen Asheng, he had never encountered such a posture before. He looked at each other with his cheap nephew, both of whom were a little dazed. Chen Asheng grabbed his second uncle's clothes and made up his mind that he would never leave this wedding.
The two nephews and uncles walked around in a small circle, and Huang Yisheng even gave up most of the idea of going to work - the demand for paddy field experts in Annan was too strong, and several royal guests even offered a high salary of two taels of silver a month, so that Huang Yisheng felt that his future might be better with his nephew.
While he was struggling, he heard the sound of a gong in the distance, and people swarmed in that direction. Although the two nephews and uncles didn't know why, they ran after him resolutely.
I saw seven or eight men holding an unknown flag, standing in an open space with their chests and bellies raised. There were two large bamboo baskets under the flags, and a group of strong men carrying knives and blunderbuss were guarding them.
When the crowd gathered, a man in Chinese attire took out a metal trumpet and shouted to the crowd: "Gentlemen, I am the steward of Prince Lu's family, and the man next to me is from Marshal Deng's family who was originally stationed in Myanmar. ! Take a good look at the flag first, this is the word 'Lu', this is the prince's flag!"
"You just came to this place, so you may not know it. Let me tell you, anyone who dares to raise a flag here is true! Otherwise, it will be a crime of beheading!"
"Quotes aside - the day before yesterday, a large open-pit coal mine was discovered twenty miles away from here! There was coal under three feet of soil. Our trading company is calling for managers and supervisors! Those who can read more than 2,000 yuan will get five taels a month, and those who can't read will get five taels a month. Three taels per month, cash in cash! After signing the contract, we will give you two months’ salary first! A house and a slave girl to serve! There is no limit to Han or Miao people, as long as they are from China!”
After saying these words, the man bent down and grabbed a handful of silver beans from the bamboo basket, spread his palms and said, "Look, here are half a pair of silver beans! At least twelve will be given after signing the contract!" See you! The silver beans fell from his hand into the basket with a splash, and the crowd burst into laughter.
The appeal of this thing is too strong, much more persuasive than those who just moved their mouths on the beach before. One by one, more than 300 people came off the boat and shouted, "I am willing to go!"
When the steward saw this, he smiled proudly and shouted with a tin trumpet: "Those who can read 2,000 words stand on my left, those who can read 1,000 words stand in the middle, and those who can't read stand on the right! We don't dare to interview people here. Lying!"
However, except for a few people who looked at each other and stood up, a large crowd of people at the scene stood on the right hand side of the steward.
It was easy for the stewards of Prince Lu's Mansion to tell. Those who stood up didn't look confident. It was estimated that these guys could only know a few hundred words. They were here to try their luck - once the interview questions were simple.
Huang Yisheng almost regretted it at this time. The sales channel of "Nanjing Daily" has been spread in Guizhou for several years. When I was working, I especially liked to listen to my literate co-workers reading serials and so on. At that time, I was really tempted to become literate. But literacy classes in the city charge tuition fees. Uncle Huang had an idea at that time!
Most of the people present had his thoughts. Especially the scene where the few guys who stood up stumbled and read a short paragraph without guessing, then signed the contract with silver beans, like a hot iron, it left a deep mark on the hearts of everyone present.
After the literate person signed and fingerprinted, the manager put away the contract and said, "These are the ones in charge. Let's start calling for supervisors! They need to be strong and young bachelors!"
After hearing this, Huang Yisheng looked at Chen Asheng and said, "Asheng, hurry up and squeeze forward!" Chen Asheng used his strength, swayed his arms, and quickly squeezed to the front of the team with his second uncle. Huang Yisheng bent down and squeezed forward, while ruthlessly pulling off the sparse beard above his lips.
Although there were some blood beads on his upper lip after pulling off his beard, the Deng family steward in charge of recruitment seemed to recognize Huang Yisheng's ruthlessness and gave him a contract. In this way, the two nephews and uncles joined the "Guangning Coal Industry" and became two supervisors holding whips.
...
The training time was very short. As General Gong Xian continued to transport prisoners of the Ruan Dynasty to the rear, the Quang Ninh Coal Industry was soon opened. The steward of the Nalu Palace did not lie. The slave workers who had their big toes cut off used shovels to dig down three feet and saw black and shiny coal.
Chen Asheng's job is very simple. He and nine other supervisors are responsible for 150 slave workers. The fate of these people is in their hands.
Behind the supervisors, there were thugs hired by King Lu—actually Deng Zilong's former servants who were responsible for security work. These people had Wanli 14-type bird guns in their hands.
When he wielded the first whip, the honest and honest Chen Asheng felt that the excitement was mixed with more fear. When he swung the whip for the second time, the prisoner cried out in pain, which made him almost throw away the whip, turn his head and run out.
By the time he cracked the tenth whip, he had almost no compassion for these slave workers. After all, these people spoke words he didn't understand, and looked at him with a fierce look in their eyes.
When he couldn't remember how many times he had whipped the slave workers, Chen Asheng and the people who were whipped were completely numb.
For Chen Asheng, whipping the slave laborers was a job; for the miserable slave laborers, being whipped was a fate. Both parties have completely accurate positioning of their lives, and thus both have found the fulcrum of their souls and no longer feel pain about it.
Only when he heard Uncle Huang's shouts full of local accents, Chen Asheng's iron-hearted heart softened, and he used the whip to make a crisp sound in the air instead of hitting a lazy guy on the back - which is Chen Asheng's biggest kindness.
