Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 218 Captive Camp
In a tent in Jurgen's barracks, Saimar was led in by Seldan.At this time, it was dark outside, but the house was as bright as day.Saimar looked around in surprise, only to see something on the roof emitting white light.

Dazed, Seldan patted Saimar on the shoulder, and introduced to Zhao Xin and Liu Sheng who were sitting behind the table in the tent: "My lord, this is Saimar."

Zhao Xin and Liu Sheng stood up, smiled and said, "Please sit down."

Seldan introduced: "This is Master Zhao, and this is Master Liu."

Saimar didn't dare to catch his breath at this time. When he heard that the two burly men in front of him were the chief and deputy leaders of Beihai Town, he quickly knelt down and saluted, and said: "Saimar, a villager in Wuketun, Qihechen Township, Greetings to the two adults."

Seldan said: "I told you all, adults don't like people kneeling, get up quickly."

Saimar got up quickly, bowed to gesture to the things held in the hands of the guards behind him, and said, "This is a gift specially given to you by Mr. Ning Guta, the deputy governor. Please accept it."

The guard carefully placed the two brocade boxes, one large and one small, on the table, saluted and stood in the corner.The big box was more than one meter long. Liu Sheng opened it and saw that it contained a ginseng. The root was as big as Liu Sheng's palm. length.

Saimar hadn't spoken yet, and Seldan couldn't help gasping when he saw the ginseng, his eyes widened.

"This is a hundred-year-old mountain ginseng! It is said that it can revive human flesh and bones."

Saimar smiled slightly, stretched out two fingers and said: "200 years. The beard is more than four feet long."

He Shen's move is purely a wink for the blind.Whether it is Zhao Xin or Liu Sheng, they don't understand ginseng at all.So he had no choice but to nod his head pretendingly, expressing his satisfaction.

Zhao Xin stretched out his hand to open the small box, and inside were dozens of oriental beads the size of his little finger, which became more and more crystal clear under the light.Zhao Xin estimated the size, which is about 7~8mm in diameter.If Director Liu saw this, he would definitely scream.

Zhao Xin still doesn't understand this stuff.On a certain platform in another time and space, 14mm freshwater pearls only cost more than 300 yuan a piece.Why not send some gold?How about two calligraphy and paintings of people from the Song Dynasty?

After closing the lid, Zhao Xin pointed to a chair opposite the table again and said, "Please sit down."

Saimar bowed and said: "The villain dare not! Today I see the two adults' majesty, the villain is really terrified."

Zhao Xin smiled and said, "Are you from Hezhe?"

"Yes."

"Where is the boldness of the Hezhe people in you? You went to the capital and married a Manchu wife. How did you become a mother-in-law?"

Saimar said sarcastically, "That villain will offend you." After finishing speaking, he sat down, raised his head and said to Zhao Xin, "My lord laughed. Your official words are really good, my lord."

Zhao Xinxin said that if I want to talk about sliced ​​soup, you should be completely dizzy.

"Tell me. Why did Qitai ask you to come?" Liu Sheng asked, frowning.

"Yes, that's how it is. The general asked the villain to come here to check on the lord."

Liu Sheng interrupted: "Do you want to see the situation of those captives?"

"Yes." Saimar let out a long breath, raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his temples, and said in his heart that he was really tired!
Liu Shengdao: "The condition of the captives is very good now. We have tried our best to treat the injured, and some of the amputees have survived."

"Huh?!" Saimar was a little surprised, he felt that the other party was lying.In this day and age, if a person loses his arms and legs, his chances of surviving are extremely slim.

Liu Sheng said: "If you don't believe me, I can take you to see it tomorrow."

"Don't dare!" Saimar felt his mouth dry, he didn't expect that the other party would let him look at the prisoner.He thought for a while and continued to ask: "The general asked the villain to ask how the two adults can release these people."

Well, it's time for Zhao Xin to act.

"Pay the money and let them go. As for how much it will cost, I might as well tell you a figure. You go back and show it to Na Qitai, and let them think for themselves. The number of Qing soldiers we captured this time is..."

Zhao Xin looked down at the numbers on the paper in front of him. "There were 8000 people, 260 and 130 people. Among them, there were 630 and 720 wounded, and [-] and [-] were seriously injured. As for the Qing soldiers who were killed by us, there were [-] people. Some of them fled into the mountains, and we haven't seen them yet. Found it. Considering the current weather, if it is not for the local residents, I am afraid that they will not survive this winter."

"Ah!" Saimar was shocked, his teeth chattered in fright, he didn't expect the imperial court to lose so badly!However, what Zhao Xin said next shocked him even more.

"That He-sama and Zhongtang, have you arrived at Ninggu Pagoda?"

"Big, big, my lord, this, this little man really doesn't know."

"He Shen?" Liu Sheng was also very surprised, turned around and asked, "He's here? By the way, how did you know?"

"Damned. But look at him, it seems that I was wrong." Zhao Xinyi pointed to the two boxes on the table and said: "The 200-year-old ginseng and Dadongzhu are all tributes under the direct management of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In the Northeast, Dashang Ula Yamen is in charge of this, and General Jilin cannot interfere. Give Na Qitai ten guts, but he dare not bring tribute to us. The only person who can be the master is the minister in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, or That is, the manager of Dashang Ula Yamen obtained Qianlong’s secret decree. Which one do you think is the most likely?”

Liu Sheng asked Saimar curiously: "What does He Shen look like? Is he fat, with a round face, two mustaches, and a smirk?"

"." The man's son-in-law was already dumbfounded by the question.He looked at Zhao and Liu in a daze, unable to speak at all.

Zhao Xin smiled and said: "Saimar, you can tell all the villagers when you go back, whether it is Hezhefeiyaka, Kuyefeiyaka, Xibo, Oroqen, or even other ethnic groups, we welcome everyone to come to Fuldan to do business. .If you want to come here to do part-time work to earn money, we also welcome it. In two or three years, we will turn this place into the largest town outside the customs.”

"Huh?" Saimar hadn't woken up yet.

"Although you are Manchu's son-in-law, we welcome you to do business. I think Seldan has already told you what you want to change this time. After visiting the prisoner camp tomorrow, take your things and go back quickly. The one from Ninggu Pagoda is probably already waiting anxiously."

As soon as Zhao Xin finished speaking, Liu Sheng added: "We welcome anyone who does business honestly and works hard to make money. If you dare to be a spy of the Qing Dynasty and come to our place to cause sabotage, then don't blame us for being rude!"

After Liu Sheng finished speaking, he slapped the table, causing Saimar to sit down on the ground in fright.

"Don't dare! Don't dare!" Zhao Xin and Liu Sheng sang the red face, the other sang the bad face, half wooing and half beating, which made Saimar startled and frightened.

Zhao Xin was still smiling. "That's it. Tomorrow morning, Seldan will take you to visit the prison camp."

After they were taken away by Seldan, Liu Sheng asked Zhao Xin: "He Shen is in Ninggu Pagoda, should we kill him?"

Zhao Xin rolled his eyes and said, "Why do you do him? If you do him, who will pay the ransom? Who dares to negotiate with us again?"

Liu Shengdao: "He is the most corrupt official ever!"

"He's not greedy for us, Qianlong is not in a hurry, why are you in a hurry. This person is actually a capable official, but he is useless to the right place."

Early the next morning, Saimar and two of his men, led by Seldan, came to the area five miles north of Juergen City, where the Qing army prisoners of war were held.

As the old saying goes, if there are tens of thousands of people, there is no limit.This large-scale Qing army prisoner-of-war camp, because of the large number of people, caused most of Beihai Town's troops in Fuldan City to be sent to guard the prisoners.

The entire prisoner-of-war camp was divided into 21 areas, and each area held about 1000 prisoners of war; among them, the wounded were divided into two areas and held separately.All prisoner-of-war camps are surrounded by wooden fences and barbed wire, with sentry posts at the four corners and wireless cameras.The residences of the Qing prisoners of war in the camp area were cellars.

It is said that cave dwelling was a common way of living for the Jurchens before the Jin Dynasty, and it continued until the 21st century.The so-called "no house, negative mountains and rivers, ridges on top of beams and trees, covered with soil."

There is no way to repair the cellar.It was already late August when the battle with the Qing army ended.In order to resettle the captives as soon as possible, Chen Qingsong proposed to dig a cellar, which is much easier than building a wooden house, and it can save a lot of wood.Don't look at it as just a cellar, it's no worse than a woodcut corrugated cellar when it's covered.

On the issue of building the prisoner camp, Chen Qingsong thought very far.Because once the Qing army prisoners of war are gone, those refugees from Henan and Shandong who will come over next year will also have to arrange accommodation first.The vacated basement can be cleaned and cleaned, and several households can temporarily live in it.

The cellars where the prisoners of war lived were uniformly facing south and facing north, with [-] people living in each room.When digging, first dig a rectangular four-foot-deep pit, and then use rough trimmed logs to erect several rows of house pillars in the middle and short on both sides, and then lay purlins on the pillars; on the ground beside the pit.The purlins of the roof should be tied with thick withered grass and branches, and finally covered with half a foot of black soil for compaction.In addition to the south door, a light-transmitting window had to be reserved in the southeast corner, and the rest of the roof and the ground were sealed with earth walls.

Outside the cellar, a half-meter-high earth wall was built around the house to prevent people from stepping on it.If there is no earth wall, people will step on it and the roof will collapse.

After this thing is built, from the outside, it is half above the ground and half underground.The height of the indoor space is about two meters.As soon as you enter the house, you will see an inverted U-shaped Datong shop with a two-meter-wide aisle in the middle.

The whole bed is made of wooden frames, about half a meter high from the ground, and the wooden boards are covered with thick ulagrass.Although the basement is warm in winter and cool in summer, there is no way to stay without a fire.So in the middle of the aisle are several heating stoves made of large gasoline barrels, and the heating fuel is also wood.The stove converted from a petrol barrel surprised all the captives. In this era, it is common to put a large iron pot on top of the fire to keep warm.

The bunks of the prisoners in the cellar were also ranked according to their seniority.To the north and inward is the upper rank, where the generals stationed in the Eight Banners and the Beijing Camp Eight Banners usually sleep here, the inferior ones sleep on the east and west sides, and the lowest rank is near the coldest door.

The food for the captives was cornmeal and pickled vegetables. Each person was rationed every day for half a catty of cornmeal (eight taels), and two taels of pickled radish.Whether it was cooking porridge, steaming steamed buns, or pasting pancakes, the prisoners in each house cooked for themselves.Cornmeal and pickles are delivered once a day. If you miss the time to pick them up, the thirty people in this room will only be hungry.

When it comes to the life of bannermen in the mid-Qing Dynasty, they were actually not that extravagant and extravagant, and individual princes and nobles could not represent the whole.Those bannermen who are officials, although they have salaries and gifts from the court, still live a life of simple clothes and running around for their livelihood. Once they resign or are dismissed from office, the family's livelihood is often stretched.If there is a shortage of food or famine, life is also miserable.

During the Qianlong period, many bannermen stationed in the Eight Banners also had to fend for themselves, saving money on food and expenses, working for education, or doing business, to solve the problem of food and clothing for a while.However, such self-reliant banner people account for only a small part after all, and the vast majority of banner people still have nothing to do, relying on government relief, and once they are in trouble, they live on the streets and beg for food for a living.

In a cellar in the No. 40 camp, soldiers from the Jingying Firearms Camp with a white flag inlaid with Buddha Biao were carefully cooking cornmeal porridge over the fire.When the porridge was almost ready, he took a wooden bowl, scooped up two thick spoonfuls, walked slowly to the bunk at the north end, and placed it on the edge of the kang.He respectfully said to a [-]-year-old man sitting on it: "Master En, the porridge is ready, please use it."

"Hmm." The middle-aged man wiped the mustache on his upper lip, raised his eyes and said, "Where's the cornbread?"

"My lord, wait a moment. It's still baking on the stove. It will be there soon."

"Hurry up!" the middle-aged man urged impatiently.This man's name is Enhai, he is the general of the Jingying Firearms Battalion inlaid with the white flag, and the immediate boss of the Buddha's mark.

After a while, the roasted cornbread slices with a burnt aroma were ready, and the Buddhist logo was served on a wooden plate, and then two pieces of pickled radish were put on it, and Enhai brought it over.

Enhai picked up the bowl and took two mouthfuls of the porridge, then picked up the radish and took a bite, and finally picked up the steamed bread and ate it.After swallowing it in one gulp, Enhai sighed in satisfaction: "This cornbread must be steamed, let cool, cut into slices, and roasted on the fire. It's not a good taste!"

"That's right! What your lord said is right!"

"That's right! This is called coarse grain and careful cultivation."

"I think, for this steamed bun, you have to find one with a deep and big nest at the bottom to be delicious."

"How do you say that?"

"Think about it, this kind of steamed corn bread is full of energy and tastes more delicious!"

Someone continued: "Hmm. That's the rationale. It's called 'eating steamed buns, picking big eyes'."

At this time, a prisoner lying on the north side lifted the quilt and cursed angrily: "Fuck you! You're so big-eyed, you're fucking a prisoner!"

Enhai snorted softly, squinted and said, "Guanbao, what kind of evil fire are you sending out so early in the morning? Brothers are now prisoners of others, and they are just enjoying themselves while suffering."

"That's right. My lord, I'll bring you a bowl of porridge first. After drinking, you'll be warm."

"Alas!" Guanbao thumped the bed with his fist, and sighed heavily.

At this time, everyone only heard a "squeak", and the door of the house was pushed open from the outside, and several soldiers from Beihai Town with guns came in.All the prisoners of the Qing soldiers quickly put down their bowls and chopsticks, got up and got out of the bed, put on their shoes, and stood in front of the bed.The cursing official security reluctantly got out of bed, stood up, and looked coldly at the person at the door.

"Stand still, don't move around!" Several soldiers from Beihai town pulled the bolts of their guns and stood on guard.

"Oh my god! Isn't this here to kill us?" A dozen Qing soldiers panicked immediately, their legs trembled, and their whole body trembled.One guy actually pissed his pants, and there was a smell of pissing in the cellar.

"Kill your mother, kill! You bastard! If you want to kill him, kill him early, and waste so many days of food for nothing!" The official security yelled angrily.

A group of prisoners were muttering, when the door rang again, a strong man in his 40s, wearing the military uniform of Beihai Town, walked in with a man in a leather robe.

"Look, the people living here are all from the Beijing Firearms Camp. There are thirty people in total."

"Thank you, brother." Saimar hastily cupped his hands in thanks, and then turned to look at the prisoners.All the Qing soldiers also looked at him curiously, staring wide-eyed for a while, not knowing what this man was doing.

Saimar walked a few steps in, looked at these people carefully, and saw that they were either yellow and emaciated, or shivering from the cold, so he was relieved.

"What do you do, man?" Enhai asked suddenly.

"My lord, I'm here to see everyone's situation under the orders of Lord Ning Guta Dutong."

"What?! Is that Kitai okay?" Enhai asked in surprise.

"Ninggu Pagoda is not lost? Where is Hunchun? Where is Jilin Wula?" Guan Bao stepped forward eagerly and asked loudly.

"It's okay, it's okay. Please bear with me for a while longer, the court is trying to figure out a way." Saimar was startled, and hurriedly bowed and explained one by one.

"Grandpa wants to go home! I don't want to stay in this damn place for a day!"

"That's right! My mother-in-law is over 80, if I don't go back, I'm afraid I won't be able to see her old man!"

"My wife and children are still waiting for me to go back!"

"Shut up! Why are you arguing!" Seldan yelled. "Whoever is allowed to go and who is not allowed to go is up to us! Whoever talks too much will stop receiving rations for one day!"

With this roar, the room was suddenly silent.All the prisoners said in their hearts that they have become like this, and eating is the top priority.If you don't even have to eat corn bread, how can you make it through!

(End of this chapter)