Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 31 Yarha's New Robe

In Yalha's view, the Seldan father and son in the village were lucky a few days ago.After going out for seven days, he hunted two big bears and captured two small ones.

At that time, when the father and son came back, it caused a sensation in the whole village.After that, the father and son went to Hunchun and Ningguta to sell furs. They made a fortune and bought a lot of new year goods to go home, which made the villagers envious.

After Yalha heard about it, he went to Seldan's house to see it.Seldan bought a new cotton robe for his mother, which was both good-looking and warm; even Seldan, who was very stingy with himself on weekdays, changed himself into an old cotton robe.

In addition, Seldan bought new iron pots and tobacco leaves; the new boots on his son Eru's feet had blinded many villagers.

He heard Cerdan say that the furs sold well this time, and that his son Erlu had enough money for the bride price next year, which made him very envious.

Yalha also wants to buy a new cotton robe for his mother; and his son should marry a wife next year, and he is still worried about the dowry.

Later, in the process of chatting with Elu, I heard Elu say that when he was hunting bears on Bear Island that day, he saw a long six-winged black strange bird that passed overhead and quickly flew away.

Yalha asked where the strange bird was found and decided to take a look.He had never seen a black bird with six wings, and he thought that if he could catch it, he might be able to sell it for a good price in Ningguta, and then buy a new cotton robe for his own home.

With that in mind, Yalha set off before dawn the next day.He led a horse, took a bow, arrow and dagger, and brought water and dry food. After walking eastward for more than 40 miles, he came to a small fishing village by the sea.From here he can take a boat to the island.

Because Bear Island does not produce mink, people usually come to the island to hunt deer or bear.

At this time, the fourteen islands in the South China Sea were sparsely populated.The Kurghazis who once lived on the islands were all driven ashore to live there.

It is said that since the time of Nurhaci, troops have been dispatched to plunder these Kurkaqi people living on the coast and on the islands many times.If there are any aboriginal people on the island who dare to resist, they will all be swept back to the mainland. (“If anyone who lives on the island is in danger and refuses to accept it, take it back by boat.”)
In the fourth year of Chongde's reign (1639), the East China Sea Kurkazi people who transported tributes defected to Xiongdao under the leadership of the leader Jhachan.Because Bear Island is very close to Gyeongsungfu in North Korea, there are frequent exchanges between the two places.So when Huang Taiji learned about it, he immediately issued a notice to North Korea, ordering North Korea to send [-] troops to capture Xiong Island.

Korean Renzong had no choice but to send 110 generals to lead gunners, [-] shooters, and [-] boats to cross the sea from Luoqianpu in Xishui, and finally captured people on Zhangdao.

After the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, because the price of ginseng outside the customs continued to rise, the behavior of stealing ginseng into forbidden areas and sneaking into the mountain to steal ginseng was repeatedly banned.Many of these ginseng pilgrims and runaway slaves live quietly on the fourteen islands of the South China Sea, and some even start farming for a living.

In the tenth year of Qianlong (1745), in response to the above situation, Qianlong personally selected Kuchu, the second-class bodyguard of Qianqingmen who was familiar with the situation in Hunchun, to participate in the inspection, and ordered Fengtian General Dardang'a Hui and Jilin General Baling'a to conduct inspections of the "South China Sea". A large-scale suppression was carried out in the four islands and Ussuri.This campaign of suppression lasted until the 12th year of Qianlong.

Yalha usually hunts on Bear Island every autumn, so he is very familiar with the Kurkaqi fishermen here.He gave a small bag of sorghum to a fisherman he knew, and under the guidance of the other, he led his horse carefully across the frozen water of the strait.Fortunately, the distance between the two places is not far, and the ice surface is only more than a mile away.

When we got to the island, the sky was just getting brighter.Yalha went all the way to the east and then south, looking for the place where Elu had said to find the strange bird.

"Is it wrong?" Yalha was a little frustrated. He thought that the strange bird Elu said might have already flown away.It was noon now, and he estimated that he had walked about thirty miles.

After eating some dry food, he planned to go west to find it. If he couldn't find it, he had to go back, so that he could rush back to the village before dark, and at worst he could make do with a night in the fishing village.

And when Yalha rode over a hill in the southwest of Bear Island, he saw the smoke rising in front of him.

After finding someone in front of him, Yalha turned around to find a tree, tied the horse, and moved quietly along the bushes in the direction of the smoke.

He recently heard from people in the village that Hunchun City was catching fugitive slaves, and if there were fugitive slaves in front, they could get a bounty.But when he quietly approached to observe, he couldn't help being surprised.

In front of the place where the smoke was coming out, I didn't know what was used to form a big circle; there were dozens of green houses in the circle, and white smoke was wafting from a tube on the roof of each house.

Yalha decided that those tubes should be chimneys.But the chimney was too thin, and it was obviously shining like iron in the sun.

With an iron chimney?It's too bad.Yalha thought so.Not to mention Hunchun City, even the ironware at Ninggu Pagoda is sold at a high price, at least one and a half of an iron pot is sold.

And when he moved a few dozen steps forward, he finally saw that those who surrounded the camp were actually iron baskets! !
This is obviously not something a fugitive slave can do.

Yarha saw that there were about a dozen people in the camp, some were standing beside the iron baskets and swam around with sharpened wooden sticks in their hands; there were two other people who were talking, each holding a A long knife, and the scabbard also shines.

There were also some women in the camp who were busy talking at the same time, and their voices were not so loud that Yalha couldn't hear them at all.Occasionally, he could see several children running around, shouting and shouting, but he couldn't understand a word.

However, these people are very short in stature, and the tallest does not look taller than himself.

Is this the Sakhalin Feyaka?How did they get here.

He heard the Kashanda (the headman) in the village say that in the far northeast of the village, there are Hezhe Feyaka and Sakhalin Feyaka, and he heard that those Sakhalin Feyak are very tall. short.

Yalha noticed that everyone in the camp was wearing thick dark cotton robes, which looked very warm; and these people were wearing black short boots.He counted it carefully. Everyone has it, regardless of gender.

It was too rich, Yalha was stunned.

And this made him move, wondering if he could go back with a cotton robe from here.

With these thoughts in mind, Yalha turned around and went back to look for the horse.He was going to go home and see what other skins he could use to exchange things with these people.

When he got home before dark, he ignored his wife asking him to eat.After rummaging in the house for a long time, I found a piece of broken otter skin and a piece of deer skin.It's not enough...

So for the next few days, Yalha led his horse into the forest every morning and began to search for prey.After two consecutive days of running around, he finally let him shoot a red deer that came out for food.

Then, Yalha came to the camp with red deer to change his cotton robes.

The outcome of the transaction was unexpectedly satisfying.Yalha felt that the cotton robe in his hand was not a bit better than the two that Seldan bought, and it was even better than the cotton robe he had seen on Lord Zuoling before.As for the slight fraying of the cuffs and a little smudge on the front of the clothes, he didn't care at all.

I saw Yalha holding the cotton coat tightly in his arms with one hand, and grabbing the deer leg on the horse's back with the other hand. feet.

Looking at the dead deer on the ground, Ping Tai swallowed involuntarily.

This is meat!Ping Tai couldn't remember how long it had been since he had eaten meat.People in the camp who go to the river to fetch water sometimes catch a few fish from the icy river, but they just boil a fish soup for everyone to drink together and chat to satisfy their cravings.

He tried to reach out and grab the leg of the deer and lift it hard, but the dead deer didn't move.

Helpless, he had to shout to the people behind him: "Come here and help me, this deer is too big."

Standing in the camp wall, Sheng Haizhou, who had been staring at the situation on Ping Tai's side, nodded, so the five refugees ran over from the gap excitedly, holding wooden spears in their hands.

The four grabbed the deer's legs respectively, while the other held the deer's head, and swayed the dead deer back to the camp and placed it in front of Sheng Haizhou.

Looking at the huge deer, the five of them couldn't help swallowing and looked at Sheng Haizhou.

"The deerskin and antlers should be left to the adults. After a while, the antlers are cut off and skinned, and then handed over to Liji." Katsu Kaishu instructed Huji, who was also gulping.

Yaerha over there saw that everyone had carried the deer away, and immediately said to Ping Tai with a smile: "HEITA, GUCU."

In Manchu, GUCU is a friend.

In Yalha's view, there are many good things about these "Sakhalin Feyaka".Like the short boots on their feet, or the next time they come, ask them if they have a wok.

He plans to go back to continue hunting, and then come back here to exchange.

Pingtai looked at Yalha unsurely, not understanding what "GUCU" in the other's mouth meant.

Seeing Ping Tai's puzzled expression, Yalha immediately bent down and put his arms around Ping Tai's shoulder, patted it hard, and said, "GUCU, GUCU."

Ping Tai guessed that the other party was probably praising him, so he smiled and said, "GUCU."

in the camp on the other side.The five refugees carried the dead deer, while Li Ji followed.Soon came to the "kitchen" position.

It is called "kitchen" here, but it is actually a grass shed surrounded by slightly thicker branches and covered with pine branches.

On two large stoves, rice was cooking in an iron pot.Shino, who was leading a group of women who were busy, heard the noise outside and quickly came out.

"Ah, what a big deer." Shino cried out in surprise.This made the women who were busy in the grass hut run out with a hula.

"Where did it come from?" Wan Zao's wife hurriedly asked.

"I exchanged it with the local natives for an old cotton-padded coat." Li Ji replied, then waved his hand and said, "You can ask Ping Tai later, he came forward to change it."

"It's amazing." A group of women exclaimed.

At this time, in addition to the guards, other refugees in the camp came to watch the fun. Wan Zao's son stood in the crowd and curiously stabbed the deer with a branch.

"Go! Play while you're playing. You'll break the leather and break your ass." Wan Zao's wife grabbed the boy and slapped him on the ass.The little guy didn't care, and ran to the other side giggling.

Li Ji looked at the deer on the ground and scratched his head worriedly. Looking at the refugees around him, he said, "Who will take the antlers? Who will skin them?"

"I'll do it." An old man stood up. "When I was in the village, I once helped the lord to skin the deerskin."

When Liji saw it, it turned out that it was one of the latter group of refugees who came here.

"We'll have venison stew for lunch today!" Li Ji announced happily, looking around at the onlookers proudly.

When the crowd heard it, they burst into cheers.

Since the eighth century AD, the emperor of the island country has issued a ban on eating meat because of his belief in Buddhism.Later Shintoism also believed that eating the flesh of four-legged animals was not only a filthy act, but also a sin.

Although it has been strictly followed by nobles and samurai for hundreds of years, they are ashamed of eating meat.But for ordinary civilians who don't need to take care of their image, even if they can do their own thing, the island country lacks products, even rice is seriously insufficient, and the animal husbandry is even less developed. Where can I eat meat?
It is said that because Oda Nobunaga hated the monks of Hiei Temple for supporting his enemies, he set fire to Mount Hiei and killed more than 3000 people. One of the crimes was eating meat.

And since the refugees came to Bear Island, although they eat rice and radish and pickles every day, they haven't smelled meat for a long time.Even the fish soup I drank occasionally, and a few fish were thrown into a large pot and boiled, was bland and tasteless.

(Zhao Xin, do you blame me for not eating meat?)

On the night after Yarha's arrival, all the refugees were given a piece of stewed and fragrant venison.

Five days later, Yalha came to camp again.This time he used two otter skins and two fox skins for two pairs of shoes.

Seeing that Yalha is generous and forthright, Sheng Haizhou couldn't bear to take advantage of him.The deer that was exchanged last time allowed more than 300 people in the camp to eat two meals of venison, and a large pot of soup was boiled from the bones.Not to mention there is a large piece of deerskin and huge antlers.

So Liji took a small used steel basin and gave it to the other party.

Unexpectedly, this inconspicuous small steel basin in Sheng Haizhou completely shocked Yalha!
It is said that the pots and pans that Zhao Xin brought, except for a few large iron pots for cooking and soup, other stainless steel products and aluminum products purchased from the wholesale market.

At this time, people have never seen shiny 304 stainless steel.

After Yalha took it from Ping Tai's hand, he didn't care that the two pairs of shoes he was holding fell to the ground, he rubbed the small steel basin with his sleeves a few times, and then stuck out his tongue to lick it.

What a baby!Shiny can show their own appearance.

So, after Yalha put the stainless steel basin in his arms, he gestured with Ping Tai for a long time, which meant that he would bring a large number of animal skins to change things next time.

Seeing Yalha's elated appearance, Sheng Haizhou felt a trace of unease in his heart.However, before he could think clearly about the unease in his heart, Zhao Xin came back.

(End of this chapter)