Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 493 Pugachev's "son"

On September 9, the Russian prisoners of war who surrendered in Cheremhovo were successively escorted to a wasteland east of Usolye.This place is located on the opposite bank of the Angara River, almost three kilometers away from Usolye in a straight line.

Thousands of temporary workers from Irkutsk have been busy for several days in this wilderness that was originally covered with weeds and shrubs.Only a small part of them are previous settlers, and most of the others are new immigrants from the island country and brought in last year and this year.

Due to the fact that there were too many captured Russian troops, the Northern Navy could not provide enough prisoner-of-war camps in a short period of time, so when the prisoners arrived one after another, they built them by themselves under the supervision of the Northern Navy.

According to the requirements of the Beihai Special District Public Security Police Department, after the branches are removed from the felled logs, they will be processed on a simple woodworking bed into three-meter-long stakes with a diameter of 100 centimeters.Afterwards, they were buried one meter deep in the ground at intervals of two meters, forming horizontal and vertical grids [-] meters square on the ground.

The wooden posts are connected with iron wires with butterfly-shaped blades, starting at a height of [-] centimeters from the ground, and blocking them in sequence, a total of six blocks.In this way, a square area of ​​[-] square meters is formed, slightly larger than a standard football field.

After all, there are more people and more strength, and the cold wind at night is already a bit biting, the Tsarist Russian prisoners worked very hard.Since the beginning of September, more than a dozen prisoner camps have been surrounded.

The Russian military materials seized from the battlefield were also transported here after a preliminary inspection. Items such as tents and blankets were distributed one after another after being sprayed with a large amount of quicklime powder for disinfection. a minimum residence.

The first thing the prisoners did after entering the camp was to dig toilets. This order caused great dissatisfaction among the prisoners. The first thing to do was to build a house to shelter from the wind and rain!But for the complaints of the captives, an Irkutsk citizen working on the scene couldn't help but persuade them.

"Guys, the Chinese are right to let you do this. Know that public health is very important, otherwise you will have a plague within you."

"Public health?" The Russian officer who heard the explanation showed a surprised expression, but he was still taken aback by the word "plague".

You must know that there is no toilet even in the palace of Tsarist Village these days, and people who are away from home just find a secluded place to settle.That is to say, there are few people in Irkutsk and the weather is cold, so the plague never broke out.But now tens of thousands of captives are gathered together, and there are many injuries and illnesses. If there is no compulsory management, the plague will definitely not escape.

By the way, why didn't the old lady stay in the palace in Moscow, but stayed in the Tsarist Village outside St. Petersburg for many years?Nothing else, eighteenth-century Moscow was the worst.

Since the time of Peter the Great, when the center of power in Tsarist Russia was transferred from Moscow to St. Petersburg, the abandoned Moscow and its suburbs attracted a large number of serfs and deserters.The growing human population has created mountains of waste, not only of people and livestock, but also of the waste water of slaughterhouses and tanneries.

In early 1770, the plague broke out in the Tsarist Russian army stationed in Moldova, and its main route of transmission was prisoners of war and spoils of war.Because the general of the garrison at that time concealed his illness from the then superior Rumyantsev, the local garrison was almost "destroyed".At the end of that year, the plague spread to Moscow and reached its peak in September of the following year. As a result, a large number of people fled, and the whole city was like a ghost.

The secretary of the Irkutsk city government right now, Markovich, whose actual power is equivalent to the mayor, was exiled to Siberia precisely because of the plague.

After the city declared a state of emergency, shops, hotels, taverns, factories and even churches were all ordered to close, and the whole of Moscow was surrounded.The inhabitants of the city, deprived of food and clothing, eventually rebelled.The mob saw any emergency measures by the state as a plot to spread the disease and even killed the archbishop.

Markovich robbed a church because of hunger, so when the riots subsided and the plague ended, he was sent to Irkutsk when he was still young.

Although Catherine II took many measures later, the plague lasted until 1772.The death toll in Moscow alone is estimated at 30.Despite this, the Tsarist Russian Empire did not improve the city's public health management level, and Moscow's mess continued until the second half of the 19th century.

Since Zhang Jingxuan took office, the most public buildings built in Irkutsk are toilets and septic tanks, and because of this, he has been nicknamed "Governor of Toilets".

In the past two years of being governed by Beihai Town, relying on the efforts of the Public Security Police Department and the new medical system, the public health regulations have become the most stringent laws in Irkutsk.Anyone who dared to defecate on the street, or dump excrement, waste, or even wash the toilet in the Angara River, would be fined five silver rubles, plus three days as a coolie, responsible for cleaning the street.

Although these regulations have been agreed upon in places like Beihai Town and Fuldan City, those Russians and Yakuts don't understand this.During the first six months of Beihai Town's rule, people were escorted to sweep the streets every day, even including members of the five major families.

Shishkin, a Cossack soldier from the Don River, walked into a large tent in a daze. After entering, he found that the front and back of the tent were connected.A man in a white coat and a white mask ordered him to take off his clothes, shoes, and even his underwear.When Shishkin saw the soldiers of the Northern Navy who were staring at him coldly, he was shocked and stripped himself naked.

After he turned around slowly with his bare buttocks raised and his arms raised, he was then doused with white powder all over his head and face.Just as Shishkin was at a loss, he finally opened his eyes, and a ball of clothes and a pair of shoes were immediately stuffed into his arms.

Then, he and nineteen other captives with bare buttocks and clothes went out from the other side of the exit, and quickly stood in two rows under the order of a man wearing a mask and a hoarse voice.

"I'll only say it once! I heard you clearly! Keep your number plates and clothes safe! Remember, you won't have food without your number plates!"

It was only then that Shishkin noticed that on top of the clothes in his arms, there was a wooden sign about half the size of a palm with a rope on top, and a line of numbers on it.

"151739?" Before Shishkin could figure out what it meant, he was immediately pushed aside to put on his clothes.

The clothes and shoes of the prisoners of war were all produced by Beihai Town itself. The styles were all imitated from the dark blue upper and lower body padded jackets in another time and space, and the shoes were also the lace-up cotton shoes of later generations.This kind of attire is easy to distinguish in the wilderness of Siberia, even if someone escapes, he can recognize it at a glance.

After dark, Shishkin, who had dug the foundation all afternoon, received his dinner, two potatoes and half a bowl of beet soup, with his number plate.Shishkin couldn't get enough of this food, but he couldn't starve to death either.However, all he can do is pray to God, hoping that the war will end soon.

For the next two days, more and more Russian prisoners of war were transported from the west bank of the Angara River, and the "square grid" where they were held was spread across the desolate wilderness like a chessboard.From the Yakut population who was in charge of delivering food to them, Shishkin learned that the Chinese called these squares with barbed wire "camps", and that he was in the No.15 camp.

Between each camp is a channel up to six meters wide.In addition to the three-meter-high wooden sentry towers at the four corners of the camp, glass bottles, cans, and even bells around the necks of horses were hung on the barbed wire;At night, the snow-bright light from the four-corner sentry towers of the camp swayed back and forth on the tents of each camp. The prisoners of war were so shaken that they could not sleep peacefully, worried and afraid.

In Shishkin's view, the Chinese are all magicians. They can move the light like the moon into the world. Such opponents are difficult to defeat.Perhaps the Empress should have sent a group of monks instead of soldiers.

When Shishkin came here on the fourth day, he had just eaten a potato for breakfast, and then, as before, he lined up in the camp to get tools for work.The difference from the previous two days was that there was a sudden commotion in front of the team.When Shishkin was almost in line, he realized that the guard had changed.

"what is it call?"

"Shishkin Rychkov." Shishkin was surprised to find that the guard who asked the question was actually a Russian in the enemy's military uniform, and the accent of the guard was from his hometown.

"From the Don? Which village?"

When Shishkin mentioned the village where his family lived, the guard actually laughed: "My family is in the village of Kalkin, and it is only thirty versts away from you."

"Then why, why are you here?" Shishkin almost blurted out, he actually wanted to ask, "Then why are you a traitor?"

The guard smiled and didn't answer the question, but patted Shishkin on the shoulder and said, "Go and work hard."

After a tiring day, Shishkin dragged his exhausted body back to the tent and was about to have dinner when he heard someone outside shouting, "Shishkin Rychkov!"

Shishkin hurriedly got out and stood at attention, and loudly said: "Yes!" The reason why he did this was not because of his status as a soldier, but because of the requirements of the prisoner-of-war camp.

It was already dark outside, but the pine oil torches on the ground were burning brightly.Only then did he see clearly that the person calling him was the guard he had met in the morning.

"Take it easy, buddy." The man grinned, stepped forward and whispered, "Haven't you had dinner yet? Come with me, I'll take you to a good place." The man turned around and left after speaking, and then He stopped suddenly and said, "By the way, my name is Mikhail."

Shishkin, who was confused, was taken by Mikhail to the gate of the No. 15 camp. When he got here, he found that Mikhail had not only found himself, but also more than [-] other Cossacks.

After registering at the gate guard of the camp, a group of people left the camp, and then followed Mikhail cautiously under the light of pine oil torches by the roadside. After more than 20 minutes, they finally came to a tall wooden house outside the camp. Outside.Along the way, Shishkin noticed that there were about five or six North Navy soldiers with guns behind them; it was estimated that anyone who tried to escape would be shot to death.

"Come in, guys!" Mikhail opened the door and greeted more than 20 Cossack prisoners with a smile on his face.

However, when a group of captives walked into the house nervously, they were immediately blinded by the scene in front of them.There were more than a dozen long tables and benches in the room, and some prisoners of war had already sat there in advance.The table was covered with a white tablecloth and a bright oil lamp was placed on it.What made Shishkin and others salivate the most was that the plates on the table were filled with delicious bread and various meats, and even a few bottles of wine.

At this time, a very strong man of medium build called out loudly: "Brothers, sit down quickly, you are welcome."

Like Mikhail, this man was a Russian.He was wearing a dark green North Navy military uniform, with a wide leather belt tied around his waist with shiny copper buckles.He has broad shoulders and a big black beard with a few white strands in the middle; a pair of big eyes are piercing.And the expression on his face made people feel inexplicably at ease.

Shishkin and the others sat down tremblingly, and looked at me and I looked at you with the others, swallowing their saliva one by one, their eyeballs dripping around, but they dared not speak.The rules of the Chinese people are strict, and many people have been punished for violating the regulations in the past two days.In addition to being whipped, the most unacceptable thing is to be hungry.

At this moment, I saw the strong man walk into the middle of the crowd and said loudly: "Let me introduce myself, my name is Ivan. Like you, I am a Cossack from the Don River."

Suddenly, one of the Cossack prisoners present said coldly: "Then why are you wearing the enemy's clothes? Are you working for them now?"

Ivan ignored the man, but grinned and said, "Everyone is hungry, let's eat something first." After that, he took the wine bottle and glass on the table and poured himself a glass of wine , and drank it down.

Shishkin was tired all day, and he was already hungry. Seeing someone reaching for bread, he also took a piece and stuffed it into his mouth. The bread baked from the freshly felled rye was really delicious!

As more and more people attacked, after a while, the crowd swept away and swept away all the food on the table.

After everyone finished eating satisfactorily and drank two more glasses of wine, the man named Ivan said loudly: "Cossack brothers! The brutal Romanov dynasty made you fight a war of invading other countries' territory, Suvo Love failed, and now Rumyantsev has also failed! I am entrusted by the Cossack Congress and Military Amanta (Supreme Military Leader) to call everyone to unite and bring down the rule of the vicious old woman, in the vast land east of the Ural Mountains Build our own Cossack Kingdom!

The Chinese are not our enemies. Lake Baikal is their inherent territory, and they lived here with herds more than 1000 years ago.Now they entrust me to send you warm greetings and brotherly salutes, they don't want to fight with you, but they want to form an alliance with us"

my Lord!Did I drink too much and my ears are bad?This guy actually called the Virgin Mary a "vicious old woman"? !

Including Shishkin, the Cossack prisoners present were stunned by these rebellious remarks.

When Ivan finished his tirade, the room fell silent.After a while, someone finally woke up and said angrily, "What nonsense are you talking about! We have our own military leader."

Mikhail, who had been silent all this time, suddenly said: "Is that so? Were they elected by the Cossack Assembly? Since the death of Romanzanov Peter Emeljanovich 70 years ago, all military Atta Men were appointed by the tsar, they were in league with the nobility, the Cossack Congress has long since ceased to exist, and our powers have been taken away!"

The so-called "Cossack Congress", also known as the Cossack General Military Council, covered military, economic, administrative, political, legal, social and all other matters.According to the tradition of the Cossack ministries, the Cossack Congress generally met every year or every few years to discuss all the problems accumulated during this period.In the time between the two congresses, the "Military Ataman" - that is, the Supreme Military Leader - is in charge.

For example, after Pugachev was defeated by Suvorov and fled, his hearts turned away, and he was tied up by his accomplices.Afterwards, other rebels held a Cossack meeting, and finally a majority voted in favor of sending Ataman, that is, Pugachev, to Kazan.Of the 186 people present at the time, only 32 voted against it and one abstained.

After 1718, the Cossack Congress was abolished, and all the top military leaders after that were appointed by the Tsar, which made the Cossack aristocratic class and the Russian dignitaries closely linked.The reason why Pugachev's riots were joined by a large number of low-level Cossacks was precisely because of the long-term dissatisfaction with these dignitaries.

Seeing that everyone couldn't answer, Mikhail said again: "In a real Cossack Congress, everyone should be able to speak freely, and everyone should be able to express their opinions on the future of the Cossacks, regardless of high or low. But since Pugachev was Those traitors were sent to the hands of evil enemies, and our right to speak was deprived by those noble gentlemen!"

Having said that, Shishkin suddenly raised his hand and asked, "Excuse me, who is the supreme military leader you mentioned just now? Which congress was he elected by?"

Mikhail walked up to Shishkin, patted Shishkin on the shoulder, and said approvingly, "Brother, you've got the point!"

After that, he looked around at the prisoners present, and then walked up to Ivan, showing a serious expression, and said in a deep voice: "Please allow me to introduce--Alexander Ivanovich Pugachev, he is The supreme military leader elected by our Don Cossack Congress, and at the same time he is the eldest son of the Cossack hero Yemelyan Ivanovich Pugachev."

The prisoners present were all stunned looking at Ivan who was smiling.

(End of this chapter)