"Alright, that's all for you!"
While you are in Hainan, you must abide by the rules here and not commit any crimes, understand?
The head of the escorts looked exhausted and didn't want to stay for even a moment longer. He addressed the thirty-odd convicts in front of him.
The convicts were handed over to the officials of Qiongzhou.
The Grand Commandant of Qiongzhou planned to detain the escorting officials and have them rest and recuperate at the county government office...
The head of the escorts politely declined, saying, "Thank you for your kindness, but let's return to Leizhou and rest there..."
Upon hearing this, the Grand Commandant of Qiongzhou wisely refrained from further attempts to persuade him to stay.
The conditions on Hainan Island are vastly different from those on the other side of the strait, Leizhou.
The escorts immediately prepared to leave...
The head escort turned around and immediately spotted the one with the gentlest demeanor among the thirty-odd exiles.
At the signal from the head of the escorts, Song Chenghou walked aside with him alone.
The head constable sighed softly and asked, "Do you have any money left on you?"
Song Chenghou was taken aback, not expecting the head of the escorts to ask such a question.
She was short of money and her face flushed slightly.
Throughout their exile, the head escort took great care of the ten brothers...
If there is money, it should be given as a token of respect.
Unfortunately, the money given by relatives and friends when they saw her off had all been spent on medicine and burial for his mother on the way.
Song Chenghou bowed respectfully to the head of the escorts, his attitude neither servile nor arrogant, saying, "If we are fortunate enough to survive and meet you again, we will certainly repay your kindness handsomely..."
The head of the escorts knew that the young man before him had misunderstood, so he didn't explain much, only saying the important points, "You need to be prepared..."
In a moment, the officials from Qiongzhou will assign you places. Without money to bribe them, you'll probably be assigned to the worst place—Yazhou…
Yazhou faces the sea and has the worst environment and management, basically outside the control of the imperial court.
There is a small temple on the shore. I heard that the abbot is very kind. You can take him there when you arrive.
Living by the sea, as long as you work hard, you'll never go hungry.
Just be careful, the sea is full of dangers.
Be wary of the Li people, but even more wary of the Han people.
That's all I have to say. Though I am of humble status and my words carry little weight, there are several ambitious young men in our clan...
Thanks to Lord Song's advice on personnel matters, he was able to utilize his strengths and live a harmonious life.
There's not much I can do, and this is all I can do. Each year, one or two batches of exiles are sent to Hainan; next time it might not be me...
If you need to send letters back to your clan or have other needs in the future, I will do my best to take care of you as long as it does not violate the law.
When the time comes, you can arrive here to find me before the convicts are delivered.
After listening, Song Chenghou's eyes reddened slightly, and he bowed deeply, expressing all his unspoken words.
Not far behind, the nine younger brothers also bowed to the head of the escorts.
The head of the escorts exchanged a few words with the Grand Commandant of Qiongzhou, pointed to Song Chenghou and the others, and then turned and boarded a boat to leave.
The exiled prisoners, along with the Grand Commandant of Qiongzhou and his officials, watched them leave.
Escorting a convict to Hainan Island was like passing through the gates of hell.
Traveling through Lingnan, the mountain roads are rugged, and venomous snakes and insects are a common sight, not to mention the poisonous miasma and swamps...
But most convicts only experience this once; if they are lucky enough to be pardoned, they will at most go through one more trip...
But for those who are exiled, unless they are promoted, they spend years repeating this path leading to death.
This group of exiles originally numbered over a hundred, but most of them died en route, leaving only these thirty-odd survivors.
Ten of them were from the Song family.
As soon as the head of the escorts left, the Grand Commandant of Qiongzhou and the constables immediately changed their expressions, adopting an air of superiority.
His gaze lingered on the exiled prisoners.
The sensible exiles searched their bodies for valuables and used the money and jewelry given to them by relatives and friends during their farewell to make the most of this moment.
Among the group, the ten Song brothers seemed out of place.
They stood still, motionless.
It's obvious they don't have money.
The constables raised their chins even higher and looked down their noses at people.
The constables, without any attempt to conceal their actions from others, handed over all the money and valuables they had received to the Grand Commandant, to be redistributed upon returning to the county office...
Right now, they have one more thing to do—allocate exile areas.
Convicts who offered generous bribes were assigned to Qiongzhong.
Next, they were sent to Danzhou.
Again, Wan'anzhou.
In the end, only the ten Song brothers remained, and they were assigned to Yazhou.
Based on this arrangement, the Song brothers understood the surrounding geographical structure of Hainan Island.
The bailiff assigned to escort the Song brothers to Yazhou was thin and lacked imposing presence.
At first glance, he looks like someone who's been bullied in the constables' ranks.
Even if you were assigned to send ten of the Song family's disciples to the hospital, there would be no profit to be made...
The constables showed no signs of complaint or disgust.
On the contrary, the other constables who were preparing to split up all had expressions of anticipation and amusement...
Those displaced people who had contributed gold and silver and were assigned slightly better positions all wore expressions of smug satisfaction...
And sympathy for the Song family.
The ten Song brothers looked back, and none of them looked too happy.
These people, more or less, received some help from the Song family along the way, because Song Chengfeng, the sixth son of the Song family, was knowledgeable in medicine...
When encountering poisonous miasma or being bitten by snakes, Song Chengfeng saved many people...
Less than 10% of the convicts usually arrive in Hainan.
Many still died during this journey, mostly due to old age and lack of physical strength...
Another reason was the shortage of medicinal herbs, but Song Chengfeng used local resources to help them survive for a while...
Don't take it to heart...
After the constable led them away, he whispered words of comfort.
His voice was indeed indescribably open-minded, showing no sign of resentment from being ostracized or oppressed.
The elder brother, Song Chenghou, nodded and smiled in response to the constable's kindness.
The constable said as he walked, "Life is already hard enough, if we make things even harder for each other..."
This is why Hainan Island is not thriving.
Everyone is only thinking about themselves.
However, as long as we live our lives well and don't make things difficult for them...
Life is manageable, albeit barely.
Hearing the bailiff say this, the other nine brothers of the Song family unconsciously stepped forward and walked alongside the bailiff so that they could hear what he had to say.
"Thank you, officer!"
Song Chenghou clasped his hands in a fist salute.
The constable smiled sheepishly, his honest face revealing a set of pearly white teeth as he grinned...
It feels somewhat out of place.
The Song brothers smiled unconsciously.
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