Chapter 1045 What the militiamen saw and heard
Chapter 1045 What the militiamen saw and heard (I typed the wrong number)
The slaves transported from the north did not stay in Weishan County for long, and were transferred to various places again. The 5,000 slaves sent to Xingang County were the simplest. They could land directly at the dock and then take the train to the mine in Xingang County.
More than 6,000 women were sent directly to an empty island in the middle of the lake by boat, and then a large amount of daily necessities would be transported there. The next step was to wait for the screening of the medical school and the garment factory organized by Xiaodie.
The other young and strong male slaves, as well as more than 2,000 old men, and the 10,000 and several hundred underage boys were all transferred to flying fish boats and transported to the south, or directly to various construction sites, or formed into engineering troops and sent to open up wasteland and cultivate land.
As for those ships coming from the north to the south, they needed to stop in Weishan County for supplies. Tens of thousands of people had been eating, drinking, defecating and urinating on the boats for more than a month. The smell was so pungent that people rolled their eyes, so they needed to be cleaned up.
In addition, since there will no longer be such a large number of slaves going south, and the slaves have been sent to the south, there is no need to send so much food from the north. It is only necessary to send food to satisfy their own people. Therefore, the ships going south this time do not need to return in full.
It was during this period of rest that the militiamen who escorted the prisoners south finally saw the strength of the Han tribe.
This group of northern survivors who have joined the Han tribe for several years have never seen what the Han tribe looks like. Although it is hard to sail on the ship for more than a month this time, it is actually nothing to see the true face of the Han tribe.
I still remember the night before arriving at Weishan County, the fleet was sailing on the river. More than a month of continuous sailing not only made the slaves feel tortured, but also the militiamen on the same boat were uncomfortable. Many people began to feel irritable. They walked all the way and could not see any signs of human activities on both sides. It seemed that the Han tribe they joined seemed to have become the legendary kingdom of God, something that did not exist in the world at all.
Just when the militiamen began to lose heart, a thick beam of light suddenly swept across the night sky and passed over their sails. It was the light from the Morning Star Lighthouse on the Weishan County dock. The white rotating beam of light could reach as far as fifty miles away.
Such a dazzling white beam of light kept sweeping over their heads, frightening many militiamen. They didn't know what weird things had happened in the middle of the night.
At this moment, the sailors on the ship pointed to the distance and shouted.
"It's the Morning Star Lighthouse! It's the lighthouse of our Han tribe! We are almost at the dock of Weishan County!"
The militiamen were immediately excited when they heard the shouts. Many of them ran up from the cabin and stood on the deck to look at the white beams of light that kept sweeping in the distance, because such a dazzling strong light was obviously impossible to be a product of human beings in their worldview.
"Have we reached the Han tribe?"
"There seems to be a county of the Han tribe ahead. I wonder how big it is and what it looks like. Do the people there look like us? They must be living a better life, right?"
"What is that light? Why is it spinning in circles? Was it made by the people of the Han tribe?"
"How far is it? We can see the lights. It should not be far. We have been walking for more than forty days!"
The deck became extremely lively in an instant. The militiamen all started talking at once. This situation immediately attracted the captain's attention. Hearing the militiamen's discussions, the captain quickly appeared at the edge of the stern deck and shouted to the militiamen below.
“Fellow countrymen, the Weishan County of our Han tribe is ahead. The two beams of light that keep rotating are the lights emitted by the Morning Star Lighthouse at the dock of Weishan County, which is specially used to guide the direction of ships sailing at night. This shows that we have arrived at the busiest inland waterway in Weishan County. When we go ashore tomorrow, everyone can have a good rest.
“The Weishan County ahead is a large agricultural county in our Han tribe, with a permanent population of 40,000 to 50,000 people, who are distributed in the six counties under the jurisdiction of Weishan County. At the same time, Weishan County is also the largest inland water and land transfer terminal of our Han tribe. Many ships heading to the north set out from here, including the Shen Ce Guard that set out to the north last year, which also set out from here. Now we will soon arrive.
"When we go ashore tomorrow morning, we must remain highly vigilant. Don't relax the supervision of slaves just because we are here. We must prevent slaves from causing trouble in densely populated cities. So everyone should work hard for the last time. With so many people, I guess the higher-ups will definitely let them go ashore in batches."
The captain, like a professional tour guide, first briefly introduced the situation of Weishan County to the militiamen, so that everyone would have a general idea and not wait until then to make any trouble.
In fact, this introduction was quite useful. At least when the fleet approached the dock and the militiamen saw the lighthouse with their naked eyes, they did not bow their heads and shout stupid words like "God bless you".
Everyone was amazed, but they already knew that it was a man-made creation of the Han tribe, just an oversized calcium carbide lamp. There was nothing strange about it, so the militiamen did not have wild thoughts and their own brains.
I have seen calcium carbide lamps! We have one on our ship!
I didn't expect the craftsmen of the Han tribe to be so powerful that they could make the lamp so big!
This is roughly what they really felt when they saw the lighthouse.
Although it was late at night, the dock of Weishan County was not peaceful. The people in the nearby city had already gone to bed, but the dock for cargo transfer was very busy. Every day and night, there was no telling how much cargo would be unloaded from the train and loaded onto the ship, and how much cargo would be loaded from the ship onto the train.
A neat row of tower cranes on the shore were lifting cargo, carrying the hanging basket full of coke to the sky above the train, and then controlling the gate to pour the coke down. The cranes next to them were also constantly lifting rails and steel bars, as well as a large number of steel ingots, which were all construction materials to be sent to the south.
The Weishan County dock was still so busy at night that all the berths and piers were occupied. Moreover, this was a fleet that had just come from the north. They could not dock directly before their identities were verified.
Therefore, the fleet quickly released a small boat and sent people to negotiate with the port authorities at the dock, and also passed on the news that the slaves were being transported.
Now that the militia had arrived, they were not in a hurry to go ashore. The bustling night scene at the dock seemed like another world to them.
It was clearly midnight, but countless lights illuminated the dock as bright as day. Countless strong men and sailors were busy on the boat and on the shore. Some clerks wearing black cloth hats kept shouting and checking the quantity of goods with account books.
There is also a vendor area on the shore, selling all kinds of food, such as steamed buns, dumplings, sesame cakes, pancakes, fried rice, noodles, and all kinds of staple foods for filling the stomach. There are also snacks like rice dumplings, barbecue, rice cakes, and home-cooked dishes. Next to the vendor area is a large market with all kinds of fresh vegetables, fruits, and fresh meat.
And because it is close to the lake, there are naturally many kinds of fish and shrimp.
The vendor area is also very lively. Many strong men who have finished their work and sailors who have just docked will have a meal here. Some of them order two plates of side dishes and a pot of white wine. A dozen sailors get together to drink to relieve the fatigue of long-term sailing. Many strong men who are loading and unloading at the dock come here just to have a full meal and replenish their physical strength.
The city was quiet because of the curfew, but the dock outside the city was brightly lit and bustling with people. The city, the dock, and the ship seemed to have become three independent worlds. The militiamen from the north looked at the prosperous night scene on the shore and felt a little inferior for a while, afraid that the people on the shore would laugh at them. They were all citizens under the rule of the Han tribe, so why did they feel inexplicably inferior? !
Fortunately, this idea did not last long. The militiamen received good news. Everyone could go ashore in batches. After going ashore, their activities had to be controlled and they should not make trouble. However, their food and drink expenses would be reimbursed by the government. This was of course great news for the militiamen who had never eaten anything good.
It was soon dawn, and the distribution plan of slaves had been passed down. Because 5,000 slaves were to be transported to Xingang County, ten ships could be freed at once. Ten large ships docked, and the slaves were sent to the train station, loaded onto the train under the escort of the militia, and then packed like sardines in a can, and pulled away directly by the train.
It was the first time in their lives that the militia had seen a train with such a terrifying transportation capacity. This guy, the cargo capacity is almost catching up with the sailboat! The militia who witnessed the train were not only amazed, no wonder the Han tribe could make such a sophisticated and powerful musket, it turned out that the musket was nothing compared to the train.
After sending the slaves on the train, the militia could finally rest. Because these people did not know the way, Lu Guangzhu, the governor of Weishan County, specially sent some minor officials from the county government office to act as guides.
The militiamen, led by the clerk, drooled as they passed the snack area at the dock. Even after they had walked past, they could not help but look back, still complaining that the tribe was stingy and reluctant to let them eat here.
But just when they were dissatisfied, the shout of the clerk leading the way suddenly came from the front.
"My fellow countrymen from the north, I know that everyone is hungry. We haven't eaten anything good for more than a month, but the dock is too chaotic, and it is difficult for us to manage everyone eating here. The county governor has prepared food for you at the inn. Please follow me. I guarantee that the food at the inn is not worse than here."
Everyone was happy when they heard this, and quickened their pace to the inn. The food at the inn was indeed not bad, classic hot pot, classic skewers, noodles and pancakes, etc. In general, they made whatever was cooked quickly, otherwise it would be difficult for them to ask the chefs at the inn to cook hundreds of servings of food before dawn.
After everyone had eaten and drunk enough at the inn, they were taken to the bathhouse. Bathhouses have only become popular in Liuyang County and Weishan County in the past two years. With the steam engine, the Han tribe had large boilers, and with the water pumps for pumping water, a modern bathhouse was formed.
Ordinary people may not need a bathhouse, and the people can wash themselves at home, but for those sailors who have been floating on the ship for a long time, this is a rare place to relax.
The militiamen from the north obviously have never encountered such a way of hospitality. It is normal to invite people to dinner, but what is the hell to invite people to take a bath together? Some people even felt that the water temperature was too hot and dared not go into the water, but after being dragged into the water by their companions, they couldn't help but groan. It was really fucking comfortable. This was an experience they had never had before.
After everyone finished taking a bath, they were taken to the inn to sleep again. There were no private rooms, but there were plenty of large bunks, but the quilts were very clean and the kang was already heated, so that the militiamen could finally sleep well.
Eating, bathing, sleeping, the whole process of hospitality finally made the militiamen who came from afar feel at home. It turned out that the Han tribe did not look down on their compatriots who were far away in the northern cold land.
After almost a day, the distribution order of other slaves also came down. More than 6,000 female slaves were transferred to the lake island without even getting off the ship. However, before they left, the militiamen who were responsible for escorting them on the ship went ashore in advance.
The remaining young and old men, as well as tens of thousands of slave teenagers, were transported to the south, so they all transferred ships in Weishan County and took flying fish boats to various places in the south. Even the more than 2,000 old men were directly loaded onto the cargo ship transporting steel bars. Because this ship was originally sent to the construction site of the cross-sea bridge, it happened to be the same as the destination of these old slaves, so they simply did not send other ships and sent them away directly.
All the young slaves and strong slaves were also transferred to the flying fish boats and sent to the south, because the boats used by Qubing when he went to the north were mostly old-fashioned three-masted sailing ships and two-masted sailing ships with slow speeds, so they only sailed on the less busy routes in the north. If they took the southern rivers, they might get stuck in a narrow place somewhere, which was not impossible.
But it was also good that the militiamen responsible for escorting the slaves were all freed. They left the smelly and closed cabins and came to the shore to wash up, eat, drink and rest. They could recover in less than two days.
Such a comfortable day may not be long, but it is not so short. The freed boats had to be washed and then loaded with various materials to be transported to the north again, because Qubing and Youye had proposed to formally establish counties in the north. In order to support their construction in the north, they had to bring a lot of materials when they returned this time.
Of course, there were more various machines and tools so that they could produce materials in the north by themselves. After all, it is better to teach a man how to fish than to give him a fish!
(End of this chapter)
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