The morning in the prairie came earlier than in the big cities, but the temperature had dropped below freezing, and the yellow blades of grass were covered with a thick layer of hoarfrost, mixed with the dissipating mist, and looked extremely solemn. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

After we set off, the Cao team deliberately drove us west for a kilometer or two, saying that it was to take Zeng Yan to see the seasoning used to make noodles. We didn't know why, so we had to follow his car all the way.

Passing through a valley surrounded by a small river, Cao's team stopped the car. We walked on the meadow for a few more minutes, and when we climbed a small hill, Cao pointed to a dry gray-black plant in front of us and said to us, this is it.

These plants are noticeably taller than other grasses, but most of them have fallen down and it is impossible to see what they are. But many of the stems bear shriveled fruits that resemble black, pointed at both ends and rounded in the middle. There are also many scattered on the ground.

Everyone was obviously attracted by these fruits, I picked one up, smelled it, there was a faint smell of sesame flowers in the grass fragrance, and couldn't help blurting out: "Team Cao, this is a big firework?"

Team Cao nodded, "Wild big fireworks, what you have in your hands is a big smoke shell, and the opium smoke is extracted from it." When I was in Gansu, the local farmers secretly planted it, not to refine drugs, but to make tobacco paste, and when they were sick, they chewed a little, which had a good analgesic function. Those remote places lack medical treatment and medicine, everyone uses this method to carry it, as long as you don't make a big cigarette to smoke, no one cares, I didn't expect that there are also on this grassland. ”

What makes me strange is that Zeng Yan, who thought that she was the happiest, should be very excited to see this, but I didn't expect her to say nothing, squatting on the ground, carefully studying the big smoke shell.

"When we came was not good, a few months ago, when the big fireworks bloomed, it was called a beautiful, pink, red, and a lot of white, one by one, dazzling, the local farmers told me that the nectar of the big fireworks also has the ingredients of big smoke, bees and butterflies, picking honey will also be fascinated, up and down, flying in a circle, flying and falling to the ground, and more and more gathered, like a net on the flowers, looking very weird. Team Cao picked up a few more large cigarette shells on the side and introduced them to us.

"Team Cao, do you know how the big smoke is refined?" I pressed the big smoke shell, which was already hard like a walnut shell.

"It only takes a few days to collect the big smoke, it's early, the big smoke shell hasn't grown well, the big smoke that has been refined has no taste, and when it's late, the smoke shell becomes hard, and the juice can't flow out, so it's useless. The local farmers in Gansu do not pick the tobacco shell, but use a knife to cut a small hole on the tobacco shell, and then use a small tin pot to follow below, a bit like rubber tapping, the tin pot is full, back home, pour the juice into the pot to boil, the milky white juice soon turns dark yellow, after the water is dried, it becomes black, and it is oily, it is a big smoke ointment. It's all done in the countryside, and I don't know if it's the same way as the big cigarettes smoked in the old society. ”

"Team Cao, you put a big smoke shell in the noodles you gave us?" I still can't accept his seasoning method.

"It's okay, you can't be addicted to eating a big smoke shell, you can put some under the countryside, the clear water and white noodles are more fragrant than beef noodles, and now many hot pot restaurants put this. As Team Cao was talking, Zeng Yan walked over, frowned, and said to us.

"Team Cao, Uncle Chang, wolves often come here, there is a lot of fresh wolf dung nearby, you can take a look at this again" said and handed us a few large smoke shells.

Only then did we notice that there were traces of sharp teeth biting on these large cigarette shells, and some of them were even bitten.

"Xiao Zeng, are you saying that wolves will also come over and devour the big smoke shell?" I understood what Zeng Yan meant.

Zeng Yan nodded, "I've never read a record of wolves eating big smoke shells, this group of wolves is really strange, I don't know if they will be addicted." ”

"Beasts are beasts, these wolves have eaten big smoke shells, they may be more ferocious, we can only figure it out if we catch one" Teacher Qin walked over, and I noticed that he was carrying a rifle with a very long barrel on his shoulder, which was probably his usual tranquilizer gun.

We left the river valley with the big fireworks, and drove east for about four hours, and slowly saw the mountains in the distance, and Xiao Li, who was driving, told me that we had reached the Ula Ranch, and the mine was just below those mountains.

When we entered the gate of the mine, we found that the mine had become very large. More than a dozen heavy-duty trucks are parked in the factory area, unloading various machinery, and it seems that the mine will continue to expand. The boss of the mine is surnamed Li, in his early fifties, with a big Chinese face, and a cadre type who is not smiling. He came to greet us, one was the director of the local police station, and the other was the director of the security department of the square, the other was the director of the square's security department, both of them were thirty-six or seventeen years old, one was burly, and the other was lean.

After some simple settlement, in the small conference room of the mine, chaired by Mine Manager Li, a briefing meeting on the situation of the case was held. The meeting itself is just a simple explanation of the situation, which is not very different from what we know. But Mine Manager Li's introduction to the mine still solved a doubt in my heart. On the grassland, it is not uncommon for wolves to attack humans, although more than a dozen people died in the mine, and it is enough to organize a team and eliminate the wolves, so why bother to invite Cao and us to the grassland? Of course, there is something strange about this white circle, but it cannot overturn the fact that wolves eat people. Before this question came, I asked Team Cao, and Team Cao didn't know, so I said that it was the task arranged above.

But after listening to Mr. Li's introduction, I roughly knew the reason. Soon after the mine was mined, it was discovered that uranium ore was associated under the coal seam and that the reserves were large. Uranium ore is an important raw material for China's atomic energy industry and is highly valued by the state, so this mine is listed as a key project in the country. However, the underlying structure here is complex, and it is very difficult to mine and refine, so there is no large-scale mining, but it is still in the stage of mining and exploration. In addition, it is only more than 100 kilometers away from the national border, and although the Soviet Union has collapsed at that time, the threat from the north has not been eliminated, so the level of secrecy here is very high, and if something happens, it will naturally be reported layer by layer, and it is easy to be taken seriously by the competent authorities.

In addition, Mr. Li also introduced a situation to us, which aroused my great interest. In the process of building the mine, the exploration team found an abandoned mine tunnel, judging from the structure and some remnants inside, it was built by the Japanese during the Japanese occupation, and it is estimated that after the surrender of Japan, the outside buildings were blown up and the tunnel mouth was blocked. However, the exploration team explored along the tunnel and found that the lanes inside extend in all directions, and many of the lanes are very old, some of which can be traced back to the Yuan Dynasty. And the direction of the roadway is towards a deep valley in the mountains.

I have heard of some things that the Japanese have done in Northeast China, and Unit 731 is considered a human experiment, not the focus of Japanese research. In the Northeast, one of them is prospecting, and the other is to find the legendary dragon vein in China, and if they break the dragon vein, they will conquer China. At that time, the Fang family, the Liu family, and the Jia family with the five surnames of Wu Zhu fled to Chongqing, the Zhao family converted to Catholicism, and our Chang family was incognito, just for fear of being found by the Japanese and forcing out the clues of the dragon vein. If the tunnels of the Japanese extend in all directions and are connected with the tunnels of the Yuan Dynasty, I am afraid it will not be as simple as prospecting.

Apparently, Zeng Yan was not very interested in these historical descriptions, and she interrupted Mr. Li's remarks and asked about the vegetation around the mine, the living conditions of wild animals, and the living conditions of the surrounding herders. Wan Gong is almost 50 years old, and he has been surveying the ore veins here, and according to his description, the impact of the establishment of the mine on the grassland ecology in this area is far beyond our expectations.

About a year ago, when the mine was established, due to inconvenient transportation, meat and vegetables were in short supply, after all, there were four or five hundred people in the mine, counting the transport teams, more than seven hundred, vegetables were easy to solve, some meadows were leveled on the edge of the mine, and some seasonal vegetables were planted, although the yield was lower, but the outside was barely enough. Meat is a bit troublesome, at the beginning, the outside transport is limited, just buy some cattle and sheep from the herdsmen, it is not enough, the security department organized hunting in the grassland, there are some yellow sheep and roe deer on the grassland, the number is not much, hares, badgers and foxes are a lot, but after half a year, within a radius of 100 miles, it is basically extinct.

This summer, there was a serious rodent infestation on the grassland, a large number of voles and hamsters have eaten up the grass roots of the grassland, and the nearby herders have said that next year the grass will be very thin, and there will not be too many cattle and sheep, and they have begun to move away, and now there may be less than 10 herders left around the mine, compared to hundreds a year ago.

"Then why don't you organize everyone to exterminate rodent pests?" Zeng Yan was quick to ask, and asked the question that everyone wanted to ask.

Wan Gong smiled bitterly and slowly told a reason why we couldn't cry or laugh.

It turns out that the underground operation of the mine is a very dangerous job, gas explosions, landslides, water seepage, toxic gases, these all threaten the lives of miners, but no matter how deep the mine, there are also swarms of rats. Rats have a keen sense of smell and hearing, and many miners believe that they have a strong sixth sense for impending danger. Therefore, when there is danger in the mine, the rats will swarm to run up the mine, and the miners will also evacuate the mine as soon as possible when they see the abnormal behavior of the rats, and it can be said that the rats have saved the lives of many miners.

After a long time, the miners no longer hate mice, but look at them as gods, not only do not fight, but also often bring some food to feed the mice, and in some places there is even the spiritual position of the rat eight masters, before going down the mine to incense worship, this custom has been a long time, after liberation as a feudal superstition was banned, and it has prevailed in recent years, after all, it is a major event related to the life and death of the miners, and the mine will turn a blind eye. Miners are so respectful of rats, how can anyone go and exterminate them?

(There is no fixed phase in this day.) Be skilful with fate. Righteousness is all right. And if there is no state of wisdom and unwisdom, and even cause and non-cause and effect. Convenient and casual. In the cause of the name of the cause. In the name of the fruit fruit. In the name of the realm. In Chi Ming Chi. Therefore, the cause and the wisdom of the environment will be known. - "Vajra Prajna")

(To be continued.) )