In August, Jiangnan is still bright, but in the far northern border region of Manzhouli, it is cold and bleak, and it will not be long before the season of fluttering snowflakes arrives.

It's just that Zeng Ming's mansion is in full swing at this time, and the faces of the master's family, the servants, and everyone are all rippling with the fiery heat of midsummer, rippling with the joy of the New Year.

Because the male owner of his family had just appeared, he had already been in the Investigation and Statistics Bureau of the Military Commission, which was famous in the northeast of the country, and was 'invited' by the military commander to visit for half a month, and finally returned home safely.

In the past few days, Zeng's mansion is dark, and his wife Zeng, who only goes to the temple once or twice a year to pray for blessings on weekdays, directly opened a shrine in the wing, which not only worships Rulai and Guanyin, but also the Jade Emperor and Taoism Sanqing. Zeng's almost confused approach is the best interpretation of the entire Zeng Mansion in a state of confusion and panic after Zeng Ming was asked to leave.

Fortunately, their master returned home safely after half a month. The people of the military commander also sent a special car to send their master back. All the gloom and gloom of the Zeng Mansion were swept away.

Although Zeng Ming walked in when he entered the army, and when he came out, he was carried out, but at least he was embarrassed. There has not even been any change in the official position.

In Zeng's house, Zeng Ming was carried into the house and placed on a soft couch.

Zeng's people have been losing weight in the past half a month, but as soon as they saw that the backbone of the family came back from the military command safely, their spirit instantly replenished half, and they immediately called someone to call a doctor to show Zeng Ming's legs. Zeng Ming's two knees were bruised and purple, which was the only visible trauma on his body, and it made people feel very serious at first glance.

Zeng Ming held her hand and said, "You go lie down first and see how thin you have become." As soon as he came home and saw Zeng's appearance, his heart was not happy. Although he didn't have a good time in the military command, Zeng Ming didn't do anything illegal and treasonous, even if he went in, he was confident. Zeng Ming is no longer successful, and he is also an old man from Lushan, and he has something to do with it. If the people of the military commander dared to force him on his head what he had not done, Zeng Ming would also be able to make the military commander feel bad.

But how worried the people out there must be, and there are rumors.

In the past few months, the military commanders have become famous in the northeast and abroad, and few people who have entered have been able to come out again. If Zeng hadn't been worried about dying, would she have been able to lose weight like she is now?

Zeng Ming's concubines also came over with pale faces, their eyes swollen like walnuts, and as soon as they came in, they knelt in front of his bed and hugged his legs and cried, "My lord, what's wrong with you......"

If it was usual, Zeng Ming would also feel sorry for them, after all, the concubine has a good color, young and moisturized. But now that Zeng, a thin person who was out of shape, stood in front of him, Zeng Ming suddenly didn't feel any good about these women. In comparison, the appearance of the concubines made him disgusting. He didn't even bother to look at it, and several concubines still wanted to fight for him to go to their house to recuperate, so Zeng Ming waved his hand and asked his subordinates to pull him out of the room.

Zeng's heart was very comfortable when he saw a few concubines being pulled away, but he was also polite: "They are also worried about you." ”

Zeng Ming shook his head, held her hand and lay down and said, "If you have to worry about it, just stay in the room and don't come out to obstruct my eyes." ”

Zeng turned around and went out of the room and ordered that the concubines be grounded.

"There will definitely be a lot of people in the next few days." Zeng Ming didn't care what the Zeng family did, the old husband and wife had feelings at the critical moment. He walked around the military command for a while, but he walked out in a hurry, which almost put a 'loyal and reliable' talisman on his head. The testifier, Comrade Zeng Ming, is still a good comrade who is reliable and competent, and a good and loyal comrade of the imperial court. Anyone can rest assured that they can boldly come to the set.

Unlike in the previous half a month, Zengfu was cold and cold, like a patient with leprosy, everyone hid far away, and the door was full of birds. Only a few real friends sent people to the door.

Zeng's face showed a hint of disgust, "They are all unreliable people." In the past few days that you have been in, except for the He family and the Zhao family, who have they shown their heads excessively? Gave me a word of relief? They all regard our family as a plague god, and now they are going to stutter again. "Zeng's memory is not bad, and she also has her own small book in her heart.

"Hurry up and have someone deliver a letter to the child so that they can feel at ease at school. His dad was fine. ”

"Prepare a generous gift and send it to the He family and the Zhao family. Hardship sees the truth. This is not only about the men and women in Zeng Ming's backyard, but also on the entire Zeng family's network. This catastrophe made him see clearly, who is the real friend and who is the face-to-face friendship.

Zeng's heart is mixed.

The Zeng family has two boys, one attends the police academy in Harbin, and the other attends middle school in Hulunbuir.

Harbin's too far away to make any difference; Influential is Hulunbuir......

To say that she should be happy today, but now she can't keep the smile on her face, tears are flowing down, she covers her mouth and leans against Zeng Ming's bedside, and whimperes in a low voice.

Zeng Ming's legs were distressed when he moved now, but he still tried to reach out and pat her, and at this time he also came back to his senses. I was arrested for half a month, and the news could not reach Harbin, but also to Hulunbuir, and what happened to the child can be imagined, and the name of the military commander is as loud as Hulunbuir.

"Don't be sad, don't be sad. I'm all back, and I'll be fine in the future. Zeng Ming said abruptly, "Children, it's a good thing to be a little frustrated...... it's a good thing." ”

The doctor didn't need Zeng's family to shout, He Huazhang heard that Zeng Ming was sent home by the military commander's carriage, so he immediately rushed to Zeng's house with the doctor and medicinal materials from the customs medical room. Zeng Ming is in his early forties, and the peak of his body has long passed, and he has lost a lot of vitality in half a month, although he never said how the injury on his leg was left, and even did not admit that the injury was left for him by the military commander, but fortunately, it is not impossible to recover, but there may be some joint pain, rheumatism and other sequelae in the future.

He Huazhang didn't stay in Zeng's mansion for long, Zeng Ming needed rest most now, and after talking to He Huazhang for a while, the whole person's spirit was gone.

was sent out of Zeng's mansion, but He Huazhang was stunned on the way back to find that there was a different taste in the city of Manchuria.

Squad of soldiers, heavily armed soldiers!

It should be the one who rushed into the city when he entered Zeng's house, not the local border guards. Groups of stern-minded soldiers frightened the people in the streets, the small vendors were much less, and some shops were closed. The streets are deserted.

"What part are you from? This official is the customs superintendent of Manzhouli. ”

"Hello sir, our unit is the second battalion of the fourth detachment of the Northeast Frontier Army, and we are ordered to go to Manchuria to carry out the mission."

The latter would come forward to inquire when they saw suspicious people and cars on the road, and when He Huazhang's carriage was stopped, He Huazhang revealed his identity, and who took it to ask the soldiers. And the soldier said so much in total, and if he asked again, it would be a secret. He Huazhang's carriage was stopped three or five times on the way home.

He Huazhang got out of the carriage and was silent for a long time, and went straight back to the room to rest. On the way back, he heard the sound of crying that shook the sky, and the place where the crying sound, if his memory was not bad, was the official palace street in Manchuria.

The current county government no longer has a place to live, and many officials have to find their own homes. And the officials in the entire Manchuria, except for a few people such as He Huazhang and Zeng Ming, most of them gathered on the same street. In Manzhouli, the local street is called Guanjie.

I don't know how many people are going to be unlucky.

Just where He Huazhang couldn't see, several people were tied up and knelt in the center of a group of soldiers. Not far away, there were also these people's entourage, bodyguards, doormen and others, all of whom were tied up there. There were also letters, paper and letters found in the house, and there were several large boxes.

The young and beautiful girl couldn't escape, crying and crying, and stood aside with a disgraced face.

Of course, they don't have to worry, as long as they are screened, they will naturally be free.

But the families of these people were not so lucky.

The power of one person is limited, and all families and in-laws are in the 21st century, and they are also a vital part of the Chinese love network. At present, people in this era love to pull relatives everywhere, and they can pull a string of them. Even if there is no continuous sitting, if an official has a problem, there must be someone next to him who will go into the water together.

In addition to the county government, customs, and garrisons in Manchuria, there is also a densely populated area, that is, labor camps.

The Manchuria Labor Camp is a reinforced camp with a labor force of more than 600 people, and even after deducting the healthy women, the labor force that meets the standard is more than 500.

With the addition of children, women with weak working capacity, and a few elderly people, the population of the entire camp exceeded 1,000. And the forces guarding them also had a reinforced platoon.

In the past, labor camps were rarely arranged at the border, for fear that the latter would escape. Even if there are arrangements, they are mostly guarded by 'heavy soldiers'.

But that's no longer the case. The appearance of the banner men who had fled back from the Russians made the prisoners in the labor camps and their families dare not think about the Russians.

At present, most of the personnel of this labor camp in Manchuria have fled back from the Russians and surrendered, and their task in Manchuria is to repair official roads and build public facilities such as schools, squares, and sewers. Although the workload was heavy and tiring, at least they were well fed.

Potatoes, sweet potatoes, polenta, as well as military rations and aged rice that are about to expire and expired processed by the munitions system, this is their food.

The weather is cold, winter is coming, and Zhou Tiezhu is no longer supervising the construction site every day.

The old wound on his leg was always a concern.

At the beginning, he became a veteran after suffering a leg injury, but that restless heart made him stay home for a while, and then responded to the call of the General's Mansion and went to Shanghai to work as an overseer. At that time, his men were prisoners of war captured by the Fu Han army on the battlefields of the First Battle of Changzhou and Hangzhou, as well as the Battle of Wusongkou and the subsequent Battle of Zhoushan. There are sailors and Lu Yong, there are Qing troops and regimental training, there are people from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, there are people from Anhui, there are people from southern Jiangsu, and there are people from northern Jiangsu. There are high and low identities, the highest is Qianzong, and the lowest is an ordinary soldier.

Then Zhou Tiezhu entered the labor camp system, and has been working until now.

From the southeast to the northwest, and now to the northeast.

In the headquarters of the labor camp, Zhou Tiezhu was playing cards with several subordinates. Before going to the northwest, Zhou Tiezhu never thought it was interesting to play cards, but now that he has appreciated the charm of playing cards, it is no wonder that someone can play all day and night.

Knowing that everyone is letting him, he will return the money he wins to them anyway, just have fun.

Everyone in the house was playing cards, and the guards outside were still loaded with guns and ammunition, and the fence was closed.

Although the labor camp system has been implemented for so many years, no labor camp prisoner has ever succeeded in rebellion, but this guarantee relies on the strict rules and regulations of the labor camp.

The headquarters is also a small bunker in a labor camp, and the security must be strict.

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Does anyone want it? ”

"Four tens! Bomb! ”

The atmosphere of the card game was high, and the paperwork of the labor camp walked in. This is a Xiucai who was only admitted to the civil service of the Ministry of Labor last year, and was assigned to Manchuria.

Zhou Tiezhu has a little impression of him, his surname is Zhang, and he is a quiet young man.

"Zhang Lei, come here for me, I'll go out for a walk." A man with glasses called Zhang Lei.

Zhang Lei washed his hands and sat down, played the cards in his hand with his eyes, and said while playing: "Just now the county government came to report, many families have been arrested by the family, and they are not allowed to be punished in labor camps." ”

In the past two days, they have been raiding their homes and taking people, not only in Manchuria, but also in Hulunbuir, and they also know it. Including Zeng Ming, Director Zeng was also released two days ago. And as long as someone is unlucky, it can be involved in their labor camps.

Hearing Zhang Lei say this, the people at the card table were accustomed to talking and laughing, only Zhang Lei's own face was a little unbearable.

"These people deserve all their crimes. They deserve to be reformed through labor. Zhou Tiezhu said: "Besides, isn't it better to enter a labor camp now than to distribute thousands of miles in the past?" Slaves to the people in armor, I bah, it is better to be punished in a labor camp now. ”

Zhou Tou was right. After entering our labor camp, there is still time to be released. The former Tartar was sent out to be enslaved by the armorer, but he couldn't turn over for many lifetimes. ”

"Besides, what's wrong with us here? There is food and shelter, food and clothing, and there is a doctor to treat the sick. During the New Year's holidays, you can also see meat and fruit snacks. The mistake is that now the new imperial court is in place, and we Han people are sitting in the world by ourselves. Twenty years ago, look at how many people can't ask for such a day? ”

"Although there is no money in the labor camp, there are also points, right? Those points can be exchanged for things, right? ”

"There are also cotton clothes issued by the imperial court, which can be dead and heavy. In the northeast, Mongolia, and northwest, two new sets of new camps are issued a year in all labor camps in the northern Xinjiang region. There are also two pairs of cotton shoes, gloves or something, which are issued every year. Save up, and when you get out of the labor camp, won't you be able to exchange money? "Two sets of new ones were issued, and the old ones were taken back.

"I think that the life of our labor camp is hard, but I have never cried. When the stomach is hungry and croaking, no one will feel that the life in the labor camp is ......."