Chapter 61: A New Life, New Hope
The so-called "special treatment" is a special welcome measure prepared by Wu Wei for the slaves who have just arrived in Ansai, but in fact, it is just a group bath. The slaves were divided into two teams, men and women, and bathed in public baths, where hot water, towels, and sulfur soap were prepared. The common people here in northern Shaanxi do not like to take baths very much, and it is said that they only take baths three times in their lives, that is, when they are born, married and when they die. In fact, it's not that they don't want to wash, it's just that the conditions are limited and there is too much lack of water. Even though Wu Wei's efforts have greatly improved the local water supply conditions, how can the long-formed habits be so easy to break? Wu Wei, as a modern person, although he is not said to have a habit of cleanliness, but he does not belong to the category of sloppy, and he hates this situation the most. The camp of the victims could not take care of it for a while, so they could only strictly demand the basic hygiene habits of the victims, not to defecate in the open, not to litter, not to drink raw water, etc., Rao is so, and the sanitary situation has also been greatly improved, so that the prefect Zhang Bangyan is greatly amazed.
As for his subordinates, Wu Wei put forward higher requirements, and built a public bath for them, requiring them to take a bath after working every day. The so-called public bath, in fact, is a windowless house, inside a large pool, the whole is paved with bluestone, 3 zhang square, can accommodate hundreds of people to bathe at the same time, just like the appearance of the bathhouse in later generations. The staff of the bathroom, including those who clean the sink, burn the boiler, store clothes, etc., are recruited from the family members first, and a sum of money is paid every month. In addition, the bathroom also recruits a lot of scrubbing workers, if the bather is willing to spend a small extra money, you can enjoy the bath, massage, ear cleaning, pedicure and other value-added services. Unexpectedly, the officers and soldiers and their families quickly fell in love with this enjoyment, and the people in line rushed to the open time of the bathroom, and many people stayed in the pool for two hours, and even chatted and bragged inside, and did not leave contentedly until the bathroom door closed, so it also affected the use of the people behind. After more than five officers protested to Wu Wei, Wu Wei had to enforce that each person should not use it for more than half an hour, and planned to build several more bathrooms, one of which was only open to officers above the captain level.
Today the servants arrived in Ansai for the first time, just as a new bathroom had just been completed and opened for the first time today, and they were lucky enough to be the first new customers. A fat and stout bathroom manager in his mid-30s instructed the valets to strip naked in the changing room, throw them together, and then drink them into the bathroom, strip them naked, and squat in a row. A dozen big men each carried a bucket of hot water in front of them, rudely broke their buns, watered their hair with a wooden spoon, then rubbed it with sulfur soap, rubbed and scratched it vigorously with their big fan-like hands, and then rinsed it with a wooden spoon. Everyone's hair has not been washed for a long time, and it has been stuck together with thick grease and dirt, and it can't be foamed up after several times of soap, not to mention that there are white head lice and lice eggs inside, which makes people's scalp tingle. The flushed sewage flowed down the drain to the outside of the bathroom, and a thick layer of gray-black dirt floated on it. The men then stuffed the sulfur soap into each person's hand and asked them to continue washing it as before, until the soap was hit and a large amount of white foam was produced. It wasn't an easy task, and it took half an hour to get to an end, but now everyone's hair looked much fresher. In fact, Wu Wei's initial plan was to let everyone shave their heads, but he didn't expect that when it was implemented among officers and soldiers, it aroused strong opposition, and they would rather spend an hour a day washing their hair than damage half a cent. Since Wu Wei did not have the courage of the Manchus to implement the shaving order, he had no choice but to give in to everyone, but he still insisted that the officers and soldiers must wash their hair frequently, and if anyone was found to have head lice during the internal affairs inspection a month later, they would be forced to shave their hair.
After washing their hair, the valets were driven down to the pool again, and sat down at the shouts of the middle-aged fat man just now. The hot pool water immediately flooded his chest, and his whole body was immediately stimulated by the intense heat, and his limbs were warm, and some people couldn't help but moan comfortably. The fat man had seen a lot of this situation, and said triumphantly: "How is it, comfortable?" This is all thanks to the blessing of adults, otherwise where can you mud-legged people enjoy this? His tone was quite polite, but everyone felt that it was reasonable, and they did not think it was wrong at all.
After soaking for half an hour, the middle-aged fat man ordered a dozen people from the crowd and ordered them to get up from the pool and lie naked on the wooden frame bed on the side of the bathroom. At this moment, the big men reappeared, wearing coarse cloth gloves for scrubbing and dipped in soap, rubbing the men's skin rudely. Everyone doesn't know how long it has been since they bathed, the dirt on their bodies has formed a thick hard shell, just soaked in the hot water in the pool, the dirt on the whole body is fluffy, and it rolls down with a light rub, detached from the body, which is shocking! The hands of the bathing men are very strong, although everyone is rough and thick-skinned, and the skin is also rubbed, but the effect is indeed obvious, as large clumps of dirt fall from the body, it didn't take long for the whole body to be cleaned up, revealing the original pink skin. In the end, the big men poured water with a wooden spoon to rinse everyone up and down, and the whole process was completed, and then the next group of people painted gourds in the same way.
Everyone went out of the bathroom after taking a bath, but found that their clothes were missing, and in a panic, they heard the fat man drink: "According to the order of the lord, all the new clothes will be distributed, and all the clothes they wore before will be burned!" "In these days, the clothes on the body are one of the only precious possessions, and the smell of them is about to be burned, and everyone cannot help but be shocked. At this time, several men brought in several large baskets from the outside, which were filled with brand-new jackets, cotton pants, shoes and socks, etc., which were exactly the clothes of the season. I heard the fat man laugh again: "The grace of the chief soldier, each person has two sets of clothes, shoes and socks!" And he said, "The tattered and slippery clothes are still left for it, and the fleas are not brought in." Since you are with us, are you still afraid that you will not be able to wear new clothes? Sue you, the better days are yet to come! Everyone was surprised and delighted, hurriedly changed into clothes, pants, shoes and socks, and didn't care whether it fit or not, just pick up the wide cover on the body, not for anything else, the size is big and go back to change the size to be smaller, I am afraid that I will not have to get the cloth out. The fat man understood everyone's thoughts, and he didn't speak, but only looked with a smile.
Out of the bathroom door, everyone is a new look, as if the body is a little lighter, looking at each other, are quite novel, as if the first time to meet, thinking of the shape before the arrival, are full of emotion. As soon as those half-grown orphans got new clothes, they jumped low and high, and they were full of joy. There was a fire not far away, and it was actually burning the clothes that had been taken off earlier, with a faint crackling sound, and I don't know how many fleas and bedbugs had burned to death. Somehow, the clothes that were regarded as treasures in the past were burned, and everyone didn't think it was a pity at this time.
After a while, all the women also washed it, their hair was wet, and they were also dressed in new clothes like the men, and their originally dark skin actually showed a little color, and when they smiled shyly, they even caused the soldiers on the side to salivate and be at a loss.
After everyone converged, Luo Rucai arranged for people to lead them to their residences to settle down, and everyone talked about the novel scenery on both sides along the way. There are many loess shapes in northern Shaanxi, and what is prepared for everyone is also a newly dug cave according to the terrain. When they arrived at the place, when everyone looked at it, they saw that it was spacious and tidy, sunny and sheltered, and they were all equipped with new doors and windows, as well as beds and ondols, which was a pattern that could be moved in directly. According to Wu Wei's arrangement, according to the size of the cave, or a family in a cave, or two families live together, single women or orphans are either 5 or 6 people in a room, or 7 or 8 people in a room, just like the university dormitory in later generations, but there is no high and low bed, but a large kang through the bunk. This arrangement has exceeded everyone's expectations, and everyone is happy to settle down without mentioning it.
Ask for collection, ask for recommendation, ask for reward, Wuchang fish, thank you!