In the Qing Dynasty, the Chinese New Year's Eve of the lunar calendar is the thirtieth day of the Chinese New Year's Eve, which refers to the last day of the lunar month, so the names of the New Year and the New Year, in this era, all refer to the meaning of the lunar year, and the so-called New Year's Day at this time refers to the first day of the first lunar month, not the New Year of the Gregorian calendar.

In any case, for the Chinese at that time, the New Year was a big event, not only representing the farewell to the old and welcoming the new, but also representing hope and expectation, it is the most important festival for the Chinese people, and after a year of hardship, they must always have a good time on the last day and get some joy.

It is precisely because this day is very important that even the soldiers in the camp have gradually become accustomed to life in the barracks, and feel that this place is a thousand times better than their hometown, but in the end, it is a group of young and cultured young people.

Most of these young people's parents are still alive, the so-called parents are here, they don't travel far, coupled with the small social environment of the small-scale peasant economy, they have almost never been away from their families for a long time before, and now they are suddenly away from home for so long for closed training, there will always be some discomfort.

In the past, because of the intense training and curiosity about everything, those homesickness were forgotten for a while, but now as the end of the year is gradually approaching, with the richer cultural knowledge, and with the decline of curiosity, their homesickness is rehooked, and the thoughts of missing family are getting stronger and stronger. In other words, most of them want to get out of the barracks and be with their families, if not to go home for the New Year, at least to go home for a look.

After all, most of these officers and soldiers are family members, unlike the slaves and maids he bought, and his eldest brother has also come several times recently, in addition to transporting supplies, he has also repeatedly proposed that if he is not busy, he will go back to his second home after the New Year and get together with his family, and he also said that the second sister will also come back this time.

Considering that the troops were newly built, there was no war, and it was not in wartime, so Li Yongji felt that the officers and soldiers should be given the next annual leave for both public and private purposes.

But after all, this is an army, not a company, everything must be disciplined, and the training is at a critical moment, in order to waste a few days of time for the New Year, it will strictly reduce the efficiency of learning, plus what they learn during this period is more sensitive......

In short, out of various considerations, Li Yongji decided that the whole army would still be closed and spend the New Year in the camp, but he could let the soldiers write back and let their families come to the camp to celebrate the New Year together on the 30th day of the Chinese New Year's Eve, and everyone would have a Chinese New Year's Eve dinner together, so that everyone could meet in the barracks.

That is to say, he wants to have a military and civilian cheer in the barracks where he nourishes his heart, and when the family members of every soldier come over, the barracks will provide free food and drink, and will also give each family member a free red envelope and New Year's goods.

The problem of pick-up and drop-off is really not a thing, because of the Yongji Fund, now there are as many as five boat shops under the Li family and the Wang clan, and there are six carriage and horse shops, although the scale is large and small, but the transportation capacity is good, and most of them are in their hometowns, and most of these soldiers are recruited in piles, so it is not a problem to pick up and drop off their families.

Originally, Li Yongji was still thinking about whether this policy was good or not, especially whether those family members were willing to come, who knew that as soon as he announced this meaning, the whole army rejoiced, and everyone shouted that the adults were wise, and they were almost shouting long live.

In the end, I asked Zhou Da and others to find out that his decision was better for those soldiers than letting these soldiers go home. And the reason for this qiē is not complicated, in addition to being able to reunite with your family without leaving the camp, the most important thing is that you can send red envelopes and New Year's goods to your family.

As for the question of whether the families of these officers and soldiers are willing to come, this really underestimates the working people of this period. Don't mention anything else, as long as you explain that you will send red envelopes and New Year's goods for free when you come to the barracks, not to mention providing free pick-up and drop-off and free food and accommodation, it is not free, for those New Year's goods, they also have to drag their families to rush over.

As for why the consciousness is so low, it is very simple, just one word - poor!

There is no way, the people in the Jingwu Army, from Li Yongji down, from the perspective of this era, if they are considered old, they are actually a group of people who can't get on the stage.

Li Yongji didn't mention it, his identity was just the son of a small businessman, and the fame of that showman was also bought with money recently; Other high-ranking officers, such as Wang Sanwu, Zhang Wei and others, used to be just a servant; As for those ordinary soldiers, their backgrounds are even worse, the best ones are just some yeoman farmers, most of them are some wealthy tenants, and then some homeless people whose families have fallen and have fallen here, anyway, there are few high-ranking officials and nobles who can really enter.

Most of such a group has a very thin background, and most of the families are not very wealthy, that is, they can only have food and clothing.

Life is forced, so most of them don't pay much attention to the rules of the world, so when they encounter free money and New Year's goods, they can't let go of it no matter what.

Compared with these materials, they are not so particular about the rules such as not traveling far during the New Year.

In the current Qing Dynasty, there are really so many things that can be paid attention to during the New Year, all of them are big families, and really small families are not so particular, and the New Year is nothing more than being able to eat better and dress better, but the concept of reunion and the like is not so strict.

In any case, without opposition, the idea was settled, and considering that the family of the seven aunts and eight aunts might come to eat, a condition was added, that is, only immediate family members, such as parents and siblings, can come to eat, drink and get New Year's goods for free, and those who exceed this cannot come.

After the rules were set, letters were frequently sent to the relatives of officers and soldiers, and materials were frequently purchased.

Like pigs, cattle, sheep, chickens, ducks, geese, etc., are purchased from nearby farmers with copper coins at high prices, and there is absolutely no clenbuterol in this era, as for the parasites such as pork tapeworms, they are not strict in winter, and as long as they are cooked at high temperatures, there will be no problem. And vegetable seasonings and the like are purchased from modern times, no way, who made the vegetables of the Qing Dynasty in winter too simple.

Since he was going to pick up his family for the New Year, Li Yongji felt that it was best to treat everyone equally and lead by example, so he also decided not to go home for the New Year, but to take his parents here for the New Year.

Anyway, the group of plasterers and carpenters here have not returned, and they have been continuing to build here, plus a large number of color steel houses, even if there are 10,000 people, it is not a problem.

Today's Li Yongji, not many people still treat him as a child, especially after he is in charge of the army with one hand and business with the other, everyone has unconsciously regarded him as the head of the family, and everything is based on his will.

In addition, everyone is reasonable and knows that raising soldiers is different from usual, and they can't just go out of the camp and go home for the New Year, so they can understand Li Yongji's approach.

Therefore, when Li Yongji decided to let his family come to the camp for the New Year, none of the Li and Wang families disagreed, or even if someone was dissatisfied, they did not dare to say it openly.

After the matter was settled, the soldiers continued to use their own companies as the basis and began to use their spare time to arrange the camp, that is, to continue to clean up the camp that was already very clean, and then put up lanterns everywhere, cut paper, draw and paste couplets, and also set up a stage.

In this way, when there were still three days before Chinese New Year's Eve, the whole army began to have a collective holiday, and at the same time, the military families of the large battalion also rushed over, and after enjoying the joy of gathering with their families, they would soon be guided to the guest room to settle down.

After that, they can be accompanied by their families to visit and browse freely in the designated area of the camp, or participate in group activities, usually to go to the theater together, eat melon seeds and chat about family life.

This is because Li Yongji invited 18 opera troupes from all over the world early in the morning, mainly the well-known Hui troupe and Kun class, and some jugglers who performed fire swallowing, pole climbing, rope walking, and other projects. The troupes rotated on twelve specially built stages, which were free for everyone in the barracks, and outside the stage there were enough benches and chairs for soldiers and outsiders to come and listen.

In addition, the families of military personnel during the holiday period, eat and drink in the canteen, and all of them are free, and when they leave, they will be given New Year's goods according to their head and age, and the more immediate family members come, the more they will be sent.

There are eating, drinking, and playing, there are many people, and there are things to take when leaving, which makes all the people who come feel that the trip is worthwhile, especially after communicating with each other, everyone is even more fortunate to let their children participate in the Jingwu Army.

Seeing that the barracks was so lively and everyone was so happy, Li Yongji was also infected, and he felt very relieved, especially after discovering that his parents, brothers, sisters, and brothers-in-law in this world had really rushed over together and planned to spend the New Year with him here.

However, just when Li Yongji had just welcomed his parents and family into the house, and before he had taken two sips of the tea and said a few words, a sudden incident interrupted Li Yongji's rare family happiness.