Episode 168 Prisoner of War Camp? Labor camps?

This request to Xiaoqiang and Zheng Yuxuan,.

Under the gaze of the two, Emperor Guangwu muttered for a moment, wanted to say something, but stopped his mouth again, looking very hesitant. Xiang Xiaoqiang probably guessed that he must not want the two of them to go to the prisoner of war camp, but there was no reason to refuse on the table.

Anyway, the first batch of prisoners of war would follow him south in a few days, but why didn't Guangwu want to let him go to the prisoner of war camp a few days earlier? This Zheng Yuxuan may not be easy to understand, but in Xiang Xiaoqiang's view, it is very simple, and it is obvious: the prisoner of war camp in the Qing Dynasty is probably not very easy to see, and it is necessary to "do a good job of reception" in advance.

Sure enough, Guangwu groaned for a moment, raised his head and smiled:

"You two want to visit your brothers first, that's fine. I'll arrange it tomorrow, and you can go the day after tomorrow. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang immediately said:

"Oh? Do I still need to arrange it? What is arranged? ”

Guangwu smiled:

"Arrange the itinerary and transportation for the two of you. Both of them are important figures in the Ming Dynasty and my own guests, so you must not be hasty when traveling. If something happens to the security, hehe, the younger brother is still in Nanjing. ”

When Xiang Xiaoqiang heard him say this, he knew that it was useless for him to refute. This is his territory, he is the emperor, and if he says that he can only go the day after tomorrow, then he can only go the day after tomorrow. What's more, the reason why Guangwu said is not easy to refute. The younger brother of the family is still on Daming's side, and of course there can be no problem with his own safety.

"Well," he laughed, "then please let His Majesty the Emperor bother more." ”

……

The next day, on the afternoon of August 11, Xiang Xiaoqiang asked the officials of the Northern Qing Dynasty who received them how His Majesty the Emperor had arranged and whether they could go to the prisoner of war camp tomorrow. The reception officer looked dazed and didn't know anything about it. And at this time, Emperor Guangwu didn't know where it was.

Xiang Xiaoqiang had to be patient and wait until tomorrow.

On the third day, on the morning of August 12, the official hurried over and told Xiang Xiaoqiang that the original plan was to arrange for them to go to the Chifeng Ming Army prisoner of war camp this morning, but there were still some troubles in terms of security, and there was a sandstorm blowing on the Chifeng side, so the relocation of villagers from several villages along the railway line was suspended, and the relocation could not be continued until the wind stopped.

Xiang Xiaoqiang didn't understand very much, and he didn't understand what his security work had to do with the relocation of villagers. Also, this August is the season of abundant rain, how can there be sandstorms.

"Hehe, Lord Xiang, that's right," the official said proudly, "Our Emperor has decreed that this time we will adopt the 'Tianzi A' security measures for you and the Lord of Leping, that is, the security measures that can only be used by His Majesty himself, so all the villagers along the railway must avoid 20 kilometers away from the railway, and no one can stay...... Sir, this is a rare gift from Your Majesty......"

Xiang Xiaoqiang squinted, a little unbelieving his ears. He confirmed with some skepticism:

"You mean...... Every time your emperor travels by train, the villages along the line must be emptied? The villagers had to move 20 kilometers away and then ...... The train has passed and moved back? ”

The official laughed:

"Why, you empress travel by train without security measures?"

Xiang Xiaoqiang was a little confused, "oh" twice, and then said:

"Of course, of course, we also have security measures in place...... But there is no such thing as yours......"

When the official saw Xiang Xiaoqiang's "inferiority", his self-esteem was very satisfied, and he asked with a sarcastic smile:

"Then what if you people along the way lie on the rails, or stop the train to sue the emperor?"

“……”

Xiang Xiaoqiang felt that his intelligence was a little insufficient, shook his head, and simply prevaricated:

"This ...... Hehe, it's really amazing, but ...... Our people over there generally don't lie on the rails...... Oh, and we don't usually sue the royal ......."

"Oh, hehe," the official didn't know whether he really believed Xiang Xiaoqiang's words, or if he was polite, he didn't plan to chase and fight again, so he just smiled, "I see." …… Uh, do you have any other orders from the general? ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang patted the back of his head, trying to return to normal thinking, and then smiled:

"By the way, your Zhili and Inner Mongolia sides, will there be sandstorms in August?"

The official was stunned for a moment, a little hesitant, hesitated for a few seconds, and dropped a sentence:

"Actually, this is also a sandstorm in August...... Rest well to the general, little farewell......"

Immediately, his face turned red and white, and he turned around and went out.

……

Obviously, there will be no sandstorms in August. And it's the thirties now, and the desertification of the grasslands in Inner Mongolia and Outer Mongolia is not so serious, right?

Xiang Xiaoqiang sensitively guessed that the so-called sandstorm was nothing at all. The distance between Chengde and Chifeng to the Mongolian steppe is about the same, and if the sandstorm blows Chifeng, and it is so bad that it is impossible to evacuate the villagers, then even if Chengde is surrounded by heavy mountains, the sandstorm must be more or less felt. But now, the air should not be too fresh and the weather should not be too good.

Obviously, this was an excuse made by Emperor Guangwu in order to delay them to go to the prisoner of war camp. However, the people below are too bad at doing things, in addition to finding a stupid excuse like a sandstorm, they also revealed the ugly thing that Emperor Guangwu had to empty the villages along the way every time he went out on patrol in order to prevent the villagers from lying on the rails and suing the emperor. Xiang Xiaoqiang believes that if Guangwu had taken care of this matter by himself, he would never have done it so stupidly.

It seems that you don't want to go in two or three days. In the end, I had to do the same as Guangwu said, and when everything was ready in the prisoner of war camp, the two of them went over to take a brief look, and then followed the ship back to Nanming directly.

But to his surprise, the next day, on the morning of August 13, when he was having breakfast, the official in charge of the reception of the Northern Qing Dynasty came and told Xiang Xiaoqiang and Zheng Yuxuan that the sandstorm had stopped at night, and the railway line was ready, and he could go to the prisoner of war camp this morning.

Xiang Xiaoqiang and Zheng Yuxuan both felt a very happy feeling at the same time, and they were finally able to leave this place. Although the scenery is beautiful, the temperature is cool, and the food and accommodation are comfortable, both of them want to "escape" from this place. What's more, you will soon be able to see thousands of Ming officers and soldiers in the prisoner of war camp. In the past few days, I have finally been able to meet people who have the same normal thinking as myself. It's almost like going to see a loved one.

Xiang Xiaoqiang and Zheng Yuxuan didn't see Emperor Guangwu either, but it was better this way, the two took their own things and got on the train in the summer resort directly.

This is another Xiang Xiaoqiang and Zheng Yuxuan are very surprised, this railway from the northern border of the Beijing channel, actually built a branch line here in Chengde, the emperor is special, directly to the summer resort. The emperor of the Northern Qing Dynasty could get on the train from Beijing, and get off directly in the summer resort a few hours later, without even having to reverse the car, which was 100% comfortable.

The distance from the summer resort to the Chifeng railway is less than 200 kilometers. Three or four hours later, the train pulled into Chifeng Station.

The prisoner of war camp was a few dozen kilometers away from Chifeng, where they got into the car, and at about 11 o'clock in the afternoon, the houses on both sides of the dirt road began to multiply, and they could often see scattered and tattered barbed wire.

After a while, there was a burst of dust in the distance, and soon I saw a team of flatbed carts pulled by mules on the other side of the dirt road, coming slowly. When the people who were driving saw the car convoy here, they hurriedly drove the mules to the side of the road to make room for the cars.

The car quickly passed by the mule carts. Xiang Xiaoqiang saw that these mule carts were piled high with large stones, and the stones were still shining with some metallic luster.

Ore?

"What kind of ore is this?"

He asked a Northern Qing escort officer in the front seat.

The officer hesitated, not knowing whether to tell him or not. Then, probably thinking that it didn't matter, he said:

"It's copper ore. It's the copper mine in front of it. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang suddenly remembered, by the way, there is a copper mine here in Chifeng.

He twisted his neck and stared at the mule cart pulling ore in the dust behind him.

Suddenly, a gloomy thought flashed through his mind.

Xiang Xiaoqiang took a deep breath and asked:

"How far is the labor camp?"

The former left officer raised his hand and pointed:

"It's here, and in ten minutes......"

As he spoke, his hand froze in mid-air, and his voice stopped abruptly.

Then, the officer in the front seat turned his head, sweating profusely on his face, and said with a smile:

"General Xiang wants to ask how far the prisoner camp is, right? Hehe...... It's just ...... ahead."

Xiang Xiaoqiang's heart grabbed. He stared into the officer's eyes and said gloomily:

"No, I'm asking about labor camps. I'm sure you heard that. ”

The officer's face slowly turned pale, sweat dripped down, and he said with a forced smile:

"General Xiang is really joking, there are no labor camps here, only prisoner of war camps...... It has nothing to do with copper mines...... The miners are all people from the neighborhood......"

"Oh?" Xiang Xiaoqiang's eyes almost burst into flames, and he asked gloomily, "Really?" ”