*2 Q V@ zRK ^ۄ 7 q E/ vd s ) On the dark streets, Dong Yongnian, who is in his twenties, feels a strong sense of unease. At this moment, a light appeared in front of me, and I saw a group of men wearing flying fish suits patrolling the street with lanterns. Dong Yongnian hurriedly leaned to the side of the street and let the team of policemen pass.

The police looked at Dong Yongnian's short hair, but they didn't come up to question him. Waiting for the police to walk over, Dong Yongnian sighed and began to boldly move forward along the street. The streets patrolled by the police are safe for the time being. Even though Dong Yongnian was threatened by someone sent from Mongolia, the presence of the police still made him feel safe.

Back in the dormitory, Dong Yongnian collapsed on his bed. The head was pillowed on the buckwheat husk pillow, and the subtle sound made Dong Yongnian feel that his brain was even more messy. Dong Yongnian is a native of Huangzhou, Hubei, a few years ago, because Dong Yongnian's second uncle's owner had done business with Zhao Jiaren, and learned that Zhao Jiaren's shop in Lin'an needed manpower, Dong Yongnian joined Zhao Jiaren's business base so inexplicably. Because he was skillful and knew carpentry, he was transferred to work in Jiaxing Shipyard.

With the retreat of Jiangnan General to Fuzhou, Dong Yongnian, who is now a staff member of the Gunpowder Bureau, never expected that an official from Hubei would come here and use Dong Yongnian's family in Hubei as a threat to ask Dong Yongnian to steal the gunpowder formula. What to do? Dong Yongnian couldn't figure it out at all. According to the man, the Mongols had already set their sights on Dong Yongnian's family, and if Dong Yongnian was disobedient, his family would be killed. Thinking of his family under the butcher's knife, Dong Yongnian only felt that his heart was on fire.

'Do you think Taiwei Zhao really has the ability to defeat the Mongols?' If he could have done it, wouldn't he have done it a long time ago. Commander Zhang now thinks that it is better to simply negotiate with the Mongols, and our Great Song Dynasty will stay in Lingnan. Your family is in Hubei, and when the time comes, your family will be in Mongolia, wouldn't it be good to leave a road for your family? ’

Thinking of the words of that Mongolian spy, Dong Yongnian felt even more desperate in his heart. After thinking about it, Dong Yongnian was ruthless and decided to simply cooperate with this Mongolian. After making such a drastic decision, Dong Yongnian only felt that his ears were buzzing, coupled with the rustling sound in the buckwheat husk pillow, he was half-asleep and half-awake all night, and he slept bitterly.

The next day, the Mongol spy did not come to him, and Dong Yongnian felt that he could finally breathe a sigh of relief. The same was true for the next two days, and Dong Yongnian began to hope that such days could go on forever.

On the fifth day after meeting the Mongolian spy, after getting off work in the afternoon, Dong Yongnian went to the night school as usual. Wu Minsheng, a classmate at the same table, asked him, "Is there anything going on at night?" ”

"You want to invite me to dinner?" Dong Yongnian said jokingly. Wu Minsheng is an old worker in a textile factory, similar to most people his age, and Wu Minsheng, who has a high income, has a large family to support. I got a lot of money, but I didn't have a few left. The few times the two went out to eat together, Dong Yongnian basically paid for the bill.

"Please, please." Although Wu Minsheng's voice was arrogant, he showed timidity as soon as he opened his mouth.

Dong Yongnian smiled slightly, he came to Fujian alone. In the past, he used to send money to his family, but now there is no such way. The mood has fluctuated a lot in the past few days, and Dong Yongnian didn't want to be alone, so he smiled and said, "Forget it, I'll invite you this time." If you ask me, I'll wait until next time. ”

It was already dark after class, and the two went to the nearby 'Thousand Bowls' chain store. At the recommendation of the guy, I ordered a new beef noodle set, and the two asked for some spirits. Zhao Jiaren and Zhao Taiwei lifted the restriction on cattle slaughter after taking power, and this action did not trigger a cattle slaughter boom in the Great Song Dynasty, but caused a large increase in beef sales.

The cold dishes were all prepared, and the two of them first sipped spirits and ate cold dishes. When the beef noodles came, the aroma of curry and beef made both of them have a great appetite, and just drinking the fragrant noodle soup first, they felt refreshed. The hot soup in the stomach, coupled with the previous spirits, felt the whole person warm from the inside.

After eating and drinking, Wu Minsheng tried his best to use standard official words and said: "Brother Dong, I want to ask you, is the Gunpowder Bureau still recruiting people now?" ”

"I haven't heard of such a thing." Dong Yongnian replied in a soothing tone. It's not that he's pretending to be profound, eating warmly, he feels that all his troubles have been left behind, and he feels lazy when he speaks.

Hearing this answer, Wu Minsheng sighed, "Brother, you know that my family and I both work in a textile factory. Now that the war has started, the cotton in Jiaxing Mansion will be cut off. Seeing that the cotton stored is about to run out, we don't know what to do next. ”

Dong Yongnian spent a moment thinking about the suspension of the textile factory, and his feeling that the textile factory was a place where cotton cloth was produced, how could it be related to Jiaxing Mansion. Fortunately, he worked in the shipyard in Jiaxing Mansion, and when he remembered the white flowers in the wild when the cotton harvest in Jiaxing Mansion, he suddenly figured out the logical relationship in it.

Even if he figured it out, Dong Yongnian didn't know what to say. The war is not something he can decide at all, and the shipyard in Jiaxing Mansion has twenty docks, which can produce very large ships, and if you don't say shut down, you will close it. As one of the personnel of the shipyard, can Dong Yongnian have any other way than to obey orders?

Seeing Dong Yongnian's somewhat drunken expression, Wu Minsheng didn't expect that Dong Yongnian already had a lot of ideas in his head, and he continued to ask: "Brother Dong, you used to be in the shipyard, didn't this go to the Gunpowder Bureau?" What do you need to know if you want to transfer to the Gunpowder Bureau? ”

"I used to work as a carpenter when I was at home, and I learned arithmetic in a shop in Lin'an. I was very careful when I planed the slab, and the board could be made flat. After arriving at the shipyard, it is time to process the boards used on the ship. While attending night school at the shipyard, I learned how to handle iron plates. Now the iron substrate is used for the sieve machine of the Gunpowder Bureau, and I will do this. Dong Yongnian unreservedly told his classmate Wu Minsheng about the process of being selected into the Gunpowder Bureau.

Wu Minsheng's face became more and more ugly after hearing this. Silently took a sip of the wine glass, he sighed: "Brother Dong, I just want to ask how to go to the gunpowder bureau." You talk to me so much, are you laughing at me for not going anywhere you go? ”

Dong Yongnian was stunned, he never expected that Wu Minsheng on the other side would say such resentful words. What he said was the truth, and Dong Yongnian would not tell his experience on weekdays. Since Wu Minsheng showed indifference, Dong Yongnian was not willing to be bored anymore. He also silently drank the wine in the glass, and then shouted to the man, "Man, check out." ”

Hearing that Dong Yongnian was leaving, Wu Minsheng hurriedly said, "What, are you still angry with me?" ”

This sounded very rude to Dong Yongnian, and he replied unhappily: "You say so, I can't be angry yet?" ”

Seeing that Dong Yongnian was really annoyed, Wu Minsheng hurriedly smiled and said, "Brother Wu, don't worry about me. I'm also anxious, we have been working hard to make money all these years, and the factory has collapsed, what are we going to eat? ”

Dong Yongnian rolled his eyes and said unhappily: "You are a local, at most go home to farm." What's there to be afraid of? ”

Speaking of going home to farm, Dong Yongnian couldn't help but feel uncomfortable in his heart, it was not his intention to go to the gunpowder bureau in Fuzhou. This Wu Minsheng still has a hometown to go back to, and now Dong Yongnian wants to go home to farm but can't. Dong Yongnian's family is unknown on the territory of the Mongols, and he is always concerned about the news of his relatives at home. Dong Yongnian, who was under such huge pressure, didn't complain, what qualifications did Wu Minsheng have to complain in front of Dong Yongnian?

Thinking of this, Dong Yongnian just wanted to leave immediately. However, at this moment, Wu Minsheng suddenly sighed and said pleadingly: "Brother Dong, let's have two more drinks." Even if you scold me, I want to find someone to talk to. ”

This kind of pleading touched Dong Yongnian's mind again, he was alone in a foreign land as a stranger, and at this time he actually wanted to find someone to talk to. Seeing Wu Minsheng's expression, he didn't want to leave immediately. After asking for two more glasses of wine, Dong Yongnian drank it slowly.

Wu Minsheng drank a small half glass of wine in one sip this time, and it was hot, he sighed 'ah' and took a breath of wine, and then said comfortably: "Brother Dong, you said to go home and farm." Shall I go home now and feed the wild boars? ”

"How?" Dong Yongnian asked puzzled.

"Our hometown is in a poor ravine over Longyan. After I came out that year, all the poor people who could come out of my hometown had already come out. In particular, Taiwei Zhao got so much land in the south, we can trust Taiwei Zhao, and the poor are even gone, and even those who don't have much land at home have left. On New Year's Day this year, I went home to the grave, guess what? Wu Minsheng told the back, and he actually sold it.

"What's wrong?" Dong Yongnian could not guess what would happen in the mountains of Fujian.

Talking about it, I don't know if it was because of excitement or because of the strength of the wine, Wu Minsheng's face brightened, "I thought that if we left, the rich would be able to occupy all the land in the place." I didn't expect it, I didn't expect it, the rich people also moved. ”

"Why?" Dong Yongnian's original idea was that when the poor were gone, the rich could use whatever they wanted in the village. So he couldn't understand the rich man running away, and he even felt that Wu Minsheng was playing tricks.

"Humph! Without us poor people renting his land to plant, their family is only a few people, where can they plant so much mountainous land. Wu Minsheng said with a sneer.

Dong Yongnian initially wondered why the rich couldn't cultivate so many mountains. It took some thought again, and it wasn't until he thought about Wu Minsheng's words that he suddenly realized the truth. Farming is a very hard thing, one person has two cows, and the wife and children are hot on the kang. The whole family can plant twenty or thirty acres of land. With no help, the family simply can't grow hundreds of acres of land on their own. When the poor who rented the landlord's land left, the landlord could not hold on.

He couldn't figure out such a simple truth, Dong Yongnian felt a little ashamed. But on second thought, he had not done farm work in years since he left home as a teenager. Dong Yongnian felt that he didn't know the countryside in the first place, and it was understandable that he didn't understand this.

Then Dong Yongnian listened to Wu Minsheng continue: "Brother Dong, after I go home, I see that the mountains are barren like that, even if I go home, I can't do anything." And after so many years in the factory, I actually know that the factory is much better than the country. I don't want to go back! ”

There is alcohol in this voice, but also helplessness and persistence. Wu Minsheng's speech full of various emotions made Dong Yongnian not know how to answer.