1

A huge black hill rises leisurely over the ruins of the main shaft and inclined shaft in the mining area of the defunct Dahua Coal Mining Co., Ltd.

This is a huge tomb built by the surviving Tianjiapu people for the victims of the nine-year catastrophe of the Republic of China. Everyone in Tianjiapu Town, whether men, women, children, villagers, potters, rich or poor, participated in this huge project of building graves. The person in charge is naturally Tian Dongyang, the second master of the Tian family, who is highly respected. Master Tian Er ordered people to drive out more than 380 truckloads of stones from Daqing Mountain, first built a gloomy wall around the main shaft and the inclined shaft, and then asked people to bury stones, bricks and tiles, and steel beams, iron pillars, and broken machines abandoned by Dahua Company that could not be used in the crop fields. Tian Er's old man and the people of Tianjiapu originally wanted to build this tomb with loess, but due to the long-term mining, the mining area was paved with thick coal gangue, and they could not see the loess after digging three feet, so they had to take a car and a basket of gangue ballast from the gangue mountain next to the inclined shaft to replace the loess. As a result, the gangue mountain was flattened by the waist.

According to the record of "Ningyang Xinzhi" in the 25th year of the Republic of China, the grave-building project lasted 73 days, and a total of 13,852 people participated in the tomb-building. Even Zhang Heran, the governor of Ningyang County, made a special trip from the county town to brave the scorching sun and put a few shovels of soil on this big tomb. It is said that Zhang Guixin, the envoy of Ningyang Town, was also ready to come to express his guilt, but finally did not come, and the extremely angry Tianjiapu people claimed: As long as Zhang Guixin dares to come, they will skin him alive and pay tribute to the victims in the grave!

In front of the towering tomb, a monument as tall as an archway was erected, and the inscription was written after Tian Er had thought hard for five or six nights. In the inscription, the second master demonstrated the long history and ancient glory of the land of Tianjiapu, counted the crimes of running mines and the iron facts that brought disaster to the country and the people, praised the loyal and martyred behavior of Hu Delong, a former Qing Gongsheng and the heroic Tianjiapu kiln people, and earnestly warned future generations to remember this disaster, this hatred, and hatred forever!

Thus, a tragic story about mines and land, a tragic history that shocked the Republic of China, and the dream of a new century was deeply buried. So, those restless lives, those earth-shattering hustle and bustle, and those heavy days condensed by blood and fire, all rightly became tombs like such a hill.

This tomb is tall in front of the Tianjiapu people, and it is outstanding in front of the local soil bags that are also called tombs, and the Tianjiapu town is more famous, and the Tianjiapu people are more proud! As long as the big tomb is mentioned, who can't think of Tianjiapu? Yet, in our vast world, on our spinning planet, in the vast expanse of celestial bodies around our planet, it is small, as small as a speck of dust. Whether it exists or not is not as important as the stubborn Tianjiapu people think. Its existence does not add weight to history itself, nor to our planet, which is still developing, the planets are still moving, and the celestial bodies are still rotating......

2

On the eighth day after the construction of the tomb, on a gloomy and gloomy morning, the respected old man Tian Er passed away suddenly due to overwork and physical and mental exhaustion. He was sixty-two years old.

Before he died, the second master Tian was very sober, his demeanor was very peaceful, he had two quilts behind him, sat on the bed, pulled the hands of the Tian family members one by one, and chattered a lot. He asked the people of the Tian family to govern the family with benevolence and righteousness, treat others with generosity, and never pass on the vendetta of the Hu and Tian families to future generations. He said a lot of good things about Hu Gongye, saying that Gongye was righteous, upright and bold, and that the Hu family, like the Tian family, was a farmer, and the root of the Zhuanghu people was to take care of the land under their feet......

The second master didn't seem to want to live forever, but it was like going to go on a long trip, and no one thought that the second master would die......

However, the second master died!

The elders of the Tian family organized a funeral for the second master of the Tian family. The solemnity of the funeral has been rare for Tianjiapu for decades. Not only the Tian family participated in the funeral, but also the Hu family and more than 1,000 miscellaneous kiln people who returned to the land also participated in the funeral procession.

Ten days later, the Tian family introduced Tian Dongqin, a distant brother of the second master, as the new patriarch......

3

In July of this year, the long-brewing Zhiwan War finally broke out, but the battlefield was not placed in Henan as Duan Qirui envisioned. Due to the rapid northward movement of the direct army under the command of Wu Peifu along the Beijing-Tianjin and Beijing-Han lines, the Anhui army was forced to fight a decisive battle with the direct army in the area of Gaobeidian and Yangcun on the outskirts of Beijing. On 8 July, Duan Qirui convened a special meeting of more than 100 cabinet members and military and political personnel in Beijing, and ordered the dismissal of Wu Peifu from his post as commander of the Third Division. On the 9th, Duan Qirui reorganized the European War Participating Army into the "China Dingguo Army", appointed himself commander-in-chief, and crusaded against Cao Kun and Wu Peifu. On the same day, Cao Kun and Wu Peifu also formed a "rebel army" in Baoding, preparing to divide the troops into two routes, east and west, to launch an attack on the Anhui army. On the twelfth and thirteenth, the two systems of Zhi and Feng were energized and reversed. On the 14th, the Zhiwan War officially broke out. On the 18th, the entire Anhui army collapsed. On the 19th, the invincible Duan Qirui was forced to go into the field with electricity. Beijing, which was directly manipulated, then ordered the dissolution of the Anhui Anfu Congress, and the head of Anfu was arrested.

Also in September of this year, Zhang Guixin, the envoy of Ningyang Town, was dismissed from his post in Beijing, and the gentry merchants of the three counties and Li Si Mazi finally took advantage of the Zhiwan War and the Kiln People's War to expel this "butcher brigade commander" from the ground in Ningyang. When Zhang Guixin left Ningyang, the potters of Tianjiapu rushed to the station to chase and kill, but due to accidents, they failed to catch up; As a result, a line of hatred was left behind, which led to another bloody crime twelve years later......

4

The years passed, and the grave grew higher every year. It was as if the tomb was not a pile of inanimate waste from deep underground, but a living giant.

Its life is given by the people of Tianjiapu. Every May 21, most of the people in the field shop have to give up their work and rush to the grave to add soil to it. From the second year onwards, a circle of new soil appeared on the slope of the tomb, and some people planted trees on the new soil, so that the black black tomb also had clusters of green. On the day of the sacrifice, there is a piece of human head and a curling green smoke in front of the big tomb, and thousands of people who came to burn paper and go to the grave brought the hustle and bustle of the world to the grave, and the scene often reminded the mourners of the critical moment in the ninth year of the Republic of China.

The tomb grew higher and expanded year by year, until almost half of the tomb was covered with loess from the fields, and its face became more and more blurred.

It lies there quietly, on the ruins of the mine, with the docile Grand Canal, with the ancient Yellow River that has lost its roaring power, silently accepting the sacrifices and tears of its creators......

Later, it was discovered that there was always smoke in front of this large tomb, not a sacrifice day, and wisps of white smoke appeared from time to time. People thought that the potters who died in the disaster underground had appeared and went to burn incense and kowtow. It was not a matter of burning incense and kowtowing, but the white smoke was still rising in front of the grave, and then people found that the land under their feet had become warm at some point, as if it had been roasted by a fire all year round.

They reported it to the government.

In the spring of the thirteenth year of the Republic of China, a group of people came to the provincial capital, with some instruments that Tianjiapu people had never seen before, to survey the hot land around the tomb, and came to the conclusion that the fire under the site in the ninth year of the Republic of China has not been extinguished, and the entire coal seam under Tianjiapu has been burned. According to one mining expert's most conservative estimate: 43 million tonnes of high-quality coal has been reduced to ashes......

In the same year, Wang Tianjun, the former chief miner of Dahua Company, who was arrested by the government for serious dereliction of duty, died of illness in prison. In this year, Chen Xiangyu, the former associate manager of Dahua Company, raised 3 million yuan to establish "Zhenhua Coal Mine Co., Ltd." in Tianjin, and served as chairman and general manager.

On the day of the opening of the company, Chen Xiangyu made a statement to the press at his residence in the French Concession:

The general manager has worked in the late Li Gongzhi Dahua Company for more than six years, and it can be said that he has experienced many hardships and hardships, but he also knows the mystery of running a mine and the experience of operation. Therefore, the company is full of confidence in the future of the business......

5

In the fifteenth year of the Republic of China, more than 500 kiln people who fled to Daqingshan to pull poles to become bandits, under the leadership of Wang Dongling, the head of the pole, carried out frequent activities. They twice broke into Ningyang County at night to rob shops and kidnap meat tickets, which made the gentry and elderly men in Ningyang worry day and night, and sit and lie restless. Li Si Mazi's officers and soldiers tried to kill them several times, but to no avail, and the bandits became more and more fierce. Later, the gentlemen discovered a secret: although these gang of bandits harassed everywhere, killed people and set fires, they never asked Jintian Jiapu Town. So, they invited Tian Dongqin, the patriarch of the Tian family, to go up the mountain to say goodbye, and asked Wang Dongling to leave the country.

Wang Dongling and the bandits entertained Tian Dongqin, the patriarch of the Tian family, with a large bowl of wine and a large piece of meat, but refused to leave the country.

Wang Dongling slapped the table and scolded with the intention of drinking:

"it! The uncles are not going anywhere, and it is not appropriate to give a president, so they will be the goddamn king of the mountain! It's fucking down here! Uncles have eaten Ningyang City in this life! Damn it, I ...... it at the beginning."

This former potter mentioned the beginning, the catastrophe in the ninth year of the Republic of China, and the kiln war that was deceived and deceived, and was betrayed by Ningyang gentry and Li Simazi......

In March of the following year, the area of activity of Wang Dongling's pole bandits was expanded to the Jinpu Railway, and the number of bandits increased to 800. On the morning of 28 March, more than 530 members of Wang's bandits intercepted the arms train of the Northern Expeditionary Army, and were surrounded and annihilated by the troops of the Northern Expeditionary Army along the line......

6

In the winter of the twentieth year of the Republic of China, two Tianjiapu people with excellent memory found Zhang Guixin, the former Ningyang town guard, who had been incognito for 12 years, in a small village far from the city in Yi County, Shandong.

This is a sunset, the sun is falling in the west, the weather is not too cold, the two Tianjiapu people one carried the basket of the merchant, the other carried the burden of shaving the head, and walked into the village. After entering the village, they wandered around with their heads open, and their minds were not on business at all. Later, they stepped in front of the door of Uncle Liu, who was called "Uncle Liu" by the people in this village, and waited for Uncle Liu to come out, so they quietly followed, followed Uncle Liu in the wheat field in front of the village, pulled out the hammer and put Uncle Liu down.

Uncle Liu was stabbed three times.

The people in the village were shocked, and they couldn't understand why such a generous, kind, and honest lonely old man would be plotted against by others. Many villagers in the village have benefited from Uncle Liu, and they can't tolerate such an innocent and kind old man being killed like this. They wielded axes, clubs, and grappling hooks, and arrested the two farmers.

The two Tianjiapu people hurriedly explained to them.

With tears in their eyes, the two Tianjiapu people told them about the war between the kiln people in May and June of the ninth year of the Republic of China, and the heinous crimes of the ragged dead old man in front of them......

The villagers on the village didn't believe it at all, they had never heard of the kiln war in the ninth year of the Republic of China, and they had never heard of anything bad done by their old Uncle Liu. Uncle Liu came to their village since he beat himself, and he has never stepped on an ant or killed a chicken, so how could he slaughter the potters of Tianjiapu?! They decided it was a made-up story.

They tied up the two Tianjiapu people with ropes and escorted them to Uncle Liu.

They asked the two Tianjiapu people to kneel.

The two Tianjiapu people refused to obey.

They beat them desperately, and they beat them to the ground and called for their father and mother, and later, both of them were beaten to death.

When the two Tianjiapu people died, they bared their teeth and glared, looking like evil ghosts, but Uncle Liu was very peaceful and calm, as if he was asleep. According to some later people, when Uncle Liu was stabbed down by these two Tianjiapu people, he was also very calm, he barely resisted, he squatted on the ground and died, and after dying for a while, he was lying on his back in the soft wheat field......

7

Another five years passed.

The turbulent Republic of China has entered a critical juncture, and Tianjiapu has also entered a critical juncture. Suddenly, one morning, the eldest young master of Master Tian Dong Qintian, who was studying in the provincial capital foreign school, ran back to the town in a hurry, saying that there was a war and a fight with the Japanese! China is finished! Nanjing was occupied, Beiping was also lost, and the Japanese were fighting Taierzhuang and Xuzhou again......

Within a few days, many people suddenly came to the town, and among these people it was said that there were communists, Kuomintang, and many chaotic "commanders" and "captains." He said that he wanted to resist Japan and fight guerrilla warfare with the Japanese.

The Tianjiapu people, who are known for their toughness and strength, quickly took action, headed by Tian Dongqin, the head of the Tian family, and pulled up a Tianjiapu anti-Japanese self-defense group, and exercised the whole team on the wasteland in front of the big grave every day, they were ready to fight a hard battle with the Japanese, and let them understand the power of this land!

However, they never imagined that just as they were about to show their skills for this ancient land, another great catastrophe brought by the war was quietly approaching them......

8

On May 19 of this year, Xuzhou fell, and then, the Japanese army marched eastward and fell into Kaifeng again. In order to prevent the Japanese army from forcibly crossing the Yellow River, the Supreme Command of the People's Republic of China ordered to blow up the Yellow River embankment at the mouth of the Huayuankou in Zhengzhou on June 11 of the same year.

9

The yellow water poured into Tianjiapu like a sea in one day. Before the yellow water came, there was a torrential rain in Ningyang, the sky of Tianjiapu changed color, the wind blew suddenly, uprooted many bowl-thick trees, and completely removed the roofs of some thatched huts.

The people of Tianjiapu hurriedly grabbed the road and fled for their lives, however, it was too late. In less than half a day's work, Tianjiapu was swallowed up by yellow water, except for the big black tomb, and the whole town was soaked in yellow water. About three-quarters of the Tianjiapu people died when the yellow water first pounced.

Some of those who were lucky enough to survive swam towards the grave with floating objects on the water......

On the third day, the large grave less than ten meters high above the water was crawling with people, and the surface of the large grave was completely covered by a person's body. It is no longer like a tomb, but like a life-saving boat floating in the vast water, like a heavy monument built with life, and one hundred and thirty-two Tianjiapu people have been reborn because of the existence of this large tomb.

This matter was reported in the "Declaration" of the 27th year of the Republic of China.

This is what the potters who died tragically in the deep underground did not expect, and this is also what the wise master Tian Er, who presided over the construction of the grave, did not expect; None of them could have imagined that the grave, which symbolizes death, can also bring new life to people.

In this cold moment of the vast water and sky, the people squatting on the head of the big tomb can't help but think of the situation when the Yellow River broke in the first year of Xianfeng, today's yellow water is no different from the yellow water 87 years ago, they seem to have returned to the Qing Dynasty Emperor sat in the capital of those years......

How good it should have been!

10

Later, a boat floated in the yellow water, and a black dog with curly hair barked on the bow of the boat......

Later, the yellow water receded, and some people came to Tianjiapu to open up wasteland and farm......

Later, the newcomers changed the name of the place; This place is not called Tianjiapu......

Later, the underground fire was extinguished by the immersion of yellow water.

Later, people found coal on this land, and this land was as prosperous and lively as it was before May 21 in the ninth year of the Republic of China......