Yunyue past events

Chapter 12

The big ship left Rongguo Capital Wharf and headed north along the Weishui River to Yubeiying.

The speed of this ship was faster than other ships, and there were slaves rowing on the ship. They were young and strong, shirtless, rowing wooden oars neatly.

The centurion stood at the bow of the ship and looked at the sun in the west. He murmured to the soldiers on board: "It's getting late! Raise the whip and let these slackers wave their arms!"

The soldiers in charge of the whip cracked their whips, one or two hit the oarsman, and the rest hit the board of the ship crisply.

It's not that the soldiers were merciful, but since the Xin Yu officer took office four years ago, they were not allowed to abuse the slaves casually.Slaves are the property of the monarch, and if they are worn out too quickly, they will be held accountable.

Under the whip, the slaves paddled non-stop, their shoulders and arms moved at high frequency, and sweat oozes from their bodies. The crystal sweat beads in the sun are mixed with the splashing river water, and it is difficult to distinguish which is sweat and which is water.

Before dark, the big boat arrived at Yubeiying, and the slaves were exhausted all the way. At this time, they threw away their wooden oars and lay on the boat like a puddle of mud.

The soldiers began to drive the slaves off the ship, cursing.

Yue Qian didn't need the soldiers to push him around, he still had strength in his body, he stood up and walked around, the clang of his fetters.

The heavy shackles were undone with a "click", and the more they dived to get off the boat, the slaves got off the boat one after another behind them. They walked slowly along the river bank, hooked and bent, all of them tired like old dogs.

When all the slaves had landed, the centurion put away the key to the shackles, the soldiers fastened the ship, took away the oars, anchors and other things, and returned to the barracks together.

After working for a day, the slave returned to the dilapidated thatched hut where he lived with empty hands, bringing back pain all over his body.

The soldiers were far away, and the slaves under control were now somewhat at ease. They talked in groups of three or four in low voices.

Last autumn, a group of Yunyue people were transported from Yunchang County, and a total of 34 people arrived alive, all young and strong, to supplement the number of slaves in Yuanyu.

One of them, a Yueren named Fan Yu, was acquainted with Yueqian, they lived close to each other, and they were about the same age.Fan Yu is young and tall, and has always been a rower, doing the most painful work and suffering the most sin.

As Fan Yu was walking, he stopped suddenly and lowered himself to check his bleeding ankle. He grabbed a handful of herbs from the side of the road, crushed them, and pasted them on the bleeding place.

It was the blood that flowed out from the flesh and blood from the shackles.

It never gets better, and every time the scab is just about to form, it will be ground by the shackles and bleed again, over and over again.

Also wearing shackles, Yue Qian's ankles are no longer bleeding, but old scars can be seen.

The pain made Fan Yu grit her teeth, and said indignantly, "If you wear such a heavy thing every day, your feet will be useless sooner or later."

"If we are disabled, what good will they do? No one is fishing, no one is rowing, what good is it!" Fan Yu was resentful in his heart, his legs hurt uncomfortably, and he was full of complaints.

Yue subconsciously said: "They have no shortage of people."

There is an endless supply of slaves, there are not many left in this batch, and another batch will be sent.

Fan Yu raised her head abruptly, her expression seemed to be astonished and terrified.

The two stopped talking, walked back to the place of residence, and returned to their respective thatched huts.

Several thatched huts on the north bank of the Weishui River have been added since last autumn. The new huts added last year still look dilapidated, short and small, but the overall style is very unified.

Going down the river to fish before dawn, you have to transport the fresh fish to the capital, act as a rower on the back and forth, and you have to go home after dark. This kind of labor is too much for normal people.

Yue Qian's footsteps are still steady. He is thin, but his physical strength is better than ordinary people, and he has enough toughness.

Yue sneaked into the thatched cottage, sat by the firepit, scooped up water and drank heavily, he heard Chang's father say behind him: "I made some malt to make candy, you can try it."

maltose.

For these slaves, it is a rare delicacy.

Father Chang handed over a stoneware bowl with only a thin layer of maltose on the bottom. Just looking at it gave me a mouthful.

Stretch out your fingers and dip it into the bowl, and it will be in your mouth, full of sweetness and endless aftertaste.

This kind of sweetness, which is opposite to the suffering life, even makes people feel vulnerable. Yueqian just took a sip, pushed the bowl to Changfu, and said, "You eat."

Since Yuan Yu changed a new official four years ago, the slaves were allowed to grow rice, wheat and hemp beans by the water, but the farming area was still small, and they would always be exploited by the guards when they harvested.

This year, Changfu and Yueqian planted wheat, which grew very well and was lush and green.

Father Chang tasted it slowly, even though he ate it very slowly, the sweetness didn't last long, and quickly disappeared on the tip of his tongue, leaving him unsatisfied.

Not long after, he put down the bowl, looked at Yue Qian who was munching on steamed vegetables and drinking fish soup by the fire pond, and said, "It's time for summer hunting again, this year goes by so fast."

The boy next to me was only ten years old, but now he is 17 years old. Although he is thin, he is tall and looks like an adult.

Seven years ago, when the two were captured together, Chang's father thought that Yueqian hadn't suffered any crimes, and since he was young, he might not live long.

Unexpectedly, this kid's life is really tough.

Chang's father thumped his old waist that was left with chronic disease due to overwork, and he didn't care about his own aging. Instead, he thought that it would be a pity to bury his old bones here. It's a pity that this kid's life has only just begun.

A large plate of steamed vegetables was quickly eaten by Yue Qian. He put down the bamboo chopsticks, picked up the bowl, and added a bowl of fish soup for himself. The food was not very good, and he had long been used to the life of eating chaffy vegetables.

Without raising his eyes, Yue Qian said, "It's time to come, I'll go and collect the bamboo cage."

Whenever the princes and nobles of the Rong Kingdom go hunting in the garden, the soldiers will strengthen their patrols on the garden. Before the hunting season comes, Yueqian needs to take back the bamboo cages.

Taking advantage of the darkness, he sneaked into the forest and recovered three bamboo cages. The bamboo cages were empty, and he could not bring back food every time.

Yueqian hid the bamboo cage in the pile of firewood behind the house, and he didn't worry about it. He was very good at water, and if the food with Chang's father was insufficient, he would sneak down to the river at night to catch fish.

The fish is right at the door of the house, if you don't catch it, you won't catch it for nothing.

He was never a well-behaved slave who feared whips and fists.

Yue Qian climbed onto the bed and lay down, folded his arms, ready to fall asleep, but Chang's father was already asleep in the corner of the hut, snoring.

The summer night was hot, the doors and windows were wide open, and the birds and frogs in the forest were twittering all the time. It was difficult to fall asleep when I dived. I recalled in my mind what he saw and heard along the way when he paddled the wooden oar and went to Yindu Wharf to deliver fish.

"Chirp!"

A bird landed on the window and called happily. There was plenty of food in the mountains and forests, and there were a lot of wild fruits and insects. It filled its belly and felt happy.

"Chirp! Chirp!"

The bird sang softly, it didn't want to leave, and felt that the place it found was very comfortable.

Yue Qian opened his eyes, looked towards the window, and saw a round yellow bird singing and dancing under the moonlight, very lively.

I still remember that a few years ago, there used to be a fat bird with a colorful feather crown, which often visited him at night.

It seemed to be a phoenix bird, the sacred bird of Rongguo people.

Later, that bird never came back, and later, Yueqian never saw a similar bird again.

Yue Yue fell asleep amidst the chirping of birds, and turned into a green snake with golden eyes. The green snake was much bigger than five years ago, and it was already a big snake.

The green snake is coiled on the sycamore tree, the branches of the sycamore tree are full of white flowers, the moonlight shines on the riverside, the scales of the green snake flow in color, and the mane on the back shakes gently with the wind.

The morning sun shone on the water, and he dived into the water like a fish. After a long time, he surfaced and raised his arm towards the fishing boat, holding the fishing net on his arm. He waved his arm towards Chang Fu and Fan Yu on the boat. Shouted: "Pull the boat over!"

The small fishing boat approached quickly, dived deeper and climbed into the boat. The man was naked, with only a belt around his waist covering his knees.In the hot summer, most of the fishing slaves don't wear clothes.

Yue Qian stood at the bow of the boat and pulled the fishing net. The fishing net was very heavy. Chang Fu and Fan Yu came to help and dragged the whole fishing net onto the boat. The fishing net was dumped on the cabin, and countless live fish were jumping in the cabin.

The slaves could not talk while they were working, but the two soldiers overseeing the river bank kept talking about this year's summer hunting.One of the soldiers was arranged by Yu Guan to go to Yannan hunting ground, and he seemed very excited. If he served him well, the king would be generous and reward him.

The two soldiers chatted all the way until the slave's ships docked, and they stopped talking. Together with other soldiers, they directed the slave to put the harvested fresh fish into bamboo baskets.

The two soldiers had always been rough, and they hated the slaves for not working neatly enough, so they cursed.

The young soldier spat: "The old ones, the sick ones, all of them are useless."

Indeed, most of these slaves did not look healthy.

But obviously those who were sent back at the beginning were all young and strong (except for one child), sick and weak, and they were not the result of being tortured as slaves.

The older soldier said: "I heard that a group of Yunyue people will be transported in a few days, and there are quite a few of them."

Yueqian has been working without stopping, but he has been eavesdropping on the conversation of the two soldiers.

"Why are there so many people here all of a sudden?" The young soldier was surprised, but he knew that it would be a long way to transport the Yue people to Rongguoyuan, and it would take a lot of trouble.

The old soldier lowered his voice: "Yunyue people in Mengyang City rebelled. The monarch sent Sima Huan to quell the rebellion a few days ago. He must have captured many prisoners."

The voice was too low, and the young soldier struggled to hear clearly, and said, "Why are you so secretive? It's not a big deal, it's just rebellion."

"Hush!" The older soldier made a gesture to shut up.

"What are you afraid of! They don't understand, so what if they can understand?" The young soldier didn't think so, thinking that the older soldier was making a fuss.

Just such a group of sick and helpless Yue people, do they also want to rebel?When they guard the soldiers, they can't be displayed.

Bamboo baskets full of fresh fish were gathered together, and slaves carried them onto a large wooden boat that was about to head to Rongguo Capital's wharf. Yue Qian and Fan Yu were called aboard again by soldiers. They put on shackles and were in charge of paddling.

Yue Qian was thoughtful, expressionless, and did not forget to paddle the wooden oar in his hand. Over the years, very little news about Yunyue Kingdom reached his ears.

Yunshui City was broken, and Yue Qian was only ten years old when he was captured by Rong Guo, but he knew the location of Meng Yang City.Mengyang City is only seventy miles away from Yunshui City. It is a mountain city with dangerous terrain and an important military base.

Through the news brought by Fan Yu last autumn (Fan Yu came to Yuanyuan last year), Yueqian knew that the sacred place of the Yunyue tribe - Mount Qingyue, which is located in the Qingwang Temple, did not fall into the hands of the Rongguo people.

The southern county of Yunyue country is full of water marshes and virgin forests, full of poisonous insects, and the people of Rongguo are not interested in conquest. Now, most of the survivors of Yunyue live there.

Since the death of Yue Qian's father and brother, the regime of Yunyue Kingdom has ended, and it has been seven years.

Today, I learned that the Yunyue people in Mengyang City rebelled. It seems that the Yunyue people under Rongguo's rule are still fighting.

Along the way, the wooden boat arrived at Yindu wharf, and Yue Qian moved the bamboo baskets full of fresh fish ashore. The wharf was very lively, and Yindu was full of traffic.

The more submerged in this prosperity, recalling the capital of Yunyue Kingdom in childhood - Yunshui City.

It was a water city, and there were six piers in the city. Every day, the piers were crowded with boats and people. Items brought from all directions of Yunyue Kingdom were continuously imported into the capital.

With a "snap", a whip hit Yue Qian's shoulder, leaving a bloody welt.

Yue Qian came back to his senses and heard the soldiers scolding him, urging him to go back to the boat.The ship was about to leave the pier, and the soldiers had obviously urged him before, and when they didn't respond, they became violent.

After receiving this whip, Yue Qian raised his head abruptly, his rough hair fluttered in the wind, and veins burst out of his clenched fist arm.

The soldier with the whip reprimanded: "What do you want to do! Haven't boarded the boat yet!"

The whip in his hand did not fall again, and for some reason, when he looked at the slave, the soldier felt an inexplicable sense of oppression.

The ferocity on Yue Qian's surface was swept away, his anger was deeply hidden, and he boarded the boat silently.

As the big ship sailed out of the pier, Fan Yu took advantage of the soldiers drinking and making noise in the cabin, and asked Yue Qian next to him, "I was fascinated by what I saw just now. I secretly pulled your clothes to remind you, but you didn't respond."

Seeing that Yue Qian didn't answer, Fan Yu said again: "The fisher girls on the pier are really handsome, have you seen them?"

When the boat stopped at the pier, there were several young fisher girls on the neighboring boat, Fan Yu couldn't help but take a second look.

Fan Yu has been reduced to a slave, but as long as he comes into contact with beautiful things, he will ignite his enthusiasm for life again.

"No." Yue Qian was not interested.

Yue Qian didn't notice the fisher girl, but noticed a four-horse carriage parked on the pier, and a teenager from the Rongwang family was sitting in the carriage.

The reason why it was confirmed that it belonged to the Rongwang family was because it was a magnificent carriage, and the phoenix and bird emblem of the Rongwang family was also painted on the carriage.

It was not the first time I saw the carriage and the boy on the pier.

The welt on the shoulder oozes blood, and the blood flows out in a long bloodstain, and he dives to paddle the wooden oar, the blood is thrown away, splashes, and falls into the water.