Firmament

There are no thousand-year-old officials.

- Gelao proverb

In the middle of the 19th century, the Northeast country was riddled with stubborn diseases and was terminally ill. In officialdom, officials form parties for personal gain, and bribery is commonplace. In the army, the battalions are lax and discipline is corrupt. Financially, the state treasury is increasingly running short, and it is unable to make ends meet. In society, social contradictions have intensified to the point of extreme acuteness.

Outside, foreign guns and artillery from European empires bombarded the country. There was a huge peasant uprising in it, and the incidents were everywhere, and the smoke was endless. The power of the northeastern country has been greatly weakened.

After years of war and frequent natural disasters, the population of Ali's descendants in River State has dwindled dramatically, leaving only two thin branches.

In order to escape the continuous war, the Saide family ruthlessly abandoned the Wanguan property in Hezhou City, fled to the Gangou in the mountains of Dongxiang to settle down, and lived a very poor life.

Said comforted himself, people don't often say that 30 years in Hedong and 40 years in Hexi. We have lived the rich days that the sky has given us, and now it is time to live the poor days arranged by the Asmani (Salta, heaven).

The Seid's line passed into the mid-19th century, and one of its descendants was the poor farmer Niu Dawood.

The Najan family was reluctant to give up the family property they had earned with their hard work and sweat, so they risked their lives to stay in the city and continue to do business. They are low-key, timid and cautious, and live an inconspicuous life.

The Najang lineage passed through the mid-19th century, and one of its descendants was the merchant Mu and Mai. He and Niu Dawood of Dry Ditch are distant relatives who have lost contact.

Mu and Mai live in the city, have relatively easy access to information, and often deal with merchants from the north and south, so they know much more about the outside world than Niu Dawood, who lives in the mountains. The only thing they have in common is to bury their heads in living their own small lives and be a person who has no quarrel with the world. Therefore, Mu Hemai runs his own shop wholeheartedly. Niu Dawood defended the dry ditch in the middle of nowhere.

On a bloody dusk, a group of guests from afar found Mu Hemai's mansion in Dongguan of Hezhou City.

The guests looked like a group of people fleeing the desert. They were carrying large bags and small bags, their faces were full of fatigue, their expressions were nervous and flustered, and they spoke with a thick Longdong accent. They are businessman Ma Duoshan and his family relatives whom Mu and Mai met when they were doing business.

Ma Duoshan is a businessman in Qincheng in Longdong area, who has been going back and forth between Qincheng and Hezhou for a long time, and his business is very prosperous. However, this time, he did not bring the high-quality cotton cloth produced in Qincheng, nor did he bring the exquisite lacquerware of Jiangnan and the tea concocted by the two lakes, but brought a large family of men, women, and children, and a lot of luggage.

Mu Hemai warmly beckoned the Ma Duoshan family into the house and sat down.

He arranged for the servants to serve a bowl of tea first, and relieved the guests. About ten minutes later, he asked his servants to bring six kinds of sarta snacks and four kinds of dried fruits such as dried apricots, dried peaches, raisins, and red dates, and asked them to taste them one by one to replenish their vitality.

Ma Duoshan still looked frightened: staring at the big frightened eyes, his eyes drifting, his pointed nose was not frowning, and his voice was always trembling.

He let out a long sigh, and then said to Mu Hemai: "Brother, I won't tell you, you have fallen from the sky to the earth!

Mu Hemai comforted him and said: "孛 (Hezhou dialect, no) is in a hurry. Say slowly. "

Ma Duoshan began to tell what happened to him:

"Since the peasant rebellion in the south, in order to protect their family property, the big rural households in Longdong have formed regiments and village warriors in the villages. Especially in March this year, the rebel army in the south suddenly entered Sanqin from Yuzhou and besieged the provincial capital Xijing. The situation in Longdong became tense.

"Yuzhou recruited a group of militia in Qincheng and transferred them to the east to deal with the rebels. A distant relative in the countryside, Ma Qiqi, was also recruited.

In April, Ma Qiqi completed his mission and returned to Longdong. The Qinzhou government wanted to recruit them for military service and suppress bandits. Ma Qiqi and a few fellow villagers did not want to participate, so they took advantage of the chaos to escape from the team. They plan to return to their hometown to farm.

Ma Qiqi walked to Wangjia Village outside Huozhou City, saw a dense bamboo forest growing on the edge of the village, and planned to buy some bamboo to take back to his hometown. He ran over to negotiate business with Zhai Garden, the owner of the bamboo forest. In the end, the two sides negotiated a deal at a price of 20 copper coins per catty.

"Just as Ma Qiqi and his fellow villagers were cutting down the bamboo forest, the father of the owner of Zhai came back from outside. When he saw outsiders cutting down his bamboo forest, he asked his son about the situation. Zhai Laohan listened to his son's explanation and thought that the price he offered was too low, so he regretted the transaction on the spot.

At this time, Ma Qiqi was unhappy: The business that has been negotiated has been negotiated, not to mention that we have cut down more than a dozen bamboos, how can you, an old man, say that he will regret it? In a fit of anger, they had an argument with Zhai Laohan.

Zhai Laohan did not blame his son for not being able to do business, but framed Ma Qi for stealing bamboo. According to the regulations of the government and the customs of the people, once there is a case of theft and robbery in the village, the bell must be sounded to call the police. Old Zhai Hanli was speechless, and rang the bronze bell on the big tree in annoyance.

"Alas, no one would have thought that such a commonplace civil dispute would cause an earth-shattering turmoil. "

Mu Hemai continued: "Oh, so powerful?"

Ma Duoshan took a sip of tea and continued:

Hearing the bell, the militia regiment of Wangjia Village quickly swarmed in, indiscriminately beat people, and killed two of Ma Qi's fellow villagers on the spot. Now it's a mess of Hahada (Northwest dialect, trouble).

Ma Qiqi saw that his fellow villagers were innocently killed by the militia group, and he was immediately furious. He and a few other fellow villagers went to the Huozhou government mansion in one go, accusing the militia regiment in Wangjia Village of training, hoping that the government would uphold justice.

"The magistrate of Huozhou not only did not seek justice for the victims, but instead favored the militia group that caused the accident, and framed Ma Qiqi and others as a nest of thieves.

"Ma Qi trembled with anger and asked loudly: 'They are all subjects of the Northeast Kingdom, why do you treat them like this?'

"Lord Zhizhou sneered and said, "I have long known that you have colluded with the rebels and bought bamboo to make weapons and rebel. Kill one of you, and there will be one less traitor in the world!'

"Ma Qi explained aggrievedly: 'They are militia recruited by the government, specializing in guarding against rebels, and have never colluded with them. ’

Lord Zhizhou was too lazy to pay attention to the revelation of the horse, and ordered the officials to blast them out of the gate.

"Jiang Yiqi, the head of the Huozhou Yamen Catching Fast Team, is a chivalrous and courageous person. He was very angry at the rash handling of Lord Zhizhou, and decided to help these few wronged outsiders. He took Ma Qiqi and others to the nearby Yangjia Village, and connected with the common people who were deeply oppressed by the government, and planned to petition the Yamen together the next day.

When Lord Zhizhou heard the news, he realized that the situation was serious, and killed 17 young and strong villagers in the name of arresting spies, and then set fire to Yangjia Village. Alas, most of the villagers were reduced to a pile of ashes in their sleep. "

Mu Hemai hurriedly asked, "How is your relative Ma Qi?"

Ma Yun sighed, picked up a dried apricot and blew it, and said

"Ma Qi's brain is more clever. He escaped from Yangjia Village in the chaos and finally saved his life. For a time, all kinds of rumors spread everywhere, stirring up the panic of Huozhou people, and the family was in danger. Ma Qiqi heard that Yunzhou in the east had begun to rebel, and immediately ran to Yunzhou to join the rebel team. "

Ma Duoshan put the dried apricots in his mouth, chewed them a few times, and continued to narrate

At this time, E-just returned to Qincheng from Hezhou. The situation in Qincheng surprised Eda. Mo never thought that in just half a year, the situation had changed so much. Ma Qiqi led the rebellious team back to Qinzhou. They wanted to overthrow the rule of the Northeast Kingdom in Longdong! How could the dignified king let it develop?

"This person has always liked to do business and make money, and he is not very willing to care about political affairs in the officialdom. So, under the pretext of being sick, he hid at home and resolutely refused to associate with them.

"I have been thinking about it, Xiucai rebelled, and it didn't work out for ten years. After all, an egg can't touch a stone egg. I don't know how many days they will be able to hold out. You will not have a good time in the future.

"There is no peace when you hide at home. Soldiers often ran past the gates. Some even broke into their homes to grab things. I thought of what was said in the book of war: '36 plans, go is the best policy'. Taking advantage of the truce between the two sides, he and his family fled from Qincheng. It's really 'money can make the devil grind'. Along the way, they used silver to buy off the officers and soldiers guarding the pass one after another. In the end, they fled towards your river state.

"I heard that the army of the government and the team of Ma Qiqi are fighting a decisive battle in the area of Qinzhou. Most of the people who died in this turmoil were the elderly, the weak, women and children. Young adults have long been arrested by the government to serve as soldiers. "

Mu Hemai bowed his head in pain and silently prayed for the victims.

Ma Duoshan said in a pleading tone: "Alas, brother, as the saying goes, 'a strong dragon can't overpower the snake of the ground'. The little brother will rely on you in the future. "

Mu Hemai said modestly: "You are so polite. When a friend is in trouble, reach out to help, this is a natural thing. "

Seeing that the guests had drunk and eaten, Mu and Mai instructed the servants to settle Ma Duoshan and his family in a few wings to the east to rest.

Mu Hemai usually focused on business, did not care much about political affairs, knew a little about the difficult life of the common people in Hezhou, and knew a little about the peasant rebellion in Qincheng, but he was not very clear. After listening to Ma Duoshan's story today, he thinks that although he and Ma Duoshan are both businessmen, if they don't know right from wrong or dodge in the face of justice, it doesn't seem to be a thing worth boasting about. As for what to do, Mu and Mai didn't understand it very well.