Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 1041
The Pu family brothers, who ate their stomachs round, managed to return home against the wall.They are the official slaves of the prison camp, and they live in Jeju City.

The two brothers of the Pu family were originally a middle-class family, and their father once served as a small military officer who was also a servant.Seven years ago, the incumbent king launched a coup and deposed Lord Gwanghae—historically known as "Injo Innocent"—the Park family was implicated, their grandfather, father, and others were beheaded, women and children were demoted to official slaves, and exiled to Jeju Island.

On the way, the second-generation housewives of the Pu family died one after another because they couldn't bear the hardships of the journey. Only the two brothers of the Pu family struggled to get to Jeju Island, where they barely grew up in the midst of hunger, cold and labor.

The so-called home is just a small house built with a large number of volcanic stones that are a specialty of Jeju Island. The gaps between the stones are filled with yellow mud mixed with hay. The roof is covered with thick hay. There is no floor in the house, just a mud floor. That's all.There are boards in the corner, which are beds, and hay is spread on them.In the middle of the house is a fireplace.

The house is newly built and the humidity is heavy.There is a faint light of fire in the hearth—it is troublesome to get a fire, and ordinary people always leave a little embers in the fire and cover them with ash.So there was another puff of smoke in the house.

If a person in the 21st century walked in, he would not be able to stay for a minute, but for the poor people at that time, this was their daily residence.

Even such a simple house was built with great difficulty by the Pu family brothers.He bribed the petty official with the copper coins he had accumulated over the years, and obtained a piece of official land that allowed him to build a house.Carrying stones, yellow mud, and mowing grass by myself, like swallows building nests, I built it bit by bit in the spare time when I was feeding the prison horses and farming. In the long room where the slaves stayed.Park Duk-hwan's marriage is possible.Even official servants and maidservants cannot get married in the dormitory.As the elder brother, Pu Dehuan is already twenty years old this year. In ancient society, he was an out-and-out older youth.What's more, there is also the entrustment of the elders: the grandmother and mother who died on the road of exile once told them to "carry on the family line", even if they were reduced to official slaves.

Although it is still unknown where Pu Dehuan's wife is, Pu Dehuan is a very far-sighted person: his wife is nothing more than an official servant in the prison camp. The male college should marry, and the female college should marry. As long as there is a house, he can always find a suitable one. wife's.

The Pu brothers sat down on the straw mat, belching—this was the best meal they had eaten in more than a year.Over the years, due to continuous famines, the days when they can even have enough to eat are few and far between.Probably there were fleas or something, the two of them scratched a lot, talking about Pu Dehuan's marriage while scratching.

Official slaves are equivalent to state slaves.However, apart from not being allowed to leave the prison camp and completing the work assigned by the prison camp on time, there are no restrictions on personal life: marrying a wife and having children is at your own discretion, as long as you give a letter to the prison camp——Anyway, official slaves The children are also bitches and continue to serve the country.

The two of them talked about possible wives: there are many officials and maids in the prison camp, there have been famines in the past ten years, and there is not enough food for every family. Marry the daughter as soon as possible to save food rations, there is a lot of room for choice.But women who are slightly more beautiful are not their turn: officials at all levels have long regarded them as taboos.

"...Zhao Chengyi is like this? Her ancestors were originally in the second class..." Pu Dehuan was different from his younger brother. He was already 13 years old when he was exiled. He had a clear memory of everything in the past family, so he was very concerned about the original status of the servants.

"I heard that she is not in good health, so I'm afraid she won't be able to work. Her ancestors were in the second class and she couldn't be a meal—besides, she is also a maidservant." Although Pu Demeng is only 14 years old, he has become old-fashioned and sophisticated.

"Where's Kim Wu-sun?"

"It's so ugly—even Mr. Liang from the house can't help being a vulgar person. Brother, do you really want to marry her?" Pu Demeng said dissatisfiedly. fell shame.

Mr. Liang, the housekeeper, is a womanizer, and he is insatiable when it comes to women.Of course, the pretty ones among the servants are not his turn, and the general servants, as long as they look a little bit upright, will be called by him to "accompany the wine".

"Turn off the lights..." Park Duk-hwan just wanted to say "It's the same when the lights are blown", but when he thought of Kim Wu-sun's appearance, he couldn't help shivering.

Then they discussed the daughters of several families, including the young widow, and Pu Demeng suddenly said:
"What do you think of Li Wanji?"

"She is the daughter of a middle-aged man, and the crime is a bit unbearable..." Pu Dehuan hesitated.Li Wanji was recently exiled to the island.It is said that because she was unmarried and committed adultery, she was extremely dirty.However, some people also said that this charge was fabricated, and the purpose was to attack Li Wanji's family - Li Wanji's family belonged to the Southern Party and was being attacked by the Western Party.

The party struggle in the Li Dynasty was very fierce and lasted for hundreds of years.The fierceness of the party struggle is not inferior to that of Ming Dynasty, even worse than that - but what is powerful is that such fierce internal party struggles did not subjugate the country, which is probably a manifestation of the superiority of majorism.Many of the official slaves in Jeju Island came from the losers and victims of political struggles.

"Brother, what middleman is there? She is an official servant just like us when she comes here—if you want to talk about the daughter of a middleman, you and I are still the sons of a middleman." Pu Demeng said.

"That's a good word, you'll be a slut here." Pu Dehuan sighed uncontrollably—he was already a well-educated young man when his family changed drastically. Sometimes he recalled the situation when the family lived together, always It feels like a dream.

"It's hard to get a lot of food today, let's pay homage to the elders." Park Dehuan said.

Father and grandfather died on the execution ground in the capital, and grandmother and mother died on the road.The corpse was hastily buried in an unknown place, and became a lonely ghost.This is what Pu Dehuan has always thought to be the most disturbing thing.He is a person who has read books and is deeply influenced by Confucian filial piety.So in Jeju, after being able to barely survive with my younger brother, I secretly made a memorial tablet, and every festival and new year, I took it to the wild to worship north with clear water and simple food.

Today, he has rare good food, so he also has to do his best to be filial.

The city gate of Jeju has been closed, but Jeju City is very large, and there are many open spaces and wasteland in the city. The two brothers carried their belongings and went to a secluded place by the city wall.

It is close to the city wall, almost full of vegetable gardens and woods, with only a few small huts occasionally, it is already an idyllic scene.The two brothers walked along the path to a mound beside the city wall. On the mound was a forest, a very quiet and hidden place.The Pu family brothers paid homage to their ancestors here on weekdays.

The two of them had just placed the sacrifices when suddenly a few colorful "monsters" jumped out of the bushes, and immediately frightened the Pu family brothers to death. On the ground, the joints are braked and cannot move.Pu Demeng was knocked unconscious by a direct blow.

Xue Ziliang whistled lightly, and looked at the two poor boys—poverty is a universal language, regardless of ethnicity and national boundaries.Just look at their clothes and their haggard colors.

"Go and interrogate them." Xue Ziliang ordered one of his soldiers with gestures.This person is not from the special investigation team, but an agent of the Foreign Intelligence Service, a Korean interpreter specially trained for the landing operation on Jeju Island.

Xue Ziliang no longer went to see the two captives: from arriving at Feiyang Island by boat and then on foot here, they had captured several captives along the way.Most of them are poor people like this: poor clothing and food are quite appropriate adjectives for them, and these two are no exception.

Getting into Jeju Island was easier than he had imagined.Although the city gate was closed when they arrived at the city.Xue Ziliang was taken aback when he saw the city wall—is this also a city wall?

Xue Ziliang was stationed in South Korea for a period of time.However, as an American, he is not interested in the history and culture of the cosmic empire, and his daily pastime is mainly on the lower body.I seldom visit historical sites, and I don’t pay much attention when I see them.When the real original city wall appeared in front of him, he was immediately shocked!
Nima, this is the city wall!

The city wall made of volcanic stones looks very regular-square, but the height of the city wall is not right no matter how you look at it.Xue Ziliang certainly didn't see any city walls in the United States, but he has been in Hainan for so long, and he has seen quite a few city walls in Hainan.The city wall of Jeju can only be regarded as a "wall" at best-a wall with a low anti-theft standard.

According to his visual inspection outside the city, the city wall was only less than [-] meters high. Not to mention, because of the use of firearms at that time, it was a trend for the city wall to change from high and thin to short and thick, but there was no defense on the entire city wall. Facilities, even the battlements and parapets that are found on the walls of the most remote and backward small county in Hainan are not here.From the binoculars, he could clearly see that the soldiers standing on it were all exposed from the waist up.

Not to mention rifles, even bows and arrows can easily kill the defenders and suppress the city.As for the enemy towers, watchtowers and other facilities that are often found in general city defense fortifications, none of them exist on the walls of Jeju City.

Such a city does not need special investigation teams, cannons, or even the Fubo Army. The labor squadron holds spears and machetes, climbs the city with ladders and ropes, and can break through with a single charge.

Xue Ziliang didn't know that as early as less than 40 years ago, that is, in the 25th year of Wanli, the generals who aided the Ming Dynasty once said the following words to the officials of the Li Dynasty:

"It's what the soldiers say, but the cities of our country are the same thing." ("Xuanzu Baolu" Volume 88) This is the evaluation of the Ming army generals on the defense of the city walls of North Korea after the Imjin Japanese Invasion.

(End of this chapter)