Good farming at the foot of Changbai Mountain

Chapter 209 Winter Capture
On the morning of the [-]th day of the winter moon, people in the village took their fishing tools to Moon Pao.Zixuan and the others naturally got up early. After having some breakfast, they put on thick clothes and went with them.Jinghan wore a fur coat and skirt, a fox fur scarf, a fur hat given by a fellow villager, and buckskin boots on her feet.Fully armed, like a chubby furball.Because she was watching from the sidelines, she couldn't work like a villager, so she must pay attention to keeping warm.

When the winter fishing begins, the first thing to do is to perform the ceremony of offering sacrifices to the lake and waking up the nets. People who live near here believe in the lake god.Worshiping the lake to wake up the net has two meanings. The first is to worship the heavenly father, the earth mother, and the lake god through the lake, and pray for the blessing of the gods, so that all living things will continue to multiply and the people's lives will be auspicious and healthy.The second point is to wake up the dormant winter nets through offering nets to ensure smooth and safe deployment of the nets to the lake.The ceremony of sacrificing the lake and waking up the net shows people's lofty admiration for nature and people's love for life.

The ceremony of offering sacrifices to the lake is presided over by the fish head. The general fish head is a very experienced and light and strong person, generally no more than 40 years old.The fish put its head on the ice, facing the direction of the sun, and placed an altar.Nine fire supports are placed in front of the altar, which are covered with firewood, and then all are lit.In front of each fire support, a hole is cut in the ice to throw sacrifices into the lake.

In front of the altar, there stood a man, wearing colorful clothes, holding some strange things in his hands, chanting sutras non-stop.This person should be similar to a wizard, responsible for communicating with the gods, and the locals also call him a priest.Around the altar, there are still villagers beating drums and playing music, and the young men and big girls in the village, wearing brightly colored clothes, are dancing unknown dances on the ice.

The fish put their heads on their heads and chanted the words of offering sacrifices to the lake loudly. The wind on the ice was very strong, coupled with the sound of drum music.Standing by the lake, Jinghan could only vaguely hear the intermittent sounds floating in the wind. "Ah, Longevity Heaven, the spirit of the ancestors; ah, to protect all living beings, to seek prosperity, to seek prosperity... Ah, thousands of miles of frozen Wangji Lake, thousands of hectares of lakes are full of competition. Open the ice and pull out the fish, and celebrate the harvest at the first fish banquet .”

When the fish has finished reciting the words of offering sacrifices to the lake, he takes a bowl of wine from the priest and holds the bowl in his hand. The land of our lives, three offerings to the god of the lake. May our winter fishing be safe and sound, with more fish, big fish, and good fish.”

Amid the sound of chanting and drum music, the fish put its head in front of the altar and shouted loudly, "God bless the lake." All the fishermen on the scene also shouted in unison, "God bless the lake." Put offerings in an ice hole.

Next, the fish heads and the fisherman must return to the front of the horse sledge, which is their tool for winter fishing.The fish put its head in front of the fisherman's team and shouted loudly, "Give me dried milk, fried rice, and let us enter the lake with a full belly."

A group of girls from the village came to the fisherman one by one, carrying trays with dried milk and fried rice in their hands.The head of the fish was given to each of the fisherman with a bowl, and the fisherman began to eat.Not long after, the fish turned its head and shouted again, "Bring wine, drink Zhuangxing wine."

The girls brought empty bowls on trays, and some other girls held wine jars and came to the fisherman and the butcher's head to pour wine for them.The fish turned its head and shouted again, "Good wine will help us catch the fish well, dry." Everyone drank the wine in the bowl and put the bowl back on the tray held by the girls.

The fish turned its head and shouted again, "Enter the lake, collect the red nets, fire the firecrackers, and set off." So, the fish turned its head and [-] fishermen together, amidst the priest's chanting, the cheerful drumming, and the fierce Amidst the sound of firecrackers, I drove the carriage and horse sledge to the lake.

Jing Han was overwhelmed by this spectacular scene.The whole village was watching, but no one made a sound. Everyone was watching the whole ceremony with concentration.It wasn't until these people started to go to the lake that everyone started talking.

Standing beside Zixuan and Jinghan were the village chief and several elders in the village. They introduced the process of winter hunting to Zixuan. "Look at those horses, they are all fed with the best fine material more than half a month in advance, just to make them adapt to this kind of farming. You know, there will be a total of fifty or sixty large nets, and it will take one One by one, they were sent under the ice. The winch must be dragged by a horse, and the horse is exhausted after a day of work."

On the ice at this moment, the fish head has already begun to determine the position. "This is called Huawozi, which is to use the head of the fish to determine the position of the net. You see, the fish determines the position according to the bottom shape and water depth of the lake, and then cuts the first ice hole. This is the lower net. Then walk two hundred steps forward from both sides of the lower mesh to determine the position of the wing flag. Have you seen the big flag they are carrying? That is the wing flag. After confirming the wing flag, go straight ahead two or three times Hundred steps, determined to be the Yuantan flag. Starting from the two flag holes of the Yuantan flag, they converge together, which is about two or three hundred steps away. When they converge together, this is the outlet mesh, and the outlet flag needs to be inserted. This The area marked by a few large flags is the net nest. There is a lot of knowledge in it. The size and shape of the net nest, the angle of sending the flag, etc. are all the experience accumulated by the ancestors and the years of experience. Done." The elder brother of the village chief used to be a fisherman, so he is very familiar with these things.

The fishermen began to dig ice on the ice, digging a hole in the ice every twenty steps from the lower net to the position of the wing flag.Then go down through the pole. The length of the pole is longer than the distance between the ice holes.Some people hold the walking hook in their hands, and use the walking hook to push the piercing rod from one ice hole to the next, until it comes out of the mesh.A waterline rope is tied behind the pole, the rope is not too thick, there is a large sash on the back of the waterline rope, and a large net on the back of the large sash.In this way, the waterline rope drives the big tape to move forward, and the net behind the large tape also moves forward.But those nets were very heavy, so the winch was pulled by horses, and the big rope was driven forward.

The head of the net uses a big hook to push the net into the water little by little, and pay attention to the weight of the net at all times.After the nets on both sides advance to the exit of the mesh, the entire large net has all been lowered into the water.

This process takes a long time, probably three or four hours just to get off the net.The village chief was afraid that Zixuan and the others would not be able to stand the cold weather here, so he told them to call them before going out of the net, and let Zixuan and the others go back to the village to rest and get warm.Zixuan was afraid that Jinghan would not be able to bear the cold, so he agreed and took everyone back to the village first.

Woke up early in the morning, and after standing in the cold wind for a long time, Jing Han was also a little tired.After drinking some hot water, he went back to the house where he lived, leaning on the kang, not wanting to move.

Zixuan was worried about his wife, and after talking to Sun Jianye and the others for a while, he also went back to the house. "My lady, what's the matter with you, why do I feel that you don't seem to want to move recently?" Zixuan said, taking off his shoes and getting on the kang, putting his arms around Jinghan.

"I don't know, I'm just lazy and unwilling to move. Maybe it's because the weather is too cold, the wind is strong, I suffer when I go out, and I always stay at home when I don't go out?" I always feel like I don’t want to go out.If it was on the mountain, even if it was cold, she would still go hunting with her father.

"Go back and find a doctor to show you. I'm really worried about your appearance." Zixuan reached out and touched Jinghan's forehead, but there was nothing unusual.

"Just the doctor here? Can they see something? I don't know if they can catch up with me." It's not that Jinghan looks down on the doctor here, but in the whole county, just one or two doctors are still half-baked.Jinghan was really worried about letting them see her.

"It's hard for you, come here with me. If it doesn't work, please invite two doctors from other places, it won't work if it's always like this." Zixuan always felt that Jinghan's state was a little abnormal, so he was a little worried. "It's really hard here, or I'll send you back. It's much better to have your parents take care of you than here."

Jing Han stared at him, "Why? Send me back, what do you want to do? Could it be that you have a crush on some girl, so you want to get me away?"

"Crooked. Heartless little thing, I feel sorry for you, but you arranged me to see how I deal with you." Saying that, Zixuan reached out to Jinghan's armpit.

Jing Han was the most ticklish, she curled up into a ball all of a sudden, and couldn't help laughing out loud. "Sanggong, I don't dare anymore. Is it okay if I don't dare?" Rolled to the side all of a sudden.

Zixuan stretched out his arms to hug Jinghan, resting his chin on the top of her head, "Lady, I won't bother you anymore. After this winter arrest is over, I'll send someone to find a doctor for you. Let's take good care of you." Body. You should spend less effort in the future, everything is up to me, as long as you are well."

Jinghan's face was flushed with a smile, and she nestled in Zixuan's arms, feeling very satisfied, "Zixuan, I'm a little sleepy, let's squint for a while." After saying that, she closed her eyes, and after a while Fell asleep.

Zixuan looked at Jinghan who was sleeping soundly, and felt a little bit uneasy. In the past, Jinghan seldom slept like this, but recently, it seems that Jinghan gets sleepy very easily and falls asleep whenever she has the chance. "Jinghan, what's wrong with you? Don't worry about anything." Zixuan said in a low voice.

Around this time, before the fish came out, Zixuan slept with Jinghan for a while.Some people in the village also came back, and they prepared the meal for the evening.Tonight is a celebration banquet, so naturally we have to prepare better.Some old women in the village were preparing meals and chatting there.

"Look at the magistrate's wife, she looks like a water spirit. It's really rare for such a person to come to our poor place to endure hardship." A woman said so.

"Our lord magistrate is handsome enough. Standing together, these two people are really a golden couple, a match made in heaven. You haven't seen how much our lord magistrate loves his wife. These two people are really a good match." Another The woman also said.

"By the way, do you see it? It seems that the lady has it? I look like her face." A somewhat old voice said.

Zixuan hadn't slept well in the first place, but when he heard this sentence, he became refreshed all of a sudden.

(End of this chapter)