The Red Mansions Across the Four Seas

Chapter 255 Exile for Four Thousand Miles

At the end of the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the government corps escorted [-] exiles to land in Niuzhuang.

Jia Qin, who had previously followed Wei Ruolan to the front station, was waiting here for a response.

Not far from the pier is the military platform.

The military platform is actually a military station.There are many military stations like this throughout the country of the Daedeok Dynasty, extending to the borders of various places.

The military platform has the functions of military material storage and transfer, as well as the function of military post.Most military documents have to be sent by military platforms.

Many military platforms are located in barren mountains or even deep in the desert. This military platform is located by the sea, so the conditions are relatively good.

However, the scale of Juntai is not large, only more than 30 houses.Except for the residences and warehouses of the military station personnel, there are not many vacant houses.

Jia Min is the head of the government corps, and he is the capital of the third rank. His rank is higher than that of the general in the military platform, so he naturally prepared a house for him.

The remaining few rooms were allocated to the families of those exiles.Two of them were given to female relatives, and one was given to the elderly and children.The remaining one was reserved for Ping'er, Miaoyu and other female relatives.

Soldiers and prisoners of the Army Corps live in tents.

There are five types of punishments in the Daedeok Dynasty.From light to heavy, they are: flogging, stick, disciple, flow, and death.

Exile is above the prison sentence and below the death penalty, it is the second severe punishment.

There are two types of exile, one is the inland military flow, and the other is the frontier dispatch.

The places where the military serve their sentences - the matching centers, mainly in the interior.The distribution center dispatched by the frontier is in the frontier.

The group of exiled criminals escorted by Jia Min are the convicts dispatched by the frontier.

Anyone who has entered the ranks of the frontier dispatched prisoners.Basically, they are all criminals who have committed heinous crimes but are not worthy of the death penalty or for some reason, it is temporarily inconvenient to execute prisoners.Most of them are criminals involved in human life, robbery, theft and banditry.

This type of people can basically be regarded as ordinary criminals, generally called frequent criminals.The official name is called deportation.

The other category of prisoners is called dispatched staff or disabled staff, who are officials who have committed crimes or scholars with a reputation.It can be seen from the title that officials and scholars enjoy more privileges than ordinary people even if they commit crimes.

The old, weak, women and children who came with them are their family members.

Some of these family members were implicated and punished as slaves.Although some did not commit any crimes, they voluntarily followed and accompanied their family members who committed crimes.

Of course, some family members were sentenced to exile together.

In history, exile is an ancient punishment, and almost every emperor of every dynasty is willing to play this way.

Examples of literati being exiled are not uncommon.

Qu Yuan, Li Bai, Han Yu, Liu Yuxi, Su Shi.Celebrities such as Huang Tingjian have all experienced exile.

Although the death penalty is severe, death is a short-term pain.

Although exile is not dead, it is a long-lasting pain and a stronger deterrent.Many times, it is simply worse than death.

This discomfort manifests itself in many ways.The first is the harshness of the natural environment.

During the Tang Dynasty, they liked to put the place of exile in the hot Lingnan.When it came to the Ming Dynasty and the Dade Dynasty, the opposite came.The places of exile were chosen in the freezing northeast and northwest.

In Jia Min's previous life experience, although the Northeast is relatively cold, it is far from being as frighteningly cold as people say now.

However, after careful study, I discovered that what people say today is indeed not exaggerated.

The reason is that this period of the Dade Dynasty was in the Little Ice Age in the history of the earth, and the climate was indeed much colder than in his previous life.Only then did I believe in the authenticity of the legend about the bitter cold place in the extreme north of Ninggu Pagoda.

Bukui is more than 1000 miles north of Ningguta, and the theory of coldness is even more true.

The exile level of the Dade Dynasty is divided into four levels, which are divided according to the distance.

The first level, called proximity.This neighborhood is not close at all, it is two thousand miles.That is to say, two thousand miles away from the place of origin.

The second level is called the near side, which means the nearer frontier.It is two thousand five hundred miles.

The third level is called frontier, which is three thousand miles, which is more worthy of the name.

The fourth level, called the extreme edge, is four thousand miles.

Bukui, where Jia Min was going, was four thousand miles away.Belongs to the highest level.

In order to determine the level of exile, the imperial court specially produced the "Exile Reason Table" as a reference, and the level was determined according to the distance between the prisoner's origin and the place of exile.

This kind of isolation in space away from the place of origin is not only a physical punishment, but also a huge mental torture.

People in the Middle Earth all have a deep-rooted local concept. Even if they go out and are far away in the sky, they must return to their roots.

Leaving the society of acquaintances, exile people into a completely strange world, let you live in the torment of nostalgia and family affection all day long, coupled with the lack of material, the devastation of heavy physical labor and the disillusionment of ideals, said It is not an exaggeration to say that life is worse than death.

Not to mention the matching office, even on the road, it is a journey to hell.

The time on the road is stipulated by the imperial court.You have to walk fifty miles a day.

If the physical strength is good, the weather is normal, and the road conditions are fair, it is still possible to walk fifty miles.

The problem is, it often doesn't.

In terms of physical strength, the daily food quota given by the government to each exile is only eight taels.If you are under 15 years old, it will be halved.

In fact, this quota can only ensure that the exiles will not starve to death, and it must be guaranteed that there is no deduction and the full amount is obtained.If you want to have enough physical strength to go on your journey, your family has to pay extra money for the official escort and buy some food.

At the same time, the officials who escorted them will also be punished because they cannot arrive at the distribution station on time. Therefore, the officials have to desperately drive the prisoners on their way.Prisoners have to exhaust their physical strength.

Many people died of exhaustion on the road for this reason.As for those who died of freezing, starvation, or being eaten by wild animals, these are all common phenomena.

There is another kind of torture, which is to wear shackles all the time on the road.Wearing the flail itself is inconvenient to move. If it catches up with the rainy day and the flail is wet, it will be even heavier.

Therefore, those who can reach the distribution center alive are considered to be lucky.

On the night of the eighth day of the eighth day, when the prisoners were escorted on the road.Many of the prisoners were still dissatisfied, complaining that those who celebrated the Chinese New Year were about to go on the road, and some of them were cursing.After being reprimanded by the soldiers, he dared not speak up.

It was later that they found out that when Jia Min escorted them this time, it was like smoke rising from the ancestral grave.

This group of more than 500 people is really lucky.

First of all, there is no need to walk, but to sit in a carriage.

From the prison to Tianjin Wei, Jia Min used Jia's bus and long-distance carriage to send them, and then took a boat, so so far, the mileage of Bu Xing is actually very limited.

If you walk fifty miles a day, not only ordinary prisoners can't stand it, but women, especially those with bound feet and weak ladies, can't bear it even more.

In terms of food, the prisoners ate the same food as the Fubingtuan. Although the food was not good, it was enough to keep them full.

Not wearing shackles on the road made them suffer a lot less.

Another point is also very important.Due to strict military orders, there was no phenomenon of beating, scolding or insulting prisoners.

If they were escorted by others, the female relatives of the prisoners' families would have been insulted by soldiers and officials.Not to mention the criminals.

Therefore, along the way, the prisoners are basically very cooperative, and the order is relatively good. Except for some people on the boat who are seasick, there is no sign of illness so far.

Today is the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month. Since the current itinerary is relatively smooth, and Jia Qin has already prepared all the newly bought carriages and horses, Jia Min decided not to rush today, rest here for a day, and start tomorrow .

This time, the Navy dispatched a total of 12 large troop carriers. All members of the Fubing Regiment and 500 prisoners, plus more than 70 of their family members, as well as all equipment, vehicles and horses, were transported to Niuzhuang at one time. .

The navy worked so hard, in addition to their own responsibility, Wei Ruolan privately gave the navy admiral 1000 taels of silver, which also played a decisive role.

Jia Min is so willing to spend money that he even contributes money to pay for the prisoner's car and subsidize the food, just to buy time.

Compared to arriving in Bukui earlier, it is worth spending some money.

Feng Ziying and Jiao Li directed the unloading of the ship on the pier, while Chen Yejun checked the guarding of the prisoners.

No matter how nice you are to these prisoners, he is still a prisoner.No one can guarantee that they will not have the desire to escape.Therefore, giving them preferential treatment is preferential treatment, and they should be guarded or guarded. On this point, we still dare not be sloppy.

After dinner, Jia Min, accompanied by Jia Qin, wandered around the neighborhood.After walking for more than 20 minutes, I came to the foot of a small mountain.

This is a small mountain by the sea, and there are quite a few trees on the mountain. Because the weather is still cold, the trees have not yet turned green, and they all look bare.

"This mountain is a bit special. It is one mountain, but it has two names."

A mountain has two names?When Jia Qin said this, Jia Min became interested.

"One is called Huanxi Ridge, and the other is called Qiji Ridge."

"One is happy, the other is sad, exactly two extremes. Is there any allusion?"

"The name of this mountain was given by those exiles. People who came here from outside and went to Ninggu Pagoda called it Qiji Ridge, which means that from now on, they will live in that miserable and fearful life. gone."

"Most of the people who went out from the Ninggu Pagoda returned to their hometowns from the distribution center. Since then, they have escaped from birth. When they see this mountain, they are naturally very happy. It is called Huanxi Ridge."

One mountain with two names is still very reasonable.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, the firehead soldiers began to bury the pot and light a fire to cook.Jia Qin is quite clever in her work. A few days ago, she ordered steamed buns and pork in a nearby town. This is a wharf, there is no shortage of fish, and the price is very cheap.In the evening, there was a stew of meat and a stew of fish. Not to mention the soldiers, even the prisoners and their families were full.I have been eating cold food on the boat for the past few days, today's meal is considered to be meat.

I had nothing to say all night, and continued on the road the next morning, embarking on the long journey again.

In this season, the rivers in the north have not yet been civilized, and they cannot travel by water. For the rest of the journey, they have to travel all the way to Bukui by land.

(End of this chapter)