Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 130 New Year

Life in his hometown was noisy and lively. Before New Year's Eve, Zheng Guohui was busy attending a series of wedding banquets.

The wedding banquet in Tongzhou City is a typical buffet.

Close neighbors who come to the wedding banquet can offer a gift of money or gifts, no matter how much, and can sit at the table and eat. Those who are poor and cannot afford gifts can also sit at the banquet by helping in the kitchen for a day.

In recent days, relatives and neighbors from several nearby counties have come one after another.

Many of them are from Rugao, Qidong, Hai'an, Rudong and Jinsha Town near Tongzhou. They just happen to come to the city for a stroll at the end of the year. They can establish a relationship with the Zheng family and give gifts and have a meal with them. The amount of the gift money is not a big deal.

In this way

The Zheng family's lavish banquet lasted for four or five days, with wine, meat and delicious food to entertain guests, which made the Zheng family's reputation of hospitality and generosity known again. The other members of the family could only smile bitterly.

It’s really impossible to learn it this way.

The eldest son of a wealthy family has a lot of money, so spending one or two thousand taels of silver is just a piece of cake. If other sons of a wealthy family do the same, they will be in big trouble.

In particular, Zheng Guohui also asked for enough wine and meat. In this day and age, it would take a lot of generosity to meet these four requirements.
Zheng Guohui didn't care. He didn't use the eldest wife's money for his marriage. He directly transported 320 pigs from Chongming Island. All the meat was from live pigs slaughtered on the spot. No frozen pigs were used. In the end, only 270 pigs were used.

There were more than 50 pigs left, and Zheng Guohui distributed them directly to the relatives in each branch with a wave of his hand, especially the eight illegitimate children. Each of them received three pigs and they were asked to go home and divide them among themselves.

It doesn’t matter how much each family gets.

New Year's Day 1866
Every branch of the Zheng family in Tongzhou had a prosperous year. Not only did their daily income increase greatly, but the general also distributed meat, rice, noodles and candies when he returned to Tongzhou. This made all the close relatives very happy and they praised it repeatedly.

Zheng Guohui didn't care. It was just a matter of a few hundred taels of silver, he just wanted to have a good time.

There are tens of thousands of pigs on Chongming Island today. Even if a 60% tax is collected, it is still not a small number. There is so much meat that we cannot eat it all.

How come there are so many?
In fact, there were only a few hundred pigs at the beginning. In less than a year, they multiplied to thousands of pigs, and two years later, they multiplied to tens of thousands of pigs, which was a prosperous scene.

As long as there is enough pig feed, the size of the pig herd is not a problem.

So now, the fleets heading south will bring piglets of four or five months old, and each time they will bring hundreds of pigs to the Southeast Asian countries for breeding and development.

Mindanao is a good place. Although it is impossible to feed pigs with grain nowadays, there are too many kelp and weeds, and there are tropical fruits all over the mountains, so it is a great place to raise pigs.

While grain yields are only a little over 200 kilograms per mu (approximately 1 acres), cassava yields are high, reaching at least 2 to kilograms per mu. Pineapple yields are even more astonishing, starting at kilograms per mu (approximately acres) and reaching an unlimited kilograms.

The pineapple production of any pineapple plantation is measured in thousands of tons, and three to five thousand tons is considered a small amount.

There are dozens of pineapple plantations currently being planned in Mindanao, and the number is steadily increasing, with an astonishing annual output.

Lunar New Year's Day, the fifth year of the Tongzhi reign (February 5, 1866)
Early this morning
Before daybreak, Zheng Guohui bathed and burned incense early, then gathered in the front hall of the old house, where a large group of elders and close relatives of the Zheng clan, as well as younger males from each branch, had already gathered.

They were all wearing black cheongsams for ancestor worship, and their expressions were solemn.

The muezzin shouted;
"It's time to offer sacrifices to our ancestors... Three animals for sacrifice, rise..."

"Filial sons and grandsons...follow..."

The servants in front were carrying whole pigs and sheep, all of which had big red wedding characters pasted on them, as well as various cakes and fruits, which also had big red wedding characters pasted on them. They moved forward to the sound of the drum band.

The filial sons and grandsons of the Zheng clan, led by the clan leader Zheng Shouren, formed an orderly team from each branch, young and old, and walked towards the ancestral hall in the night.

All those who participated in the sacrifice were males.

Some people may ask, didn’t we hold a grand sacrifice not long ago? Why are we doing it again?

This brings us to clan rules.

Whenever you encounter something big or small, you must pray to your ancestors, asking for their blessings and for greater prosperity in the next step.

The Zheng clan did hold a ceremony at the ancestral hall last time, and they also carried out a large-scale renovation of the ancestral hall, adding a square archway and a meeting hall. They also expanded the ancestral hall, which shocked the entire Tongzhou city.

When the descendants of the Zheng clan became successful and became high officials, they would light a stick of incense and pray to their ancestors. This was both an announcement of good news and a way of showing off. Isn't this what they should do?
At that time, Zheng Guohui was still the captain of Jinling City. Now he has been promoted again. The court has awarded him the title of Second-Rank Deputy General of Jiangnan, and he has married the eldest daughter of the Li family, a famous family in northern Anhui. This is definitely a great joyous event!

Shouldn't we tell our ancestors, make their spirits in heaven happy, and show off to our fellow villagers? This is also reasonable!

Until near noon
Zheng Guohui returned exhausted. His wife had already prepared a steaming hot nutritious soup. He took it and ate it in big mouthfuls, not caring about the heat. He was really hungry.

"Master, please use it slowly. Be careful not to get burned." Zheng Li took out a white silk handkerchief with a gentle expression and wiped the soup that overflowed from the corner of his mouth, as if taking care of a child.

Zheng Guohui chewed a few times and swallowed, then said, "I went out to worship my ancestors before dawn and kowtowed dozens of times. It's finally almost over. I don't know what's wrong with those old guys. They have to hold a meeting in the ancestral hall at this time, and they only talk about trivial matters."

With Zheng Guohui's current vision, he no longer cares about the important things mentioned by the elders, but he has to listen patiently because he is an important figure second only to the clan leader.

The lady smiled sweetly and said;
"Every clan is like this. Whenever my father and second uncle return home, they're dragged into discussions about clan matters. It's nothing more than things like more land, donations to clan schools, and building bridges and roads. Although I'm impatient, I can't show it outwardly. Accepting good advice is the right path."

Zheng Guohui quickly scooped up the remaining few mouthfuls and felt warm from head to toe. His stomach was full, so he put down the large bowl of soup and said,

"With such a virtuous wife, what more could a husband ask for? My husband, I am already half full, so there is no urgency for lunch."

"Then we can postpone the meal for a while. I'll ask Dongmei to inform the old master that I won't be there to eat lunch with you, so as not to keep them waiting."

"Okay, it's time to take a break. I haven't done anything all day and I'm exhausted." Zheng Guohui nodded in agreement. He yawned and said, "I got up early today. I'm going to take a nap and then eat after I get up."

The lady knew that he had a big appetite, so the soup she cooked was quite large.

"Well, let Ruqin sleep with the master, and we can have dinner after he wakes up." Zheng Li nodded in agreement.

Zheng Guohui didn't say anything, just responded and walked towards the dormitory.

He is now accustomed to having a woman serve him while he sleeps. He sleeps more soundly with a delicate body in his arms.

Ruqin followed behind with a red face. When they arrived at the dormitory, she let go of the quilt, helped the master take off his coat, took off her own clothes, and was the first to get under the quilt and cover her head.

Zheng Guohui yawned again, went straight to the bed and got into the quilt. He put his arms around Ruqin, who was trembling slightly, and hugged her curvy and delicate body. He smelled the virgin fragrance on the girl, closed his eyes and fell asleep.

soon
Then there was a soft rhythmic sound of snoring.

Ruqin's originally stiff body had now completely relaxed, but her pretty face, which emerged from the quilt, was now covered with a large blush.

Her little head nestled in the master's broad chest, feeling the man's strong heartbeat and the barely perceptible scent of sweat, which seemed to exude strong hormones, making Ruqin intoxicated and immersed in it. She loved the smell of sweat so much that her delicate body felt numb and soft, turning into a pool of water.

I looked up at the master's angular face and the hard stubble.

Ruqin stretched out her tender white little hand tremblingly and gently stroked the master's chin. Her hand was painful, but it felt as if something hard had hit the girl's heart.

this moment

Ruqin wanted to moan with happiness. She decisively used her upper little hand to hug the master's strong body tightly and pressed her delicate body against him.

If they could be together, she would never separate.

After a while, he fell into a deep sleep.

The comfortable days passed by like a flash, and the Lantern Festival was here in a blink of an eye.

Chongming Island
Zheng Guohui arrived in the town the day before yesterday. He visited the villages and towns below in the past two days and was quite satisfied with the situation he saw.

The residents of Chongming Island have basically settled down. About 2 refugee families have settled down, and there are also more than bachelors who do not want to be far away from their homeland and have subsequently settled down in the villages.

There are more than 120 villages across Chongming Island, and more than 10 towns have been developed. The houses in the villages have also been built with concerted efforts to ensure that everyone has a place to live.

The policy implemented on Chongming Island was basically a military-style tenant system. The land cultivated by these people was rented out, and they had to pay 60% of the grain tax.

However, raising chickens, ducks, geese, and pigs is allowed, and there is no limit on the number. However, they are still subject to tax. The tax rate for chickens, ducks, and geese is half. The tax rate for pigs, cattle, sheep, and donkeys is 60%.

The biggest benefit here
That is, there is no tax on the eggs, duck eggs, and goose eggs that farmers eat themselves, which greatly encouraged the enthusiasm of tenants. Before the New Year, every family pickled salted duck eggs, preserved eggs and other farm dishes to improve their lives.

You can hunt and fish in the reed marshes, and dig wild vegetables in the fields. There is no tax on this, so hardworking people can live a good life.

There are also many families raising pigs, donkeys and cattle. Although the island imposes a 60% tax, the enthusiasm of tenants for breeding is still high.

Because the piglets, calves and donkeys were distributed on the island and were adopted voluntarily by the tenants, all the calves born by these animals had to be handed over, and the animals could be sold when they grew up.

Farming could only provide the tenants with enough food and clothing. If they wanted to live a good life, they had to raise livestock and poultry. Then they could take them to the market, pay taxes, and sell them, and they could make some money.

To buy some cloth to make clothes for the wife and children, to save some money to marry a wife, to buy some needles and thread for the household, to buy some farm tools or to build a house or a barn, all depended on these poultry and livestock.

Most people don't dare to evade taxes. Being caught is a real disaster. You may be fined to the point of bankruptcy and even be sent to a labor camp.

There were also hard labor camps on Chongming Island. Some petty thieves were thrown in directly when they were caught. Some hooligans, bullies, and those who caused trouble were also thrown into the hard labor camps after being caught.

For some people, once their good days are over, their true colors will be revealed.

Chongming Island does not tolerate these bad habits and has always implemented strict laws and punishments. Except for beheading those who violate the taboo of fleeing or smuggling, all others who do not harm human lives will be thrown into labor camps.

These two years of hard work

The labor camp grew to a size of more than 400 people. Their common feature was that they had tattoos on their faces, an iron chain on their feet, and they were dressed in rags and did hard labor every day, not even resting in the cold winter.

When bridges and roads were being built and ditches were being dug in the town, passersby were trying to avoid them as much as possible.

People often say to those who come after them;

"Look, those are criminals. Once they're caught, they'll be thrown into a hard labor camp, and their lives will be ruined."

"On this island, you must abide by the law in everything you do. You can't drink a few ounces of cat urine and forget your name. It will be too late to regret it."

"General, you are kind. If you don't cherish the opportunity you were given, this is the result of your reckless behavior. You should be careful!"

With these role models in front of us, the atmosphere on Chongming Island has become clearer.

In the towns below
It can be said that people do not pick up things on the road, and the neighbors are friendly and harmonious. When there are conflicts, they will seek mediation from the village instead of fighting on their own.

It was indeed a pleasure to do it at the time, but the consequences were unbearable.

So everyone learned to reason, and if they couldn't explain themselves clearly, they would ask the villagers to make an arbitration, and the conflict would always be resolved.

If you have something to fear in your heart, you will naturally be more well-behaved.

Near Guangming Town
There are four large-scale residence camps, which are for refugees preparing to go to Southeast Asia. There are men, women and children. They are just transiting here temporarily, waiting for the fleet to arrive and then board the ship to go south.

Today's transport ships have more experience, and some strong children can follow their parents to Southeast Asia, and their seasickness reactions are not as severe as adults.

Of course, this is not suitable for children who are too young.

The camp is full of adobe and thatched houses, arranged in neat rows. In front of each row of houses there is a pressurized well and a large bluestone pool where people can use water for washing.

Individual cooking is not allowed in the camp. Instead, porridge is provided collectively. There are two meals a day, one bowl of porridge and one piece of salted turnip per person. Even if you want to eat more, you are not allowed to.

If you help out in the kitchen, you'll most likely get enough to eat.

Wanting to eat well is like a fantasy. It is good enough to be able to have two meals a day and survive.

This is a public toilet, and urinating or defecating anywhere is strictly prohibited. Violators will be whipped if caught.

Those who urinate in public will be whipped three times, and those who defecate in public will be whipped five times. They use bamboo sticks as thick as fingers, and each whip will leave a bloody mark.

Anyone who violates the rules, regardless of whether they are adults or children, will be whipped.

Once a person is beaten, he will never dare to urinate or defecate anywhere in his life. The memory is so deep and the method is so simple and crude.

Each room in the camp housed eight people, making it a very crowded place. Two families could share a room, and everyone slept on the floor with straw, not beds.

When Zheng Guohui arrived before the Lantern Festival, there were still about 5 people in the camp, scattered across more than 10 camps in surrounding villages and towns.

Once in the camp, refugees are not allowed to go out at will. This is to prevent them from stealing. If they are hungry, they will steal anything. This is deeply hated by the settled villagers and has caused many conflicts.

In order to avoid conflicts, refugees are simply not allowed to leave the camp.

(Reporting, yesterday's monthly ticket count was 19.)
(End of this chapter)