I do research in ancient times

"Is this... a ship?"

In the crowd, someone couldn't help but gasped.

The three-masted ship, with its jibs bulging high, was being hauled ashore.

It was mid-winter, and the river had begun to freeze, so the ship should be heading into the port to rest.

But... what kind of ship is this...?

Refugees are different from border residents living inland. Many of them lived near the ancient waterway of the Nanjiang River for generations.

But like this kind of triangular sailboat on the Wuzhi River, everyone's eyes widened, and they didn't understand why a boat without oars could sail against the wind and the current.

"Hey! Standing on the top of the mountain, who are you?"

Soon border troops surrounded them and drove the refugees down the mountain.

This is a fortress located on the upper reaches of the Wuzhi River, not far from Wuwei City. It is regarded as an outpost guarding the fortress. Usually, except for the merchant ships that transport goods, there are almost no other people trespassing.Today, strangers appeared on the back mountain, and they were mighty for two or three hundred people, which suddenly made the atmosphere of the fortress extremely tense.

The frontier army has a serious face, holding a mo knife, with a horizontal blade on the waist, the blade is extremely sharp, and it looks full of murderous aura no matter it is a long-distance or close attack.

Although not all of them were tall and mighty, their bodies were much stronger than those of the refugees, and most of them had ruddy complexions and thick muscles, which were completely different from what the refugees imagined.

When they used to live in the Central Plains, they could always hear that the border towns were bitterly cold, with no food or drink, and the people there were all sallow and emaciated, and it was common for them to die of freezing and starving.

Such a place, if it is not really impossible to survive, who really wants to come?

"father."

Xiong Dashan lowered his voice.

"Do you think Second Uncle is telling the truth? I think the military master here is scary and not friendly at all."

"Scared! How can the military master be kind!"

Old man Xiong glared at his son, motioning him not to talk nonsense, and to do whatever the military master asked him to do.

They lived and ate and slept all the way, and they arrived at the border town after suffering so much. It is the most important thing to settle down, and they must not make any more troubles.

"I know, I know."

While the two were muttering, the frontier soldiers over there had already started questioning everyone's identities.

An outsider was found on the top of the mountain. This is not a trivial matter, indicating that their security has loopholes.

The cavalry guard in charge of the fortress is none other than Zhang Sanniu.He had sunk the flagship of the Xihu people in Yaziao before, and with the help of his comrades, he had beaten the Yesaha fleet in sevens and eights, and his military achievements were softened.Today, Zhang Sanniu has been promoted from a chief to a cavalry guard, and has been transferred to guard the route on the east line of Xiaoling.

But this time, no one said that he "relyed on luck". Zhang Sanniu is a good operator of coastal defense guns. His temperament, anyone who talked about him would be convinced.

This No. [-] fortress in the upper reaches of the Wuzhi River was arranged as densely as an iron barrel by him, and today there was a sudden mistake, which scared Zhang Sanniu into a cold sweat.

"Check! Be sure to check carefully! Find out who this group of people are from?! How did they find the ravine that can lead up?!"

Zhang Sanniu was furious.

He immediately arranged for people to seal the loopholes, and then personally led the people to walk around the back mountain, making sure that there was no other possibility of sneaking in, and then hurriedly returned to the fortress.

When he came back, it was already evening, and the small fortress city was filled with the aroma of food.

Zhang Sanniu raised his head and sniffed, then turned to ask the soldiers beside him.

"Today eat pork stewed cabbage?"

The soldiers on the side nodded quickly.

"That's right, Wang Tou said this morning that the number of pigs in the pen is almost gone, and it's just the Chinese New Year, so kill three pigs to improve everyone's food."

"Well," Zhang Sanniu nodded.

"Old Wang came back from school in Jiuling City last month, and he has cooked this dish well. This lesson is not in vain."

"Boss, that's called training."

The young soldiers were nagging.

"It can only be said that it is much better than before, but it is incomparable with the food room in Jiuling City. It is called delicious."

"Go to hell!"

Zhang Sanniu glared at him.

"I went to Jiuling City to receive an award. You have been talking about it for half a year, so you just remember to eat it!"

Seeing the soldier giggling, he patted his shoulder angrily.

"It's a great opportunity to take the exam, but you gave me the last place in the exam. You worked hard, and Li Er, who surpassed No. 3, could be a fool! You are usually so smart, why did you just get in? I just dozed off in school, wasting my chance to learn and read!"

"hey-hey……"

"Stop smirking. Go ask me, where did that group of people come from? Have you checked it out?"

"Check it out."

The young soldier reported back.

"It is said that there are 240 refugees who fled from Yanyang and Luancheng. There are 140 women and 78 two men. Among them, [-] are old people and children. They all came in from outside the pass."

"There are a lot of young and strong people."

Zhang Sanniu touched his chin.

"Let's lock them up in the old camp first, watch them carefully, and deal with them after I report to Wuwei City."

After walking two steps, he suddenly stopped again, and turned to command the young soldiers.

"Go and tell Old Wang to ask him to prepare more meals. If there is not enough manpower, let the idle people in Wubao help and deliver some food to those who escaped."

"Especially those few older ones, all of them are sallow and thin, looking pitiful."

It was not easy for the refugees to come all the way, and the elderly Xiong Lao and the others couldn't help tossing, insisting that they insisted on going to the border town, it was already God's mercy, and they didn't fall down with a single obsession.

Seeing this scene, Zhang Sanniu suddenly triggered a memory in his heart.

It’s not a long time ago, the most recent was three or four years ago, when he was guarding a checkpoint near Shanling, and the gate was closed by heavy snow in winter, but the checkpoint was only a simple mud house, and snowflakes would pour in when the wind blows middle.

At that time, it is absolutely impossible to fall asleep at night, and it is necessary to leave a person to check on the situation of the comrades all night, otherwise some people will not be able to wake up the next morning.The frontier army was short of food and clothing at that time, and the court's food and salaries were often not paid in place, and they all relied on the Feng family's own pockets to subsidize military use, which was a drop in the bucket.

Their appearance at that time was no different from these refugees, and they had to pick up knives and guns to kill the enemy. He knew how it felt to be hungry.

Therefore, even if the identities of these refugees have not been screened, Zhang Sanniu is not going to let them fend for themselves, at least let them have a full meal, which is worthy of his conscience.

Life is not easy, and living in troubled times is even more difficult. I hope these refugees can understand the painstaking efforts of the frontier army and don't let him down.

As a result, the refugees who were brought to the old barracks saw frontier soldiers carrying large wooden barrels into the door, and the wooden lids could not hide the smell of food from inside.

The sound of sucking saliva was unconsciously heard in the crowd, one after another, like the waves of the sea.

"Father, are they going to feed us?"

Xiong Ershan's eyes were full of hope.

Since they were brought into the city, they were divided into several groups and interrogated separately. He and his father and brothers were dragged into a house, which was empty with only a row of stone beds, which became warm after a while.

The frontier soldiers who escorted them said that this was called a "hot kang" and that it could be used to light a fire. It would heat up while cooking and would not cool down overnight.

Xiong Ershan had never seen such a magical object before, and he looked at the dusty stone with awe.

I had heard of the bitter cold outside the Great Wall before, but I didn’t think much of it when I was far away in the Central Plains. Until the journey of escape, everyone had a deeper understanding of the word "bitter cold".

Especially the closer to the border town, the colder the weather.The day before they arrived, there was a snowstorm, and some of their companions were almost frozen to death on the road.After suffering from the weather, the refugees suddenly became pessimistic about the future.

In such a cold weather, even if the frontier army is willing to take them in, where can they find firewood for heating?

I used to see that those aristocratic families gave relief to the refugees, but they just donated some porridge and rice a day. It didn't matter where they lived.The climate in the Central Plains is not easy to endure, let alone the frontiers.

It’s all over now, this house has a heated kang, as long as everyone is diligent to collect some firewood and come back, we can carry it through the winter!

"It's delicious! It's delicious! What kind of meat is this!"

Early in the morning, he smelled that intriguing smell, which was the smell of meat. He had smelled it outside the management room when he went to call renter before.

Common people like him couldn't afford meat, and it was difficult to fill their stomachs. The chickens and ducks that were raised with great difficulty had to be handed over to the owner for tax deduction.

"Since the supplies are brought in, then... can we eat them?"

"impossible."

Old man Xiong was categorical.

"We, more than 200 people, have enough food for a meal. The frontier army has enough food and grass, but we can't afford it."

"It would be nice to have a place for us to live in. Most of this is what people want to eat."

"what……"

Xiong Dashan's son looked disappointed.

The child's eyes were fixed on the big wooden barrel, and the saliva was about to flow out of his mouth.

"Grandpa, do they all eat meat? Isn't that the same as a village steward? Then I will be a soldier in the future."

"Ha, you want to be a soldier? Who wants you?"

His second uncle laughed.

"Look at how strong the soldiers are, we can't do it."

While the crowd was waiting nervously, a tall frontier soldier walked into the room.Behind him was another group of people, holding a wooden box in their hands, which contained bowls and chopsticks.

"Come on, line up, each person has a bowl, everyone has a share, no one is allowed to grab it!"

As soon as the words came out, cheers erupted from the crowd.

At an unprecedented speed, the refugees quickly arranged their order.They let the elderly and children stand in the front, and among the women, the men in their prime consciously stand at the back. The friendship of this journey is not fake.

They really didn't expect that these military masters not only arranged accommodation for them, but were also willing to give them food!Fleeing from the Central Plains to the border town, they haven't had a full meal for a long time!

After getting excited, the crowd suddenly quickly quieted down again.

Suffering made people become tolerant, cautious, and restrained, for fear that any excessive emotions would annoy the frontier soldiers, and this long-awaited meal would disappear in smoke.

Mr. Wang opened the lid of the wooden barrel, and a burst of strong aroma got into everyone's nose.

Xiong Ershan inhaled hard, the smell of meat was mixed with the fresh smell of vegetables, but it was stronger and more delicious than what he had smelled at the steward's place before, and his saliva began to flood unconsciously.

He stood at the end of the line and watched helplessly as the people in front took their meals one by one.

With a film and a bowl of soup, many people sat down on the spot and wolfed it down into their mouths. For a moment, only the sound of chewing and swallowing remained in the huge space.

When it was Xiong Ershan's turn, he originally thought that there was only some broth left in the bucket at most, and the whole piece of meat and vegetables had been divided up early in the morning.As a result, he took the bowl and looked at it, and there was a piece of bone with meat floating inside, which smelled like meat.

Xiong Ershan raised his head abruptly, but saw the frontier soldier on the opposite side smiling at him.

"Let's eat, today is New Year's Eve, everyone has a share."

Lunar New Year's eve……

Xiong Ershan was holding the bone soup dish, and suddenly his eyes became sore.

In the past, every Chinese New Year, there was no lively and festive atmosphere at home, because New Year's Eve was the deadline for the main family to collect taxes. If they couldn't make up the money, they had to use family things or people to pay for it.

The end of the year, the end of the year, for the common people of poor families, the year is a hurdle, and only after passing through can they have a living head for the next year.

Xiong Ershan grew up so big, this was the first time someone gave him something during the Chinese New Year, and he had mixed feelings in his heart.

The warmth and coldness of people along the way made this bowl of soup with meat and vegetables extremely precious.Xiong Ershan held back for a long time but couldn't squeeze out a decent word of thanks, so he simply expressed his truest thoughts.

"Master Jun, I want to inquire, are you still recruiting soldiers?"

"I can endure hardships and am not afraid of death. Do you think I will succeed in the army?"