On the southwest coast of Guangzhou, Hoi'an is a small market town at the foot of Etouling, a tributary of the Pearl River.
Rebel soldiers from Stormrage Camp are conducting a search/funding called sentry food. This is also the first time Zhou Huaian left the station to go to the countryside.
When I entered the town, it seemed that it was because of my previous visit. I didn't react strongly to the existence of the rebels, or it showed a kind of numbness and slowness after being forced to get used to it. In the end, there was only the so-called village elders from the big town, who was solely responsible for contacting and negotiating with the rebels.
Because it is close to the inland suburbs of Guangzhou, in addition to some common rice fields and vegetable borders outside the town, there are scattered orchards scattered irregularly on the hillsides and hills, but most of the local trees have already grown fruit. Tung oil trees, and the livelihood of most people in the town is also related to the surrounding industries of sea trade and shipping.
Therefore, beside the town, in addition to the wild market that regularly sells fish and aquatic products from nearby fishing villages along the river, there are also rope-making yards that use straw, ramie, and palm husks as raw materials, and lumber yards for making hard sails nearby, and tung oil for squeezing raw oil. Farms, water mill piles for processing grain, and several weaving and dyeing workshops, wood workshops, wine and vinegar rooms and sauce workshops of various sizes.
Therefore, it is said that under the conditions of previous years, the villagers and coolies who squatted under the eaves and waited for work constituted a daily landscape of this town; however, these people and the craftsmen in the workshops , Yufu, either fled or hid, and most of the rest were recruited/taken away by the rebels. Therefore, these places basically show a sense of desolate depression and decline.
In addition, he also found a small temple with a half-walled single room and a few small wooden ancestral halls; it was dedicated to strange gods and gods such as Zu Shi Gong Yu Ban to Hei Mian Zhu Rong Shen and Ma Tou Wen Jun. Tablet.
The town is not very large, but the layout of various buildings is densely clustered together, and many large and small streets are divided. Walking on the dirty and cramped streets, Zhou Huaian could feel the evasive figures behind the door panels and window cases, as well as their veiled gazes such as curiosity, fear, worry, and rejection.
Because it is a border area with industry and commerce as a link, although the people here are not lacking in food and skinny, they are much better than the hungry refugees outside Guangzhou.
Except for the two rice and grain shops that have been emptied, most of the other buildings are still intact, and there are no signs of fire or smashing. It's just that when anyone sees the rebels passing by, they are all cowering or hiding in a hurry. stand up.
The wine shops and tea shops hidden deep in the side alleys seem to be still open, but both the guests and the staff are sneaking in and out. They dare not greet and call loudly, but the road is very purposeful.
From another perspective Zhou Huaian understands,
Although the rebels took quite strict cleaning and control measures in the city of Guangzhou, in these suburban villages and towns outside the city, they still adopted quite extensive occupation and control methods, and the rebels were basically responsible for certain areas nearby. Internal affairs, and self-funded part of the cost;
Therefore, after rudely expelling and eliminating the influence of the government, and plundering and scaring away many large families, in fact, in these townships, some so-called prestigious elders and elders are responsible for coming forward and taking the lead in maintaining daily life. The order, and through various requirements for collecting money and food and raising the army order, constitutes a short-lived coexistence and balance with the nearby rebels.
After some negotiations, under the leadership of the village elders, the ground outside the town was quickly piled up with hundreds of bags of rice and other miscellaneous grains already prepared, and hundreds of coarse and fine silk cloth bundled into several large bales. And a large jar of copper coins, two large carts of vegetable oil and sauces plus a few large jars of wine, and in the end there were even more than a dozen women who had been dressed in a hurry and looked so dusty and dusty.
Of course, as one of the potential benefits of going out for sentry food, these women can only be used locally, and they are not allowed to be brought back to the camp. Nevertheless, these women who are covered with inferior powder and can hardly tell their true age have attracted the attention of most of the rebel soldiers who are between single dogs and old bachelors.
Fortunately, there were no ignorant people among them, and they came to ask and disturb Zhou Huaian if they wanted to share a good relationship. Therefore, he temporarily gained a moment of leisure and space to get rid of the crowded noise and walk around alone.
In the process of casual strolling, he still found something and gained; as one of the market towns close to Guangzhou, the local shops along the street that were forced to open for business still have some special local products; for example, the local stocking many long-term products There are some gray knob-head geese that resemble big geese, so it is famous for its smoked geese and whole cured geese.
Zhou Huaian also tasted it specially. Apart from the obvious monotony of the ingredients and lack of sweetness and saltiness, they are not far from the wide-flavored flavors of later generations in the heat. Therefore, they directly used the authorization that he came out this time. The corresponding cured goose and its by-products such as goose eggs will be included in the munitions catalog.
Another example is this generation of popular shrimp paste bean curd and kezi rice; the former is the fish sauce and the fermented carp sauce that is sealed and fermented with shrimp and crab, and the product is boiled together with the diluted raw soybean juice. And only a certain savory feeling in the aroma of chickpeas is left;
The latter uses the oysters commonly known as oysters by the locals, and cooks a semi-dry and semi-sparse meal with the overnight meal. If enough seasoning is added, there is already some embryonic form of the so-called seafood risotto in Southeast Asia.
Although they were all hurriedly simple foods by the lower class, because they have been circulating for long enough, the simplicity of the source of preparation and the convenience of cooking did not prevent Zhou Huaian from secretly adding it to the recipes he collected daily.
Of course, in accordance with the practice and practice in the Stormrage Camp, when the rebels raise military supplies on the spot under normal circumstances, they will usually use a certain amount of money to compensate for the difference in addition to the routine expropriation share; if there is not enough money, , Will also offset other existing items on hand;
No matter whether it is good or bad or needed or not, the other party has no reason to refuse or resist, otherwise it is "a spy for the government" or "a malicious hoarder with unpredictable minds", and there is no good end. Therefore, for the locals, doing business with the rebels is also full of certain risks and uncertain probabilities, but there are different degrees of concealment and distraction.
However, for this general situation, Zhou Huaian had a bold idea; the spoils and goods in the hands of the rebels, as well as the resource output under the control of the vicinity of the station, are obviously different; can't it be used? The Stormrage Camp is the lead and link, so that they can start to exchange what they have and what they need, can they also expand their influence and connections, as well as direct or indirect resource channels and sources
While his thinking was divergent, he walked aimlessly, and once again came to the archway at the entrance of the town, and saw the workhorses tied down and loaded with good things, and the guards who had disappeared temporarily; Suddenly I discovered something. I seemed to have gained a certain sense of freedom and purity without knowing it.
At least in the field of vision around him and nearby, except for a few villagers and passers-by who rushed to avoid them, there is no obstacle or eyeliner around him; even the hearing and perception of the specific activation are responsible. Protecting his old guard and personally called Xiao Qi, are all obstructed by at least a hundred steps of vision, busy dealing with the things that he temporarily assigns.
Suddenly, it seemed that the opportunity to go to freedom was already in sight, and it was readily available at any time. As long as he took the pack horse and continued to walk out, no one would hinder or stop him.
Immediately he regained consciousness, and even if he ran out here on horseback, most of the things he prepared remained in the camp. How far could he run with a workhorse alone, one mile or two? , And then still within the sphere of influence controlled by these rebels.
Although their forces are relatively scattered, and the efficiency of mutual contact and communication is not so high; but the checkpoints and patrol posts on the road are real obstacles and troubles. As for the probability that oneself hides until the rebels leave, it is not as good as the probability that oneself, an alien without relatives, will be starved to death in a certain corner.
At the same time, watching the figure slowly turning back from the entrance of the town, staying on the hill in the wild and being bitten by the mosquitoes in the grass, the swollen team officer biting his head and face, he also sighed slightly. He took a sigh of relief; this feeling of not knowing whether it was disappointment or rejoicing made his face a little complicated. (End of this chapter)