Chapter 692 Elites From Nanjing

Early spring in the Northeast is still cold. Perhaps the word "spring cold" is used to describe this place!

Spring is already bright and beautiful in the south of the Yangtze River in February, and the northeast has just been covered by a heavy snowfall in February. By the middle of February, the snow on the ground has not melted. Just as the political changes in Nanjing have no impact on the "stability and tranquility" of the Northeast, the Northeast is too far away for Nanjing, the turbulent political center of China.

The news contained in North Korea, this great news that made Nanjing rejoice, only blew a snowflake in the Northeast, and was quickly buried in the heavy snow in February. It's like living in two different worlds.

The people living here, including the immigrants who just arrived last year, rarely leave their houses except for those hunters who brave the wind and snow. The winter wilderness provides these hunters with good hunting grounds, where countless game animals and even ferocious tigers roam. Prey that dares to roam the wild in winter are the best sources of fur coats for humans.

After drinking the strong wine in the bowl and taking a bite of the roe deer meat stewed in the pot, Zeng Ming said with a smile: "I used to hear people say that the Northeast is bitterly cold, but it seems that is not the case now. If there were no wars, Life here is pretty good. There is meat in the mountains and fish in the river. Life is more nourishing than in my hometown. "

As an old man in the National Defense Force, Zeng Ming came from a very powerful background. He was originally a government servant in Lushan County. He was first arrested when he was raiding the Chen family's hometown in Tumenji, and he was the first person to join the Chen family in order to survive.

However, his career in the Fuhan Army was not smooth and tortuous. When Zeng Ming was in his mid-thirties, his character was determined early and he was very slippery. He was born as a government official, so how could he not be slippery? If you don't work hard in the army, you'll just get by. So I spent several years in the army without a bright future. Later I transferred to the local police station and started my old job. Now he is the police chief of Manzhouli, Heilongjiang's largest and most important land port with Russia, and also serves as the deputy officer of the second detachment of the Northeast Frontier Defense Corps. A very important task of the latter is to patrol the Sino-Russian border and strictly prevent smuggling operations by lawless elements on both sides.

With the armistice between China and Russia, a large number of bannermen withdrew from the Outer Xing'an Mountains. Although China has captured a large area of ​​Lake Baikal, it is not neatly connected to the Northeast. The Lake Baikal area is China's dagger piercing the Siberian region. This The land between the dagger and the outer northeast is still under Russian control. The southernmost tip of that land is adjacent to Manzhouli.

After the agreement was reached, there was no major war in the Northeast.

Both China and Russia have entered the stage of production recovery. Although Manzhouli's annual trading volume is less than a quarter of Kyaktu's.

But China has never sold grain to Russia. Immigrants from the Northeast produce a large amount of grain every year, which is used to make wine and feed livestock, or is traded to Mongolia. Sino-Russian transactions still remain at the original items of cloth, rhubarb, tea, etc., with at most one drink added. It is true that these items are more profitable, but they cannot replace food. The Russian agriculture in the Outer Khingan Mountains is already very poor. It is only because their population is small and there are many Tatar tribes for them to exploit that there is no food crisis. However, after a war, they lost the precious Lake Baikal. Most of the Tatar tribes returned to the Mongolian ethnic group. Even some Cossack ethnic groups did not have a suitable place to stay. The Russians had already lost a considerable proportion of their food supplies. , and the influx of a large number of bannermen has further exacerbated the Russian people's food burden.

China does not sell food to the Russians. This is imposing the most restrictive sanctions on Russia.

In the past two winters, many bannermen have often fled back to China from the Russian territory and surrendered to the border defense corps and not to the local border officials. Compared with the danger of starving to death, it is not so unacceptable to die of exhaustion in a labor camp.

According to their accounts, some people among the bannermen in the area north of the Waixing'an Mountains starved to death or froze to death every day. They are all going to die anyway, are they still afraid of being sent to a labor camp? At least you can be a full-fledged ghost, right?

He Huazhang, who was the supervisor of Manchuria Customs at the time, nodded slowly. This scholar who seemed weak at first, now drank one bowl after another. He had previously stayed in the warm Guangzhou. He originally decided to quit the secret camp, but in the end he did not resist the temptation of becoming an official. He took up the post of Guangdong Customs, and then was transferred to the land customs in Manzhouli. The latter is regarded as a third-level checkpoint in the entire Chinese customs system, small and medium-sized.

The cold weather forced him to carry a silver hip flask for half the year. It starts in October and lasts until April of the following year.

He Huazhang initially prepared an exquisite tin pot for himself. He liked tin products when he was in Guangdong. Compared with copper pots and silver pots, he liked tin products more.

However, cold weather can gradually turn the tin pot from silvery white into a soot-like powder, so He Huazhang had no choice but to give up his favorite metalware.

He picked up the wine jar and poured himself a full bowl of wine, smiling and saying: "The Northeast is indeed a good place. Although it is cold here in winter, God has given people here too many things. "Beat the roe deer with a stick and scoop the fish with a ladle, and the pheasant flies into the rice pot." Although the emperor has not personally walked through the entire Northeast, this sentence is really right. Our emperor is wise. He took this land back against the Russians. Such a Feng Shui treasure land fell into the hands of barbarians. It's a pity for this fertile land!" The black soil in the Northeast is the best soil in China. It has good properties and high fertility. It is suitable for plant growth. It is a unique treasure given to mankind by nature.

It really can squeeze out oil.

When the immigrants to the Northeast first started, some people doubted whether the cold outer Northeast could grow food. It was the emperor who insisted. And the facts have proved that although the fields here cannot be harvested twice or three times a year, the land here only needs one harvest a year to feed tens of millions of people.

Everything is proved by facts.

As long as the most basic water conservancy facilities are equipped, whether it is corn, soybeans, wheat, oats, or rice, the per-acre yield can be compared with the best fields in the mainland. In fact, the means of land reclamation and cultivation in the Northeast has always been horse plowing. Oxen plowing was only used for a period of time in the early days and then quickly eliminated.

Therefore, the per-acre yield can be compared with the same yield of intensive cultivation in the mainland, but the per capita sowing area is much larger than that in the mainland. The final result is naturally a bumper harvest in the Northeast. Moreover, with the gradual improvement of water conservancy facilities and the application of fertilizers, in addition to farmyard manure, there are some natural wastes in Chinese agriculture, such as phosphate fertilizer and bird droppings.

Coupled with the per capita arable land area far higher than that in the inland, although the Northeast is still bitter and cold, it is really not poor.

Now the time is still short, the population base in the Northeast is still small, and it does not show a large market scale, but it will have to wait until 20 or 30 years later, when the next generation or newborns have grown up completely, He Huazhang dares to use his own eyes as a guarantee, which is absolutely not to be underestimated.

Of course, He Huazhang will not forget the threat of war.

Now many people feel that Chen Han will have a second war with Russia sooner or later to completely solve the problem of the bannermen north of the Greater Khingan Range. One dragon and one bear, two giants on land are slaughtered together. China says that it will not threaten Russia's interests. Will St. Petersburg believe it? Russia also says that it will not threaten China's interests. Will Nanjing beg for money?

When the strength of each other reaches a certain level, the real or unreal actions are no longer important. Self-perception is the most important. I think you have already affected and threatened my interests and security. This is the biggest reason for the outbreak of war.

Just like Kang Mazi got rid of his once precious prince, it has nothing to do with whether Yinreng really wants to rebel, but his existence, the existence of a young, strong and talented prince, is itself the biggest threat to the power of Kang Mazi who is gradually aging.

Or maybe Zhu Hongwu killed meritorious ministers in waves to clear obstacles for his son. Even though his prince did not think it was an obstacle, but thought his father's behavior was too cruel, Zhu Hongwu thought it was an obstacle for his son, so he started to kill batches of his right-hand ministers when he conquered the world.

China and Russia will have another war sooner or later.

Many people think so, and He Huazhang is one of them. He sighed softly.

But Zeng Ming disagreed and said: "The south was not fully developed until the Southern Song Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, there were still a large number of chieftains in Xiangxi, Gannan, Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou who held military power. The Northeast is so cold that even if they knew there were fields to cultivate here, no one would come here."

"Besides, there was still the threat of the Mongols at that time, and the Northeast itself had a large number of indigenous minorities. Even if they knew about it, what would it matter? As long as the situation is not stable, the Northeast cannot be formally developed." This Northeast has never been peaceful for thousands of years. Who dares to come here? Besides, we said in the political class that the court in the past did not have so many common people. This was all due to the potatoes, sweet potatoes and corn that were brought in from outside in the late Ming Dynasty.

In the past, there were few people, so naturally the per capita arable land was large, so there was no need to run to the bitter and cold Northeast.

"Okay, Lao Zeng. You have a good political level. I didn't expect that you would have such a mind. It's really not easy!" He Huazhang drank the wine in the cup in one gulp and smiled at Zeng Ming with some amusement.

"You are the only ones who want to study? We have to study too. I don't want to be tied to the frontier for my whole life."

"I don't like living like this. I'm scared all day long. I don't know when my life will be gone!"

Ignoring He Huazhang's ridicule, Zeng Ming sighed deeply and said in a deep tone. The head of the Manchuria Police Department, the deputy of the second detachment, no matter what, is in danger of life.

Because now a large smuggling network is rushing towards Manchuria, and someone is secretly transporting food to the Russians and the bannermen. The structure of this big network is very secretive. Even if someone falls into the law, it is difficult to follow the clues.

Whether it is the Border Defense Corps, the local police station, or the customs and the National Security, they have all noticed this big network. But their efforts have only eliminated a few minions, and there is no clue about the real valuable things.

The National Security is very suspicious of the leadership of this network. Since the Sticky Rod disappeared in the country, there have been few things that have made the National Security suffer. This is one of them!

The National Security Headquarters will send elites to Manzhouli, and at the same time, the Economic Crime Investigation Division will also come to expand its business scope.

Zeng Ming and He Huazhang both smelled danger before, and now they smell trouble even more. Because during their own ongoing investigation after the case was reported, He Huazhang and Zeng Ming, especially the latter, did something extraordinary. If no one is behind this, he can go home and sell sweet potatoes when everything comes to light.

"I hope the good days we want will come soon. You don't know, since Sun Yi was arrested, I have been suspicious. I always felt that no one around me was reliable, but now everyone thinks it might be Spy, spy, as a customs officer Supervisor, I shouldn’t have said such a thing, it’s just the two of us now, it’s okay for the two of us to talk! I’m really under pressure, I hope the people from Nanjing can solve the matter in Northeast China soon!” Don't involve yourself either.

He Huazhang's tone was serious, but it was Zeng Ming's turn to smile. He said with a smile: "Don't hold on to such unrealistic hopes! People in Nanjing are also human beings. They are not gods. They cannot tell at a glance that someone is evil. "

Zeng Ming and He Huazhang were not just chatting together today. They were still waiting for the old man in Nanjing.

"We are the local gangsters here. If they want to do something, they have to hook up with us." It is impossible not to involve them.

The local authority of Manzhouli Customs supervision is much stronger than that of Manzhouli County Magistrate. The Customs has its own team and even has a powerful armed police force in its own police force. And Zeng Ming is not only a policeman in Manzhouli, but also the deputy of the second detachment. His rank is higher than that of a fifth-grade county magistrate, and he is not inferior to a small magistrate.

In terms of influence, they are much greater than the county magistrate, and their relationships are much deeper. In border areas, people with armed forces are always more powerful than mere administrative officials.

"Everyone is dead. Everything is destined. Drink up! If we enjoy happiness when we should, we won't die; if we don't enjoy happiness when we shouldn't, maybe one day we will lose our heads!"

Pointing at Zeng Ming with a wry smile, He Huazhang didn't say anything, but drank the remaining wine in the bowl in one gulp.

The two of them didn't get drunk, they were more likely to talk. Now the whole customs has changed in He Huazhang's eyes. Sun Yi's arrest as a traitor has given him a great blow and impact. He has too many things to say to Zeng Ming, a 'professional'. After all, the person who caught Sun Yi before was Zeng Ming.

Then there was a knock on the door outside!

He Huazhang said unhappily: "What happened? What happened again?"

"Supervisor, someone is coming from Nanjing! He said he wants to see the two adults immediately!" A man's voice came from outside, his tone was very respectful. He is an inspector of Manzhouli Customs.

As a small and medium-sized customs in the customs system, the highest position of Manzhouli Customs is customs supervision, not director. Inspectors and customs inspectors are already powerful figures in the customs.

He Huazhang and Zeng Ming looked at each other. He couldn't help but secretly thought: "What is supposed to come has come." After pondering for a while, Zeng Ming asked: "Who is coming?"

"Sir, it's Mr. Gao Shidagao from the National Security Division 5!" The person outside said respectfully.

The two were relatively shocked, obviously not expecting that Gao Shida would come at this time. He Huazhang knew more about Gao Shida than Zeng Ming. After all, Zeng Ming was born in the army, and He Huazhang had been working in a secret camp in his early years. Gao Shida had already taken the top position in the National Security Branch 5 last year. He was not a marginalized figure in the National Security Bureau, but a well-known young man.