Chapter 715 Military Control

In August, the south of the Yangtze River was still bright and beautiful, but in the far northern border area of ​​Manzhouli, it was cold and desolate, and it would not be long before the season of snowflakes fell.

However, Zeng Ming's house was in full swing at this time. Everyone's faces, including the master's family and the servants, were filled with the heat of midsummer and the joy of the New Year.

Because the male owner of his family had just appeared not long ago, but he had already been "invited" by the military commander to visit the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics of the Military Commission, which was well-known in the Northeast, and finally returned home safely after half a month.

In the past few days, the Zeng Mansion has been dark. Madam Zeng, who usually only goes to the temple once or twice a year to pray, opened a shrine directly in the wing room. In it, not only Tathagata and Guanyin are enshrined, but also the Jade Emperor and the Three Taoists. clear. Zeng's almost confused approach is the best explanation for the confusion and panic state of the entire Zeng Mansion after Zeng Ming was asked to leave.

Fortunately, their master returned home safely after half a month. The military commander even sent a car to take his master back. All the darkness and bad luck in the Zeng family were swept away.

Although Zeng Ming walked in when he entered Juntong and was carried out when he came out, at least he was intact. Even the official position has not changed.

At Zeng's house, Zeng Ming was carried into the house and placed on a soft couch.

Mrs. Zeng had lost weight in the past half month, but as soon as she saw the backbone of the family returning from the army safely and wholeheartedly, her energy and energy instantly replenished half of her energy, and she immediately called for a doctor to look at Zeng Ming's legs. Both of Zeng Ming's knees were bruised and purple. This was the only visible injury on his body, and it looked very serious at first glance.

Zeng Ming held her hand and said, "You go and lie down first to see how thin you have become." As soon as he returned home and saw Zeng's appearance, he felt bad in his heart. Although he had a difficult time in the military system, Zeng Ming had never done anything illegal or treasonous. Even if he entered, he would still feel confident. No matter how useless he was, Zeng Ming was still an old man from Lushan and had some connections with him. If the military commander dared to blame him for something he had never done, Zeng Ming would also make it difficult for the military commander.

But how worried people outside must be, and there are rumors.

In the past few months, the military commander has become famous outside the Northeast, and few people who enter can come out again. If Mrs. Zeng hadn't been so worried, could she have become as thin as she is now?

Zeng Ming's concubines also came over crying with pale faces, their eyes swollen like walnuts. As soon as they came in, they knelt in front of his bed and hugged his legs, crying, "My lord, what are you doing?" What's wrong……"

Normally, Zeng Ming would also feel sorry for them. After all, my concubine is beautiful, young and moist. But now that Zeng, a man so skinny that he was almost out of shape, stood in front of him, Zeng Ming suddenly didn't think there was anything good about these women at all. In comparison, the concubines looked so fake that they made him sick. He didn't even bother to look. Several concubines wanted to ask him to go to their room to recuperate, so Zeng Ming waved his hands and asked his servants to pull him out of the room.

Mrs. Zeng felt very relieved when she saw several concubines being taken away, but she also said politely: "They are also worried about you."

Zeng Ming shook his head, held her hand and lay down, saying, "If you're worried, just stay in the room and don't come out to hinder my eyes."

Mrs. Zeng turned around and left the room and ordered that the concubines in those rooms be banned.

"There will definitely be many people coming in the next few days." Zeng Ming didn't care what Zeng did, the old couple still had feelings for each other at the critical moment. He walked around in the military for a while, but came out of it intact, which almost put a "loyal and reliable" talisman on his head. The certifier, Comrade Zeng Ming, is still a reliable, competent and good comrade, and a good and loyal member of the court. Anyone can feel free and bold to get close to her.

Unlike the previous half month, the Zeng Mansion was as cold and deserted as a leprosy patient, with everyone hiding far away and no one around. Only a few true friends sent people to visit.

There was a trace of disgust on Mrs. Zeng's face, "They are all unreliable people. In the past few days since you came in, who else, except the He family and the Zhao family, have shown their presence? Have you said a word of comfort to me? They all regard our family as the god of plague." , Now I have to fawn over again. "Zeng's memory is not bad, and she also has her own little notebook in mind.

"Hurry up and have someone deliver a letter to the children, so that they can go to school with peace of mind. His father is fine."

"Prepare generous gifts and send them to the He family and the Zhao family. A friend in need is a friend indeed." This not only refers to the affairs of men and women in Zeng Ming's backyard, but also to the entire Zeng family's network of relationships. This catastrophe made it clear to him who his true friends were and who were just friends.

Zeng's heart was full of mixed feelings.

The Zeng family has two boys, one is attending the police academy in Harbin and the other is attending middle school in Hulunbuir. In the half month since Zeng Ming was taken away, what happened to the children sounds heartbreaking for her.

The Harbin one is too far away and has little impact; the one that does have an impact is Hulunbuir...

She should be happy today, but now she couldn't keep the smile on her face, tears were streaming down her face, she covered her mouth and leaned against Zeng Ming's bedside, sobbing softly.

Zeng Ming's legs hurt every time she moved, but he still tried his best to reach out and pat her. At this time, he came to his senses. He was captured for half a month, but the news did not reach Harbin, but also reached Hulunbuir. You can imagine what happened to the child. The military commander's famous name was as loud as Hulunbuir.

"I'm not sad, I'm not sad. I'm back now, and I'll be fine in the future." Zeng Ming said sadly, "As a child, it's a good thing to suffer a little setback..."

The doctor didn't need to be called to the Zeng family. He Huazhang heard that Zeng Ming was sent home by the military carriage, and immediately took the doctor and medicine from the customs medical room to the Zeng family. Zeng Ming is already in his early forties, and his physical peak has long passed. He has lost a lot of vitality in half a month. Although he never said how the injury on his leg was left, and even did not admit that the injury was left by the military, fortunately it is not irrecoverable, but there may be some sequelae such as joint pain and rheumatism in the future.

He Huazhang did not stay in the Zeng Mansion for long. What Zeng Ming needed most now was rest. After talking with He Huazhang for a while, he was almost out of spirit.

After being sent out of the Zeng Mansion, He Huazhang was shocked to find that Manzhouli City suddenly had a different taste on the way back.

Teams of soldiers, soldiers with live ammunition!

It should be the border guards stationed in the city when he entered Zeng's house. The teams of soldiers with serious attitudes came and went, which scared the people on the street. There were fewer small vendors and some shops were closed. The street was very deserted.

"Which unit are you from? I am the supervisor of the Manchuria Customs."

"Hello, sir. My unit is the second battalion of the fourth detachment of the Northeast Border Defense Army. I was ordered to go to Manchuria to perform a mission."

The latter would come forward to ask questions when they saw suspicious people and cars on the road. When He Huazhang's carriage was stopped, He Huazhang revealed his identity and asked the soldiers. The soldiers only said so much in total, and asking more questions would be kept secret. He Huazhang's carriage was stopped three or five times on the way home.

He Huazhang was silent for a long time after getting off the carriage, and went straight back to his room to rest. On the way back, he heard a loud cry, and the place where the cry came from, if he remembered correctly, was the official street in Manchuria.

The county government now has no residence for the county magistrate, and many officials have to find their own houses. Except for a few people like He Huazhang and Zeng Ming, most of the officials in Manzhouli gathered on one street. In Manzhouli, that street is called Guan Street.

I don’t know how many people will be unlucky.

In a place where He Huazhang can’t see, several people were tied up and kneeling in the middle of a group of soldiers. Not far away, there were also the followers, bodyguards, and retainers of these people, all tied there. There were also several large boxes of paper and letters searched from the house.

The young and beautiful girl couldn’t escape either, she stood by crying and pale.

Of course, they don’t have to worry, as long as they are identified, they will naturally be free.

But the families of these people are not so lucky.

The power of one person is limited, and all families and in-laws are still a vital link in the Chinese network of human relationships even in the 21st century. People in this era love to get married everywhere, and pulling one can pull a string. Even if there is no collective responsibility, if an official has a problem, someone around him will definitely be implicated.

In addition to the county government, customs, and garrison in Manzhouli, there is another densely populated area, that is, the labor camp.

The Manzhouli labor camp is a reinforced camp with more than 600 laborers. Even if healthy women are excluded, there are no more than 500 laborers who meet the standard.

In addition to children and women with weaker labor capacity, and a few elderly people, the population of the entire labor camp exceeds 1,000 people. And the force guarding them is also a reinforced platoon.

In the past, labor camps were rarely deployed on the border, for fear that the latter would escape. Even if they were deployed, they were mostly guarded by "heavy troops".

But now it is different. The personal stories of those bannermen who ran back from the Russians made the prisoners and their families in the labor camps dare not even think about the Russians.

Most of the people in this labor camp in Manzhouli now ran back from the Russians and surrendered. Their task in Manzhouli is to repair official roads and build schools, squares, sewers and other public facilities. Although the workload is heavy and tiring, at least they can eat well.

Potato, sweet potato and corn porridge, as well as military rations and old rice that are about to expire and expired handled by the military supply system, this is their food.

The weather is cold and winter is coming. Zhou Tiezhu no longer supervises the construction site every day.

The old injury on his leg is always a hidden danger.

At the beginning, he became a retired soldier after his leg injury, but his restless heart made him stay at home for a while and then respond to the call of the General's Mansion and run to Shanghai to be a supervisor. At that time, his subordinates were prisoners of war captured by the Fu Han Army on the battlefields of the Battle of Changzhou, the Battle of Hangzhou, the Battle of Wusongkou and the Battle of Zhoushan. There were sailors and land soldiers, Qing troops and militia, people from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, people from Anhui, people from southern Jiangsu, and people from northern Jiangsu. Status varies, the highest is the captain, the lowest is an ordinary soldier.

Then Zhou Tiezhu entered the labor camp system, and has been working there until now.

From the southeast to the northwest, and now to the northeast.

In the command center of the labor camp, Zhou Tiezhu is playing cards with several of his men. Before going to the northwest, Zhou Tiezhu never thought that playing cards was interesting, but now he has realized the charm of playing cards, no wonder some people play cards all day and night.

He knows that everyone is letting him go, and he will return the money he wins to them anyway, just for fun.

Everyone in the room is playing cards, and the gatekeepers outside are still armed and locked up behind fences.

Although the labor camp system has been implemented for so many years, no prisoners have ever successfully rebelled, but this guarantee relies on the strict rules and regulations of the labor camp. Zhou Tiezhu has stepped up from a retired soldier who was discharged due to injuries to his current position, which depends on his dedication and diligence.

The command center is a small bunker in the labor camp, and the security must be strict.

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Does anyone want it?"

"Four tens! Bombs!"

The card game was in full swing when the clerk of the labor camp walked in. This was a scholar who passed the civil service exam of the Ministry of Labor last year and was assigned to Manzhouli. He was born in an ordinary family, had no background, and had no connections, so he could only follow the assignment.

Zhou Tiezhu had some impression of him. His surname was Zhang, and he was a quiet young man.

"Zhang Lei, come and help me. I'm going out for a walk." A man wearing glasses called Zhang Lei.

Zhang Lei washed his hands and sat down, playing the cards in his hand with his eyes, saying: "Just now the county government sent a notice that many families have been arrested with their entire families, and some of them may be sentenced to labor camps."

These two days, people have been raiding homes and arresting people outside, not only in Manzhouli, but also in Hulunbuir. They also know about it. Including Director Zeng Ming, who was released just two days ago. And as long as someone is unlucky, it can be implicated in their labor camps.

Hearing what Zhang Lei said, the people at the card table talked and laughed as usual, only Zhang Lei himself had a little bit of pity on his face.

"These people deserve it. They deserve to be reformed through labor." Zhou Tiezhu said, "Besides, isn't it better to be sent to a labor camp now than to be exiled thousands of miles away in the past? To be a slave to the armored men, I pah, it's better to be sent to a labor camp now."

"What Zhou said is right. There is still a time to be released after entering our labor camp. The Tartars in the past were sent out to be slaves to the armored men, and they could never turn over a new leaf in their lifetime."

"Besides, what's wrong with us here? We have food and shelter, we are well fed and warmly dressed, and there are doctors to treat us when we are sick. We can also see meat and fruit snacks during festivals. . The fault lies with the new court now, and we Han people rule the country. If it were twenty years ago, how many people would have begged for such a life? "

"Although there is no money in the labor camp, there are points, right? Those points can be exchanged for things, right?"

"And the cotton-padded clothes issued by the court are so heavy. In the Northeast, Mongolia, Northwest, and all the labor camps in the northern Xinjiang area, two new sets are issued every year. There are also two pairs of cotton shoes, gloves, etc., which are issued every year. Save them up and exchange them for money when you leave the labor camp, right?" Two new sets of cotton-padded clothes were issued, and the old ones were taken back.

"Those who think that life in our labor camp is hard are those who have never eaten and cried. When you are hungry, no one will think that life in the labor camp is hard..."