New Shun 1730

The overall moral level of Dashun was quite high in the feudal dynasty. It was not like during the Eight Kings of Jin Dynasty, when laws were explicitly issued to allow exchange of children for food.

The scholar-bureaucrats also denounced the custom of infant drowning quite a lot.

But people can't help but think this is normal. If the year is good, keep it alive; if the year is bad, drown it. Otherwise, what else can you do?

Zhang Pili's wife is young and has no experience of practice making perfect, but she also saw her mother drown her younger siblings when she was a child.

Because it was relatively normal, there was no psychological shadow left at all. On the contrary, I want to thank God that I was in good times during the years when I was born and that I was not taken away by She Hualong and his wife.

Maybe if I want to eat my own children, I really can’t do it, so I have to trade with each other and eat other people’s children.

In the current situation, even if you have good intentions and leave the child here without drowning yourself, no one will want it. In the end, if you starve to death, you might as well just drown yourself, which can be considered as doing good deeds and accumulating virtue.

Zhang Pizhu felt sorry for his wife. Although he saw his wife nodding, he also knew that he was reluctant to drown the meat that fell off his body.

After thinking for a while, he just said: "You wait here first."

After that, he looked at a few places, squeezed in, and found a family who was in a similar situation to his.

He didn't come from the same village and didn't recognize him. He just sang a good song and asked, "How about we exchange the children? I'm afraid the one at home won't do it. In fact, I can't do it either. Look, brother. OK?"

The other family didn't hesitate, and said with a hum, "Okay, but even if you are afraid of drowning here, you won't be allowed to go over there. Man, I just saw you begging there for a long time, how about you first Go and ask, just say that the child has been killed, will he be allowed on board? "

Zhang Pizhen thought about it and realized that this was the case. He nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go and ask."

After pushing through the crowd, he came to the trafficker again, knelt down again and said, "Master, I don't have any children this time. Can we go?"

The trafficker frowned, glanced at Zhang Pikui, and sighed without shaking his head or nodding.

"Man, to be honest, I really don't want you to go. If you say I let you go, wouldn't it appear that we encourage killing children and killing parents?"

Zhang Pizhu knelt down and banged his head a few more times and said: "Sir, I heard a story told by the master. It was said that there was a wealthy family who saw someone leading a sheep through the hall and wanted to kill it to worship their ancestors. He said that he couldn't bear it. . So I don’t go to the kitchen because I’m afraid of seeing the sheep being killed.”

"But the master also knows that it is not normal to drown a child? If you don't care, why don't you stop drowning? Pretending not to see it, your conscience will feel better?"

"If you don't accept us, your conscience will feel better. But our family may all die next year. How many people can survive in a year?"

"We just go to work, and we don't choose to be filial or honest. Besides, we didn't kill our father or our mother. Master, please do it. Please do it."

The trafficker lowered his head to look at Zhang Pitu, who was kneeling there, and after sizing it up, he knew that he was a good worker. I also thought about the Duke’s request for a male-to-female ratio, at least a certain number.

In fact, they also gave them some money, because women were just items at this time. Their parents could sell them, and their husbands and parents-in-law also had the power to sell them. Those young women who were not married yet wanted to get on the ship and work, but their parents really didn’t want to. Definitely put it.

If you pay some money to release it, then treat it as a sale.

The money given is not much, but if you can save one, you can get some rebates.

He was also a kind-hearted person. When he saw Zhang Piqiu acting like this, he felt that even though he said he wanted to take him in, he would be encouraging infanticide in the Huanghuai area in the future. This year has been like this, and I still want to go next year, so I want to drown the child before the traffickers come to collect the people.

But after all, I still have a soft heart, and I just want to accept him, as he is doing good deeds and accumulating virtue.

"In this case, you can't wait here. I can't accept you directly. Accepting you directly would seem like I'm encouraging the drowning of babies. It doesn't matter to me if you make a mess afterwards. Don't bring the Duke into trouble then. You know what's going on in the south Shilipu, right?”

Zhang Pili shook his head.

"I'm not from this world. And I haven't traveled far. The few times I did corvee work, I followed others. The rest of the time, I worked in the countryside."

The trafficker was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter. That's right. Before I became a soldier, didn't I think that the world was within thirty miles of the village?

"Then you go south, along the road, there are two big elm trees over there. Just wait there."

Zhang Pizhu quickly kowtowed a few more times.

"Thank you, master! Thank you, master! There is one more thing about the little one... Actually, I couldn't bring myself to kill my own child, so I killed him in exchange for others. Can you take him with you, sir?"

The trafficker chuckled and said with a wry smile: "You just need to take care of yourself, but do you still have the mind to take care of others? Okay, but you can't have more people. If there are more people, I won't take you in then. Go ahead." "

Dong dong dong...

Zhang Pizhu kowtowed seven or eight more times before he stumbled to his feet, his eyes full of hope.

Returning to his wife, seeing her still holding the child and wiping her tears, Zhang Pili gritted his teeth and said, "His life is not good. If his life is better in his next life, it will be better if he is born in a master's house."

After that, he snatched the child from his wife's arms.

His wife stood up almost instinctively and wanted to snatch the child back. But I got up too quickly, and I was hungry for a long time. My vision went dark, and I didn't stand up after all. Then he sat down numbly, glanced at the child who was still sleeping soundly at the end, and turned his head away cruelly.

Zhang Pili held the child in his arms, came to the family he had just agreed upon, and whispered what the trafficker had said.

The two families exchanged children, and Zhang Pili carried the other family's child to the river. The child happened to be awake, and his dark eyes were darting around. He might have been hiding from disasters in the past few months. There were people everywhere, but he was not afraid of strangers. His eyes only looked at this leather jacket.

Zhang Pizhen felt a little scared when he saw the child's eyes. He thought whether he would put it on the ground or not, his life or death would depend on it.

Otherwise, just get a piece of wood and float it in the water.

Tang Sanzang's mother did the same thing, but it didn't delay Tang Sanzang's becoming a Buddha.

When I lowered my head to touch the wood, I suddenly figured it out. If you commit a serious crime in your heart, you will die. Why is there Ling Chi and beheading?

Beheading was just a matter of time, but Ling Chi was in pain for several days.

I also suffered from hunger when I was a child. The feeling of starvation was really uncomfortable. Just leave it like this. Now everyone has suffered a disaster. Even if they don't suffer a disaster, there are still children in the mass graves. Who is short of children?

Aren't we going to starve to death here?

Anyway, I have already shouldered this sin, so why do I need to learn from those masters who cook far behind?

Looking down at the child again, Zhang Pili whispered: "Baby, baby, let's live in the master's house in the next life. But even if you live in the master's house, you may not live. I heard that a master gave birth to two girls. They were all drowned. The third girl was not drowned this time, but was set on fire. He said that the girl was dependent on his family. She had been drowned before, but she was burned to death this time. , don’t come next time.”

"Don't hate me. My parents have also drowned several of my sisters and brothers over the years. You are still young and don't know. You will know when you grow up. This kind of thing is so normal. "

He murmured a few words silently. Although this was indeed normal and extremely normal in this society, Zhang Pizhu still had some conscience in his heart and was not very comfortable.

Finally he made up his mind and came to the river. He suddenly lifted the baby's legs, lifted them upside down, and slapped the baby's butt hard with his left hand. The baby was in pain and started to cry when it opened its mouth. While the baby was crying and taking in air, my heart skipped a beat and I plunged into the river.

After returning there, I called another family over, and when it was almost evening, I lined up two more bowls of porridge.

I drank half a bowl by myself and gave the rest to my wife. I had to walk to find the big elm tree at night. I could drink half a bowl by myself.

His wife, who had just died, held the bowl, drank the porridge, licked the bottom of the bowl clean, packed up her only belongings, and put the bowls in her baggage.

Of course they have never read a foreign story. When a lady saw a female serf whose child had died drinking cabbage soup, she exclaimed, "Your child is dead. Aren't you sad?" How can I still drink the soup? The female serf gave the noble lady a reason that she would never understand. It even seems to be a nonsensical answer.

There is salt in the cabbage soup!

There was no expensive salt in the two bowls of porridge that Zhang Piqiu asked for, but there was strength hidden in the porridge. He could walk under the big elm tree and go to Nanyang.

It was getting dark, but the moon was still bright.

Zhang Pili and his other family quietly walked southward along the road. At dawn, Zhang Pili suddenly knelt down and kowtowed three times in the direction of his parents' tombs.

"Dad, Mom, I'm going to Nanyang. When I come back, I will build a good tomb for you. Dad, Mom, bless and protect us. You have been hungry there for the past few years. When I have money in a few years, I can provide you with some good things." Yes. Let’s offer a pig’s head and a big fish.”

Two days later, the four people, who were dying of hunger, finally arrived at the traffickers' team.

I found these two big elm trees, but if I hadn’t been experienced, I wouldn’t have recognized them as elm trees. The bark of the elm tree has long been stripped off, because the bark of the elm tree has mucus, which can be mixed with some bran or cotton shells. This will make it easier to swallow without scratching the throat because of the lubrication.

The leaves were basically gone, but fortunately there were still some old leaves left. The four of them ate some old leaves and survived.

Only after the team arrives will things get better.

These traffickers, who were soldiers, and some people who were staff officers helped organize and prepare places to eat along the way.

How far you walk every day, how long the victims can resist, how far the victims can walk, how many people are eating, how much food needs to be prepared, and how to prevent them from being piled together to ensure food. These are all basic courses for staff officers with a background in science. Even for disaster victims, It's also very organized.

Zhang Pili followed him for a few days and felt that his good days were really coming.

At the beginning of the porridge, although I wasn't full, I was still fuller than before.

After a few days, I started eating dry food, brown rice with sweet potatoes, and even pickles.

He didn't know where he was going, so he just knew he would follow the team every day. I don’t remember walking for a few days, but I gradually smelled the sea.

Then I saw a group of thatched huts, where I registered one by one and received a small sign with a number on it. He also didn't recognize these strange numbers used in the military, so he separated from his wife after taking the small sign.

Men and women cannot be in the same boat. Women can take another boat and meet again when they get there. There are women in charge of the women's side, and the women will give out clothes before boarding the ship, so Zhang Pilu can feel relieved.

Before entering the wooden house, everyone took off their clothes and burned them all.

"When we arrive in Nanyang, we will distribute clothes, and all old clothes must be burned."

No reason was given, it was just the rule. Then they were driven to the beach to take a bath, and then they were forced to wash their hair with water of unknown origin.

Zhang Piliang felt that his scalp was burning after washing, as if it was burned by something. A group of people went into the wooden house naked in groups of several people.

Then a group of people with whips told them that they were not allowed to urinate anywhere and had to go to the toilet. Those who urinated anywhere would be beaten, but not with whips, but with sticks.

They said that whipping could easily cause external injuries and inflammation, and it would be bad if they died on the ship.

This group of people with whips talked about two rules in total.

The first rule was that they were not allowed to urinate anywhere, otherwise they would be beaten.

The other rule was that they would rather die of thirst than drink raw water. If you drink water carelessly in Nanyang, you will die. There will be people responsible for boiling water there.

Other than that, there are no other rules. While waiting for the boat, there was only one strange thing. A man in a white cotton jacket cut a knife on his arm, saying that he would not get smallpox after the disease. Zhang Piliang didn't know whether it was true or not. Anyway, the child was drowned and he had come here, so he just believed what others said.

He felt lucky. After waiting for a few days, the sky cleared and the wind was right, and he saw several large ships he had never seen before.

When he got on the boat, the cabin was painted with small squares with white lime. There was a pile of dry sand underneath.

The small squares were not big, just enough for lying down and turning over.

The cabin was densely packed with people, and it was packed to the brim.

"Everyone sleeps in their own square. Don't take up other people's space. When you vomit, vomit in your own square, not in someone else's."

"No fighting."

"Thirty people in a group, look at the urine bucket tied to it? Pee in the bucket and take turns to empty it."

"It's better not to be sick. Otherwise, for everyone's sake, you can only throw it into the sea."

Before the manager finished speaking, many people started vomiting.

At first, Zhang Piliang dug a hole in the sand under his body, vomited into the hole, and then buried himself.

But later, he was too lazy to dig a hole. Whatever, he was naked anyway, so he could just wash it when the time came.