In the early morning, a dark cloud of black pressure drifted over the ridge and into the freshwater basin. At this time, the basin was no longer the wilderness of the past, and the wasteland that was once full of barren grass had been leveled into patches of paddy fields, which were cultivated by the sweat of those captives. And now these hundreds of thousands of acres of paddy fields have been overgrown with rice, because of the relationship between land fertilizer, so the rice here grows very well.

In the middle of a somewhat isolated rice paddy field, there is a small and small piece of high ground, a few feet above the surrounding paddy fields, and on the high ground is a bamboo house, the foundation of which is raised a little above the ground.

At the edge of the paddy field in front of the bamboo house, a farmer stood in his field, standing there quietly, he looked up and stared ahead, looking at the dozen acres of paddy fields, the rice in these paddy fields grew differently, obviously planted at different times, he stood there, as if he was thinking about something.

"Maybe you should buy another buffalo!"

Again, Sun Xian thought in his heart, he stared at the wasteland that had just been reclaimed yesterday, and muttered to himself.

"If you can buy a buffalo and marry a daughter-in-law, it's not a bad thing to live here......"

It's really not a bad thing, it's all about living anyway.

There is a cow, a family, a daughter-in-law, and then a baby, these are the real days.

Sitting on the edge of the field, he looked at the black smoke rising in the distance, which was the fire set out during the reclamation, which could not only burn the weeds in the field, but also drive away the big snake in the grass, until now, he still remembers the first time he saw the big snake with the thickness of a bucket, they were frightened, and even watched the big snake swallow people, at that time, the big guys were all frightened and didn't even dare to come out, just stood there stunned, not daring to resist in the slightest.

But now, even when Sun was satisfied with the big snake himself, he knew to use a knife to cut at the snake, and in this place, the only thing he could rely on was the knife in his hand.

In this kind of place, no one cares about the life or death of a traitor, and if you want to live, you can only rely on yourself and the knife in your hand. Because of this, at all times, he will carry a knife at his waist, although it is only a wood knife for clearing the wasteland, but it can also ensure that he will not be swallowed by the serpent.

When he lowered his head, he saw the scar on his ankle, which was the scar left by the shackles for a long time, even though the shackles had been removed a long time ago, but the scar had already been left, just like the scar on his heart.

"I'm a traitor......"

Even at this time, Sun Satisfied's mind would still keep coming back to the words he used to reflect on every day, in the prisoner camp, in addition to working, every night before going to bed, they had to reflect on how they, as Han Chinese, helped the Qing captives, and reflected on how the Qing captives killed the Han people.

At the beginning, he, like many people, thought that he was just a soldier and ate food, and whoever he ate was the same, but slowly, in the daily self-reflection, this idea was changed, and the once indifferent became a shame.

Just like now, whenever he sees the tattoo on his face, even though he can't read, he knows what it is.

Traitor!

The word reminded him of his past and reminded him of who he was.

Even if it was two months ago, when the natives attacked, he had saved an official soldier under the knife of the natives, even if he killed two natives desperately at that time, even when he was rewarded for meritorious deeds, in the envy of everyone, he was freed, and he also got a piece of official land. As long as he cultivates for 20 years and pays 30% of the annual rent, the official land will become his land after 20 years.

But the words on his forehead are always reminding him, reminding him of what he has done, and reminding him of his identity.

Traitors!

A traitor is a spy and scum among the Han people, a scum who forgets his ancestors and sells his ancestors for glory.

One day is a traitor, and a lifetime is ashamed!

This is also the reason why he was exiled to Taiwan, not because of anything else, because he had aided and abused the people, and he had become a traitor and worked hard for the Qing Dynasty!

"You're a traitor! He is also worthy of marrying a wife and having children......"

What's more, who would marry a traitor? Even now this traitor has regretted it and has changed. But the words on this forehead reminded him all the time, reminding him of his past sins,

Just when that complex emotion controlled Sun Satisfied's consciousness, the voice next to him brought him back to his senses.

"Brother Sun, what do you want? Missing home again? ”

With a cigarette pouch in his hand, Hou Ziquan sat down next to Sun Satisfied, handed him the cigarette pouch, and said.

"Let's take two puffs, the tobacco leaves that I just came to the market to change before."

Now, as more and more people settle here, the market naturally flourishes, but unlike the natural market in ancient times, this market is official, and the government has designated several markets for people to trade goods there.

Silently took the cigarette pouch, and when Sun was satisfied with the cigarette, Hou Ziquan sat there and muttered.

"Brother Sun, don't blame yourself, when you were a green battalion soldier, who said that when you voted for the Manchurians, you are a traitor, this, this truth, we, we don't understand, and no one told us, just like me, I originally planted the land honestly at home, the world of the Ming Dynasty, we honestly farmed and paid the silver, and then the Manchurians came, we also honestly farmed and paid the silver, let the head shave, change clothes, we are reluctant, but the hard but other people's knives are not ......"

Complaining like this, Hou Ziquan's eyes looked to the northwest, as if he wanted to see his hometown in Henan.

"No matter whose world it is, all we want is to live honestly, but, who would have thought that just because of this surname, the surname Hou, all of a sudden, the whole family was flowed to this place......"

Hou Ziquan's tone was complaining, but more helpless. He was exiled here, not because he was a traitor, but because someone else became a traitor, which affected him.

"Although my surname is Hou, but with the Hou family, it is a few generations of relatives, as a result, as a result, because the Hou family has a mongrel, killing millions of Han people, so that I am also affected, if I had known that there is today, when he was born, then Master Hou should have fallen to death at once, otherwise how could so many people be affected......"

Looking at the north, with a longing for his hometown in those eyes, Hou Ziquan continued.

"Unfortunately, there is such a scum in the family, and everyone is affected as a result, do you say that I am not wronged?"

It's not just an injustice, it's simply ...... No reason!

Hou Zi didn't dare to say this, nor did he dare to say it, he was afraid, afraid of affecting his family. After all, such words are a great rebellion, and sometimes, he doesn't even dare to say that he is "wronged", because even if he is exiled here, there is naturally nothing to be wronged.

"Don't be wronged, who let your Hou family have such a person!"

Sun Xingxing muttered, that is killing millions of people, and it is already an extrajudicial mercy if it does not punish the nine clans like in the play. Now, there are still their heads, what else is there to be wronged, if you change to them, maybe you will laugh out loud in your dreams at night, and kowtow all day long to thank the great kindness of Jinglu.

"Hey, don't talk about this......"

Hou Ziquan shook his head and said with a bitter face.

"This, no, Brother Sun, I still have to tire you today, you, you know, when we, when we were in our hometown in Henan, when did we plant paddy fields, so we have to tire you, and then teach me, or this big family, you won't starve to death in this ......"

Can't farm paddy fields!

Not to mention Hou Ziquan, even if Sun was satisfied at the beginning, after all, he was a northerner and would not be able to farm paddy fields, but unlike Hou Ziquan, when he was in the prisoner camp, he had already learned how to farm paddy fields. Sometimes, it's faster to learn things there, after all, working under the whip.

But not everyone will work under the whip, just like the exiled people like Hou Ziquan, they don't need to work under the whip, but unlike those traitors from the south of the Yangtze River who are used to planting paddy fields, as northerners, they don't know how to farm paddy fields at all.

"Well, let's get over here."

Nodding, Sun Satisfaction did not refuse, he was alone outside, relying on all his neighbors, this Hou Zi was the closest neighbor near his house, if there was no help from his neighbors, maybe he would die in this house that day, and someone would not necessarily bury him.

When he arrived at the Hou family, he didn't look at his two sons, so Sun Satisfaction asked casually.

"Where's your two boys?"

"I went to study in the set, no, the Hou master didn't run a familiar hall in the set, he can go, don't restrict, he said, the reason why the Hou family came out with such a scum back then, and it affected everyone, because he didn't know the rules of the world, so the reason why the Hou family ran a familiar hall is to teach everyone ......"

The old man Hou in Hou Ziquan's mouth is Hou Fangzhen, that is, Hou Fangyu's brother, and he is quite famous here, after all, there is no more famous than him in the dozens of miles around here. As soon as he said this, Sun Xingxing immediately sarcastically said,

"Just him, his brother didn't take care of it, and he taught other people, I don't think he should mislead people's children!"

Having said that, for those people, they naturally don't want their children to miss the opportunity to read and write, and they are naturally willing to send their children here on the premise that the familiar teacher does not restrain them. As for Hou Fangzhen, the reason why he didn't restrain himself was because he always wanted to do something.

If the second brother didn't know to regret it when he was in the prime of life, then he has always regretted it all these years, otherwise he wouldn't have agreed with his father's move to kick him out of the house.

Although the second brother was kicked out of the house, but the crime he committed back then finally found the door, he originally thought that the Hou family would be killed by the whole door, but he didn't expect that in the end, he actually gave mercy outside the law, not only did not kill anyone, but exiled the Hou family to this foreign place.

Although he is also an exiled prisoner, Hou Fangzhen does not need to work hard to farm for a living like others, he is an official hired by the government, and he can receive 1 tael of silver every month, so he transferred and rented out the dozens of acres of official land, and then collected some food enough for his family to eat.

As a scribe, his job was simple, to assist the Tun Chang, a soldier of the Loyal Army. Keep an account or something, in addition to that, he spends more time every day teaching at home.

Different from the past, this time, after those juniors of the Hou family finished reading an article, Hou Fangzhen did not explain the article, but wrote down two words.

"Country!"

Facing the boyishness in the familiar hall, Hou Fangzhen asked.

"What are these two words?"

"Mr. Hui, country!"

In the students' answers, Hou Fangzhen continued.

"What is the country and what is the home? Only when there is a country can there be a home, and a country without a country is a homeless! Every time the dynasty changes, when the dynasty is changed, there are always people who say that since the country is dead, it should serve the new dynasty. But they don't hear the absurdity of it......"

Hou Fangzhen, who was in the classroom, deliberately taught the word "country" was to reflect on his younger brother's behavior back then, and he could sell himself to the Qing Dynasty without shame, and even did not hesitate to help the abuse, dedicating plans to kill millions of Han people, in order to invite credit to other races.

What's more, when he returned to his hometown at the beginning of the year, when he was expelled from his home, he only thought that he was expelled only because he took a prostitute as a concubine, and he didn't know that the reason why he was kicked out of the house was not because he was a prostitute as a concubine, but because of his animal behavior, and because he was willing to be a traitor.

For the Hou family, it is acceptable for him to take prostitutes as concubines, but it is absolutely unacceptable for him to be willing to be a traitor and even kill millions of compatriots. Later, he built the "Zhuang Confession Hall", but "What do you regret when you repent?" ”。

Even at that time, he still hadn't figured out what a country was and what a home was!

It is precisely because of this that Hou Fangzhen hopes that these children of the Hou family in front of him will understand this, understand what is the country and what is the family!

After all, even he only has a hazy understanding of this "country" and "home". There are many times when people change only after they have experienced it. will understand what is the most important thing, if the second brother understood all this, how could he do such a beastly act? If it weren't for the second brother who didn't understand the truth, how could the Hou family end up where they are now?

When Hou Fangzhen was explaining the country and home to those teenagers, a loyal soldier outside the door looked at him thoughtfully......

"If we could have understood this truth decades earlier, why would it be so?"

As the head of the tun, Fang Juemin secretly thought to himself, as a soldier and commander of the loyal and righteous army, he did not object to Hou Fangzhen opening righteousness here, and even, in his opinion, the more such righteousness and familiarity, the better, at least it can teach those children to understand the truth of life, so as not to make the mistakes made by their parents back then.

"But can they understand?"

Walking on the streets, Fang Juemin can occasionally see some hostile eyes, for many people who are exiled here, they will inevitably be hostile to the government, after all, it is the government that exiled them here, and even in the eyes of some of them, if it were not for the envoys, perhaps, they are still living a good life at home, as for those prisoners of war who are serving hard labor, many people are afraid that they also have a grudge against the loyal army.

"Well, I hope one day, they will understand the truth!"

While thinking like this in his heart, Fang Juemin unconsciously walked to the outside of the tun, outside the tun, you can see an endless rice field, the once swampy wasteland, has now become a fertile field, most of these fertile fields are cultivated by those hard labor prisoners.

"At least, they're still doing a good thing now!"

When talking to himself like this, thinking of the news he heard for a while, and thinking of the news that the Qing army would attack Keelung that had been privately spread by those hard labor prisoners recently, when those hard labor prisoners spread the news, there were always some people with some expectations, and even in this cantonment, the families of some traitor officials were also faintly looking forward to the arrival of the Qing army.

Thinking of the changes in the mood of those people, Fang Juemin's mind sank.

"I'm still a little unwilling, in case there is really a Qing army coming, ...... then"

Fang Juemin, who had a solemn expression, looked into the distance again.

"If reinforcements come now, everything will be easy......"

Some people are looking forward to reinforcements, but not everyone is looking forward to reinforcements, at least for Liu Yuliang, he has never looked forward to reinforcements, as the general of the former management, although he barely saved his life, but the long period of hard labor and torture, so that he always thinks about the day of "liberation".

He would sit on the ground, rarely have a time to rest, smoking a cigarette pouch, looking at the brothers around him who were tired like dead dogs, and cheered them up there.

"A few days ago, I heard about it in the set, and I heard that the governor of Fujian has now ordered tens of thousands of troops, and he will cross the sea at any time to fight, and when the imperial army comes, the hard days of our masters will come to an end......

When he said this, he had an expectation of freedom on his face, more of a longing, a desire for the future.

"I said, Brother Liu, don't talk nonsense, you said so three months ago, but now, what bullshit is the army of the imperial court, I can't even look at a shadow, but now, this loyal army is sitting here more and more stable, look at the family members of those officials who have been exiled, according to me, Brother Liu, don't talk nonsense, you still work honestly, maybe one day you can be released......"

The brothers lying on the ground on the side were talking there, and they were not worried about spreading these words, for the overseers, as long as they could complete the tasks assigned by the superiors on time, as for what they said and what they talked about, they didn't care, and as for the wishful thinking words that Liu Yuliang said, in the eyes of others, it was just wild talk.

"That's it, this place is that? It is separated from the mainland by a road of several days, since ancient times, it has been a southern ship and a northern horse, I have only heard of the southerners making boats, when have I heard of the northerners sailing boats, instead of pointing to them, it is better to do more work, maybe make a meritorious contribution or something, you can be released to be a common man......"

This person's words immediately caused a chorus of echoes around him, and seeing that everyone didn't listen to him, Liu Yuliang said urgently.

"You know a fart, then how can Fujian be the north? When the army from Fujian comes, when the time comes, we will ......."

Before he could finish speaking, someone next to him chimed in.

"What else? Could it be that when the time comes, can you still be a traitor again? Perhaps, before the people and horses from Fujian came, the reinforcements of the Loyal and Righteous Army over there came, do you believe it or not? ”

Reinforcements?

The words of others made Liu Yuliang stunned for a moment, and then he muttered.

"Hmph, you guys look down on them too much, you know, the emperor wants to conquer Jiangnan in person, send reinforcements over at this time, I dare to say, there will definitely be no reinforcements to come to this bird place!"

In Liu Yuliang's view, the emperor is now leading hundreds of thousands of troops. It is possible to reach Jiangbei at any time, and at this time, the person surnamed Zhu naturally can't take care of this place.

"I said, Lao Liu, I don't think you understand anything?"

A man lying on the ground next to him, wearing a straw hat on his head to shield himself from the sun, said without raising his head,

"You just saw the emperor leading hundreds of thousands of troops, but you didn't see that this place in Taiwan is not a worthless bird place for Jiangbei, what kind of place is this? But it's across the sea. ”

With a straw hat on his face, Qiao Renfa said in his thick Qixian accent.

"Since you said just now, the south ships and the north horses, since the people who meet the needs of hundreds of thousands of troops to fight Jiangbei, that General Zhu naturally has to consider a retreat, where is this retreat?"

Where is the way out?

Naturally, it's Taiwan.

"According to you, the way out is Taiwan?"

Liu Yuliang looked at Qiao Renfa who was lying there, this kid was different from them, he was a guy in the business, and he was the one who followed their butts to beg for food. Later, like them, they were all beaten into traitors, and this kid was wronged. It's just a coolie who eats with the owner. As a result, they were sent to Taiwan like them.

"Who knows?"

Qiao Renfa replied casually.

"Anyway, there is a sea in between, if I want to find a way back for myself, I will definitely choose this, after all, then the Manchurians will definitely not be able to cross the sea."

"Who said the Manchurians couldn't cross the sea?"

Someone next to him chimed in.

"Don't forget, the Manchurians also have sailors, those people are not the same as us, as long as there is silver, they don't care if he is Manchurian or Han, with sailors, even if Taiwan is separated by the sea, what can it do?"

The man's words made Qiao Ren stunned for a moment, and then he lifted his hat and looked at the sky for a while before speaking.

"It's not, just like the government said, in the final analysis, our Ming Dynasty still let these traitors take away the world."

When he said this, Qiao Renfa seemed to finally understand why he was also regarded as a traitor, not because of them who were helping to abuse him. How could those Manchurians win the world of the Ming Dynasty!

Feeling that he was still a little wronged, after figuring out the key, his face became a little ugly, and it seemed that at this time, he could no longer find any other reason to defend himself. After a long moment, he sighed.

"I said, Lao Liu, don't think nonsense there, let's work honestly, I dare to say that this reinforcement must be on the way."