open sea

Chapter 890
In March of the seventh year of Wanli, the sea in the north had just melted away, and the lucky boats carrying wool, goose down, grain and gunpowder had already arrived at Majia Harbor.

The winter hunting is not over yet, and the hunters stationed in the Linhai hunting house throughout the long winter have returned one after another. They carry the old blunderbuss on their shoulders from several years ago, drag the elk laden with frozen meat and fur, and run around the yellow dogs. Facing the bitter cold wind amidst the barks of joy, he returned to the port town with one foot deep and one foot shallow.

Most of them wear thick fur coats or cotton coats that exceed the knees to cover themselves tightly, step on large and heavy fur boots, wear iron helmets belonging to the Liaodong Army on their heads, and wrap several layers of thick masks around their faces. The scarf spat out white streaks in the air as he breathed, and soon the scarf that covered his mouth and nose was covered with air and was frozen into a circle of ice.

The hunters who came back first did not do anything else. One was to bring back some of the prey they had caught in winter. After a few days of rest, they had to go back to the hunting house two or three times before the winter passed to get all the prey back; The first purpose is to sign in at Majia Port.

In this way, Zhao Yongxian, the magistrate of the county, knew who hadn't come back, and then sent someone to look for it on a dog sled.

However, those who haven’t come back generally can’t survive if they find it. Last year, Kaichun County went to the woods to pull back a statue. According to the experienced hunter, he stepped on a snow pit while checking the trap he set, and most of his body sank into it. He couldn't come out, and then until he was put into the coffin, the person kept the action before death, with a smile on his face that didn't know where it came from, which was scary.

The county had planned to send more hunters last year, and let them form a team of two or three, but this would require a larger winter hunting area, and there was no time to make plans, so they had to wait until the beginning of spring this year to make plans.

Zhao Yongxian, the county magistrate of Majiagang, has become a "black water moss" in his attire. When he came back from the Northern Whaling Department last year, he brought a few fur coats from the local people there, which were lined with various animal intestines. The clothes made are very warm.

He has always been fat, and wearing this clothes makes him even more powerful. He can go out for a walk even in the coldest season. Apart from being too cold to open his eyes, he is not affected by the cold wind at all.

During the Chinese New Year, everyone was in the city during winter, and he took two bear-like guards all the way up the flat-topped snow-capped mountain forty miles away. This trip was planned by him since last winter. Xia Tian sent people to build two cabins for him on it, and stored wood, kerosene, pots and pans and other utensils.

Taking advantage of the Chinese New Year, I climbed up to see the aurora.

When the hunting team came back in March, he came back too. When he came back, he asked the county magistrate to prepare meals without saying a word.

Among the county magistrates, Ai Mu in Jie County is the most idle, with a total of more than 3000 people in charge, and the garrison only has one hundred households repairing the port, with a very low sense of existence; Zou Yuanbiao is the most industrious, busy all day long taking care of the big county It is well-organized and the county government has the most complete staff, making Changsheng the city most similar to the county government in the Ming Dynasty.

Wu Zhongxing is the most powerful, a good magistrate made him the governor, and that is also the magistrate among the five counties whose governance method is closer to that of Spain; as for Shen Sixiao who went to Chile just left, he has not made any achievements, and he has the least sense of existence.

As for Zhao Yongxian, he is the happiest one. Really, in this freezing Majiagang, he is probably the only one who can handle the drudgery with joy in his heart. .

Don't blame him for being playful, the winter here is too long, and there is only less than half a year in a year to do business, the free time really makes people don't know what to do, the time has become too difficult.

Fortunately, the Qijun said that when the snow was small, they ran outside the wall, and when the snow was heavy, they ran around the yard inside the wall. When it was cold, the queue could not practice anything, and they could shoot targets. All the strength has to be put indoors to be practiced under the watchful eye of the little flag officer.

But what about Zhao Yongxian, the county magistrate? What can he do?Let's run, he can't run, it's okay to shoot with a blunderbuss, in winter Ma Jin often sees Zhao Zhixian shooting targets in the camp.

In the morning, Ma Jin went to the coast to watch the bannermen burn their sleds. When he went out, Zhao Yongxian was shooting targets; when Ma Jin came back four hours later, Zhao Yongxian was still shooting targets. What happened?
The lack of spirit must be replenished, so Zhao Yongxian took the opportunity of inspecting the Bull Demon King tribe in the Huomo Mountain area in the northwest last year to hold a memorial ceremony for the northern natives living in the igloo along the coast. He became the first Ming Dynasty to step into the North Pole. circle of people.

This year, I climbed to Pingdingshan to watch the aurora, and I lived a very happy life.

On the day of returning to Majia Port, just in time for the fleet from Jincheng to arrive, Zhao Yongxian was overjoyed, and while eating with a plate, he said to Ma Jin: "Master Ma, look, Zhao just said that there will be no delay. "

There are huge crab shells on the plate, filled with yellow eggs and crab paste, overflowing with the aroma of wine, and there are large pieces of finger-long crab legs beside the crab shells.

This dish is called Huadiao Crab Shell and Goose Egg Custard. It was taught by the county magistrate Zhao Yongxian to make by the county cooks.

Except for playing, eat whatever can make Zhao Zhixian interested, don't care about the ingredients you have seen or haven't seen, as long as he thinks it can be eaten, he will try any way of eating.

Earlier, he had eaten wild bison meat raw, anyway, he was idle when he was idle, and when he had diarrhea, he would let the series of rumbling farts cultivate his sentiments.

When he got to the point of eating, Zhao Yongxian simply put down the porcelain plate, took the snow crab shell as a bowl, and ate a spoonful of goose egg custard and a spoonful of crab paste. Well, goose down is good; wool? Well, wool is good; with these, the Banner Army can be warmer, are our cotton clothes enough?"

Ma Jin shook his head and said: "The cotton-padded clothes will not be warm in the second year. They are wet in the wind and snow, dry and wet, and there are worn-out and scratched ones. They are never enough."

"Fur coats are more durable. About [-]% of the banner troops have both new cotton coats and fur coats, and the remaining [-]% have only fur coats and old cotton coats, and the other [-]% have only new cotton coats but no fur coats."

It's not that the Dongyang Army Mansion treated the Banner Army badly, it's that cotton clothes are basically consumables here.

Even if the bannermen on duty at night wore brand-new cotton-padded clothes and trousers, they would still freeze to death if they stood in the field overnight in this place. The old and new cotton-padded jackets cannot solve the fundamental problem of keeping out the cold.

Because the cotton jacket does not block the wind.

The best way to keep out the cold is to wear cotton-padded trousers inside and a fur coat on the outside. The soles of the shoes have to be thickened, especially thick, to keep out the cold.

"With this batch of wool and the fur we harvested this year, we can make a suitable sweater and trousers for the flag army. What is the letter from the commander?"

Zhao Yongxian curled his lips, to tell the truth, in Majiagang, a letter from a marshal is far less useful than a boatload of wool.

"Marshal... Marshal wrote letters to teach us how to make clothes, and he even painted pictures. Except for being a little ugly, everything is good."

Fatty Zhao almost choked to death on the crab meat.

　Good morning!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)