Chapter 28 Li people (3)
Approaching Lidong Village, someone in the team discovered a new thing - cotton on the roadside. Of course, some people have doubts about this completely tree-like plant: "Aren't the cottons seen on TV all low and short, with the most being as high as the chest? This thing that is taller than a human is really cotton?"
Gao Huan from the Ministry of Agriculture was notified this morning that he was transferred from the labor camp to the special working group. As an expert on economic crops, he answered this question: "Cotton will grow into a perennial woody plant in the wild natural environment. , can even grow to a height of about six meters in tropical areas. Although it is inconspicuous, the Li brocade spun from this island cotton is quite famous, right? Everyone knows Huang Daopo, right? I learned the textile technology of the Li people here and then brought it back to the Central Plains to spread it.”
"Since cotton is produced here, does that mean we can open our own weaving factory soon?" someone asked excitedly.
Gao Huan shook his head and said: "It's not that easy. The Li people have not specially cultivated this kind of island cotton, and the output is very limited. It is OK to provide small-scale weaving, but it is definitely not possible to engage in industrial production. We did bring a lot of it. It is not easy to find a place to promote the cultivation of improved sea-island cotton varieties. Hainan is a mountainous inland area with almost no flat land, and the cost-effectiveness of growing cotton is not high enough.”
"Didn't the labor camp open up a large area of land on the east bank of the Tiandu River? Can't we grow cotton there?" Someone else asked, unwilling to give up.
Gao Huan smiled bitterly and said: "You can plant it, but the monsoon period is coming soon, and it will last for several months. You should have seen the situation in Hainan that is hit by typhoons every year on the TV news before. The land to be reclaimed is right at the mouth of the sea. Planting cotton near the sea will easily result in no harvest if there is any disturbance. The only feasible way is to persuade the Li people to plant cotton in the valleys near their residences, and then plant cotton every year. Use cotton to trade food with us. When it comes to growing food, we are invincible in this world. This is also the most important means for us to promote agriculture in the future. As long as we can provide enough food, I think we have a chance to convince the Li people. ”
Finally arriving outside Lidong Village, the middle-aged man who led the way asked the working group to wait outside the village. He wanted to go in first and report. At this time, many Li children who were not even wearing pants ran out of the village and gathered to watch the strangely dressed foreign visitors.
There are no stone or wooden walls outside the village. There is only a circle of thorn bushes that are obviously artificially planted. There are also various vines and bamboos as thick as the mouth of a bowl mixed in the middle. They are densely packed and look quite strong, and the Li people use this Serves as a defensive barrier for the entire village. This barrier extended to the left and right until it disappeared into the forest in the distance. It was impossible to tell how big the village was.
Someone noticed that the old Li ladies sitting at the entrance of the village all had dark faces. They must have had the tattoo custom that Zhou Hengxing mentioned before. Apart from the complete disillusionment of my inner fantasies, I can only lament the strange aesthetics of these Li ancestors.
After waiting for a while, the middle-aged man came out, but said that there were too many people in the group. In order not to disturb the villagers, they could not be allowed to enter the village together. Only five people were allowed in. After some haggling, the middle-aged man finally agreed to let ten people in. After a brief discussion among the leaders of the working group, Zhou Hengxing was appointed as the leader. Ning Qi, Gao Huan and seven members of the military and police department entered the village to trade with the Li people. Of course, three former US soldiers also entered as reliable combat forces. This team.
Before traveling through time, the executive committee had organized all members in batches to visit the folk custom village to visit Li villages. Even several foreigners from the North American Gang were specially taken out to make up for this lesson after arriving in Sanya, so seeing this When I saw the scene in Lidong Village, I was not too surprised. Most of the houses are similar to the boat-shaped houses seen in folk villages. The wood is tied with rattan to form a frame. The arched gable roof is covered with thick grass or sunflower leaves. From a distance, it looks like an inverted house. It's like a buckled boat. People live in this kind of house above, and some poultry and livestock can be raised below. The overhead structure can also prevent moisture, miasma, and rain. There are also a few houses that no longer use elevated structures, but are built with mud walls. This shows that they are influenced by the Han people.
The working group was taken to a large boat-shaped house in the center of the village. The base was neatly built with stones on the ground, and there were steps made of logs at the door. Everyone entered the house along the steps and saw that it was about forty square meters. There was a bamboo bed against the wall on one side of the house, with a white-haired old man sitting on it, and several other men standing around the old man. After seeing them come in, the old man made a gesture, indicating that they could sit on the other empty bamboo beds in the room. There are no extra living facilities in this house. It seems that this house is not a residence, but mostly a place for village meetings.
The middle-aged man proudly introduced to the visitors that this old man was Fu Nuo, the owner of Fu Shan Cave. Fu Nuo also spoke, and Zhou Hengxing translated to his companions that within a radius of a hundred miles, Fushandong is the largest Li village. If you want to do business with the Li people, you must abide by the Li people's rules. rules.
Zhou Hengxing first explained the purpose of his visit to the old cave owner, and then took the initiative to send gifts prepared in advance to express his goodwill: two Yangjiang imitation Kabbah 1218 sabers, two domestic ZIPPO knockoffs wholesaled from Yiwu, and two bottles of tear-off Labeled one pound package of Luzhou Laojiao. The reason why two copies of each gift were prepared was suggested by Zhou Hengxing. According to him, the custom of the Li people also has the implication that good things come in pairs.
Fu Nuo carefully examined the gifts presented by the working group with great interest. He was amazed by the sharpness of the two daggers and the sophistication of the lighter. When he finally saw the two bottles of white wine, the old man lost his composure at all - this wine was just a pour, there are also homemade glutinous rice wine, banana wine, and mountain fruit wine in Lidong, but the bottles containing the wine were actually transparent! These prodigal Han people actually use crystal to make wine bottles!
Then the middle-aged man who led the way brought up the transaction items and placed them on the floor in the middle of the room. The owner of the cave, Fu Nuo, inspected the goods again, nodded with satisfaction, and then actually said in an accent that was very close to southern Cantonese: " Your goods are very good. There is no such thing in Yazhou. Where are you from, my guests?" Most of the people here have stayed in Guangzhou for several months before crossing over. Even if they can't speak Cantonese, they can basically understand it. , what Fu Nuo said is obviously within this range. Even Zhou Hengxing was surprised: "Master Dong, can you speak Mandarin?"
Fu Nuo nodded and said: "I went to Yazhou and Qiongzhou when I was young, and lived in Yazhou for a few years, but the Han people there would not trade these good things with us."
Zhou Hengxing had been trained for a long time and knew how to explain the origins of his group. He immediately repeated what the overseas Han people said, and at the end he included a solemn statement: "We are willing to trade with the Li people on the basis of equality. Both parties You can get what you want through transactions on a voluntary basis.”
"Then what do you want?" Fu Nuo spread his hands: "We Li people don't have much money, we only have wood, furs, Jibei cloth and buffalo."
Ning Qi wanted to interrupt and say that we want people, all the living people in your village. But Zhou Hengxing had already rushed to reply: "Okay, we accept these things."
So soon someone brought bundles of cowhide, deerskin, wild boar skin, and bolts of self-spun Jibei cloth. As for the buffalo, the deal can be concluded first, but the working group does not plan to collect the buffalo yet, because the current temporary cowshed can no longer accommodate newcomers. It will still be a burden to bring this thing back, at least until the Ministry of Agriculture in a few days. Only when a new poultry and livestock breeding base is built.
Of course, these superficial transactions were not actually valued by the working group, so there was not much bargaining with the Li people during the process, and an agreement was quickly reached, and the cave owner Fu Nuo could provide these Han people with a much lower price. He was also very satisfied with the prices of previous transactions - the price of salt and ironware in this transaction was even less than one-third of that of the previous Han traders. In his opinion, it was half sold and half given away.
Then the two parties reached an agreement. From now on, on the first, tenth, and twentieth days of every month, the Chuanchuan people will open a market near the No. 2 base to provide various materials needed by the Li people, and the Li people can also Sell what they can provide to the public at the negotiated price.
After completing this basic foreshadowing, the relationship between the two parties has become much closer. Fu Nuo ordered to hold a banquet in the village to entertain the guests. At the same time, he also allowed those outsiders who were still waiting for news at the entrance of the village to enter the village.
It was said to be a banquet, but in fact, in the eyes of the members of the working group, it was more like a picnic full of ethnic customs. The guests sat face to face in the open space outside the big house. Fu Nuo, the owner of the cave, raised his wine bowl to invite the guests to drink, and then drank it all in one gulp. Then he served the home-brewed rice wine to the guests one by one. After the first one finished drinking, he walked to the next one. After inviting a circle of wine, he announced the start of the banquet. This is the unique wine invitation ceremony of the Li people.
The travelers were also lucky enough to eat the most authentic bamboo tube rice here. According to Fu Nuo, it is made of venison and wild boar meat mixed with glutinous rice and salt and put into a bamboo tube to bake. As soon as this purely natural and pollution-free delicacy appeared, it was immediately enthusiastically sought after by the people of the later generations who had suffered from various food poisonings. Some people even made a request on the spot after tasting it, hoping that Fu Nuo could arrange for a few people to go there. No. 1 base specializes in making this kind of bamboo tube rice.
As for the various rice wines and fruit wines brewed by the Li people, they are not that great in the eyes of the public. After all, these Li people have not yet mastered the distillation technology and the alcohol concentration is not high. However, Fu Nuo later opened a bottle of Luzhou Laojiao under Zhou Hengxing's instigation. As a result, that bottle of wine knocked down six or seven Li people, including the owner of the cave, Fu Nuo.
This small accident also disrupted the working group's original arrangements. Ning Qi was originally planning to find an opportunity to talk to Fu Nuo about cooperation in Li Dong's labor export at the banquet, but under the current situation, it was definitely impossible to discuss it. So that night the working group set up camp in a Li village and stayed there, planning to wait until the next day to discuss with Fu Nuo.
(End of chapter)