Chapter 1703 The Rules of the Hard Labor Camp
The imagination is beautiful, but the reality is cruel. Qin Huacheng soon realized that the hard labor camp was a hard labor camp, a place where prisoners served their sentences. No matter how good the conditions here seem, it is impossible to turn it into a resort.
Due to the damage caused by the sudden epidemic on the way, only more than 20 prisoners were left in this group of prisoners transported from Manila. They were assembled and lectured before being assigned accommodation. The person who lectured them was not the guard of the hard labor camp, but the garrison officer Ruan Phu who happened to be on patrol here.
Ruan Phu was an army officer of Annan origin. In his early years, he led the Annam militia to garrison at the Cam Ranh Bay base. He was transferred to Xingdao in 1633. Ruan Phu is not a direct descendant of Roger, but because of his outstanding performance in the defense of Star Island in 1635, Roger is not stingy in his trust and respect for him. He currently serves as Roger's deputy. He is also the second-in-command of the Star Island military. He is already considered a powerful figure in the local area, second only to Roger and Tan Juren.
Of course, if there were only Qin Huacheng and more than 20 prisoners, there would be no need for officials from Ruan Phu's sector to come forward to lecture them. They were also lectured by exiled prisoners from several colonies in Indochina who had arrived in Hong Kong recently, totaling one More than a hundred people. Most of these people are of Han descent, so Ruan Fu also used his already very proficient Hai Chinese when he lectured them.
"Don't think that everything will be fine when you arrive at Star Island, and you can live your life slowly from now on! I tell you, the existence of the hard labor camp is to allow you scum to complete the labor reform. Your real hard life only begins today! Don't I think that the sentence in your sentence is the final result. If you serve your sentence in Xingdao, if you behave well, you can be released on time. As for those who behave badly, your sentence will be extended. There is no upper limit. Some of you may have to stay there for your entire life! On this island!”
Ruan Fu's stern voice echoed in the ears of the prisoners, making these new prisoners feel frightened. It seems that this place is not as peaceful and peaceful as it seems on the surface. At least this official seems to be very difficult to deal with. look. Of course, some people may not take Ruan Fu's words seriously. Who can't say a few harsh words to scare people when they are out to fool around?
But what Ruan Fu said next made the prisoners have to face their situation: "The area directly opposite the gate of this hard labor camp, you may have seen it when you came. There is a cemetery there, and the people buried in it are They are all the guys who don’t obey orders in the hard labor camp! If you don’t want to be a member of it, from now on, give up all your delusions and obey the arrangements! If you want to play tricks, just wait and move to the other side. Stay! ”
Most of the prisoners who were sentenced to exile for violating the law in various colonies still had a certain distance between the seriousness of their crimes and the death penalty. Almost everyone had the idea of leaving here after serving their sentence, and no one would I am willing to die on this strange island thousands of miles away from my hometown. But judging from the officer's tone, they wouldn't have much personal protection during their sentence on Star Island, and they might actually end up sleeping here forever.
In particular, Qin Huacheng, a group of prisoners from Manila, had a more personal experience of Ruan Fu's warning because they had personally experienced how miserable the lives of exiled prisoners were on the way. Even if there is no so-called prisoner cemetery opposite the hard labor camp, they absolutely believe that the guards here will find any excuse to deal with those unruly thorns.
After Ruan Phu's brief lecture, the guards divided the prisoners into groups and then placed them in their residences. Qin Huacheng and more than ten other people were assigned to the same cell. The guard also arranged for an old prisoner to be stationed as the manager of this cell. He was responsible for teaching these new prisoners the rules that they must abide by in the hard labor camp. and guide other prisoners in their daily labors. This is not an original measure of the Xingdao hard labor camp. In fact, other hard labor camps have similar methods to reduce the workload of the guards.
The cell leader of Qin Huacheng's cell was a serious Han Chinese named Lin Xingsui. Because he lost all his belongings in the casino on Ambon Island, he committed a robbery in a hurry and was sentenced to After three years of hard labor in exile, he was sent to Xingdao to serve his sentence. Lin Xingsui has served here for one and a half years. During this period, he performed well and was appreciated by the prison authorities, who arranged him to be the cell leader responsible for bringing in new people. Qin Huacheng's group is already the third group that Lin Xingsui has taken over. A prisoner.
"I don't care what you did before or what crimes you committed before coming here. I just want to give you a few words. When I get to Star Island, I will be coiled by a dragon and a tiger will lie down on me! What the commander said earlier is not Those who threaten you and want to show off here are now lying in the cemetery opposite. If you want to do something extraordinary, you'd better weigh the consequences first!"
As Lin Xingsui spoke, he looked around at everyone, paying attention to the changes in expressions on their faces to judge whether there were any troublesome people among them who needed special attention: "From now on, in the No. 3 position of the Second Battalion, everyone must listen to my arrangements. , If anyone feels dissatisfied, don’t tell me and go to the guard to solve the problem yourself. But if you get beaten or locked up in a dark room, don’t blame me for not warning you in advance.”
A3 was the number of the cell they were in. Lin Xingsui's task was to manage these dozen new prisoners and help them adapt to the living environment and work arrangements of the hard labor camp as soon as possible. And the method he used was exactly the same as Ruan Fu, which was to first suppress and scare the newcomers so that they would obey the arrangements.
Qin Huacheng is quite familiar with this routine. Although he has not been a security policeman in Manila for a long time, he has also arrested many people. When he sent these people to the city prison, he saw the guards there treating the new prisoners. The same is true. If it's the same routine, then the next step should be a slap in the face.
Sure enough, Lin Xingsui quickly changed his tone and said: "I also know that you are all exiled here, and each of you has a difficult scripture to recite. We are all degraded people, and we should take care of each other. If you have any needs in the future, or If you don’t understand something, just come to me. As long as it’s within the rules of the hard labor camp and I can help you, Lin will never shirk it!”
Lin Xingsui's words were beautiful, and they were quite able to fool some people who had little social experience. Qin Huacheng listened, but he had his own plans in his heart. He knew that people like Lin Xingsui would never have a heart-to-heart with a new prisoner. Just listen to what he said about these scenes, and he definitely couldn't take it seriously.
There were no canopy beds in this cell, only bunks made of masonry and wooden boards on the ground, one row on each side, and an aisle in the middle. At the end of the room is a large cupboard stacked with various sundries and a simple toilet. Lin Xingsui randomly assigned everyone's bunks, but the more weak and bully-looking the characters were, the closer they were to the toilet. Perhaps he had already made some calculations after observing his behavior just now.
Qin Huacheng's bunk was quite good, and Lin Xingsui finally placed him next to him, very close to the door of the cell. Qin Huacheng was still wondering whether the other party picked him randomly or for some other reason. Lin Xingsui had already taken the initiative to come over and said, "I have given instructions from above. You will be my deputy from now on. Do you understand?"
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Qin Huacheng thought that I didn't understand, but he had no reason to refuse this good thing that came to his door. He just nodded and agreed first. After calming down and thinking about it, Qin Hua's decision was probably due to his past experience as the leader of the security police detachment, which made the prison authorities feel that he should be a knowledgeable person and it would be easier for them to support him. Although Qin Huacheng has no ambitions, since he may get some special care for this, he might as well give it a try first. Maybe he can be a prison guard in a hard labor camp in the future, and his life will definitely be much easier than that of a low-level prisoner.
He soon discovered that Lin Xingsui, the cell leader, had a pretty good life. Almost everything he did was instructing others to run errands. When it was time to eat at noon, Lin Xingsui called two prisoners over and asked them to wait at the door. He first brought him a portion of the meal specially provided by the cell leader for him to enjoy.
Although Qin Huacheng was appointed as his deputy by Lin Xingsui, he did not get such special treatment. He could only go to the door to get the food by himself, and then found that the portion of the meal was also significantly different from Lin Xingsui's portion.
"Boy, do you feel dissatisfied?" Lin Xingsui noticed the expression on Qin Huacheng's face and asked him provocatively. Qin Huacheng smiled dryly and said: "No, no, it's just that the guards treat them differently. Aren't they afraid of arousing everyone's anger?"
"This is because you don't understand." Lin Xingsui shook his head and said: "If we don't treat them differently, how can we show the benefits of obedience? Besides, if the prisoners are all harmonious, can the guards rest assured?"
Lin Xingsui's words seemed unreasonable at first, but Qin Huacheng thought about it carefully and found that there was indeed some wisdom in it. The prison authorities intentionally highlighted the superior treatment of the cell chief. On the one hand, it helped the cell chief establish an authoritative position in front of the prisoners under his jurisdiction. On the other hand, it also hinted that as long as the prisoners obeyed the command and arrangements, they would have the opportunity to enjoy such treatment in the future. Of course, the status of the cell leader is achieved by controlling and squeezing the lower-level prisoners, so there is always a conflict of interest between the cell leader and ordinary prisoners. And this kind of contradiction is also artificially created by the prison authorities as a means to divide the prisoner group.
Lin Xingsui had been here for more than a year, so he knew all about the ins and outs of the hard labor camp, but for Qin Huacheng, this was a novel experience.
Lin Xingsui lowered his voice and said: "I know, brother, you used to be on public food. You may know a little about the ways in this prison, but when you get to this place, don't use your previous status as an excuse. This is in prison." It’s a big taboo, remember it!”
Qin Huacheng's heart trembled slightly, and he thought that this is indeed something he must be careful about. He used to be a member of the public servants, and this identity was a natural enemy of the prisoners. Even if the place where he used to work was thousands of miles away, if someone revealed his past identity now, then he was in the hard labor camp. I'm afraid that life will be difficult, and he will immediately become a target of other prisoners. Lin Xingsui's words were partly a reminder, and the other half also sounded like a faint threat. If he didn't obey his arrangements, Qin Hua would be done with it as soon as this information was released.
Qin Huacheng smiled forcefully and said: "Thank you, Mr. Lin, for the tip. I am now a guilty man, and I will have to rely on Mr. Lin to take care of me from now on!"
"It's easy to talk about. From now on, we will be our brothers." Lin Xingsui smiled nonchalantly and responded: "As long as you have a meal from me, you will not go hungry."
Qin Huacheng expressed his gratitude quickly, but he knew that Lin Xingsui would not be as easy to get along with as he said. This man knew what was right and he would never take advantage of him in the future.
After lunch, a guard came to inform Head A and No. 3 to prepare for work in the afternoon. Qin Huacheng asked Lin Xingsui what kind of work he was going to do this afternoon.
Lin Xingsui shook his head and said: "The specific arrangements for the work are usually not announced in advance, so we should wait. Anyway, there are three construction sites nearby, the dam, the bunker, and the dock. It is always one of them. If I were asked to choose, I would Willing to build a bunker.”
"Oh? Why is this?" Qin Huacheng asked curiously.
Lin Xingsui explained: "Both dams and wharves have to be put into the water for work. It's hard to soak in the water. Once you get into the water, it takes you half a day. After half a day of work, your feet are soaked as if they were drowned. Building a bunker is not such a hassle." , as long as you contribute, it’s enough.”
Qin Huacheng said: "Master Lin is the prison chief, so he still has to participate in the work himself?"
"How fresh! Do you think the prison chief doesn't have to do anything?" Lin Xingsui spat: "Haihan doesn't care for idlers, everyone is the same...at most he can do less than others. , just have more rest time.”
"I see." Qin Huacheng had a new understanding of the rules of the hard labor camp. He originally thought that the prison chief would only need to serve as an uncle and others in prison, but he never thought that he would also have to participate in the work. It seemed that this was not an easy and pleasant job.
Not long after, the guard came and opened the cell door, allowing the new prisoners to gather outside and prepare to set off to the construction site.
This day's work arrangement fulfilled Lin Xingsui's wish. The prisoners in No. 3 were assigned to a military stronghold construction site about three miles away from the hard labor camp. However, there will no longer be a carriage pick-up for this round trip, they must go back and forth on foot. The only carriage in the team is used to pull various tools needed for dry goods later, such as spades, picks, hammers, ropes, baskets, etc. There were only two guards escorting them, one leading the way on horseback and the other driving a carriage behind.
The vicinity of this forced labor camp was a wilderness environment, and no one tried to escape from the team. The journey was uneventful and they quickly arrived at the construction site smoothly.
(End of chapter)