Chapter 23 twenty three

Dong Zhongshu said to him: "... Qin is not the case. Master Shen and Shang's method, follow Han Fei's theory, hate the emperor's way, and regard greed for wolves as vulgar..." ——Sima Guang's "Tongjian of Zizhi·Han Shizong Xiaowu Emperor Above" Yang Ke turned his back to the noisy and messy construction site behind him, and quietly looked at the Swan Lake in the center of the basin.He dare not look back at the film construction site.Ever since Bao Shungui killed and ate the big swan, he dreamed at night that the water flowing out of the Swan Lake was full of blood, and the blue lake surface was stained red with blood...

More than 30 migrant workers from the agricultural areas of Inner Mongolia have already taken root in the new pasture.They quickly built a strong earthen house for themselves.These migrant workers who work as long-term and seasonal workers in pastoral areas all the year round are herdsmen in pastoral areas. Farmland, the land can no longer support them, so they fly to the grassland like migratory birds.They can speak fluent Mongolian and Chinese, understand animal husbandry and are authentic peasants. They are far more familiar with the grassland than the Han people from the purely agricultural areas in the interior. They have special skills in how to use local materials to build living facilities in agricultural areas. .Every time Chen Zhen and Yang Ke went to the lake to drink water for the sheep, they stopped by the migrant workers' spot to have a look and chat.Yang Ke discovered that due to the busy schedule of the project, Bao Shungui had issued a death order and had to complete the construction of the temporary warehouse and medicine bath before the rainy season. It seemed that these migrant workers couldn't care less about the swans in the lake.

These days, Yang Ke and Chen Zhen often discuss the ancient Chinese Han government's policy of "reclamation and guarding the border", "immigration to strengthen the border", and the policy of "releasing wasteland and recruiting reclamation" in the late Qing Dynasty.These policies of encroaching on grasslands and squeezing nomads have continued until now.Yang Ke couldn't figure out why the newspapers and broadcasts kept criticizing Khrushchev for indiscriminately cultivating the grassland, creating a large area of ​​desert, and causing endless disasters to the grassland people, but they didn't stop the same behavior in his own country?However, the "Battle Hymn of Military Reclamation" has become more and more fierce in recent years.Yang Ke did not go to the Northeast, Xinjiang and other agricultural reclamation corps, but finally chose the grassland, because he grew up watching Russian forest and grassland novels, movies, oil paintings and dances, and listening to Russian forest and grassland songs.The great Russian writers, directors, painters, musicians and dancers' love for the Russian forest and grassland has made Yanke into a forest and grassland "animal".He did not expect to escape from the Nongken Corps in Northeast Xinjiang, but he still did not escape the "Nongken".It seems that the farming people's reclaiming nature is hard to change, and they will not be reconciled to not turning all the grasslands in the country into deserts.

Yang Ke had to admire the migrant workers' ability to build houses.When he went there for the first time, it was still a flat land, but the next day, the thick walls of a row of mud houses had been built up to the height of a person.Yang Ke rode his horse and watched carefully a few times, and saw migrant workers using two large carts to cut grass and mud bricks with generous shovels from the alkaline grass beach near the lake.The grass-mud bricks dug out are twice the size and thickness of the Great Wall bricks.The alkaline clay in Caotan Wetland is gray-blue in color with extremely high viscosity, and the mud bricks are covered with dense grass roots. Once the whole grass mud brick is completely dry, its hardness, strength and toughness are much higher than that of "dry batting".It is inexhaustible to cut and dig grass mud bricks from the grass beach.Therefore, the walls built by migrant workers are much thicker than ordinary walls.Yang Ke kicked the mud brick wall with his riding boots, feeling as solid as a steel and concrete bunker.

Migrant workers can pull a few carts of mud bricks to build a layer. The straw bricks are all washed down on the grass surface and the mud roots are washed up.Three groups of people worked continuously, and in just two days, the walls of a row of mud houses were completed.When the wall is completely dry, the beams can be put on the roof.The large green grassy beach at the foot of the new grass field disappeared, and turned into a muddy pond, and it looked like a paddy field that had not yet been transplanted, covered with messy grass and mud, and cattle, horses and sheep had to go around to drink water.

A row of mud houses suddenly appeared in the new pasture, and Yang Ke felt that it was more eye-catching than rubbing sand into his eyes.If the new natural and beautiful pastures are covered with white yurts, the beauty of the natural pastures will not be diminished.But a row of gray mud houses appeared, as ugly as a row of pigsty earth circles drawn on the set of a Swan Lake dance drama.Yang Ke simply couldn't bear it, so he had no choice but to beg the head of the migrant worker, Old Wang, if he could paint the adobe house with a layer of white ash so that it could look the same as the yurt.Old Wangtou said with a sly smile, if you buy white ash, I will clean it right away.Yang Ke was so angry that there was no way to do it. The grassland didn't produce lime, and he couldn't buy it with money.

The stone pits on the hillside are also becoming larger and larger.For ordinary hills in the Mongolian grasslands, as long as one or two feet of thin turf, sand and gravel are planed, there will be weathered stone flakes, slates and stones underneath.The stone can be taken out by prying with a lever, and there is no need for hammer, steel brazing and explosives.Seven or eight migrant workers moved stones from the cave to the outside, and three or four huge piles of bright yellow stones appeared on the green hillside, like stone tombs. Within a few days, the project started in full swing, and more than 20 migrant workers drove into the new pasture on rubber-tyred carts.The car was full of bright red and green, glaring and tacky packages, and some migrant workers' wives and children also came, holding a few Northeast domestic geese in their arms.Yang Ke complained sadly to Chen Zhen that such a beautiful natural pasture would soon turn into a dirty little village in the agricultural areas of Northeast China and North China, and the rare Swan Lake would soon turn into a goose pond.Chen Zhen replied with a bitter face: In an overpopulated nation, survival is the top priority, and there is no extra nutrition to feed artistic cells.Later, Yang Ke found out that most of these groups of migrant workers came from Bao Shungui's hometown, and he wished he could move half of the village to the grassland.

A few days later, Yang Ke discovered that several families of migrant workers were digging ditches and plowing the ground in front of the earthen house. Four deep ditches surrounded a vegetable garden of more than ten mu.Within a few days, various vegetables such as cabbage, cabbage, water radish, daikon, coriander, cucumber, shallot, garlic, etc. sprouted, attracting the whole team of educated youths to come to order these rare Han dishes in the grasslands. The naturally curved cattle driveway on the grassland was forced to bend and straightened by the rubber-tyred tractors pulling wool, which brought more family members of the farm staff to pick wool, pick up apricot pits, dig medicinal materials, and cut wild leeks.As soon as a pot of treasure land was opened, the blind people in the agricultural area swarmed in, and Mongolian Chinese with a northeast accent could be heard everywhere in the depths of the grassland.Chen Zhen told Yang Ke that the farming civilization of the Han nationality had assimilated the Manchus in the Qing Dynasty for two to three hundred years, because the Manchus’ hometown in the three eastern provinces had vast and deep black land, and they could assimilate the “same roots” of farming culture. It's too big.But if the Han culture assimilates the thin Mongolian grassland, it will assimilate the "yellow peril".

Bao Shungui spent every day on the construction site. He had already seen the development potential of this new pasture, and planned to move all four brigades in the next year, turning the new pasture into a summer pasture for all four brigades, so that Free up several original pieces of black sand land in the ranch for the development of agriculture.At that time, if he needs food and meat, he will have the capital to move more of his beloved relatives and friends from his hometown to this geomantic land to build a Bao's farm and ranch.Bao Shungui had almost strict requirements on the progress of the project, but the migrant workers had no complaints.

The old man Bilig and several old herdsmen quarreled with the migrant workers all day long, forcing the migrant workers to fill up the ditches around the vegetable garden, because some horses had fallen into the ditches when they were running at night.Although the ditch was filled, a half-person-high earth wall soon appeared.Uliji had a sad face, as if he regretted opening up this new pasture. With his back to the chaotic construction site, it took him a long time to focus on the scenery in front of him, admiring the Swan Lake for a long time, just wanting to leave more impressions of Swan Lake.In recent days, Yang Ke's obsession with Swan Lake has surpassed Chen Zhen's obsession with prairie wolves.Yang Ke was worried that within a year, there would be huge herds of the other three brigades and even larger construction sites for migrant workers on the grassy slopes across the river and lake.If the reeds around the Swan Lake are cut down, the remaining swans will no longer have the green gauze tent to cover them.

Yang Ke rode to the lake, wanting to see if there were any swan chicks swimming on the lake.According to the season, it's time for female swans to hug their nests.Fortunately, except for a few cows, the herds are not by the lake at this time. The clear and flowing water of the small river has taken away the turbidity of the herds, and brought in the spring water from the distant forest, and the lake water has become transparent and clear again.He really hoped that the waterfowl could get a temporary peace. Suddenly, a group of waterfowl startled in the reeds, and screams of various tones sounded.Wild ducks and wild geese flew southeast close to the water, and swans quickly rose into the air and flew over the large swamps in the north.Yang Ke immediately took out his binoculars to search the reeds. Could it be that someone really went into the lake to hunt swans? After more than ten minutes, there was some movement on the water surface in the distance.A camouflaged raft like the one used by the Baiyangdian Yanling Team during the Anti-Japanese War appeared in his camera.The raft came out gently from the reed alley, and there were two people on it, both wearing huge camouflage caps made of green reeds on their heads, and also wearing coir raincoats made of green reeds.The raft is full of reeds, like a group of moving reeds. If you don't identify it carefully, it is difficult to distinguish the raft from the surrounding reeds.Yanke could see clearly that the people on the raft had obviously gained something. One of them was taking off his hat and unloading, while the other was actually holding a shovel in his hand, using a shovel instead of an oar, and slowly paddled towards the shore. The raft gradually approached. It turned out that the raft was made of the inner tubes of six cart tires and several door panels.Yang Ke recognized one of them as Old Wang Tou and the other as his nephew Er Shun.Er Shun took away the green reeds on the surface of the raft, revealing a tin laundry tub underneath, which was filled with large and small bird eggs, and in the middle there were two eye-catching large eggs like white melons. The egg skins were delicate and smooth, like two A treasure carved out of suet jade.Yang Ke's heart constricted all of a sudden, and he secretly exclaimed: Swan eggs!What frightened him even more was that half of a whooper swan was exposed under Weizi's coir raincoat, with bloodstains on its bright white feathers.Yang Ke's blood rushed to his forehead, and he almost rushed to overturn the raft, but he could only hold back the anger in his heart.The swan that was killed could no longer be brought back to life, but he had to find a way to save the two big swan eggs no matter what. When the raft touched the shore, Yang Ke rushed up and shouted loudly: Who told you to kill the swan and take out the swan's eggs!Walk!Follow me to team headquarters! Old Wang was not tall, but he was shrewd and strong, with a half-covered, half-Han black stubble beard.He glared at Yang Ke and said: Director Bao ordered the beating, what's bothering you?The infrastructure team eats wild animals, and it can save a lot of cattle and sheep for your brigade. Yang Ke roared: "Everyone in China knows that only toads want to eat swan meat. Are you still Chinese?" The old Wangtou sneered and said: "It is the Chinese who can't let the swan fly to Lao Maozi. You want to give the swan to Lao Maozi to eat?" Yang Ke had already discovered that "Blind Liu" was very good at speaking, so he was choked and speechless for a while. The whooper swan was dragged ashore. To Yanke's surprise, there was an arrow stuck in the swan's chest. There was also a big bamboo bow made of thick bamboo planks and a small handful of unused arrows on the raft. No wonder he No gunshots were heard.Just now he wondered, how did these two gunless men hit the swan?It turned out that they actually used the most primitive weapons.In the age of guns, he saw bows and arrows. This bow has the lethal power to kill whooper swans. It is even more effective than guns and more concealed. It will not scare other swans and water birds too much, so that they can be hunted more times.Yang Ke reminded himself that he should not underestimate these people, he had to change from hard attack to outsmart. Yang Ke temporarily suppressed the anger in his heart, changed his expression with great difficulty, picked up the bow and said: Oh, a good bow is a good bow, or is it a hard bow, is this the bow you use to shoot swans? Seeing that Yang Ke had changed his tone, the old Wang boasted, "Is there still a fake?"I made this bow out of a bamboo bow made of felted bullet wool in the yurt of the field department. This bow is strong, and it doesn't take much effort to shoot someone to death.Yang Ke drew an arrow and said: Let me have a try?Lao Wang sat on the grass pier by the bank and watched Er Shun move his prey. He smoked pipes and said, "It takes a lot of time to make arrows. I have to save them and continue shooting. I can only try one arrow. If there are too many arrows, it won't work." Yang Ke carefully studied the bow and arrow.The bamboo board used to make the bow is nearly one finger thick and three fingers wide. The bow string is twisted out of several strands of thin cowhide strips, as thick as a pencil.The shafts of the arrows are scraped from wicker, and the feathers of the arrows are wild goose feathers from local materials.What surprised Yang Ke the most was that the arrowhead was actually made of the iron sheet of a tin can, and the words "Braised..." could still be seen on it.The iron sheet was first cut into triangles, then rolled on the arrow shaft head, and then fixed with small nails, forming a quill-like tip tube on the tip tube, and the arrow shaft head inside the tip tube was also beveled, and was The tin tip tube is tightly wrapped.Yanke tried the arrow with his finger, and it was hard and sharp, like a small pistol.He weighed the shaft of the arrow. The body of the arrow is not heavy, but the arrowhead is heavier, so the arrow will not flutter when shot out. The bow was very hard, and Yang Ke had to use all his strength to draw it five or six points away.He bent his bow and set an arrow, aiming at a grass mound more than ten meters away, opened the bow vigorously, and shot the arrow beside the grass and iron mound, and the arrow pierced deeply into the ground.Yanke ran over, carefully pulled out the arrow, wiped off the dirt, the arrow was still sharp.At that moment, he suddenly felt that he had returned to the ancient times of Mongolian grassland riding and shooting. Yang Ke walked up to the old king and asked: When you shot the swan, how far away was it? Just seven or eight steps. You are so close to the swan, the swan didn't see you? The old Wang tapped his cigarette pot and said: The day before yesterday I went into the reed pond to look for a swan nest, and it took me a long time to find it.Early this morning, we both put on reeds and hats and rowed in slowly.Fortunately, the fog was so thick that the swans were not seen.The swan's nest is as tall as a person, and it is stacked with reeds. The mother goose hatches her eggs in the nest, and the male goose guards back and forth in the nearby waterway. So is it just the male or the female that you shot? The two of us lay low, we couldn't shoot the one in the nest, we just waited for the male one.After waiting for a long time, the gander swam up to the raft. I shot an arrow through my heart, and it flopped a few times before it lost its breath.When the mother goose heard the movement, she quickly ran away, and we leaned over to pick up two eggs from the nest. Yang Ke thought to himself, the survival and destructive abilities of these refugees are really extraordinary.Without bullets, you can make a bow and arrow; without a boat, you can make a raft.It can also camouflage, it can lurk for a long time, and it can hit first.If they were equipped with guns, ammunition and tractors, how could they destroy the grassland?Their ancestors were originally herdsmen, but after being conquered and assimilated by the farming culture of the Han people, they turned into enemies of the Mongolian grassland.For thousands of years, Chinese people have always been complacent about their extraordinary ability to assimilate other races, but the Chinese can only assimilate races with a lower level of education than their own, and they have never mentioned the disastrous side of assimilation.Seeing the evil consequences, Yang Ke felt blood dripping from his heart. Er Shun also sat down to rest after cleaning the raft.What Yang Ke was most concerned about right now was the two swan eggs.Since the mother swan is not dead, the eggs must be put back into the nest, and the two little swans will be born, and fly away with their mother, to distant Siberia. Yang Keqiang made a smiling face and said to the old Wangtou: You are so old, I really have to learn from you in the future. The old Wangtou smiled proudly: We can't do anything else, but we can hunt birds, otters, wolves for traps, dig medicinal materials, pick mushrooms, etc. We are experts.We used to have these things in our hometown. Later, too many Han people came to the meadow, and there was not enough land, and the wild animals were eaten up by you Han people. Thanks to our old skills, we had no choice but to go to the grassland again. A bowl of rice to eat.Although we are also Mongolians, it is not easy to go out. You educated youths come from Beijing and have local hukou. In the future, please say something nice to us as migrants. Don’t let the local old Mongolians drive us away, they will listen to you.If you agree, I'll teach you a few tricks, and I'm sure you'll make a thousand or eight hundred yuan a year. Yang Ke said: Then I will worship you as my teacher. The old Wang moved closer to Yang Ke and said: I heard that you and the herdsmen have left a lot of sheep oil in their bags, can you get some for me?There are forty or fifty people in our family. We do heavy work every day. All our food is expensive food bought from the black market.But you still use sheep oil to light lamps, what a waste of things, you can sell me some sheep oil cheaply. Yang Ke smiled and said: This is easy to handle, we still have two cans of sheep oil in our bag.I think these two swan eggs are pretty nice, so how about I use half a can of suet for these two eggs, is it okay?The old Wangtou said: Success!These two big eggs, I will fry them when I take them back, so I will treat them as less than five or six wild duck eggs, so you can take them away!Yang Ke hurriedly took off his coat, wrapped the swan eggs carefully, and said to the old man, "I'll send you the mutton oil tomorrow."Old Wangtou said: You Beijingers mean what you say, and I can believe it. Yang Ke took a breath and said, "It's still early. I want to use your raft to go into the lake to see the swan nest... You just said that the swan nest is as tall as a person. I don't believe it. I have to see it with my own eyes." Old Wang stared at Yang Ke's horse and said, "Success."Well, I'll lend you the raft, and you lend me the horse.I have to carry the big goose to the kitchen. This goose is so heavy that it is almost on top of a sheep. Yang Ke stood up and said: That's it. Wait, you still have to tell me where the swan's nest is. Old Wangtou also stood up, pointed to the reed lane and said: Go to Dongtou and turn north, there are many reeds in that alley that have been crushed by the raft.If you paddle along the waterway, you will be able to find it.Can you paddle a raft? Yang Ke got on the raft and stroked it with a shovel a few times, it was very stable.He said: I often row boats in Beihai Park in Beijing, and I can swim. I can swim a few kilometers without any problem, and I won’t drown. The old Wangtou warned again: Then when you come back, tie the raft as usual.After speaking, he picked up the dead swan and put it on the saddle, sat on the horse's buttocks, and walked slowly to the construction site.Er Shun struggled to follow behind with a large basin in his hand. When the two were far away, Yang Ke went ashore, put the clothes wrapped in swan eggs on the raft, and hurriedly rowed towards the reeds to the east. The white clouds reflected on the broad lake were dazzlingly bright, and a group of bold wild geese and mallards flew back from the swamp in the north.In the reflection, the waterfowls pierced through the clouds and fog in the water, and after a while they floated steadily on the soft cushion of white clouds in the water.As soon as Yang Ke paddled into the lake, he couldn't help slowing down his paddling speed, immersed in the thick reed green.The fragrance of lake water and reed leaves blows from the reed alley, and the more you paddle in, the greener and clearer the lake becomes, as if you have really entered the Swan Lake in his dream.Yang Ke thought, it would be great if he could invite Chen Zhen and Zhang Jiyuan to visit Swan Lake together.The three of them would be stuck in the lake, lying on the raft and drifting with the current, all day or all night. The raft gradually approached the reeds on the east side of the lake, where the water is flowing and is the main channel of the small river that runs through the lake.The river flows to the north, the water in the river is relatively deep, and there are few reeds, but dense reeds and cattails grow on both sides of the river.The raft floated along the river to the north, and some feathers floated on the water, including white, gray, brown, brown, golden green and dark red.Sometimes a few wild ducks would suddenly swim out of the reed alley, and when they saw people, they would burrow into the reeds again.Reed Lane is deep and hidden, it is a quiet delivery room for waterfowl and a safe paradise for chicks.The afternoon sun could no longer reach the water surface of Wei Lane, and a gust of cool wind blew away the sweat all over Yang Ke's body. Reed Lane turned another bend, and the river became narrow and wide.Yang Ke paddled for a while, and the Wei Lane was divided.Yang Ke stopped, and suddenly saw a few reeds lying on the water in one of the alleys, so he continued to row along the water alley.The surface of the water became wider and wider, and a hidden lake within a lake appeared in front of him. On the surface of the lake to the northeast, there was a large area of ​​cut reeds, and an artificially opened waterway appeared in front of Yang Ke.He looked along the waterway, and behind a few clumps of wilted reeds, suddenly appeared a huge yellow and green reed pile, which was more than two meters high and one meter thick in diameter.Yanke's heart beats like a drum, that's it!This is the swan's nest that he has never seen, never seen in movies and pictures.He rubbed his eyes, he couldn't believe it was real. Yang Ke was short of breath and his hands were shaking.He paddled crookedly towards the swan's nest, pushed aside the broken reeds on the water surface with a shovel, and approached the big nest gently.He finally fixed the raft next to the huge reed post, took a breath, leaned on the shovel, tiptoed lightly, stretched his neck to look at the top of the nest, he wanted to see the widowed swan queen Still in the nest.But the big nest was so high that he couldn't see the top of the nest, and by feeling, it seemed to be empty. Yang Ke stood in front of the swan's nest in a daze.He was stunned, this was the largest, tallest and most peculiar bird's nest he had ever seen.He originally thought that the swan nest would be built on the reeds not high above the water surface, and the swan might step on a large clump of reeds, and then fold some reed branches, reed leaves and old reed flowers to weave a bowl-shaped nest like other ordinary bird nests .However, the swan nest in front of him made him feel that his imagination was still too mediocre and poor. As the swan, the king of birds, the big nest in front of him not only has the style of a king, but also has extraordinary shape and craftsmanship.This is a unique, finely woven, exceptionally strong nest of comfort. After confirming that the female swan was not in the nest, Yang Ke began to study the giant nest closely. The location of the swan's nest is excellent. This is the place where the reeds are densest in the lake and the deepest part of the water alley. Next to the nest is a small piece of lake in the lake.The swan lovers nest here, which is convenient for hiding, foraging for food and bathing nearby, and for cobs to patrol and guard nearby.If it weren't for those two cunning migrant workers who rowed a camouflaged raft, cut out a waterway, and paddled in quietly to attack, it would be difficult for anyone to find and approach the nest of the king of birds. Yang Ke pushed the giant nest with both hands, just like pushing a giant tree more than one meter thick, without moving a muscle.Although it grows in the water, its roots are intertwined like an ancient banyan tree, deeply piercing into the bottom of the lake.The structure of the big nest was something Yanke had never seen before. After careful consideration, Yangke finally figured out roughly how the swans built the nest: a pair of swans first selected a circle of reeds with the thickest and toughest reeds, This group of reed stalks is used as the steel support of the big nest, and the reed stalks are interspersed and woven under the reeds like weaving baskets, layer by layer.Yanke estimated that at the very beginning, the pair of swans made a dense weave first, and then the two swans stood up and pressed the nest foundation under the water with their weight, and then weaved and pressed again until The braid is exposed above the water.Yanke tested the depth of the water with a shovel, and it was about one and a half meters deep.Then, if the main part is more than two meters high above the water surface, this large nest is nearly four meters high—this may be regarded as a super project in the bird kingdom. Mature reed stalks, like bamboo, have oily toughness and are resistant to corrosion.Yang Ke once dug out a seven or eight-year-old well in the autumn meadow, and he found that the reeds around the bottom of the well to prevent sand were still not completely rotten.Yang Ke poked the underwater nest foundation with a shovel, and it turned out to be huge and hard. When the nest is exposed to the water, the swan lovers weave the main body of the water building layer by layer.Yanke found that the thick nest pillars were criss-crossed tightly and densely, like a huge solid basket.The foundation pillars of the nest were closed at a height of one foot from the reed tips, and the reed stalks used as steel pillars had been squeezed around the big nest, like the fence of the nest, connecting with the surrounding reed tips.Yanke grabbed the nest posts, and then used his riding boots to create a gap for stepping on the nest body, and then climbed up two feet carefully. He finally saw the delivery room of the Swan Queen. The bottom of the nest was shaped like a shallow dish, not like Deep bowl-shaped like a common bird's nest.It is covered with a layer of thin reed leaves, scattered with feathers and down, soft and comfortable. Yang Ke landed on the raft and looked up for a long time to admire the swan king's nest in front of him.The smart and industrious swan lovers are so well versed in architectural mechanics and aesthetics.The Mongolian grassland is a paradise for rare animals, and also the kingdom of the strong and the wise. There are many rare and rare treasures that cannot be appreciated by many farming peoples.Yang Ke then discovered more advantages of the swan's nest. It stands on the top of the reeds, which is cool and dry, and has a wide view. It can enjoy the cover of the surrounding green gauze of reeds, and is far away from the rotten smell of old reed leaves under the reeds.In midsummer, you can also avoid the bites of mosquitoes in the reeds and the sneak attacks of water snakes.If a cygnet is born out of its shell, it can see the blue sky and white clouds as soon as it opens its eyes.When the autumn is cool and before the swans fly south, they will disappear in the fluffy snow-like reeds.No matter how far the big and small swans fly, can they forget their beautiful and romantic hometown? When the breeze blows, the reeds all over the lake sway with the wind, and thousands of reed tips bend down and bow their heads.But the giant swan nest remains motionless, like the throne of an emperor accepting the worship of hundreds of millions of subjects.The proud swan must be the highest flying bird in the world, but Yang Ke still didn't expect that in the grassland without a big tree, the proud swan is still proud, and it is far more powerful than the prairie male who relies on the height of the mountain to increase the height of his nest. Eagles are much more proud.Yang Ke had seen more than a dozen nests of prairie eagles on the top of the mountain, which completely broke his mysterious admiration for eagle nests in the past—there was no nest, it was just a pile of dead branches and a few pieces of broken sheepskin. It's like a beggar's street floor. The noble whooper swan, from the sky to the ground, is always holy and beautiful.If there were no whooper swans in the world, would there still be a Swan Lake on the human stage?Will there be Ulanova?Will you still know Tchaikovsky's swan music?Will people's good wishes be taken to the sky?Yang Ke looked up at the Swan Throne, opened his eyes wide and dilated his pupils, and deeply imprinted every detail of the king's nest.He really wants to build a towering bird king's nest on the square in front of the National Center for the Performing Arts in the future, as a totem pole for people who love swans and Swan Lake.At the top of the swan totem pole is the holy and pure swan couple who spread their wings through the clouds.They will also become totems of love and beauty in the hearts of mankind and will last forever in the world. The wind in the lake gradually became colder, and the green of the reeds gradually deepened.Yang Ke held the two swan eggs in his hands and pressed them against his chest, trying to transfer some human warmth to them.There are more and more toads in the world, and the big blades of the red detachment of women on the stage drove away the swan princesses.But there are still people in this world who love you and adore you. Yanke carefully climbed onto the nest post, reverently lifted a swan egg over his head with one hand, and gently placed it back in the nest.He took another one out of his pocket and put it in again.When Yanke landed on the raft, he let out a long sigh of relief.He believed in the tall figure The two swan eggs on the pole, like two huge gemstones, will shine brightly in the reed waves, go straight to the sky, and call the swan queen flying high in the sky. A white dot finally appeared in the sky, hovering high.Yang Ke hastily untied the rope, propped up the raft and retreated gently towards the river.He lifted up the reeds that had been crushed and bent by the raft one by one, and used a shovel to poke away the reed stalks and leaves floating on the water.He hoped that new reeds would grow out of the reeds that had been cut down, so as to hide the exposed giant nests of swans again. Before Yang Ke rowed away from Wei Lane, he saw a swan eagerly circling and descending. When he landed, the big swan was no longer visible in the sky. Yang Ke walked back to the kitchen on the construction site, and Er Shun said that his uncle had already rode a horse to the third animal husbandry team to buy sick cows.A large earthen stove has appeared on the open space outside the kitchen, and there is a huge pot on the earthen stove.There was a large pile of wet swan feathers spread out on the ground, and the cauldron was steaming, and inside the cauldron was chopped swan meat into fist-sized pieces.Yang Ke saw the swan's head churning and weeping in the boiling water, and beside the cauldron, a young woman in Chinese costume was sprinkling pepper, green onion and ginger into the cauldron, aiming at the noble swan Half a bottle of cheap soy sauce poured over his head.Yang Ke was dizzy for a while, and suddenly slumped on the bullock cart.The young woman said to Er Shun, help the Beijing student into the house quickly, and bring him a bowl of goose meat soup to nourish his body later.Yang Ke waved his hand and pulled Er Shun away, almost kicking the iron pot over with anger.He really couldn't bear the smell coming out of the pot, but he didn't dare to kick the pot or get angry.He was a poor and lower-middle peasant, but he was a "dog boy" who went to the mountains and went to the countryside to receive re-education.He could only make up his mind secretly, determined to find an opportunity to destroy the raft. The migrant workers, covered in mortar and sweat, stopped work one after another.Smelling the smell of meat, they ran over, drooling, singing and shouting around the cauldron: The toad is eating the swan meat, the toad is eating the swan meat! Can you still be a toad while eating swan meat? Where is what? Your Majesty. A man with a short stature and staring at two toad eyes took advantage of the chaos and pinched the woman who burned the fire ass, and laughed loudly: Who said that toads can't eat swan meat?I will eat it in a while.Before he finished speaking, he was hit by a fire stick. Seeing that the meat was not yet cooked, the migrant workers took off their shirts and rushed to the lake with dirty towels.Several people got on the raft and paddled out into the lake.A few good swimmers had already stripped naked and jumped into the water, swimming towards the center of the lake, plopping, and the turbid waves splashed everywhere for a while.That battle was like being on the stage of Swan Lake, rushing into a group of flamboyant red faces singing "Errenzhuan".The surface of the lake that had just calmed down was startled by a large flock of waterfowl again, mourning everywhere. Yang Ke didn't understand why these people from the farming area, who were both Mongolian, forgot the water god worshiped by the Mongolian people so quickly.Before the Beijing educated youth arrived at the commune ranch, when they passed by the capital of the League, some Mongolian and Han cadres who came to visit the educated youth privately told Yang Ke and the others that they should respect the customs and religious beliefs of the grassland herdsmen when they went to the grassland.It mentioned that the Mongolian grassland lacks water. The Mongolian people especially respect the god of water, and they dare not wash clothes in rivers and lakes, let alone take a bath.Historically, the early Mongolian people fought with the Islamic people because they liked to bathe in rivers and lakes and blasphemed the water god of the Mongolians.They hope that the educated youth will never go swimming in the river after they arrive in the grassland.For more than two years, the educated youth in Beijing who like swimming have held back their hobby.However, I did not expect that the Mongolian migrant workers from these agricultural areas broke the grassland rules so recklessly. Yang Ke couldn't bear it anymore and stood up, planning to go back to the yurt to discuss countermeasures with Chen Zhen.After walking a few steps, he suddenly found five or six huge rhizomes under the wall of the earthen house.He was startled again, thinking of the fairy-like Swan Shaoyao, he hurried to the front of the earthen house and inspected it carefully.He had never seen peony roots before. These roots were as big as a sheep's head, and they looked like giant sweet potatoes with lumps.All the flowering branches have been cut off, leaving only a few light red buds that have just emerged.Several of the largest tubers were placed in large iron buckets, and only one can be placed in each bucket. Most of the buckets were filled with wet sand, as if to keep them alive. Yang Ke hurriedly asked Er Shun: Are these peony roots?Where did you dig it?Er Shun said, "It's white peony. Anyway, it grows in the mountains. I can't tell you where I dug it."A few days ago, most of the cars were taken away, and they were all sold to Chinese medicine shops in the city.Yang Ke didn't expect that the half-truckload of peony roots that Bao Shungui dug up was only a small part. As soon as the migrant workers came in, the swan peony flowers in this pasture were completely dug three feet into the ground, and the weeds were cut and rooted.These people who don't even cherish their own hometown will start to plunder and rob even more brazenly when they go to other places. Yang Ke returned home and told Chen Zhen and Gao Jianzhong what he saw and felt that day. Chen Zhen was also so angry that he couldn't speak for a long time. After he recovered, he said slowly: What you said happened to be the epitome of the relationship between East Asian nomads and farming peoples for thousands of years.Nomads turned into farmers, and then turned back to the grasslands.Kill both sides. Yang Ke asked puzzledly: Why do both sides have to suffer?They are born from the same root, so why rush each other?Nomadism is nomadism, and farming is in charge of farming, so we can live in peace. Chen Zhen said coldly: The earth is only so big, everyone wants to live a good life, and human history is essentially a history of fighting for and defending living space.The small peasants in China spend their entire lives looking down to take care of a small piece of farmland under their noses. Their vision is narrow and they cannot see so far.If we didn't come to the grassland, wouldn't we still be short-sighted and self-righteous there? There were three big dogs howling wildly outside the door.Yang Ke said: It must be the old Wang who came to return the horse.The vicious Erlang bit the old Wang's head so hard that he couldn't get off the horse, and shouted Yang Ke in fright.Yang Ke hurriedly went out to drink the dog, put Lao Wang's head in the bag, and then went to unload the saddle.The horse was ridden hard for a long time, and the whole body was sweating profusely. The saddle felt was completely soaked, and it was steaming with sweat.Yang Ke was so angry that he slammed the door and entered the bag.Old Wang's head smelled of alcohol and garlic, his mouth was shiny, and he kept saying that swan meat was delicious, delicious.In order not to startle the snake, Yang Ke had no choice but to hold back his breath, and had to bring him suet.Old Wangtou walked away happily with half a can of mutton oil in his arms. When Yang Ke thought of the cob flying freely in the morning, which was stirring with the stinky garlic in Old Wangtou's stomach at this moment, his heart ached and he thought cry. The three of them froze for a long time without saying a word.Why not put the old Wang's head on the ground and beat him up?Why not teach him a lesson?But they know that they dare not fight these blind ruffians who are so numerous and powerful;If I really want to cure them, the only way is to fight poison with poison.陈阵和高建中都赞成破坏老王头的筏子，而且要毁得他们无力再造。一定要确保小天鹅出世长大飞走。杨克伤心地说：我看明年春天天鹅们是不会再回来了。三人一时黯然。 然而他们没想到队里通知当晚全队政治学习，传达最高最新指示，规定不准请假。这使他们错过了破坏筏子的惟一一次机会。 在额仑草原杀吃天鹅是包顺贵开的头，但是那次是在打狼队的帐篷里。那锅天鹅肉没放葱姜蒜和花椒大料酱油，只是一锅清水加盐的天鹅手把肉，当时所有猎手和杨克谁都没动一筷子。包顺贵独饮闷酒，也没吃出皇帝宴的感觉和心情来。他甚至说，天鹅肉跟他老家的用玉米泔水喂出来的家鹅的味道差不离。 包顺贵这回及时赶到了工地伙房。这锅天鹅肉是在汉式大灶里，加放汉人的各式佐料，大火小火精心闷制出来的。再加上几十人划酒猜拳，轮番捧场，他确实吃出了土皇帝土王爷的感觉和心情来了。 可惜肉少蛤蟆多。包顺贵和老王头各自独食了一盆肉，而其他伙计则没分到几块。天鹅宴一散，包顺贵油嘴光光地去主持政治学习，可众伙计却闹开了锅。他们的馋虫全被勾了出来，于是决定抽人在第二天天不亮就再披苇衣，再带弓箭，再进苇巷。为了保险，他们还借来包顺贵的半自动步枪。准备用枪打天鹅，要是打不着天鹅，就打大雁野鸭，怎么着也得让大伙吃个痛快。 第二天早晨，杨克、陈阵和高建中被湖里的枪声惊醒，三人后悔得直跺脚。杨克疯了似地骑马冲向湖边，陈阵请官布代放一天羊，也和高建中骑马直奔湖边。 三人提心吊胆地等到那个筏子靠岸。眼前的惨景让杨克和陈阵像突见亲人的暴死。筏子上又躺着一只大天鹅和几只大雁野鸭，还有那两枚天鹅蛋，上面沾满了血。死天鹅显然就是那只刚刚丧偶的雌天鹅，它为了两个未出世的心肝宝贝，没有及时飞离这个可怕的湖，也随亡夫一同去了。它的脑袋被子弹炸碎了，死得比它的爱侣更惨，它是死在尚未破壳的一对儿女身上的，它把热血作为自己最后一点热量，给了它的孩子们。 杨克泪流满面，如果他不把那两枚天鹅蛋送还到天鹅巢里，可能那只雌天鹅就不会遭此毒手了。 老王头登上岸，岸边聚了一群民工、牧民和知青。老王头既得意又恶狠狠地瞪着杨克说道：你还想用羊油换蛋吗？Dream it!这回我得把这两个大蛋给小彭了。昨儿我去买病牛，见到小彭，跟他说你用半罐羊油换了两个天鹅蛋，他说我换亏了，他跟我订了货，说他用一罐羊油换一个大蛋。 说话间，只见小彭气喘吁吁跳下马，急忙把两个血蛋抓到手，装进塞满羊毛的书包里，骑上马一溜烟跑了。 众民工像过节似的，抬着猎物回伙房。牧民们疑惑和气愤地看着民工，他们不明白为什么这些穿汉人衣服的的蒙族人，也对草原神鸟这么残忍，竟敢杀吃能飞上腾格里的大鸟。毕利格老人显然也是第一次遇到这种事情。他气得胡须乱抖，大骂老王头伤天害理，对萨满神鸟不恭不敬，忘了蒙族的本！到底还是不是蒙古人！老王头不吃这一套，大声嚷嚷：什么萨满萨满，我们老家连菩萨佛爷都给砸烂了，你还念叨萨满！全是“四旧”，都得砸烂！毕利格见用蒙古草原天条镇不住老王头，就连忙去翻蒙文毛主席语录小红书，急急地问陈阵：治这帮土匪，该念哪条语录？陈阵和杨克想了半天，实在想不起最高指示中有哪条语录，可以惩治猎杀珍禽的行为。 民工们人多势众，又有后台撑腰，都敢用流利的蒙话跟毕利格老人骂架。牧民们拥上去猛吼，对立的双方都是蒙族人，都是贫下中农（牧），民族相同，阶级相同，却无法调和游牧与农耕的冲突。杨克、陈阵和部分知青加入穿蒙袍的队伍，和穿汉装的民工对骂起来。双方越骂越凶，鼻子几乎对上鼻子。眼看狼性暴烈的兰木扎布等几个马倌就要动用马鞭，包顺贵急急骑马赶到。他冲到人群前，用马鞭狠狠地在自己的头顶上挥了几下，大吼一声：都给我住嘴！谁敢动手我就叫专政小组来抓人。把你们统统关进学习班去！众人全都不吭声了。 包顺贵跳下马，走到毕利格面前说：天鹅这玩艺儿，是苏修喜欢的东西。在北京，演天鹅的老毛子戏已经被打倒，不让再演了，连演戏的主角儿都被批斗了。咱们这儿要是还护着天鹅，这事传出去问题可就大了，成了政治问题……咱们还是抓革命，促生产吧。要想加快工程进度，就得让干活人吃上肉。可大队又舍不得卖给他们处理羊，让他们自个儿去弄点肉吃，这不是挺好的一件事儿吗？ 包顺贵又转身对众人说：大忙季节，都呆在这儿干什么？都干活去！ 众人气呼呼地陆续散去。 杨克咽不下这口气，他骑马奔回包，取来三支大爆竹，对准湖面连点三炮。砰砰砰……六声巨响，将大雁野鸭等各种水鸟惊得四散逃飞。包顺贵气得返身冲下山坡，用马鞭指着杨克的鼻子大骂：你想断了我的下酒菜，你长几个脑袋？别忘了你的反动老子还跟着黑帮一块劳动改造呢！你要好好接受贫下中农的再教育，这些工地上的人，还有我，都是贫下中农！ 杨克瞪眼顶撞道：到草原插队，我首先接受牧民，接受贫下中牧的再教育！ 毕利格老人和几个马倌搂着杨克的肩膀往坡上走。老人说：你这回放炮，阿爸心里高兴。 杨克后来听说，用羊油换走了天鹅蛋的小彭，是一个奇物收藏爱好者，居然懂得长期保 存天鹅蛋的技巧。小彭是大队“赤脚医生”，他用注射器在天鹅蛋的底部扎了一个针眼，抽出蛋清蛋黄，又用胶水封住小孔，这样就不必担心天鹅蛋发臭爆壳，两个美丽但失掉了生命的天鹅蛋便可永久珍藏了。他还到场部木工房，割了玻璃，做了两个玻璃盒，盒的底部垫上黄绸缎包面的毡子，将天鹅蛋安放在绸垫上，尤如一件珍奇的工艺品。小彭把这两件宝贝一直藏在箱底，秘不示人。若干年后，他把这两件珍藏送给了到草原招收工农兵大学生的一个干部，小彭终于借了草原天鹅的翅膀飞进了城，飞进了大学。 第四天傍晚，高建中赶牛回家。他神神秘秘地对杨克和陈阵说：老王头买的那头病牛让狼给掏了，就在他们房前不远的地方。 两人听了都一愣。杨克说：对了，工地上那帮人没有狗，这下他们亏大了。 高建中说：我去他们房前看了，那头牛就拴在房前十几步的柱子旁边，只剩下了牛头牛蹄子牛骨架，肉全啃没了。老王头气得大骂，说这头牛是用伙房半个月的菜金买来的，往后工地上又该吃素了。高建中笑道：其实这头病牛也没啥大毛病，就是肚子里有寄生虫。老王头懂点兽医，他弄来点药，把牛肚子里的虫子打了，想利用这儿的好水好草，把牛养肥了再宰。可没想到刚养胖了一点，就喂了狼。 杨克深深地出了一口恶气说：这帮农区来的盲流哪有牧民的警觉性，夜里睡得跟死猪似的。额仑的狼群也真够精的。它们一眼就能看出这是些外来户，就敢在民工的家门口掏吃牛。杨克解恨地说：这不是欺负贫下中农吗？这年头谁也不敢，就狼敢！ 陈阵说，这不叫欺负，这叫报复。 杨克忽又长叹：在枪炮时代，狼群已经没有太大的报复力量了，内蒙古草原上最后一个处女天鹅湖还是失守了。如果我以后还有机会回北京的话，我可再也不敢看舞剧《天鹅湖》了。一看《天鹅湖》，我就会想起那锅天鹅肉，还有酱油汤里的那个天鹅头，它活着的时候是多么高贵和高傲……我过去认为中国的农耕文明总是被西方列强侵略和欺负，可没想到农耕文明毁坏游牧文明，同样残酷狰狞。 高建中打断他说：别扯那么远，狼群都杀到家门口了，咱们包尤其得小心，要是狼群一拐弯，闻见小狼在咱们包门口，那咱们的两群牛羊就悬了。