When they reached the bank of the Damo River, the beggar gang's team could no longer move.The men's eyes lit up when they saw the river, and one by one, they unloaded their tattered burdens and rotten picks on their shoulders, and jumped into the river to wash their faces and drink water.Women and children also ran down the river with the men, and water hyacinths flew into the river like meteors, splashing swirling sprays.The sound of paddling in the river, the sound of footsteps on the river beach and the noise of yelling and yelling resounded unscrupulously. Accompanied by the setting sun in August, it filled the desert river beach in the seventh year of Tongzhi.

The old group always fell amidst the sudden noise. Xiao Taiping, the head of the second regiment, was standing on the embankment to rest his feet and wipe his sweat. He saw that the wheelbarrow carrying the old head of the group shook for some unknown reason when he climbed up the embankment, and the old head of the group slipped softly from the car.The old Tuan Zong was sitting on the wheelbarrow, and at the same time was loaded with bedding and belongings. The old Tuan Zong slid down and made the car unbalanced, and Cao Ershun, who was pushing the cart, flashed.Xiao Taizhong, who was pulling the cart in front, didn't know it, he was still walking forward with the rope on his back, and overturned the heavy wheelbarrow.

Xiao Taiping scolded Xiao Taizhong, and hurried over to help the old boss.At that time, the old group still didn't look like they were going to die. The old man lay on the ground with his head hooked, his dim eyes did not look at the Damo River under the embankment, nor did he care about the noises made by the brothers in the river, he looked at the ground less than a foot away from the tip of his nose in great confusion, the corners of his mouth twitched, as if Want to say something, but can't say it.When Mr. Xiao Taiping helped the old group to sit up on the ground, the old group, with trembling hands, picked up a handful of gray-black muck and sniffed it under his nose, grunting: "No...it's not dirt."

This caught Xiao Taiping's attention. Xiao Taiping saw that what the old group always said was not soil, there was a gray-black road along the embankment of the desert.On the road, there are similarly dark ox carts and carriages "squeaking" walking.In the wilderness near and far, there are overgrown mugwort, almost as deep as people, quite a prehistoric scene.Bullock carts and horse carts walking on the road are like walking in the jungle.From time to time, groups of Lifu came out from the path deep in the wilderness, carrying a black body of charcoal ashes towards a village shaded by thick shade in the west...

The old group has always been curious all his life, and at the end of his life, he once again showed his extraordinary curiosity. Looking at the scene in front of him, the old regiment said with great difficulty to Xiao Taiping, the head of the second regiment: "Remember... write it down, it was in August of the seventh year of Tongzhi, I... all the family members of my Cao regiment have more than three hundred and four people, yesterday Leaving Jiunian County, moving tonight... into Mohe, the scenery along the way is quite different. I saw you on the road... Seeing black people coming and going, I don't know how to make a living? The strange thing is that the soil covered with the ground is as gray and black as slag, like Soil is not soil, like a stone is not a stone, what is it? Wait...to be tested!"

Xiao Taiping didn't record this ordinary thing, smiled, and said to the old group: "Old uncle, don't take the exam, I know, we have now arrived in Mohe Kiln District. A year ago, I and a group of When my brother was chased by the officers and soldiers in a hurry, he hid under the kiln for a few days, and he was familiar with the kiln area. All the black people in the past were kilnmen who dug charcoal under the kiln. Gangue slag, dug out when digging charcoal, is the best way to pave roads, and it doesn’t stick to your feet when it rains. Uncle, this kiln area is a good place. It’s easy to make a living, and you can go down to the kiln when the army comes to suppress Hide!"

The old group always said "oh", and became a little more energetic.The old man asked Xiao Taiping, the head of the Second Regiment, and his son Cao Ershun to help him up, moved him to sit under an old pagoda tree on the embankment, and looked at the world in front of him again. Taking a closer look, the old group is probably satisfied.The desert is full of wormwood, there are few people, and there are living coal mines. It is a good place for heroes in distress to temporarily settle down!Therefore, the old group always pondered for a while, and confessed to Xiao Taiping: "Then...then let's take shelter here for a while, wait for a rest, and then... hurry on the road."

On the banks of the Damo River in August of the seventh year of Tongzhi, the old group always wanted to continue on their way. As for where to go?It is estimated that he himself does not know.It is impossible to go back to my hometown in the north. It has been razed to the ground by the conscripted army.The general situation is not good, both the East and West Nianzi are defeated, and no king can take them in anymore.Their Cao Regiment, which once belonged to the Nian Army on the West Road, had given up their swords and guns and sold out their war horses a year ago. They only pursued a simple goal: to avoid the pursuit of the officers and soldiers and survive.

That night, Cao Tuan, men, women and children set up camp on a barren sloping land by the Damo River around the tangled old locust tree that the old team always relied on, and cooked in their nests.After the rice was cooked, when Xiao Taiping delivered the meal to the old group, the old group couldn't get up anymore, his eyes were wandering and blurred, and there was only breath in his mouth, but almost no breath in it. The hero of the old regiment is world-renowned. He has gone through countless fierce battles, his body is full of scars, and there is no medicine available on the way to flee.However, the old group always has a grudge about dying in this black-soil-covered kiln area.Lying on a broken straw mat under the old locust tree, the old leader raised his withered arm, pointed at the scattered starlight of the seventh year of Tongzhi leaking from the branches and leaves of the locust tree, and looked at Xiao Taiping and The last surviving son, Cao Ershun, said intermittently: "You...don't...don't...don't bury me...in here! You go home and...you have to take me back with you. The soil here is not...not soil ..."

The night when the old group always passed away became a historic day.It was only later that everyone found out that this day was actually a dividing line for Brother Cao Tuan to bid farewell to his life of rebellion and transition into a peaceful and peaceful life.It was from this day that the Cao Tuan of the Nian Army on the West Road, which made the officers and soldiers frightened, suddenly disappeared, and a group of kiln workers of unknown origin appeared.This has also become an important clue for the descendants of the two major families of Cao and Xiao to look back on the family history.

This night, the Damo River flows quietly under the bright moon and starry sky, and the reeds growing on both sides rustle with the breeze of summer night.Frogs croaked one after another by the river, and the noise was endless, reflecting the peace between heaven and earth.The damp river smell and the earthy scent of wildflowers wafting through the air made this peace all the more real. Xiao Taiping, the head of the second regiment, stood beside the body of the old head of the regiment, and suddenly had an epiphany: in life, nature and peace are the most precious.After years of bloodshed and turmoil, their family members should now return to the mountains and seek their own peace.A bloody battle is a lifetime, and a peaceful life is also a lifetime. Smart people should still obtain their own right to survive in peace.If the boss had known this earlier, he wouldn't have lost the lives of his four sons in eight years, and he himself would have fallen on this black ground... The old leader of the regiment was buried on the bank of the Damo River, and Xiao Taiping, the leader of the second regiment, wandered along the Dam River day and night, inspecting the coal kilns towering in the wilderness, imagining the possibility of turning his subordinate Cao Tuan Ding into a kiln worker sex. It seemed very possible. Only a few days after the remnants of the Cao Tuan set up camp, kiln owners and cabinet heads from the Lijia Kiln and Wangjia Kiln in Qiaotou Town came over one after another, wanting to invite brothers from the regiment to go down to the kiln to dig coal.The place was sparsely populated, and the coal mines were newly opened just after years of turmoil. There was a serious shortage of manpower, and the wages were high, which moved many brothers.The brothers told Xiao Taiping privately that it was not the fundamental solution to hide from the officers and soldiers all the time. It would be better to take root on the spot and go to the coal mines to dig coal. This is exactly what Xiao Taiping thought.Therefore, Xiao Taiping followed the rules established by the old regiment when the regiment was established, and discussed such important matters with the whole regiment.The result of the public discussion was as expected. Most of the brothers were unwilling to run away and agreed to stay.Xiao Taiping followed the wishes of the majority of the brothers and changed the old group's plan to always rest here into a plan to take root on the spot.And it was decided by public discussion to divide up the hundreds of taels of silver reserve that Cao Tuan had accumulated over the years and had not yet used up. When distributing the Cao Tuan public reserve, Xiao Taiping thought of the huge share belonging to the Cao family. Xiao Taiping said to his wife Cao Yue'e: "The public discussion has been made, the Cao Tuan will be disbanded, the common reserve in the regiment is one cent, and everyone will have to work alone in the kiln in the future. I don't worry about others, but I worry about your second brother." Woolen cloth!" Cao Yuee said: "That's right, the second brother is frank! But there are us, we can't leave him alone, can we?" Xiao Taiping said: "That's right. That's why I want to discuss with you that the second brother's share of the money will not be given to him, and it will be kept with us, and the pensions of your father and your brothers will also be paid. Keep it here with us!" At the beginning of the establishment of the Tuan, the old Tuan always made a rule for Cao Tuan: brothers Cao Tuan will live and die together, and they are not allowed to accumulate personal wealth.To the brethren in the regiment, be responsible to the end for injuries, care, death and burial.All the brothers who died in battle were given a pension. Cao Yue'e said: "As long as you can be worthy of the second brother, I will follow you. But our family has divided so much, okay? They are all brothers who fought and killed together. Once Dad dies, we will do this. Will people agree?" Will you scold us?" Xiao Taiping said: "Who scolded? We got a lot of money, which shows that our Cao family has contributed a lot. My old uncle himself and a family of four died under the swords and guns of the officers and soldiers. Shouldn't the money be taken? Besides We can’t care too much anymore, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Han Kingdom of the Nian Army from the east and the west have been wiped out by the officials, so we have to survive, don’t we?” Cao Yue'e thought Xiao Taiping was right, so she kept silent. Xiao Taiping dragged Cao Ershun to his shack again, and talked about this matter with Cao Ershun. Cao Ershun didn't speak for a long time, only staring at his younger sister Cao Yue'e. Cao Yue'e explained: "...Second brother, Taiping is doing this for your own good. You are too honest and can't do anything. Why don't you stay with us and have a mutual support." Xiao Taiping also said: "Second brother, after you settle down here, I will take you around when I have free time, and find a suitable woman for you to marry. At that time, there will be a sister-in-law who will take care of the house for you, and we will follow suit. It's your time." Only then did Cao Ershun ask: "Then... then shall we not leave?" Xiao Taiping asked back: "Let's go? Where are you going?" Cao Ershun said, "Go home. Dad... Dad said, he...he wants to go home!" Xiao Taiping sighed: "Oh, where the loess doesn't bury people!" Cao Ershun shook his head: "Father... Father said, this... the soil here is not soil..." Xiao Taiping said: "I said the soil here is soil, it can live!" Cao Ershun burst into tears, grunting emphatically: "Father...Dad said, you want...you want us to take him home!" Xiao Taiping waved his hand: "Don't say it, it's not possible now! We have to avoid the limelight of pursuit! After a few years, this, the road will be peaceful, and the officers and soldiers will no longer suppress us. Take it home together..." Cao Ershun raised his teary face and asked, "Really?" Xiao Taiping nodded: "Really, he is your father, my uncle, or my father-in-law!" Cao Ershun murmured, "Then... that's good, that's good! I'm not capable, I can't do anything, and I haven't done anything for my father for so many years. When my father was dying, he just entrusted me to do this. One thing, I... If I can't do it again, then... Is it not a villain? Sister, you... What do you think?" Cao Yuee nodded with red eyes: "That's true." Cao Ershun said: "As long as I can bring my dad back to my hometown in the future, everything else is up to you!" ... This dispensation brings to an end an age of righteousness forged with blood and life.The more than five hundred taels of silver accumulated by Cao Tuan over the years were distributed to each brother in every household by the money master Cao Fuli, with an average of less than two taels per person.Xiao Taiping took the share of the six dead and living members of the Cao family, plus his own and Cao Yue'e's share, a total of fifteen taels of silver and an iron pot, and became the richest man in the Cao group. Apart from occupying the shares of Cao Ershun and the Cao family, it should be said that the final distribution is fair.The shrewd Xiao Taiping, in August of the seventh year of Tongzhi, was only shrewd enough to take advantage of the Cao family, and he was the first to have a sense of money.As for opening a kiln on this black land as a kiln owner, earning a huge pile of black charcoal and silver, and making several generations of the Cao and Xiao families melt into this black land in the ups and downs of the next hundred years. Xiao Taiping really didn't expect it. Cao Ershun, who was honest and fawning, didn't even have this vision of foreseeing the future.At this important historical juncture that will determine the fate of future generations, Cao Ershun's thinking is still in the Cao Tuan, which does not accumulate personal wealth.Looking at the fifteen taels and three cents of silver that Xiao Taiping had divided into his hands, Cao Ershun thought it was another exchange between brothers, and everything in the future would still be the same as usual in the Cao Tuan, with food to eat, clothes to wear, and everything else. You don't have to worry about it yourself!