Second, Liu Laohan's logging life

( 1)

It was a day in mid-August. 1958. A train is smoking and panting, just like an old cow dragging a plow and rake along the Yellow River and crawling in the mountains.

The "clanging" sound of the train is like the blacksmith shop at the east end of the village. With a dull whistle, the train stopped in the mountains.

The whistle spread all over the mountains, as if tearing a hole in the silent night. Birds fly high, reptiles put their ears on their backs, and the sleeping mountains wake up. The mountains are no longer peaceful because of the injection of life.

A whistle sounded outside the stuffy tanker: "Dabuling is here, get off!"

Then, the door of the stuffy tank creaked open, and a group of young people with gray faces, carrying bags and wearing all kinds of clothes climbed out of the stuffy tank car.

It's just dawn, and the fog in the mountains hasn't dispersed yet.

"What the hell is this place, in the middle of nowhere?"

Twitter like a temple fair.

"Assemble, assemble, and each team leader will bring his own people and line up to call the roll."

"Stand up, stand up, start to call the roll and read the names."

"Liu Laohan?"

"here!"

"Cannon Lee?"

"Yes!"

Wang Debiao? '

"Yes!"

"Sun Youcai?"

"Oh!"

……

Listening to the memories of the older generation, on that day, nearly a thousand people came from all over the country and loaded more than a dozen stuffy tankers, all of whom were strong men in their twenties.

(2)

According to the provinces, cities and counties, each team leader is responsible for taking them to their respective cutting areas.

Every few mountains set up a cutting area, which was later called the work area, and several cutting areas were under one cutting area.

Liu Laohan, Li Dapao, and Sun Youcai all came from an area near the Yellow River, and they were all classified as "Wukengtou" cutting area. More than 30 people were assigned to the "Wukengtou" logging area together, as well as from other areas.

At that time, there were no means of transportation, and they all walked on two legs. One followed the other up the mountain road, which he had never seen before. Liu Laohan said that he had seen a mountain on his way from the village to the city. In fact, it was an earthen kiln, surrounded by people and covered with weeds. The villagers call it a mountain. Every time he enters the city, Liu Laohan will climb up, stand tall and look around with one hand akimbo, like a general inspecting the position.

At first, everyone was surprised and didn't feel tired. The crawling team slowed down, and someone shouted out of breath, "I can't climb any more, take a breath."

Near noon, the leader pointed to the shed in the front row and said, that's our cutting area, and it will arrive soon.

Everyone stopped and looked down the leader's finger. If it weren't for the smoke from the shed, they would have thought it was a cowshed for raising cattle on the mountain.

The "Wukengtou" work area is located halfway up the mountain.

The people who came early have already built the house. A house is actually a shed with bark as tiles and bamboo as walls. There are four people in the room, and four pieces of wood are piled on the bed. There are several wooden sticks across it, covered with bamboo pieces, and lying on it is a "squeaking" sound.

Liu Laohan put the bag in his hand on the bed, took out the towel in the bag and wrapped it around his neck. He came to a puddle outside the hut and found it on the road. The water was brought down from the mountain with a few broken bamboos. Liu Laohan crouched down, took a handful of water in his hands and bowed his head and took a sip. In an instant, a coolness from head to toe made Liu Laohan remember for a lifetime. In Liu Laohan's words, the water in my hometown is salty, and the water in My Sweetie here is like saccharin, so I can drink free sugar water every day.

Liu Laohan's hometown is mostly saline-alkali land with salty and bitter water quality. He drinks well water in the east of the village every day. For years, hundreds of people in the village have been living on a well. There is also a well in the west of the village. It is said that a large family in the village spent a lot of money to invite people to dig. At first, everyone in the village said he was a good man. In the future, his descendants must be rich and prosperous, and the whole village gave him a plaque. Without thinking about it, the well dug out water and asked for money. Everyone didn't say anything. Since people have spent money and earned it back, there is nothing to say. Day after day, year after year, a large family married several concubines with the money they earned, but none of them gave birth to him. When they saw the plaque they were proud of hanging in the court, they gave a whisper. It must have been cursed by the villagers, so they picked it, chopped it up and put it in a pot to burn. They are still unconvinced and dare not say it, so they take it out on their concubines and say that today and tomorrow, which makes them restless. Later, the villagers went to the village's Xijing to collect water, either to feed the animals or to wash their faces, so no one drank any more.

The well at the eastern end of the village has become the source of life for the whole village. Every winter in that well, smoke floats around the wellhead, like fairy fog on Penglai Mountain, and the water is soft and warm. In summer, the water becomes cool, and the family economic life in the village is good. So they put a bucket of water from the well, stirred a few saccharins, shook a bowl and poured it into their bellies, and the whole family's bellies were round. At that time, materials were scarce, and sugar coupons were used to buy sugar. Saccharin doesn't need a ticket, and its size and shape are the same as the existing granular monosodium glutamate. The cooperative sells 10 capsules for a penny.

(3)

"Eat, eat!" With several drakes calling, the whistle of beeping, peeing and beeping sounded outside the shed.

The captain blew his whistle. Born with a pointed mouth and monkey cheeks, he has a row of teeth that gnaw watermelon skin. On weekdays, the whistle is tied around the neck with a red rope tied by a woman's braid. The leader's surname is Xie, and some people call him two devils. If you call him two more demons, that's his name.

The canteen is in the easternmost part of the house, next to the house where you live. Covering a large area of tens of square meters, the dining table is also like a bed. There are four wooden stakes on it and bamboo chips on it. Around the dining table, two wooden stakes are laid at both ends of each side. The whole round bamboo tube is horizontal, and a hole is dug at both ends and inserted into the wooden stakes, which is the stool. There is a dustpan made of bamboo sticks on each dining table. White steamed bread is filled in the dustpan, and a large pot of pork stewed Chinese cabbage vermicelli is full of fragrance.

One by one, put on airs, threw off their cheeks and wolfed down their food, blushing and shiny. One by one shouted that they didn't eat so well during the New Year.

In the evening, everyone went back to their rooms.

"It's like sleeping on a spring bed." Li Dabao lay down, shivered a few times on purpose, and spoke.

Four people were lying on a bamboo bed chatting, reporting their names and ages to each other.

Liu Laohan, Wang Debiao and Sun Youcai all come from the same area, and they all think the same thing. They all want to get something to eat, and they can save some food for their families to earn some money. It only takes a year and a half, and it will be over after a while.

Only Li Dabao doesn't want to make a living. Li Dabao's father killed pigs. He is called the butcher in the book, and there is no shortage of food in the butcher's house. Whoever has a wedding ceremony in the surrounding villages will raise a pig in the first year, and when the wedding ceremony is held, they will kill the pig and hold a banquet. They will take two bottles of wine or two boxes of snacks a day or two in advance and make an appointment at Li Dapao's house. Artillery Li has no shortage of food.

The four of them were pulling, and Li Dabao got up and said, "I think it's time for the four of us to worship our feet. In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei and Taoyuan became sworn three times. How about a Taoyuan IV? "

Worship the feet means worship in the north.

After hearing what cannon Li said, everyone responded immediately, and everyone left their homes and jobs in succession, and they will also have a care in the future.

Four people got up from the bamboo bed and went outside the shed.

Li Dabao came to the puddle and took four bamboo tubes filled with water: "We use water instead of bars." Everyone has one.

Four people hold bamboo tubes high and kneel on the ground facing the moon in the sky.

Next, they learn what the book says:

"Boss Liu Laohan."

"Second child Wang Debiao."

"Old three Li cannon."

"The fourth grandson has wealth."

"Please witness all the immortals and the moon in the sky in the past. Today, our four brothers got married in Taoyuan, Fujian, and we will share weal and woe in the future ... "

(4)

The nationwide "Big Steelmaking" campaign reached its climax. There is a shortage of coal all over the country, and a lot of charcoal is urgently needed to make steel. The transportation and treatment of charcoal is convenient and labor-saving.

The mountainous area in northern Fujian is mountainous, with ravines, towering trees and dense streams.

Liu Laohan, Li Dapao, Wang Debiao, Sun Youcai and loggers from all over the country all received work clothes and liberation shoes.

After a few days' rest, seeing that everyone was almost rested, the two devils came to assign jobs. The task is to cut down trees and burn charcoal up the mountain.

Free combination, each team has 4 people, and each team is led by local charcoal burners. Liu Fushun, Li Cannon and Sun Youcai sleep in the same room just enough for a group of people. The master surnamed Wei is a local cook of charcoal.

Burning charcoal, also known as "refining fire" in ancient times, has been circulating for thousands of years. Deep in the mountains, charcoal has always been a necessity for mountain people, and it is indispensable for heating, cooking and cooking. Therefore, people in the mountains have had the production custom of burning charcoal since ancient times. The earth kiln burning charcoal in the mountains looks like a dome-shaped earth grave from a distance, with a sealed stone door on the front and a smoking chimney above the kiln.

Charcoal burning is a very hard physical activity, and there is almost no time to rest from morning till night. It takes about 6 or 7 days to burn charcoal in the kiln.

(5)

Kiln digging is not only a physical activity, but also a technical activity. You can't even light a fire if you can't dig well.

Lao Wei, Wang Debiao and Sun Youcai are responsible for site selection and cave excavation. Lao Wei chose the upper and lower places, first cleared out a platform, and piled up the soil in the hole along the platform to pile wood and charcoal.

Liu Laohan and Li Dabao are responsible for chopping wood.

When burning charcoal, the firewood collected is generally hardwood, and everyone likes to cut Kemu, because Kemu is not only hard in material, but also straight in silk road. After an axe went down, it opened for a few and a half hours, and the burnt charcoal glowed and was the top grade.

Liu Laohan and Li Cannon specially look for hard and straight 10 meters to cut knots.

"Such a good wood, where we build a house as a girder, is not so straight and so thick. If you put it there, it will cost tens of dollars, which is enough for a family to spend a year. It's a black sheep. " Li scolded the cannon while chopping wood.

Saw the cut tree into 50 cm pieces, break it into four and a half pieces from the middle, and then break off a few and a half pieces of big wood and pile it on the platform together. The master will arrange them vertically and neatly from the bottom of the kiln. After the charcoal kiln is full, build by laying bricks or stones the kiln door tightly, and then sprinkle some plant ash on the kiln to prevent gas leakage.

When the kiln is full, light it. The fire door and the firewood inside will only communicate with the small chimney above, and the flame will float into the kiln with the airflow to ignite the firewood in the kiln. After burning for several hours, I saw the fire in the cave swimming like sea water. I immediately closed the hole and sealed it with red mud. Don't take a breath. Ten days and a half later, the hole was opened, and the wood blocks inside turned into black and shiny charcoal. Knocking on it is like knocking on an iron bar.

At the end of the day, his hands were covered with blood. As a grandson, he was so tired that he didn't even want to eat. How could cannon Li suffer such a crime? He lay on the bamboo bed and cried all night "Ouch Niang, Ouch Niang".

That night, not only did Li cannon yell at his mother, but other rooms also screamed, one after another.

"Cannon, can you keep your voice down?" Sun Youcai said.

"Let him scream, he will sleep when he is tired." Liu Laohan said.

Everyone was so noisy that they covered their heads with clothes.

(6)

After burning charcoal, they are taken out from the caves one by one, packed in bamboo baskets and picked down the mountain, then transported to the city to be loaded with trains and transported to all parts of the country to smelt steel.

It's really hard for them to choose the laundry list. In the past, when they were at home, they used a pole more than two meters long to pick two buckets of dozens of kilograms at most and walked a flat road. Now, there are more than 100 kilograms of charcoal in two baskets. This is not a problem. The main problem is to take the mountain road, which is rugged and steep, and it is rickety to walk empty-handed. Not to mention wearing a bamboo flat bar with two sharp ends and more than one meter long in the basket and carrying it down the mountain.

Some people shake their legs before taking a step, while others can't take a step at all. A little careless, I rolled down the mountain with a laundry list. I didn't say a few somersaults, but I got up one by one and was black and blue all over. Either my leg was broken or my face was cut and a laundry list was broken.

Impossible, they just carry it on their backs and shoulders. After all, they are like refugees from Africa, leaving only one mouthful of white teeth.

(7)

Soon the Great Leap Forward reached its climax, and a large amount of wood was urgently needed for infrastructure construction all over the country.

The Dabuling Forest Industry Bureau rearranged the loggers, and some people stayed to continue burning charcoal. Most of these people are locals, and they can carry it on their shoulders. Others transfer other logging areas to cut wood. Liu Fushun, Li Bao, Sun Youcai were arranged to chop wood.

Li Dabao, who loves to show off, recommended himself as the monitor, and the hero has a role to play.

Soon the whole class began to cut down trees.

There are many snakes, insects and bees in the mountains, and this idiom may have come from here. Before cutting, it is safe and convenient to clean up the weeds around the trees with the firewood knife you wear. Let's see if there is "eating food" on the tree. The "eating food" mentioned by the villagers refers to whether there are other branches hanging on the tree, fearing that the vibration of the tree will fall and hit people. Then determine which direction the good tree falls.

Cutting down trees is learned. The owner can cut down a tree wherever he wants it to fall. Everyone worships Liu Laohan, who burns charcoal like Lao Wei. If you want the tree to fall in which direction, split it with an axe first, and then split it under the tree when you go down the mountain. If you want to fall on the left or right, open it on the left or right of the tree, and the depth depends on the size of the tree head. Generally, it is necessary to drive to a quarter of the tree, and then use a curved saw to cut the road five to ten centimeters below the opening on the other side of the tree, and then start sawing after the sawtooth penetrates the wood.

When it comes to jigsaw, young people nowadays have no idea. A curved saw is like a long broadsword with a serrated blade. Cutting trees with a curved saw is hard work. My arms ache at the end of the day, but I also have skills. Usually you have to push slowly and pull quickly. You should have a look, but you should not be too hasty. Some people are impatient, take a few breaths and then gasp.

Li Dabao's hands were covered with blood bubbles. Li Dabao didn't suffer this anger, but he didn't say a word. He is the monitor, and he continues to use the cloth saw. Because the wood is too big, any tree is dozens of centimeters thick and can't be moved, and then the wood is sawed into two meters long. Pick the wood onto the "wooden donkey" and pull it down the mountain with the "wooden donkey". Loggers at the foot of the mountain will pick out the barrels, gather them into a pile and transport them to all parts of the motherland, north and south of the country.

Speaking of the "wooden donkey" of that era, it is estimated that not many people know it now.

"Wooden donkey" is to saw the wood into a one-meter-long thin slice, with two square materials as the frame on both sides and three oranges with tenons in the middle, which is a bit like a sleigh in the northeast, and the bottom is shaved with oil. The difference is that the sled slides on the snow and the "wooden donkey" is on the forest path.

At that time, there were basically no roads on the mountain. The lumberjack cut a path of more than one meter with a wooden knife and covered it with bamboo chips. The lumberjack picked the wood one by one to the "wooden donkey" car, tied it with a rope and nailed a wooden nail. Generally, everyone has a "wooden donkey". The lumberjack stands in front of the "wooden donkey", holding the wooden pegs in one hand and dragging the rope that can slow down the "wooden donkey" in the other, and slides down the mountain road paved with bamboo. A "wooden donkey" car usually carries two or three parts, and it is usually transported twice a day. When going up the mountain, the "wooden donkey" is taken from.

In the first month, the team led by Li Dabao ranked first in timber production and transportation. The work area praised Li Dabao and reported it to the site for praise.

Li Dabao is even better. It's heaven.

(8)

1959 65438+ 10/0/5, the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month.

On behalf of the Shandong Provincial Party Committee and the provincial government, the Shandong Provincial condolence delegation came to Dabuling Forest Region to express condolences to the workers who supported the construction of Shandong Forest Region. As an advanced model, Li Dabao sat in the first row with a big red flower hanging on his chest.

Before the performance began, the Shandong condolence group led the leaders to speak on stage: "Dear fellow villagers and brothers in Shandong, in order to build your hometown and realize communism at an early date, you left your parents, brothers and sisters' homes and jobs and came to Fujian for logging. You have worked hard. Today is the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. In the words of our hometown, it was the year after Laba. This year is the first year for you to leave your hometown for Fujian. Provincial leaders have not forgotten you, worried about your homesickness, and sent us to sympathize with you.

Liu Laohan, they saw the people in the sympathy group, just like seeing their relatives at home. They listened to tears one by one, clapped hard and expressed their excitement with applause.

The condolence group performed Shandong famous special programs such as Shandong Lu Opera "Wang Xiao Catches Feet", "Wang Borrows the Year", "Little Lonely Fairy" and Shandong Express "Fighting Tiger", all of which were full of enthusiasm.

After the party, Li Dabao, on behalf of Shandong workers who supported forestry construction, took the stage to express his determination: Let the villagers in Shandong rest assured that they will win glory for the Shandong people and never lose face for them.

Shortly after the condolences ended, the Great Leap Forward Movement reached its climax.

The Dabuling Forest Industry Bureau held a satellite competition. The banner on the stage read: "Go all out, strive for the upper reaches, work hard for a hundred days, and build socialism in many places!" Under this challenge, the length of all logging yards has been filled. The director of the logging yard takes the director of the work area, the director of the work area takes the monitor, and the Japanese devil is the director of the work area.

There is a row of tables in the middle of the ring, and the director of forestry department sits in the middle, holding a microphone wrapped in red cloth in his hand to announce the start of the ring. Then, drums sounded on three sides and red flags flashed. A cadre of a logging yard jumped out of the ring and shouted, "We will put satellites in the logging yard to ensure that 500 meters of wood can be completed in 100 days."

There was a burst of laughter in the audience. Now people laugh at this number. It takes a hundred days for a logging yard to cut a little bit, and there is more than one hand in the crotch. At that time, sawing wood depended entirely on hand saws.

However, people in those days also laughed, laughing that the cadre who jumped into the ring first was timid and conservative, laughing that he didn't jump, and he dared to court and put the satellite 500 meters away? So the three roads drummed away and jumped on another one, saying that it was guaranteed to complete 800 meters. The leader is still dissatisfied and repeats the same words over and over again. Finally, someone put the satellite into the shouts of 2 kilometers to be considered as a pass.

At first, many loggers didn't know what a brave man was or how a brave man could beat wood. After the game, everyone realized that gallants used to fly satellites, which was just bragging. No one dared to say at that time.

After the game, not only Shandong loggers such as Li Dapao, but also loggers from all over the country, according to the current words, "it's like beating chicken blood".

Red flags are everywhere on the mountain. Red flags are flying and horns are loud. Some banners read: "Complete the double kilometers and go to Beijing at the end of the year!" Another team wrote: "How bold people are, how productive mountains are!" The radio also shouted: "One day is equal to 20 years, and communism wins the day."

All the loggers are full of energy. They go up the mountain before dawn, take an extra trip without rest at noon, and go down the mountain with torches at night.

The logging yard is only responsible for logging and pulling wood down the mountain. As for transportation, it is not their responsibility and can't be managed. Wood was cut down and piled into mountains, but transportation was not considered. The forest railway has just been built and has not been opened to traffic. How can I ship it out? Finally, play 50 boards each. The logging field blindly creates high yield, and the 10,000-meter-long timber is blocked and piled up, which is deteriorated and rotted due to insufficient transportation capacity. After obtaining the consent of the Forestry Bureau, it is poured with diesel oil and burned. The fire burned for 9 days and 9 nights, and even the sky was baked red.

The absurd story of the birth of that absurd era has also been written into the forestry annals, which will be remembered by generations.