Wu Zhi is located in the hinterland of Central Plains, with Taihang Mountain in the north and Yellow River in the south. It has a long history. As early as 7000 years ago, human beings lived here. Huai County was established in the Qin Dynasty, Huaizhou was established in the third year of Emperor Kai of Sui Dynasty, and Wuzhi was established in the sixteenth year. In the long historical process, important events such as Yanhuang's hegemony over the Central Plains, Dayu's flood control, King Wu's attack, Emperor Wendi's Qinshui's battle, and President Mao Zedong's inspection of the People's Victory Canal all took place here.
Qinhe River flows into the Yellow River from west to east and then south. The old city is just around the corner, with low terrain and close to the Qinhe River, but it has never been flooded. The masses say that the old city is a boat city with masts in front of the original county government. Of course, this is just a legend. There are only three gates in the old city, because the Qinhe levee is not far to the north, so there is no north gate in the old city, and only a temple is built on the wall due north. The people are called Xiaobeiding, and there are people living in the other three cities, namely Dongguan, Xiguan and Nanguan. Before liberation, the old city we saw was a dilapidated scene. There is only an earth wall more than one person high in the city wall, and the bricks outside no longer exist. The three towers have long been demolished, only the earth walls of the south gate and urn are still there, and the city gate is still there, with big and thick doors and iron sheets on both sides.
After liberation, it was divided into four brigades. The western half was Dongguan Brigade, Xiguan Brigade and Old City Brigade, and the eastern half was Nanguan Brigade. Our four villages are all poor villages, and their common characteristics are:
First, there are many bricks. After the Japanese invasion, the city wall, the county government, the Taoist platform and the Confucian temple were all destroyed, and many residents' houses no longer existed. Therefore, the east and west homes where people live are full of broken walls, and many houses are built with broken bricks. Many people subsidize their families by building houses and selling bricks. People in the surrounding villages have built houses, and many people have come to the old city brick.
Second, there are many puddles. In the past, our old city was a piece of Wang Yang with water everywhere. The place where people live is not as big as the water surface, and more than a mile south of the city wall is full of water. There are square pits outside the city, laundry pits in the southwest corner of the city, Liuyuan pits in the northwest corner of the city, Yamen pits in the northeast corner, and moats around the city. It can be said that there is water in front of and behind the house. Because there is a lot of water, there are naturally many fish, turtles, Monopterus albus, horse turtles and so on. At that time, we didn't eat soft-shelled turtle and eel. People caught Monopterus albus, cut off their heads, let blood drop on paper, and let it dry to stop bleeding. Because there are many broken bricks beside the puddle, and many eel are hidden in the cracks of the bricks, people can catch eel without fishing rod. People are squatting by the water, holding fish food ropes in their hands. Once when I was thinking about it, an eel was more than two feet long like a snake, which scared me. I left the eel and ran away. So I haven't eaten an eel for decades, and it's always chilling to think of the scene at that time.
Third, the salinity is high. Because there is much water, the ground is wet, the wall is alkaline, and the ground is alkaline, so there are many people scraping salt soil and cooking salt. At that time, we didn't eat sea salt, we all ate our own small salt.
When people mention the old city, they will naturally think that it is a poor village with many bricks, many puddles and many salinities. Besides, we live in the city, and most of the fields are miles away. Now the place where we live used to be the vegetable field of the Second Production Team of Nanguan Brigade, and recently we are two miles away from home. As the saying goes, if you are not rich, you are far away. At that time, our working day was only about twenty cents. 198 1 year After we moved, our life gradually improved.
(Written by Dong Shaowu and recorded by Sima Zhe)