Mules and horses in the mountains: what are their jobs, walking in the moonlight and in the dense forest?

With the development of the times and the progress of society. Great changes have taken place in our basic necessities of life. We took off our tedious dresses and put on fresh clothes. We abandoned the thatched cottage and lived in a high-rise building. We no longer use donkeys and horses to travel, but also choose a more comfortable motor car. Everything in the world is changing all the time.

The development of industry liberates our hands, but it also brings some disadvantages. Like the inheritance of traditional culture, the embroidery process that has been inherited for many years has been replaced by machines, and the same meticulous stitches have lost a few minutes of temperature. Just like the gradual decline of the "mule-horse gang", it is very telling.

mule-horse gang that has been passed down for many years

Few people have heard the name of mule-horse gang now. The mule and horse gang is not a gang, but a professional group that uses mules and horses as transportation tools. Their ranks vary from a few to a dozen, and dozens of people also exist.

Their main job is to transport goods for employers, which is an ancient mode of transportation with a long history. Of course, under the impact of industrialization, there are very few existing mule-horse gangs, and now more goods are transported, which is beyond the reach of motor vehicles.

We know that mules are mostly because mules can't reproduce. Mules and horses are the offspring of horses and donkeys in physiology. Because of an accident, mules and horses came into our sight. Genetic defects in mules make them infertile. Mules inherited the endurance of horses and the hard work of donkeys, and combined these advantages perfectly. In the past, mules were the means of transportation that many people were willing to choose.

Our earliest mule was found in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. At that time, the breeding technology was underdeveloped, and the mule was not expanded. Careful observation of mules reveals that mules are large in size and good in bearing capacity. Mules and horses are not fast, but their feet are useless. Strong genes make them surprisingly adaptable to harsh environments.

In ancient times when the transportation industry was underdeveloped, mule carts were undoubtedly the best means of transportation. Vendors used mules to transport large goods. At that time, mule business was very popular in some big cities with dense business information, such as Beijing.

nowadays, the traffic is very convenient, and the two cities can cross in a few hours. Convenient means of transportation such as cars have become popular. How did the mule-horse gang survive under these impacts? Why are their incomes so high?

nowadays, where can you find mules and horses in cities covered with reinforced concrete? It's really hard for us to think of how all the people of the mule and horse gang can carry out the oldest transportation step by step in the harsh environment of deep mountains and forests.

The existence of mule-horse gangs has connected those mountain villages with inconvenient traffic connections. A group of people, with a group of mules and horses, trudged along the rugged mountain road. Most of them transported daily necessities for extremely remote villages, and what they carried on their shoulders was the hope of life. Times decide that their tasks and delivery places are not fixed, and most of them are remote.

Hard work

What we are going to talk about today is just three couples from Heyuan, Guangdong, who have traveled all over the jungle and mountains.

their current work scope is around a remote village in Guangdong province. This place is remote and the terrain is complex. In order to develop, it is necessary to build base stations. However, the corresponding building materials have not been in place. The mountain road transportation is inconvenient, so they thought of the most primitive transportation team-mule-horse gang. The three couples took the list and embarked on their new trip to the jungle.

the day before departure, they have to count the goods to be transported the next day in advance, which is very much like an ancient escort agency. The next day, at three or four o'clock before dawn, they set out in the moonlight. You know, the distance from the town below the mountain to the village in the mountain looks close, but it's actually not easy to walk. The road is rugged, and unexpected disasters such as mudslides may occur at any time.

They can't take a short rest until the designated goods are safely delivered to the destination, and then they can continue to transport to the next village. Generally, they are busy at work until late at night before they have a short chance to lie down and rest.

not everyone can have a chance to lie down and rest. After this long-distance work, most people will fall into a deep sleep. Deep sleep in the mountains is not a safe and easy thing. In the face of danger, you need very fast reaction ability. If you miss the best escape time, you will easily die. For the sake of the safety of mules and horses, they decided to take a break by rotation. Staggered several people's rest time, to ensure that every moment, someone in the vigil.

some people will ask, what is the purpose of such hard work? You can never earn enough money, so why not take more days off? You can make more money if you lose it, can't you?

speaking of which, they speak frankly. They want to have more rest, but conditions don't allow them to do so. Their daily tasks are fixed and cannot be adjusted or changed. Time is very tight for every trip. Choosing to be lazy today and not delivering the goods on time will affect the more arduous tasks in the next few days. Many a mickle makes a mickle, and the debt is high, which is what they don't want to see. High-risk efforts have high returns. Such unpopular hard work also brings considerable income to the three couples.

High income

Everyone eats and lives together, the work content is relatively average, and so is everyone's salary. On average, each of them is 1,6 yuan a day. Working according to this standard for one month is a high salary of 4, yuan a month.

their work deserves such a high income. What they earn is real hard-earned money. In daily life, their life is also extremely simple.

at the beginning of their work, their families lived in a rented house at the foot of the mountain. The food in the team is very simple. It is said that three families plus mules and horses in the team only spend a few hundred yuan a month. Starlight pays off those who travel, and now they have built their own homes at the foot of the mountain.

Hard-working people are always lucky. These three couples of mules and horses are still active in the mountains and forests. They use mules and horses to maintain the connection between the mountains and towns. Their efforts are to live a better life, but also to make poor mountainous areas have enough resources to survive.

Today, with the decline of traditional culture, including work, their existence makes us feel carefree in ancient rhyme, and this inheritance across ancient and modern times is moving. I hope that in the city with the rapid development of the times, we can still see the veins of traditional culture flowing.