From Chief to Ball

But the real attack has not yet started, and these people have already been routed. The four cannons broke through two barricades with a very slow rate of fire.Many people thought that when the flag of the Republic was planted, the people on the opposite side would restrain themselves, but in fact, after both sides fired shots, the cannons began to roar.

Hu Lin originally wanted to dissuade these people, at least to prevent this tragedy, but found that some people mixed in and kept inciting anger.

Maybe a few days ago, he would think it was out of anger or passion, but now after that day, he feels that these people mixed in are not simple.

Beside him was a poor young man who was now dead after a shell had broken his leg.

After the six-pound iron ball flew up, it jumped from the street and crossed the barricades made of wood and the walls and stones of the dismantled hydraulic spinning mill, and hit the poor man directly.

He died with too much blood, his face was pale, and he still held a bunch of small wooden bracelets in his hand, and he didn't know who he wanted to give it to.

Not long ago, this person was still a living person, and he was a little shy in the face of such a famous and famous person from Fujian City as Hu Lin.

Not long ago, this poor boy told Hu Lin why he chose to fight.

"Sir, we are different from you. I have a small house in this small town and three acres of land. But the three acres of land can only support life, and the life is very tight. I can't do anything. Listen It is said that there is a new thing called sweet potatoes in Mincheng, and one mu of land can produce a lot, but I just heard about it, so I dare not try it. If I don’t say so much, I will not be able to live this day.”

"The people here are all like this. We have a few acres of small land. We spin and weave cloth in our spare time, and sell some money to subsidize our family."

"When I was a child, I always wanted a new pair of clothes. Since I can remember, none of the clothes fit me. They were always much bigger. My mother said, it's better to be bigger. It can be worn for three years, and it will be easy to wash and wash." If it is broken, it can still be used as a patch. Otherwise, it can’t be replaced once a year.”

"Afterwards, I cried all day long, and my mother said to me: 'Son, do you want to wear new clothes'? I said yes. My mother said: 'Look, this is cotton, I twisted it into thread , spun into yarn, and then woven into cloth. After selling the cloth, they buy cotton, spin the thread, and then weave it into cloth. In this way, one catty of cotton becomes two catties, and two catties becomes four catties, etc. When it weighs four catties, Mom will make you new clothes."

"I was so happy at that time, I said: 'Mom, then I will spin the yarn for you, and you weave the cloth, can you quickly turn it into four catties of cotton'? My mother praised me for being right, and I started from That’s when I started learning to spin.”

"Life is like this. My father died, my mother was gone, and I grew up. Suddenly one day, the yarn was worth a lot, and the one who sold it was expensive. The yarn collector in the town even offered to lend us cotton, asking us to help After spinning, he took it back. At that time, I heard that there was a new loom, and the cloth was sold very well and the weaving was fast, so the yarn was worth a lot. I thought, the good times are finally here, if it is sold money, and I'll buy a new loom too."

"I just remembered what my mother said about cotton. If I can buy a loom and earn money to buy two, and then I hire another person, ten or eight years later, I will have dozens of new looms. people."

"But new looms are expensive. I heard that there are cooperatives elsewhere. We don't have one, and I can't afford it. I can't make much money by taking back the cotton given by those who receive the yarn. I thought, why not sell it?" After buying these three acres of land, buy some cotton, and catch up with the good times, maybe two years will make money."

"But I waited to sell it, but the cotton was expensive. It is said that there is a futures exchange. But even if it is more expensive, I still make some money, but the profit is less. I don't want me to get sick. It's so hard Saving some money is like working for nothing for more than half a year.”

"After I finally recovered from my illness, many hydraulic spinning mills started to be built here. One person can watch dozens of spindles, and the spun ones are thin and strong, and the money will never lose cotton. Sometimes we can’t buy what we want, how can we compete with others?”

"At first, there was one family, then two, and then ten or twenty families. Our originally not-so-great place has become prosperous, but what does it have to do with me?"

"The land was sold, and the spinning didn't make any money. Life became more and more difficult. Sometimes after spinning the yarn and selling it, I couldn't earn anything after counting the cotton. I still had to eat, and life became more and more difficult."

"I thought about it and went to work in the spinning mill, but there are plenty of people who do it, and many young children ask for cheaper prices. Children's fingers are alive and they can learn things quickly. How can I compare it?"

"At that time, I thought, this is life. If I had sold three acres of land and bought a new hand loom, it would be different now. The loom does not have hydraulic machinery, and the cloth is getting more and more expensive. It’s getting easier to sell, and some companies that sold looms at the beginning have their own businesses and have bought more than a dozen looms.”

"But what's the use of regretting? The land is gone, the yarn is worthless, and all I have left is this small spinning wheel, but the debt I owed before has to be repaid every year. It won't be because I'm poor."

"Sir, what do you think we are for? To live, to eat. And what the big men from your city said, for dignity."

"What is dignity? Dignity means that when I wanted a new dress, my mother said that I could get it by working hard. This is the dignity, the dignity of a worker. Don't steal or rob, don't cheat or lie, if you want a new dress, just take it The spinning wheel at home turns one catty of cotton into four catties of cotton, no matter how ugly it is, even if it can only be dyed with tan black, but it is comfortable to wear, and I made it myself."

"Now? Who wants to make trouble? Who doesn't want to live a good life? But I want to work. Who will give me this opportunity?"

"Someone came and told us that there was a revolution in Mincheng, an uprising, and it was about to change. Finally, someone took care of our life and death. But what happened? What changed? Nothing changed."

"Someone came again, saying that those educated families in the north will not forget us, and the king will not forget us. As long as we stand up and let the world know what we want, then the king will come Get rid of those unscrupulous factory owners."

"Not only did we want to rise up and resist, but we also collected a few copper coins and sent people to the capital to petition! I don't want to get rich anymore, I just want to go back to the days when I had three acres of land and a small spinning wheel. I want to go back. , you have to smash those harmful machines.”

"But this doesn't work. People say we are a riot! Breaking up a machine means hanging. Human life is worse than a machine. Only then do I understand what dignity is."

Hu Lin remembered that after the young man said this, he smiled at Hu Lin and said, "At first I didn't believe that the king would pity us, thinking about our life and death. But this gentleman, I believed you when I saw you. See what you wear Yes, I heard that you are still a representative of the council, so I thought, there are always good people in this world, and there are good people for a big man like you, let alone the king and those big families?"

"You said, they are so rich and have plenty of land. At least they don't need to open a spinning mill? They definitely can't open it, and they will definitely take pity on us. Really, the really rich are good people. What do you think these spinning mills are for? Isn’t it for money? If he has hundreds of thousands of acres of land and tens of thousands of acres of tax-free military meritorious land, how about opening a spinning mill?”

"Yes, there were bad things in the past, but at least we can survive. Now you say everything is good and wonderful, but we can't live on."

The yellowish teeth, which were reluctant to be cleaned with tooth powder, always gave off an uncomfortable smell when talking, but Hu Lin sat aside and listened quietly, without avoiding or covering his mouth and nose.

Originally, he wanted to tell this young man that it was not the machine's fault, but the fault of unfair distribution.But before I could tell, an iron ball ended the poor life of this young man who was looking forward to someone saving him and going back to the past, and what he couldn't forget was the new clothes his mother made.

……

The battle was not intense. Even though the attacker was not a regular army, the armed hirelings of the Nanyang Company had also received professional flintlock platoon training, and the artillery had graduated from a new-style school, so there was no suspense at all.

Hu Lin was very lucky, several lead bullets flew past him, but his ancestors did not take him to the Land of Heroes.

But while the battle was still going on, the organizers of this resistance went to find Hu Lin and asked Hu Lin to go with them.

There is a boat by the sea.

"Mr. Zhugan, it's still too late to go. Let's go to the capital to declare the truth here, let the people of the country know what kind of massacre happened here, know the petitions of these people, and make this ridiculous Fujian county council a place for rebellion and massacres. Executioner! You are a famous person, and it will be more effective for you to say these words, as long as you arrive in the capital, there will be people who will be popular. Let’s go, let these people’s blood be shed in vain!”

Hu Lin wiped the black ash and sweat off his face, listening to the already messy voices still ringing in the distance, he thought of all the organizations he had signed in the party headquarters of the Mexican party before the miners petitioned a few years ago The committee members of the action must die on the paperwork in the party building, with a smile on the corner of their mouths, and some miss those people, those things, those days.

So, he asked, "Just a boat?"

"correct."

"Have you prepared it long ago?"

"correct."

"How many people can it hold?"

"more than ten."

"So you wanted to run away from the beginning? You wanted to exchange the blood of these people for what you wanted? For the anger of the people? For the army's suppression of the new council in Mincheng? The blood of these people is just your tool? Blood The more you bleed, the more delicious the blood-stained steamed buns will be, right? You knew from the very beginning that you couldn't beat them, and even prepared a boat for yourself, but you just fired during the negotiation, right! "

Hu Lin stopped talking nonsense, took out the empty flintlock gun, threw it at the head of the person in front, and shouted: "No one is allowed to leave! Come with me to the meeting to explain clearly!"

Bang... The moment it hit, Hu Lin only felt a chill in his waist.

"Looks like a knife."

He thought so, and then fell to the ground, watching those people leave in a hurry.

……

When I opened my eyes, I saw a small white room painted with lime.

The strong smell of alcohol, mixed with the herbal smell of Tianqi and Puhuang, a woman's voice in the distance floated indistinctly into Hulin's ears.

"Don't eat broad beans, fishy, ​​and sour ones. It's getting cold, so you should be fine..."

He couldn't hear the words behind, but Hu Lin knew that he was probably not dead, his head was groggy, and there were several marks of blood transfusion with goose quill tubes on his arms.

Staring at the snow-white roof above his head, an old face suddenly appeared. This face is very familiar, but it has been unfamiliar for these years.

But blood is always thicker than water, thicker than anger, thicker than young blood.