Lu Ming

Of course, these are not important.

What really needs to be paid attention to is not the life and death of these scholars, but the meaning behind this attack by the crossing people.

Prior to this, the land acquisition and construction work of the special zone started at the same time as Marshal Cao led his troops to the north.And so here comes the problem: Both sides are a bit constrained.

On the crossing side, because Marshal Cao has not yet gained military exploits in the north and became the emperor's golden thigh, he dare not throw his shoulders away and can only take it one step at a time.During this process, the local government yamen basically received complaints from Ming landlords and gentry opposing the demolition, and most of them were Nanhai County of Panyu and Yanchasi Yamen.

Guangdong officialdom is under pressure, and dissatisfaction will naturally arise.Fortunately, Cao Zongbing had just wiped out a large number of pirates at that time, and Yu Wei was still there, plus a group of collaborators and allies, so this situation has been stalemate. resistance.

There is another reason for this: When the local officials sent a message to the capital, trying to use the court to restrain Cao Dachong, they were told that the capital was surrounded by the Tartars, and the periphery was beaten into a mess, no one would care These shitty things.

Just like the judgment of the Jinshi master of the Chen family, in this situation, the gentry and their spokespersons can only wait patiently for the situation to become clear.

However, the time-traveling crowd also thought so.

Then the scene came to the finale: not long ago, Cao won a great victory in the north and became the most important tripod of the emperor.

By this time, the well-informed upper-level officials in Guangdong had actually given up paying attention to the land expropriation incident—since they couldn’t be brought down anyway, why bother talking about this guy?let him go.

So today's incident of Cao Zongbing's intrusion into the Yamen is actually a positive answer to all the previous questions: I am now covered with sparks and lightning, and came back on colorful auspicious clouds, so I must find a few chickens to kill and solve the demolition at once land acquisition.

Unfortunately, Chen Shiai and his gang ran into the muzzle of the gun.

No matter ancient or modern, Chinese and foreign, unlucky ghosts who hit the muzzle of a gun usually end badly.Crack down hard, you will be injured if you rub it, and you will die if you knock it.

So Chen Xiucai must die this time, together with those broken boots.

……

Standing cage, also known as standing flail, is a fighter among eunuchs, invented by Liu Jin, the emperor of Wuzong Dynasty.

As the name suggests, the station cage is a thin, tall wooden cage, trapezoidal, wide at the bottom and narrow at the top, and just one person can stand inside it.After being locked in, the prisoner was put in a cage with shackles on his head, and his body was suspended in the air or stepped on a small stool. His whole body was curled up and unable to bend or stretch.

Some upgraded version of the cage will also be filled with iron spikes inside, usually a person will die standing inside within three days.There were also those who couldn't bear the torture, kicked the stool away and hanged themselves.

Standing cages are often used to interrogate confessions or detain serious criminals.Since its invention, this thing has been used as a formal torture tool by the government of all dynasties. It was still used extensively until the Guo Party period, and it was finally abolished after liberation.

When magistrates use standing cages, they usually don't have much psychological burden.For example, it was mentioned in "Lao Can You Ji" in the late Qing Dynasty that in less than a year, more than 12 people died standing in the 2000 cages in front of the Yamen in order to win the title of "capable member" as the acting magistrate of Caozhou. Nine and a half are good people.

There is a wonderful thing about this: in normal times, if a magistrate formally sentenced a prisoner to death, the dossier would have to be reviewed by the higher-level yamen, and finally go to the emperor for a verdict before he could be executed in autumn.

Not only is the exchange of documents cumbersome and inefficient, but the imperial court is also unwilling to see the "increase compared with the same period last year" of death row prisoners.

So standing cages come in handy—those who “stand” and die inside are not counted in the number of executed prisoners.This number is mixed with a series of "normal deaths" such as death from illness, death from nausea, death from choking, and death from hide-and-seek.

Another point that makes the standing cage different from other instruments of torture is that apart from being tortured, this object also has the taste of being publicly "shown to the public" inside.In medieval society, this method can only be said to have played a certain role in educating the public and preventing crime.

Of course, this so-called education of the people depends on who does it.Like this time, Mr. Cao is teaching the leeks not to be stubborn, but to welcome the demolition honestly.

As a result, the anti-demolition scholar gang with a total of six people was dragged out of the crowd by a wolf-like, tall military man after Cao Dashuai issued an order, and then pushed them down, stripping away the symbol of scholars. Big headscarves and green shirts.

Afterwards, these people were strangled by the military man, carrying their belts, and stuffed them into the row of cages under the outer wall of the county yamen like catching chickens—a group of "Panyu Six Gentlemen" who will be promoted by the evil gentry in the future. In this way, the broken boots party embarked on the countdown of life.

"Hahaha." Cao Qingtian, who had finished a case impartially, stood up from behind the case, first stretched himself, and then said to County Magistrate Sun with a long smile: "The Xiaoxiao is gone, so, please stop bothering me."

"Don't dare."

At this point, if you still can't see that the person surnamed Cao came prepared, then the grandparents are really fools.So he could only laugh awkwardly... A seventh-rank sesame official who doesn't know Liang Jingru, how can he have so much courage to play tricks in front of the murderous Earl Cao?

Afterwards, Marshal Cao swaggered out of the county government office, and got into the bulletproof carriage parked in the middle of the street under the watchful eyes of many melon-eaters.

At the end, Cao Dashuai opened the window and confessed: "Yan Tiexia, you will lead people to guard here for the next two days, until you die at these stations. If you come to catch people, please report my name. Go to Whampoa to transfer troops, I want to see who is so ungrateful!"

With a face like the bottom of a pot, Yan Tiexia, a small soldier with a face full of flesh, immediately knelt down on one knee and took orders loudly.

The next moment, the pretending Marshal Cao closed the window of the car, and the convoy drove out of the city at a constant speed under the guard of the cavalry.

These few shows must die.

After the Qinwang team that went to the north returned, the cabinet held an enlarged meeting, and it has clearly pointed out the focus of the next stage of work: to invest resources in Guangdong one after another, to cultivate intensively, and to build while slowly corroding the local government, military, gentry, and family power. In the future, prepare to move across the large forces.

Today's appearance is one of the actions to implement the spirit of the meeting: these few scholars were forcibly convicted by Cao Zongbing and imprisoned in the cage without trial and without being deprived of their student status by Xuezheng.

The hidden taste of this move is very vicious: the authority of the official county government of Ming Dynasty and the government office of Guangzhou were replaced with fists, and it was a low-intensity conflict. After all, Potian was just a few scholars, which was in line with the spirit of the meeting.

And the scene that happened in front of the county government office today, accompanied by six scholars who died slowly, the series of stories will soon spread among Ming people.The word "subtle influence" refers to this kind of situation - Ming people will gradually understand in the days to come, who has the final say in today's Guangdong.

So these six scholars must die.

No matter whether someone comes forward to scoop up people this time, no matter how high the person's official position is, even if officials from all over Guangdong unite, the cross-travelers must stand up to these six people: this is the reverse of the Qianjin City, and since the brand Once it stands up, it must never fall down.

Regarding this point, the current time travelers in Guangdong are authorized: in the most extreme situation, even if troops enter the city, they must ensure that things go smoothly.

So in today's outing, Cao Zongbing seemed to be calm and breezy from the beginning to the end, but in fact, the crossing people were loose on the outside and tight on the inside, and the troops outside the city had already received orders to increase their combat readiness.

...To this day, the time-traveling crowd is no longer the situation where they raised their guns and fought against the red hair in person.After three years of arduous efforts, the people of the time-traveling have acquired core industries, loyal minions, and industrious leaders.

In a word, even if you raise the flag to rebel today, it is worthwhile to travel through the crowd.

As the convoy gradually went away, more people gathered around the gate of the county government office: six talented masters who were locked in a cage, this scene is usually not seen.

As for the scholars, no one dares to let them out right now—on the second floor of the restaurant across the street, Yan Tiexia, a military man, is sitting seriously, who would dare to make a mistake?Aren't you afraid of being locked in a cage?

The help brought by several scholars has already dispersed and gone to inform the family members of the masters.

A large number of melon-eaters who came after hearing the news surrounded the gate of the county yamen, and people showed smiles on their faces. While admiring the hoarse shouts of the scholars, they vividly told the latecomers the script that happened just now. Everywhere, I couldn't help dancing.

……

Relying on his height, He Bian is now crowded into the crowd to watch the fun and listen to the stories.While listening, he grinned and laughed.During this period, he also followed the direction of his fingers and saw those rich soldiers who were eating roast chicken on the second floor of the restaurant.

After shaking his head and clicking his tongue a few times, He Biandan secretly swallowed his saliva, touched his empty belly, looked up at the sky that was approaching noon, and then squeezed out of the crowd.

After running to the teahouse on the street and throwing out a penny, and drinking a bowl of bad tea with floating tea stalks, He Biandan said hello to the waiter, bent down to pick up the pick that had been stored in the teahouse, and walked along the street.

He Biandan is a native of Xicheng. He is in his early twenties this year, and his occupation is to carry and deliver goods to others.

He Biandan is very talented, not only has a broad frame, but also has a height of 1 meters, which is rare in Nancheng.However, he is tall, probably because he has not had enough to eat all year round. He always looks empty, with a tattered blouse on his body, dangling at any time.

Chapter 495 A bowl of vegetable porridge

Although He Biandan is a native of Nancheng, he has lost all his property in Nancheng and lives in boarding all day long.

In the early years, when He Biandan was just an adult, he still had a courtyard at home.Later, after an epidemic, He Biandan lost his parents.Not only that, but due to the debts and medical expenses owed before, the house was also taken over by the creditor, and He Biandan became a homeless person.

Fortunately, this kid has grown up at the age of 17, and he was born tall and big, and has a long horse face that is unforgettable.So he stretched out a pair of lychee wooden poles, and lived a life of strength in Nancheng.After a long time, this kid with a horse face who didn't have enough to eat and had a silly smile was called He Biandan.

A few years passed in a hurry, but He Biandan's size was not crushed by the burden, but grew a little longer.But in this way, his skeleton looks even more wobbly... People who are often hungry do not have extra muscles.

Today, He Biandan's task is to pick "mechanism carbon" to the house of the old customer Mr. Hu.

Although this new "machine-made carbon" on the market has a strange name, it has become a new type of fuel favored by people above the middle class since the day it appeared.

Black, hexagonal, carbon rods with the same shape and specifications, the firepower is stable, the burning time is three times that of ordinary charcoal, and there is no smoke and no ash, very suitable for cooking, tea, wine, grilled fish, etc. Need to master the heat and temperature occasion of time.

In addition, in terms of price, although the machine-made carbon made of ordinary wood chips and rice husks is a bit more expensive, it is cheaper than traditional charcoal in terms of comprehensive performance, so many people buy it.

After receiving the order yesterday, He Biandan went to the wharf outside Nancheng this morning, picked up the more expensive "high-grade fruit wood machine-made carbon" from the grocery store of Hu's old relationship, and picked up all the way to Hu's house for Mr. Hu's meeting friends Tea is used.

When he was passing by the county government with his second load of carbon sticks, the young man noticed that there was a big show at the gate, so he happily went to join in the fun.After admiring the heroic posture of the six gentlemen standing in the cage, He Bian turned back to pick up the burden and delivered it to Master Hu's mansion before noon.

After unloading the burden in the woodshed of Hu's family, and helping to take out the garbage once more, the shoulder pole finally got a handful of copper coins from the steward of the kitchen, and went back to the nest happily.

He Biandan's nest is behind Caishikou, in a dilapidated alley called "Guzao Street".

This dilapidated alley belonged to a slum area in the Ming Dynasty, and the people living in it were all low-level citizens.There is a courtyard room among them, and the left and right side rooms were rented out by the landlord to the labor porters nearby, and He Biandan had a bed in it.

After hurriedly returning to Guzao Street, He Biandan first looked at the entrance of the courtyard, and then he was relieved: a large pot in the courtyard was steaming from the gap in the lid, and it seemed that it was not time for dinner yet.

After entering the house, he put down the pick at the old place by the wall, He Biandan didn't say anything, picked up the ladle and scooped water in the water tank in the corner and poured it vigorously. After that, he wiped his mouth with his sleeve and took a breath. Roommates" greeted.

The roommates are all rough old men who sleep in a large bunk. Those who come back early, some lie on the bunk to smoke pots, some lie on the bunk to doze off. In short, these poor people are grabbing every opportunity to recover their strength.

The only thing that can yell the coolies out of their beds is the yell of dinner.With the sound of iron spoons knocking on the pot, needless to say, everyone left the room quickly.

In the middle of the courtyard at the moment, stood a black and fat old woman with a sinister face and arms thicker than other people's thighs.

This woman's name is Mrs. Gui, and she could tell from her posture that she was a charter woman.Aunt Gui's family is doing well in the slums. Her husband works as a steward on the wharf outside the city, and she herself is responsible for renting out, cooking and other chores.

Most of the laborers like He Biandan in the courtyard are hired by Mrs. Gui.The reason is not that Mrs. Gui's cooking is delicious, but that Mrs. Gui's cooking is cheap.

Cheap, naturally no good goods.So when Mrs. Gui lifted the lid off the pot, it was no surprise that today was another pot of mishmash.

This pot of rice porridge is not like rice porridge, and rice is not like rice food. It is made of a mixture of [-]% brown rice, [-]% vegetables, and [-]% sweet potatoes.

The color of the porridge is lovely, and the sweet aroma is everywhere.But laborers all know that this food is actually not easy to swallow.

Even so, a group of hungry people still clamored to take large coarse porcelain bowls from the table and crowded around the pot, watching Aunt Gui divide the rice with a big iron spoon.

"There are no rules, I'll kill you!" Every time this happened, Mrs. Gui, who was fat and responsible for scooping up rice, would start cursing.However, the scolding was all scolding, and Mrs. Gui finally scooped up a big bowl full of shredded potatoes, vegetable porridge and rice for everyone.In addition, in the small jar on the side, each person will also receive a piece of salted radish or pickled vegetable head... I don't know if it is the Fuling brand.

The next moment, He Biandan was beaten again.

He Biandan usually looks pretty smart, but when it's time to eat, his IQ drops to a negative number.From childhood to adulthood, the shoulder pole suffered countless beatings for this.

Today is the same routine: After He Biandan finished his portion, he reached out to grab more radishes from the jar, and then was hit twice on the head by Mrs. Gui with a rice-stirring stick.

The laborers squatting on the spot in the courtyard and eating, laughed and watched this repertoire.Everyone knows that He Biandan can't get enough to eat all year round, and everyone knows that Mrs. Gui is a woman with a dark face and a soft heart, so after being beaten twice, He Biandan finally squeezed into the crowd with the spoils of war, and sipped the vegetable porridge Come.

……

Then came the happiest moment of the day for these coolies: sitting on the well platform and snoring to fill their stomachs, while blowing all over the world, exchanging information about the world of coolies.

Recently, everyone's main focus has been the improvement of food standards.

In the years before that, the porridge cooked by Mrs. Gui put very little salt in it, and in certain periods of time, even no salt was added.The coolies supplemented their salt every day, all relying on the pickles in the jar.

However, pickles are not so easy to replenish. Whenever the salt price in the city fluctuates, Mrs. Gui's pickles become less salty.

Salt is an essential substance for human cells to regulate fluid osmotic pressure.For manual workers, salt is a key part of ensuring that the fresh water you drink is converted into sweat.

The oily men and women of later generations see salt as if they were snakes and scorpions, but if these people are to carry the burden like He Biandan for a few days, then they will drink salt soda with all their might, otherwise they will go into shock and die.

Therefore, the salt content in meals has always been a link that coolies are very concerned about.

As a result, the situation has changed since two or three months ago.

People in Guangzhou suddenly discovered that there was a big loophole that could be exploited at the construction site of the new city in the south: anyone who went to fight against Cao Zongbing could buy cheap salt on the construction site.

Everyone knows that this military commander from Yizhou has a lot of money, and the story of the silver dragon being moved out of Baietan to pay Qiuba and others is still circulating in the city.

And his old man's subordinates have undoubtedly inherited the tradition of the boss's wealth: at the same price and the same weight, people can buy high-quality snow-white salt grains from the Xincheng construction site, instead of black and mixed with sand. Bitter official salt.

In this way, people spread the word, and soon someone saw the benefits, and organized a large number of bitter people to go to the construction site to work-only the foreman can buy salt, and the more workers he has, the more salt he can buy .

Note that this quota is additional, and workers' wages are still paid.

In the beginning, this kind of deceiving rule was mainly to reduce a little objection: only those who work for me can buy salt, and there is nothing wrong with it.

After a period of time like this, when the telegram of Cao Zongbing’s great victory in the north was transmitted to Guangdong, the rules were changed: individuals can pay for their money to wholesale salt, the quantity is unlimited, and the price is [-] taels.

So on the Xincheng Wharf, salt owls from Guangdong and Guangxi swarmed here.These people brought silver, Guangxi rice and prostitutes from the mountains.After switching to salt, the salt lords hired people to load their ships day and night, and then disappeared into the endless waterways of the Pearl River Delta.

At the same time, Xincheng also wholesales salt products to the local salt merchant system, ranging from salt grains to snow-white refined salt, with low prices and no deception.

When encountering such a domineering president with a battleship, the local salt merchant system in Guangdong could not resist. They could only choose to cooperate, which can also be understood as strong X.As a result, the endless salt goods began to penetrate to every corner of Guangdong and Guangxi with the new city as the center.

The most direct impact of this incident is that the price of salt in Guangdong and Guangxi dropped sharply just like that in Fujian next door, and the vegetable porridge in He Biandan's bowl became a much more delicious salty porridge.The salted radish in his hand could really be called a pickle.

So recently, every meal, everyone always happily discusses the endless salt goods on the Xincheng Wharf.Among the laborers in the yard, several of them are working on the pier, so they know exactly how much they have to unload every day.

The exciting point of today's dinner party is that the person who has been to Yizhou to do part-time work came back to give a real hammer: there is a salt mountain in Yizhou. It is said that it was spit out by the salt dragon in the lake. It is tens of feet high and can be dug no matter what not finished.

At this time, Sister-in-law Gui would pat her chest with her calloused fat hands and say a few words of blessing like "Bodhisattva blesses General Cao to be free from disease and disaster." , whoever can bring her cheap salt should live a long life.

……

In today's bowl of vegetable porridge, there is not only the topic of saltiness, but also another eye-catching thing: yellow potato chips.

Potatoes are not easy to preserve in the relatively warm south, and they will germinate over time.Although the time traveler can reprocess potatoes into rice flour and starch, the best way to deal with potatoes is to eat them immediately.

So starting from the second half of this year, whenever the farms in Tainan harvest a large amount, there will be ships carrying fresh potatoes to Guangzhou and Fujian.

These potatoes will be used to feed migrant workers on various construction sites.In this way, the people across the land can store the locally purchased rice for emergencies.

Chapter 496 Cracks

Laborers don't have a bad sense of potatoes.This kind of yellow "potato" not only feels full after eating, but also makes you very hungry. It can be regarded as a real estate on the same level as sweet potatoes.

Another advantage of potatoes is that they can be made in a variety of ways and can be matched with any seasoning.Some people have eaten baked potatoes on the construction site in the new district before, and the taste of baked potatoes coated with salt powder is quite good, which is not comparable to sweet potatoes.

The laborers who were discussing baked potatoes at the dinner table did not know that in the past two days, the renovation of the first McDonald's ancestral fried chicken restaurant opened by Xingang Savages in Guangzhou has been completed.

Poor people will soon find out that potato chips, made in a different way, would be too expensive to breathe.