Lu Jianfeng's threats did not overcome the boatman's fear of hunger.

When people are hungry, they can do crazy things.

Those boatmen did something that changed their fate - they went on strike collectively.

Manager Liu got up from Wenrou Township early in the morning and rushed to the shipyard, only to find that none of the shipyard workers had come to work.

Now he was panicking. If the project could not be completed on time, it would be impossible for the commander to forgive him given his personality.

Lu Jianfeng's violence was not only directed at the common people, he was also strict with his officials. If they were negligent, they might be dragged out and executed by the commander.

So he asked the guards of the shipyard to go around arresting people. Most of the shipwrights lived outside Wujiang City not far away. They had no land and could only build shacks outside the county town.

As a result, the shack area was in a state of chaos. The ferocious sharp soldiers kicked open each shack and gathered the men together, leaving the women and children on the other side.

Soon these people were gathered together, and there were thousands of boatmen.

"You are all useless, yet you dare to do such a rebellious thing. Now I will give you one last chance. Now go back to work."

Facing the fierce Qing soldiers, these boatmen did not dare to speak, but they did not want to watch their wives and children starve to death.

So everyone chose to remain silent.

When Manager Liu saw that no one was paying attention to him, a cold light flashed in the corner of his eyes.

He winked at the officer leading the team and whispered: "The shipyard is the commander-in-chief's most important thing, and we must not let these untouchables delay it. Go and bring out twenty people at random for me."

As he spoke, Manager Liu pointed to the family members of the boatmen not far away.

The boatmen's family members in ragged clothes were all skinny and skinny. Even the women's clothes were in tatters, exposing their dark yellow skin. The children even had no pants in the winter.

This is still the richest place in the country like Suhu.

Lu Jianfeng advocates force and does not care about the life or death of the people. He believes that as long as he has strong enough force in his hands, he has nothing to fear.

But strong force requires a lot of military expenditures. Where do these military expenditures come from? He not only exploits the local gentry, but also exploits ordinary people.

There are twenty family members of the boatmen, including old people, women, and children.

They were roughly held in the hands of the soldiers of the Fengrui Army, and they struggled hard one by one, but their hungry bodies could not produce any strength at all.

A commotion also broke out among the boatmen's team.

The surrounding soldiers were watching with muskets and bows and arrows. Several boatmen who stood up were immediately shot to death.

Twenty family members of the boatmen were led to the front of the crowd and knelt on the ground.

At this time, twenty soldiers holding swords stood behind these people.

These soldiers of the sharp army have long since turned into cold-blooded beasts. They have often killed good people and taken credit for their merits, massacred cities and robbed wealth.

He raised the knife and dropped it.

Twenty humble lives perished in an instant.

In their minds, it was like crushing an ant to death.

The crowd kneeling on the ground started to commotion again, but anyone who stood up would be shot immediately.

From a distance, these boatmen looked like gophers. Some of them kept standing up, and some of them kept getting shot.

They were sad. From the beginning to the end, not everyone stood up and rushed forward together.

Most of the people were squatting on the ground, or even lying on the ground shivering. The person who was beheaded was not their family member, so they pretended to be ostriches.

Seeing these people still not speaking, Manager Liu raised the corners of his mouth slightly, showing a sneer.

He said to the officer beside him: "Go on!"

As a result, the soldiers of the Fengrui Army once again walked among the family members of the boatmen.

"Okay, let's go to work. Don't kill anyone anymore."

Just then an older boatman stood up and shouted.

Manager Liu smiled proudly, they are all a bunch of cheap people.

There are many ways to solve problems, they can be reasonable or simple and crude.

The Fengrui Army has always liked to use bows and arrows and gun barrels to solve problems.

The person who stepped forward at this time must be the leader of this incident. This older boatman cannot be kept.

…

In Shanghai County, with the influx of a large number of merchants, the city has been overwhelmed. Shanghai Road has opened up a place by the Suzhou River, allowing merchants to purchase land and build houses here. However, the regulations for houses must be built in accordance with government drawings.

This will be the first villa area in Shanghai, and the business group named it Changning District.

The number of merchant escorts reached 5,000. The huge expenses were all financed by Shanghai merchants.

Land reform in surrounding counties has also been completed, and a large number of militia teams have been organized.

The defense system of Shanghai Road has finally been established. Now whoever wants to attack Shanghai will not be able to break through even the surrounding counties.

Before Chen Deli left, he made clear arrangements for Shanghai Road. Liu Lichuan served as the commander of the merchant escort team, and the team captains and squadron leaders below him were basically dispatched by the Chinese headquarters.

The government affairs of Shanghai Road are in charge of Yuan Jiugong. This is a subordinate recruited by Chen Deli in Fuzhou. He has been assisting Chen Deli in the work of the Ryukyu Hall. This man has served as the shopkeeper of a shop and also served as the master of the county government. He is in his forties.

Quite capable.

During the Chinese New Year, the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce organized businessmen to visit the military camp of the escort team.

In the cold wind, the soldiers of the escort stood upright one by one. They were wearing short military uniforms, tops and trousers. Around their waists were one-inch wide cowhide belts.

What was carried on the backs were all the latest rifled rifles produced by the Chinese. The Shanghai business group gathered rich people from the entire Liangjiang area. They were wealthy and naturally willing to bleed a lot in order to protect their own safety.

"Owners of the business group, our business group's escort team is preparing for a shooting performance next." Liu Lichuan, wearing a military uniform, jogged all the way to the representatives of the business group.

It's like reporting to the leader. After all, these are the people who pay the salary of the escort team.

After a while, the team formed three lines and walked towards the shooting range.

There were a total of five hundred people participating in the demonstration, and their neat footsteps made the ground tremble.

"Pa bang bang..."

"Shopkeeper Yang, this is a good soldier."

"That's true. With this army stationed in Shanghai, we have nothing to worry about."

"But we also contributed a lot of money." Someone said sourly, not everyone contributed money voluntarily.

"This little money is nothing. Do you know that the Fengrui Army stationed in Suzhou, in addition to charging extra money, the Fengrui Army commander also has to receive gifts every few days, either for his birthday or when his child is one month old?

The amount of the gift was determined by him, and the money collected in this way is much more than if we paid for this army ourselves."

"This escort can also provide protection for everyone's travels and provide security for caravans. Shanghai has abolished all lijin merchant taxes. Do you think you can find a place more suitable for doing business than Shanghai Beach?"

At this time, a businessman named Yang came over and said, "Have you ever heard that a businessman from Guangdong Province founded a bank that is just like a foreign bank?"

"Yang Fang, what are you planning?" asked another businessman, who seemed to be quite at odds with Yang Fang. Yang Fang was a businessman who used to work as a comprador for foreigners, and later opened a bank in Shanghai.

Nowadays, the businessmen in Shanghai are hardened. On the contrary, foreigners are leaving in large numbers. Foreign factories are being acquired in large numbers. Therefore, businessmen who were closer to foreigners are also being squeezed out.

"Everyone, we are currently mainly doing business with the south and Ryukyu, and the delivery of payment is troublesome. We can't believe foreign banks, and Chinese banks are also from outside. Let's set up a bank by ourselves to give ourselves a guarantee. Isn't it good?

?”

It just so happened that today there was a relatively large crowd, and Yang Fang began to promote his plan for the Shanghai Banking Corporation.

"Yangfang, it's not that easy to set up a bank. It's not like a bank." Someone said.

"It used to be difficult, but now we have a business escort team. In the future, Shanghai will be autonomous without the constraints of the court, and our banks will be guaranteed." Yang Fang said.

This Yang Fang is a smart man. The current situation in Shanghai made him think of setting up a bank. The bank can undertake exchange business, but the key is to be able to collect money.
Chapter completed!