"Mr. Yang, aren't we doing a good job? Why do we have to stop work?"
"Yes, we work hard on weekdays."
"This is well done. I was also thinking about bringing my children and my mother-in-law over for the Chinese New Year. Why did the work stop?"
"Yes, there are several brothers in my family. When they heard that I earned five or six cents on this day, they were so jealous that they even rented the land at home to others, just waiting to come back to work next year.
"
Although these workers usually do manual labor and have little experience, they all know that jobs like this are not easy to find.
They were paid six cents a day, and they had to take care of a meal at noon. From time to time, they would hire a troupe of actors and storytellers to relieve their boredom, and they never deducted wages or anything like that.
In addition, they can also live in a clean and tidy two-story building. Where can they find such a good landlord?
"Everyone, please be quiet and listen to me."
Yang Xuan raised his hand and pressed it down, and everyone became quiet for a while.
"The shutdown of the factory was not our intention. It was because of the sea ban."
Yang Xuan said: "Because of the imperial court's sea ban, boards are not allowed to go into the sea, so the things we produce cannot be transported to the inland and cannot be sold for money, so we have to stop work."
"Mr. Yang, isn't the sea ban aimed at the common people? It says that people are not allowed to go into the sea privately. Aren't these factories all owned by Prince Qiong? Why aren't they allowed to go into the sea?"
Yang Xuan made a helpless expression: "To tell you the truth, the imperial court has issued an official document saying that we in Qiongzhou Prefecture must also abide by the sea ban and are not allowed to go to the sea privately. We have no choice."
"That's bullshit sea ban, the imperial court's ships can go into the sea, why can't we go into the sea?"
"That's right, I've seen many merchants' ships in Zhanjiang Prefecture before, and they were sailing all over the world. Isn't the imperial court targeting us?"
"This means that only the state officials are allowed to set fires, but the people are not allowed to light lamps."
"It's so unreasonable. It's obviously not giving us a way to survive."
Yang Xuan smiled. This was the effect he wanted, but he didn't show it. At the same time, he also knew that the heat was enough and he would be unable to control it after a few more instigations.
"Fellow workers, do you still want to continue working here?"
"I think so, of course I do."
"Our whole family relies on my work to support us. If I don't let you do this, my whole family will starve to death."
"Don't say I want to work here, my brothers and uncles all want to work here."
"If that's the case, then I'll ask Prince Qiong to make a memorial to explain the situation here and ask the court for a pardon."
"Okay, that would be great."
The workers immediately cheered.
But Yang Xuan added: "But there is one thing. Before the imperial court's amnesty order is issued, we can only secretly send the freight over. You can't report it to the imperial court."
"Whoever dares to report will have his legs broken."
"That is, if anyone dares to report, I will tear his mouth to pieces."
"If we cut off the life of thousands of us, we will never let him go."
For a moment, the crowd was furious. If anyone dared to report this situation, he would probably be eaten alive on the spot.
Yang Xuan is quite satisfied with this.
Of course, with so many people, it would be impossible for the news not to leak out, but as long as Yang Xuan can keep the hearts of most people on his side, it will be fine.
After all, even if His Highness the Crown Prince knew about this, could he still send troops to conquer them?
If the prince really dares to send troops to conquer, it will be equivalent to giving other princes an excuse to attack.
I understand that the prince will not give other princes a chance just because of this matter.
This idea was proposed by Mr. Lu, and both Yang Xuan and His Royal Highness King Qiong were in favor of it.
In addition, Yang Xuan has another idea, that is, the red-turbaned Wang Hai who was let go before.
Your prince can engage in smuggling, and so can we. If you do it in the name of a pirate, we can also do it in the name of a pirate.
If you dare to rebel, then we will fight to the death and expose the prince for colluding with pirates to engage in smuggling.
Of course, in order to get evidence that the prince colluded with pirates and smuggled things, he also needed to catch the guy named Mr. Zhao.
It's just that when the big boss was arrested, the matter had already leaked out. If we want to catch Mr. Zhao again, things will be a bit troublesome.
In addition, the family to which Mr. Zhao belongs and the related business names must investigate the relevant evidence.
After all, they were facing His Highness the Crown Prince, who was now in power.
But if you want to find out those evidences, it requires extraordinary manpower and material resources. The best way is to borrow existing forces.
The local forces will naturally have a good understanding of the Zhao family in Minzhou Prefecture.
But finding such a local force still requires a certain amount of time and arrangements, so we can only take our time.
The person who is easier to deal with now should be Mr. Zhao, the second in command of the Qiongshan bandits.
Although the enemy has been alerted, the bandit's village is connected to a relatively secret port. This is the main reason why Mr. Zhao chose to cooperate with the boss, Wang Shitou.
For such a naturally hidden port, Mr. Zhao will not give up easily.
However, Mr. Zhao has more than 700 people under his command, and the Qiongzhou Guards alone, with more than 230 people, may not be able to handle it.
Yang Xuan was in the military camp at this time, studying tactics with Xue Xian and Dong Tianbao.
"Mr. Yang, with just these two hundred people, I'm afraid..."
Dong Tianbao said: "There is nothing to be afraid of. Back on the grassland, I and more than a hundred people dared to enter the lair of more than 800 horse bandits."
Xue Xian had already heard Dong Tianbao boast about this, and immediately retorted: "But you had reinforcements at that time, but we don't have reinforcements here."
Yang Xuan said: "Who said we don't have reinforcements?"
Xue Xian was confused: "Where can we get reinforcements?"
"Don't you remember Wang Hai?"
Xue Xian scratched his head: "But even if Wang Hai's people are included, there are only about three hundred people. There are seven or eight hundred people."
Yang Xuan said: "There is a kind of power called the power of the masses."
Xue Xian was even more confused now: "The power of the masses? What is that?"
"Master Xue, just wait and see the good show."
Yang Xuan did not explain to Xue Xian that the reason why he incited those workers yesterday was to deal with the bandits.
Qiongzhou Prefecture must be made monolithic, otherwise it will not be easy to develop. Now is an opportunity.
Xue Xian was waiting to see the good show Yang Xuan said, but after waiting for several days, Yang Xuan made no move at all. Just when he was confused, he got the news of the bandit attack.
Xue Xian couldn't believe it at first. How dare a group of bandits attack the government?
But when he came to the city gate, he saw more than a hundred menacing bandits.
This place is said to be a city gate, but this city wall is no better than the bandits' cottage wall.
Before Xue Xian could speak, a leader among the bandits spoke first.
"Let those of you who have the final say speak out."
Xue Xian immediately wanted to say, I have the final say here, but after thinking about it, he held back. He really didn't have the final say in this place. Not only His Highness King Qiong, but also Qiu Jun and Mr. Yang.
Just in time, Yang Xuan followed him, and he stepped out of the city gate.
"Although I don't have the final say in Qiongzhou Prefecture, I can make the decision when dealing with you gang of thieves."
