Because of this incident, Xie Erren had no intention of continuing to "inspect" outside the city, but the two pontoon bridges had not been "inspected" yet. The Canglong Floating Bridge and the Guijiang Floating Bridge connected Hedong, Hexi and Henan, making Wuzhou
Three rivers and six banks are connected into one.
Now that the two pontoon bridges have been destroyed in the war, the daily life of Wuzhou people has been greatly affected. For the Wuzhou Municipal Government, whether the traffic can be smooth is also related to whether the security forces can quickly reach various key points outside the city.
So Xie Erren had to go and see it.
From Longmu Temple to the Guijiang Floating Bridge, you just need to go south along the Guijiang River bank. This area of the river bank is close to the city. It used to be docks, warehouses and shops, and it was very lively. But now there are ruins everywhere -
Fortunately, most of the market and piers have been preserved, but every house is closed, and it looks deserted and depressed. Xie Erren sighed as he walked: The Fubo Army went too far in fighting, and they ended up in such a miserable state!
He suddenly remembered something and turned around and asked: "Why are the shops here closed? Don't you want them to open as soon as possible?"
Pai Jia, who came to accompany him, said with a smile: "I don't know what I know. This area outside the city is now in chaos. Bandits are rampant. The street fences are damaged. Even in broad daylight, there are people committing robberies. How dare the shops open their doors to make a living!"
"
Xie Erren didn't expect the security outside the city to be so bad, but it was unavoidable when he thought about it: the old three-class government officials were dying and running away. Many people knew about the rectification of government officials in Guangzhou, and asked themselves whether they had blood debts or public outrage. Even though there was no
Naturally, they didn't dare to come back. In the end, only twenty people came to report, and they were already beyond their ability to take charge of public security in the city. As for the militia that was hastily established, it was a ragtag group of people with no character.
"Don't worry, I will arrange for the militia to be on duty. However, each of your merchants here must also contribute their own efforts to repair the street fences. If there are damage and gaps everywhere, regardless of whether they use bricks or wood, they will always be blocked.
.”
Naturally, Pai Jia said "here", and Zhao Toyota quickly wrote down something in his notebook. This is an instruction to all the elders' secretaries: the elders' speeches during inspections abroad and during meetings must be recorded with key points to form a memorandum.
--In the past, there were senators who frequently issued various "instructions" during inspections and then completely forgotten them after returning home, leaving a bad impression on the naturalized people and indigenous people as "empty talkers."
Xie Erren declined the sedan chair and walked along the street to take a look, stopping from time to time to ask for help. Then he came to the Cow Shit Wharf where the Guijiang Floating Bridge is located.
The location of the Guijiang Floating Bridge is roughly the location of the later Yuanjiang Bridge. To the east of the bridge is the Cow Shit Wharf, to the east is Xiaonan Road, and to the west of the bridge is Sanhezui University Campus. The bricks and stones on both sides of the bridge are built in dozens of steps.
Each has a pair of iron pillars, with two wrought iron locks hanging on them. The boats are moored on the chains, and planks are built over the surface and between the boats to form a bridge. There are also railings on both sides. However, not only are the boats nowhere to be found at this time, but also
The two iron chains were also broken and sank in the river.
Below the pier, there are also many sunk and burned shipwrecks. Together with the houses destroyed by war near the cow dung pier, it is a desolate and lonely scene after the war.
He Dongli introduced that the pontoon bridge was first built by Han Yong and the local guard eunuch Chen Ping. A total of 56 boats were used, and another ten boats were used as backup, which could be increased or decreased according to the fluctuation of the water surface to facilitate the lifting and lowering of the bridge deck.
It has been renovated and replaced over the years, but only the iron pillars and chains are still old items.
The iron chain itself can be opened and closed. When ships pass by, it can be loosened to make way for the waterway. When no ships are passing, it can be connected again. Although it is slightly inconvenient for the traffic on the Guijiang River, it is a great deal for the people on both sides of the strait.
of virtue.
Regardless of whether it is from the perspective of winning public support, making it easier to dispatch troops, or restoring market prosperity, this pontoon bridge must be repaired as soon as possible.
Xie Erren asked the local Paijia to summon the people in charge of the bridge. After asking, he found out that not all the ships were destroyed, and there were still seven or eight boats that survived. Even so, the gap was not small. The people in charge of the bridge also complained endlessly. It turned out that
Although the bridge was built by the government, the daily use and maintenance are the responsibility of nearby business people. Although the government sent people to set up cards at the bridge to collect taxes, the daily maintenance costs of the bridge have to be raised by the business people themselves.
”, which has become a big burden for shops on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
He listened to the "representatives" complaining there, and felt a little impatient - he had heard this too much since he entered the city, endless complaints: the clerks retained in the yamen, the "virtuous village elders", the common people
...As soon as I asked about the specific situation, there were many difficulties. They looked at him eagerly, hoping that he would come up with a solution. Even the naturalized cadres and soldiers had the same tone: in their opinion,
The elders are supposed to be omnipotent.
How do you know that I am also a clay Buddha crossing the river? You don’t even know what the solution is! Thinking of the poor villagers in the aftermath bureau, Xie Erren’s mood became even worse - I don’t know how the money and food were raised.
So done.
With such a tired mood, Xie Erren hurriedly left the ferry and returned to the government office. The people from the search team of the Planning Institute had already taken an inventory of the loot and the contents of various public treasuries at Wuzhou Prefecture and County levels, and made a booklet.
Xie Erren took a look and found that the money was not big: there was almost no food money. He hated Xiong Wencan even more: how much food was wasted in Wuzhou with tens of thousands of people!
There are quite a lot of miscellaneous materials in the loot, but most of them are swords, guns and weapons, which does not help his current predicament at all - he can't use these many swords and guns, and the Firearms Senate of the Ming Dynasty doesn't look down on him. Look at it.
In other words, the ships abandoned by the Ming army still have some value, and can at least be used to repair the pontoon bridge.
He was thinking about what things could be used and what things needed to be done as soon as possible. He thought and wrote. After a long time, he felt a headache. He stood up and turned around. Suddenly he remembered the female assassin and called Zhao Toyota:
"What happened to the female assassin?"
"He was detained in the prison." Zhao Toyota said. "According to the officer, he was very strong-tempered. After being caught, he wanted to bite his tongue. Later, he wanted to hit the wall on the road. Now he was shackled to the wall and even had something stuffed in his mouth. The execution room
The secretary's office would like to ask the chief to tell me how to deal with it?"
All you need to do is send the naturalized cadres in charge of public security to handle this kind of thing. To say it is important is to find out whether there is an "anti-senator group" behind the scenes. If you find it troublesome, you can just deal with it directly: whether it is execution on the spot.
Whether it is a matter of one sentence to relax the frontline escorting Lingao to "re-education through labor".
However, Xie Erren's journalistic instinct revived: there must be big news behind this incident! His nose seemed to smell the stench of major social news, regardless of the fact that he was one of the parties involved.
"No, I want to interrogate him personally!" Xie Erren said flatly.
In addition to the fact that his nature is hard to change, this also includes his intention to use familiar things to dilute the depressed mood at hand.
"Yes, I'll ask someone to bring her over right away!" Zhao Fengtian has been working beside the elders for a long time and is used to the sudden ideas of the chiefs. The phrase "the chief is always right" has almost become an old saying.
The superstition of naturalized people. So he turned around and went to do it without any doubt.
Xie Erren stopped him: "I'm going to the cell for interrogation. Don't bring me here."
This place has been converted into an office, and there are documents and maps everywhere. It is not suitable for prisoners and retained government officials to come in. Xie Erren still has a sense of confidentiality.
Zhao Toyota immediately led the way and took him to the door of the prison.
Wuzhou Fulao is actually located in the southwest corner of Fuya - although the size and construction quality of all the Fulao in Ming Dynasty vary, they are all carved from the same mold in form. Specifically, they are all designed according to Zhu Yuanzhang
It was built in the shape of a government office. Wuzhou government office is no exception.
Although ordinary residential buildings are mostly made of wood or bamboo fences and made of mud, this prison and the county government office have the same treatment. They are all built with handmade blue bricks, which are very elegant. The walls are tall and strong, and they look even more aged with time.
Very eerie.
The gate of the prison is a hard-mounted tiled house with three rooms in width and one in depth, facing south and north. The middle room is the door and the two rooms on both sides are mullioned windows. This is the entrance to the cell and the
It is the place where the guards work and work, so it is also called "passing hall".
In the hall, the cell leader and prison inmates had already received the news. They all put on neat clothes to greet him. When they saw Erren coming, they all saluted.
Xie Erren waved his hand: "Don't be too polite. Where is the assassin?"
"She will be detained in the death row at the back." The squad leader took a step forward and reported respectfully, "This woman is very strong-willed. She tried to commit suicide several times, but she could only be shackled. Could you please tell me where to interrogate her?"
Xie Erren looked at the hall. It was not a big place, and the east and west rooms were even more inconvenient because they were where the prison chief worked. He remembered watching the Peking Opera "Su San Qi Jie" that there was a prison temple. It was a temple, but at least it had a temple.
A house can be used for interrogation.
"I heard that there is a prison temple in the prison, so it should be there."
The prison head was stunned and said with a smile: "There is a prison temple, but...it's just...the place is too small and it's not convenient..."
This time, it aroused the suspicion of Jing Erren. He had never been to the prison before, but now he wanted to take a look, so he said: "What are you afraid of? If you don't find it suitable, just change - lead the way!"
Seeing that he had made up his mind and was unwilling to disobey him, the cell leader immediately led the way.
After passing the hall, there is a long and narrow courtyard, with a row of cells on both sides of the east and west, and a corridor in the middle, which is only 2 meters wide. There is really only a "line of sky" in the entire courtyard. Walking on the corridor is indescribably gloomy and depressing.
.You can smell the stench of dampness from time to time.
The squad leader said that this is the cell where ordinary prisoners are held. There are eight cells on each side. At this moment, because the government had released all the prisoners before the city was broken, the cells were all empty. Xie Erren looked at the door out of curiosity:
The area is very small, the depth is only 1.5 meters, and the width is only 2 meters——
Next update: Volume 7 - Guangzhou Governance Chapter 344