The secret activities of Chen Minggang and Huang Hankun finally reached a climax. Not only did the secret activities reach a climax, but violence finally occurred. A grain farmer could not bear the food shortage and harassed and blackmailed him many times, and finally beat the other party out.
Of course, violent incidents are common during the annual grain collection. Sometimes the grain cadres beat people, sometimes they are beaten. It is not a big deal. Chen Minggang heard that his men were beaten, and he was secretly happy - violently resisting the grain collection. This
What a good charge. In the past, the county did not dare to offend you, but now Australians do not accept this trick.
At that moment, he asked someone to write off all the grain that this family had paid, and count them as a grain debtor who had not paid even though they were consuming rice.
In the past ten days, the richer the people in the county, the more disturbed and uneasy they were. It was rumored that Chen Minggang had colluded with the thieves and planned to attack several large households to scare the monkeys. There were also rumors that Chen Minggang was completely "falsely passing on the imperial edict". For a while,
All kinds of true and false news are flying all over the place, making it difficult for people to tell the difference.
Because they don’t know what the outcome of the negotiations will be, the big households are preparing nervously: some are hiding their belongings, some are sending away their wives and children, and some are strengthening the walls. In order to win people’s hearts, many big households have exempted and reduced the number of tenants.
Rent, plus wages for the long-term servants.
Some families even stopped living in their own homes and moved into the villages of relatives and friends whose homes were more fortified. The tense atmosphere gradually reached its peak.
Based on the reports from various parties, Wu De knew that Huang Huangkun had collected the joint posters and was preparing to formally submit them in front of the management office building of Dongmen City in three days. The local aborigines could not enter Bairen City, so for them,
In Dongmen City, the management office building with a majestic sign and "police" standing guard at the door is the "yamen" - this place does have some characteristics of a yamen, such as various dispute mediation, leased land repayment, etc.
Yes, people are arrested.
As for Chen Minggang's group, they are also well prepared to deal with it. According to Chen Minggang's instructions, three people have been found from the county as scapegoats. It has been agreed that if an Australian wants to kill someone, they will receive a pension of three hundred taels per person.
If you stay in the team for a month, you will be given five taels of silver. Your family will be given thirty taels of housing allowance.
In case the Australians were not deceived by this, the big bosses refused to let him go and insisted that he hand over the backbone of his men. Chen Minggang also thought about it and handed over Zhou Qi - using Zhou Qi as his great disciple.
, enough to satisfy everyone. He was tired of this apprentice. Not only because of his little tricks behind his back, but also because of the rumors about Zhou Qi and Qiu Hong that were widely circulated in the county.
The so-called rumors can also kill people. It was originally a myth. Chen Minggang also knew that there was no adultery between the two, but the story spread too widely and became vivid. After a long time, it seemed like it was true.
He can't keep his face.
Zhou Qi seemed to work very hard, going to the countryside every day for several days. But every time he came back, his face looked heavy. He didn't even dare to see Chen Minggang - probably because things were not going well.
"What a waste." Chen Minggang cursed secretly. This incompetent apprentice probably got a lot of benefits from others, and it will be difficult to speak again if he doesn't come out now. Thinking of this, he felt more and more that he had thrown Zhou Qi out as a scapegoat.
The decision is correct.
The day to submit the petition finally arrived. Huang Huangkun and Li Xiaopeng originally planned to mobilize students from the county school and Molixuan Academy to submit the petition, but Wang Ci persuaded them not to make a big deal out of it.
"Hun Kun, just go with Mr. Liu and the others. If there are too many people there and they talk too much, they may say something inappropriate. By then, the Australians will be so angry that they won't be able to do this.
"
"I want to show them the character of Lingao scholars..."
"Queen Kun!" Wang Ci stopped his eloquent talk, "Don't be arrogant! The Australians have weapons in their hands, and they are outsiders. It's rare that they have some desire to change, so they can only try to do it slowly. You are so arrogant and leading
Students go to make trouble, and if they are offended - there will be no resurrection after death!"
Huang Xunkun calmly thought that what Wang Ci said was right, and then he breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Sir, you have taught me a lesson."
"It's rare that Mr. Liu is willing to come forward to seek justice in this matter. All you need to do is accompany Mr. Liu with your friends and a few others. Australians respect Mr. Liu very much. With his intervention, things can always turn around."
Huang Henkun was submissive. In his view: Australians are greedy, and if Liu Dalin comes forward, the other party must be responding to the accident and making some symbolic concessions. The essence of aggregation will not change.
Judging from his many years of experience in suppressing bandits with his father, whether they are bandits or pirates, their root is food. A large group of people who have gathered will be in chaos without food. The thieves are no exception. Since they have controlled Lingao, they will not
Let's miss this opportunity to collect a large amount of food.
But this is good. Huang Hankun thought, it can make the big investors who were originally lucky to take a firm stand. It will be much easier to do anything in the future.
Early the next morning, Huang Henkun, Li Xiaopeng, a few friends and domestic servants went to Liu Dalin's house in the west of the city. The place was already filled with relatives and friends of the Liu family who had fled from the countryside to seek help. It was heard that Liu Dalin wanted to
I went in person to talk to the Australians about autumn grain. Everyone got up early and gathered under the eaves to see him off.
Liu Dalin, neatly dressed and with bright robes and belts, was pushed out of the house by his servants. Seeing his upright look, everyone praised him: He is indeed a man of high moral character.
Huang Hankun and others saw the ceremony and pushed the wheelchair outside. The three relatives and four dependents of the Liu family and the servants in the corridor stopped to watch, and people kept bowing and saluting.
Liu Dalin was sitting in a wheelchair. Seeing the scene in front of him, he felt an impassioned feeling in his chest, and secretly blamed himself for thinking nonsense. He wanted to say something, but he couldn't think of the right words for a while, so he had to return the favor.
Outside the door, a bamboo and rattan sedan has been prepared, and everyone helped him get on the sedan. Huang Hankun and others neither rode in the sedan nor rode horses, but followed him on foot.
The county government office is closed. As usual during the busy farming season, the county government does not release complaints. The matter of collecting grain and land is too difficult. Fortunately, neither Liu Dalin nor Huang Henkun came to the county government office. The big gentry is still Australia.
They can't afford to offend anyone, so they are happy to pretend to be deaf and dumb.
"What if something really happens?" Wu Mingjin was a little worried about this matter. If there was a "food trouble" during the food collection, his future would be doomed.
The so-called grain disturbance refers to the large-scale refusal of grain households in the county to pay grain taxes. This is of course a major violation of the royal law, but the county magistrate also has a heavy responsibility, and it is certain that he will be dismissed from office.
Wang Zhaomin was very confident. He smiled confidently and said: "Dong Weng! You are afraid of causing trouble, aren't Australians afraid?"
Wu Mingjin nodded slightly and admired this master very much.
"Just wait and see what happens." Wang Zhaomin added in a pretentious manner. Of course, for him and the county magistrate, doing nothing is the best choice.
Liu Dalin's sedan arrived at the management office building of Dongmen City and sent someone to deliver the name card. Dugu's proposal and Xiong Buyou were already waiting inside. They received Wu De's instructions to prepare to receive "petitioners" - and they also had to "be courteous and considerate"
”.
"A landlord still needs to be polite?" Dugu asked dissatisfied when he proposed.
"Who said he was the only Jinshi? And he was planning to take advantage of him." Xiong Buyou stood up, straightened his clothes, and went out together with Dugu's proposal.
It was Liu Dalin's first time visiting an Australian government office. He looked around curiously. He saw that it was a two-story building made of red bricks, square and regular, with large windows.
And long and narrow, inlaid with shiny glass...
"It's too extravagant." Liu Dalin shook his head. The door was semicircular at the top and was very tall. There was also a guard in black clothes and a cane hat standing next to the door. These are the so-called "policemen". I heard that
They are local indigenous people.
I saw two people coming out of the door, one tall and one short, one fat and the other thin, complementing each other. They were both wearing blue cloth jackets with four pockets, no hats, and their hair was cut like a monk. Their feet were wearing ropes.
Canvas shoes. There is no silk or satin on the whole body, and there are no toys accessories.
Liu Dalin was surprised to see that the Australian leader was so plainly dressed. According to the news he heard, Australians are well-educated in making money and are good at manufacturing all kinds of ingenious goods. They should have accumulated a lot of wealth. Judging from what they usually do
Things to do: building roads and bridges, running schools, building big ships, all of which are businesses that cost a lot of money, but I didn’t expect that personal enjoyment would be so hard! I couldn’t help but feel a bit of respect in my heart.
Xiong Buyou came up to him, exchanged a few words, and immediately welcomed him and the group into the reception room on the second floor.
As soon as he entered the reception room, Liu Dalin almost stopped laughing. It seems that although Australians are very capable, they are actually very vulgar. It is a large room with whitewashed walls and fine wood on the floor. The autumn sunshine shines through the glass
The window came in, and it was extremely bright. The furniture and furnishings inside were haphazard.
The walls, like stalls selling paintings, are densely hung with various calligraphy and paintings. Whether it is the nave, banners or screens, there are even a few fans. Landscapes, flowers and birds, meticulous brushwork, freehand brushwork, splash ink, green...all kinds
They are hanging randomly everywhere. There are actually a few Suzhou films among them.
In the corner, there are a few large vases randomly placed, with nondescript feather dusters stuck in them. These large vases are as tall as half a person. They are not used in industry. People don't want these things to decorate the house. It would be a pity to destroy them, so they might as well just leave them.
Here comes the remaining heat.
Obviously, the taste of Australians is very poor. Even saying that they are nouveau riche is flattering. Liu Dalin secretly shook his head, and the wealthy locals in this county have better taste than them.