quiet. The north of Taicang Prefecture is close to the Yangtze River. It is a small and wealthy village. It was already the second watch, and the whole village was already asleep. In the dark night, the scattered yards on both sides of the river were peaceful.
But soon, a long torch appeared in the far distant night, breaking the silence. The long line of torches was like a terrifying fire dragon, plunging into the yard and immediately burning the whole world. The sky-high flames burning in the courtyard illuminated the area for miles around. In the fire, government officials armed with water and fire sticks chased the men who snatched Haibu from the fire and beat them with sticks.
The neighing of donkeys and horses, the cries of children, and the cries of women all merged into one.
On the grain drying ground between the fires, the gray-haired patriarch knelt on the ground, leading the most eloquent people in the village to kowtow in front of Taicang Prefecture colleagues with tears in his eyes. There were more and more gravels on the old man's forehead, and he gradually started to bleed.
But in the dancing firelight, the middle-aged civil servant was sitting on a bamboo sedan in the open sky, his face was ashen.
The fires all over the village became more and more intense, burning up all the wealth in the village. The men gradually became desperate, gave up the useless act of robbing Haibu, and knelt under the yamen's water and fire sticks. I can't cry for a long time.
But suddenly, a woman rushed out of the fire with a child in her arms. When the government officials were not paying attention, she bumped into the arm of Zhizhou Tongzhi, knocking the middle-aged civil servant sitting on the sedan to the ground.
¡°I¡¯ll bite you to death, you bitch!¡±
The village¡¯s Haibu was burned, and its livelihood in the second half of the year was hopeless. It was a problem for the adults to eat, and it was obvious that they could not feed the children in their arms. The rural woman was so angry that she bit Zhizhou's ear.
But before she could bite her, the master behind her kicked her to the ground. The government officials next to them had cold sweat on their backs and breathed a long sigh of relief. But soon, they came out with fire in their heads, rushed forward and beat the woman half to death with sticks. How could the crying child in the swaddling clothes stand up to such a stick? After being hit by that stick, he never made a sound again.
Seeing that the children in the village were beaten to death, several men suddenly rushed up with blood-red eyes, screaming. But halfway through, he was grabbed by the middle-aged people in the clan and threw him to the ground. These middle-aged people have lived their whole lives and the biggest official they have seen is the father in the county government office, but they have never seen the county magistrate. These villagers and small traders would definitely not be able to offend the officials. The chief of the government officials in the yamen will die if they want you to die, and live if they want you to live.
The head of the government service is like this, but the county magistrate is even more powerful. But now, the magistrate Tongzhi, who is bigger than the county magistrate, personally led a team to ban Haibu and the older villagers. Of course you know the importance of it. They didn't want to let the young people in the village go up to die, so they quickly stopped him.
Only one of the strongest men rushed out and knocked down a fire and water stick that was beating the half-dead woman. But while he was fighting with the yamen servant, the stick next to him came over. One of the catchers pulled out a machete and slashed the man on the back.
Blood splattered all over the body of the sixth grade colleague next to him.
¡° Seeing the government officials using knives, the villagers here dare not move again. Lying on the ground, trembling and sobbing, he crawled on the ground and watched the woman in the village being beaten to death. In the crackling fire, it suddenly quieted down, leaving only blood-red eyes staring at the ferocious government officials.
That Tongzhi was thrown to the ground by the woman and was frightened. At this time, he was splashed with blood again, and his face became a little ferocious.
Getting up from the ground, the middle-aged civil servant took a sip and spat out the blood in his mouth.
"The government has explicitly banned sea cloth, and I led a team to burn cloth. Do you and other unruly people want to rebel?"
Next to the elderly patriarch who was kowtowing on the ground, a young man raised his head.
"The sea ban has been banned for so many years, but it has never been strictly prohibited. Our village has paid filial piety to everyone in the yamen. Why do you suddenly come to burn cloth this time?"
Hearing this, the fellow scholar squinted his eyes and looked at the young man.
He had a gentle face, and his face was very fair, but there was no scarf on his head. He was obviously a scholar who had not received any honors. The scholars in this small village were probably supported by the tribe, and they wanted to have someone in the tribe who had a reputation and could speak for the tribe. But these days, if you don't have a way, you may not be able to get fame. That fellow scholar was from a large Jin gentry family, so naturally he was not the same type of person as these local scholars, so there was no reason to take him seriously.
With a cold snort, the colleague looked livid and did not answer him.
The Shaoxing master was from a humble background, and he sympathized with the scholar. He frowned and said,
"The previous Suzhou Tiger Hill Conference was attended by celebrities from the south of the Yangtze River. At the conference, Duke Rutian ordered all prefectures and counties to strictlyThe number of children exceeds 100,000. In the future, if I become prime minister of six provinces, all these incomes will be lost. From the military gate, the money sent to the princes of the capital may be overwhelmed. "
Xiong Wencan looked at his master dumbly, unable to form an answer.
In the three halls of Nanuoda's Governor's Yamen, the master and the servant were speechless, and for a moment they were extremely depressed.
After a long time, Xiong Wencan choked and said, "Find a reliable person and bring a message to Nanhaito Qiongshan, saying that Xiong Wencan can't control Fujian and Guangdong. Let them do whatever they want here in the future. Let¡¯s prepare early.¡±