The county magistrate of Huaqing County, Huo Qisheng, was also riding a donkey. The mountain road was not easy to travel on. When he heard Su Lai talking to his people, he also said, "You guys are the same. You spent so much effort to make us a mere figurehead. What about now? We haven't made you a figurehead yet. I'll give you a chance. If you think you have connections, quickly run away and find someone. "
When the officials of Huaqing County heard the county magistrate's words, they all shook their heads. They didn't dare to run away. If they did, they would be arrested. There was no one they could find. Those who knew them were the county magistrates of neighboring counties. If they ran into each other, they would at most have a meal together. Even if it was a normal matter, they might not help.
Not to mention that the provincial governor of a province wanted to deal with them. Fortunately, they didn't have any lives on them. When they arrived at the provincial governor's place, they would admit their mistakes. Perhaps the provincial governor would let them go.
They were indeed regretful. Who would have thought that the new provincial governor would be so tough? He had money and people, and he didn't show any mercy. They had also heard of Shen Guifu. He was a capable person in the capital, and he was the son of the emperor. If such a person could be dealt with, what were they worth?
The news of the two counties being dealt with was deliberately spread by Zhang Zhong's people. He directly asked people to post notices in the two counties. The notice was written clearly. When the people of the two counties knew about it, they cheered for a while. However, the people who had the Shen family's mark on them were in trouble.
The notice was written clearly that the two counties were to be taken over by the people from the inner courtyard of the Zhang Family and Wang Family. These people from the inner courtyard usually had some contact with them. When they came over, they had specially trained them. Although they were inexperienced, they had no problem holding up the place.
The county magistrate of Huaqing County, Huo Qisheng, and the county magistrate of Ninghai County, Su Lai, had nothing to do with the person surnamed Shen. The geographical location made it impossible for them to interfere with the salt pans. They didn't have to share the money. If they wanted to share, they would take more. They only took out a little to rope in the people under them.
The purpose was to make them a figurehead bit by bit. They couldn't get the money, and they couldn't interfere with the matters of the salt pans.
The two of them had been looking forward to this day ever since they knew that there was a new Provincial Governor. Finally, the day they had been waiting for finally arrived. Just like the heavy rain, the wind and clouds surged and came so quickly.
The two of them gathered together and discussed for a while. Then they gathered their subordinates and asked them to come and surrender themselves. They said that the Provincial Governor might give them a lighter sentence because of their initiative. In fact, they just wanted to bring these people to the Provincial Yamen and let the Provincial Governor deal with them properly. Then they could do things with peace of mind in the future.
It was raining heavily. A group of more than 30 people walked in the rain. They didn't feel cold or uncomfortable at all. The two county magistrates and several people who hadn't been bribed felt very happy. The others were still thinking about what to say when the time came and how the Provincial Governor would deal with them.
*****
In the heavy rain, the construction on the dock also stopped. The workers hid under the temporary shelter and drank hot soup. In order to hurry, they changed the four meals provided by Zhang Zhong into two meals a day. They ate one meal in the morning and one meal in the evening. Zhang Zhong still didn't know about this, otherwise he would never allow it.
It was raining heavily outside. The person in charge of cooking boiled some hot soup and added a lot of ginger. The people who worked had different meals. Those who were assigned to work drank seafood soup. There was little ginger and little oil in it.
Those who were paid to work drank chicken soup. In addition to ginger foam, there were some ginseng whiskers with a layer of oil floating on top of it. There were also some dry biscuits left for them to soak in.
In Sanshui County, of course, the first kind was better. It was seafood soup. No one liked the second kind. There was no lack of chickens in Sanshui County, especially the Zhuangzi of Zhang Zhong and Wang Family. But it was different here. Where did the seafood come from? The people who were sent here fished it from the shore.
Small crabs and conches could be fished up casually. The people who cooked didn't even wash them. They directly boiled a big pot of soup. It was salty, so they didn't need to add salt.
"The rain is good. It has washed away some dirty things. Ah Nong, eat quickly. You don't need to put the biscuits in the soup. Just bite off a little bit and taste it slowly. Then drink the soup. That's good."
A person was looking for the best way to eat food. He looked at the people who were sent here not far away and said loudly on purpose to let them hear him. They usually should have three meals a day. Others had two meals, but they only had one meal. No one in the local people would think that it was wrong.
It was good enough to drink some soup now. Who would give them biscuits? Those people also heard it. They couldn't tell what they were feeling. If it was before, how could they be so embarrassed? They ate and drank well. Unfortunately, they didn't enjoy enough. Everything turned into bubbles in the sea.
They didn't know how long they would have to work here. Some of them were sentenced to ten years of work. They were worried that they would have to work for ten years. When they were free, they would probably be exhausted to death.
The one called Ah Nong was a young man of sixteen or seventeen years old. At this time, he was staring at a person on the other side. This person had beaten him more than once. He would find an excuse to beat him up. If it weren't for the whip marks on this person's body when he came over, he really wanted to go over and beat him up. He wanted to return the favor to him.
In the end, he didn't need to do anything. That person was in so much pain that he wanted to die. When the marks on his body came into contact with the seawater, the taste was indescribable.
The person who was being stared at seemed to feel this gaze. When he turned his head and saw that it was Ah Nong, he sighed, turned around, and slowly drank the soup.
"Hmph! He got off easy. Since he was whipped, then forget it. The last time he beat me, I was in pain for half a month. I was afraid that I would have to work even if the salt water came into contact with it. He deserved it. "Ah Nong took a bite of the biscuit and muttered.
The people from Kaifeng were eating with them. Because of Zhang Zhong, the people from the two places seemed to be more pleasing to the eye. They gathered together to chat. When they worked, they also helped each other. They seemed to be very harmonious.
The people from Kaifeng could drink any soup. In fact, they wanted to taste the seafood soup, but there was little ginger in it. They could only choose the chicken soup. There was a thick layer of oil on top. When they put their mouth on it and sucked, the oil was still thick. It seemed that they couldn't finish it no matter how much they sucked.
Just as they were hiding under the shed and chatting, several figures appeared in the distance. They could not be seen clearly in the heavy rain and were very blurry. When the seven figures approached, the local people immediately said to a woman who came from Kaifeng who was cooking, "Quickly prepare seven bowls of soup. Add more ginger. These are people who came down from the mountain. They must have been drenched all the way here."
The woman immediately began to serve the soup. In addition to the ginger, she also added some chopped green onions. She placed them there and waited for the seven people to come closer.
Among the seven people, one of them was being supported by others. He was limping as he walked. By the time the seven people reached the nearest shed in the rain, all of them had lost their strength and sat on the ground. One of them who was supporting an injured person even started to whimper softly.
The injured person grabbed his thigh with one hand and touched the fourteen or fifteen-year-old child beside him with the other. He said a few words that others couldn't understand. The older child finally stopped crying. Only then did the injured person turn his head and say to the person who brought the soup over, "Brother Liu, please don't blame me.
"Thank you. It takes six days to walk from our place to here. I don't know if it will rain or not. When I saw the place, it was raining heavily. I accidentally fell down and cut a big hole in my leg. I also sprained my foot. The fur and jade feathers I brought were all wet. I can't sell them for much money.
Remember the money for the soup first. Oh, and the ginseng roots. Well, after selling these things, I will give you the money. Give me some of the burned wood ash. I will stop the bleeding. They don't understand what you are saying. Don't ask them. Are you going to build a dock here? "
This person's face was pale and he spoke weakly. Listening to his words, it seemed that he existed specifically to be a translator.
The other six listened to this man in all matters. He said a few words to them, then picked up the bowl of soup and drank it in big gulps. When the woman passed them a biscuit, they took it and ate it without saying a word.
Over there, someone had already started to make wood ash for this person. This was the most common method. After the wood ash was brought over, this person pulled the leather trousers hard. A one-foot long hole appeared on the outside of the leg. It was still gurgling with blood. The place beside it was washed white by the rain.
Just as this person was about to smear the ash, a person from the inner courtyard of the Zhang family, who had come from more than 20 sheds, shouted, "Wait a minute, don't use that ash, I have something good here."
The injured person stopped what he was doing. He looked at the person and said, "I don't have so much money to give you. Is this a seedling on your clothes? Why do you embroider this thing? We only embroider it on the body. We won't stab such a weak seedling. "
"Weak seedling? This big brother, don't look at this seedling. How many people tremble in fear when they see it? How many people will feel at ease when they see it? Come, big brother, I will take a look at your wound. It's free. You came from the mountain, right? My master, that is, the Provincial Governor, has regulations.
Anyone who comes from the mountain can send goods to the provincial government office. The government office will buy them at a high price. They will also send a set of clothes, two catties of salt, five catties of vegetable oil, twenty catties of corn, and twenty catties of wheat flour. If you are injured, no matter how serious it is, as long as you are not dead, you will do your best to save you. "
As this person spoke, he had already put the medical cotton into a bottle of alcohol. He asked the person next to him to open this person's wound. After taking a deep breath, he said to this person, "Big brother, it's very painful. Bear with it."
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