May 12, 1884. There was a violent knock on the door of Kim Rizheng's house.
"Dang dang dang, dang dang dang …" The knocker on the door kept ringing, reminding the people in the yard that the people outside were very anxious.
Even in the living room behind the main hall, Kim Rizheng felt that something was wrong. The group of Gwangzhou's Black Load Merchants looked at each other. The news of the turmoil in Jing had already spread to Gwangzhou. The Black Load Merchants in Gwangzhou had a good relationship with Lady Min's Group, and there were many people in Gwangzhou who did business with Japan. These two groups of people were the targets of attack from the news from Jing.
Lord Daoyuan had also informed Korea that Lady Min had died in the chaos. Kim Rizheng saw this news in the newspaper, but there were other news in the newspaper. For example, the people in Korea believed that Lady Min was not dead, but had faked her death to escape and colluded with the Black Load Merchants to form an army of tens of thousands of people, ready to fight back to Seoul and regain power. This news frightened Jin Rizheng to death. Similarly, a group of unscrupulous businessmen in Guangzhou were also frightened to death.
The Black Load Merchants did hope to become a member of Lady Min's Group, but that was when Lady Min's Group was in power and prestige. At this time, Lady Min's Group had suffered a devastating blow, and the core figure of Lady Min was publicly announced to be dead. How could the Black Load Merchants have the courage to rebel?
These days, the Black Load Merchants gathered at Kim Rizheng's house for a meeting, hoping to find a way to deal with this predicament. The railway no longer sold tickets, so they could only send people to Jing on horseback, hoping to find someone who could prove that Gwangzhou's Black Load Merchants were loyal to the royal court. Five people went, but only two escaped. The two who escaped recounted in fear that the rebel army had set up checkpoints near Seoul. As long as they looked like Black Load Merchants, they would arrest them and execute them on the spot.
Three of the five people who went were arrested. The two were smart enough to run away when they saw that something was wrong. The three who were caught were killed on the spot.
The sound of knocking on the door from outside was truly hair-raising to the ears of the group of frightened heads of the Black Burden Merchant Guild. Kim Rizheng quickly let the Black Load Merchants slip away through the back door. When the back door opened, someone poked his head out to take a look. The back street was empty, and the group of heads of the Chamber of Commerce hurriedly ran out. Before they all ran out of the back door, a group of people rushed out from the corner of the street. They held wooden sticks in their hands and looked ferocious. He came over and pressed the heads of the Chamber of Commerce to the ground. Before the others returned to the Jin family's residence, this group of people had already rushed into the backyard and arrested Jin Rizheng and the others in a moment.
Jin Rizheng's mind was in a mess. He asked subconsciously, "What do you do?"
The man in the lead laughed heartily, revealing his snow-white teeth. He answered calmly, "Us? I'm here to check the water meter! "
Jin Rizheng had no idea what it meant to check the water meter. If he had read The Story Club published in China, he would probably know that this was a very popular joke, specifically referring to the excuse used by the public security system to trick criminals into opening the door.
But this was no longer important. In towns far away from Han City, groups of Black Paper Merchants, as well as the more famous Black Paper Merchants, were arrested. The railways that no longer provide services to ordinary people were still in operation. The people on the railways were the Railway Public Security, rebel soldiers, and the captured Black Paper Merchants.
As the commander-in-chief, Yuan Weiting looked at the latest list of names on the telegram and could not help but praise Wang Shizhen, "Old Wang! Your plan is really good. When we first made the plan, we wanted to deal with the Black Paper Merchants. I thought we would not be able to do it. Now that these people have been arrested, Korea will not be able to stop our Supply and Marketing Cooperative anymore! "
Yuan Weiting praised, and so did Hou Renjie from the Ministry of Commerce. China had too many ways to control the Goryeo Royal Court, but it was too difficult to get rid of these unscrupulous businessmen without dirtying their hands. Therefore, Wang Shizhen's plan was to target the hundreds of Black Paper Merchants who had openly fought against the Railway and Telegraph Company's Supply and Marketing Cooperative. As long as they could get rid of these hundreds of Black Paper Merchants, the Railway and Telegraph Company would be able to penetrate their sales network into the grassroots of Korea.
The most important thing in this plan was not only the sales of goods at the grassroots of Korea, but also the circulation of RMB in Korea. The local Black Paper Merchants were still stubbornly using metal currency as their trading currency, which made it impossible for RMB to circulate and be used effectively. This was not necessarily Korea's intention to fight against China. It was just that in an agricultural society, using legal paper money required a strong push.
Wang Shizhen did not get complacent because of everyone's praise. He calmly asked, "How many Black Paper Merchants did the rebels kill?"
If these people were handed over to Daejin, he might not go on a killing spree. When Daejin was the regent, in order to reward the Black Paper Merchants, he ordered the establishment of the Black Paper Merchants Hall, and his eldest son, Lee Zaimian, was the commander. Many of the people who were arrested had a good relationship with Daejin. China did not care about this problem. They only cared about who was against China's expansion in Korea and who was obstructing China's expansion in Korea.
Those who had a good relationship with Daejin were directly sent to the hands of the radical faction of the rebels, and they were executed by using the method of killing with a borrowed knife. Those who did not have a good relationship with Daejin were sent to the hands of Daejin, and he used the boiling public opinion in Seoul to force Daejin to execute these people.
In the work of cleaning up the Black Paper Merchants, Hou Renjie and Wang Shizhen were accomplices. Even if he sincerely appreciated Wang Shizhen's talent and agreed with Wang Shizhen's plan. But when Hou Renjie saw Wang Shizhen's calm and serious expression, he couldn't help but feel a little scared. Yuan Weiting, who was responsible for the specific arrangements and giving orders, was also considered the "head of the executioners," but his straightforward style was not scary. The responsibility Wang Shizhen shouldered was truly frightening. She calmly laid out a strategy behind the scenes and made everything seem so logical and logical. It was okay when everyone was working together, but if the two sides stood on opposite sides in the future … Thinking about Wang Shizhen's current methods, it made people feel a chill down their spine.
"I've seen the latest statistics. Those sent to Jingcheng have basically been killed. Are we going to catch another batch now? "Yuan Weiting asked.
Wang Shizhen shook her head slightly. "No, for the time being, don't catch anymore people to Jingcheng. Let those who want to make money by killing go down with us. We will transport them and let them start when they reach the place. On the one hand, they can also get some benefits. On the other hand, they can be considered to be loyal to Daejin and get rid of the local villains. "
Hou Renjie was a little dumbfounded when he heard this. This kind of scheme was too ruthless. He asked, "What happens after that?"
Wang Shizhen slowly replied, "After Daejin kills this batch and controls the local officials, he will naturally feel at ease. At this time, he won't let these people kill again. Maybe he will also deal with some of these people. When the time comes, we will advertise in the newspapers that these people have acted on their own and committed crimes. As long as the propaganda tool is in our hands, we won't dirty our hands. "
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