"Sir, it has been confirmed that the Southwest King is indeed here and is not far from Ezhou."
Ezhou magistrate's office.
When the magistrate Hua Xingwen heard the report from his entourage, his face turned ugly, and he couldn't help but ask: "Do you know who they brought with them?"
The attendant said: "I'm not sure about the details. I just know that there are a lot of merchant ships accompanying them."
It seems that what the Second Highness said is true, the Southwest King is really coming to build Ezhou.
This should have been good news for Hua Xingwen, but...
A look of solemnity appeared on his face, and he paused and asked, "Is there any news from the Ministry of Commerce?"
Without waiting for the entourage to answer.
At this time, there was a sudden noise outside the Yamen.
"What's going on outside?"
Hua Xingwen scolded.
A yamen servant came in quickly and said, "Sir, these are the workers in Xincheng. They came to the yamen again to ask for wages."
Hua Xingwen said, "Didn't I ask you to disperse the people? Why are there still people gathering?"
The yamen officer said: "My lord, my brothers have already done what we were told, but after chasing them away they came again, and there are obviously more people gathered today."
Hua Xingwen cursed: "You bastard, disperse the people quickly, the Southwest King is coming soon."
"yes!"
The entourage was about to retreat after receiving the order, when another government servant came in, "Sir, Master Zhang is here!"
"Please!"
Hua Xingwen quickly stood up after hearing this.
Ezhou New City is a key project of the imperial court. Naturally, the prefect alone cannot bear this responsibility, so he can only help from the side. In addition to him, there is Zhang Weimin, director of the Commerce Bureau, who also serves as a doctor in the household department.
The Ministry of Commerce is equivalent to the Six Ministries, and the Bureau of Commerce is one of the three major departments of the Ministry of Commerce. It is conceivable that the director is no less than the Minister of the Six Ministries.
Hua Xingwen did not dare to neglect at all.
Soon, a middle-aged official with a calm expression walked in.
Hua Xingwen hurriedly stepped forward, "Master Zhang, you are here. The Southwest King is coming soon. What should we do now?"
Compared with his nervousness, Zhang Weimin did not fluctuate much and said: "Master Hua, why do you need to worry? It will come when you come, what else can you do?"
this?
Hua Xingwen was startled.
What else? That's the King of Southwest! Sweeping the Xiongnu, banishing the wolf to Xu, such a vicious person, Ezhou New City was restarted by the other party, and now it has become such a mess, what else can be done?
Zhang Weimin said again: "Master Hua, don't forget that this world's surname is Zhu, and the Second Highness's name is Zhu."
Hua Xingwen's expression froze. As the prefect of one side and the prefect of Ezhou, he, as a prefect, has followed the construction of the new city, and naturally has access to more things.
He had already heard some things about the great talent, and the other party was clearly hinting to him that the King of the Southwest was no longer the King of the Southwest. He might have been the king in the Southwest, but here, His Highness had the final say.
During this period of time, the court had undergone tremendous changes, the third prince had gained a bad reputation, and the second prince had gained the favor of the Princess of Wanxiang Kingdom. In the battle for the crown prince, he had already been in an absolutely dominant position.
On the contrary, the Southwest King has been eliminated.
However, having said that, Hua Xingwen was still a little worried, "What do you think, Mr. Zhang? The workers are making trouble, and the Southwest King is afraid that..."
Zhang Weimin said calmly: "Come on, come on! If they want to make trouble, let them make it! It's best to make it bigger, then we won't have anything to do."
He said with a sneer on his lips.
Hua Xingwen was startled at first, then understood.
Outside the Yamen.
At this time, there were indeed many people gathered on the street. They all looked at the Yamen with sad faces. Some people were praying: "Please make the decision for us, Lord Magistrate."
There are also people who are shouting loudly, "It is only natural to pay back debts and pay back our wages!"
"Yes! Pay us back our wages."
"..."
Various sounds mixed together.
At this time, the gate of the government office finally opened, and a group of government officials came out.
When the crowd saw this, they immediately watched eagerly.
The leading officer, however, looked arrogant and said: "You bunch of unruly people, get out of here right away. If you don't, we'll all be beaten out."
As he said that, the police officers lowered their killing sticks directly towards the crowd that was coming.
Suddenly there was a howl from the front.
Some of the workers were panicked, some were angry, and some shouted loudly: "Why should I beat people? It is natural to pay back debts."
The leader of the Yamen said: "You thieves, the new city is being built for the imperial court. If you dare to gather people to make trouble, the beating will be light. Beat them all out."
Following this order, all the officials became more merciless, and their killing sticks fell like raindrops.
The workers were already holding their anger, and now every one of them was angry.
Pushing each other.
The scene was chaotic.
Among the crowd, several men looked at each other.
One of them took out a curved bow and shot two arrows directly at the officer in front.
"Kill people, kill people!"
The scene instantly turned into chaos, and all the government officials were obviously panicked. The leader of the government officials was furious, "You are so bold and cunning, you dare to kill the government officials, take them all down!"
"..."
"The yamen is unethical and oppresses the people. I can't survive anyway, so I'll fight them!"
"Yes! If you fight with them, you will starve to death without wages. If you ask for wages, they will beat you to death. You will just die."
"Kill these sons of bitches, damn them, they never looked at us as human beings."
"Kill the dog officer, and all the wages will be stolen by the dog officer."
"..."
The workers couldn't hold it in for a long time. The yamen has not paid their wages, and they have been squeezed and beaten in various ways. With ulterior motives, many of them have been dragged into the water, and they can only go to the dark side.
The people all followed blindly. It may be said that they had no way out at this time.
Because what has happened is irreversible.
Whether they do it or not, they can't escape.
The whole scene was in chaos. Once people got red-eyed, they wouldn't be able to care so much. There were all kinds of killing cries.
"What's going on ahead?"
Zhu Tai came all the way from Kyoto quickly. As soon as he entered Ezhou, he realized that something was wrong.
The accompanying guards hurriedly went to investigate and returned quickly, "Sorry, Your Highness, the people of Ezhou New City have rebelled and have already invaded the prefect's Yamen."
"What did you say?"
Zhu Tai's face changed drastically, and a look of panic appeared in his eyes.
It is not fun for the common people to rebel. As a prince, once he is in such a situation, he must be the primary target, so...
"Your Highness, we must leave Ezhou and return to Beijing immediately, otherwise the consequences will be disastrous."
Guard Road.
Zhu Tai was also panicked. Under such circumstances, it was obviously impossible to say that he was not afraid, but the purpose of this trip...
He immediately asked: "Where is Lin Qingfeng?"
The guard hurriedly said: "Back to Your Highness, according to the previous news, the Southwest King should have arrived at Ezhou Pier soon."
Zhu Tai said: "Then let's go to the dock."
The guard said: "Your Highness, I'm afraid this is inappropriate. After the rebels take over the prefect's Yamen, they will definitely control the dock. By then..."
Zhu Tai gritted his teeth and said, "Take a gamble and go to the dock!"
…
