Shopkeeper Liu saw something was not going well and shouted: "Brothers, copycats, come to the door!" As he said this, he had already grabbed a whistle stick.
The guys picked up the sticks together and beat them out with all their strength - they were both guys and thugs, and they had rich fighting experience. Everyone knew that they were encountering a great crisis, and they all cheered up. Beating people outside and driving away the crowd.
The people were even more furious. They seemed to have forgotten why they were here. The anger and sorrow they had felt for many days exploded like a torrent. The man who was knocked down got up, and despite being beaten to the head with a stick and bleeding, he rushed forward with all his strength, held the stick with his hand, and started fighting with the guys. His face was emaciated due to hunger, and his connections were on the verge of death. He didn't know where he could find such strength, and he knocked down several guys in a row.
As soon as the guys fell down, they were immediately submerged in the crowd, punched and kicked, and their screams were quickly drowned in the roar of the crowd.
Shopkeeper Liu saw his men being knocked down one by one, his men retreating step by step, and more and more people gathering outside. He was panicking in his heart, knowing that today he had aroused public anger.
In the past, he would have run away to avoid taking advantage of the current losses, but here is a family fortune that he finally managed to build. There are seven to eight hundred kilograms of rice in the rice bank at the back, as well as more than a thousand taels of silver and a lot of soft goods. Once you run away, there will be nothing left!
He gritted his teeth, pulled out a Burmese knife from the secret compartment under the counter, and shouted loudly: "Brothers, Liang Qingzi! Get on shoulder to shoulder—"
Before he finished speaking, several lime bags were suddenly thrown into the crowd, and Shopkeeper Liu received a solid hit on his face. The shop was suddenly filled with white ash, and the guys who were hit by the lime no longer cared about the "real thing", covering their faces and howling. He stumbled back and ran away.
The commotion of people was like water from a broken embankment. It broke through the door of the rice store in an instant, and the crowd poured in like mercury pouring down the ground. Some people used sticks to chase and beat the workers who were escaping in panic. Some people pushed down the rice bins and filled their bags with rice. The white rice was pushed to the ground one after another, and the white rice was flowing like water. People jumped into the white "rice river" and fished to their heart's content. Some people carry cloth bags, and some simply take off their clothes to carry them. People in the inner circle are grabbing for rice, while people on the outside are desperately trying to get in. A strong young man just picked up a stone-meter straw bag and ran out.
Some of them did not grab the rice, but rushed directly to the backyard to intercept shopkeeper Liu, while others smashed open the cash box. Quickly pour the silver and copper coins in the cash box into the prepared sack. Someone got close and wanted to take advantage of the chaos. He was beaten out immediately.
Hao Yuan ignored the cash box and didn't want the rice. He jumped up to the counter in three steps and shouted loudly: "Folks, please don't make a mess, take them one by one, don't waste it! The rice here is all in vain!" It belongs to us people!”
His voice was loud and resonant. Even in this noisy environment, it instantly overwhelmed the noise in the store. The people inside and outside the store stopped commotion for a while and turned their attention to this person.
"There is a lot of rice here. There is more in the rice bank behind! Don't waste all the rice! There are still many poor people who have no food to eat outside. After everyone has taken the rice, go out and tell the people nearby to come and get it! It’s all the blood and sweat of our people!”
There was a burst of cheers from below. Hao Yuan jumped off the counter. Go back in a hurry. There were seven or eight rice shop clerks lying in various directions in the yard, some were still humming, and some had already straightened up and were motionless.
Shopkeeper Liu's face was covered with gray. He was pushed down under the eaves of the corridor and screamed unwillingly. His face was already bleeding. His hands and body were all bloody.
"Did you tell me?"
"Here you go." One of the young men smiled contemptuously, "Shopkeeper Liu also claims that he is not afraid of killing people with hob meat. He said everything before cutting off five fingers."
As he said this, several people had already moved out several small boxes from the back room. They were heavy and it was obvious that they were all money.
"Send Shopkeeper Liu on his way." Hao Yuan ordered, "No blood!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a strong man standing behind Shopkeeper Liu swung a stick and hit him hard on the back of the head. Shopkeeper Liu didn't even scream, but he collapsed with bleeding from his mouth and nose.
"Don't worry about the rice in the shop. Now everyone is occupying the entrance of Miku. No one is allowed to take the rice casually. They line up according to the rice per person! Regardless of adults or children, everyone who comes will be given a bucket!" Hao Yuan ordered.
Outside, people who got the news flocked in. Although there were seven or eight "policemen" in the town who "helped" in the yamen, they were good at bullying the people on weekdays. It was impossible to go out and face the mob. In order to cause a "civilian uprising", not to mention speaking out to maintain order, they didn't even dare to show their faces. Only a few people rushed all the way to Lin'an County to report to the official.
When the people in the town and neighboring villages heard the news, they came one after another with baskets of rice bags. Hao Yuan and his men pressed rice on people's heads in front of the rice store. In less than half a day, all the rice in the rice store was distributed.
Lin'an County received the news, and the county magistrate quickly sent Dian Shi with a horse to suppress the situation. Unexpectedly, he discovered that the bridge had been burned on the way. Had to take a detour. When they arrived, the entire rice store had been smashed, and except for a few unlucky guys who were wandering around in the empty store hoping to find something, nothing was left - not even dustpans, There were no baskets, reed mats, or even door panels left; they had all been looted.
Stealing rice is like eating from a wealthy family. It is not uncommon in years with frequent famines. However, several people died this time. Lin'an County did not dare to neglect and reported the situation quickly.
However, the rice turmoil spread like a plague throughout northern Zhejiang.
At this time, the people's dissatisfaction in several prefectures in northern Zhejiang was like dry firewood poured with oil. The rice-grabbing operation in Dongguan Town undoubtedly lit a fire above. In the next ten days or so, people in counties in Hangzhou, Huzhou and Jiaxing in northern Zhejiang and Wujiang in Suzhou in the south rioted and destroyed or looted more than 200 rice shops. The entire Jiangnan region was shaken.
China Merchants' ships shipped to Liaodong as early as the end of July: Wu Zhixiang shipped 30,000 shi of rice as promised. Zhao Yingong looked at him with admiration. On this day, he specially hosted a banquet for him at his head office in Shanghai, nominally to settle accounts with him, but in fact he wanted to further test his intention to cooperate.
The food and drinks are naturally Wu Zhixiang's favorite "Australian style" and Cantonese flavors, including the famous Wuzhou dish "paper-wrapped chicken" - of course, paper-wrapped chicken does not yet exist in Wuzhou. It whetted the appetite of Master Wu, who had been living in Jiangnan for more than half a year.
After the wine was half drunk, Zhao Yiggong asked him how to settle the payment. Should I give him one ticket all at once, or should I give him separate tickets?
"I have a list here," Wu Zhixiang took out a piece of paper from her arms. On it were written several "hall numbers" of a certain hall. Under each "hall number" were different numbers written in Suzhou code. There are as few as three hundred and as many as ten thousand.
Zhao Yingong knew that this must be the list of officials from the Ministry of Revenue who participated in the reselling of grain. At a glance, there were about twenty people. If you have a lot of money, you will probably be a senior official in the Ministry of Revenue. If you have a little money, you will be at least an official like the Cang Ambassador in Qingjiangpu.
"Okay, do you want to pay Delong or..."
"All are marked as Delong's notes. Delong's notes are exquisite and beautiful - much better than the rotten paper in Shanxi's house." Wu Zhixiang was very happy after completing the "big thing", "and prepare another thousand taels of cash. "
"Okay." Zhao Yingong immediately called a master who specializes in money management and issued invoices one by one according to the list. Then he ordered someone to bring a thousand taels of silver and put them in a box and bring them over together.
After all the bills were issued, and the cash was only 50,000 taels, Zhao Yingong was a little puzzled and asked:
"What about the remaining silver? Do I prepare cash or..."
"The remaining silver is my capital." Wu Zhixiang smiled and said, "China Merchants Bank counts me a share."
Zhao Yingong nodded: "It's easy to say! It's just your father's side..."
"It doesn't matter." Wu Zhixiang shook his head and said, "I have the final say on this matter." He said jokingly: "You can't buy purple stocks now, so it's only natural that the China Merchants Group let me buy a share. "
Zhao Yingong laughed a few times and did not answer. Although knowing his identity is not a secret for someone like Wu Zhixiang who has been dealing with Guangzhou Station for a long time, it would be too rash to say it to his face.
However, it is acceptable for the other party to take a shareholding - China Merchants Group's money is very tight now, so it is a good thing to pay less than 10,000 taels. Immediately expressed its willingness to accept shares.
Wu Zhixiang was in a good mood. He drank a few more drinks and became less cautious in his words. He smiled and said:
"Speaking of which, Brother Zhao is able to raise so much food this time, thanks to a certain big boss."
Zhao Yingong's heart moved, knowing that this must be the wine talk that might contain some important information, so he didn't say much, just drank with a smile.
As expected, Wu Zhixiang rambled on and said many things. It turned out that the purchase and sale of this batch of grain went so smoothly not only because officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs and Water Transport were dividing the fertilizer, but also because the Nanjing Chief Secretary's Yamen was also involved. ——The fact that the China Merchants Bureau is trying to get enough rice was specifically revealed to them by people in the Chief Secretary's Yamen in Nanjing.
"Otherwise, brother, I am not Zhuge Liang. How could I have expected that your brother would purchase so much rice?"
Zhao Yingong was secretly shocked: This is simply the rhythm of eating the plaintiff and eating the defendant! While they are holding their necks and refusing to give rice, they are insisting on discounting it, and at the same time, they are asking people to come forward to contact black market rice to be shipped at high prices... These officials are really ruthless in their methods of amassing money!
Needless to say, a considerable part of the rice shipped by Wu Zhixiang probably came from the vassal treasury in Nanjing - the grain that should have been allocated to Guan Ning. (To be continued...)
