,
Because of this incident, Xie Erren had no intention of continuing to "inspect" outside the city, but the two pontoon bridges had not been "inspected" yet. The Canglong Floating Bridge and the Guijiang Floating Bridge connected Hedong, Hexi and Henan, making Wuzhou Three rivers and six banks are connected into one.
Now that both pontoon bridges have been destroyed in the war, the daily life of Wuzhou people has been greatly affected. For the Wuzhou Municipal Government, smooth traffic is also related to whether the security forces can quickly reach various key points outside the city. So Xie Erren had to go and see it.
From Longmu Temple to the Guijiang Floating Bridge, you just need to go south along the bank of the Guijiang River. The river bank in this area is close to the city. It used to be full of docks, warehouses and shops, and it was very lively. At this time, there were ruins everywhere - fortunately, most of the market and piers were still preserved, but every house was closed, giving it a deserted and depressed look. Xie Erren sighed as he walked: This Fubo army went too far in fighting, and they ended up in such a miserable state!
He suddenly remembered something, turned around and asked, "Why are the shops here closed? Don't you want them to open as soon as possible?"
Pai Jia, who came to accompany him, said with a smile, "I don't know what I know. This area outside the city is now in chaos. Bandits are rampant. The street fences are damaged. Even in broad daylight, there are people committing robberies - how dare the shops open their doors to make a living!" "
Xie Yiren didn't expect the security outside the city to be so bad, but it was inevitable when he thought about it: the old three-class government officials were dying and running away. Many people knew about the rectification of government officials in Guangzhou, and asked themselves whether they had blood debts or public anger. Even though there was no Naturally, they would not dare to come back. In the end, only twenty people came to report, and they were already beyond their capabilities to be responsible for the security of the city. As for the militia that was hastily established, it was a ragtag group of people with no character.
"Don't worry, I will arrange for the militia to be on duty. However, each merchant here must also contribute his own efforts to repair the street fences. If there are breaks and gaps everywhere, regardless of whether they use bricks or wood, they will always be blocked. .”
Naturally, Card A said "here" repeatedly, and Zhao Toyota quickly wrote down another stroke in his notebook. This is an instruction given to all secretaries of the elders: The speeches made by elders during inspections and talks abroad must be recorded with key points and formed into memoranda. In the past, elders often issued various "instructions" frequently during inspections and then forgot all about them after they returned home. It leaves a bad impression on naturalized people and indigenous people as a "good talker".
Xie Yiren declined the sedan chair and walked along the street to take a look, stopping from time to time to ask for help. Then he came to the Cow Shit Wharf where the Guijiang Floating Bridge is located.
The location of the Guijiang Floating Bridge is roughly the location of the later Yuanjiang Bridge. To the east of the bridge is the Cow Shit Wharf, to the east is Xiaonan Road, and to the west of the bridge is Sanhezui University Campus. There are dozens of steps of masonry on both sides of the bridge head, each with a pair of iron pillars, with two wrought iron locks hanging on them. Boats are moored on the chains, and wooden boards are covered on the surface and between the boats to form a bridge. There are also railings on both sides. But at this time, not only was there no trace of the boat, but the two iron chains were also broken and sank in the river.
Under the pier, there are also many sunk and burned shipwrecks. Together with the houses destroyed by war near the cow dung pier, it is a desolate and lonely scene after the war.
He Dongli introduced that the pontoon bridge was first built by Han Yong and the local guard eunuch Chen Ping. A total of 56 boats were used, and another ten boats were used as backup, which could be increased or decreased according to the fluctuation of the water surface to facilitate the lifting and lowering of the bridge deck. It has been renovated and replaced over the years, but only the iron pillars and chains are still old items.
The chain itself can be opened and closed, and when ships pass by, it can be loosened to make way for the channel. It can be connected when there is no boat traffic. Although it is slightly inconvenient for the traffic in Guijiang River, it is a great virtue for the people on both sides of the strait.
Whether it is from the perspective of winning over people's hearts, making it easier to dispatch troops, or restoring market prosperity, this pontoon bridge must be repaired as soon as possible.
Xie Erren asked the local Paijia to summon the bridge management personnel. After asking, he found out that not all the ships were destroyed, and there were still seven or eight prepared boats that survived. Even so, the gap was not small. The people in charge of the bridge also complained endlessly. It turned out that although the bridge was built by the government, the daily use and maintenance were the responsibility of nearby businessmen and people. Although the government sent people to set up cards at the bridgehead to collect taxes, all the maintenance costs of the bridge had to be "self-funded" by the merchants, which became a big burden for shops on both sides of the strait.
He listened to the "representatives" complaining and felt a little impatient - he had heard this too much since he entered the city, endless complaints: the clerks retained in the yamen, the "virtuous village elders", and ordinary people. ...As soon as we ask about the specific situation, there are many difficulties. They looked at him eagerly, hoping that he would come up with a solution. Even the naturalized cadres and soldiers had the same tone: in their view, elders should be omnipotent.
How do you know that I am also a clay Bodhisattva crossing the river, and you don’t even know what to do! Thinking of the poor villagers in the aftermath, Xie Erren's mood became even worse - he didn't know how the money and food had been collected.
With such a tired mood, Xie Erren hurriedly left the ferry and returned to the government office. People from the Planning Institute's search team have already taken inventory of the loot and various public treasury contents at the Wuzhou Prefecture and County levels and made a booklet.
Xie Erren looked at it and found that there was not much money in general: there was almost no food and money. He hated Xiong Wencan even more: How much food was wasted in Wuzhou with tens of thousands of people!
There were a lot of miscellaneous supplies in the loot, but most of them were swords, guns and weapons, which did not help his current predicament at all - he couldn't use these many swords and guns, and the Ming Dynasty's Firearms Senate looked down upon them. It seems that the ships abandoned by the Ming army still have some value, and can at least be used to repair the pontoon bridge.
He was thinking about what things could be used and what things needed to be done as soon as possible. He was thinking and writing at the same time. After a long time, he felt a headache. He stood up and turned around. Suddenly he remembered the female assassin and called Zhao Toyota:
"What happened to the female assassin?"
"He was detained in the prison." Zhao Toyota said. "According to the officer, he was very strong-tempered. After being caught, he wanted to bite his tongue. Later, he wanted to hit a wall on the road. Now he was shackled to the wall and even had something in his mouth. The execution room The secretary's office asks the chief to tell me how to deal with it?"
All you need to do is send the naturalized cadres in charge of public security to handle this kind of thing. To say that it is important is nothing more than to find out whether there is an "anti-senator group" behind the scenes. If you find it troublesome, you can just deal with it directly: whether it is execution on the spot. Whether to relax the frontline escorting Lingao to "reform through labor" is a matter of one sentence.
However, Xie Erren's reporter instinct revived: there must be big news behind this matter! His nose seemed to smell the stench of major social news, regardless of the fact that he was one of the parties involved.
"No, I want to interrogate him personally!" Xie Erren said flatly.
In addition to the fact that his nature is hard to change, this also includes his intention to use familiar things to dilute the depressed mood at hand.
"Yes, I'll ask someone to bring her over right now!" Zhao Fengtian has been working beside the elders for a long time and is used to the sudden ideas from the chiefs. The saying "The chief is always right" has almost become a superstition among old naturalized people. So he turned around and went to do it without any doubt.
Xie Erren stopped him: "I'm going to the cell for interrogation. Don't bring me here."
This place has been converted into an office, and there are documents and maps everywhere. It is not suitable for prisoners and retained government officials to come in. Xie Erren still has some sense of confidentiality.
Zhao Toyota immediately led the way and took him to the door of the prison.
Wuzhou Fulao is actually located in the southwest corner of Fuya - although the size and construction quality of Fuxian Dalao throughout the Ming Dynasty vary, they are all carved from the same mold in form. Specifically, they were all ordered by Zhu Yuanzhang. It was built in the shape of a yamen. Wuzhou government office is no exception.
Although ordinary residential buildings are mostly made of wood or bamboo fences and made of mud, this prison and the county government office have the same treatment. They are all built with handmade blue bricks, which are very elegant. The walls are even taller and stronger, and with age, they look even more eerie.
The gate of the prison is a hard-mountain-style tiled house, three rooms wide and one room deep, facing south and north. The middle room is a door, and the two rooms on both sides are mullioned windows. This is the entrance to the cell and the place where the guards work, so it is also called the "passing hall".
In the hall, the cell leader and cellmates had already received the news. They all put on neat clothes to greet him. When they saw Erren coming, they all saluted.
Xie Erren waved his hand: "Don't be too polite. Where is the assassin?"
"She will be detained in the death row at the back." The squad leader took a step forward and reported respectfully, "This woman is very strong-willed. She tried to commit suicide several times, but she could only be shackled. Master, please tell me where to interrogate her?"
Xie Erren looked at the hall. It was not a big place, and the east and west rooms were even more inconvenient because they were where the prison chief worked. He remembered watching the Peking Opera "Su San Qi Jie" that there was a prison temple. It was a temple and at least had a room, which could be used for interrogations.
"I heard that there is a Hell Temple in the prison, so it should be there."
The prison chief was stunned and said with a smile: "There is a prison temple, but... it's just... the place is too small and it's not convenient..."
This time, it aroused the suspicion of Jing Erren. He had never been to the prison before, but now he wanted to take a look, so he said: "What are you afraid of? If it's not suitable, just change - lead the way!"
Seeing that he had already made up his mind and was reluctant to disobey him, the cell leader immediately led the way.
After passing the hall, there is a long and narrow courtyard, with a row of cells on the east and west sides, and a corridor in the middle, only 2 meters wide. There is really only a "sliver of sky" above the entire courtyard. Walking on the corridor felt indescribably gloomy and depressing. From time to time you can smell the stench of dampness.
The squad leader said that this is the cell where ordinary prisoners are held. There were eight cells on each side. At this moment, because the government had released all the prisoners before the city was broken, the cells were all empty. Xie Erren looked at the door out of curiosity: the cell was very small, only 15 meters deep and 2 meters wide. rice.
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Next update: Volume 7 - Guangzhou Governance Chapter 344
