When there are too many people, there will be chaos. This is a truth that all children understand. Normal people will have varying degrees of lower average IQ when they fall into a group.
At the beginning, the purpose of these thousands of people was actually to spend money to sell rice. Four consecutive days of indiscriminate bombing caused the entire Naha economy to completely collapse. During the day, people could only hide in shelters in the mountains. , activities can only be done carefully at night.
Although the Ryukyu government and people had been mentally prepared for war and had prepared some material reserves, after all, this is an isolated island overseas and cannot even be self-sufficient in food.
When the French arrived, the military only stocked up on supplies for three months, while ordinary people were considered wealthy if they had a month's worth of food left in their hands.
It is precisely because of this sense of insecurity that people begin to prepare for a rainy day and go to great lengths to collect supplies, especially food.
Originally, today's conflict would not have been so big. It could be seen from the beginning when people lowered their voices and asked the rice shop to sell rice. Even though there were many people at that time, people's emotions were very stable. Everyone knew not to disturb the people on the sea. French, to avoid attracting artillery fire.
At that time, although Chang Sanhao and others continued to provoke the crowd, the kind-hearted people were not fanatical and still accepted the harsh conditions of only buying half a liter of rice.
It's a pity that reason can't be maintained for too long. When the door panel of the rice store was removed, when the crowd began to be strangely crowded, and when an injured person appeared in the crowd, the limited reason began to disappear quickly.
After Boss Mi got scared and ordered the store to be closed, the crowd watched their hope disappear in front of their eyes. Coupled with the instigation of thoughtful people in the dark, the rice riot finally broke out.
People's eyes were filled with white polished rice and shiny silver coins. At that moment, greed in everyone's hearts defeated their reason. All the sharing of hardships, the kindness of the prime minister, and the brotherhood of helping each other in times of difficulty were all forgotten. Everyone was red-eyed and grabbing money and food.
However, Ryukyu is the most popular place in East Asia after all. The nationalism and national concepts that Xiao Letian spent a year instilling were not in vain. When the hoofs of war horses sounded on the long street, thousands of people seemed to hear a thunder. People were frightened.
"What am I doing? The French are bombing our country, but here I am robbing military rations. How shameless do I want to be?"
"We are all fellow villagers who are in the same boat. If I take this conscience-breaking money, how can I raise my head in the future? If the country is broken, who will protect me?"
Countless people murmured the same question to themselves, but at this time Boss Mi came out from nowhere, and this fat man actually went up to the roof.
"You bastards...conscientious bitches...is it still human to touch your chest..." Boss Mi yelled while jumping on his feet.
"What kind of life did you live when the Japanese occupied this place? You are considered rich if you have three days' surplus of food in your home... But look at it now, even if there is a war, you all have to have one month's food surplus in your home. You If you are still not satisfied, you will lose your conscience..."
"It has only been more than a year of good days, and you have forgotten your roots, ungrateful beasts... There is no Prime Minister, no new army to shed blood, and you still want to live the good days today. Now the French have not invaded. Come on, kill your own people first..."
"You are untouchables, untouchables, all a group of untouchables... Just wait for the new army to suppress you. You should be other people's slaves in this life... You used to be slaves of the Japanese, but now you are slaves of the French. Anyway, you will not Worthy of being a human being.”
Boss Mi was furious, jumping back and forth on the roof like a fat monkey, "Kill... suppress... kill all these ungrateful people... bastards, even rob the military rations..."
At this moment, the crowd's fanatical emotions suddenly vented. The threat of distant war horses and the condemnation of conscience and morals made these 'thugs' no longer ashamed to stay here, and began to flee in all directions with a bang.
It was at this time that a horrific stampede occurred. Countless old, weak, women and children were squeezed to the ground in the chaotic crowd. The dark streets and the terrifying atmosphere made it impossible for people to distinguish what they were seeing. Countless pairs of big feet When I stepped on someone, I thought I was stepping on a stone.
"Wow wow wow...Mom, mom..." The child lay on the ground and cried bitterly. His mother protected him with her body, completely ignoring the countless pairs of big feet trampling on her back. She didn't even know the corners of her mouth were bleeding. .
"God has taken this person... This is God's taking this person... What a calamity..." The white-haired old man was knocked to the ground, and his legs were trampled off after a while. He was helpless. He didn't know whether he was condemning God or himself when he shouted.
The long street has now become a hell. Adults calling children to cry are as if French soldiers have landed. Boss Mi even forgot to scold him this time. He watched two thin children being carried away into the crowd and disappeared. He screamed in fright.
"No..." The two children were looking at danger. At this time, Boss Mi had no time to worry about the money. "Don't run away... I don't want the rice anymore, and I don't want the money either... Be careful where you step. Be careful, kid.”
"Holy shit, you're so blind." Boss Mi seemed to have a whole box of cigars burning in his chest, and the hot smoke rushed out from his nostrils.
"Assholes, you are all bastards...inhuman things, don't run away...and you." Boss Mi pointed at the closed cloth shops, silk and satin shops, and grocery stores on the street. "You guys You bastard... hurry up and open the door to divert people and save people. You two are just worrying about your own bad money. Do you still have a conscience..."
"Fuck... I'm going to cut off my ties with you."
I don’t know whether Boss Mi’s scolding was effective, or whether the conscience of the shop owners on the street emerged. Anyway, amidst the scolding, door panels were removed one after another, and the frightened workers began to save people.
"Folks, don't run away, come in first, come into the store, if you squeeze in any more, someone will die."
"You are committing evil. You are committing evil. Are you going to do anything just to get some rice? When the prime minister comes back in the future, do you still have the nerve to stay in Ryukyu?"
The guys were dividing the crowd while cursing. The pale-faced people squatted on the ground as if they were sleepwalking, their eyes glazed over.
At this moment, the cavalry brigade finally arrived, and the few soldiers at the front were General Liang Kun's personal soldiers. When these people saw the chaotic situation in front of them, their noses were almost crooked with anger.
"The general's order... I am pardoning you for robbing army rations... Don't run away, the adults are pardoning you..." Then a group of cavalry shouted on the street at the top of their lungs.
"Don't be afraid... The Prime Minister has long said that the army is like fish and the people are like water. In the past, the people fed the soldiers. When the crisis comes, we will just eat grass and we will not let the people go hungry..."
"Don't run away. Your Excellency, Prime Minister, I will forgive you for your innocence... All this white rice will be given to you..."
This was simply a miracle. The long street that had been in chaos just now became completely silent within a second. Everyone stood there stupidly as if a restraining spell had been cast on them.
In the distant alley, Sun Ximei, Chang Sanhao, Stubborn Donkey...the craftsmen were so surprised that they stuffed their fists into their mouths.
Sun Ximei bit her hands and vest and thought in disbelief, "How is this possible? How can it be like this? Compassion does not control soldiers, justice does not control wealth? How can there be no punishment in the world for civilians to rob military rations?"
The stubborn donkey muttered, "Are my ears blocked by shit? Did I hear wrongly? Why don't they kill people? Their military rations have been robbed. How can they be so cowardly?"
Chang Sanhao's eyes widened, "It's all in vain. We've been working on it for a long time in vain. What kind of drama is this? It shouldn't be..."
The only sound on the long street now was the sound of horse hooves hitting the stone slabs. A horse appeared among the cavalry. On the horse's back was the head of Lotte Foreign Company, the old shopkeeper Fan Jian.
"Folks... you merchants... you don't have to be shocked. Everything we say is true. I am Fan Lian, the old shopkeeper of Lotte Foreign Company. You don't even believe me..."
"Fan Caishen, the old God of Wealth from Lotte and Macau..." The crowd suddenly exploded. Countless shopkeepers came out of the shop and saluted the old shopkeeper with long bows.
Lotte Foreign Company is now booming in East Asia. No one can estimate how much money this foreign company has, but everyone knows that the father-in-law of the Prime Minister, Shopkeeper Fan, is a real top-notch God of Wealth. Today, Mr. The shopkeeper came forward, and people's fears were finally put to rest.
The old shopkeeper jumped off the horse, walked into the crowd, stretched out his hands to help the injured, and said with a sad face, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid... I also grew up in poverty. I know what you are worried about. Everyone is living a hard life." We are scared, and everyone has no confidence in the face of war..."
"Under the cannon of foreigners, you subconsciously chose the way you lived in the past, which is also the life experience left by several generations of people... So we don't blame you, we really don't blame you..."
"Folks, my uncle, the Prime Minister, once said that no matter how stable the people's hearts are or how to use them, there is no need to rush. Only when everyone can see hope with their own eyes and experience with their own eyes what it means to be a country and a nation, will everyone be able to Recognize the concept of country, the concept of nation..."
Shopkeeper Fan wiped his red eyes, stamped his feet and pointed to the sky and swore, "I, Fan Qian, will make the decision for my uncle today. From now on, all army rations will be opened, and the people can buy them as they like. Open the door to buy... become a soldier." If you need to eat food, can you buy it fairly with everyone?"
"If there is not enough food to eat, we as soldiers will give up the food and let the people eat first... Even if we eat tree bark or gnaw grass roots, we will never steal a grain of rice from the people..."
"Oh my God, how is this possible?" The crowd on the long street collectively exclaimed. At that moment, everyone's hearts clicked, as if a crack had exploded in a piece of ten thousand-year-old ice.
At that moment, almost everyone thought of the same phrases, 'nation' and 'country'. These lofty words in the past suddenly became extremely vivid and real at this moment.
