In early April, a new official of the Shipping Department took office.
Banxia and Lu Ming, the female officials who took office, took all the troops of their newly established yamen and headed to Dagu in a mighty manner.
General Ji Feng was also sent to train the navy near Dagu.
Because of the timely allocation of funds from the court, the Dagu Shipyard quickly got on track.
Skilled craftsmen from all over Daliang were summoned to Dagu.
In particular, experienced shipbuilders from various places have become a hot commodity now.
Just when everything was going smoothly...something unexpected happened.
It was a day in late April. On the calm sea, a gust of wind suddenly blew up.
The wind swirled and moved from a distance to the seaside.
At first, a fishing boat out of the harbor discovered it first.
"Dragon King! It's the Dragon King appearing!"
"The Dragon King has appeared! The Dragon King has appeared!"
The fishermen quickly put down their fishing nets and gear, knelt on the boat and worshiped the wind.
The cyclone stirred up by the wind enveloped the sea water, and a huge water column appeared on the sea level.
The huge water column stands proudly between the sea and the sky... It really looks like a dragon is sucking water from the sky.
"Coming to the shore!"
to the exclamations of the fishermen.
The towering water column rushed straight to the shore.
Ships on the shore were either overturned by huge waves, swept into the water column, or broken into pieces by the direct impact of the water column.
The whistling wind raged for another distance on the shore.
The sea water was sucked up to the sky, and a heavy downpour immediately began to fall all around, like a pouring water on the area near the water column.
The water column that the dragon absorbs does not cause much damage.
In addition to a small number of fishing boats damaged, docks damaged, and a few people injured.
Nothing more.
On the contrary, there were many fish, large and small, swept ashore by the water column.
Pies will not fall from the sky, but fish will really fall from the sky!
Many children, unlike adults, knelt down and worshiped the "Dragon King" when they saw the water column.
They clamored and went to snatch the big fish and shrimps that were involved in the case.
The Shipping Department did not take this matter seriously at first.
But somehow, rumors spread in Dagu.
"The water column that the dragon absorbs is pointing in the direction of the shipyard!"
"The Dragon King is angry! This is a warning! You are not allowed to build a big ship and sail away! You are not allowed to set foot on the Dragon King's territory!"
"If Daku continues to build ships, the Dragon King will definitely bring disaster!"
…
The rumors became more and more powerful as they spread.
The Shipping Department and the local government teamed up to stop the rumors.
But human nature may be inherently “rebellious”. The more you suppress rumors, the more they spread. It seems like that's really the case.
Some people even said that they had noses and eyes. They said that when they were on the sea, they heard the roar of a dragon, and the Dragon King became angry and wanted to burn down the shipyard.
After the situation fermented for a few days.
One night, spring thunder bursts.
After a crack of lightning, the Dagu Shipyard actually caught fire!
"Sure enough, the Dragon King is showing off his power! The Dragon King is going to burn down the shipyard!"
More than half of the people in Dagu make a living by fishing.
They gathered a crowd and surrounded the shipyard, demanding that the shipyard stop working and not build large ships to sail, which would affect their lives!
"When the Dragon King shows his power, everyone will encounter wind and waves when they go to sea! If they go to sea, they won't be able to catch fish! How can we still live!"
"Yesterday, Ah Si was captured by the Dragon King! His boat was fishing, but suddenly a force grabbed the fishing net. Ah Si was pulled into the sea by the force!"
"Ah Si's water quality is the best! But he didn't come up! We searched for a long time, but we didn't even see Ah Si!"
“You can’t see people alive, but you can’t see corpses even after death!”
Ban Xia, as the chief minister, originally left the rumors and fishermen's affairs to her subordinates.
Unexpectedly, things got worse and worse, and even their shipping department was surrounded by people.
Banxia and Lu Ming had no choice but to come forward in person to explain to the fishermen.
Lu Ming said with a straight face, "Before the shipyard, there were no fishermen who went out to fish and encountered wind and waves?
"Going out to sea to fish is inherently risky. What does it have to do with the shipyard?"
The fishermen shouted, "The Dragon King has given a warning! That dragon sucks water to go to the shipyard!"
"You have angered the Dragon King by building big ships! Last night the Dragon King showed his power and destroyed the shipyard with lightning and thunder!"
The people were hoarse.
Lu Ming was angered by their ignorance and extremeness, "Whoever makes trouble again will be arrested on the spot!
"There are bursts of spring thunder, and it is common for lightning to occasionally hit taller buildings! What does it have to do with the Dragon King?"
Lu Ming's righteous words also angered the fishermen.
"He doesn't respect the Dragon King!"
"He has no respect for God's will!"
"It's these foreigners! These lackeys of the imperial court! They made the Dragon King angry!"
"If they don't leave, we will have no way to survive!"
Under the crowd, it was unknown whether the mob had taken action first.
It was the officials of the Shipping Department who took action first.
The already tense atmosphere was like a full gas tank that exploded with a spark.
The scene was temporarily chaotic and out of control.
The local government mobilized the troops stationed in the area to control the mob.
At that time, as many as two to three hundred people were arrested and brought to justice.
The huge number of people shocked the local government. The prison of the government could not handle so many prisoners.
Even so, there were more people who took action and ran away in time when they saw something was wrong.
The newly established Maritime Department Yamen... suddenly became dilapidated.
Banxia and several people around her were protected by soldiers and were not seriously injured.
But Lu Ming stood closer to the mob and was pulled into the crowd and beaten.
Wen Yuanjie was also present at the time. He was beaten many times in order to save Lu Ming.
At this time, his young and handsome face was partly blue, partly purple, and very swollen. His whole body hurt at the slightest touch.
"How did things develop like this? Hiss..." Wen Yuanjie took in a painful breath while applying the medicine.
Banxia, with her hands behind her back, walked back and forth in the yamen that had been smashed, smashed, and robbed, with a serious look on her face.
"Is there someone behind the instigation?" Banxia asked.
Lu Ming sighed, "I have already asked people to visit secretly. If we say instigation...it was a few ruffians at first because they wanted to work in the shipyard to earn money.
"But they are idle and do not do any serious work on weekdays. Hard-working people make a living by fishing.
"But they make a living by beating people, extorting money, and paying 'land rental fees' to fishermen. Therefore, the clerk in charge of recruiting workers did not let them enter the shipyard."
Wen Yuanjie said, "We shouldn't let them come! These are the black sheep! They come and don't do any work, they just want to get money for nothing!"
Lu Ming nodded, "I thought so too... But I didn't expect that before they could enter the factory, they started spreading rumors outside, saying that the Dragon King was angry..."
Banxia looked at him, "Have you known about this for a long time? Why didn't you report it?"
Lu Ming sighed, "I didn't take it seriously. Who knew the fishermen would believe the words of these people who bully them all day long and ask them for money?"
Banxia sighed, "Foolish people, stupid people, that's how it is.
"The people who bully them are stronger than them. They don't have their own thinking. They believe whatever those who are stronger than them say!
"This is the meaning of the Queen's long-term mission to popularize education, so that people can think for themselves."
Lu Ming nodded, "It's too late to talk about this now. After arresting two to three hundred people, we can't keep them in prison, right? The matter at the shipyard..."
