"Brother Xian, don't think things are so bad. Everything will be fine. You have to take good care of yourself. Niece Xian's illness is not cured yet, so don't let her worry about it with you."
Zhou Mingzhi thought of his precious daughter, his face full of guilt, "Oh... Qing'er has suffered with me, and I don't know when this strange disease will be cured."
"I heard from the housekeeper that niece Xian's condition has become serious again? Mr. Li has a weird temper but is still very good at medical skills. He doesn't know what he is doing recently. I will talk to him after I go back. Maybe for my sake I can take him into my hands. Let it go beforehand."
"Thank you very much, brother. If it weren't for my brother's recommendation, I wouldn't have even been able to treat typhoid fever at this time." Zhou Mingzhi quickly stood up and bowed to thank him, "At this time, only Mr. Li doesn't care about gossip and is willing to come and treat the patient. Without him, I would just treat him. Being able to watch Qing'er suffer, I will keep this kindness in my heart." His daughter is already Zhou Mingzhi's last hope. At this moment, he was so emotional that he couldn't thank her enough.
Wang Lexian and Zhou Mingzhi said a few polite words and suddenly the conversation turned slightly serious, "I am here this time, and there is one more thing I want to tell you."
"What's up?"
"I've heard rumors that some people have gathered migrant workers and have formed a large force. I'm afraid they're going to cause some trouble."
"There are many officials, big and small, in Zijun City. The army is full and equipped with weapons. There are also Tianfu Temple ministers here. What kind of trouble can be caused?" Zhou Mingzhi is not too worried, even though he, the county guard, has been sidelined, and the county and city government orders Not the same. But the families who resisted him would not allow such things to affect their own safety. "
"My dear brother, you are confused. Tianfu Temple has always paid no attention to mundane matters. The so-called aristocratic families are just cleaning up their own affairs. Don't expect them to contribute if troubles happen that don't affect them. But you are different. You have a bad reputation. , and there is no one to protect us, so we will inevitably become a target. You can use some money to recruit some warriors to protect you as a precaution."
Zhou Mingzhi looked stunned. He had been ostracized as an outsider by the officialdom since he came to Zijun City. Instead, he developed a habit of never bringing himself along when thinking about things. After thinking about it carefully, he understood that the Sheriff's Mansion was indeed dangerous, but he immediately smiled bitterly, "I'm afraid I have forgotten that no matter how much money I pay, no one will do the business of the Sheriff's Mansion."
"If it doesn't work, you can go find some people outside the city."
"Those people may not be trustworthy. With Lieutenant Hong here, he will definitely be able to protect us."
"No matter how powerful Lieutenant Hong is, he is only one person and cannot escape. You should listen to me and find more guards." Wang Lexian spoke sincerely and showed his true feelings. Zhou Zhiming really didn't want to refute him and had to agree.
"Okay, I'll listen to you, brother."
The two exchanged pleasantries for a few more words, and then Wang Lexian said goodbye and left. He still had business matters to resolve. After walking out of the gate of the Sheriff's Mansion, he looked up and saw that it was not yet noon. He calculated the time carefully and found that there was still enough time. He said to the groom: "Send me outside the city."
The groom seemed to be mute and just nodded. When Wang Lexian got on the car, he raised his whip, and then the sound of horse hooves and the sound of bells rang together, and he went straight out of the city with a jolt.
…
In a dilapidated house in the city, a group of poor people in tattered clothes gathered together. The women and children among them were surrounded, and the remaining middle-aged people blocked the doors and windows. However, these actions were of no use and could only provide Some psychological comfort, because people from outside don't want to invade at all.
Most of these guys who are like refugees have indeed escaped from difficulties. They have sneaked into the city but have no stable means of making a living. Surrounding them outside are the workers in Zijun City who help carry goods to and from merchant ships. They have their own organization, which is the boat gang.
The Boat Gang is divided into several factions, most of which are not large-scale. These workers formed boat gangs just to make a living, but wherever there were people, there were disagreements and disputes. Every year, Shiranui merged many times to rob people for their lives, and how many lives were lost. However, the prosperity of Zijun City was partly due to their hard work, and the Yamen generally ignored it.
The reason why various boat gangs gathered here today is because of human problems.
They heard that a group of forces gathered together the refugees who had smuggled in and the bachelors who had lost all their money and could not survive. Isn't this an obvious attempt to rob the interests of various boat gangs? Without the addition of these new blood, how can the boat gangs survive? How are they doing their business?
So several people from each family chose a person in charge, and came to this gathering point to establish a prestige for the new force, and at the same time snatched away the people and divided them.
These hard workers surrounded the courtyard on three levels and three levels outside. After waiting for a long time, they finally arrived. The group of gentlemen craned their necks and looked over, only to see a group of people approaching from outside the courtyard, all of whom were half-grown young men.
These half-grown teenagers felt a little guilty when they saw the battle in the yard. There was a commotion in the team, but only the leader remained calm.
But the leader was not very old, and looked like a young man. He was none other than Liu Qiming.
All the workers saw were children, and they couldn't help but feel contempt for them.
"Where did you come from, little brat, go home and feed yourself."
"Hahaha."
"..."
The crowd burst into laughter, making the young men blush, but they still remained rational and did not dare to take action. These workers look skinny and malnourished, which is normal. After all, they are doing hard work. It is already a great thing to be able to maintain food and clothing. But they are all adults after all, and it is still oppressive for these young men.
Liu Qiming looked calm, which made Zhu Xiong, the leader elected by the boat gang, very concerned and thought he was a good prospect.
"Boy, if you admit your mistake now and come to work for me, I can let you make a living in the future."
Liu Qiming smiled contemptuously, "Is having enough food your life goal? It's too unrealistic."
Zhu Xiong looked on coldly and did not answer. He had seen many young people who regarded the county as a paradise, thinking that they could live a good life with their passion. How do you know that if you are not famous in your hometown, you will be able to make waves in other places.
If he doesn't speak, others can't control their mouths or their tempers.
"Where did you come from, you little brat, just die." A worker had a bad temper. He didn't care how many people were standing behind Liu Qiming, and he reached out to teach him a lesson.
These teenagers were all frightened and could not display their usual arrogance. They all stayed where they were.
Liu Qiming has long been different from his previous self. He has experienced massacres by bandits and has killed people himself. How could he be frightened by such a small scene? However, some things cannot be solved only by killing people, or in other words, the timing of killing people. It must be grasped well so that the benefits can be maximized.
He had been trained by bandits, and it was not difficult to beat a malnourished adult. He ducked sideways to avoid the worker's punch, took a few steps back to let the opponent's forward charge pass, and suddenly stepped forward with a knee-bump, knocking all the pain out of the man.
Then he stretched out his arms to strangle the man's neck, took out a knife and inserted it into his throat.
This set of operations shocked the people around them. They had never seen such a smooth killing method before, and it was too late to step forward to help.
Seeing that the opportunity was good, Liu Qiming quickly shouted loudly.
"What benefits can we gain from killing each other here? It's not just the leftovers left by others."
This sentence actually means that in everyone's heart, everyone is a member of the lower class and knows this helplessness. Zhu Xiong also comforted his workers to see what tricks this boy could do.
"In this county, there is oppression everywhere. It is difficult for us to get a full meal, and life is a luxury."
"Are we going to keep living like this? What's the point of living like this?"
"Don't you want to have a stable income? Don't you want to get married, have children, and live a life of hope?"
"Then what should we do? This is how the world is." The young man behind Liu Qiming asked. Unfortunately, the effect was not very good and did not arouse everyone's emotions. This made Liu Qiming feel unsure, but he could only bite the bullet and continue. Go on.
"Of course we have a way. All of this is caused by those aristocratic families, and Tianfu sends county governors to manage the place for the benefit of the people. However, the current county governor is colluding with the aristocratic families to exploit the people. Before he came, This is not the life we live in. They are all enemies. We need to make them pay and let them understand our anger."
"He directly rebelled against them, drank their blood and ate their flesh." When Liu Qiming said this, he became more and more excited. He fully brought into it his inner feelings of hatred and contempt for the superior.
The emotions of the people around him were also ignited. Zhu Xiong looked at this group of excited people and saw the vitality that he had not seen for a long time in their eyes. Maybe this is the right thing to do. Continuing to hang around is just a few more days of life. What difference can it make? He didn't say anything to interrupt the young man in front of him, he also wanted to go crazy in a grand way.
…
Liu Qiming came to a quiet garden. After settling down the gathered workers, he rushed here directly. This garden is all made up of rockeries and water, but if it is properly arranged, the scenery is as pleasant as the scenery in the mountains. It is really a great effort.
There was a person sitting cross-legged under the rockery to recuperate his energy. When Liu Qiming saw this person, he quickly cupped his hands and knelt down on one knee, "Young Liu Qiming has met Mr. Zhao."
The man in front of him is a strong man with red hair. He is Zhao Ji who was defeated by You Ziji. His complexion has recovered a lot now. It seems that he was defeated and injured by You Ziji with ease.
"Is the matter finished?"
"It's done, everything went smoothly. Most of the people who came to stir up trouble have joined us. As long as you give the order, we can lead them to attack the county governor's mansion."
"Well, you did a great job."
"It's all adults' clever tricks. Those poor people are so easy to deceive."
