In the Yangzhou Si Yuan Prison, it was dark and damp, and on both sides of the long corridor were small cells, most of which had no beds, and were all straw piles and rotten cotton wool; There is a toilet bowl with a lid, but it is difficult to hide the pungent smell; During this period, the cells were often infested with cockroaches, fleas, rats, not to mention the bites of flies and mosquitoes.

Each room was home to one or more criminals, most of whom were disheveled, scarred, bloodstained from prison clothes, and even more depressed. The prisoners here are still only shackled on their hands, and they are still quite free to move. This is a normal cell area, and only the jailer makes regular rounds.

At the end of the corridor there is another passage, which is heavily guarded by prison guards, and this is the prison area for death row inmates. The conditions here are equivalent to ordinary cells outside, at least there is a broken bed, after all, these people are condemned to death and will be beheaded after the autumn, so they will no longer be punished.

But some of the newly convicted death row inmates who had been tortured were also bloodied and thrown on the ground, whether they were alive or dead. It was not only the smell of dampness and blood, but also the smell of death.

Liu Quande led a masked man in black, and at this time, under the guidance of the army of the Minister's Yuan, he went to a death row cell.

The prisoners in the prison have already been tortured, and their flesh and blood are blurred and they are not human. At this time, the man was in shackles, with shackles on his hands and feet, and was kneeling on the cold ground with his head bowed and his head scattered.

This person is Wei Yushui, the hall master of the Yangzhou Boat Gang Yangzhou Rudder Jingwutang, and his state is lingering. Liu Quande gave a look to the army of the Counsellor's Academy, and the Counsellor called a jailer, who brought a bucket of water and poured it on Wei Yushui's head at once.

I saw him wake up with a shiver, his eyes were so swollen that he could barely open them, he vaguely saw several figures swaying in front of him, and he hurriedly asked who was coming and what was the matter. The black-clothed masked man looked at Wei Yushui's tragic condition, and there was a trace of unbearability in his eyes.

Liu Quande asked the prison guards to retreat, and then came to Wei Yushui and said: "Master Wei, you have suffered, this official is Liu Quande, the prison officer of Yangzhou, this official has been an official in Yangzhou for four years, and he is also an old acquaintance with Master Wei. Seeing your miserable situation, this official can't bear it, but you are too out of line this time, you dare to attack Sheng Zhizhou and Meng Yuma, and also kill and injure many catchers, which is undoubtedly a rebellion. Therefore, although the master of the Chang gang will help you up and down and dredge up the relationship, but the matter is very clear, and Lu Xianggong in the court will keep an eye on it, so the people who are familiar with Yangzhou and your boat gang dare not come forward, and you can be said to be in a dead place. In the end, the helper begged me to bring him to see you, so that you could arrange the affairs of your death. ”

Wei Yushui heard Liu Quande's words, he knew his fate at this time, suddenly like five thunderbolts, his mind was blank, and he seemed to be possessed by a ghost, his soul was out of his body, his face was pale, and his expression was confused. I saw that the masked man took off his scarf, this person was Chang Chuanming, he walked towards Wei Yushui, and regardless of Wei Yushui's bloodstains, he helped him up.

Chang Chuanming begged Liu Quande to let people get rid of his torture tools, and Liu Quande motioned for people to remove Wei Yu's water torture tools.

Chang Chuanming said to Wei Yushui and cried bitterly: "Brother Wei, we are brothers, almost 30 years, you and I broke into the dock together, and later built this Yangzhou boat gang together, after hardships and hardships, ups and downs, it was not easy to live a good life, we are also old, ready to enjoy Qingfu, why did you have this kind of thing, I don't want the Yangzhou boat gang anymore, I want to save you." But my brother was ashamed, he broke his leg when he ran the relationship, and it didn't help to be busy. ”

At this time, Wei Yushui had come back to his senses, but calmed down, and he looked at Chang Chuanming, who was crying silently.

Instead, he persuaded him: "Brother, don't mind, I will take your little brother." In fact, it's all because I forgot my original intention, became more and more domineering, and was also blinded by ill-gotten gains, which led to today's disaster, and also brought unwarranted disasters to the boat gang, so that my brother was also implicated. The younger brother was extremely remorseful, and the younger brother really couldn't atone for his sins even if he died, so the younger brother was willing to accept the sin and die. However, this also suffers my family, and I hope that my brother will take care of me after my death for the sake of many years of friendship. Chang Chuanming hurriedly agreed.

The last group of people left the prison of the manager's house, and on the way he proposed to Liu Quande that he wanted to save Wei Yushui, and gave Liu Quande another 50,000 silver tickets.

Liu Quande asked him to find Yangzhou to judge Huang Qian's relationship again, Huang Qian is a protégé of Qian Weiyan, who participates in the governor's political affairs, and Shengming has a close relationship with Tongping Zhangshi Lu Yijian, so Huang Qian has always had a discordant relationship with Zhizhou Shengming, and has repeatedly hindered him, so that he can find Qian Weiyan, which may bring a turnaround to the Yangzhou Boat Gang. Liu Quande said again: "Chang Gang Master, if it really doesn't work, I will recruit someone to be the stand-in of Wei Tang Master, and let him take Wei Tang Master to death." These two steps should be done at the same time, and it is good to do both. ”

Chang Chuanming suddenly understood, and after he returned to the state prison, he wrote a letter to his son Chang Yilin, asking him to meet Huang Qian and ask him to introduce him to Qian Weiyan, the governor of the government.

Chang Yilin originally wanted to stay in Tokyo for a few days, but when he suddenly heard the bad news from the boat gang, he couldn't sit still, so he rushed back non-stop, and when he came back, the boat gang had been banned.

When he received a letter from his father in prison, he moved around in many ways, up and down, and opened up relationships, and now the situation in the gang is quite stable.

However, Fang Dakuan, the deputy gang leader, was a little restless at this time, he contacted a group of henchmen, waved the flag for him, and wanted him to take charge of everything in the gang, waiting for an opportunity to take the position.

In fact, Chang Yilin knew about Fang Dakuan's conspiracy, he wanted to embezzle the gang's family funds and treasury silver, and after nearly 30 years of operation, the Yangzhou Boat Gang had saved a lot of money, and there should be two or three million yuan.

Because Chang Yilin participated in the affairs of the gang early, acted decisively and fairly, and was quite like his father, many elders, helmsmen, hall masters, and the majority of the gang in the gang all supported him as the temporary gang leader, thwarting Fang Dakuan's conspiracy to seize power.

However, the few halls controlled by Fang Dakuan have "listened to the tune but not the announcement", and privately withheld the membership dues, commissions and other income that each hall needs to pay, as if it has become an independent small kingdom in the gang. In view of the current situation, the Yangzhou Boat Gang can no longer withstand chaos and infighting, so Chang Yilin suppressed the call of the gang to dispose of Fang Dakuan, and did not deal with Fang Dakuan for the time being.

At this time, Chang Yilin moved the office of the boat gang from the road to a passenger ship, because Chang Yilin issued an extremely strict gag order to the gang, and several people who spread the news indiscriminately were disposed of, especially the violators among the other party's Dakuan's henchmen. This made everyone in the gang see his iron fist and cold-bloodedness, and the small molecules in the gang were suddenly silent, and they suddenly settled down.

So the inside of the gang gradually stabilized, and there was no shortage of business outside the gang. The Yangzhou Boat Gang has entered normal operation again, and everything has basically returned to normal, so Chang Yilin has become more trusted by everyone in the gang, and his position as the leader of the gang has become more stable.