The picture turned to Yangzhou again, and it is now the sixth month of the third year of Tiansheng.

Meng Ming was already preparing to leave for Huating County, and Meng Ming had already asked his wife and children to return to Tokyo by train with Yan Shu and his party.

At this time, Chen Qiming had already led more than 30 students to Huating County, and he was holding the map given by Meng Ming, and was conducting on-site topographic surveys to select a site for the port wharf.

He mobilized manpower from the Tokyo Shipyard, a total of 100 craftsmen, and the chief craftsman Chen Mingcheng led the team, and went directly to Huating County to meet Chen Qiming and participate in the construction of the shipyard.

Subsequently, a large number of people were mobilized from the steel mills, cement factories, and brick factories in Tokyo and Yangzhou, and the group of more than 500 people, led by Uncle Xiang, also went directly to Huating County. Ready to participate in the construction of the port of Shanghai.

At this time, there was a boat parked on the side of the canal, and a sturdy young man stood on the side of the boat with a sad face, and at this time there were bursts of crying of babies in the cabin, mixed with the sound of women's coaxing.

A delicate young woman in the shipyard, also with a sad face, was holding a baby, shaking it gently, and coaxing the child in a whispering voice.

I saw that the child's face was flushed, coughing incessantly, holding his breath, his small hands and feet twisted from time to time, he couldn't breathe when he cried, and he didn't eat milk, and he was sick at first glance.

She shouted outward: "Xianggong, you see that Lin'er has a fever for several days, and she has a bad cough, hurry up and think of a way, and let Gong Langzhong take a look." ”

The young man responded, and saw him get off the boat and hurry ashore, and soon came to a pharmacy with the words "Ankang Pharmacy" written on it, and he hesitated a little, but finally gritted his teeth and went in.

He came to a middle-aged Langzhong and said with some flattery: "Gong Langzhong, I also took you on a trip to see my family Lin'er, now he is more seriously ill, and his cough does not stop, which makes people worry." ”

I saw that Gong Langzhong said impatiently: "There are too many people who have seen a doctor today, and I don't have time to go to the doctor, please go back." ”

The young man said, "Gong Langzhong, then you can prescribe a few more doses of medicine and give my family Lin'er to eat." ”

Nagong Langzhong said even more impatiently: "Return the medicine, you already owe ten yuan (consistent) for the medicine, pay back the medicine money you owe first." ”

The young man begged, "Gong Langzhong, you can open it first, and I will raise money for you, can't you?" You will have mercy. ”

At this time, Gong Langzhong was unmoved, and he said in a weird manner: "Guo Runsheng, if I am all compassionate, my pharmacy will not be opened, and it will not be closed down." I saw that you were a member of the boat gang, and I was afraid of its prestige to heal your son, and now that the boat gang is finished, I don't bother to pay attention to you. ”

The man smiled bitterly when he heard this, but he still pleaded with him in a low voice.

I saw Gong Langzhong's face sank, and he shouted angrily: "Guo Runsheng, don't you understand what I said?" Don't come to this set, it's useless to pretend to be pitiful, if you don't pay back, I won't go. ”

When the man heard this, he was immediately extremely disappointed, but he had no choice but to walk back in despair.

He went to a few familiar boat owners to borrow some money to see a doctor for his children.

Now the boat gang is a letter, their wages and freight are detained, and they are confiscated by the government, and they can't get work during this time, and many families are almost unable to open the pot and eat, so how can they have spare money.

Guo Runsheng went to several houses, so he borrowed a dollar (100 Wen), and it was not enough to take a dose of medicine, and his mind was full of the child's miserable cry and the worried eyes of the lady at this time.

At this time, he had a deep resentment in his heart, complaining that he was useless and couldn't earn money;

Then there is the resentment that the government has indiscriminately sealed the boat gang and embezzled their money.

He was wandering aimlessly through the streets, when he suddenly heard a cry and roar coming from a yard on the side of the road, which was very noisy.

I saw an old man rushing out of the courtyard, and he said sadly: "I can't live these days, not only the government is greedy for our money, but also threatened and blackmailed by these soap officials, I want to go to the yamen of the state capital to cry out for injustice!" ”

Then he chased out a few servants from the courtyard, they were armed with swords and swords, and they were holding killing sticks, and they were fierce and a little angry.

These servants quickly caught up with the old man in front, then kicked him to the ground, and then hit him headless and facelessly, only to hear the old man being beaten and screaming again and again, and after a while there was no movement.

One of the officials came up to check, and they didn't want to kill anyone, but he put his hand under the old man's nostrils and tried it, and when he noticed that there was still breath, he kicked again.

I saw this official say: "Brothers, it's okay, this old thing still has a breath, it shouldn't be in the way, just let him pretend to be a dead dog here, don't worry about him, let's go." ”

I heard another official say: "This old thing doesn't know whether he is alive or dead, and he still goes to avenge his grievances, who is the grudge?" Now Lord Zhizhou has asked for a strict investigation of the main culprit of the Yangzhou Boat Gang, and we are just acting on orders, but we have just broken a few things in his house; dared to contradict us and obstruct us from handling the case, and it was good that he was not recognized as an accomplice. ”

But when he heard another servant, he said to him: "Forget it, Chen Erleng, don't say something useless, if you hadn't messed around in someone's house and teased other people's daughters, how could there be such a thing; I'm sorry to say, you see a lot of people coming around, all of them are not good, hurry up, don't do too much. ”

The official had been blocked at this time, and saw a middle-aged boatman come over, squatting down and helping the old man up.

I only heard him call: "Uncle Yang, wake up", only to see that he was pinching the old man again, and he was slapping his chest and shaking.

After a while, the old man turned around, and he looked at the middle-aged man, and said something vaguely, but he couldn't hear it clearly.

The middle-aged man put his ear to his mouth and listened, and patted the old man happily over and over again.

The old man said vaguely: "Tian Mingliang's eldest nephew, those servants are just beasts, under the banner of tracking down the murderer, they smashed and robbed my house... He almost killed my daughter. I couldn't get angry, and I thought... Want to go to the state... The state government sued, and as a result, they were beaten up. ”

After seeing him finish speaking, his spirit suddenly weakened, and then he spit out a mouthful of blood from his mouth, his body straightened, and his head tilted and he lost his breath.

Tian Mingliang hurriedly rescued, no matter how he pinched the middle of the person or shook it, the old man didn't wake up again.

At this time, the old man's family also came to the front, and when they saw this situation, they immediately cried and grabbed the ground, and the scene became a pot of porridge.

I saw a gray-haired old woman at the scene, but I saw that she was in her last years, old and weak, and her eyes were blind.

I saw her grope her way to the dead old man, then sat up and took the old man in her arms, and stroked his face with trembling dry hands.

muttered in his mouth: "My son is about to wake up, don't scare my mother, my mother is already old, more than eighty, and I can't stand the fright." ”

She saw that her son had not reacted, and his body was getting cold and stiff, and she immediately understood that he was really dead.

She struggled to lift him up, and for a moment panting, she fumbled to put her face together with her son's, her toothless sunken mouth, now grinning and crying, but like laughing.

Her godless blindness had dried up and she couldn't cry, but when she saw two lines of blood and tears flowing from her eyes, she saw her body straightened, her head drooped, and she went with her son.

Everyone at the scene came to see this tragic situation, they all shed tears, and they were also angry, all of them gritted their teeth, filled with righteous indignation, and the crowd spontaneously surrounded these officials.

Seeing this scene, these officials immediately panicked, and took out their swords and sticks one after another, leaning against each other, and unanimously made a defensive posture to the outside world.

One of them, Chen Erleng, shouted inwardly: "What are you going to do? Besieging officials is a great sin of rebellion. You have to think clearly, it's still too late to retreat, and we don't care. ”

When the people gathered around heard this, most of them hesitated and hesitated.

When Chen Erleng saw this situation, he was immediately overjoyed, and his heart was also relaxed, and he decided to strike while the iron was hot.

He also said: "Yang Laohan not only obstructed us from running an errand, but also threatened to sue us. This incident happened unintentionally, it was purely an accident, and we will compensate for it. An explanation will be given to the family of the deceased. ”

After he finished speaking, the officials around him cast him appreciative and admiring eyes, and he was a little fluttering.

At this time, a person walked out of the crowd, it was Tian Mingliang who rescued the old man, and he looked at Chen Erleng and the other officials with an angry face.

only heard him shout angrily: "Shut up, you are waiting for you to act recklessly, disregard people's lives, and still be high-sounding; Under the banner of searching, do dirty things. not only smashed and robbed Uncle Yang's house, but also insulted his daughter, and killed two people. He also said that he wanted to give an explanation to the family of the deceased, but it was just a way to get out, and in the end, they would only cover up with each other from time to time, but they would not do it and escape punishment. ”

He turned around and said, "Don't listen to him, you have your own judgment on the merits, we will take him down and escort him to the yamen of the state capital, and let the magistrate deal with it." Besides, don't blame the public, don't be afraid. ”

As soon as everyone heard the reason, under the leadership of Tian Mingliang, they rushed up and took down these officials who caused the accident and tied them up.

The crowd escorted these officials to the state government in a majestic manner, and their movements had already alarmed the government, and a large number of officials and arresters were assembled and waited for to prevent chaos.