Kailuan is a new industrial city, but in just ten years, the population has exceeded 100,000, the streets are wide, the imposing cornices and low-cost brick buildings have risen from the ground, with the increase in population, the city near Beijing and Tianjin to the night, has its own bright lights.

Phoenix Mountain Park is located on the outskirts of Kailuan City, but the only tram and bus line in Kailuan, that is, the rail line that connects the Kailuan Coal Mining Area to the Kailuan Steel Mill through the urban area, passes through here, and the traffic is very convenient.

Adjacent to the Beijing Division, the Kailuan literati have similar hobbies to the literati in the capital, go to the restaurant, watch the Peking opera commentary, civilization drama and drama, make a tea house, go to the morning market to buy books, tablets, and cultural relics.

The tea house in Kailuan is most famous for the Bingxin tea house in the Phoenix Mountain Park, at the foot of the Phoenix Mountain, on the shore of the clear water lake, the tea house environment is extremely elegant.

Phoenix Mountain Park entry volume dime, ordinary salarymen holiday with the whole family to play can also afford, but high-end tea is not the average person can consume, such as Bingxin teahouse, the cheapest tea also has one yuan, dim sum one yuan per plate, to the Kailuan wage level, in the labor, is the higher income of the Kailuan steel mill unskilled workers monthly salary but the average is about 200 yuan, and usually this kind of workers' wives will not come out to do things, at most sewing and mending to make some small money, 200 yuan to bear the life of the whole family, Since it is impossible to drink tea for leisure, it will cost more than ten yuan.

There are also a bowl of big bowls of tea in the park, often near the tea shop, which is the most lively place in the park, a little less quiet, and a little more joyful.

Ye Zhao naturally sat in the Bingxin Teahouse, originally had dinner at noon and wanted to take the Fucha clan out for a walk, but was invited to the park by Inspector Ma, he had heard of Phoenix Mountain Park for a long time, and he had never had the opportunity to come and see it, so Ye Zhao was also happy to go to the appointment.

Bingxin Tea House is antique, there is no extravagance of splendor, decorative calligraphy and painting everywhere show the elegant atmosphere, and the most special thing is that Bingxin Tea House has installed a telephone.

Although telephones appeared in the empire more than ten years ago, they are not all connected to the long-distance telephone network even in provincial capitals today, but they have been opened from Beijing to Tianjin, Taiyuan, Shanghai, Jinling, Guangzhou and other prosperous cities.

This year is 1880, but because a number of key physical, chemical and natural science theories were born in advance, coupled with the emergence of many relatively low threshold technologies through Ye Zhao's piercing of window paper, and the establishment of various system discipline laboratories, these years, the world's most developed empire of science and technology, in some fields, has reached the level of the early twentieth century, and even Ye Zhao has heard that several adventurous mechanics in Guangzhou began to tinker with experiments in the power of the engine, whether people can ride the machine to the sky.

Having said that, it is not easy to popularize many technical products, so let's say this telephone, the entire Kailuan City is about dozens, because the installation of a telephone, you have to pay an installation fee of 3,000 yuan, and there is a management fee of 100 yuan per month, which is an astronomical amount.

Today, the working class of the empire has the highest income in the education system, followed by civil servants, company clerks and skilled workers, and workers who rely on their strength to eat are naturally the lowest.

Of course, this is the general trend, and the specific income cannot be generalized due to different regions, positions, and personal abilities.

Taking the highest-paid teachers as an example, in Kailuan, the monthly salary of junior teachers is about 300 yuan, and if they want to install telephones, they have to go without eating or drinking for a year, and the monthly management fee is one-third of their salary, so it is impossible for anyone to install telephones.

It is the mayor of Kailuan City, although the income is not as high as that of the head of the city government in a prosperous big city, but the monthly salary is more than 1,000 yuan, but despite this, installing a telephone also requires his salary of two or three months.

The telephone is almost a symbol of family status in the empire, and it is conceivable how eye-catching the installation of the telephone in the Bingxin Tea House is.

On the second floor of the tea house, the breeze is blowing, and the window is the Phoenix Lake like a green mirror.

Ye Zhao, Fucha and Inspector Ma sat at a table by the window, most of the tea guests in the tea room were cultural people and businessmen who liked vassal elegance, and a few modern and beautiful courtesans were also frequent visitors, and they were pets in this man's world, but now, they were all covered by the Fucha family.

The constituencies of Zhili began voting yesterday, and in the tea room today, the tea guests are talking about the general election.

Inspector Ma sipped tea and asked Ye Zhao, "How is Brother Jingzhai thinking about it?" Although Inspector Ma was slightly intimidated by his beauty when he first saw Fucha's family, he never glanced at the stunner like a flower and jade at this time, so it can be seen that Inspector Ma is not an idle person.

Mrs. Ma accompanied Fucha's words with a smiling face and asked, "Is there a telephone installed at Mrs. Sister-in-law's house?" I've heard that it's amazing to be able to talk to people thousands of miles away. "She looks older than the Fucha clan, but she wants to judge the seniority from Ye Zhao, and Ye Zhao is no longer the handsome young man he used to be, although he can't see the depth of age, but he is majestic and peaceful, and he is much older than the Fucha clan, and he is also older than Inspector Ma. However, Mrs. Ma couldn't think of Ye Zhao and Fucha in any case, and they could almost be described as old husbands and young wives.

Fucha is not good at interacting with outsiders, listening to Mrs. Ma's questioning, just a slight cheek, Mrs. Ma's eyes are brighter.

On the other side, Ye Zhao said with a smile: "As far as I know, this coal mine has not been approved by the government, because it is too close to the steep river, and the government will not let people develop it for at least a few years, is Inspector Ma going to ask me to open a black mine?" "It's easy to deal with this kind of little person, and for Ye Zhao, it's already a luxury.

Inspector Ma was stunned, but he didn't want to work hard for three days, this Mr. Wen found out everything clearly, it seems that he completely underestimated others, this energy is not ordinary, maybe he will know Mayor Jiao, Inspector Ma immediately broke out in a cold sweat on his forehead.

"Sell newspapers, sell newspapers! Kailuan said! The Empire Announces! Cantonese newspaper declaration! Look at Luanzhou tycoon Ma Yunlong being arrested for bribery! A newsboy brandished a newspaper and climbed to the second floor and shouted.

The tea guests on the second floor immediately became lively, and they called the newsboys to buy newspapers.

Although Luanzhou County belongs to Kailuan City, but the port was opened early, it was originally a central town in the lower reaches of the Luanhe River, and the Luanzhou squire Ma Yunlong's family is known as one of the "Four Masters of Jingdong", with a great reputation in the local area, and was arrested by the officials? This is sensational news, how can you not make these tea customers fry the pot?

Ma Longyun was arrested Ye Zhao knew this morning, and yesterday afternoon, this "Kailuan Newspaper" reacted very quickly, but I am afraid that it changed the "blue paper template" overnight, and it will be on the newspaper today.

Ma Yunlong bribed voters at the price of 10 silver dollars per ballot, and in any case, the silver glittering silver coins seem to be more attractive than paper money, and 10 silver coins are more tempting than 100 yuan, in the Luanzhou constituency, there are no more than 3,000 voters with the right to vote, if you can buy a quarter of the voters, plus normal canvassing, they will inevitably be elected, that is, a few thousand silver coins can run for the upper council.

In order to prevent the occurrence of election bribery in various localities, the Imperial Study's Office issued a holy paroon: in addition to the constituency supervisory committees set up by official institutions with the participation of non-governmental figures, it is also necessary for local supervision departments to be deeply involved, and once bribery occurs and is not investigated, the chief of the local supervision system will be charged with dereliction of duty. Even the internal security agencies at all levels have been secretly ordered to send some intelligence personnel to supervise the election, which is also Ye Zhao's last resort, and I want to know that there will be a lot of bribery in this election, and if it is not severely punished, it will form a vicious cycle, and it will simply fall into the model of selling officials in the previous dynasty.

"The Ma family of the four major families of Jingdong has fallen?" Inspector Ma looked at the front page of the newspaper and opened his mouth wide in surprise, he migrated from Luanzhou, and he has always put gold on his face, saying that he is a child of the Ma family in Luanzhou, but in fact it has nothing to do with others.

On the seat not far away, a middle school teacher in a Mao suit exclaimed: "The Son of Heaven is really moving, a precedent for the people to discuss politics, and a model for the ages." The people at the table with him seemed to be cultural people, and they all agreed.

Mrs. Ma asked Fucha: "Does Mrs. Sister-in-law have the right to vote?" ”

The Fucha clan had the right to vote before entering the palace, but after becoming a member of the royal family, she naturally "lost" this right, and the members of the royal family did not belong to the category of citizens, but she did not understand it and nodded slightly.

Mrs. Ma is even more envious, she has not studied in a new-style primary school, nor has she received a private school education with the same degree as the primary school, and she has no right to vote, but her husband, Inspector Ma, also had to undergo training after joining the police force, and then went to night school in order to be promoted to inspector for the exam, which inexplicably had the right to vote. And this beautiful woman who is sinking into the fish and falling geese, it seems that it is a common thing to get the right to vote, which really makes Mrs. Ma ashamed.

Inspector Ma pretended to look through the newspaper for a while, rolled his eyes, and said to Ye Zhao: "Brother Jingzhai, about the coal mine, let me help you ask again?" He already felt that the merchants in front of him had a lot of energy, and they were not the masters who could get oil and water, but they were still a little unwilling.

Ye Zhao smiled: "Forget it, I'll go back in two days." He turned to the Fucha clan and said, "Ming said to go see your brother and return to the capital the day after tomorrow." ”

Fucha was surprised and delighted, nodded meekly, these two emperors were good to her, which made her very happy, but following the emperor's side, the pressure was very great, even if she came to this teahouse to taste tea, there was no leisure at all.

Inspector Ma said: "Then the day after tomorrow, I will go for Brother Jingzhai?" Zi also asked casually, and gradually felt that he was a rich and noble person, not a coal dealer, he wanted to climb high but couldn't, seeing Ye Zhao waving his hand, he smiled and said: "Then I wish Brother Jingzhai a smooth journey in advance." ”

"Yo, Inspector Ma, is this your friend?" A fat white man with a fat head and big ears came out of the private room, brightly dressed, silk robe and leather shoes, with shiny hair, small eyes squinted, and a somewhat arrogant expression.

Inspector Ma hurriedly stood up, nodded and said, "Third master, are you still here for a walk?" "The surname of the person is Liu, the owner of an iron factory in Kailuan, and he is considered an industrialist, but it is rumored that he made his fortune by selling Nanyang black slaves, and I don't know if it is true or not.

Liu Sanye didn't pay much attention to Inspector Ma, his small eyes swept around the soft and delicate body of the Fucha clan, and arched his hand to Ye Zhao: "What do you call this friend?" ”

Inspector Ma immediately hurriedly replied: "This is Mr. Wen, from the capital." He also introduced to Ye Zhao: "Brother Jingzhai, Liu Sanye is the owner of Jingyang Iron Works. ”

In fact, looking at Inspector Ma's attitude towards Liu San, he knows that the current tolerance committee really has no authority, Ye Zhao is quite satisfied with this, but he thinks it will be overkill? Inspector Ma will be the director of the police station in later generations, what about Liu San, Ye Zhao of Jingyang Iron Works knew after coming to Kailuan, in later generations, he was at best a small private business owner, and he was in the jurisdiction of Inspector Ma, even if he was not afraid of this police station chief, he always had to give some face, how could he be so unpopular?

And Inspector Ma, although Ye Zhao didn't speak, the clerk of the imperial study with him has already been checked, in fact, there is no bad deed, but he is restless, he always wants to get some oil and water, the clerk of the imperial study has complained to the internal disciplinary investigation department of the Kailuan Police Department through the identity of the arrangement, and he thinks that he will be subject to internal disciplinary investigation soon, after this warning, he should be taught a lesson, and he will not dare to step on the line again.

Inspector Ma, Ye Zhao has no bad feelings, he is a little person who lives a mixed life, but the current public service department is different from what he imagined, and it is not very suitable for him, but Liu Sanye, how can he feel a gangster, which makes people feel quite uncomfortable.

Smiled at Liu San and nodded, Ye Zhao didn't get up.

Fang Cai saw Ye Zhao's pomp and circumstance from the bead curtain Liu Sanye, who was just staring at the delicate Fucha clan, and even stirred up a ball of lust in the dirty imagination of the ape, but who knew that he was staring at it, and his vision was blocked, and the beautiful lady's delicate little hands and elegant and delicate embroidered shoes were blocked tightly, and when he looked carefully, it turned out to be the man's long-term entourage, a woman and four men, sitting at a table, I don't know if it was intentional, a servant moved the stool, blocking his view.

The servants sat down at a table, and a table full of tea and fruit snacks for one yuan and a plate was placed, but they didn't get a drop of water, which is rare in Kailuan City.

Waiting for the newspaper boy to come up, not to mention the male host's instructions, the beautiful maid bought the newspaper and paid a reward, and rewarded the child with ten yuan at a time, and even packed the table full of snacks and stuffed it to the child, from beginning to end, the male owner did not speak, just took the newspaper and read, the servant has been so decent, the identity of the master can be known.

It was Liu Sanye who ran out of the private room to get acquainted with Ye Zhao, although this big man had a cold attitude, Liu San didn't care, and said with a smile: "How can Mr. Wen eat tea in this noisy place, Inspector Ma, don't you lose Mr. Wen's identity?" You are used to sitting in the tea shed, and you don't have to insult others. ”

Inspector Ma's face changed, although he didn't like to listen to it, he could only laugh and say yes, Mrs. Ma was not angry, and there was no way, once in the mahjong hall, Liu Sanye also teased her, as if she was a dusty woman, which made her ashamed and angry, and she didn't have the face to go to the mahjong hall again, she hated Liu San.

Liu Sanye said at this time: "Mr. Wen, if you don't give up, can you go to the private room with your little brother?" It's clean there. ”

Ye Zhao smiled and said, "Like Inspector Ma, I like to be lively, and I don't dare to make friends like Brother Liu." ”

Liu Sanye's face changed, nodded, and walked back.

Seeing that Liu San had eaten the closed-door soup, Inspector Ma felt so comfortable in his heart, and Mrs. Ma was even more charming, and her eyes frequently glanced at Ye Zhao.

Liu Sanye had just taken two steps, and suddenly a dog ate and fell to the ground, but he was accidentally tripped by Ye Zhaochang, his nose hit the table leg, and blood flowed.

In the private room, two big men rushed out immediately, but the long entourage who tripped Liu San had already helped him up with a continuous apronym, Liu San was about to scold angrily, but he felt that the sharp pain in his shoulder seemed to be broken, but it was the long ensuage who seemed to help him but pinched his shoulder, and his big hand was like iron tongs.

Liu San couldn't help but scream "Ah", and then heard a cold voice in his ears: "Look at your dog's eyes again!" Liu San didn't know why, a chill rose in his heart, he didn't dare to say more, he didn't even dare to turn his head back, beckoned his entourage into the private room, and left after a while.

Anyone could see that Liu Sanye had suffered a big loss and didn't dare to speak out, and some tea customers whispered and discussed, Inspector Ma felt that his face was bright, and he became more and more flattering to Ye Zhao.

(To be continued)