NJ Road, as the earliest commercial street established in Shanghai after the YP War, was established as a concession, and there are many department stores, famous shops and merchants.

There are the top four companies such as Welfare, Huiluo, and other British businessmen, as well as the firms of Xianshi, Yongan, Xinxin, and Daxin opened by overseas Chinese businessmen, as well as hundreds of professional specialty stores such as Lao Jiefu, Lao Fengxiang, Heng Dali, Zhang Xiaoquan, Shao Wansheng, and Wang Kai.

In the early morning, under the sunlight, the buildings on both sides of the street shine brightly, and cars shuttle through the bustling streets, and pedestrians rush by, not only foreigners dressed in the most fashionable fashion of the moment, but also progressive intellectuals and students, dressed in neat suits, holding books, talking about current affairs and culture, full of energy and passion.

In a car driving on the street, Zhou Xingzu, who was driving, couldn't help but sigh when he saw this scene: "I really can't imagine that Shanghai Tang was so prosperous decades ago, and it is about to catch up with Hong Kong Island." ”

"Nonsense", Zheng Jirong looked out the window and replied: "How can the political and economic status of Hong Kong Island compare with SH?" I guess it's still a small fishing village, and "

He said to Ah Xing in the driver's seat: "Can you kid drive seriously, look at how many times you have braked sharply on this road, and I have a little motion sickness!" ”

Yikes!

As soon as the words fell, the bodies of everyone in the car leaned forward again, Zhou Xingzu looked at the chartered car in front of him and replied: "I don't want to either, Brother Rong, there are either newsboys jumping around on this road or chartered coachmen, these people who pull cars are more arrogant than Hong Kong Island taxi drivers, scurrying around, I can't get up fast if I want to." ”

"Alright, let's drive your car."

Zheng Jirong waved his hand helplessly, because Ah Miao was not there, so the person who acted as the driver became Zhou Xingzu, but compared with Ah Miao, the [Prince Road Car God], Ah Xing's driving skills are too stinky, and I don't know how to get a driver's license.

Wait a minute? This kid seems to have been on Hong Kong Island for a few months

"Ah Xing, do you have a driver's license?"

"Driver's license?" Zhou Xingzu shook his head and said, "I haven't been to a driving school, where did I get my driver's license?" ”

"Holy! Why don't you say that you kid doesn't have a driver's license?! ”

"You didn't ask me, but Brother Rong, don't worry, I drove a walk-behind tractor when I was in my hometown, and my skills are very amazing."

"Get out of the back for me!"

After a hurry, Zhou Xingzu sat in the back seat sullenly with the big bag that had just been knocked out of his head.

Driven by Zheng Jirong, the car finally crossed the concession and came to the slum in the east of the city.

The style of painting here has changed dramatically, and I can see that the narrow streets are lined with ragged and withered refugees. Their eyes were blank and their expressions were helpless, like walking corpses, and they didn't feel any life at all.

Zheng Jirong's arrival was like throwing a stone into a pool of stagnant water, and those refugees frantically surrounded them.

"Sir, sir, all right, I haven't eaten in two days."

"Sir, sir! Do you want to be a maid? My daughter can do the laundry, cook, fold the quilts, do everything, you can buy her. Ten dollars, only ten dollars! ”

"Mr. bought my family, my two daughters are twins, you can take all fifteen yuan!"

“.”

Where had Zhou Xingzu seen such a situation, and he was immediately stunned, "Brother Rongrong, where did so many refugees come from Shanghai Beach, they don't even have to eat?" It's all to the point of selling sons and daughters, and I don't think there is a war in Shanghai. ”

Zheng Jirong took out dozens of copper plates and scattered, shook his head and sighed: "They are all refugees who escaped from SD." ”

He has been reading the newspapers for the past few days, and he has learned a little about these refugees, and at the beginning of this year, the torrential rains in Shandong Province caused most of the houses in the countryside to collapse and the people were displaced. And Zhang Palmchang is still leviing and extorting, not only does not bail out, but levies heavy taxes. At first, the refugees were still begging in SD, but with the spring famine, it was difficult to continue in places without disasters, so they could only drag their families and families to run outside the province.

Originally, they ran to the north first, but the T Jin side was under the control of Zhu Yupu, and Zhu Yupu was still fighting with Zhang Zhangchang, how could they have the kung fu to manage these refugees, and the T Jin Zhengfu didn't care about them, so they had no choice but to run south again, and it would be better to reach the territory of the National Mansion.

Although I still can't eat enough and can't sleep well, at least I have a place to settle down now, and those rich people in the city will bring reporters to give porridge in a few days, and they will not die of hunger after all.

Although he sympathized with them in his heart, Zheng Jirong did not forget what he came here for.

After he swept around, he couldn't help frowning, before the master told him that there were a lot of SD young and strong laborers in this group of refugees, how could they come to the scene and see that they were all old, weak, sick and disabled?

"Brother Rong", Peng Yixing on the side seemed to see his doubts, and leaned over to him and whispered: "I spent a few days in this group of refugees before, and during the day, the men in their family either worked on the docks or moved mines and stones and coal on the railway, and if they wanted to recruit people, they had to go there." ”

"I see," Zheng Jirong understood, "Is the dock far away?" ”

"It's very close, several docks on the east side of the city are close together, and it only takes ten minutes to drive there."

Zheng Jirong bowed slightly after listening, he looked around at the refugees who were begging and looking at him, sighed secretly, and took out thousands of silver dollars worth of fiat currency from his arms and handed it to Zhou Xingzu.

"Ah Xing, you and Dafu go to buy some food to scatter, remember to buy the kind of food that is full."

"Okay", Zhou Xingzu was about to turn around and leave with Chow Tai Fook after accepting the money, Zheng Jirong whispered to him again: "Be careful, these guys are not all poor people, don't be black-sticked halfway." ”

Zhou Xingzu glanced at the refugees who were staring at his pocket, and said nonchalantly: "Brother Rong, are you mistaken, I will fight cattle across the mountain, ordinary people are my opponents"

Looking at this kid's swaggering back, Zheng Jirong couldn't help but pout, he was afraid that when the time came, he would really start to move, and there would be nothing for you!

on the pier.

The smell of sand and sweat filled the air, making it feel suffocating.

Topless workers stumbled across the narrow gangplank, carrying heavy sandbags on their shoulders, dust and sweat intertwined to form mottled marks on their faces, and rough cloth shoes made a dull noise on the stone pavement, accompanied by their heavy gasps and shouts.

At the same time, there were also cold-eyed overseers standing around, they collected money according to the number of sandbags in each piece, once they found that some workers were slow, shouting and scolding, or beating and kicking, the workers could only grit their teeth, endure the pain, continue to carry the sandbags, and move forward with difficulty.

When Zheng Jirong and the others first arrived, they were greeted by this scene in front of them.

He pointed to the overseers and asked, "Where are these guys, from all the firms?" ”

"It's not."

Peng Yixing explained: "How can there be these people in the business, they are all thugs of nearby gangs. ”

After speaking, he raised his hand and pointed to several docks around, "These docks have been divided by gangs, as long as any business has goods from the sea, you only need to find the gang that packs the docks and negotiate the price with them, and then whether it is loading or unloading, it will be done by the gang organization." ”

Zheng Jirong was surprised when he heard this: "Are the people of the Mixed Hi Gang still willing to come out to work as coolies?" ”

"Brother Rong, you misunderstood", Peng Yixing coldly glanced at these overseers who were acting as a bully on the heads of the workers, and explained: "How can they let their own people do coolies, all the workers on the docks are poor people they recruit at a low price." ”

"These people are either from poor families, or they have simply fled, and they are not able to find good jobs, and they are not willing to mix up, so they can only do the most tiring work in Shanghai with the lowest wage."

"The unit price that the merchants give to the gang is five copper plates for each cargo, regardless of the size of the goods, but when it comes to the workers, it is worth one copper plate to transport two sandbags, and many of them are all earned by these gangs."

"The workers worked hard all day, but when they checked out the bill in the evening, they realized that they only earned enough money to buy the cheapest rations for their families, let alone save money, and sometimes they couldn't even eat a decent meal."

"!" Zheng Jirong scolded angrily when he heard this: "Isn't this a black intermediary!" In order to prevent workers from saving money for jobs, these bastards deliberately deducted their salaries to the point where they were only enough to meet the food and clothing line, but they didn't expect that this set had been playing for decades."

Thinking of this, the more Zheng Jirong thought about it, the more angry he became, he loosened the tightly buttoned shirt collar, and spat fiercely on the ground, "Damn, what Lao Tzu hates most in his life is the black intermediary!" Follow me! ”

In front of the dock, in the wooden shed where the overseers stayed.

An old guy wearing glasses and a two-digit mustache, dressed as a bookkeeper, was concentrating on the abacus in his hand, and there was a counting guy next to him shouting here: "Seven years Chen five bags three years Chen ten bags. Seven years Chen Jiubao."

Not far from him, there was a rough wooden table, at which a man with a large waist and a fat body was eating and drinking.

After chewing and swallowing the bulging food in his mouth, he took his glass and took a sip of it, burping contentedly.

After patting his stomach, he raised his hand and cut a few pieces of raw tofu on the table with a knife into the hot pot with the pickles, and while waiting, he shouted to the accounting room on the side:

"Old Song Tou, you have to dial it for me, don't be wrong, although the abacus is small, it is bigger than the head of my fourth master, you have to remember that what you are holding in your hand is my head!"

"Fourth master, don't worry", the old accountant replied without raising his head: "When the Qing Dynasty was still there, I was also on an errand in the government office, and I had eaten official food for thirty years, but I haven't knocked out an old tooth." ”

"You can't go wrong with everything carefully!"

The four masters glared at the old guy unhappily, although their Black Tiger Gang is a big gang in the east of the city, but these goods are all military rations transported by major firms to the Northern Expeditionary Army, if something goes wrong, let alone him, I'm afraid even his godfather Lei Gong's head will have to be lost!

Shaking his head, he stopped thinking about these nerve-wracking things, raised his chopsticks and stirred the boiling soup pot, he picked up a piece of tofu and blew it into his mouth, feeling the silky taste and the faint salty taste, the four masters followed up and took another sip of soju, and hummed softly with satisfaction:

"Ate pickles and rolled tofu, Chairman of the Republic of China. It's not as good as me~"

"Hey, you're pretty good at eating this chop!

At this moment, a low voice suddenly came from outside the wooden shed.

The fourth master frowned and looked at a tall man in a suit and leather shoes with a small man with a gloomy face standing in front of the shed.

"Choppy?" He tugged at the corners of his mouth and looked at the person with an unkind look, "What did you just mean by the crumbs?" ”

Zheng Jirong smiled, walked in front of the fat man, looked down at him and said lightly: "Don't get me wrong, I didn't just mean you, I mean"

He turned his head to look around at the gang overseers around him, and said in a deep voice, "You guys are all miscellaneous scum, brutes of beasts!" ”

"NM's!"

The fourth master was furious when he heard this, and after getting up from his chair, he raised his fist and was about to smash it at the man in front of him.

Zheng Jirong snorted coldly, and at the same time turned his head slightly to avoid this blow without hurrying, he directly kicked the soup pot on the stove in front of the fat man with a hook of his foot!

The boiling soup was poured on the body of the four masters in an instant, and bursts of white smoke were generated!

"Ah!!h

The unsuspecting four masters were suddenly rolled on the ground, and the sound of killing pigs resounded throughout the dock, and not only the workers, but even the overseers put down their whips and looked at the wooden shed in disbelief.

"Hot Hot Hot !!"

Holding back the pain in his body, the four masters at this time didn't care about finding out the identity of this kid, he picked up the machete hidden under the table, and was about to slash at Zheng Jirong!

The little brothers who were about to come up also stopped when they saw this, they deserved to be the four leaders of their Black Tiger Gang, even if they were burned with blood, but they could still play the momentum of this tiger going down the mountain!

It's just that before the knife could be chopped out, the four masters who rushed halfway to it stopped in place as if they had pressed the pause button.

"Huh? Come and cut me, why don't you move, you're afraid? ”

The fourth master hated Peng Yixing, who was holding the muzzle of the black hole and aimed at him, he gritted his teeth and endured the sharp pain of the skin burn, and shouted at Zheng Jirong: "What kind of hero is a hero with a gun, if you have the ability, you will have a fight with Lao Tzu with a real knife and a real gun!" ”

"Hehe", Zheng Jirong sneered disdainfully when he heard this: "Just rely on your three-legged cat's kung fu to fight me. Do you deserve it too? ”

He then walked over to the table, first dragged up a chair and sat down, lit a cigarette, glanced at him and asked, "Which gang are you from?" ”

"Black Tiger Gang!"

The fourth master shouted: "My godfather is Lei Gong, the leader of the Black Tiger Gang!" Where are you mixed up? ”

"Lei Gong?"

Zheng Jirong's face was a little strange when he heard this, why is there a Hi Dao boss named Lei Gong everywhere

"I haven't heard of it," he shook his head nonchalantly, and then said, "Go back and tell . . . Forget it, let's change someone. ”

Zheng Jirong turned his head to look at the old account room hiding under the account desk in the middle of speaking, "Go back and tell that Lei Gong that from today onwards, these docks will be under the management of my axe gang!" ”

"What?!"

When the fourth master heard this, he said angrily: "The territory of the Axe Gang is in Zhabei, and the dock has always been the territory of our Black Tiger Gang, do you dare to cross the line?!" ”

"Hehe", Zheng Jirong pointed to the sandbags around him and asked with a smile, "Which business name are these things from?" ”

"This is the military rations that the four major grain merchants jointly bought for the Northern Expeditionary Army", speaking of this, the four masters of the fox fake tiger said: "It doesn't matter if you Axe Gang offends our Black Tiger Gang, but those soldiers are not something that a hi gang like you can provoke, let me go now, otherwise don't blame us for being polite!" ”

"I see", Zheng Jirong nodded, and then asked in a loud voice: "Then let me ask you again, why did the four major grain merchants give you the price of five copper plates per bag of the Black Tiger Gang, but you only give the workers two bags of one copper plate?!" ”

After hearing Zheng Jirong's words, every worker looked at each other in shock, they knew that the Black Tiger Gang would definitely deduct their due pay, maybe thirty percent or fifty percent, but they never thought that they would directly deduct ninety percent so ruthlessly!

The workers were boiling in an instant, and while they were talking to each other, they all looked at the four masters in the wooden shed and the overseers around them.

Seeing this scene, the four masters hurriedly shook their heads and denied: "You are talking nonsense! How can there be so much, we are only paid a bag and a copper plate! ”

Bang!

As soon as he finished speaking, the bullet hit the ground at his feet, and the sparks were sparked and the guy was in a cold sweat.

"I hate it when others lie and lie to me", Zheng Jirong exhaled a puff of smoke and asked lightly: "I'll ask one last time, how much is a bag?!" ”

Looking at the muzzle of the gun in Peng Yixing's hand, the fourth master was silent for a while and then replied: "That's right, it's five copper plates, but this price is not set by me, yes"

Bang!

At this time, the gunfire in the wooden shed rang out again, but this time it was not the ground, but the center of the man's eyebrows.

Zheng Jirong stepped on the cigarette butt, glanced at the corpse on the ground in disgust, and slowly walked out of the shed.

He looked around at the workers who were staring at him closely, and shouted: "I'm Zheng Jirong, the leader of the Axe Gang, I know that none of you know me, and I just came to Shanghai Tang a few days ago." ”

“.”

(End of chapter)