Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 114: Guangzhou Incident (I)

"Hey, have you heard? The imperial court issued an edict on the eighth day of the second month to close all the post stations. To this end, Liu Mao, the Imperial Censor of the Criminal Department, was transferred to the Imperial Censor of the Military Department, specifically to be in charge of closing the post stations and relieve the people."

"Whether this post station is closed or not is none of our business! Only one-tenth or two-tenths of its usage is used for official business, while eighty-nine percent is used for private matters. ... In my opinion, it should have been closed long ago! Otherwise, it would be a waste of the people's money, while benefiting those officials and their families."

"Who says it isn't? This post station is the most harmful to the people. Look at the documents for those post carriages and horses requisitioned by the government. They are only issued, but never returned. In the end, isn't it all taken away by the officials!"

"That's right. This post station only serves the convenience of the officials. For common people like us, how can we use a penny of it? ... It's a good idea to close it down. It will stop those officials from taking up the court's funds."

"What do you think? If we abolish the post stations, won't we save a lot of money? Then, won't the taxes and labor service collected by the court be reduced?"

"It's hard to say! How can the imperial court reduce taxes and levies just like that? If we can keep taxes and levies from increasing throughout the year, we will be grateful for the emperor's great grace!"

"Alas, this world..."

"..."

Zhong Minghui sat in a corner of the restaurant, eating and listening quietly to the diners' chatter.

When he heard the news that the Ming court had issued an announcement about abolishing the post stations, a heroic figure who was famous in the late Ming Dynasty suddenly flashed in his mind.

Li Zicheng!
It seems that he lost his job because of the abolition of the post station, which left him with no way to make a living, so he surrendered to Gao Yingxiang, and finally took advantage of the situation, broke into Beijing, and destroyed the Ming Dynasty.

Now, the notice of abolishing the post stations has been issued, so the real chaos of the Ming Dynasty is about to come!

"Let's go back." Zhong Minghui put down his bowl and chopsticks, stood up, took out seven or eight Tianqi Tongbao coins from his arms, settled the bill with the waiter, and led Lin Sanhu out of the restaurant.

"Mr. Zhong, shall we go back to the warehouse?" Lin Sanhu asked.

"Go to the rice market."

"Ah?" Lin Sanhu was stunned for a moment. "Master Zhong, didn't we just buy a thousand dan of rice a dozen days ago? ...Why do we need to buy more?"

"I'm worried there won't be enough food."

"Master Zhong, that's a thousand dan of rice!"

In the past few months, the warehouse has gathered only about 300 craftsmen, artisans, young women, and young refugees, and they only consume a dozen stone of grain a day.

Those one thousand stones of rice are enough for them to eat for seven or eight months!
"The world is going to be in chaos," Zhong Minghui said softly. "So, the price of grain will probably skyrocket. Also, in a month or so, our ship will arrive in Guangzhou, so we need to gather more people and try to get over 700 people."

"Mr. Zhong is the one who has thought it through carefully. I was mistaken." Lin Sanhu smiled innocently.

"Sanhu, have you ever thought about sending your family to us as well?"

"I'm grateful that Master Zhong thinks highly of me," Lin Sanhu said. "But my family of more than a dozen people has lived in Guangzhou for generations, and we've long been accustomed to life here. If...if we moved overseas, I'm afraid we wouldn't be able to adapt."

"But, the world is about to fall into chaos. Aren't you afraid of being ravaged by war?"

"No matter how chaotic the world is, can it reach Guangzhou?"

"Maybe?"

I still remember that more than ten years later, when the Qing invaders captured Guangzhou, they seemed to have suffered heavy casualties, so they launched a bloody massacre in the city to vent their anger.

According to historical records, hundreds of thousands of Guangzhou residents were massacred, and the blood dyed the entire Pearl River red.

By that time, who can survive?
"Master Zhong, no matter how chaotic the world is, there must be a way out for us common people." Lin Sanhu looked around and said in a low voice, "To be honest, even if the dynasty changes, those officials will still expect us to pay taxes and grain, right? ... Haha, as long as we can still live like this, who would want to leave their homeland and live overseas?"

"Sanhu, you have to know that if you don't think about the future, you will have immediate worries!"

"Master Zhong, a small figure like me doesn't need to think too far ahead. ...Just stay alive!" "Haha..." Zhong Minghui smiled, shook his head and said, "Don't think too far ahead, but you should always take care of your wife, children and the elderly. Take my advice, when the world is in chaos, don't stay in Guangzhou City."

"Thank you, Master Zhong, for your care!" Lin Sanhu bowed to him and said gratefully, "To be honest, I've been greatly benefited by following Master Zhong over the past year. Not only is my salary high, but he also sends me rice, flour, grain, and oil during the holidays. I, Lin Sanhu, truly have no way to repay you."

"That's nothing. I hired you just to keep me safe in Guangzhou." Zhong Minghui patted his shoulder and smiled indifferently.

"That's for sure, Master Zhong. But with me, Lin Sanhu, by your side, I won't let any villain hurt you in the slightest! If necessary, I can even sell you my worthless life!"

Zhong Minghui nodded slightly without saying much.

Two years ago, as a student soldier from Guangdong, he stayed in Guangzhou with Meng Shengxin, the former navigator of the "Polang", as a contact point for the time travelers on the mainland.

In addition to recruiting all kinds of craftsmen and young immigrants that are urgently needed for Qiming Island, they also have to purchase in advance a large number of goods that can be smuggled into Spanish America and a large amount of production materials needed for base development. At the same time, they have to collect and organize various information within the Ming Dynasty and surrounding areas to provide necessary decision-making references for the time travelers.

Considering that the two of them were alone and weak and had just settled in Guangzhou, they hired five strong martial artists through their trading partner "Li Shunxing" to protect the safety of the two of them and the entire warehouse.

During this period, it was not uncommon for wealthy businessmen or wealthy families to hire martial artists for security protection.

In Guangzhou, the monthly salary of a martial artist who can "fight against several people" is actually not high, about six or seven taels of silver.

Although they are not as good as those soldiers in the army who are used to seeing blood and fighting, they can still deal with some street thugs or hooligans.

Given the identities and backgrounds of Meng Shengxin and Zhong Minghui, they are not particularly dazzling figures, nor are they wealthy gentry. However, they can handle some daily minor troubles with the help of the three or five martial artists they hired.

After half a year of observation, they found that these hired martial artists were extremely dedicated to their work. Whether they were accompanying the two of them on their work trips or guarding the warehouse, they all worked hard and wholeheartedly.

So Meng Shengxin raised their monthly salary from six taels of silver to eight taels of silver, and sent some rice, flour, grain, oil and their families during festivals. This made them work more diligently and guard the safety of the two men and the warehouse.

The two of them had mentioned the idea of ​​persuading these martial artists to move to Qiming Island many times, but these people had families in Guangzhou. Although their lives were not satisfactory, they could still make ends meet and were not willing to leave their homes and go overseas.

Therefore, they are not very enthusiastic about immigration.

If life can continue like this, who would want to go overseas?

"Mr. Zhong, it seems like we're being targeted." After walking on the street for a while, Lin Sanhu suddenly touched Zhong Minghui with his arm and whispered.

"Pickpocket?" Zhong Minghui's expression was stern, but he did not look back.

"It doesn't seem like it." Lin Sanhu shook his head and said, "It seems like they are a group of outsiders."

"foreigner?"

"I don't know him well." Lin Sanhu slowly tucked the collar of his robe towards his waistband as he walked, then pulled out a short knife from his bosom. "I wonder if this fierce dragon from somewhere is trying to make a killing here."

"Hiss, it seems we haven't revealed anything along the way." Zhong Minghui touched the several hundred-liang silver notes issued by "Sheng Huai Ji" on his body, with a look of suspicion on his face, "Could it be that we were targeted as soon as we left the bank?"

"It's hard to say." Lin Sanhu calmly tied the dagger to his right hand to prevent it from slipping out of his hand during a fight. "Master Zhong, if the thieves come charging towards you later, don't stop, just run straight ahead. There's a checkpoint set up by the inspection office about six or seven hundred meters from here. If you run there, the thieves will definitely not dare to chase us."

"How many people are there?" Zhong Minghui stretched out his right hand to his waist and grasped the military standard pistol he carried with him.

"Three people." Lin Sanhu glanced slightly and glanced behind him.

"Oh, there are only three people!" Zhong Minghui smiled, pulled out the pistol and held it tightly in his hand.

No matter how sharp the knife is, it is still afraid of bullets!
"Master Zhong..." Lin Sanhu looked at two more people appearing at the corner of the alley ahead, and a bitter smile suddenly appeared on his face. "I think we might have fallen into an ambush by thieves."

In this back street, two groups of people, holding short knives and with a hint of sinister smile, slowly approached Zhong and Lin who were standing in the middle.

(End of this chapter)