At the end of Song Dynasty: I want to be the master of ZTE

Chapter 58 Curfew
clang~ clang~ clang~
The bell rang nine times in a row throughout the city, telling everyone that it was Haishi.

Zhao knew it was time to go to bed, so he took the initiative to put away his pen and ink, and was about to blow out the candles when the palace maid Chunyu came in and said: "Your Majesty, I will take care of you before you go to bed."

"Okay." Zhao didn't hesitate.

Don't get me wrong, this is not sleeping in bed as the outside world usually thinks, it's just fanning oneself.

The weather is getting hotter and hotter, and this is the only way I can fall asleep.

There is no entertainment at night, most people go to bed early, and the seventh square in the west of the city is where restaurants and brothels gather, so of course there are people coming and going.

Most of the people who are looking for fun are wealthy people, and there are many followers. With the ordinary people coming over, there will naturally be business opportunities. Many small stalls on both sides of the street are doing this kind of business.

Hearing the bell, Niu Er, who was selling pork tripe soup, immediately turned off the stove and started cleaning up the pots.

In the middle of Haishi, the gates of each square are locked, the gates of the city are closed, and it is forbidden to stay and move around on the streets. This is called a curfew.

Regular customers and nearby stall owners all know that he lives outside the city, and if he doesn't hurry up, he may not be able to get out. Living in the city will cost more than ten yuan, and it will also delay the preparation of materials for tomorrow.

While they were cleaning up, a group of guests came over, and someone shouted: "A bowl of pig offal, more pepper and coriander."

Niu Er laughed and said: "Guests forgive me, the villain has to go out of the city before the curfew, and has to close the stall, so please be considerate."

The leader didn't care, and sat down. The younger brother next to him shouted: "Grandpa can't afford a penny, come up quickly."

"Why, our brother has taken a liking to your pig offal. It's a blessing for you, the farmer, to bring it over quickly."

"You're so clueless. There's no reason why you'd be kicked out when business comes to your door."

"If you keep nagging me, I'll smash this mess!"

The follower was evil and the person who came was not good. Niu Er thought for a moment, took out a handful of copper coins and handed it over, saying: "It's just a villain who doesn't know what's going on. There is really nothing we can do. For a small amount of money, brothers, go to another house to buy some food."

"You are so underestimating grandpa?" Someone slapped the copper coin down and cursed: "If I don't let grandpa eat comfortably today, I won't be able to leave you!"

More than ten people immediately surrounded Niu Er, all looking fierce.

"What are you doing? What are you doing?" A group of soldiers came over, and Dutou He Twelve, who was leading the patrol, shouted, "Are you trying to cause trouble?"

When it became clear that the person surrounded was Niu Er, He Twelve shouted: "Come on, take down these craftsmen and interrogate them carefully!"

With a crash, soldiers gathered around with guns and knives raised.

"Du Tou, Du Tou." The leader said quickly: "We are not waiting, and we are definitely not doing it carefully."

"Whether it is done carefully or not, I will find out on my own!" He Twelve shouted: "Wang Zhen, Wang Jiu, help the second brother clean up his affairs, and the rest will interrogate Mr. Zuo."

Niu Er said quickly: "Brother Twelve, it doesn't have to be like this, it doesn't have to be like this."

He Twelve said: "Fourth brother died protecting Your Majesty. How can we brothers see our brother being harassed by Xiaoxiao? Others can just disperse him, but today we cannot let him go easily."

Thinking of his younger brother who threw himself at the Yuan army's cavalry, Niu Er felt pain in his heart and said no more.

He Twelve led a group of people to a secluded place, and carefully investigated their background and origin.

"The villain Gu Xiaoqi, known as Jian-headed Loach in the street, lives in Nanming Street." Gu Xiaoqi, the leader, introduced himself and begged for mercy: "Good brother, I really didn't know that Niu Er was a loyal family member, otherwise there would be a dragon I don’t dare to cause trouble even if I’m a leopard, I really don’t have the intention to collide.”

He Twelve ignored them, asked others about their origins, and then sent a soldier to check.

"Brother, send more, the curfew is about to happen soon." Gu Xiaoqi took out a piece of silver and handed it over, saying: "A little filial piety, brothers have tea."

He Twelve weighed it, estimated that there were two or three, put it in his pocket and said: "There must be something strange in bribing the soldiers patrolling the city. Investigate thoroughly."

"Brother... ah..."

He Twelve kicked Gu Xiaoqi to the ground and cursed: "What a brave bitch. He bribed officers and soldiers without even looking where he was!"

The emperor is at his feet, otherwise how can the soldiers control a bunch of rogues?

Gu Xiaoqi didn't know why, he was just begging for mercy, and He Twelve didn't care at all.

Damn it!Gu Xiaoqi was angry. Three taels of silver was not a small sum of money. It was enough to decorate a good table. "Straight mother-in-law, the officials run the army very strictly. You accept bribes and do nothing. If you don't kill grandpa, this lawsuit will definitely go to the Yushitai!" Gu Xiaoqi shouted angrily.

"Hey, it's up to you!" He Twelve stepped on Gu Xiaoqi and said, "I'll send it to the state government later. I'll file a complaint slowly. Grandpa will stay with me until the end. It's my grandson who can't afford it!"

He Twelve was confident. In order to prevent the Yuan captives from bribery, the new law stipulated that only bribes would be allowed, and the money obtained would be disposed of by oneself. If he obtained the details, he would be beheaded as a record of merit.

Gu Xiaoqi is not careful, but it will not affect He Shier's taking the three taels of silver.

Now the imperial court has insufficient expenses, and the officers and soldiers are provided with clothing, food and housing but no military pay. If the three taels of silver are divided among the brothers, they can always buy some things for the family.

More than half an hour later, the verification came back and Gu Xiao found that more than [-] people were identified correctly. However, if they stayed on the street after the curfew, they were required to be escorted to the jail for supervision.

Tomorrow, he will either pay a fine of five guan or serve one month of hard labor.

The emperor is on the move, and safety cannot be ignored. Not only has the curfew been restarted, but the punishments are also severe.

Gu Xiaoqi may be rich himself, but his brothers may not be. More than 50 yuan is Chen Yizhong's two months' salary, and Gu Xiaoqi will most likely not be willing to pay for everyone.

It doesn't matter, there are plenty of work to do.

As for the nearby ones, the central government decided to build ring forts outside the city gates to prevent Liu Shen's sneak attack from happening again. Now that there are no corvees and it costs money to hire civilians, we can only work hard for these rogues.

Escorted to the prison in Yuanzhou, I saw that it was overcrowded, and many of them were lying in the open air.

The weather was hot at this time, so there was no need to worry about human life. Besides, these were all scoundrels in the city. They had no strength. They neither worked in the fields nor joined the army to serve the country. They would only disturb the people and die without mercy.

"The officials are kind and let him wait for service to pay for his crimes without getting stabbed in the face. If it had been before..."

He Twelve did not continue, but the yamen officer Zhang Yiwu smiled and said: "Brother, of course, he will let him go if he sees the money, so he is so verbose."

"Let's have a couple of drinks together while we take a rest. I'll continue patrolling the streets." After saying that, He Twelve led the people away.

Zhang Yiwu waved his hand, watched He Twelve and his group leave, and then looked towards the prison area.

Those who violate the curfew, those who cause nuisance to the people, those who are sneaky, there are always scum among the hundreds of thousands of people in Wenzhou, and the few thousand who are not worthy of being exiled are all locked up here.

Because there were too many people, only a fence was erected around it. There were more than a hundred guards outside watching at all times. However, in the darkness, Zhang Yiwu and others could not see clearly, and they did not notice that Gu Xiaoqi and others immediately dispersed after entering. into the crowd.

It was getting late, and Wenzhou City fell into complete silence. The guards all lost their energy and yawned continuously.

The physiological inertia was difficult to overcome, so Zhang Yiwu had to remind everyone to cheer up.

"Third brother, what can these little thieves do..."

Before he finished speaking, there was a bang, the fence was pushed down, and the prisoners swarmed out.

"Go south, where is the road!" Gu Xiaoqi shouted.

"Run quickly, you'll be fine if you run out."

"The imperial court wants to kill people and silence them. If you don't run away quickly, you will die."

While shouting, the obedient prisoners immediately followed and ran south.

"The thieves are rioting, shoot them without mercy!" Zhang Yiwu rushed forward with his knife drawn and slashed at the crowd while shouting.

The others were waking up from a dream, shouting and retreating, raising their swords and guns.

"I'm waiting for more people, rush over!"

"Go and live, stay and die!"

"The imperial court is unruly, so let's go out of the city!"

While shouting and shouting, the crowd rushed past Zhang Yiwu, and then dispersed the guards, and most of the prisoners fled in all directions.

Gu Xiaoqi gathered some of his men and rushed straight towards Xingzai, apparently intending to assassinate Wang Jia.

(End of this chapter)