late Qing Dynasty arrest

The snow in the cold winter makes the roads muddy. Pedestrians walk slowly, and some people will accidentally fall to the ground. Children take out their skis and wear leather hats, playing skis on the snow-covered river.The sky is gray, and it seems that the next snowstorm is coming.

Li Guolou was standing outside the yamen wearing a black windbreaker and a top hat. He was an outlier in the yamen of the Ministry of Punishment, and everyone knew him.As the cold wind blew, Li Guolou turned up his collar in a cool way, and his coat was unbuttoned. The open front of his clothes looked like a tall and straight handsome man.An undercurrent surged in the Ministry of Punishment. This is the dress of a fake foreign devil, which is admired by more and more people.Yamen servants and officials with a little money began to slowly imitate Li Guolou's dress.There were more and more people wearing black coats, and Li Guolou sized up a colleague who entered the yamen.

Furiously, he said, "Ai Bald, why are you wearing my clothes?"

Ai Hai fled into the door, casually said: "Sleep on my bed, it's only natural for me to wear your clothes." While speaking, he disappeared at the door.

Li Guolou scolded Beijing, the white-eyed wolf who was not familiar with him, and lived a good life by his side, but pushed him to the point of no return.Now that he dare not go back to Hongchang Hutong, Wang Kuaizui begged him for help in finding his missing wife, Hong Gu. He promised Wang Kuaizui that the feeling in his heart was unbearable, and Wang Kuaizi’s crying face made him feel even more inhuman .

Li Guolou is also reflecting on himself, how many people have changed by his appearance, has he changed the world?Not so great.But everything around him is changing with his steps. Can he control the future?Li Guolou was a little lost, he was afraid of seeing the ending.

The wind kicked up the snow on the ground, and everyone on the street walked with their heads down. Li Guolou lowered his top hat and looked down at the road towards Dongfulai Lane.Thinking of Chen Xiangfang, Li Guolou felt warm in his heart, and the sweetness of love made him smile.Li Guolou quickened his pace, and a child bumped into him.

"I'm sorry!" the child said anxiously.

Li Guolou didn't let the child slip away, grabbed the child by the collar, lifted the child into the air, and said angrily, "If you don't learn well at such a young age, who is your big brother?" Go for the fanny pack.

The child with sly eyebrows and mouse eyes cried and begged for mercy: "Master, please forgive me, I haven't eaten all day."

Some people on the road stopped to look at the scene in front of them, some scolded the child, and some told Li Guolou to spare the thief.

Although Li Guolou knew that children were lying, this kind of children were members of thieves gangs. They were petty stealers when they were young. As long as they were not beaten and disabled, they would become big thieves one day.But today, the child failed to steal the money bag and was caught, and would be beaten up by the elder brother when he returned home. These adults who control the lives of the children and hide behind them are the worst villains.Li Guolou has made up his mind that he will not give face to the beggar gang. He must arrest such bad guys and put them in a dirty prison.

Li Guolou put down the child, took out ten copper coins from his pocket, handed them to the child, and said, "You go, leave it to your boss, if you want to learn well, don't hang out in the den of thieves. I have seen those people crawling on the street. Are they beggars? The reason why they can only crawl is because they were caught in prison and wore wooden dogs, and their legs were useless. You don’t want to live like this for the rest of your life, don’t be thieves.”

(The wooden dog is a kind of torture tool in the Qing Dynasty. It was specially used to deal with thieves. After wearing it for two years, people will not be able to walk normally. This kind of torture tool was still used in the early years of the Republic of China.) Li Guolou left after speaking , whether the child can understand or not?There must be members of thieves next to him. Li Guolou scanned the surrounding people, as if warning those who were not at peace that he would not let them go.

Someone on the side said: "I know him, the fake foreign devil is from the yamen, little boy, you will be lucky if you meet him, and you will be beaten to death by another yamen servant."

The child ran with his head down, and quickly disappeared on the street. His fate will also change when he meets Li Guolou.

"Small building!" A familiar voice came, and Li Jing ran over with a slight smile at the gate of the Anhui Fellowship Hall.

"Uncle Li, what a coincidence!" Li Guolou hurried up to meet Li Jinglue.

"What a coincidence, Xiaolou, I was just about to find you, and your brother sent a telegram."

Li Guolou looked at Li Jinglue suspiciously. He must have hidden something from him. He smiled and said, "Uncle Li, did you tell my brother about me?"

Li Jinglue said with a straight face: "How can I not say it, the store is about to open, can I still pretend to be deaf and dumb?"

Li Guolou lowered his head and smirked in shame, there was no time for him to be high-profile in front of his elders.

Li Jinglue took out a telegram from his pocket, handed it to Li Guolou, and said, "Your brother, sister and your brother-in-law are coming to the capital for the New Year, and I have important news for you."

Li Guolou trembled, and the telegram fell on the snow, and he said anxiously, "Ah! Why didn't they send me a telegram?"

Li Jing watched Li Guolou flustered with dissatisfaction, and said, "I'm not the same as you."

The flustered movements showed how much Li Guolou was afraid of his brothers and sisters coming to the capital. His heart was like carrying fifteen buckets in the well, he was up and down, afraid, flustered, and looking forward to the warmth of his family.I can't help but be tied down by my relatives, I miss my brothers and sisters so much, I was supposed to go back to my hometown for the New Year, but because the capital has a woman in love, I didn't go back to Hefei, Anhui.This is all right, the whole family will be reunited in the capital.

Li Guolou followed Li Jinglue into the Anhui Township Hall. In the morning, there were already people playing and singing in the teahouse. A group of young and old were enjoying themselves, singing Beijing opera and performing their special skills.

Li Jinglue did not take Li Guolou to the backyard, took a seat in a corner, and said, "Just talk to you here, I have something to go out later."

The waiter poured tea and handed water. Li Guolou drank tea for the first time when he went out in the morning. He had already adapted to the comfortable life of the Qing Empire. He slowly bragged about the green leaves floating on the teacup, and a wave of heat warmed his heart. "Good tea! The water is quite particular, it is boiled with ice water." Li Guolou is like an old tea drinker, savoring Huangshan Maofeng.

Li Jinglue chuckled and said, "For you to know the goods, I will give you a catty of tea later, a tribute from the palace."

Li Guolou shook his head and said: "Uncle Li is wrong, we can't eat the few tea trees as tributes, there are still some grades in Huangshan Maofeng."

Li Jing said angrily: "Xiaolou, you are a catcher and you are out of your mind. Do you want to find out the root of everything? No wonder you can't return home. Who did you offend?"

Li Guolou smiled awkwardly, and said: "Uncle Li has a good ear, and I can't hide anything from you. It's no big deal to catch the bad guys and offend the gangsters. Now I'm staying at my colleague's house, and I'll see my family give me advice." How much money to buy a house, if you don’t give it, you’ll just wander around.”

Li Jing slightly sighed: "You, how much money did your family spend on you? Tens of thousands of taels. They only earn a few hundred taels in their lifetime. What do you think you learned from spending so much money at a young age?"

Li Guolou hurriedly sat upright, and said, "Uncle Li, I am doing great things now, and the money I spend will be doubled in the future. From next year, I will donate 1000 taels of silver to your guild hall. You are satisfied now."

Li Jing was slightly unmoved, and said, "Xiaolou, your brother's piece doesn't count."

Li Guolou retorted: "Uncle Li, you are wrong. Our Li family is not separated, so how can we divide the donation between two people? The 1000 taels has been doubled. You think I use the banknotes as toilet paper."

Li Jing couldn't hold back any longer, his beard trembling while laughing, stretched his eyebrows, and said: "Okay! I believe it. Don't worry, I didn't say anything bad about you. I also hope that you stay in the capital. How can you say that you and Xiaofang are different? Good words for you."

"Really!" Li Guolou showed a joyful expression. It was better for his uncle, who was related to his relatives, and turned his elbows inward.

Li Jing glanced slightly and said: "Well, it seems that you have a conscience and haven't forgotten my uncle. Unlike some people who call him kind, if you really ask him to pay for the money, you will cry for me. You don't want to help the people in the village. You can never get promoted, you can’t make a fortune, don’t you think so?”

Li Guolou hastily nodded and agreed, people must be far-sighted, the influence of the fellow countrymen's association spreads all over the country, and in this era, people are hired by region, and there is no relationship between relatives and relatives, who would dare to use you.Each industry is also controlled by people from different regions, and it is not too difficult to step into their threshold.Just like Li Guolou wanted to do the ticket office business, without the help of the Shanxi ticket office, you would not be able to succeed.Once there is a run on someone, you will die in one shot. The chance is to rely on the usual accumulation of bits and pieces, and Li Guolou is also accumulating personal connections.

Li Jing said with a slight smile: "Your brother has already sent the money to the Shanghai Fellows Association, and asked you to buy a house. They are here to live in a new home. Now is a good time to buy a house. The creditors are relying on the landlord's house. Xiaolou You can't bargain, and when I visit a good guest, I will find you at Baozhi's room at noon."

Li Guolou was both excited and nervous. He scratched his head and said, "Uncle Li, is it too late to buy a house? You can't find anyone for renovation."

Li Jinglue thought about it and said: "It's a small building, and if you buy it, you can't live in it, so let Xiaofang be happy. It's better to let your brothers and sisters live here, and I will make arrangements for it."

"Then trouble Uncle Li, I'm going to Baozhi's room." Li Guolou stood up excitedly and wanted to leave.

"Hey, I see you didn't take the tea." Li Jinglue reprimanded in a reproachful tone, but there was an expression of approval on his face.

Holding the telegram, Li Guolou asked doubtfully, "Uncle Li, who is it that said in the telegram that my old friend is here?"

Li Jinglue replied: "Your old friend, how do I know who it is? You asked wrongly."

Excited and somewhat suspicious, Li Guolou left the Anhui Township Hall with a bag of tea in his hand.Behind him, Li Jinglue covered his mouth, looking narrowly at Li Guolou's back and giggling.