Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 196: I Don’t Dare To Zhang Shi (1)

Entering May, the contract period of the group of apprentices who arrived in Guanzhong five years ago is about to expire, and those who can make it through will be paid a hundred guan wages.Today is the time for Shopkeeper Luo to settle accounts with the apprentices whose appointments are approaching. Although there are always some deductions, most of them cannot be wrong.

Maemi began to say "Cicada" and "Cicada" in a high and low voice.Although Qiu's workshop strictly blocked the news from the outside world, there is no impenetrable wall in the world.The weather is getting hotter, and the minds of the workers are also getting hotter. There are rumors in private that the imperial court has laid down a stretch of fertile soil on the west side of Shishan Mountain. As long as you go there, you will be granted land, and you can borrow cattle and farm tools temporarily. This is a golden opportunity. ah.Hundreds of workers lined up and walked into the account room one by one. Although they were tortured by the hard work for five years, their faces were filled with a layer of light, and their eyes were full of excitement, which infected the other workers. Eager to try it out.It is this annual appointment to come to collect wages, so that more workers can bear it.A young worker was waiting in the queue, grinning from ear to ear.

"The daughter-in-law surnamed Sun even took over in advance, and they will go to Shishan together as soon as they receive their wages." Guo Hong said enviously.Bao Qizhang 'licked' his lips, and murmured: "What a woman." He also took a look at the young daughter-in-law from Kanto, who had a thin waist and a big butt. So he let go and gave birth to a son.Most of the apprentices in this workshop haven't seen a decent woman for two or three years.Whenever wages are paid, prostitutes and gambling stalls buzz over like flies that smell dirty blood. Eight consistent flowers go out.

Turning their faces away from the counting room, Bao Qizhang and Guo Hong had to concentrate on the loom in front of them.The light in the workshop is very dark. In order to prevent the rain from getting wet on the machines and raw materials, the workshop has a thatched roof, which is ventilated on all sides, and is surrounded by mats in winter.In addition to the common silk and hemp in Kanto, Xiaguo Workshop also uses a large amount of sheep's wool to weave.The looms used in the workshop are much more complicated than those used in Kanto households, and the eyes, hands and feet are constantly busy. There are six or seven pedals, and three or four.Therefore, when weaving, we must concentrate on weaving according to the patterns.Beginners can only use a single-person loom. In order to weave the pattern on the cloth, the weaver’s left toe pulls the sky heddle, and his right toe pulls the ground heddle. And ground heald, there is also a pedal to control the shuttle.After proficiency, two or more people cooperate to weave more and more complicated patterns.The woven fabric has to go through subsequent processes such as starch washing before it can be considered a success.

Both Bao Qizhang and Guo Hong were so exhausted that their bodies were exhausted, staring at their eyes, and after seven or eight hours, they dragged their tired bodies off the loom and walked to the work shed step by step, but they noticed that the atmosphere around them was a bit strange.

"The boss deducted the wages and asked them to work for a while." Someone said in a muffled voice.Shopkeeper Luo dug out an account book, which listed all the materials discarded during the apprenticeship's early training, big and small, and omissions in the past five years.The shopkeeper said that the workshop is short of manpower, if this group of apprentices can continue to work for a while, then let the past go, if they insist on leaving, then I will be embarrassed, and it will be good if they don't pay the workshop a sum of money.

"Really?" Bao Qizhang grinned, but his expression seemed to be crying. All his hopes were in the account book of shopkeeper Luo.It's just that God knows, besides his wages, what else was recorded.

"If you meet me, you will fight them!" Guo Hong lowered his voice and said angrily.

The man next to him was surnamed Li, who turned over on the kang, farted with a "pop", and then said in a sad voice: "Fight, how do you fight? The guards are armed with knives, guns, bows and arrows. The firecracker, with a bang, even the iron plate was pierced through." His eyeballs were completely clouded, as if the color of a mouthful of thick phlegm, with a look of despair, death would be better than life.

"Anyway, I want to kill Gao Laipi, that vile dog." Guo Hong lowered his voice and said angrily to Bao Qizhang.Gao Laipi was the foreman who tricked them to come to the workshop. Guo Hong kept thinking that if he hadn't fallen into this hell, he might have already allocated [-] acres of land in Shishan and begged for a wife. Maybe the dolls are crawling on the ground.

"Don't be ruthless, you will suffer yourself." Bao Qizhang still had the muddy air, lying quietly on his back on the earthen kang, waiting to knock on the earthen pot to drink porridge.Silently thinking, there are still two years left, after two years, will I get the hundred guan that I deserve?If you can't get it, hang yourself?Or pack up and leave? "It's still like Guo Lengzi said, if Gao Manzi is killed, I will pay for my life." Bao Qizhang suddenly had a vicious thought.

This porridge was a little thicker than usual, but Bao Qizhan and Guo Hong were not in the mood to be happy. After drinking, they 'licked' the bowls clean without washing them, and went to the kang weakly. They were silent all night. go to sleep.The moon was covered by thick clouds in the sky, and it looked like a rainstorm was coming, but the rain never came down, and it was very hot. There were 27 or eight workers lying on the kang, all of them naked. , In the midst of the loud snoring, the sound of "pop" and "pop" to drive away mosquitoes and flies sounded from time to time.

The foreman Qiu Liu'er drank two taels of rice wine, his eyes were red from burning, he looked straight at the firewood room, and asked with some worry: "Fifth Master, is it really okay?"

Du Wuye curled his lips in disdain, and cursed: "Counseled?" He spat, "It's not the first time this man has done this. The stupid Sun is still locked in the work shed. It's a rare opportunity. If you don’t go up, no one will pull you!” He scratched his crotch carelessly, walked quickly towards the firewood room, and the other two foremen followed behind him, Qiu Liu hesitated for a moment, swallowed his saliva, Also followed.Compared with the broken shoes and prostitutes, the daughter-in-law surnamed Sun was from a good family. It didn't take long for the woodshed to hear violent struggles and panting.

The next morning, Shopkeeper Luo summoned the foremen. With a dark face and without saying a word, he raised his hand and slapped Du Wu, almost knocking out his teeth. "The big shopkeeper." Du Wu covered his face aggrievedly, "The little one knows his mistake." As he said, it is not the first time to do this. There used to be a more beautiful one who honored the shopkeeper.

"A bunch of stupid pigs, why can't they control the thing below!" Shopkeeper Luo scolded, "Just add 'mess' to me!" Crying to sue the officer.As soon as Daguan Qiu went to Kanto to urge the goods, there was a mess on the back, so he can teach himself how to explain.

"Shopkeeper," Du Wu said with a slobbering face, "Even if the unlucky worker goes to sue, the Yamen arrester will ask for witnesses and physical evidence, and it's useless to appeal for grievances."

Shopkeeper Luo felt angry when he heard that, he raised his foot and kicked him to the ground, and shouted: "I don't want to see when, can I let him go to see the official?" Li Mang flashed past, and said in a muffled voice: "As usual, you guys have done a good job, and you guys will clean it up!" Seeing the four foremen below stunned on the ground, he shouted coldly: "Get out!"

Walking out of the account room, Qiu Liuer tentatively asked in a low voice: "Fifth Master, are you going to get rid of both the man and the woman?" He paused, then sighed: "That woman is not bad, it's a pity." Pity.Du Wu's eyes flickered slightly, and he said with a sinister smile: "Good boy, you're so courageous."

The news that the woman was defiled by the surname Sun was like a spark falling on a dry woodpile.The workers who were originally aggrieved because their wages were deducted became even more angry, but they dared not show it under the long-term coercion of the foreman. "Ball, a bunch of beasts!" An honest man like Bao Qizhang also cursed in a low voice, gnashing his teeth. "This gang kills thousands of knives." Guo Hong spit on the ground.When two or three apprentices passed each other, they looked at each other with hatred in their eyes.

When work was over, the foreman surnamed Sun was called out to discuss with the foreman. Later, the couple disappeared. It was heard that the shopkeeper gave a large sum of money and sent them away. Some people even secretly envied the good luck of the surnamed Sun.Until the morning of the fourth day, the police from the county government quickly came to question and said that a farmer who dug up medicinal materials in the outskirts had dug up two corpses, and a deed was found on one of them, indicating that this person was called Sun Lu, who lived in Qiu He worked as an apprentice in Shi's workshop for five years. After the expiration of the period, he will cash in a hundred guan wages.Because the workshop has not yet been fulfilled, Sun Lu carefully rolled up this small piece of paper that he did not know a few characters in the gap of his clothes.Several murderers have not been found.

The arrester of the yamen was working in Zhang Zhangzhang, and after asking shopkeeper Luo, he asked the apprentice who lived in the same shed with Sun Lu.At this moment, the whole workshop exploded like cold water dripping into a frying pan. Not long after the arrester left, thousands of workers ignored the threat of the foreman and surrounded the account room with three floors inside and outside. "Kill to pay for your life!" "Repay the debt!" I don't know who started to yell first, and many people followed suit.Bao Qizhang and Guo Hong also squeezed into the crowd with flushed faces. "These grandsons are too bullying!" Guo Hong turned his head and said to Bao Qizhang. He saw that a worker in front of him was already scolding and scratching with a foreman surnamed Yang, and he started fisting after a while.Under the excitement of the crowd, those foremen seemed to be a little timid now, and all of them lost their usual arrogance, holding swords, bows and crossbows, as well as firecrackers, guarding the outside of the accounting room and warehouse as if they were facing an enemy.

The workers outside became more and more violent, and some shouted, "Shopkeeper Luo, come out and speak!" Lost, he started smashing the loom, and threw the pieces of wood towards the foremen.

Suddenly, an unknown foreman slipped his hand, and with a whoosh, a crossbow bolt was 'inserted' straight into the face of a worker.

This time it was like adding fuel to the fire. In the crowd of workers and apprentices who had already been surrounded by water, they immediately threw clods and sticks of wood like raindrops. These sons of bitches are fighting!"

The outside of the accounting room and the warehouse was like a mess, the people behind pushed and shoved those in front, stumbling forward to use it.The eyes of those in front were already red, and they rushed forward to snatch the swords, swords, bows and crossbows from the hands of the foreman, and some even snatched the iron guns, but they didn't know how to release the guns, so they used them as sticks in their hands and beat them head-on towards the opposite side.Naturally, the foremen, who were used to flaunting their might, couldn't let it go, and fought desperately with the weapons in their hands.The blood stains on the ground gradually spread, becoming larger and thicker, until it turned into a dark red mud.