20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 855 Working together
When the hammer fell, everyone was stunned.

The Japanese samurai tensed up, his eyes rolled back, and he fell straight backward, first hitting the counter, then sliding down to sit. Only then did blood begin to seep from his head, flowing down in a clawing motion, quickly staining his entire face red.

"If I don't want to live, then nobody else will!"

Manager Shao raised his hammer again, his eyes wide with rage, spitting as he spoke. He didn't care who was in front of him, whether it was Xifeng or Lao Dou. Since he had even beaten the Japanese, he was fearless and just kept swinging the hammer like a madman.

However, the old man was over sixty years old after all, and the younger generation had the upper hand. When he tried to swing his hammer again, everyone was already on guard.

Seeing him go crazy, another Japanese samurai quickly turned to the side, raised his foot, and kicked the shopkeeper in the hip.

The old man swayed unsteadily, tripped over something, and fell on his backside. He quickly got up, ready to continue fighting.

Foreigners are valued.

Old Dou was eager to protect his master and feared that it would lead to a murder case, so he hurriedly shouted, "Quickly, hold that old man down!"

The brothers obeyed the order and pounced on him, using all their strength to pin Manager Shao down, as if they wanted to embed him into the ground.

The old woman was so frightened that she burst into tears. She then scrambled over to block the way, and in the chaos, she inevitably got slapped a few more times.

Seeing this, the daughter-in-law tried to take the child and beg for mercy, but was sternly driven away by Xifeng.

"Silly old woman, why are you still moving forward? Hurry up and go back inside!"

Li Zhengxi led his men to guard the back room. When he turned around, a deafening shout of curses suddenly rang out from outside the shop.

It turned out that when Manager Shao swung his hammer to fight back, which drew cheers from the onlookers, and then saw him being captured by Lao Dou and the others, the crowd suddenly became agitated. Several young men, feeling indignant, raised their hands and called for everyone to rush into the shop to kill the traitors in order to vent their anger.

Chinese people are accustomed to relying on the courage and power of the masses.

Without a leader, they are more docile than lambs; with a leader, they are more ferocious than wolves.

The men, young and old, rushed forward together and immediately smashed open the two doors.

The shouts and curses grew louder and louder, all filled with righteous indignation and phrases like "kill the Japanese devils."

Seeing the raging tide, the Japanese samurai panicked and couldn't help but cry out, "Fire! Fire now!"

Old Dou and the others also wanted to fire, but the shop was only so big, and in an instant, a hundred or so people rushed in, densely packed, chest to back. Their hands were busy pushing and blocking the crowd, and they couldn't use their guns properly. Not to mention the risk of accidentally injuring their own brothers, they were afraid that before they could even draw their guns, they would be knocked to the ground and trampled to death.

The scene was extremely chaotic.

However, many petty thieves took the opportunity to steal, either sweeping away all the loose change on the counter or stuffing the goods on the shelves into their pockets, and then nonchalantly shouting, "Down with the Japanese! Protect Fengtian's industry and commerce!"

"Kill the traitors first, then kill the Japanese!"

The passionate young people shouted loudly, seemingly about to start a riot, but due to the lack of a leader, they ultimately became a mob.

"Bang-bang!"

Gunshots suddenly rang out in the street.

The crowd fell silent instantly, all ears straining to hear the sharp sound of a police whistle approaching from afar.

Immediately afterwards, someone outside shouted, "The officials are here! The officials are here!"

The store finally came to a standstill.

In the past, upon hearing this, everyone would probably have scattered in all directions.

But today is different. The crowd's emotions have been stirred up. Instead of leaving, they want to stay and uphold justice, and supervise the officials in enforcing the law.

Several students on holiday shouted, "Come on then! Let's see if they're officials from the foreigners or officials from our own people!"

Another bystander chimed in, "That's right! The law doesn't punish everyone! There are so many of us here, what are we afraid of?"

As a result, more and more onlookers gathered around, and even the customers who had spent the night at "Pine Breeze and Bamboo Rhyme" heard the commotion and came running over to see what was going on.

Outside the shop, officials arrived on both sides: one side was Japanese police, and the other side was Old Chai from the provincial government.

Because the commotion was so significant and located in a bustling commercial area, the police responded exceptionally quickly.

The government dispatched two patrol teams to maintain order, but seeing the chaotic situation, it urgently called in a third team from elsewhere to provide support.

However, the Japanese police were prepared and arrived at the scene first.

Saito Rokuro ordered a warning shot to be fired.

Two gunshots rang out, and the crowd suddenly dropped to their feet, then straightened up and shouted, "Little Japanese, get back here! This is Chinese territory, it's not your place to enforce the law!"

Saito Rokuro naturally refused to retreat and ordered his men to grab batons and try to forcibly disperse the onlookers outside the shop.

At this moment, Lao Dou seized the opportunity to squeeze out of the shop and hurriedly ran to Saito, shouting, "Sir, stop fighting! The samurai you sent is about to die!"

Saito Rokuro didn't understand at first, but after Hou Chuanyan translated, he finally understood and hurriedly ordered his subordinates to go in and rescue the people.

Yuta Yamazaki, carrying a police baton, led a few young Japanese men into the store to check the situation.

This naturally aroused a lot of public anger, but fortunately the injured Japanese samurai was eventually brought out.

By this time, the Japanese samurai was covered in blood, foaming at the mouth, and unconscious.

Upon seeing this, Saito Rokuro's face flushed red and then turned pale. Enraged, he immediately demanded in a stern voice, "Who did this?"

Old Dou quickly replied, "It's the owner of this place, his surname is Shao!"

"take away!"

"Good, good, brothers, quickly bring that old Deng out here!"

Old Dou and the others hurriedly did as instructed, but this drew the ire of the onlookers.

People blocked the shop door, forcefully stopping them and arguing, "What right do you have to take people away? This is the provincial capital, not the concession! You have no law enforcement authority!"

Seeing this, Saito Rokuro suddenly raised his gun and fired a shot over everyone's heads, yelling, "Baka! This is my law enforcement authority! Take them away!"

Unarmed civilians watched as bullets flew overhead, eventually softening and no longer daring to take any drastic actions. They could only beat their chests and curse the injustice of the world, the weakness of the country, and the humiliation of the people.

Just then, a voice suddenly came from the back of the crowd: "Captain Hua from the North Market is here!"

Everyone looked around in the direction of the sound, and then they heard someone shout, "Captain Xia from the South Market is here too!"

Before long, shouts came from further away: "Master Jiang from the yamen gate has arrived!"

Hearing the cheers, the crowd seemed to gain confidence, and joy appeared on their faces. Only the older onlookers remained silent, seemingly having long lost faith in the government. But regardless, the Chinese and foreign officials were finally ready to confront each other directly.

"Make way! Make way!" The three captains pushed through the crowd, looked around, and asked, "What's going on? What are you all doing gathered here? Don't you have any shifts?"

A busybody followed closely behind and, in a few words, gave a brief account of what had happened.

When Master Jiang and his men arrived at the shop entrance and saw the Japanese police, he felt nauseous, as if he had swallowed a fly. Unlike the timid and hesitant men he had been a few days ago, he confronted the Japanese men directly, asking, "Didn't you already withdraw? What are you doing here?"

Saito Rokuro pointed to the wounded Japanese samurai and ordered Hou Chuanyan to translate: "Our civilians have been maliciously attacked here, and now we demand—"

"Who let you into the city?" Captain Hua immediately interrupted, then retorted, "If you had stayed obediently in the concession, would you have been beaten up?"

Yuta Yamazaki rushed out and said, "Imperial residents enjoy the same rights to live together and rent businesses as Chinese. Why can't they enter the city?"

"Really?" Captain Xia turned to look at his colleagues. "I've never heard of this. Do you two know about it?"

Master Jiang and Captain Hua quickly shook their heads and said, "We've never heard of this before. We don't know where they got this rumor from. Anyway, there's no official document from above, so don't listen to their nonsense."

Saito Rokuro's face darkened, and he cursed, "Damn it, then go ask your commander-in-chief!"

"Damn it, I'm just a nobody, how am I supposed to see Commander Zhang?" Second Master Jiang patted the gun pouch on his waist. "I only recognize official documents from above, nothing else. Go find whoever you want!"

Saito Rokuro pointed to the shop door and said in a tough tone, "We must take this owner away! If you have anything to say, let your superiors talk to the Japanese Police Department!"

As he spoke, he ordered his men to drag Manager Shao out of the shop.

Captain Hua and Captain Xia acted without hesitation, immediately ordering their men to seize the suspect. They added, "Even if he committed a heinous crime, let alone assaulting one of your Japanese, it's our job to enforce the law and conduct the trial. You can only attend as observers; it's not your place to interfere! Men, take the suspect back to the yamen for trial!"

Neither side would give way, and poor Manager Shao was being held on both sides, pulled and yanked, almost torn in two.

Seeing this, the onlookers suddenly became excited and surrounded the area, cheering and shouting, "National sovereignty cannot be compromised! Let's fight them!"

Yuta Yamazaki was also somewhat surprised and couldn't understand why these Chinese patrol officers, who had been so timid and cowardly just a few days ago, had suddenly become so tough today.

Little did they know that soldiers follow their generals' courage. A few days ago, Guo's army had not been defeated, and General Zhang urgently needed the help of the Japanese. So he ordered the Chinese officials to be tolerant in every way. If any trouble was caused, they would not only not be commended, but would also be held accountable and punished.

Now that the war has subsided, Marshal Zhang needs public opinion as leverage to negotiate with the Japanese and try his best to delay the implementation of the secret agreement. Taking advantage of the situation, he changed his orders again, instructing officials at all levels to strictly adhere to the bottom line, especially to use public anger to stop the Japanese from encroaching on China.

With renewed confidence, Master Jiang and his men's behavior changed dramatically. Coupled with the humiliation they had suffered in the past few days, they all erupted and refused to back down or seek peace.

Seeing that things were going wrong, Saito Rokuro personally went down to snatch the suspect, muttering something under his breath.

Captain Hua and Captain Xia immediately rushed over to stop them, waving their hands and cursing, "It won't work. This case must be handled by the yamen. You two stay out of the way!"

The two sides grappled for a while, and despite their intense emotions, they maintained a considerable degree of restraint.

Neither of them fired a shot; their uniforms suppressed their anger.

However, the provincial police had the advantage of numbers and quickly seized Manager Shao and handcuffed him.

The onlookers cheered and clapped, shouting, "Down with the Japanese! Down with the Japanese!"

Seeing his side suffer a setback, Saito Rokuro felt his blood boil and a surge of anger rose up, hitting the top of his head. Finally, he couldn't help but raise his arm and punch Captain Hua, cursing loudly with vulgar language, saying "Shina" and "Baka".

This completely ignited the public's anger.

Although Master Jiang and his men were government officials, they were still living, breathing human beings. As human beings, they had dignity, and they should not be trampled on at will.

In an instant, the Chinese patrol officers all flew into a rage, displaying a thuggish nature as they grabbed their batons and shouted, "Fuck you, you dare to hit people? Brothers, let's fight those bastards!"

However, the crowds from both sides surged and immediately formed ranks, which quickly escalated into a brawl between government officials and their men.

The onlookers were lucky to have come today. As soon as they saw the situation escalate, they knew that the law would not punish the masses, so they all helped the officials beat up the Japanese. Although they did not dare to directly participate in the brawl, they were busy picking up things everywhere. Whether it was rotten vegetable scraps or stinky dog ​​excrement, as long as they could pick it up, they threw it at the Japanese police.

Before long, the entire Bagua Street was in an uproar.

Saito Rokuro finally panicked.

This situation was completely different from the Manchurian customs he was familiar with.

In his view, the Chinese were extremely docile and easy to discipline and manage.

Actually, that's not the case. Chinese people have quite a bit of spirit, but they are very good at enduring. When they can endure, they act like rulers and ministers, fathers and sons, appearing weak and submissive. But once they can no longer endure, they will immediately unleash their most ferocious bestiality, like asking, "Are kings and generals born with special privileges?"

Dynasties changed, bloodshed and turmoil continued for thousands of years, all because of one word: "endurance".

When patience reaches its limit, it's a fight to the death; there's absolutely no compromise.

Enraged, the crowd charged forward, as if the Boxers had reappeared and were about to kill the foreigners.

Saito Rokuro was outnumbered and managed to hold out for a short while before finally shouting "Retreat!" and fleeing with his men.

Old Dou and the others were also quite frightened by the scene. They shouted, "Sir, wait for me!" and followed closely behind like stray dogs.

Suddenly, cheers erupted in the street. Although they had only driven away a dozen or so Japanese soldiers, it felt as if they had won a battle. They couldn't help but wave flags and shout. Their indignation reached its peak and did not disperse after the Japanese left. Instead, it gradually turned into a march and demonstration, with a large crowd heading towards the concession.

After everyone left, the Shao family's shop finally became deserted.

But this wasn't based on a feeling; rather, most of the store's merchandise was indeed missing, leaving only the old woman slumped on the ground, weeping bitterly.

A moment later, Li Zhengxi also came out of the store.

The brothers rushed over and asked, "Third Master, what should we do?"

Li Zhengxi said, "Is there even a need to ask? We're here to delay the deal, to join the march, to shout!"

Everyone nodded and followed the departing crowd, cheering them on.

As they reached the corner of Xuejie Street, they ran into Zhao Guoyan and Hai Xinnian leading a group of men. They quickly raised their hands to beckon the two of them over and asked, "Old Zhao, how's it going over there?"

Zhao Guoyan said, "Manager Feng never intended to sign a contract. Just as Whistle Li and his gang were about to smash up the shop, the commotion outside started."

"What about them?"

"Seeing things were going wrong, they ran away long ago."

Li Zhengxi smiled and said, "Go ahead and make a scene! The bigger the commotion, the less chance Qin Huaimeng and his group have!"

Zhao Guoyan nodded, then looked at Zeng Shouyi and asked, "Old Dou and his gang should have asked you about it, right?"

Zeng Shouyi replied, "I have asked. If Qin Huaimeng cannot make any further progress, I estimate that Lao Dou's people will come looking for me in a couple of days."

(End of this chapter)