The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 171: Yingtian Prefecture Major Murder Case

On August 1787, the 9st year of Xianning, September 23rd, in the Western calendar, in a small tavern on the outskirts of Yingtian Prefecture.

There was a bustling crowd of people of all kinds, gathering in twos and threes, eating simple appetizers, drinking the crudest liquor, and arguing loudly.

Several workers at Shengchang Textile Factory were drinking and complaining to each other:
"It's Mid-Autumn Festival, and my employer hasn't paid me. I can't get through this."

"When will this natural disaster end? Hubei is having another fucking flood this year. People are floating down the Yangtze River every day."

"Hubei has been in turmoil for several years. Are there still people there?"

"It's useless even if all the people from Hubei die. There are still people from Jiangbei, Zhejiang, and Qingyi from Shandong. Anyway, they are all fleeing famine from other places."

"Damn it, those foreign bastards are willing to work for a few copper coins."

"If you want to eat, go to the refugee camp of the imperial court. Why are you in the factory?"

"I wish I could kill these things!"

"They all gave birth to babies without buttholes, and they will never have descendants!"

Several workers from Shengchang Textile Factory were cursing among themselves, but someone nearby heard what they were saying, slammed the table, stood up and shouted:
"Who the hell are you cursing? Who are you cursing to have no descendants?"

Several workers at Shengchang Textile Factory were already angry, and now when they heard someone actually came out to argue with them, it was obviously the people they had scolded.

The worker who had cursed the most fiercely, a young man named Liu Ergou, immediately stood up, stepped forward, pointed his finger at the other man's face and shouted:
"What are you barking about, dog? What's wrong with me scolding you, a dog from another place, today? What can a mangy dog ​​like you do to me?"

The foreign workers there had bad tempers too. When they were pointed at and insulted by several local workers, they immediately lost control of their emotions.

The burly man in the lead slammed the coarse porcelain wine bowl in his hand directly on Liu Ergou's head, and then punched him hard.

Liu Ergou's head was immediately broken and bleeding, but he became even more ferocious and punched the other party as well, while calling for his companions to help:

"Brothers, come on, beat these stinky bastards who came from nowhere to death!"

When the other workers saw their companions being beaten, they, who were also drunk, did not hesitate at all and immediately helped their companions fight back.

Liu Ergou has companions, and the other party also has companions.

They saw the fight happening here and came out to help their companions without asking who was right or wrong.

One of them picked up a stool and smashed it hard at Liu Ergou.

Liu Ergou subconsciously used his arm to block it, but all he heard was a cracking sound:

"what……"

Li Ergou let out a heart-wrenching scream and fell to the ground holding his completely broken and flipped arm.

The man opposite got angry and still refused to give in. He continued to throw the stool at Liu Ergou.

When the shopkeeper saw someone fighting, he immediately stood up and shouted:

"Stop fighting, stop fighting, if you want to fight, get out and fight now!"

But no one paid any attention to the people who were fighting. Instead, those who were not fighting were afraid of being implicated in the fight, so they quickly ran outside to watch the fun.

Seeing that the situation was out of control, the shopkeeper quickly ran to the street to find the patrolling Jinyiwei.

The Jinyiwei of the Ming Dynasty was no longer the secret service agency it once was, but had in fact assumed the functions of the police and traffic police of later generations.

When a team of ten Jinyiwei arrived at the tavern, the fight was still going on.

Several people had already fallen to the ground covered in blood, and it was unclear whether they had fainted or were already dead.

A Jinyiwei stopped at the door, dispersed the people watching the excitement, took out his revolver and fired a shot into the air:
"Stop it all!"

When the people in the tavern heard the gunshots, they finally calmed down a little and slowly let go of their opponents.

The other Jinyiwei immediately ran into the tavern with sticks, first drove the standing people to the two sides of the room, and then checked the situation of the three people on the ground.

All three are still alive.

The injuries of two of them were relatively minor and they were able to stand up with the help of others.

But the last one could only speak with difficulty. Several bones in his body were broken and there was a huge bloody hole on his head.

The person responsible lies with Liu Ergou, a worker at Shengchang Textile Factory, who was the first to stand up and point fingers at the migrant workers and curse them.

The Jinyiwei inquired about the identities of the two groups of people fighting at the scene, and asked several other workers from Shengchang Textile Factory to carry Liu Ergou on a stretcher and follow the Jinyiwei to the clinic for bandaging and treatment.

After arriving at the clinic, the captain of the Jinyiwei arranged another team member, led by a worker from Shengchang Textile Factory, to find Liu Ergou's family.

According to the information obtained by the Jinyiwei, although Liu Ergou was the most seriously injured, the fight was caused by Liu Ergou's provocation.

Therefore, the Jinyiwei initially determined that the person who injured Liu Ergou needed to be imprisoned or exiled for the crime of fighting, but did not need to compensate Liu Ergou.

At the same time, if Liu Ergou did not die in the end, he would have to go to jail or be exiled after his injuries healed.

At that time, there was no official tradition of curing criminals before sentencing them, so Liu Ergou had to pay for the treatment of his injuries himself or at the expense of his family.

Liu Ergou's parents have passed away and he is still unmarried.

He has only one brother, Liu Daniu, who is four years older than him and is still unmarried. He and Liu Ergou both work at Shengchang Textile Factory.

Liu Daniu was taken to the clinic, and was stunned when he saw his brother's miserable condition.

After Liu Daniu figured out what was going on, he asked the doctor with tears in his eyes:

"Doctor, can my brother's legs and feet recover?"

The doctor sighed and said:
“There is a chance to recover, but you need to survive first.

"Rest well these few days, take two doses of the medicine I prescribed every day, and eat more good food to replenish your body.

“If you don’t have a fever after you go back, come back and change the medicine after ten days.

"The consultation fee and medicine totaled fifteen silver dollars."

Liu Daniu froze for a moment:
"Doctor, I... don't have that much money..."

The doctor sighed and said:
“I knew it was like this… From now on, it looks like I’ll have to collect the money first and then provide treatment.

"You can owe me the consultation fee and bone-setting fee for a while, but you have to pay for the medicine now. I pay for the medicine with my own money.

"Give me five silver dollars first."

Liu Daniu shook his head weakly:

"Not even five silver dollars. My brother and I have three silver dollars from our entire fortune..."

Liu Daniu didn't say much afterwards.

A broken bone cannot be moved for a hundred days. My brother will have to stay in bed for at least half a year in this condition.

If you don't work for the next six months, you can only eat the porridge provided by the government office.

But the porridge served in the government office was only thin porridge, which at most could keep the victims from starving to death, but it could not be used to nourish their health.

If I continue to go to work, my younger brother will have no one to take care of him.

He was lying alone in a chaotic dormitory room, and it was impossible to predict what would happen when he was away.

If I stay to take care of my younger brother, I won't be able to continue working and earning money.

There was no place to stay in the big dormitory, so we had to go to the disaster relief camp.

There was no way to repay the medical expenses, and no way to continue changing his brother's medicine, so he could only wait to die.

The only solution is to get some money now.

I paid for his medical treatment and medicines, and took care of him for a while, so that he could at least move around on his own, and then I could go out and find a job.

After listening to Liu Daniu's words, the doctor thought helplessly for a few seconds:

"Give me the three silver dollars and don't take the medicine. Take your brother to the refugee camp and leave it to fate."

Liu Daniu knelt down in front of the doctor and kowtowed hard while saying:

"Please, doctor, let my brother stay with you for two days. I'm going out to raise money now."

The doctor didn't want to take the job. He felt that Liu Daniu would most likely not get any money, and it would be even more troublesome if Liu Ergou died at his place.

But looking at Liu Daniu's expression, it is estimated that he is unlikely to listen to advice, so we can only let him try it himself first:

"I can't guarantee that your brother will survive. He has to get over the fever first..."

Liu Daniu continued to kowtow hard:

"Thank you, doctor. Thank you, doctor..."

Liu Daniu left his brother in the clinic and immediately ran out to find money.

The first thing he thought of was to borrow money, but the relatives and friends he knew were as poor as he was, and they also had to pay rent and have something to worry about in case of an emergency.

Liu Daniu ran around for most of the night but only managed to borrow three silver dollars.

Then Liu Daniu went to find some loan sharks, but no matter how many people he found, none of them were willing to lend him money.

At this time, the imperial court continued to purchase large quantities of supplies from the public in order to provide disaster relief and immigration, and private factories continued to expand in order to make money.

Nowadays, almost all the money that can be lent by the private sector is lent to factory owners.

For an ordinary worker like Liu Daniu, the possibility of getting back the loan is very low if he borrows money to treat his brother's illness.

Naturally, the moneylenders were unwilling to lend him money.

Liu Daniu ran all night without sleeping. The next morning, he went to Shengchang Textile Factory where he worked and found his employer Sheng Yongchang.

Although Liu Daniu knew that Sheng Yongchang, a stingy businessman, would hardly lend him money.

But Sheng Yongchang was also Liu Daniu's last straw. Liu Daniu knelt down on his knees in front of Sheng Yongchang and kowtowed, begging:
"Boss, my brother Liu Ergou got into an argument with someone yesterday and was injured. He is now waiting for treatment in the clinic.

"I hope the boss can lend me some money for my medical treatment, and I can use next year's salary to repay it."

Sheng Yongchang felt a little annoyed when he heard this kind of question:

"Your brother Liu Ergou got into a fight? That means he can't come to work, right? Then don't come anymore. I'll find someone else."

Liu Daniu's eyes were bloodshot, and he kowtowed while saying:

"Please help me, sir. If I don't have money to buy medicine to treat my wounds and save my life, I may not survive these few days.

"That's my only brother. Our parents are long gone, and he hasn't started a family yet. Please help me, boss..."

Sheng Yongchang is now even more impatient:
"I don't have any money to lend you now, the money in the account is all confirmed payments for goods.

"Besides, your brother's injury wasn't caused by me, and I'm not a doctor, so why would you ask me for help?

"What does it have to do with me whether he has a family now?
"If you are willing to work, then go to work. If you are not willing to work, then just get out. There are plenty of people willing to do the job out there now."

Liu Daniu was almost in despair. He fell to the ground and kowtowed hard, begging:
"Please save my life, Master. Please save my brother's life. In the future, my brother and I will work like slaves for you to repay your kindness..."

Sheng Yongchang became even more annoyed:

"I don't want to raise a bunch of cattle and horses and take care of their food, clothing and shelter.

“All I need is a pair of hands to work on time.

“Everything that happened to them after work had nothing to do with me, Sheng.

"I'm going to say this for the last time. If you don't get up and work, I'm going to have you thrown out. Never let me see you again."

Liu Daniu was finally in complete despair.

Then he suddenly stood up and looked at Sheng Yongchang in front of him with wide eyes.

Sheng Yongchang was frightened by Liu Daniu's actions, expression, and eyes. He subconsciously took two steps back and asked loudly:
"What are you going to do—"

Liu Daniu gnashed his teeth and said:
"I don't want to do anything..."

Liu Daniu didn't go to work either. He turned around and left the factory and returned to the clinic where he had been last night.

Before Liu Daniu explained to the doctor that he had paid back the money he had borrowed, he received some new bad news from the doctor:

"Your brother has a fever..."

Liu Daniu's mood was calm at this time.

He walked quietly to where Liu Ergou was lying, on the floor in a corner of the clinic's ward.

Liu Ergou opened his eyes wide, as if looking at the ceiling above his head.

But the pupil has lost focus.

Liu Daniu knelt on the ground beside his brother and whispered:

"Er Gou, Er Gou wake up, I'm your big brother, and I'm here to see you..."

But Liu Ergou didn't react at all.

The doctor followed Liu Daniu over and took a look. He reached out and touched Liu Ergou's eyes, then shook his head and sighed.

The doctor left without saying anything.

Liu Daniu stayed in the clinic for a whole day, and Liu Ergou's body went from hot to cold.

On the morning of August 14, Liu Daniu buried his brothers in a public cemetery outside the city, and then went directly to the imperial porridge shed.

Liu Daniu drank a bellyful of porridge, then returned to his residence and slept for the whole day.

On the afternoon of August 15, Liu Daniu left his residence for the last time and went to Sheng Yongchang's new garden outside the city.

Shengchang seized the opportunity of promoting steam engines and invested in a steam-powered textile factory.

The key is that during the major disasters in recent years, the court continued to be supplied with cloth and coarse cloth clothes, and textile factories expanded rapidly in the past few years.

As the owner, Sheng Yongchang made a lot of money and his net worth increased several times.

He bought a piece of land on the edge of the city at the beginning of last year and built a Suzhou garden-style house. He just moved in this summer after it was completed.

Due to the continuous disasters in the world in recent years, a large number of disaster victims can replace factory workers at any time.

In addition to basic food and drink, many workers want to get a little basic wages to deal with other expenses and emergencies in life.

For example, the cost of seeing a doctor when you are sick or injured.

Not only do they have to work longer and longer hours in the factory, but they also have to "take the initiative" to do more things for their employers.

For example, they might clean the yard and house for their employer, move household items, work as decorators, or even take turns guarding the house for their employer.

The current status and work of these workers are slowly becoming similar to those of the former slaves in the landlords' homes.

When the Mid-Autumn Festival came this year, Sheng Yongchang specially invited a troupe of actors to perform at his home.

He also called a group of workers from the factory to work at his home, cleaning the yard, preparing colorful lanterns and decorations for the festival, and tidying up the venue for the opera.

Helped in the kitchen to prepare food, served tea and water, and waited on Sheng Yongchang's family while they watched the show.

Liu Daniu also came to the Sheng family to help, and often did so "voluntarily". The servants of the Sheng family did not know what was happening in Liu Daniu's home.

So today when Liu Daniu came to the Sheng family again, he directly said that he was a worker in a textile factory and came to help his employer during the holiday. The gatekeeper did not stop him at all.

Liu Daniu went to the kitchen first, found a boning knife and put it in his sleeve.

He went to the woodshed and found an axe and hung it around his waist, then went to the most lively place in the whole yard, a stage built in the middle of a small yard.

The troupe was performing attentively on the stage; the sounds of gongs and drums and the singing were sometimes urgent and sometimes cheerful.

Sheng Yongchang and his family were wearing silk clothes and sitting on recliners in front of the stage, eating snacks and listening to the opera. They were surrounded by servants and factory workers.

Sheng Yongchang's family, young and old, were all very happy, with laughter and joy ringing out.

The servants and workers around laughed when their master laughed, and most of them seemed quite happy.

Liu Daniu walked into the yard slowly and approached Sheng Yongchang slowly.

The people around were either staring at the stage or at the reaction of the host Sheng Yongchang. No one paid attention to Liu Daniu, the familiar worker.

After the troupe performed three shows in a row, Sheng Yongchang seemed quite satisfied and announced that he would send his servants up to give out rewards.

All members of the troupe immediately bowed to Sheng Yongchang to express their gratitude.

Sheng Yongchang waved his hands cheerfully:
"Okay, okay, keep singing. If you sing well, there will be a reward..."

At this time, Liu Daniu walked up to Sheng Yongchang and said in a calm tone:

"Boss, my brother Ergou is dead."

Sheng Yongchang was startled when he heard the voice. After seeing Liu Daniu's appearance, he immediately said in a panic.
"What are you doing here again? Do you still want to work in the factory? There is no chance now.

"Someone has already taken your position. You should find a job somewhere else."

Liu Daniu's tone remained calm:

"I'm not here to work in your factory. I'm here to send some people to accompany my brother today—"

After Liu Daniu finished speaking, the knife in his sleeve fell down.

Liu Daniu gripped the knife handle tightly with his right hand and thrust it forward forcefully, stabbing it directly into Sheng Yong's chest.

"Pfft-"

Sheng Yongchang screamed like a pig being slaughtered:
"Ah—you—"

Liu Daniu pulled out the knife suddenly, and blood immediately spurted out from Sheng Yongchang's chest.

Liu Daniu was still worried that Sheng Yongchang would not die, so he turned the boning knife horizontally and cut Sheng Yongchang's neck again.

Completely got rid of this businessman whom he hated so much.

Sheng Yongchang's family members and servants nearby saw the murder suddenly break out around them, and they all screamed loudly.

Some people ran away, but a few were so scared that their legs went limp and they collapsed to the ground.

Liu Daniu ignored those who escaped, he knew it was impossible to deal with them all.

So he took out the axe he had prepared and smashed it at the Sheng family members who were lying on the ground.

The axe hit the head, just like smashing a coconut directly. It was obvious that the person who was hit could not survive.

The Sheng family does not have any special guards now, and it is the factory workers who do this job.

However, after seeing what Liu Daniu did, the other workers were extremely surprised, but no one immediately stood up to stop him.

Liu Daniu is now possessed by a fierce spirit, and the other workers don't want to work hard for Sheng Yongchang, such a stingy boss.

Liu Daniu is doing what they want to do but dare not do.

These people stared at Liu Daniu swinging his axe and beating several paralyzed local people to death.

It was not until Liu Daniu found a torch and started setting fire to the Sheng family's house that they shouted and ran away.

Liu Daniu left the Sheng family almost safely and set fire to the street with a torch.

Since today was the 15th of August, there were lanterns and fireworks everywhere in the city, and the fire set by Liu Daniu did not attract immediate attention.

The Sheng family members who escaped, as well as other families whose families were burned, ran out and found the patrolling Jinyiwei. The fire here was almost out of control.

(End of this chapter)