From Chief to Ball

After thinking about the tragedy of the bankruptcy of the family workshop and handicraft industry that he would inevitably experience later, Chen Jian felt that it was uncertain how many factions would be divided internally, and it was not known whether he would be called a traitor.

Chapter 144

In the mining area on the upper reaches of the Min River, minions of the mine owner roamed around, catching miners who had fled outside, and arresting them to return to work.

This is a typical village in a mining area. Most of the people living here are miners, and they are still miners going back several generations.

Not a city, not a county seat.

In a simple wooden house, a mother hugged five trembling children. The youngest child curled up like a mouse found by a cat, crying so hard that he couldn't breathe, and it sounded like he was about to be choked.

"Don't cry...don't cry, the Wang family will take you away!"

The mother threatened the child like this, the youngest child seemed to hear the name of the monster, trembling his lips trying to stop his crying, but he couldn't stop for a moment, choked up and wanted to withdraw, blocked by the snot, he could only swallow The cry turned into a swallowing motion.

The older child hugged his mother tightly and cried, "Mom, I'm hungry..."

Mother sighed, looked at the almost empty bamboo basket, and took out a black cake with green hairs from it.

He rubbed the green mold on it with his hands, tore it off and handed it to the child.The children didn't care about the weird musty smell on the top, and swallowed the cake in twos and threes.

Even though they were still young, this bit of cake was not enough to fill their stomachs, but the sensible children stopped talking.

From time to time, footsteps could be heard outside the window, and my mother knew that it was the Wang family's gunmen and the sheriff's people.

Five days ago, these men broke through the door and read the magistrate's sentence against her husband.

"Because of encouraging the employees to strike, they have violated the law of public order and the law of employee ethics. They have been charged with [-] crimes including spreading rumors, inciting rebellion, and affecting the normal operation of the mine. Once caught, they will be hanged immediately."

These people searched the house, but did not find her husband, so they guarded the door.

This is not a city, nor is it a county seat, and the control power at the grassroots level cannot reach here at all. The magistrate is elected from the local area and has the power of law enforcement and judgment.

Now the woman's husband doesn't know where he is hiding with those miners, but the mother knows that her husband is not dead and is still alive.

This has always been the case here. The biggest coal mine owner is one of the three elders in this village, so there is no need to mention his name, just mentioning his surname is enough to scare the children who cry at night to stop crying.

The sheriff has changed one after another, and the county magistrate has changed one crop after another, just like the flow of water.

The Wang family's father died and his son succeeded, and the magistrate's father died and his son succeeded, like iron.

Every few years, the county council meeting is held, and the head of the Wang family always attends it, which is the elected representative.

It has been like this for years, decades, decades, until something changed last year.

Two people who claimed to be the Mexican Party came to this mining area, and one of them was obviously a former miner, as can be seen from the walking posture and some movements.

They brought a new miner's lamp, which is said to be able to check coal mine gas and prevent explosions.

The former miner of the two stayed here and soon became friends with these miners, but it is said that he no longer went down the mine because Dang injured his waist in the mine.

This guy set up a little grocery store here, peddling some quirky stuff.

Many miners say that he is a good man. Sometimes the miner is sick or needs money urgently at home. The person who runs the grocery store will take some out, basically without charging any interest.

This good man knows some crafts, and sometimes does a little carpentry, or repairs the house, does some small blacksmith work and so on.

People say that this is a craftsman from Mincheng. As for the Mo party or something, it sounds weird but they don't know what it is. safety lamp.

The life of the miners was tiring and simple. They liked to drink and gamble at night, and sometimes they would fight, or curse at the Wang family when they were drunk.

After the change of owner from this grocery store, seven or eight miners gradually transferred their evening entertainment to this small grocery store.

At the beginning, I drank too much, but when I drank too much, I listened to this person who was said to have traveled to many places to talk about some outside things, and then I listened to this person read some stories to them, some stories that sounded very uplifting.

Starting from a few novels based on the serf rebellion in Houbo country a long time ago or the miners' uprising decades ago, I gradually began to talk about other things.

Poverty, misery... These things can resonate, and then we talk about the sheriff, the mine owner of the Wang family and the like.

The magistrate came to inquire a few times, obviously wanting to get this person out, and searched all of this person's belongings under the pretext of being suspected of rebellion, but unfortunately nothing prohibited was found.

Not long after, the small grocery store started selling things called dynamite and detonators, which were needed for mining, so the grocery store stabilized and was no longer driven away.

When the night was boring, the people who gathered in this small grocery store came and went, and finally a dozen people became regular customers in this line, and the woman's husband was one of them.

Later, this small grocery store established the first miners' cooperative association here, and the employees didn't know what this cooperative association was for.

The owner of the small grocery store, the good guy in the eyes of everyone, said that this is just for the employees to cooperate with each other. If they encounter someone who is in trouble, they can help each other, or when everyone suffers, they can get together to seek justice. such as.

On the day it was established, some other people from the Wang Family Mine came here. They insisted on listening to what these people had to say. After listening to it for a few days, it was only trivial matters, and fewer people came here.

After the arrival of this newcomer from the countryside, the stagnant countryside has gradually undergone some changes for decades.This man taught the people in the village to use cinders to make briquettes for cooking, helped repair the spinning wheels in the hands of women, and organized a small cotton spinning cooperative to transport the yarn spun by women to sell outside, which is much better than the ones here. The purchase price is much higher, and sometimes the boys are taught some fighting skills.

There are rumors that this person is a salesman of explosives, and some people say that this person has served as a soldier and fought in wars before, but in any case this person has a firm foothold in this small village.

Half a year ago, in an accident, the miners' association in this small town showed its strength for the first time.The seemingly powerless miners won what they wanted for the first time, and they won an extra silver coin as compensation for the deceased. It is said that this is a decree, which is not much, but not many people know it. More often than not.

The Wang family didn't like this person, but they could only buy new explosives from here. They sent a few people to talk about cooperation, but this person was unmoved.

Later, another "miner" from several mines went to a small grocery store to intimidate, but this person did something even worse, strapped explosives and detonators all over his body, and told these people: "As long as you don't kill me today, your family's will be killed in the future." Your life is not your own."

This is a hooligan-like sentence, but it suits the temper of the miners. Not long after, the woman found that her husband had bloodstains on his fingers after he came back from there.

The woman didn't know exactly what the husband heard there, but she knew that he was a good man, and when the husband came back that day, he smiled and said something incomprehensible: "I may soon be able to join the Mexican party. Be the same person as that person."

After I came back that day, I hummed a song I had never heard before. The tune was never heard, and the words were vague. It sounded very simple and easy to remember.

More than ten days ago, the accident in which more than 20 people were suffocated to death in the mine happened. The woman's husband escaped that day and did not die.

Everyone knew what was going on, and everyone knew that those 20 people could have survived.Such things have happened several times in the long and stagnant past, and people have become accustomed to it, but this time it was different.

The next day, the man in the small grocery store led the miners around the Wang family's compound and demanded an explanation.

The miners had won once. This time, many people stood together and blocked the mine pit and the gate of Wang's house. No one could enter or exit unless an explanation was given.

The woman also followed, remembering that the owner of the grocery store, that good man was talking to her husband and the miners, the woman thought it made sense after hearing it for a while, and stood there for a while after delivering the meal. meeting.

As a result, that person died that night, and the body was found in the river the next day. Everyone knew who did it, but there was no evidence.

The sheriff checked and said it was a death case and it could be closed.

Then the magistrate read the verdict in front of the striking miners: "If everyone does not return to work before tomorrow morning, in accordance with more than ten laws such as the Employment Association Law, the Prohibition of Apprentice Workers from Asking for Excess Wages, and the Mine Security Law...etc. Behavior will be regarded as rebellion, and severe cases will be hanged."

It was the night when the woman saw her husband for the last time. The husband dug out a silver coin from a corner of the wall. It was private money that had been secretly accumulated for gambling or drinking.

The woman knew for a long time that her husband had hidden some money, but when the money was brought out, the woman was terrified. She knew that her husband was telling her that she would not go back to work tomorrow.

"It's all right. That man told us about the law. We won't be sentenced to death for doing so, and it's not considered rebellion at all."