The bear child of the Red Chamber, Jia Cong

Before the people from Shanguofu arrived in Quzhou, the new issue of Yanjing Weekly was published.This newspaper published a piece of news on the third page under the headline: More than [-] slaves escaped on the way home from the Shanguo Mansion.Newsletter.The reporter came across the chariots and horses of Shan Guofu on the border between Wu and Qi, and had to run around with about [-] servants.After searching for people, I learned that the other three hundred people had all escaped.Shu Guofu was very helpless.Fortunately, there are still some people in his hometown of Quzhou, and he wants to hire new local people to take care of him.The reporter asked how to deal with those who ran away, and the manager said: How else can we deal with it?Pull it down.

This matter spread throughout the capital within half a day, and everyone was in an uproar.Someone shouted in the teahouse: "It can be seen from this that other countries can't do anything about taking fugitive slaves." Another said: "Forget it, what other country. It's the Shanguo Mansion! Even the Shanguo Mansion can't do anything about taking fugitive slaves." Another said "The combination of what you two said is that the servants of Shan Guofu escaped in Qi State and Wu State. Qi Wu and Shan Guofu have nothing to do with it and can only be pulled down."

A few days later, the Ping'an State Business Daily also published a piece of news.Someone in Jingzhou saw a dozen servants of Shanguo Mansion, who claimed to be from the capital of Yan State, escaped from the bandits of Qi State, and lost their belongings.The magistrate of Jingzhou ordered people to provide them with board and lodging, and asked them what their plans were.They said they wanted to go back to the capital to find work.The county magistrate nodded and said, "Many factories have been newly opened in the capital, and the shortage of people is the most, so we can find work." Then he sent them travel expenses to Beijing.These people are probably in which factory in the suburbs of Beijing now.

There are many merchants in Ping'an Prefecture, and Ping'an Prefecture Commercial Daily has outlets in various countries.It didn't take long for the whole country to know that there were newly opened factories in the capital and that there was a shortage of labor to accept escaped slaves.The trend of fleeing slaves in Yan State was stronger than before.Many people did not flee because they were afraid to go abroad.Since you are in the country of Yan, you can find a job, so what are you afraid of?Other countries also know that Yan is short of labor, and are willing to accept people who have no background.Gradually, fugitive slaves from various countries began to run to Yan.The country of Yan is full of ruins waiting to be rejuvenated, and there are many things waiting for people to do.Some people could tell they were runaway slaves just by their appearance, but the factory owner didn't care about it.There are people in the factory who are responsible for re-arranging household registrations for workers, and the household officials also work tirelessly to run errands in the factory every day.

A group of bodyguards from the Fuwei Bodyguard Bureau rushed back to the capital before the Chinese New Year.When they entered the city gate, they were just catching up with Luoxue, and each of them carried a head and two shoulders of silver millet.When he ran to the door of the escort agency, he was taken aback.The Fuwei Escort Agency has only been open for half a year, and now the entrance is full of people.Some wore jackets, and some wore cloaks.Seeing them coming, someone pointed and shouted, "Is it here?"

The doorman invited by the escort agency was young and sat at the door.Hearing the yelling, he turned his head and looked, stood up immediately and shouted: "Here he is! It's Xiong Dart!" The people at the door immediately surrounded him.

Xiong Biao frowned and jumped off the horse.The doorman shouted loudly: "Let one, one, one! Let our bodyguards enter the room before we talk!" The few people who were close barely retreated, while those in the outer circle were still huddling inward.All the bodyguards dismounted one after another, looking around in surprise.

The door yelled a few times but no one responded, he just grabbed the shoulders of the two people in front of him and pulled them aside, the two said "Ouch" a few times, and they couldn't help but disperse.Menzi snorted, "At least I'm from the Escort Bureau." Then he pulled a few people away, and managed to get in front of Xiong Escort.

Biaotou Xiong asked: "What's going on?"

Menzi hurriedly said: "The head of the bodyguard doesn't know anything. There was an article in the newspaper a few days ago, and many people wanted to know the truth. They came to our bodyguard office to find out when the heads of bodyguards would return. At first, the head of the bodyguard said that the distance was far away and he didn't know. The day before yesterday, a brother inadvertently said that he had slipped his mouth. The head of the escort sent a message from Feige in Quzhou, and he would come back quickly, maybe within two days. Many people have been guarding here since yesterday. "

Xiong Dart frowned more and more tightly: "What are we waiting for?"

A person who looked like a manager hurriedly said: "Ask the head of the bodyguard, did those slaves in the Shanguo Mansion really escape? How much did they escape?"

Xiong Biaotou said: "When we reached the border between Qi and Wu, there were only more than 30 left, and more than 300 escaped."

Everyone was in an uproar.Another steward scolded loudly: "How did they escape? Didn't you care? What do you guys do for food?"

Xiong Biaotou said: "We only take care of the masters and luggage of Shiguo Mansion, and we don't care about the slaves. There are hundreds of slaves who have hands and feet, so we don't care. Bandits, big and small, also came for nearly two Ten dials, we didn't deal with them, could it be that they retreated by themselves? Which of our brothers is not injured?"

Menzi immediately said: "Brothers, you have worked hard!"

There was another uproar all around.Someone said from behind: "Since there are bandits on the road, it's no wonder they can run. The master dare not move, and the bodyguard has to fight again. The slaves have long legs, just run, there is no way to catch up." Others They all nodded.

Xiong Biaotou glanced at him with his eyes: "We are going to enter the Escort Bureau, please everyone who has nothing to do with you to get out of the way." Everyone wanted to ask more questions, but they saw that these Escort Masters were all sullen and murderous. Don't dare to ask.The gate yelled and separated from the crowd to clear the way, and the bodyguards led the horse fish through the gate.

The crowd at the door did not disperse for a while, they all discussed how to prevent the slaves from escaping.Someone said: "We must put shackles on them and see how they run."

The other shook his head and said: "The road is not cheap. Unless you ask the escort to escort the slaves."

Another said: "How much is that? Is it a good deal? I didn't hear what the escort said just now, there are nearly twenty bandits. According to me, it's better to sell them all and go back and buy another one."

Another one said: "Slaves in Beijing are worthless, and they can't be sold for much money."

The one in front said: "It's better than running away." After talking like this for half an hour, he dispersed, and in the end he didn't say anything.

These days, bandits and bandits in Beijing are becoming more and more rampant, and the soldiers and horses of the five cities are still helpless.As a last resort, many families have hired bodyguards at home.There are more than a dozen escort agencies in the capital, only half of them are willing to accept these businesses.The rest said that they knew that some thieves had obtained guns and guns, and the bodyguards were unable to beat them with swords.The few families that are willing to take over have been negotiated with the master's family. They only protect their property and can't control the escaped slaves; the master's family can't do anything about it.

Closed in recent years.On this day, Wei Ningbo's mansion sent two people out to buy New Year's items, and they didn't return for two days, so the mansion suspected that they had escaped.Wei Ning Bo ordered Leng Sensen to stand there for half a day, and ordered all the servants of the whole family to come to the front yard.

After a while, everyone arrived.Gao Ming supported the servant girl's hand and slowly walked out of the hall, sat on the big nanmu chair, and glanced at the woman on the right.The mother-in-law's chest was high, and she clapped her palms twice.There was a burst of sobbing on the right, and a dozen thick women pushed the two's wife and children to the front of the steps and knelt down.Everyone couldn't help holding their breath and their hearts beating like drums.

Gao Ming said: "The word is the fastest in our mansion. You probably know it too. Two slaves with black hearts and rotten intestines ran away. I don't say much, just let you see, the man ran away, the daughter-in-law What is the end of the child." Nai turned his face and shouted, "Beat! Beat one by one! Start with the young ones, kill one and kill the next."

As soon as the words fell, there was a panting sound from the bottom, and the women and children of the two families had just cried for the first time, when they heard someone lazily saying from somewhere: "I have never seen such a stupid master." The majestic momentum just now was swept away by him.

Gao Ming was furious: "Who is making noise!"

I saw a man in black walking leisurely with a long gun in his arms.A woman shouted, "Who are you!"

The man said: "Forgive me, I am the bodyguard of the Fuwei Escort Bureau. Your uncle invited him to guard against thieves. His job is to guard the front hall of Weiningbo Mansion. I didn't mean to obey the order. Your voice It's too big, and I can't hear it even if I don't want to hear it."

Gao Ming looked at him twice, and said generously: "Since that's the case, you just stand by and watch, so there is no need to say more."

The bodyguard looked at the few kneeling on the ground, shook his head and said, "As the saying goes, brothers are like siblings, and wives are like clothes. Now that the family has run away, the daughter-in-law can remarry and the children can have another child. What do these few have to do with them? It was not their wives and children who were ordered to be killed, but your own slaves. There is no market in Beijing now, and there is no place to buy slaves. If you die, there will be one less. Forget it, Weiningbo Mansion is rich anyway, so go Just buy some from other countries.” Then he walked back to the wall with his long gun in his arms.

There was silence in front of the hall, and the order was silent for a while.The bodyguard said again: "I heard that a few months ago, the uncle of Jinxiang left the servants, and their family immediately gave their daughter-in-law to someone else to be their wife, and all the children took the stepfather's surname. The daughter-in-law is now pregnant. After ten years or so, another good girl and boy will be added to the mansion."

Gao Ming's eyebrows twitched - she hadn't thought about this.Cuckolding the two of them, and letting their children and others be called someone else's father, this seems to be an interesting arrangement.And now that the slaves in the mansion have escaped so much, there are really not many left.So I thought about it for a long time.

The bodyguard laughed again and said: "The slave is not a human being, but a plaything of cats and dogs. One of your male cats ran away, but killed the female cat and kittens that were mated with him. Your family has Naturally, the money is not a problem, but it’s a bit of a loss, isn’t it? Even if you see them getting upset and selling them to cat dealers? You can always collect some money to wipe the dominoes. If Baba is killed, he will have to work hard to dig a hole and bury him.”

Gaoming's eyes are already active.After a while, she said, "Put it up for now, I'll think about it later." Then she stood up and went back and forth.The women and children kneeling on the ground thought that there was no life, but unexpectedly, they were so shocked that they collapsed on the ground and could not move.

The next day, the two daughters-in-law and their children were given to two elderly men.The two families can save their lives, and the others can't care about it.It's just that there were more escaped slaves in Weiningbo Mansion later, and they all left one by one.The government tried many methods, but they couldn't prevent them, and they still don't know how they left.

The rest of the provinces are similar.They tried their best to prevent people from escaping, so some simply ordered some shackles from the blacksmith shop.The slaves who had the idea of ​​fleeing were put in shackles when they were found out by others.Unexpectedly, those who are in shackles are often inexplicably missing, and even the shackles are gone, as if they can fly.

On New Year's Eve, the bodyguards do not have a holiday, and are still on guard in each government.The same is true of Wenningbo Mansion.By the second watch, the theater was already babbling and singing, and a daughter-in-law came to the front hall with a big food box.The bodyguard was still dressed in black, sitting in the hall chatting with the two men guarding the candlelight.A stool was placed in front of the three of them, with two stacks of melon seeds on the stool, and a large teapot on the ground, but no cups.The daughter-in-law said: "Butler Wang said that you have worked hard, so I asked you to bring some snacks."

The two men laughed and said, "Thank you, thank you! We are really hungry."

The daughter-in-law opened the food box, and there were four snacks in it, and she took out one of them and put them on the stool.Nai packed up the empty food box, grabbed his clothes and knelt down to the bodyguard.The bodyguard was taken aback: "What is sister-in-law doing?"

The daughter-in-law said: "I have never had time to come here to thank my elder brother in some days. My son and I will never forget the life-saving grace of my elder brother." Nai kowtowed.

Seeing that the bodyguard was still confused, a man said: "The two wives who ran away from the man last time, one of them is her, and I asked you to save them with a few words."

"Oh——" the bodyguard nodded, "I actually saved your life. If this is the case, I will accept your three heads, and this matter will be over." The daughter-in-law knocked three heads with tears in her eyes.

Another man sighed: "I ran away, my wife and children almost died, and my heart is cruel enough. I never noticed it."

The bodyguard said: "It's not surprising. The temptation of freedom is too great."

The one in front said: "The family doesn't have to worry about food and clothing, and they still have a monthly payment. Why do they go out to do things? Isn't it also doing things in the factory? I heard that they are much more tired than the family."

The bodyguard twirled a piece of fried noodle and ate it in his mouth, and then said, "Why run out? You are a good citizen if you run out! You also work in the factory, and your salary is dozens or even hundreds of times your monthly salary." And there are meals and dormitories in the factory. When the contract is full, you can change jobs and go to another house to do it. There are many more people who are promoted than in the mansion. How many people in your mansion are promoted every year? What? Most of the factories get salary increases every year..."

Both men stared wide-eyed: "So much money?!"

The escort picked up the teapot and ate a few mouthfuls, and said: "Being a slave, not only can the master endure the beating and scolding, but even the master has to wait to kill you. In the factory, if the master scolds you, you immediately resign and go to the next door." Do it; the boss kills you and you have to pay for it. Be a slave and accidentally give birth to a son with a more handsome appearance. , so what if your daughter cried to death? The owner of the factory doesn’t care about your children’s affairs. He has nothing to do with it. The country is recruiting tenant farmers." He took another sip of tea, took out a stack of papers from his pocket, "and this."

The two men hurriedly stretched their heads over.The bodyguard unfolded the paper, turned a few pages, pointed to the first picture and said, "This is the steward who escaped first from King Yan's mansion. Here, this photo was taken at the gate of the Malay country in Nanyang. How many days? Look at this house, how grand it is! I also bought a few local natives as slaves and became masters."

A man clicked his tongue and said, "It's really impressive! Isn't he afraid of being caught?"

The bodyguard laughed and said, "Is it just a show to be an officer and soldier abroad? When they go abroad, they are theirs, and King Yan can't do anything about it."

The two men looked at each other, then turned to look at the wife.The daughter-in-law's eyes also flickered.