Today, in the entire salt field in the Haiwankou Salt Field, not a single man worked. Everyone was waiting on the ruins, guarding their families, as if hoping that something would happen.

After a while, the crisp sound of horse hooves hitting the road and numerous and disorderly footsteps came from the distance. Everyone did not pay much attention to the government officials who were rushing here. Everyone just sat silently in their shacks and waited.

Waiting for relief from the government.

Cao Dongqing was very angry and very angry. As the general manager of the Haiwankou Salt Field, now that the new Yamen was established, his title became the General Office.

Chongming Autonomous Region has just been established less than a month ago. Its salt field general office is under the jurisdiction of the Salt Administration Bureau of the District Government Affairs Committee. At first, I heard that there were a series of reform plans and measures, but the damn typhoon not long ago destroyed the salt industry.

The bureau's rhetoric was beyond recognition.

Cao Dongqing also understood that the new government had just come to power and faced hundreds of thousands of victims of the salt industry, so it had to use its own pockets to provide relief. Where did this money come from? The court? There was no way!

It is difficult for a clever woman to make a meal without rice, so anyone would ignore it or leave it alone.

No matter who is in charge, whether his title is general manager or general manager, his task is to produce enough salt.

After the natural disaster came, the Salt Administration Bureau was fine and said that the quarterly workload could be reduced, but Lord Nazan was very unhappy.

The one who suffered the most from the reduction in salt production was Admiral Nazan. What did he use to smuggle and sell it?

Cao Dongqing's identity is quite special. He is Nazan's brother-in-law. One of his biological sisters became Nazan's third concubine. Therefore, he is a close confidant supported by Nazan. As the general manager of the largest salt farm in Chongming, he usually works in

You walk sideways in the salt field, that's right.

A few days ago, Nazan personally summoned him and asked him to seize the time to get the salt plant moving, strive to operate it at full capacity, and try to make the salt plant's production capacity reach the pre-disaster level.

You don’t have to listen to other words, but Cao Dongqing has to listen to those words of praise.

The share of production that should be produced this month is already greatly insufficient, which is enough to make him worried. Today, his subordinates came to report that the salt workers were on strike and no one went to the salt field to dry salt, which made him even more angry.

It seems that these damn poor devils, salt-legged bastards, don’t want to live anymore.

He didn't have much idea, so he took dozens of soldiers from the salt field and rushed here menacingly. He wanted to teach these poor people how to behave and do things with swords and guns.

In the past, the poor people who would be frightened when seeing him would respectfully call him "Master Butler" seemed to be possessed by evil spirits today. No one in the entire salt field paid him any attention. Occasionally, someone looked at him, and his cold eyes made people feel sad.

Trembling.

Cao Dongqing jumped off the horse, threw the reins to Ma Bian, and carefully looked for a slightly drier place to step on his feet, lest the pair of official boots he had just customized from Shanghai get dirty for no reason.

He was completely irritated by the neglect of the saltmen. He was seen holding the front of his official uniform in one hand and holding the riding crop tightly in the other hand as he walked through the crowd eagerly, looking for his target.

Behind him, dozens of soldiers in the salt field followed him closely, holding spears, swords and clubs in their hands.

"Ma Desan, why don't you go work in the salt fields today?" Cao Dongqing finally found a target, and he arrogantly poked the chest of the man in front of him with his riding crop.

The man was tall and had a purple face. His shabby autumn clothes could not hide his strong body. His arms were bare and covered with criss-crossing scars.

His name is Ma Desan, he is a native of Haiwankou Salt Field and is now the foreman in charge of a salt field.

A flash of fear flashed in Ma Desan's eyes, but when he turned his head, he saw the ragged saltmen with earth-colored faces around him, and his wife and son behind him who were as skinny as a stick due to hunger. His chest puffed up again and he begged:

"Please do a good job, Mr. Steward. It's not that we don't want to work in the fields. We are really hungry and have no strength. A few days ago, every family in this area ran out of food. The wild vegetables and bark of the nearby trees were all dug up and stripped. Mr.

, if we don’t provide any relief, people here will starve to death.”

It is not difficult to imagine that even the foreman's family has begun to run out of food, and the current situation of ordinary salt workers' families can be imagined.

Now that the foremen had raised their heads, the venue immediately became lively, and everyone started shouting:

"Yes, people are about to starve to death, how can they go to work in the fields?"

"Men can hold on for a while. What should we do with the wives, children, and old people in this house? We can't just watch them starve to death. I'd like the manager, please give me some relief food first. If not, I'll deduct it from my wages."

!”

"..."

Looking at the green-green faces of hungry people, who were approaching each other like a group of hungry ghosts with green faces and fangs, Cao Dongqing backed away in fear, but accidentally stepped into a ball of mud.

"Porch..." With a sound, the brand-new official boots under his feet immediately became disfigured. The dirty water not only leaked into the boots, but also hit Cao Dongqing's face.

Manager Cao suddenly became furious. He raised his hand and whipped him indiscriminately, shouting loudly:

"You bastards, do you want to rebel? Do you know the rules of this salt farm? If you fail to pay enough salt by the end of this month, you will not be hungry, but you will never be able to eat, and you will either go to jail or lose your head!"

The whip was struck fiercely and fell squarely on the foreman Ma Desan. Suddenly his autumn clothes were torn and a bloody streak appeared on his body. Ma Desan's body twitched in pain, and the woman and child behind him were also frightened.

burst into tears.

"Why do you hit people? You are not allowed to hit people casually!"

Someone in the crowd howled, and the crowd immediately responded. There were bursts of roars, mixed with the cries of women and children, and the scene suddenly became a mess.

"Why should you hit someone? Damn it, do you need a reason for an old man to teach someone a lesson?" Cao Dongqing, who was usually arrogant and unreasonable, was angered at this time.

He sneered and pointed at the foreman Ma Desan in front of him, swung his arm, and the whip fell with a whistling sound. The man's body was immediately covered with blood stains.

Ma Desan could only clench his fists, grit his teeth, and stand stubbornly motionless.

"Don't hit my dad again!" The young man behind Ma Desan suddenly shouted. He lowered his head and rushed out from behind, hitting Cao Dongqing's abdomen with his head.

"Pah..." With a sound, the unprepared Cao Dongqing was pushed forward by the angry boy with all his strength. He was knocked out of his buttocks and fell onto his back in the sewage on the road.

The brand-new official robe was splashed with mud, and the official hat of the hat also hit the dirty water. He instinctively pushed his hands back, but he caught two handfuls of feces, which was extremely smelly.

"Hahaha…"

Seeing that the usually aloof and domineering official suddenly turned into such a mess today, some people burst out laughing, and then everyone else started laughing too.

Cao Dongqing turned green with anger, and with all his dignity lost, he screamed angrily: "Damn it, how dare you attack the imperial official, rebel!"
Chapter completed!