The Silent Reforms of Eldridge Chapter 20

By the afternoon, it was exactly as Huang Shoubei said. Early in the morning on the 15th, the British commander and I went to the reception pavilion outside the South Gate to see the marshal off. The Marshal got off the sedan and said to me: "As soon as there is good news from the court, send someone to Guangdong to report to me." I saw off Governor Yan and returned to the city in the sedan. When I was approaching the city gate, I saw the sedan of the Marshal's family passing by. , I parked the sedan by the road and counted carefully. There were more than ten sedans, large and small, with four bearers in each. There were guards in front of the sedans leading the horses, and eight soldiers guarding them beside them. Every sedan ride is like this, even the sedan chair of a servant girl is no exception.

After entering the city, I found a servant doing menial work, also sitting on a shoulder cart carried by four people. Then, I saw a rough black water tank and two rough wooden benches carried on the bamboo pole. I don't know what they were used for. It's no wonder that so many civilians were recruited. I asked County Magistrate Jiang: "From the first to the tenth day of the lunar month, there was not a single day without luggage. How come the commander-in-chief has so much luggage?" County Magistrate Jiang said: "The commander-in-chief's servants and the soldiers in the camp are the ones who take care of the merchants." They paid money to transport silver and various goods, using the carriages and horses of the inns. They didn't worry about bandits robbing them, so why not do it? It would just cause trouble to the inns along the way. Shuai actually doesn’t know."

Zhangzhou opened my eyes

He arrived in Zhangzhou at the end of the month and officially took office. Tingzhang Longdao governs Tingzhou Prefecture, Zhangzhou Prefecture and Longyan Prefecture, and is located in Zhangzhou.

Zhangzhou is close to Quanzhou and Chaozhou in Guangdong, and the customs are not far apart. Folks specialize in fighting with weapons, among which Longxi, Zhangpu and Yunxiao are the most popular. A big surname raises a red flag, while a minor surname raises a white flag. Kidnapping, extortion, and massacre are commonplace. This trend of fighting each other originated during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty. It has been followed for four hundred years and not only has it not died out, but it has become more and more intense. Initially, the case was brought to the government and the grievances could not be redressed, so he sought revenge on his own. You kill my father, and I will kill your brother, and spread your anger to the entire clan, forming an indissoluble feud.