Chapter 1999 Drum Sound
The second officer, who was about to speak, got his words stuck in his throat. He glanced at the young man, his eyes sharp as he saw the copper coins in his clothes. He changed the subject and asked, "Mr. Bai, is this little scoundrel causing you any trouble?"
Bai Shan said: "I asked him to do something. You will work with them to evacuate the crowd. First, stop the people coming from the three intersections and let them go to three different places, but they cannot go any further. Evacuate everyone inside."
As they were talking, the young man who had gone to buy the red cloth came back panting with twenty strips of red cloth in his hands. Bai Shan immediately asked them to distribute the red ribbons and tie them around their wrists. He tied one himself and gave the rest to Daji.
After they had done all this, two yamen runners rushed over from two places. The place where they were on duty was not far from here, and they were also working in groups of two. However, it was impossible for them to completely ignore their jurisdiction, so they left one colleague behind and only came over to check the situation.
But three were enough, so Bai Shan asked the two of them and Bai Dalang to each take three young men to guard an intersection, while he and Officer B went to evacuate the crowd.
Now that Bai Dalang knew Bai Shan's plan, he naturally tried his best to cooperate, and the four teams dispersed.
Once the three intersections are blocked, people who want to cross can either walk directly to another street, turn towards the imperial city, or turn back. No one is allowed to walk towards the inner city gate.
At the same time, Bai Shandaji and Officer B stood at the congested section of the road, picking out one person after another and dividing them equally among the three intersections. No one was allowed to walk around randomly to avoid causing further congestion.
But even though no one was entering from the three intersections and people were constantly leaving, the chaos inside was getting worse. Bai Shan seemed to hear people screaming, "Don't push, someone's fallen." His face changed, and he pulled the officer over and pointed at the roof, saying, "Climb up and tell them the traffickers have been caught and the child has been found. Tell everyone not to crowd."
The officer also heard the scream, his forehead covered in sweat, "But Mr. Bai, we didn't find the human traffickers at all..."
"Who cares about that now? Let's save these people's lives first. Go!"
The officer gritted his teeth, hung the gong on his waist, and ran directly to the shop. After reaching the second floor, he opened the window and climbed onto the roof. He banged the gong loudly and shouted, "Silence, silence, all of you!"
The chaotic and noisy streets were only a little quieter. After a long period of noise, the sounds of people screaming and crying were everywhere.
Bai Shan dragged one person out with each hand and told them to leave immediately and not to stay there. Anyone who violated the rules would be fined.
If he had said that all violators would be punished, there might still be people standing there wanting to join in the fun. But as soon as he said they would be fined, those who had just squeezed out of the crowd left reluctantly.
Seeing that he couldn't call anyone back, the yamen runner on the roof could only walk forward along the roof while shouting what Bai Shan had told him to shout, "The human traffickers have been caught, and the child is now in the county government office. No one is allowed to walk around or crowd around. Do you hear me? Walk slowly to the sides and to the places with gaps... The human traffickers have been caught, and the child is now in the county government office. No one is allowed to make trouble or crowd around..."
The officer stepped cautiously on the rooftop, shouting loudly. At this moment, someone in the distance could hear the sound of drums beating...
The message was passed from one drum tower to another, and soon the drum next to the county government office was struck. The officers translated the code and immediately rushed to the county government office.
Tang He, who was in charge of the county government office, stood up when the drum sounded. He stood up and walked to the courtyard, listening attentively. As soon as the drum stopped, his face changed and he said, "I'm afraid there's a stampede between the inner city gate and Lanhe Street. Someone, come and grind some ink."
He turned and went back into the house, writing as he spoke, "Go prepare the horses. Leave half the staff at the county office, and the rest will follow me to Lanhe Street. Have those guarding the third, fourth, and fifth intersections immediately begin evacuating people away from the main street, away from the city gate. Try to dissuade people from going toward the main street."
He gritted his teeth as he said this, "Every year they have to set up the lantern tent in the same place. We've clearly advised them to spread out, but they still insist on crowding in the same place."
The master said, "It's lively. The lamp holders and the phoenix of the Ministry of Industry are all there. Everyone wants to join in the fun."
Tang He said, "Next year, this county will force them to disperse."
He felt that he had lost more hair because of all the worrying every year.
He wrote down all the things he needed to pay attention to and gave them to his advisor. "Sound the drums, prepare the horses, and we're going out."
"Riding at this time—"
"Let them make way!" It's better to let the horse run than to let him run over on two legs, right? And he may not be able to make people make way, but the horse can definitely!
Tang He mounted his horse arrogantly and galloped towards Lanhe Street... It was impossible. There were so many people on the street. Even if the officers shouted for people to make way, the horse could only trot forward, but trotting was not slow at all.
In just over a quarter of an hour, Tang He arrived at Lanhe Street from the county government office. There were too many people here, many of whom were coming from the direction of the inner city gate. He knew someone was evacuating, so he threw his horse to his attendant and ran towards that direction with the officers...
Bai Shanzheng pushed out those who were still trying to squeeze in. His face was so gloomy that it looked a little blue, and his voice was almost hoarse. "We can't leave here for now, let's go somewhere else!"
"You said I can't leave, so I can't leave. My home is over there, and I want to go home now!"
Bai Shan's eyes turned cold and he shouted, "Good luck!"
Daji stepped forward and placed his hand on his chest, staring at him intently and asking, "What did you say?"
The man looked at the tall and strong Daji and stuttered, "My home is over there..."
Bai Shan ignored him and reached out to grab the person with disheveled hair who had squeezed out and pushed him back, "Go that street, and don't look back..."
He grabbed the next person who was disoriented and pushed him toward another street corner, "Go that way..."
Bai Zhi also brought a few young men and shouted at the top of their lungs to stop anyone from coming this way, and then continued to evacuate people passing by the intersection.
Tang He ran over and made eye contact with Bai Shan. Before they could exchange a single word, he waved his hand behind him and ordered, "Evacuate! Anyone who dares to come this way will be apprehended!"
The officers all pulled their swords halfway out and shouted in unison, "Yes!"
The sound frightened those who still wanted to go back this way, and then they turned around and slipped away silently.
While Tang He arranged for people to help, he asked Bai Shan, "What happened?"
Bai Shan was busy, constantly diverting the people coming out to various intersections. If he came across an injured person, he would have a young man nearby lead them to a nearby shop to wait. He quickly reported, "A child is missing. They say they were captured by human traffickers. The crowd suddenly became chaotic. There are too many people coming in at each intersection. You made a mistake in limiting the flow of people."
Tang He did not shirk his responsibility.
See you at 6pm
(End of this chapter)
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