A knife in love

Chapter 1153

Li Qiufeng followed a servant to the main room, and saw five or six plates of delicate side dishes on the table in the middle of the room.Zhang Shi was sitting in front of the table, holding a teacup in his mind.Seeing Li Qiufeng walking in, Zhang Shi hurriedly stood up, and said: "Brother Zhu, you are invited here so early, can you blame Zhang?"

Li Qiufeng shook his head, and said: "I'm really ashamed for bothering you so much, how dare you say blame."

Zhang Shi asked Li Qiufeng to sit down, handed a bowl of porridge to Li Qiufeng himself, and said, "Brother Zhu, don't be restrained, let's talk while eating."

Li Qiufeng didn't refuse, thanked him, and started to eat.These dishes were prepared by chefs in Zhang Shi's house, and they were served in a delicious way.Li Qiufeng chewed and praised repeatedly.Zhang Shi said with a smile: "I hire this chef for 25 taels of silver per month. I'm afraid ordinary cooks can't make so much money a year. But I didn't hire him for nothing. The food cooked by this chef is what the magistrates want to eat the most. Some things are hard to handle at first, but as long as they join my banquet, there is nothing that cannot be done in the end. Haha, haha."

After the two finished their meal, the servant cleared the table and left immediately.Four maidservants came in and waited for the two to wash their mouths, wash their hands, and clean their faces.Among them were the three women Li Qiufeng met last night.Li Qiufeng was a little embarrassed, but after thinking about it, the three of them were probably more worried that he would tell about Dong's surprise attack last night.Thinking of this, he felt calm, and his behavior and speech became much more natural.

After everyone withdrew, Zhang Shi asked Li Qiufeng to sit down, and then he said seriously: "Brother Zhu first arrived in Ningbo, I'm afraid I don't know the current situation. In the past 30 to [-] years, the Japanese riots have become more and more fierce along the coast of Fujian. The imperial court had to set up the Beiwa capital office on the southeast coast to deal with the Japanese pirates who harassed the coastal areas. However, the government officials were corrupt, and the Beiwa army and the guards stationed in various places became the private slaves of those military officials. Being sold by an official without permission, I feel angry, who is willing to sacrifice their lives for the court? Over the years, most of the Japanese soldiers have fled, and only [-]% or [-]% of the [-]% are left. And the remaining are old and weak soldiers, let alone with the Japanese pirates In combat, even bandits and thieves can’t beat them. Now the coastal defense is corrupt, and the Japanese pirates come and go, and the officers and soldiers are terrified, and they dare not fight the enemy at all.”

When Zhang Shi said this, he glanced at Li Qiufeng and said: "The Japanese pirates' rebellion is rooted in those officials. If they hadn't colluded with the Japanese pirates secretly, how could there be such a dangerous situation? Since they can make a fortune, why don't we Earn this money into your own hands? So Brother Zhu doesn't have to worry about the government getting into trouble with us.

"It's just that last year the Japanese sent envoys to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty, and the two groups fought in our Ningbo Shibosi Yamen, killing and injuring dozens of people. This incident was too big, and the Shibosi Yamen and Ningbo Zhifu Yamen couldn't suppress it. It spread to the capital. The imperial court was furious and arrested more than a dozen officials to the capital for punishment. But before these officials were taken away, several people committed suicide. Five or six people committed suicide and died of illness on the way. When they arrived in the capital , the remaining three officials all died in the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice before they could go to court. The case did not start trial, and all the suspects were killed. This case cannot go on, so it can only be closed hastily. Brother Zhu, how did you say that happened? Such a coincidence?"

Li Qiufeng naturally knew about these nasty things in the officialdom, but in front of Zhang Shi, he didn't dare to make any excuses.So he pretended to be astonished on purpose, and said in a trembling voice, "This, how is this possible?"

Zhang Shi smiled and said: "Brother Zhu lives in the middle of Sichuan, and rarely deals with the government. It's not surprising that he doesn't know the dirty methods of these dirty officials. I'm telling you these things, so I want you to keep them in mind." Hold on, when dealing with officials, you don’t have to worry about what they say, as long as you give money, everything can be settled! Don’t believe the high-sounding words they say, or you will suffer a lot!”

Li Qiufeng clasped his hands and said, "I will take the guidance of the member Zhang, and I will be taught."

Zhang Shi waved his hand and said: "Don't give any advice, I just remind Brother Zhu. This time we go to sea to deliver a batch of goods to Fusang for the six shopkeepers. There will be no trouble if we go to sea from Ningbo Wharf. Just After going out to sea and leaving the waters controlled by the Daming Navy, we must be careful of pirate harassment. The shopkeepers told me that the people of Fusang will send people to meet us in the open sea. It’s just that this is our first time going to Fusang country, I don’t know Whether the other party will give us a black hole, we need to make more preparations."

Li Qiufeng said: "I don't know what kind of goods these shopkeepers bring..."

Before he finished speaking, he caught a glimpse of Zhang Shi's eyebrows frowned, and a look of surprise flashed on his face.Although this expression was fleeting, Li Qiufeng's heart trembled, thinking that it was terrible, thinking that his words violated Zhang Shi's taboo, which made him suspicious, and he was afraid that things would get worse.But he saw the opportunity very quickly, and his thoughts changed quickly, and he continued: "If there is no conflict with the goods of these shopkeepers, can I let you take some Shu brocade and take it to Fusang country? Maybe the Fusang people like it..."

When Li Qiufeng said this, he smiled shyly, and then said, "I'm so ruthless, I made Mr. Zhang laugh."

Just now when Li Qiufeng inquired about the goods delivered by the owner, Zhang Shixin was startled.He has always been careful in doing things. Although he has taken a fancy to Li Qiufeng's martial arts and wants to make friends with him, he is not completely at ease.Therefore, Li Qiufeng suddenly asked the shopkeepers what goods they wanted to send to Fusang, and Zhang Shi became suspicious.But Li Qiufeng immediately mentioned that he wanted to bring the Shu brocades to Fusang country, Zhang Shi immediately felt relieved, thinking that although this kid is skilled in martial arts, his knowledge is too rudimentary, and he only thinks about the Shu brocades in his home.In this way, as long as he lures him with profit, he will definitely make this kid work for him.

Thinking of this, Zhang Shi made a haha, and said in his mouth: "Where is it? Brother Zhu asked such a sentence, but it is also human. But I might as well tell the truth. Zhang has been doing business in Ningbo for so many years. We never inquired about what kind of goods the goods are mainly transported. We just mediate in the middle and collect money from both sides. As for what they want to transport, where these things come from, and who they want to sell to, the less we know, the better. As for Brother Zhu I wanted to bring some Shu brocades along, but I thought it would be better not to bring them this time. Because Shopkeeper Hu is narrow-minded, he is an extremely difficult person to provoke. We only need to earn enough money this time, so we don’t need to cause other troubles. In the future, if brothers want to sell Shu brocade to Fusang country, Mr. Zhang will definitely find you a good boat, and we will go to Fusang by ourselves, without going with others, so as not to cause trouble."

While talking, Zhang Shi paid attention to Li Qiufeng's expression.I saw Li Qiufeng smiled to himself, and said, "Mr. Zhang is right. I'm going to mess with Meng Lang."

The two talked and talked, and before they knew it, more than an hour had passed.Zhang Shi stood up and said to Li Qiufeng: "Last night, I heard from Brother Zhu that there is still luggage in the inn. You might as well ask the servants in my mansion to fetch the luggage. Follow me to the pier and meet the boss of the boat." And a few shopkeepers. We are going to be wandering at sea for many days, and we have to deal with these people every day, so we can meet up in advance and chat with each other, so as not to cause any trouble."

Li Qiufeng had no objection.Zhang Shi called a servant and told him to go to the inn to fetch luggage for Li Qiufeng.The servant agreed and was about to turn around and leave.But Li Qiufeng stopped him and told him that he had already paid for the store for three days, and when he went to pick up his luggage, don't forget to take back the money for the remaining two days.Zhang Shi listened, secretly amused, thinking that the two-day store money was only a few silver coins, if it were him, he would definitely leave the few silver coins as rewards to the shopkeeper, how could he be ashamed to ask the other party for it?This kid is greedy for money and stingy. Although he is skilled in martial arts, he is very easy to deal with.

It's just that Zhang Shi didn't know that Li Qiufeng's words were all intentional for Zhang Shi to hear.He made up his mind to make Zhang Shi think that he was a villain who only wanted money, so that he would not have doubts about himself.Otherwise, if this person finds out that he is going to Fusang for other subjects, he will definitely not be allowed to board the boat.Right now, he only needs to coax this person into obedience, and when he arrives in Fusang Kingdom, he can pat his ass and leave without having to entangle with this person anymore.

(End of this chapter)