A knife in love

Chapter 1279

Everyone followed Xiao Dong and shopkeeper Feng to the inn.Li Qiufeng and Wei Erbao are still at the end.He thought to himself, last year at the Gu family's old store in Yong'an City, he heard Uncle Liu talk to several officers, and they mentioned the name of Liaoyang General Soldier Zhang Gui.This person seems to be a disciple of Uncle Liu, and it is very difficult to be the commander-in-chief in Liaoyang.Just now I heard Master Jiang's words, this Zongbing Zhang seems to be lax.Master Liu is so shrewd, how could he accept such a person as his disciple?

Wei Erbao was quite excited, and he whispered to Li Qiufeng: "With the help of all the gentlemen, the villain can also stay in Dongsheng Inn for a few days. When I talk to people in the future, I'm afraid they will think that the villain is just bragging. .”

After everyone walked into the courtyard, they realized that the courtyard of Dongsheng Inn was astonishingly large.Green grass and green bamboos are planted in the yard, and there are many flowers and trees dotted in it, which looks quite elegant.Li Qiufeng, Xiao Dong and the others were surprised, thinking to themselves that shopkeeper Feng is a greedy and cunning person at a glance, and it is unbelievable that he can tidy up the yard so elegantly.

The inn room is a two-story wooden building, which cannot be seen clearly from outside the gate.Standing in front of the wooden building at this time, I saw that the wooden building was about ten feet long, with carved beams and painted buildings, which was very majestic.Compared with the house of the magistrate's office in Dongliao County, it is not inferior.Seeing this situation, Xiao Dong said to shopkeeper Feng: "Shopkeeper, your building is of such a large scale, did you spend a lot of money on its construction? In this despicable place, if you want to earn back the money spent on building an inn, I'm afraid It's not easy."

Shopkeeper Feng smiled as he invited Xiao Dong into the lobby: "Master Xiao is right. However, no matter how poor a place is, there are always a few rich people. Our inn was favored by several big families in and out of the city. They When business friends came to Dongliao County to do business, they all stayed here with us. For example, Ma Yuanwai in the east of the city, and Wang Yuanwai in the north of the city. The business of these two Yuanwai is very prosperous, not only in Liaodong. There are also their shops in Beijing, Zhili, and Shandong. Therefore, every month, merchants come to Dongliao County to do business, and most of them live in our inn. In addition, when officials at all levels come to Dongliao County, The county magistrate will also invite these adults to stay in our inn. In this way, the inn will not lose money."

Xiao Dong is a man who has been in the officialdom for many years. Hearing what Shopkeeper Feng said, he thought to himself, looking at the appearance of Li Zhisheng and Master Pan, the two must be playing tricks to enrich their own pockets.They placed the officials who went to and from Dongliao County to live in Dongsheng Inn. The original cost of one tael of silver would become ten or two hundred taels in the books.In this way, Li Zhisheng got the big head, and Dongsheng Inn got the small head.As shopkeeper Feng said, no matter how poor the place is, there are still a few rich people.Moreover, the people are poor, but the government is not poor.The government is not poor, and these shops colluding with the government are naturally profitable.I am staying at the Dongsheng Inn this time, I am afraid that the two bastards Li Zhisheng and Master Pan will embezzle a lot of money.

Shopkeeper Feng let everyone into the inn, only to see dozens of candles burning in the lobby, illuminating the room brightly.Several guys stood respectfully aside and waited for orders.Shopkeeper Feng said to Xiao Dong: "Master Xiao, Cao Min will let you take everyone to their guest rooms to identify the door first, and then come downstairs to have supper. I don't know what Master Xiao wants?"

Xiao Dong nodded, and said: "Then I'll be in charge of the store."

The two guys took Xiao Dong and others all the way to the second floor.Xiao Dong naturally lived in one room alone, and he lived in the best Tianzi Room No. [-] in the inn.The rest of the people live in a house for every two people.Zhang Shi and Li Qiufeng lived in one room.It's just that shopkeeper Hu, Qin Laowu and others didn't want to live in the same room with Wei Erbao, and in the end a boatman joined Wei Erbao as a companion.

Zhang Shi walked around the house twice, and said to Li Qiufeng: "It's unexpected that there is such a luxurious inn in this ghostly place. It's really rare. But I think Fatty Feng and the Yamen must have colluded. The two sides will work together, and everyone will make a fortune together."

Li Qiufeng nodded, and said: "I have been running the docks outside for the past few years, and I have heard a lot of collusion between officials and businessmen. If there is no support from the government, it will be extremely difficult for a businessman to not lose money. I just listened. Wei Erbao said that the owner behind this Dongsheng Inn is Master Pan from the yamen."

Zhang Shi was not surprised when he heard what Li Qiufeng said.He laughed and said: "This old Xi'er is really smart! But I see that the master surnamed Jiang can be regarded as a person who can do things. With him handling the case, we can feel a little bit more at ease."

Li Qiufeng said: "Mr. Zhang, there is one thing that I don't understand. I wonder if I can ask Mr. Zhang for advice?"

Zhang Shi smiled and said: "Brother Zhu is too polite. We are also a life-long friendship. If you have something to say, just say it. You don't have to be polite with Zhang."

Li Qiufeng said: "Master Xiao and all shopkeepers are going to Fusang this time to do a big business. It seems that shopkeeper Hu and the others have risked their lives. It stands to reason that the big ship was suddenly stolen. It is difficult to keep the goods of these people. It should be said that they should be terrified. But watching from the sidelines, Master Xiao and these shopkeepers are quite anxious, but they are not at a loss, which is a bit strange..."

When Li Qiufeng said this, he deliberately pretended to be hesitant, and did not continue.Zhang Shi nodded, and said in his mouth: "Brother Zhu, I regard you as a good friend, and I don't need to hide some things from you. I met shopkeeper Hu a few years ago, and I did a few deals with him. My lord has only met twice, and we have no close acquaintance. Zhang actually doesn't know what kind of business Master Xiao and shopkeeper Hu are doing this time. Just seeing their sneaky appearance, they probably have other plans. Originally, according to Zhang's intention, he was just playing around and found Qin Laowu's big boat for them, so Zhang had nothing to do. But this time Master Xiao and shopkeeper Hu strongly invited Zhang to go to Fusang with them. It is said that I have a good friendship with Qin Laowu, and if I go with me, Qin Laowu will definitely do his best and save a lot of trouble. Zhang couldn't stand the entrustment of shopkeeper Hu and others, so he had to agree.

"It's just that I heard from Qin Lao Wu that all the goods carried by Lao Hu and others were placed in the cabin at the bottom of the ship. As for what these goods are, Qin Lao Wu doesn't know. But Xiao Dong, shopkeeper Hu and others There is a shared box, but it is locked in a separate cabin. Qin Laowu told me secretly that this box is made of refined iron, and there is no gap in the whole body, and it can only be opened if you know the secret mechanism. Xiao's, shopkeeper Hu and others put the most important goods in this iron box. Even if all the other goods were lost, they didn't care. Although this iron box fell into the hands of thieves, it seems that no one can Open it. Therefore, although Xiao Dong and Lao Hu are anxious, they are not panicked."

Hearing Zhang Shiyi's words, Li Qiufeng became suspicious, and thought to himself that Xiao Dong would be fine, shopkeeper Hu and others were all greedy people who counted pennies and pennies, even if they lost a tael of silver, they would feel sad for a long time.But right now they lost their goods, but like Xiao Dong, they are not in a panic, they seem to have a plan in mind.Presumably their treasure must be placed in an iron box.As long as the iron box is not opened, they will make a profit.But what is in this iron box?Why did Xiao Dong travel thousands of miles to bring it to Fusang?

While Li Qiufeng was thinking about it, he suddenly heard Shopkeeper Feng say in the corridor: "Master Xiao, gentlemen, please go downstairs for supper."

Zhang Shi said with a smile to Li Qiufeng: "Fatty Feng is extremely shrewd. He colluded with Lizhi County and Master Pan to embezzle official money. You and these bastards don't have to be polite. You have to eat and drink. You can be regarded as Dongliao County." The people will eat back some of the money that these corrupt officials have embezzled."

The two went out of the guest room, but they saw that shopkeeper Feng was already waiting at the stairs, and Xiao Dong and others also came out one after another.Everyone followed shopkeeper Feng to the downstairs, and saw that two tables of wine and food had been set up in the lobby.The smell of wine and vegetables is mixed together, it is really fragrant, which makes people's index fingers move.Shopkeeper Feng asked Xiao Dong to sit at the head of the table on the left, and then asked Zhang Shi, Shopkeeper Hu and others to sit on Xiao Dong's left and right sides.Then Li Qiufeng, Qin Laowu, three boatmen and Wei Erbao were invited to sit down at the table on the right.

Sitting next to Li Qiufeng, Qin Laowu whispered to Li Qiufeng: "Damn it, this fat man has such poisonous eyes! Look at his natural snobbish eyes, and he can see that we have different identities. Those officials He and those who have a few filthy money are arranged to sit in the chief seat, and those of us who work hard and serve people can only sit in the second seat. The dog's eyes look down on people, and it is the most appropriate description for this fat man!"

(End of this chapter)