Lord of the Desert

Chapter 401 Business War
That night, Hong Fan, accompanied by Hong Wu and Hong Sheng, went to meet Hu Ang, the garrison commander of Jinhai City.

As Liao Zhenghao's successor, he has the innate second-level cultivation. While in charge of the City Defense Department, he also concurrently leads the Shakou Guard Station, with a total force of 10,000 people under his command.

Jinhai City is located in a remote area, too far from the capital and too close to the snake people, so the local powerful people are very aware of the importance of maintaining influence over the garrison.

In the past two years, Hu Ang, as the only innate master in the city, has never concealed his arrogance. Not only has he acted arrogantly, but he has also been extremely greedy for money.

But for the Hong family, this is not a disadvantage but an advantage.

That night, Hong Fan and Hu Ang drank and talked happily, used both soft and hard tactics, and finally tried a few moves in the form of literary battle. Finally, at the cost of an annual payment of about 1,000 taels of silver, they secured the future positions of captains for Hong She and Hong Lie in advance.

It's a lot of money, but it's worth it.

With these two people plus Hong Cheng who works in the Shakou Guard system, the Hong family can directly command a force of 3,000 troops, and the scope of influence is even greater. To a certain extent, it can be said that they are getting the court's funding for free to support their own soldiers.

When muskets are fully equipped in the army in the future, this force will be enough to handle a small war.

Everything is clarified.

Hong Fan left Jinhai at dawn on July 15th.

With the help of the newly developed turboprop drive method yesterday, his flight speed increased to 200 kilometers per hour, and the consumption remained within an acceptable range.

Two hours later, Hong Fan arrived in Xijing safely.

Considering the large number of experts in the city, he landed outside the city as usual, put on a veil and walked into the city.

Walking through the city gate, everything smiles in the sunshine.

A long-winded shout came from the stall selling rice cakes.

On the street, a man in a blue cloth jacket was pulling a rope to struggle with a stubborn donkey.

Two children ran by, laughing, holding paper windmills.

Hong Fan was no stranger to the prosperity and bustle of Xijing, but this reunion seemed particularly precious to him.

Hong Fan strolled forward, and the discussions on the roadside came into his ears in different categories.

Hua Lian from Tongfeng Tower became the new top courtesan with her archery skills. Cao Hanhai from Jinci Gate finally broke through to the Xiantian realm after turning 25. The Huaiyang war affected Yaohe River shipping, causing rice prices to soar by 30%...

And more news is actually related to himself.

He fought fiercely with Feng Manyun, rushed into the Wuchang Realm in anger, and killed the King of Huaiyang. Fengyunding turned green overnight...

It's a strange feeling to listen to strangers talking about yourself.

Hong Fan passed by the familiar Hechuxunxing and Qijingke Restaurant, stood for a while at the center of Xianzun Bridge, and then saw a newly opened rice shop on the second cross street in the east of the city.

Hong's Rice Shop.

He had heard Hongwu talk about this matter two days ago.

Originally, the Hong family did not have enough connections in Xijing, and they mainly purchased grain from the Liang family, a local rice producer, and then sold them to Jinhai City.

However, as Hongfan became famous, the clan continued to invest in Xijing over the past year or so, gradually establishing an independent channel to buy grain from Shengzhou and taking over trade routes to several cities to the west.

Hong Fan took a quick look at the store layout from across the street. When he was about to leave, he found a sneaky man sneaking in while the shop assistants were busy with their backs turned.

The man tiptoed to the corner of the room, took out a small kettle from his arms, and was about to water the money tree beside the door when his wrist was grabbed.

"what are you doing?"

Hong Fan asked with a smile.

The man was so frightened that his hair stood on end. He tried to break free but failed, and his body was immediately covered with sweat.

At this time, everyone in the rice shop also gathered around. The shopkeeper snatched the kettle, dipped his finger in the water and tasted it, and suddenly became furious.

"It is indeed concentrated salt water. You must be a bad seed sent by the Liang family!"

He shouted harshly and ordered his men to catch the man, slap him twice, and then stripped him of his clothes, leaving only his crotch. Only then did he let the man go.

After finishing the matter in no time, the shopkeeper thanked Hong Fan again: "Thank you for your righteous action, young master."

"How can it be considered a righteous act when it comes to running your own business?"

Hong Fan took off his veil and said with a smile.

The shopkeeper and his companions had never seen him before, but when they saw his outstanding appearance revealed under the veil, they immediately had some guesses.

"Could it be the Second Young Master?!"

"it's me."

Hong Fan waved his hand to sweep away the dust in the store and confirmed his identity in the world of sand.

"It's really the Second Young Master. Please come and take a seat in the inner room!" The shopkeeper was surprised and happy, and bowed quickly to invite him.

Since he had run into them, Hong Fan did not refuse. He went to the inner hall with the shopkeeper and sat down on the upper and lower floors to ask about the situation of the rice shop.

This actually opened the latter's mouth.

The shopkeeper said that he was a relative of the eldest lady in Xijing and had been hired only half a year.

During this half year, the Liang family and the Hong family competed for the white incandescent, each using all means:

During the day, the Liang family urinated on the stone lions of the Hong family, and at night, the Hong family went to the Liang family and secretly changed the direction of the Pixiu;

Today the Liang family poured water on the fortune tree in the Hong family's shop and killed it. Tomorrow the Hong family will put a spell on the beam of the Liang family's store...

"The worst thing happened last month when the Liang family pretended to be strangers buying grain and secretly exchanged the old grain for something to cause trouble. Master Pan almost got into a fight with them."

The shopkeeper said this with gnashing teeth.

Hong Fan listened to his complaints with a serious expression but a smile on his face.

Compared with the life-and-death struggle, famine and war in the three Huaiyang counties, these simple business wars in Xijing City sound somewhat cute.

The retail business of several rice shops does not have much turnover.

The Liang family is a merchant clan with no innate warriors. The only relationship they can talk about is that their eldest son married Jiang Wenbai's sister.

Such a trivial matter is not worth Hong Fan's energy now.

After encouraging the shopkeeper and his clerks, Hong Fan set off again and hurried back to Chaori Prefecture.

The gate of Chaori Mansion was open and guards were patrolling the courtyard.

Hong Fan's mind moved slightly, and he did not show up on his own initiative, but sneaked into the mansion privately.

Shen Hong is training his subordinates in the front yard.

Tang Da Ge was brushing Hongqi's fur in the stable. When Hong Fan passed by, the strange beast seemed to sense something and pricked up its ears and snorted.

Tao Hongliu Lu was cleaning the long-uninhabited main room, taking out the wilted Endless Summer from the vase and replacing it with freshly picked lilies.

Hong Fan walked silently through the corridor and followed the sound to a small Buddhist temple in the side wing.

Through the window, he saw Aunt Liu kneeling in front of the Bodhisattva, bowing and chanting in a low voice some prayer words like "Young Master, come back safely soon."

Hong Fan listened quietly, every muscle on his face stretched and relaxed, as if he had taken off the mask.

He set out from Yunlan City on July 6th and it took him nine days to finally reach home.

"Bodhisattva, I have to go to make dinner. I will come back to offer you in the evening."

Half a minute later, Aunt Liu propped herself up from the mat, apologized, and pushed the door open while holding her waist.

Then she saw her young master standing in the yard, looking at her with a smile.

"what?"

She widened her eyes, and after a moment's silence she wanted to look back at the Bodhisattva, but as soon as she moved her gaze away she could not help but turn back again.

"Master?"

She asked softly, as if in a dream.

"Aunt, I'm back."

Hong Fan replied.

Aunt Liu was finally convinced after hearing what she said, so she curved her eyebrows, smoothed out her wrinkles, and smiled a little bit before she covered her mouth again.

Big tears rolled down her eyes and shattered on the stone floor.

At noon, Hong Fan had lunch with his family in Chaoriyuan, sent someone to deliver a message to Hong Pan, and then ran a few laps outside the city with a red flag.

At night that day, Hong Pan and others held a banquet in Xingsheng Hall to welcome him. During the meal, they talked about the past year and what they saw and heard when they entered the city.

Later, Hong Fan also became concerned about receiving the people from Huaiyang State who were heading north.

After the banquet was over, Hong Pan, Zhao Rongxian and others wanted to invite him to Wangjiang Lane for a second banquet. Hong Fan was hesitating when he heard this, but when he went out, he saw a round jade plate immersed in the Yao River.

The full moon on the fifteenth day of the lunar month hangs in the sky.

So he decisively declined and hurried back to Chaori Mansion in two steps.

(End of this chapter)