I want to embrace the moon for nine days

The thin eyebrow-like moon hangs in the sky, and the sky is full of stars.

Although it was late at night, the vegetation on the ground could cast shadows, and it was very bright, a rare bright night.

In a flash of light, Su Hanshan appeared in the courtyard. The moment he raised his head, he had already looked at the stars and determined the directions of southeast, northwest and northwest.

He didn't understand the stars in his previous life, and he didn't know what the stars of the earth were like in his previous life.

However, in terms of light, the stars displayed in the night sky are different from the Wude world and the Dachu world, but they are very consistent with the Southern Song Dynasty.

It seems that it should also be a place that can be called earth.

To the south of this courtyard is the back entrance of a majestic palace.

On the east and west sides, there are two rows of large houses, divided into many rooms. The doors and windows are now closed, there are no lights, the wood is patchy, and they have not been painted for a long time.

Such two rows of large houses are qualified to be connected to the main hall. It seems that the main hall is not an imperial palace, but the main hall of a temple.

Directly north of the courtyard, there is still a row of large houses, but the separated rooms are more particular, and the doors and windows are larger.

There is also a very bright red paper with the word "福" upside down on the window pane.

A light was on in one of the rooms, illuminating two figures.

Just when Su Hanshan first came to this courtyard, the sound of a sharp knife piercing flesh happened to be heard in the lighted room.

Click! ! !
In the room, a man with scruffy hair, swollen eyes, and yellow face had just stabbed a dagger into the old Taoist priest's back, and was about to grab the handle and twist it when he suddenly heard a sound at the door.

Before he could turn around, a hand was already on his wrist.

The hand was dry and clean, with slender fingers. There was no sense of exertion. It was more like picking up a handful of flour with the thumb, index finger, and middle finger and placing it on his wrist.

But his wrist was completely unable to turn, push, or pull back.

There was also a strong numbness that spread from the wrists to the whole body.

Su Hanshan flicked his wrist, and the yellow-faced man involuntarily let go of the dagger, staggered back two or three steps, and fell to the ground, unable to lift it up at all.

"Who, who? Is it a human or a ghost?!"

The yellow-faced man kicked his legs to crawl back, looking horrified. Only then could he see clearly that the person blocking him was a young boy who looked like he was not yet twenty years old. He had a fair face and was quite tall. .

That face, if you met him on the street in broad daylight and took one look at it, you would definitely say a few secret praises, that boy is so well-behaved.

But now, the yellow-faced man was so filled with eyes that he felt that the person facing him was not a human being at all.

He also discovered that there was a large human-shaped hole in the door.

After being knocked out of such a big hole, the door actually only made a slight sound just now, and the smashed wreckage was not visible at all.

Su Hanshan didn't care how scared the man was. Anyway, the slightest contact had already injected a burst of infuriating energy into him, making him unable to get up or escape.

First he pulled out the dagger, checked it was non-toxic, and applied acupuncture to stop the bleeding, all in the blink of an eye. Then he helped the old Taoist priest turn around and sit on the bed.

The old man was a little overweight, with a bloated figure, two small eyes, and sparse beard. He was stabbed just now, his face was pale, his lips were trembling, and he was speechless.

Su Hanshan pressed his right hand on his shoulder again, pouring in a burst of Qi to close the flesh and blood at the wound and relieve the pain.

However, in the process, Su Hanshan discovered that this old Taoist also had martial arts skills and good internal strength, at least the level of Qi Hai Dacheng, but there was a lot of secret poison accumulation in his body.

If he really allowed him to exercise his skills on his own, I'm afraid his skills would be extremely scattered, and even any Qi Hai Xiaosheng might not be able to compare with him.

"Thank you so much, this benefactor!"

The old Taoist took a breath and took a look at the big hole in the door. He wisely did not ask about his benefactor's origins, and only said, "My benefactor is a great favor in saving my life. I can't repay him for his blessing. There is still some silver in this house. I am willing to give it all to my benefactor.”

"In the future, as long as the trail is still alive, I will give at least twenty taels of silver every month to repay my benefactor!"

If this person who appeared out of nowhere was really kind-hearted, he just happened to be passing by.

Even if he had some bad intentions, Taoist Fuxing thought to himself, there was nothing wrong with his behavior, it was sincere enough.

"Not urgent."

Su Hanshan only replied lightly, looking thoughtfully at the yellow-faced man.

"What's going on with you guys? Why is he plotting to assassinate you?"

Taoist Fuxing's face immediately showed sadness and anger: "I don't know either!"

"This old man is the head of the handymen in our temple. When he lost his job, it was I who recruited him and promoted him to this position. I have not treated him badly at all these years."

He said angrily to the yellow-faced man, "Old Ding, why do you think you had such evil intentions and stabbed me with a knife?!"

After hearing this, Lao Ding was not ashamed, but became angry.

"I've gone through many hardships over the years looking after your home and nursing home to collect accounts. Even the most humble apprentice in the factory should have his wages increased."

"I've talked to you so many times, are you willing to get more than one copper? How much income does your temple make every month, but you won't even give us a small change."

"Last month, Cui Laosan, who ran Laohu Zao, sold his shop. We also sold his wife and several children. We still couldn't get enough money for cigarettes. He went crazy and bit one of our brothers to death. Lao Qi, you see there is no one in Lao Qi’s family, and he is not even willing to give me any free money.”

At this time, Lao Ding no longer cared about being afraid of Su Hanshan and just sneered.

"I still have some strength now. Although you don't give me a salary increase, every time I talk to you, you will either give me a pair of shoes or a set of old clothes, take me to a banquet, and let me move to a tiled house near you. "Li Zhu, I was really fooled by you. I just realized recently that these things are useless in the first place."

"In less than half a year, when I'm no longer useful, if you take it back, you can still fool the next unlucky person."

"Hey! The temple has been running low on inventory recently. It's almost time to get the cash to buy the goods. I predict that there will be money hidden in your room now, which will kill you. I can live happily with this money. This is the remaining half of the year.”

Taoist Fuxing looked ugly and was trembling with anger. He cursed "ungrateful" and "shameless" over and over in his mouth.

Leng Buding heard a voice next to him asking, "Tobacco money, what kind of cigarettes are sold in this temple?"

"Big smoke!"

Taoist Fuxing replied smoothly before he realized what he was doing and turned to look at Su Hanshan, "Could it be that my benefactor is from out of town?"

"Dayan is very valuable in other places, but in Songjiang Prefecture, it is widely available. Even for a small temple like ours, there is no shortage of goods every month."

Su Hanshan suddenly withdrew his right hand and looked at his palm with a somewhat displeased expression. When he rubbed his hands together, a handful of ice and snow appeared inexplicably. It made a rustling sound, as if he was washing his hands.

Taoist Fuxing lost Su Hanshan's skill to suppress him, and felt a sudden pain in his wound. He was at a loss and had some ominous premonition in his heart.

"My benefactor..."

His mind was racing, "Although this old man stabbed me, he is an old man next to me after all. I can't bear to take revenge myself. How about bringing him to justice?"

"Oh, you also have friendship with the government?"

Su Hanshan didn't even raise his eyes and was still wiping his hands carefully.

Taoist Fuxing said to himself: "We have hundreds of temples in Songjiang, big and small. No matter whether we are monks or Taoists, since we are engaged in the opium business and have a lot of money, of course we must be filial to the magistrate."

"To be honest, every year we have to get together to talk about which company has done well this year, and which company has done poorly and needs to be improved. There are rewards and responsibilities. There are young talents with great ability, who can compete with the prefect. Talk in person.”

"My dear friend, you are so capable. You don't have to wait until the party. You can use Lao Ding's incident as an introduction. I will introduce you and you will surely rise to the top."

Su Hanshan looked up at him and seemed to be smiling. Taoist Fuxing also smiled.

Suddenly, Su Hanshan raised his hand and grabbed him from the air. Taoist Fuxing felt as if a huge invisible iron claw had wrapped around his whole body, lifted him up in the air, and smashed him to the ground.

Bang! !

Taoist Fuxing's body hit the ground hard, and the wound on his back was torn. Before he could cry out in pain, a mouthful of blood spurted out from his mouth. He rolled twice and landed right next to Old Ding.

He let out a shrill scream that shocked the old man next to him to cover his ears.

But the voice failed to reach the room.

At some point, the gaps in the doors and windows of the entire house, as well as the big holes in the doors, were covered with frost, and even the gaps between the roof tiles were frozen by black ice.

"Fortunately, it's easy to make up for the mistake of saving someone."

Su Hanshan patted the snow flakes on his hands, and a warm jade-like Xuanbing chair appeared behind him. He sat down lazily, crossed his legs, and said with a smile, "You answer whatever I ask, so you don't have to suffer more."

"If you scream again, the wound will double."

Taoist Fuxing immediately held it back, his arms were trembling, and he managed to hold himself up and sat on the ground: "Well, what do you want to ask me?"

Su Hanshan said: "Which dynasty, which generation, and which emperor is in power now?"

Lao Ding was confused by this turn of events. When he heard the question, he quickly said: "It's Emperor Xu."

Su Hanshan frowned: "Xu?"

"No, no, Emperor Xu is the emperor of Guangdong and Guangxi, not our Songjiang."

Taoist Fuxing said eagerly, "But, but, but we don't have an emperor in Songjiang."

"Thirty or forty years ago, the Xiantian Sect invaded the Forbidden City. After the death of Emperor Jiaqing of the former Qing Dynasty, chaos fell into chaos everywhere. First, the sect raised an army."

"The Baiyang Sect, the Kangua Sect, the Shuoyuan Sect, the Qingshui Sect, those who worship Wusheng Old Mother, those who worship Luni Bodhisattva, those who worship Patriarch Piao Gao, and those who worship Gaitian Ancient Buddha are everywhere."

"There are also governors from Liangjiang, Guangxi and Guangxi, etc., who have successively said that there are descendants of the Aisin Gioro family who happen to be around and want to support the new emperor."

"At that time, the Dutch sent troops and occupied our Songjiang. Within two years, the Dutch were driven away by the British again."

"Later, those who were incompetent in various places were defeated and incorporated. Emperor Xu of Guangdong and Guangxi was so powerful that he sent troops to come to the British people and said that if you want to live in this place, you can, but you have to pay."

"The British people refused to accept it, so many of them were beaten to death by Emperor Xu, so they had to pay. As a result, the Xiantian Sect in the Forbidden City, after hearing the news, also sent people to say that they had to pay."

"The British people did not dare not to pay, but when the third time, Marshal He from the two lakes also sent people to ask for money, the British people, the French people, the Dutch people, and the Fuso people all joined forces to fight. , and declared war on the previous two opponents.”

"After fighting for less than half a year, the foreigners sued for peace, saying that if things continued like this, no one would receive any money. They asked Emperor Xu, Marshal He, and the Xiantian Sect to negotiate together to establish a local prefect's office."

"On weekdays, all matters on the ground in Songjiang Prefecture are under the control of the prefect's yamen. However, the prefect's yamen has to give a sum of money to the gentlemen from all over the world every year."

Taoist Fuxing talked for a long time, and his words were very confusing.

Su Hanshan refined it, and now there are many warlords on the land of China.

There are three most powerful warlords, but none of them care about Songjiang Mansion's affairs and only collect money every year.

The foreigners headed by the British cannot take charge of it, but the foreigners also collect money.

Even so, the prefect's Yamen still had no worries about lack of money.

Because every year, 70% of the raw silk from the mainland, as well as a large amount of tea, porcelain and other in-demand goods, are sold here.

Most of the overseas cigarettes, cotton fabrics, arms, guns, etc. that are shipped to the mainland will go through Songjiang Prefecture.

Although the prefect's Yamen has to pay four taxes every year, it also means that it has four major backers. No matter whether they are from outside or inside, or what their background is, as long as they do business here, they have to pay taxes.

A small amount of water leaking out of the mountains of gold and silver is enough for the magistrate's yamen to live a moist life.

In fact, there are thousands of people from other places who have heard about the prosperity of Songjiang Prefecture, are envious of the opportunities that may exist everywhere here, and work tirelessly to make money and start small businesses.

Everyone is making money, so who is losing?
Every advancement in production, transportation, and trade can indeed create a situation where everyone can make money in the early stages of progress.

The only problem is that when some people make money, they can become industrial forces and make themselves stronger and stronger.

But what some people have worked so hard to earn is deceived and robbed in the blink of an eye, and goes into the pockets of those who are fat.

Big smoke is the best tool used by those who are already fat to control other people and control the flow of assets to their own pockets.

"You two must have been smoking heavily."

Su Hanshan looked at the two people slumped on the ground with dark eyes.

A person who clearly has a great level of internal energy cultivation, but is so bloated and slow that he can't even react when someone stabs him in the back.

The other was a thug in an opium den, forcing people to buy and sell their children. The moment he drew the knife, he also burst out with a lot of energy, but he was deficient inside and suffered from tuberculosis and seven injuries. He knew that he would not survive more than half a year.

"Heh, if I give you a pleasure directly, it will be easier for you."

As Su Hanshan spoke, the palms of his hands changed silently on his chest, forming a faint afterimage, like a flower, like a mist, like a furnace or a well.

Until the end, those afterimages suddenly split into two and shot into the eyebrows of the two people.

The two of them didn't have time to escape and looked at each other in horror.

They saw a lifeless gray sword-shaped mark on each other's forehead.

"This is the "Xuanyin Six Hearts Sword Plague Spell". You can also just call it Xuanyin Sword Plague."

"Those who are under this curse are within a hundred feet of me. With just a thought from me, I can make your life worse than death."

"If you are more than a hundred feet away from me, and I don't personally relieve the spell every half month, then it will also attack. After three attacks in total, the whole body will fester and no body will be left."

When Su Hanshan said this, he clapped his hands.

The two cigarette sellers completely collapsed on the ground, their limbs paralyzed and unable to move.

They didn't feel any severe pain at first, but they could clearly feel that life was passing away from their bodies bit by bit.

Something else seemed to be growing out of their bodies.

The fear of being replaced by unknown death is far more terrifying than simple pain.

Snapped! !

Su Hanshan clapped his hands again and after pausing the spell, the two of them were still in that feeling for a long time, unable to extricate themselves.

After a while, Taoist Fuxing came to his senses first, trembled, got up and kowtowed to Su Hanshan, begging for mercy.

"Since you like to be someone else's tool so much, why not be my tool too."

Su Hanshan clasped his palms together, like a Buddha holding flowers and smiling, with indescribable compassion, and said, "What are you afraid of? You will have more companions soon."

(End of this chapter)