Linxia

Chapter 114, Crazy

The next morning, Dong Zugao gathered the remaining dung men according to what he had discussed with Fang Lin: "Everyone knows more or less about what happened in the past two days... Let me be honest with you all. I can't do it here. You all have families to support. I dare not delay you. If you want to continue your old business, you can go to Master Zhuo San."

These dung merchants had all heard that Dong Zugao had suffered a defeat at the hands of Master Zhuo Sanye, but they did not expect that he would admit defeat so easily and give up the dung business. They immediately started talking about it.

"That's right, that's Mr. Zhuo San. Boss Dong is also unlucky."

"Boss Dong pays us so much, and the manure is sold so cheaply, so we definitely don't make much money. Now that Master Zhuo San is here, it's just the right time to stop working."

"Alas, life will be hard when I work for Master Zhuo San. Not only will I lose the reward for feces sorting, but I may even have my wages deducted."

……

"Okay, everyone, be quiet. I don't want to see this kind of thing, but there's nothing I can do!"

Dong Zugao sighed and said, "Although I asked everyone to find their own way today, I will not deduct your wages for this month. I will calculate it based on the number of days. The wages and rewards for feces classification will not be reduced by a penny. In addition, those who went to Mr. Zhuo Sanye yesterday will also be paid at their doorstep later."

As Fang Lin suggested at the beginning, the name, age and address of each recruited dung man were registered one by one, so it is possible to find them now.

After hearing what Dong Zugao said, these dung men were all unexpectedly surprised and spoke well of him. Among them, two spies hired by Master Zhuo San were secretly ashamed.

"Boss Dong is so kind. He feels bad for what happened, but he still wants to pay us."

"That's right. If someone else had been so ruthless, we would have lost all our wages this month."

"Not only us, but also those who went to Mr. Zhuo Sanye yesterday, this month's wages have been paid, what is this called? Repaying evil with virtue, virtue... Yes, repaying evil with virtue! Boss Dong can do this, it's really amazing, conscience! If I can choose, I would still like to work under Boss Dong."

……

Dong Zugao heard these voices and nodded secretly: "It is just as Brother Fang expected. If we do things properly today, these people will remember our friendship. If things really develop as Brother Fang expected, when the time is right in the future, we can pull these people back and quickly set up the platform."

"Thank you, Boss Dong. Boss Dong is a good person!"

After receiving this month's wages, these dung collectors basically said a few nice words and then were reluctant to leave.

There were a few who did not leave, such as Yuan Daniu: "Boss Dong, I will not go to Master Zhuo's place. I have been beaten and bullied by Master Zhuo, but I still stick to him. Isn't that cheap? If Boss Dong needs me, I will just work for him to make a living. If not, I will go to the dock to work as a porter."

Another man named Qu who was beaten also said, "Yes, I think so too."

"Okay, these four manure sites outside the city are empty, and it's not convenient to retreat for the time being. You just watch and take care of them. The wage is two taels of silver per month... Don't refuse. If you are willing to stay at this time, I will have something to eat, and I will not treat you unfairly." Dong Zugao patted the two men on the shoulders, asked them to stay, and said nothing else.

If a ruler is not discreet, he will lose his ministers; if a minister is not discreet, he will lose himself; if matters are not kept secret, harm will occur. He naturally understood this principle.

After pacifying and sending the two men away, Dong Zugao went in and met Fang Lin.

"Brother Fang, as we discussed, the first step is to dismiss these dung men and send them to Master Zhuo San. If we show weakness like this, I think Master Zhuo San will not keep an eye on us. Next, it depends on whether things will develop as expected."

Dong Zugao said as he walked to the window, looked at the empty manure spot, and sighed, "So many people, such a big industry, it's gone just like that, oh, I feel bad!"

"Brother Dong, when we gather together we are a ball of fire, and when we disperse we are stars in the sky. Think about it this way. Now we are just breaking up into small pieces, and when we gather together again in the future, our business will become bigger and more prosperous!" Fang Lin comforted him.

"Haha, thank you for your kind words, Brother Fang."

……

Zhuofu.

"Congratulations, Third Master. All the dung men over there from the Dong family have been disbanded, and now they're all coming over to our side." The man's name was Zhang Qiren, with a slightly crooked mouth and a mole on his chin. He was Third Master Zhuo's military advisor and his number one lackey, nicknamed 'Zhang with a crooked mouth'.

It was he who came up with the sinister ideas of blocking Yuan Daniu on the road, throwing feces at the door of Dong's house, opening his pockets and waiting for Dong Zugao to bring people for revenge, setting traps, etc.

"Quite sensible."

Master Zhuo San put down his snuff bottle, exhaled, crossed his legs and said, "That Dong family kid doesn't know how to do business. He pays the dung collector so much and sells the dung at a low price. I think he is losing money. When he gets over it, he will naturally know what to do."

"To be honest, the feces business in the ordinary people's area is not going to work if it is left in the hands of others. Only in your hands can you make money!"

Zhang Qiren flattered him and asked carefully, "Third Master, let's start the next step and see if paying for manure collection is okay?"

"What are you testing? There's no one else doing the feces business in the entire Huai'an City. Let's just start making money while the weather is good!"

……

After Dong Zugao and Fang Lin gave in and gave Zhuo Sanye a push, Zhuo Sanye quickly monopolized the feces industry in the entire Huai'an city.

Whenever an industry is monopolized, problems will inevitably arise and all kinds of strange things will happen. Sure enough, after monopolizing the feces industry in the entire Huai'an Prefecture, Master Zhuo San asked his feces collectors to change from collecting feces for free to collecting feces for a fee according to the plan.

In the past, the manure collectors took the manure away for free, which made it easier for the people. The manure collectors could also sell the manure for a little money, which was a win-win situation. But now, the manure collectors have to pay for it, so how can the people be happy?
However, Master Zhuo San also had his own tricks. He didn't ask for money directly, but deliberately asked his dung collectors to delay collecting the dung. The temperature rose quickly this spring, and the toilets used by the people in the city were full after a day or two, and the smell was...

At this time, the dung man under Master Zhuo San came and said that he would only collect dung if he was paid. It was not much at a time, only two cents, but it really made people feel disgusted.

Disgusting as it is, we still have to face reality. There are only two options at this time: one is to pay the manure collector to take away the manure, and the other is to secretly dump it into the nearest ditch.

Those who have a little more money don't care about the money. Faced with big stores bullying customers and monopolizing the industry, they have no choice but to accept the loss.

But most ordinary people who live at home are not well off, and they have to pay someone to collect their feces, which they are reluctant to spend. So even if they know it is not good, they still secretly dump it into the ditches in residential areas.

——Speaking of these ditches, they were originally places for dumping slop and the government would clean them regularly. But now they have become natural places for dumping feces, and as the temperature soars, the stench is overwhelming.

The officials in charge of the canals were dissatisfied. How could we do our job? Even banning them would not work. You can't watch them 12 hours a day. If you are not careful, they will collapse. Moreover, if you only target the people, the root cause of the problem will not be solved. This is only a temporary solution.

These yamen runners understood that as long as Mr. Zhuo Sanye did not restrain himself, this kind of thing would continue despite repeated bans, so they naturally became dissatisfied and reported the situation to the government office. Some common people could not stand it anymore and went directly to the yamen to file a complaint.

Zhuo Sanye received a warning from the government, telling him not to go too far and to stop when enough is enough, but he was already grinning from ear to ear and was counting money in large amounts, so how could he stop? Relying on his monopoly of the feces industry in the prefecture and his brother being an official in Yingtian Prefecture, he turned a deaf ear to the warning, letting it go in one ear and out the other, and simply ignored it. Not only did he ignore it, he also sent people to do something shady to the person who filed the complaint. Before dawn, when the person was still in bed, he asked his men to carry the feces bucket and pour feces at the door of the person who filed the complaint. The person was sleeping at home, and the feces came from the sky, and he was directly awakened by the stench...

Some of those who filed the complaint were indeed frightened; others, those with stubborn tempers and some say, especially a few scholars with the title of scholar, actually stood up and confronted them.

Zhuo Sanye didn't dare to go too far with these people. He used his connections to suppress the complaint. He didn't dare to do anything except throw feces at them as a warning. After all, he knew that some scholars had very hot tempers. If they really went too far and caused someone's death, it would be a big deal and he might not be able to cover it up. So, let these people make trouble if they want to. Just let them do it!
On the other hand, the people in the city had to endure the exploitation of Master Zhuo Sanye and had to pay a dung collector to deal with their feces. However, every time they spent money, they hated Master Zhuo Sanye more. Those who were reluctant to spend money could only secretly dump the feces into the ditch when no one was paying attention. Every time they did this, they felt like a thief, and their resentment accumulated little by little.

Not to mention the minor clerks who clean the ditches, they are already filled with resentment. No matter how hard they try, the ditches are never clean. They don't know how much more workload they have to endure.

The merchants in Huai'an were also dissatisfied. They didn't care about the few cents for collecting feces, but Zhuo Sanye's actions made the whole city stink and business went down. The dignitaries also had opinions about Zhuo Sanye. Yes, their places were not affected much, but they had to pass through the city every day, right? In this environment, the stench in the air made people feel unhappy!

Master Zhuo San was unaware of all this. He was still making huge amounts of money and was so happy that he was bewildered. He was completely unaware that he had unknowingly pushed the entire city to the opposite side of him. For the time being, no one was the first to speak out, but it was conceivable that if someone fired the first shot, there would be many people who would take advantage of the situation in the future.

……

Xuan Mo Zhai.

That morning, Manager Liu took out two cents and gave the manure to the manure collector. He went out for a walk with Fang Lin and talked about this on the way: "I have to pay for collecting manure. This is the first time I have seen such a thing in my life."

"Isn't it? It's a world-famous story!"

Fang Lin sighed, "Nowadays, the feces business in the city is only run by Master Zhuo Sanye. There is nothing we can do. Master Zhuo Sanye will not allow others to get involved in this business. Anyone who dares to do so will be beaten up."

"Not only that, Mr. Zhuo San not only beats those who want to get involved in the feces business, but also beats those who file complaints against him. In my opinion, this man is so rampant that he will not last long." Shopkeeper Liu commented.

On the way, the two men saw many people secretly dumping feces into the ditches. The air in the early morning was filled with a lingering foul smell, which made their walk quite disappointing.

"Alas, ever since they started charging for collecting manure, the ditches in the city have become like this. It has been repeatedly banned, but it continues and the business in the city has also been greatly affected. I heard that the people in the government also warned Master Zhuo San, but he turned a deaf ear..." Shopkeeper Liu shook his head.

"Just like the shopkeeper said, this person won't last long. We ordinary people just need to be patient and it will pass." Fang Lin comforted.

"That's true, but even if we let Mr. Zhuo San continue to be violent for another month, the people in our city will have to suffer for another month!" Manager Liu sighed.

As you walk along the street, you can hear breakfast vendors, vegetable buyers, and even schoolchildren denouncing Master Zhuo Sanye.

There is actually a trend. Half a month ago, such voices were still sporadic; seven days ago, there were already many, and they had become large-scale; now, wherever you go, you can hear curses against Master Zhuo San everywhere.

"Being able to offend so many people at the same time is also a kind of skill. If God wants to destroy a person, he must first make him crazy. The time is almost here." Fang Lin said secretly.

……

After strolling back, Huang Di came over and said, "Linzi, didn't you ask Mr. Zhuo about his illegal activities a few days ago? You may need these."

"Oh?"

Fang Lin took it and looked through it.

These days, he and Dong Zugao were indeed collecting evidence of Master Zhuo San's crimes, but they had to act in secret and could not alert Master Zhuo San. Master Zhuo San was an extremely cautious person and had always cleaned up his mess, so it seemed impossible to start... Unexpectedly, the indirect attack on Huang Di two days ago actually yielded an unexpected reward today.

"It is indeed evidence of Mr. Zhuo's wrongdoings. Huh? There is even a murder case!" Fang Lin narrowed his eyes, knowing that Mr. Zhuo was finished.

"Linzi, are these things useful?"

"Of course it works."

Fang Lin looked at Huang Di deeply: "That Madam Qiu is not simple. Mr. Zhuo San is so cautious, how did she get such fatal evidence? Now that I think about it, what Huang Di said, that Madam Qiu's drunkard husband got drunk and drowned, is also worth pondering. "

However, this was none of his business, and Huang Di didn't need his reminder.

——Given the relationship between Huang Di and Mrs. Qiu, there is no need to worry about anything. Besides, Huang Di is not stupid, as can be seen from the fact that he was able to help Chai Yiwei and get rid of Chai Hongyi.

When Huang Di saw Fang Lin looking at him, he thought Fang Lin was wondering why he would take out such a deadly thing from Master Zhuo San and get involved in such a matter. Isn't he afraid of getting into trouble?
He paused and explained, "Linzi, I know you are capable and I trust you. Although I am stingy, I am not blind."

"Also, Mr. Zhuo San is going too far. He had clearly separated from Sister Qiu, but he came here yesterday and wanted... wanted..." Huang Di said gritting his teeth, veins on his forehead throbbing.

That’s right, which normal man can accept wearing a green turban on his head?

"So it's the anger of an honest man." Fang Lin nodded slightly and immediately understood.

……

That evening, Fang Lin found Dong Zugao and asked, "Brother Dong, have you noticed the noise in the city recently?"

"Of course. The condemnation of Master Zhuo Sanye in the city can no longer be suppressed." Dong Zugao felt that the current Huai'an City was like a large firecracker, which would explode with a bang with just a little spark.

"Brother Fang is a master of calculation. Everything in the city is now developing according to Brother Fang's original idea."

"Brother Dong, you are too kind. This is just a possible deduction. The current situation is also Mr. Zhuo's own fault. He deserves to die. Brother Dong, what do you think..."

Fang Lin said this and took out the evidence he obtained during the day.

"Master Zhuo is done."

After reading it, Dong Zugao made the same conclusion. However, in the current situation, the two still remained cautious and reviewed, adjusted and improved the subsequent plans.

"As we discussed before, the time is ripe!"

Finally, Fang Lin and Dong Zugao unanimously decided: take action tomorrow and not give Master Zhuo San any room to breathe, and take this man away in one go.

……

(End of this chapter)