Linxia

Chapter 197, Human World

Gu family.

"Dad, that Zhang Yide is such a loser. Not only can the 'Legend of the Arhat Conquering the Dragon and the Tiger' he wrote not beat Journey to the West, but even his own family was defeated." Gu Shiyu said this, but he felt scared in his heart. He also discovered the taboos in Journey to the West, but he did not take action, otherwise the Zhang family might have become a lesson for him.

——The Gu family is indeed stronger than the Zhang family, but if they fall into this trap, the result may not be different.

"Who would have thought that Your Majesty would write a preface for Journey to the West?"

Gu Tongren shook his head, thought for a moment, and instructed: "Last month, didn't our family open a bookstore on Guangfu Street? It's opposite the Xuanmozhai branch. It's called 'Jingxuanzhai', right? Let's close it down on the grounds of poor management!"

"it is good."

Gu Shiyu was unwilling to accept it, but he knew that Fang Lin was on the rise with the power of defeating the Zhang family, so he agreed. But after a pause, he said, "Dad, are we going to admit defeat and give in from now on? Are we going to let Fang Qianshi mess around with the Huai'an factory and fleet? Who can control him?"

Factories, fleets, and overseas merchants are high-risk industries, but if you are familiar with them and have good luck, the profits are guaranteed.

It can be said that this aspect now accounts for a considerable part of the Gu family’s interests, and they are really reluctant to give it up.

"When the water is full, it overflows; when the moon is full, it wanes. Watch him build a tall building, watch him entertain guests, and watch his building collapse. This time, the deputy minister Fang was able to kill him without causing any backlash. It was the Zhang family who wanted to kill him first, and they were just fighting back. Others had sympathy factors... But it will happen a few more times, just wait and see!"

Gu Tongren said, "In addition, the connections of that assistant Fang lieutenant are with Prefect Pu, Dong Zugao, and Your Majesty, but Prefect Pu will eventually be transferred; it is true that Dong Zugao has a promising future, but the officialdom is treacherous, who can say for sure? Your Majesty said he would live long, but he will not live forever, and there will be a day when the mountain and mausoleum will collapse."

"Yu'er, be patient. For a family as big as ours, it's very difficult to kill him in one go unless you make a mistake and fall into a trap. There's no need to fight for a victory or defeat in the short term. There's a long time to come. You'll see what happens in three, five, ten, or a hundred years."

……

The Ma, Shao and Duan families had limited interests in factories and fleets, so they basically used all the money they earned from such emerging industries to buy land. They had no fundamental conflicts with the Fang family, as could be seen from the fact that they had been slacking off and letting the Gu family take the lead.

This time, after Fang Lin defeated the Zhang family, Xuan Mo Zhai put the painted version of "Journey to the West" and character cards on sale. The three eldest sons came to the store to buy a large number of them to convey goodwill and ease the relationship.

……

Fang family.

"The big families in the city are like springs. When you are strong, they are weak. When you are weak, they are strong. Now that I am strong, they will naturally give in. But they can't be strong for long!"

Fang Lin knew his weaknesses. His connections and background were all based on others: "Prefect Pu will be in Beijing at the end of the year and may be transferred. Brother Dong has been in the court for a short time and his potential is far from being realized. Your Majesty is taking the golden elixir. I can't persuade him. I heard that some officials in the court tried to persuade him and were beaten. It really hurts my feelings to persuade him! But if your Majesty continues to take it, I'm afraid it will shorten his life."

"Forget it. Thinking too much will only cause trouble. Although the power I use is relatively short-lived and can only benefit me for one lifetime at most, it can also help me build a good overseas base and turn it into my own strength."

"Others' things are others', and what belongs to you is yours. With these connections as a stepping stone, I will soar to the sky with the help of good wind!"

……

On this day, Fan Qingzeng, the head of the Fan family, came. The Fan family also contributed to the defeat of the Zhang family a few days ago.

Fang Lin thanked: "Thank you, Mr. Fan, for the Zhang family's matter."

"It doesn't matter. The Zhang family is also blocking the way for our Fan family, and it's also for our own family."

Fan Qingzeng chatted with Fang Lin for a while, and suddenly asked, "Master Fang, what do you think of Liaodong?"

"The main branch of the Fan family has some unclear relationship with the Liaodong Tartars. Are you trying to test my attitude? However, I don't want to give up my job as a good person and become a slave!"

Fang Lin thought to himself and said calmly: "The Liaodong Tartars are indeed a great threat to our Great Xia..."

"Yes, the Liaodong Tartars, their country is newly established, like the rising sun, full of vigor and vitality; while my Great Xia, on the other hand, is like an old man in his twilight years, declining day by day."

Fan Qingzeng said this deliberately, and seeing that Fang Lin did not show any strange expression on his face, he told an interesting story: "I heard that the fake emperor of Liaodong Tartar particularly liked Mr. Fang's Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and praised it a lot, and even regarded it as a military book and regarded it as a guiding principle."

"That's interesting." Fang Lin remained tight-lipped and didn't reveal a single word.

Fan Qingzeng was unsure of Fang Lin's attitude, so he gave up the idea of ​​continuing to test him.

In fact, the main branch of the Fan family is currently only doing business with the Tartars. Although they are actually doing the work of blood transfusion, so far it is more just to make money and has not yet completely surrendered or bound themselves to them.

After Fan Qingzeng left, Fang Lin's face turned gloomy.

"The Zhang family blocked the way of the Fan family. This time, I defeated the Zhang family, and probably helped the Fan family. Speaking of the Fan family, this group of people eat the food of our dynasty and smash the bowl of our dynasty, it's really..."

Fang Lin shook his head slightly: "If the Fan family acts like this, it will also damage the Great Xia Kingdom. I defeated the Zhang family this time, and I may have indirectly contributed to this."

However, he did not regret defeating the Zhang family. When Zhilan was in power, he had to weed them out. Moreover, there was no reason to keep the Zhang family, who was his enemy.

Having said that, Fang Lin still felt a little upset, as if he had been tricked by the Fan family. Only when he went to hug his daughter did he somewhat dispel his annoyance.

Tian Xuan is learning all kinds of accounting, and has been specially invited to teach her.

——Fang Lin originally wanted to let Tian Xuan choose something she liked, such as watching plays that Fang's mother liked, or other hobbies, such as music, chess, calligraphy and painting. Tian Xuan also liked shadow play very much and wanted to learn it, but she wanted to help him share some of the burden, so she learned to do accounting. Because she was smart and patient, she made rapid progress.

"Lin Di, you take Qiuqiu out to play. I won't go because I have to study!" Tian Xuan said.

Fang Lin looked at the focused Tian Xuan with a gentle expression. The world is dangerous and full of malicious intent. It is such a lucky thing to be able to walk through it hand in hand with such an intimate person.

Take your daughter out.

Outside the city, the river sparkled in the sun, and the waves rippled endlessly. It was mid-morning, and the weather was cool, with a gentle breeze blowing from time to time, bringing coolness to the face, hands, and clothes.

The ridges of the fields are covered with green grass and unknown small flowers. In the higher places, there are also a few clusters of forsythia, which are golden in color and very beautiful.

Fang Lin broke off some willow branches, made a wreath of flowers, and put it on his daughter's head. After a few months, when her hair could be braided into small braids, he also learned how to do it, and picked some small flowers to put on Qiuqiu's head.

The blue sky and white clouds, the lush grass and the flying birds, the white sails on the river, and the broad view are refreshing.

At noon, the father and daughter went back.

On the street, sometimes a few children hold the comic book "Journey to the West" and read it with great interest. This is a new thing introduced this time, and even if you can't read, you can still enjoy it.

A group of children holding wooden sticks and iron bars, shouting "Look at my golden hoop" and "Eat my Qiankun Ring", chased each other and ran away.

There were also half-grown children taking pictures of cards, and a quarrel broke out over this. One of them said that he was using a Journey to the West card, and said that his friends were using Three Kingdoms cards and other miscellaneous cards to compare with him, and he was at a disadvantage. Fang Lin kissed Qiuqiu's face: "Look, your father has brought changes to this world."

Qiuqiu didn't know whether she understood or not, and she giggled while leaning on his shoulder.

Going further ahead, you can hear arguments and debates about Journey to the West in teahouses and restaurants.

Yes, many curious people, after listening to the first part of the book, will conduct in-depth analysis and debate with each other on "Journey to the West".

In fact, it’s not just them, but also the people around Fang Lin.

The party leader of the weaving workshop said that he had read "Journey to the West" and was better at management. He said that he should be like Tang Monk, making a tiger-skin skirt for you while tightening the hoop, loosening and tightening, using both carrots and sticks.

Xu Xianwen said that he should learn from Sun Wukong, who was so clever that he could tell the time of midnight after three taps on the head. It was said that this kid was hit ten times on the palm of his hand by Master Yu on a certain day. On the day of rest, he went to visit Master Yu, but he was not taught any magical powers that would shake the world or make ghosts weep. Instead, he got a set of annotations on the Four Books and Five Classics and a set of mock papers for the county examination. After returning, he was completely numb.

Xu Kuo Lao said that if you want to get involved in the underworld, you still need a background. Like the tiger, with no one behind it, it was killed with a stick and made into a tiger-skin skirt. However, the White Dragon Horse, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Seng, even if they did evil, were able to join the team to obtain the scriptures. For example, the Yellow Wind Monster, who captured Tang Monk and blinded Monkey King, was not taken away for anything.

Prefect Pu once discussed with Fang Lin in a serious manner whether Monkey King's act of crossing out the Book of Life and Death, stealing the elixir, and stealing the peaches was similar to the fire dragon burning the warehouse, and thus balancing the accounts? So, the title of the gods in heaven was changed from "Bimawen" to "Dasheng"?
A thousand copies of Journey to the West were read by a thousand people, and they saw a thousand different things in them. Some people wrote their own thoughts into commentaries, interpreting them from various angles, and some people actually bought them. They really made a lot of money by taking advantage of the Journey to the West craze. However, this also further pushed up the Journey to the West craze, which can be regarded as a mutual achievement.

Fang Lin had no objection to this, except for one thing that annoyed him: people would often interpret a plot and ask him what he, as the author, thought of it.

What can he think? He is not Yuan Fang!

Secondly, the Journey to the West fireworks show is very popular. Mythological novels like Journey to the West are most suitable for adapting fireworks shows. When the show starts, dragons soar and phoenixes dance, and meteors chase the moon. It is truly like a dream.

……

I take my daughter Qiuqiu with me, accompany Tian Xuan, keep an eye on some shops and factories, and go to the theater as a family when I have time.

Time flies, and April on earth is gone just like that.

……

That day, Fang He brought a girl over. She was Meng He, who worked at the Yandaixie Street branch and whom Fang He had asked Fang Lin to help recruit.

Fang He was obviously busy, so he found Fang Lin and said, "Brother Linzi, her mother is seriously ill and needs a lot of money... I promise, I'll take care of it."

He knew that his cousin was smart and trusted Fang Lin very much, so he wanted to ask for advice and help him check out the person.

"You have already made your own decision. You are not asking for my opinion. You are asking me to strengthen your confidence."

Fang Lin paused and asked, "What do you think about this matter? Tell the truth."

"Brother Linzi, I just heard that there are a lot of scammers among those who escaped here. I was afraid that even if I spent money to cure her mother, we wouldn't be together in the end... I just thought that we should get married first so that I can come forward." As expected of being from the second uncle's family, Fang He was not stupid and had his own cleverness.

"Okay, I'll ask your sister-in-law to help out on this matter and see if it works." Fang Lin went to talk to Tian Xuan, and Tian Xuan pulled Meng He aside.

"Xiao He, what do you think?" Tian Xuan asked.

"That's right. I've only known him for a few months and have had even less contact with him. I don't even know who's in his family or what his character is like."

"Then let me tell you about it."

Tian Xuan said: "In our old Fang family... at that time, our second and third rooms were like this, and grandparents were a little partial to the first and fourth rooms..."

When Meng He heard this, her heart seemed to be stabbed by something, and she felt a sense of sympathy. Last year, there was a severe drought in the north, and her family was left behind by her uncle. Her father died on the way, but fortunately she had a brother who took care of her and her mother, but her mother was seriously ill again.

"Besides, I watched Hezi grow up. He's not a bad person and doesn't have any bad habits. He really wants to help you this time. Getting married is not a bad thing. Women have to go through this. Besides, you're not young anymore, it's time for you to get married. It may not sound nice, but if you don't marry him, we don't trust him to spend so much money..."

After Tian Xuan finished speaking, she saw Meng He was still hesitating and asked, "Xiao He, do you hate He Zi?"

"No, I don't hate it. I... just, I'm not mentally prepared to get married." Although no one was forcing them to be together, Meng He felt an invisible force forcing them at this moment.

——That’s the situation of her family!

Now it seems that the only path left for her is to get married. She ran away from her family and came to Huai'an in search of a way to survive. When she saw the prosperity here, she thought that if she was diligent and down-to-earth, her life would slowly get better. But now she knows that although the outside world is big, it is not one that can accommodate everyone.

"Let me think about it again." Meng He said.

……

That night.

Meng He stayed at Fang's house for dinner, and Fang He sent her back. Her family currently rented a house in a very remote place in the west of the city. There was only one room, which was separated from the mother and her two daughters by a torn curtain. They cooked at the door.

When she entered the house, the walls had fallen off, revealing a wall of earth mixed with straw. The floor was swept very cleanly, and there was a mosquito net made of old hemp on the bed, which was given to her mother, Meng Chang.

My brother Meng Jiang worked at the dock. When he came back, he put his day's wages on the table, went to the vat and scooped three big scoops of water, drank it all in one gulp, said that he had dinner, walked to the bed and lay down, motionless like a corpse. If it were not for his occasional deep breaths, he would have looked dead.

——After the flood last year, there are a lot more people working at the docks, and the work is not as easy as before. The wages are lower and the work is more tiring. Therefore, people in the capital also exclude these outsiders.

"Mom, how are you feeling today?"

"It's still the same. There's a lot of stuff flowing out from my body. It's dirty, bloody, and smells..."

Mrs. Meng Chang kept on rambling: "The price of vegetables has gone up again, the price of grain has gone up, and the price of ointment has also gone up to twenty coins. I have to use it more sparingly in the future..."

Meng He listened to this and looked at this home, tears came to her eyes for some reason. She knew that she had no other choice but to marry this stranger who she was not yet familiar with.

……

The perspective moves up from Meng's house, and through the windows, you can see every household: a family of six or seven people eating steamed bread; a couple quarreled, and the husband picked up a chair and hit his wife; a few men were playing dice with their bare chests, and the house was filled with smoke from burning low-quality tobacco...

Further away, there are bright lights in brothels, gambling houses, and the areas where high-ranking officials and dignitaries live. Laughter, joy, the ups and downs of life make up this world.

……

(End of this chapter)