The first thousand seven hundred and fifteen chapters
In the center of Kuocheng is a large formation stone forest, separated only by a wall from this stone forest square, where the nominal controller of Kuocheng, the Lord of Kuocheng, is located.
The City Lord's Mansion occupies not a very large area, but there are many tall and spacious houses. Although it is now deserted and dusty on the roof tiles, it can still be vaguely seen that the construction level of the City Lord's Mansion was not low.
Compared with Chen Liang's city lord's palace in Jucheng, which had a strange small building built in front of the main hall, Guo Tong's taste is quite normal. On both sides of the main hall are side halls, and on the other side are gentle corridors that lead directly to the whole area.
Rock garden.
Since Xuan Hong's death, not to mention that the main hall has been rarely used, very few people have set foot in the City Lord's Mansion. It is as if this place has been cursed, and no one wants to have anything to do with the City Lord's Mansion and Guo Tong.
But just recently, Guo Tong's City Lord's Mansion has gradually become lively, with more people coming in and out than before. Especially the people nearby have gradually changed from small minions to powerful ones.
The person in charge.
Gradually, Guo Tong seems to have regained his former glory. He likes this feeling very much and enjoys it. But he understands that all this is like a castle in the air, which can only be maintained for a period of time. How can it be maintained?
How long, he cannot decide. Instead, it is decided by the families he hates the most.
Like Chen Liang, he is very attached to and reluctant to let go of everything he once owned. Unlike Chen Liang, Guo Tong has an inseparable attachment to power and money.
Guo Tong was overjoyed at the hard-won good situation he had achieved, and at the same time, he was working hard to maintain it. However, the confrontation between the four major families would not last forever. By then, those who are currently surrounding him would
Small forces and small families will immediately choose sides again.
There are not many choices he can make. The best result is to use the power in his hands to stand up and clean up the mess when Su Wang Guihua fights and everyone loses, and regains control of Kuocheng in one fell swoop.
It's just that to develop to this point, it requires a certain amount of luck. Since the death of the country's leader Xuan Hong, Guo Tong can no longer believe in his luck.
Then he must make another preparation, and the other preparation is naturally to choose one of the four families to join him. However, his choice must be made quietly. Once the small forces surrounding him are aware of his
If you act like this, you may abandon yourself immediately.
In the past few days, Guo Tong has been worrying about how to get closer to these four families without being easily noticed by those small forces.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he fell asleep, someone brought him a pillow. How could he not be happy like this?
The side hall of the city lord's palace had poor lighting due to its orientation. It was almost dusk and the entire side hall was already very dark, but Guo Tong had no intention of letting anyone light the lamp.
Guo Tong, who was sitting in the main seat, could only vaguely see his vague appearance and body outline in the dim light. He was a middle-aged man close to forty years old, with a slightly stout body, but fortunately he was still tall.
, so it doesn’t look bloated.
His appearance is slightly blurry, but in such dim light, you can still see that his eyebrows are somewhat sinister, and you can tell at a glance that he is not a good man or woman.
The smile that appears on this face makes those who see it feel a little cold. However, the man sitting with his hands hanging down has a calm face. There is no sign of happiness or anger, and he is just waiting quietly.
In Guo Tong's palm, he held a formation jade that was emitting rune light. He carefully identified the rune patterns on the formation jade, and the smile on his face became bigger and bigger.
"Shopkeeper Meng, this thing is really what you said. There won't be any problem with the information in it, right?" The spiritual energy converged, and the rune brilliance on the formation jade converged. Guo Tong, who was holding on to the formation jade tightly, did not have any problem.
The meaning of returning the formation jade to shopkeeper Meng.
Seeing the other party's actions in his eyes, although he smiled secretly in his heart, there was a hint of dissatisfaction on the surface. Shopkeeper Meng said in a deep voice: "I spent 30,000 gold coins to buy this thing from an old customer. I also
I sent someone to verify it, and the information in it should be true, otherwise I would not have given him such a large sum of money."
"Oh." Guo Tong raised his eyebrows slightly and said, "You said that the group of people who ambush outside the painter's house that day and cooperated with the people of the Su family to kill Hua Yuluo are now at the place marked on the map?"
Shopkeeper Meng said calmly: "How can you be weak if you dare to attack a painter? With such a large group of people hiding in a certain place, no matter how careful you are, your flaws will be revealed. And now Lord Guo has many people under his command, so he wants to
It shouldn’t be difficult to make sure.”
"Do you know where this group of people came from?" City Master Guo's smile became even brighter, and he obviously believed at least a large part of what Shopkeeper Meng said.
Shaking his head helplessly, Shopkeeper Meng said: "This is not something I can find out, but I believe City Master Guo should be able to find out something."
Guo Tong seemed to be very pleased with this kind of compliment, because he had recently regained the feeling of being bossy. He nodded with a smile on his face, and then suddenly asked with a stern face: "Such important information, no matter which company it is handed over to."
You should be able to exchange it for a big price, so why do you have to come to me? I sent people to contact you many times in the past few days, but you flatly refused."
Regarding this issue, Shopkeeper Meng did not hesitate at all and said: "At this time, no one dares to say that they have a clear understanding of the situation. After all, I still have the big mountain of Yuncai Chamber of Commerce behind me. I must think carefully before making a decision."
"Then why have you decided to choose me now?" Guo Tong asked, looking at Shopkeeper Meng with a half-smile.
After pondering for a while, Shopkeeper Meng said calmly: "Because these four companies will inevitably have a war. After all, I am still alone. Joining any party will only become cannon fodder. After thinking about the safest way out,
Naturally, City Lord Guo is the safer ship."
"Aren't you afraid that I will use this news to surrender to a certain family?" City Master Guo continued to ask, but it was unclear from his tone whether he was joking or if he really had this intention.
"Haha." There was a faint smile, and Shopkeeper Meng said with a smile: "City Lord Guo is a smart man, and smart people naturally have to reserve a way out. There is no harm in doing things like this, and it will make those who follow the City Lord safer.
If he completely joins any party, that would be another matter. City Lord Guo is certainly not the kind of fool who wants to commit suicide, which is why so many forces are willing to come and join him."
The words were both direct and melodramatic, both complimentary and derogatory, but they spoke directly to Guo Tong's heart, and a burst of hearty laughter suddenly echoed in the hall.
After a while, the laughter subsided, Guo Tong looked at Shopkeeper Meng and said with a troubled face: "Since Brother Meng is here today and has brought such important information, I, Guo Tong, should have expressed my gratitude, but you also know that today's Kuocheng is not
I can control it, but my money is very tight."
He sneered in his heart, Shopkeeper Meng had long known that the person in front of him was greedy. Not to mention giving himself benefits, I am afraid that even the scum between his fingers would be difficult to leak to him.
On the surface, he waved his hands and said: "Since you have surrendered to the city lord, it is not for this little benefit. In the future, the city lord will take control of Kuocheng and give you any benefits, which will be enough for our Yuncai Trading Company to make money in Kuocheng.
"
Seeing Shopkeeper Meng being so polite, the smile on Guo Tong's face became more sincere, and he continued: "Shopkeeper Meng spent a lot of money to buy this information. Logically speaking, the money should come from my city lord's palace.
That’s right.”
After a pause, Guo Tong rubbed his hands and said: "But first of all, I don't have that much money for the time being, and secondly, there is no way to tell whether this message is true or false, so asking me to come up with so much money at once is really...
Ah, you know."
Looking at Guo Tong with some embarrassment, Shopkeeper Meng's face became extremely ugly and said: "I also know that City Master Guo is in trouble, but our trading company in Kuocheng doesn't have much living money, and now we take out 30,000 gold coins at once.
It really makes the shops very tight.”
Looking at Shopkeeper Meng's pleading look, Guo Tong also hesitated for a moment, and then said: "It's really unreasonable for the shop to have no liquidity. Do you think I can give you five thousand gold coins first?"
"Can you give me half first, fifteen thousand gold coins? Five thousand is too little. You also know that our Yuncai Trading Company can withdraw money for the Xuanwu Empire Money Saving Card."
The two negotiated again and finally completed the transaction with 10,000 gold coins. In fact, shopkeeper Meng didn't even intend to ask for a penny, but he knew that without this negotiation, Guo Tong would still be suspicious of the news.
After so much effort, he finally got 10,000 gold coins from Guo Tong, just to gain his trust.
After gently clapping his hands, a young warrior came quickly, stood next to Guo Tong, listened to his instructions, and then turned around and retreated.
After explaining his subordinates, Guo Tong suddenly changed the topic and asked: "I wonder which company Manager Meng thinks I should trade this information to. To be more clear, which company should I flirt with next?"
It sounded like casual chatting, but Shopkeeper Meng felt wary, knowing that the other party's seemingly unintentional chatting was not as simple as it seemed.
After a slight hesitation, Shopkeeper Meng said with a smile: "Actually, although there are four families competing for it, everyone knows that Su Wang is a group, headed by the Su family, and Ghost Painting is a group, headed by painters.
The choice is also very simple. It is nothing more than choosing between the two sides, just like betting on the big or small. No matter which side you are betting on, the winning rate is between 50 and 50."
Hearing Shopkeeper Meng's answer, Guo Tong frowned slightly and his face gradually darkened.
But then Shopkeeper Meng continued: "However, the winning rate of the big one and the small one is no doubt 50-50, but the banker's winning rate is 100%. The Lord of the City is already invincible, so why bother others."
After hearing this, City Lord Guo raised his eyebrows, and a smile appeared on his face again.