On June 13, the eighth year of Chongzhen's reign, Anqing by the river was already entering the sweltering heat, and the city was extremely sultry. Many families set up cool boards in their courtyards, preferring to endure mosquito bites rather than sleep in the open air.
The river wind was blowing at the Shengtang Ferry, and even the wind was carrying hot air. The shops along the street were not open. After all, this was outside the city. The boats that came and went were anchored here. Many travelers lived on the boats. At night, the gangsters robbed and then drove away.
Boat escapes often happened, so businesses were closed.
But one grain store had its door wide open, and even lanterns were hung at the door. The lights reflected the "Luoji Rice Shop" signboard.
There were five or six people sitting on bamboo stools outside the door, and some sticks and knives were placed near the door. There were two lounge chairs on the street near the river, with one person sitting on each. The person on the right was neatly dressed, and the big man on the left was shirtless.
He was covered in sweat, reflecting the lantern light and glistening.
The big man raised a chimney and took two puffs. The tobacco shreds in the chimney flashed brightly twice, and soon dimmed again.
The big man knocked the cigarette pot on the chair leg twice and said slowly, "Shopkeeper Liu originally opened a gambling stall. Our rice market in Anqing is not small, but each shop is also a small business. The money earned every year is as much as gambling."
The gear ratio is not good, and somehow it makes shopkeeper Liu interested."
The neatly dressed man turned around and his face was illuminated by the lantern. It was Liu Ruogu, the shopkeeper of Baishun Hall in the city.
He wiped the sweat with his sleeve and said with a smile, "Shopkeeper Na Luo also has a gambling stall in the city, why should he be the pier of this pier?"
The shirtless man handed the chimney to a subordinate next to him, took a cattail leaf fan and started to fan it, "This is the property left by the old boss. If you don't want it, you have to help take care of it. Besides, this rice-making business in Anqing, regardless of official teeth,
Private teeth are all counting on the care of our Luo family. After so many years of friendship, it is hard to leave them alone."
"The Luo family has gone to Nanjing, how can they still take care of everyone?"
"Even if you go to Nanjing, you're still the Luo family." The shirtless man looked at Liu Ruogu coldly, "A big family is a big family, and it can't be compared to someone who just chopped off a few heads and became a military attache."
Liu Ruogu said calmly, "Shopkeeper Na Luo has no intention of considering my employer's proposal."
The shirtless man sneered, "Every rice shop has its own toothpaste shop at the dock. If you sell your own products, you are your own broker. There is never a shortage of business taxes that you should pay. The dock has been like this for so many years."
The Luo family can control stability, and now I can also control it. In this case, rather than letting a warrior from your boss control the Yaxing, it would be better for Luo to control it."
"Brother Luo said that there is never a shortage of commercial tax, and I will say that there is even more." Liu Ruogu said calmly, "The commercial tax set by the imperial court is one in thirty, and Anqing Yaxing is one in ten, and some are more than that. Each wharf has
The lottery is handed over to the Luo family, who manages the government affairs. If Shopkeeper Luo says that everything is handed over to the Yamen, Liu will not believe it."
The shirtless man had a sneer on his face and did not refute Liu Ruogu.
Liu Ruogu continued, "The Luo family has been the silver head for a long time. Now that they have gone to Nanjing, do they still want to take advantage of this? No wonder others are gossiping. What my boss means, the Luo family is the Luo family, and the shopkeeper Luo is the Luo family."
Shopkeeper, as long as Shopkeeper Luo cooperates with my boss, you will still be in charge of each dock and only give up the position of Yintou, which will still be given to Shopkeeper Luo’s members, and Shopkeeper Luo will also have a share in Baishun Hall."
Shopkeeper Luo slapped his thigh, "Good business, your boss is doing good business. Without the position of silver head, I am still in charge of the dental shop. What good does it do to me? Am I losing my mind and going crazy? It took two generations of the Luo family to give me money to the dock."
Set the rules, work hard to be the silver head for the Yamen, and do it well. He, a lowly warrior, wants to get the silver head just by talking in vain, is he relying on his magical power as a stick god?"
After speaking, shopkeeper Luo stood up and laughed, and several of his servants around him also stood up and laughed.
Liu Ruogu didn't take it seriously. The shopkeeper Luo in front of him was a former slave of the Luo family. He had always been in charge of the affairs of the tooth shop. When the Luo family left Anqing, he did not leave with him, but stayed in Anqing. From the latest news, it seems
, it was he who wanted to take charge of Yaxing, because he did not send any money to Nanjing, he just continued to pull the Luo family's tiger skin.
Liu Ruogu still said politely, "There is no fixed amount for business tax. The money is not as much as the money for land tax. To say that the Luo family has a hard time is probably a bit exaggerated. My boss is a reasonable person. I feel that the clause should be reconsidered by shopkeeper Luo."
For a moment, if you really don’t want to, there’s no need to say anything to hurt others.”
Shopkeeper Luo stopped laughing, looked at Liu Ruogu and said coldly, "Get out!"
Liu Ruogu was silent for a moment, then he cupped his hands to Shopkeeper Luo and said, "Unfortunately, since Shopkeeper Luo firmly refused the proposal, I will take my leave. It's just that rogue spies have been raiding recently, so Shopkeeper Luo would be better off sleeping on the dock."
After he finished speaking, he turned around and headed towards Kangji Gate without any further delay.
"Rogue spies, who the hell are you scaring?" Shopkeeper Luo spat on the ground, "Rogue spies are here. I will catch them myself and send them to the government office. I don't want you, a dog guard, to catch them."
A subordinate next to him came over and said, "Shopkeeper, do you want to go back to the store? I'm afraid it's not safe outside."
Shopkeeper Luo cursed, "What are you doing when you go back? It's so hot inside."
His hand pointed to the direction Liu Ruogu was walking, "Shopkeeper, don't you think that this guy named Liu came here out of nowhere, got scolded by you and then left out of nowhere? He was also in front of the shopkeeper of Baishuntang, and he was dignified, so
Aren’t you too weird to endure it?”
"There must be a reason for weird things?" Shopkeeper Luo said again, "I have been growing up in Huaining for decades, and I have never seen anything weird. He deserves to endure it. Even the prefecture and Taoist platforms are not a problem. A dog military attache dares to
Talk to me. In Huaining City, the county and government offices have to show favor to us, but he still dares to do it."
Shopkeeper Luo couldn't help but get excited after scolding him. This Liu Ruogu is a famous person recently. Baishuntang from Tongcheng opened in Anqing and soon became famous. Most people with some status in the city have gone there, even those who don't gamble.
He also wanted to go and see the excitement. As the silver head of the dental shop, he naturally wanted to go because he had a relationship with Liu Ruogu.
Liu Ruogu also came suddenly today. Shopkeeper Luo didn't know before today that Pang Shoubei dared to have his own idea. It would be fine if he was a civil servant. He was very angry at a military attache for doing this.
"The shopkeeper..."
"Don't try to persuade me. I stay here to enjoy the cool weather every day. If Liu comes, he will scare me away. Do you want me to take care of things in Anqing anymore?"
The subordinate had no choice but to shut up. He was still not at ease, so he asked a few other people to move stools and cold tables into the house, intending to accompany the shopkeeper outside, and it was indeed cooler by the river.
After carrying two stools and walking two steps outside, he saw something moving on the pier. He quickly looked around and saw several blurry black figures coming up from the steps on the riverside and moving this way. They were already very far away.
close.
"You guys do..."
Before he finished speaking, several dark figures suddenly accelerated, targeting none other than Shopkeeper Luo who was enjoying the cool weather.
Shopkeeper Luo heard the noise and just turned around to look, when a dark shadow suddenly pounced on him, and a bright light flashed across the night. Shopkeeper Luo has been running rampant in Anqing relying on the reputation of the Luo family for many years. He has never encountered such a scene.
Before he could react, a sharp waist knife had pierced his abdomen, and another man in black came up. The two of them slashed at Shopkeeper Luo with their knives, and Shopkeeper Luo fell down.
The screams pierced the night sky, and the subordinate was stunned for a moment. The remaining man in black on the left was already charging towards him with a knife raised. He screamed and ran back into the store, just in time to bump into the people who came out to check.
Before they could figure out the situation, several more black figures rushed out of the steps on the right.
Several men in black had their faces covered, and they were holding sharp swords in their hands. Only one of them was holding a short spear. Without making a sound, they slashed at everyone at the door.
Everyone in the store had no time to grab weapons. They were all bare-handed and defenseless. There were screams and blood splattered at the door. The man in black who first discovered the man in black was also stabbed, but it was not a critical wound. He rolled around and held it by the door.
When it comes to the waist knife.
In the chaos at the door, the people in black around him didn't notice. He stood up suddenly and slashed at the side of the man in black in front of him. The man in black howled, turned around and stabbed him.
Unexpectedly, the opponent counterattacked so quickly, and was immediately stabbed in the abdomen by a gun. He took a step back, and felt a sharp pain in his abdomen. In a panic, he desperately climbed into the shop, and his two injured companions also fled back, covered with wounds.
Blood.
The man shouted, "Get a knife!"
There were swords in the shop, and if you got them you could fight with them, but the two people didn't listen to him and ran upstairs screaming.
Two men in black chased in, and then another man came in. The man quickly threw the knife and said to the three of them in horror, "Chitose, please spare your life, spare your life, I am just a servant."
A voice from outside said, "Kill them all."
The man screamed and tried to get the knife again. Several men in black came up and stabbed him several times. They didn't go upstairs again until they lost their breath.
After a while, several people came downstairs. The door was covered with blood, and there was no one alive in the rice shop.
The leading man in black greeted one person, and several others helped up the injured accomplice. Blood dripped all the way down the steps of the pier, boarded a covered boat waiting below, and soon left the berth and sailed in.
Dark river surface.
…
On the dark river, the boat drifted with the waves, as if floating in endless darkness.
"Cover it, cover it."
"The wound is too big to cover!"
"Your mother asked you to check the equipment, but you can't find any when you start to do it."
"I checked six items during the day, who knows where the other one is."
"Stop fucking arguing! He's dead."
The river flowed loudly, and everyone slowly let go of their hands, slumped on the boat and breathed heavily. No one spoke for a while.
They were all relatively fierce and agile soldiers in training. They were sent out separately two days in advance to train in the Houjin Center of the garrison. Even their meals were delivered to the door. They only used javelins and knives, and were not even allowed to use shields. They only said
He was a spy who was going to assassinate a rogue.
During the day, they boarded the small boat one after another and stayed in the cabin. No one on the dock paid attention to this small boat. After nightfall, they waited for the light signal from downstream before going ashore, and then evacuated from the river.
Guo Fengyou pulled off the black scarf on his face and spoke slowly to break the dullness on the ship, "All of you have killed people when you were in Tongcheng, and you are also people whom I can trust."
He paused for breath and said, "The person we killed today was a rogue spy, but this spy was very cunning and couldn't get evidence from him. From now on, we are not allowed to tell anyone or ask anyone anymore. Anyone who violates the rules will
Do you understand the military rules and regulations?"
The other four people each responded, and Guo Fengyou breathed a sigh of relief, "After today, all of you will be transferred to the Chinese Army and work with Pang Pang. The monthly salary is three taels and five cents. This operation has a special salary of ten taels each. By
Mr. Pangda will send it to you personally."
"Thank you Lord Pang, thank you Lord Guo."
Silver has a magical power, and everyone's mood seems to have recovered a lot from their depression.
Guo Fengyou glanced at the shore and said, "There are casualties. Let's go ashore downstream according to the second set of plans and send a signal to the shore."
…
"Sir, target A has been killed." Pang Ding looked at the signal dancing on the river and whispered to Pang Yu in the darkness.
"Mobilize the first, second, and third bureaus, seal off the Caobang's residence, and take people according to the list."
Ponting agreed, and after a moment the lantern was lit and waved in a circle toward the east.
Yao Dongshan, who was not far behind, let out a low shout, and the soldiers of the first round started running. There were dense footsteps on the street, and dogs barked one after another around them.
The Cao Gang is mainly sailors and porters. Their residence is on the east side of Kangji Gate. In the second and third rounds, they have deployed defenses in the other two directions to block all intersections to prevent the leaders from escaping.
Pang Yu turned to Jiang Fan on the left, "Does Caobang really have no weapons?"
"Don't worry, sir. Although they all worship Luo Zu, they are just a small group." Jiang Fan replied respectfully, "There are as few as four or five people, as many as dozens of people. This group of people tying red ropes is the largest group in Anqing, and it is also the largest group in Anqing."
No more than fifty."
Pang Yu nodded. He was not too clear about the Cao Gang at that time. When watching TV before, he felt that the Cao Gang was a very tight-knit gang. I don't know why the Cao Gang in the Ming Dynasty was so loose, but this was a good thing for him.
"The organization level is not high. If we take away those leaders, will there be trouble?"
"Sir, there is no need to worry. Although these Jiang disciples are aggressive, they are quite afraid of officials. They will flock to them if they have advantages. If the officials ask for help, they will scatter. As long as the leader is captured, the rest will be nothing more than a pile of loose sand."
Pang Yu said calmly, "Yahang and Caobang, one controls the customers, the other controls the logistics, and the terminal is ours. From now on, the Yahang will be in charge of the valley, and Caobang will be controlled by you. Don't look down on this gang, we
The canal gang is different from before. It must be as strict as the army and extend all the way along the Yangtze River. From now on, the river will be our road."