Most of the businesses of the "Dongting Gang" are located in Changsha City. There are hundreds of various trading shops. It is impossible for a large number of goods to be moved away overnight and occupied by others.
The loss of one hundred thousand taels of silver was unavoidable. No wonder Meng Qingshan was unwilling to evacuate the city.
However, this strategy of abandoning the city can only work if the four families advance and retreat together. If the "Three Evils" withdraw and only the "Dongting Gang" is left to guard the city, it will not be a concentrated effort.
Spread the strength. The "Dongting Gang" has to face the Jianghu Ke's raid and the Hengshan Paijiao attack alone. The "Three Evils" retreated outside the city and are alone. In the end, they will inevitably be defeated by the enemies one by one.
Hua Bushi looked at Meng Qingshan's face and could tell from his expression that Mr. Meng was still hesitant, but in fact he had not made a decision in his heart.
He immediately remembered that when they were drinking together in the back hall that day, when Ma Wuhua was about to give the title of "Dongting Gang Leader" to him, he once said that Meng Qingshan was a bit petty and lacked courage, making it difficult to make decisions when encountering major issues. When he saw it today, he was indeed
So. Thinking of this, Hua Bushi sincerely admired the late sworn brother's way of knowing and employing people.
Thinking of Ma Wuhua, a sense of pride arose in Hua Bushi's chest, and he said loudly: "Brother Meng, back then Brother Ma Wuhua passed the position of leader of the Dongting Gang to his younger brother, but the younger brother did not dare to accept it. Now Wuhua
When the elder brother passes away, the younger brother must try his best to protect the brothers in the gang in order to repay the appreciation of the fifth brother."
"The situation in the city is now in chaos. The gang has lost many brothers the day before yesterday. Only by withdrawing from the city and defeating the two invading sects can the crisis in the city be resolved. Otherwise, more brothers will be injured and die.
If Brother Meng is reluctant to part with the property in the city, he just needs to report the amount of silver lost. Even if Hua Bushi owes the money today, he will definitely pay it back to Brother Meng in the future, how about one tael?"
After hearing this, Meng Qingshan's face suddenly turned red. He suddenly stretched out his hand and patted the table and said: "Although I, Meng Qingshan, have no morals and incompetence, I am not a villain who ignores loyalty for money! Forget it, I am the 'Dongting Gang'
I will withdraw from Changsha City with you all and fight to the death with those two factions. Even if there are losses, it is not as important as the lives of the brothers in the gang! Thank you Brother Hua for reminding me. Meng Qingshan will not dare to ask Brother Hua for a tael of silver no matter what!"
Gong Yangtai stroked his hands and smiled and said: "Okay! Second Master Meng is really generous. We are just withdrawing from the city for a few days. When we have defeated the powerful enemy and the four factions of you and I have become famous, we can then enter the city to expand our industry. Now
All losses can be made up for."
If Meng Qingshan insists on refusing, this strategy of abandoning the city to meet the enemy will be in vain, and the four factions will have to fight with many enemies in the city. Now that Meng Erye has agreed, Iron Sword Taoist Gong Yangtai suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.
.
Hua Bushi was also very happy and said: "Okay, since everyone agrees, we have decided like this!"
After agreeing on the matter, Shen Ying'er said again: "We have withdrawn all our masters from the city and concentrated our efforts on fighting those two factions, but we don't know how to fight and what are our chances of winning?"
She turned her bright eyes and looked at Hua Bushi, obviously wanting to hear the young master's idea.
Hua Bushi smiled slightly and said: "The specific plan to respond to the enemy will naturally depend on the situation after the two groups of troops arrive in Changsha City. It is difficult to estimate the chance of victory at the moment, but the opponent's strength is indeed higher than ours.
It’s a lot.”
When he answered like this, he didn't express any useful information, and if he said it, he didn't say it. Shen Ying'er frowned slightly when she heard it, and when she raised her beautiful eyes, she saw Hua Bushi with a smile on his face, as if he was already confident. , with a thought in his heart, he secretly guessed that the young master must have a plan to deal with the enemy, but he just refused to say it out at this time.
Gong Yangtai said: "In terms of strength, we are indeed slightly inferior. If we can delay it for a few days, Pindao can send a letter to Wudang asking for help."
Mo Wentian shook his head and said: "The Wudang sect is thousands of miles away. It is too late to ask for help at this time. The water far away cannot quench the thirst of the people nearby. As soon as the two sects arrive in Changsha, they will attack immediately, and the battle will begin. In these three or four days, if we can find some nearby Jianghu forces, it might be too late to form an alliance with them."
Gong Yangtai said: "Which of the martial arts sects in Hunan dares to go against the 'Hengshan Sect'? It is impossible to even think about asking them for help, unless we can hire some of the martial arts warriors in Changsha City."
Mo Wentian said: "It doesn't matter if you don't hire those people, they are all a bunch of low-level characters who only know how to sneak around. If they really fight face to face, they will be of no use."
At this time, the second master Meng Qingshan suddenly said: "Speaking of the Jianghu forces in Changsha City, there is one family who may be able to help us."
Gongyang Taiqi said: "Oh? But I don't know which one it is?"
Meng Qingshan said: "Have you ever heard of 'Happy Island'?"
Gong Yangtai, Mo Wentian and others had just arrived in this city and had never heard of it. Hua Bushi, who was standing aside, his eyes lit up and said: "Is the 'Happy Island' Casino that Second Brother Meng is talking about?"
Meng Qingshan said: "Exactly. 'Happy Island' is the largest casino in the city. It has a deep foundation and great influence. If there are still people in Changsha City who can help us, they are the only ones."
A month ago, Hua Bushi was dragged to "Happy Island" by General Wu to gamble. He was amazed at the underground casino that was built with such a large amount of money, and became curious about the identity of its backstage boss. That is, in "Happy Island" In Happy Island Casino, he met Ma Wuhua through gambling and became friends.
Now hearing Meng Qingshan mention it, Hua Bushi was naturally very interested and asked: "Brother Meng, does he know who the boss of that casino is and what his background is?"
Meng Qingshan said: "It is shameful to say that Meng has not been able to know who the boss of Happy Island is in Changsha City for many years. He only knows that they are very powerful and are definitely not among the largest sects in the city. And the background is extremely tough. When 'Happy Island' opened, it signed agreements with various sects in the city. If someone violated the casino regulations or made trouble in the casino, 'Happy Island' would send out a signal for help, and all the sects in the city would Experts must be sent to help intercept and kill."
Hua Bushi said: "It does take some courage to sign an agreement with so many Jianghu gangs. The owner of the casino must have spent a lot of money to get all the sects in the city to sign such an agreement."
Meng Qingshan said: "Yes, their agreement with the 'Dongting Gang' was bought with ten thousand taels of silver."
Hua Bushi frowned slightly and said: "Ten thousand taels of silver is certainly a lot, but it is not much for a sect like the 'Dongting Gang' to send experts to help anytime and anywhere."
Meng Qingshan said: "That was ten years ago. At that time, the 'Dongting Gang' had just come to Changsha to expand their power. It was far from the scale it is today, and they were desperate for money, so Meng signed the paper with them." agreement."
Hua Bushi said: "Did Brother Meng never think of renewing the agreement with them in the past ten years to get more benefits?"
Meng Qingshan said: "No. It's just because as far as Meng knows, ten thousand taels of silver is the highest price in the agreement signed between 'Happy Island' and various gangs in Changsha City, and in the past ten years, 'Happy Island' has not paid any money at all.
The 'Dongting Gang' asked for help once."
He just took ten thousand taels of silver from someone without doing anything, so it was inconvenient for him to ask for more benefits.
When Hua Bushi heard this, he became more interested and asked: "So, the agreements signed between 'Happy Island' and other sects only cost a few thousand taels. Is there no sect that refuses to sign?"
?”
Meng Qingshan said: "More than a thousand taels is considered a lot. Meng later sent someone to inquire secretly. The price of the agreement between 'Happy Island' and most sects was only a hundred taels of silver, and for some small gangs, they even had no penny."
Before it came out, many sects refused to accept it, so Happy Island sent experts to visit and overawed those sects before they were forced to sign. At that time, they were willing to pay 10,000 liang to sign a contract with the Dongting Gang. I think it was
It’s because I’m afraid of Fifth Brother Ma.”
Hua Bushi said: "It's really interesting that a casino dares to be so overbearing. It seems that this 'Happy Island' is indeed quite extraordinary."
Meng Qingshan said: "In Meng's opinion, the reason why Happy Island signed protection agreements with various sects in the city is actually just to deter the gamblers so that they dare not cause trouble casually. If something happens, their masters can do it themselves
If it is handled cleanly, there is no need for any sects to take action."
Hua Bushi nodded and immediately thought of the "Snowflake Swordsman" Hu Yanju who stepped in to stop Ma Wuhua from causing trouble in "Happy Island". With a figure like Hu Yanju watching the scene, if he hadn't met a peerless person like Ma Wuhua,
Master, it is more than enough for a casino.
Iron Sword Taoist Gong Yangtai said: "This 'Happy Island' sounds like it has some abilities, but how can we get them to help us deal with the two incoming sects?"
Meng Qingshan said: "In all affairs in the world, the word 'profit' comes first. Since they opened a casino in Changsha City, it is just to make money. As long as we are willing to pay some silver, I believe they have no reason not to make money."
Mo Wentian said: "Mr. Meng's words make sense. With the current situation, as long as we can attract some experts to help, it is worth spending some money. Moreover, the experts who temporarily join our side have no way of guarding against them.
It can act as a surprise weapon.”
Meng Qingshan said: "Meng has the same idea. If everyone agrees, without further ado, I will immediately go to the city to visit Happy Island to see if the deal can be negotiated, or if they have any other conditions.
Only then are we willing to help.”
Everyone nodded, with no objections.
Hua Bushi said: "My younger brother had a relationship with Hu Yanju, the manager of the casino. I want to go with Brother Meng. Is it convenient?"
Meng Qingshan always knew that Hua Bushi was shrewd and good at calculations. It would be of great benefit to have him go with him. He immediately said with great joy: "Brother Hua is willing to go with us. Second brother, I can't ask for more. There is no reason for inconvenience. We will set off right now."