"Listening to Brother Zhanfeng's words in the tea shed, it seems that he is very familiar with Linzhuang?" Chen Tianxiong went straight to the topic.
"More than knowing," Xiao Zhanfeng said, "he is actually my neighbor!"
It turns out that Linzhuang and Xiao Zhanfeng's families originally lived on Hai'an Street. Because the family had little land, Xiao Zhanfeng's father did some small business and became prosperous. In order to let his children succeed in their studies, they moved to the county town so that they could get a good education.
Private school.
"Lin Zhuang has been the king of children since he was a child," Xiao Zhanfeng said with a smile. "He likes to stand out, be loyal, and makes friends easily. He turns out to be a pretty good person. What a pity!" He shook his head, "This person makes friends carelessly.
I got addicted to the hobby. The few hard-earned money I earned from burning fires in the sugar house were either spent on 'private money' or given to others in the casino."
"So that's how it is." Chen Tianxiong thought that this was just his personal ethics. Whoring and gambling does not necessarily mean he is incompetent, and a modest gentleman does not necessarily mean he is a great talent. If Xiao Zhanfeng only had this knowledge, he would be a little weak.
"...This is still a small matter," Xiao Zhanfeng's face flushed slightly - he rarely drinks distilled liquor. "Just having a hobby will inevitably lead to a loss of virtue. Let's talk about this time -"
This time Lin Zhuang took the lead to complain to the county government. The sugar mill workers had pooled their money together - the government office was open to the public, so no one came in if they had a reason or no money. As long as there was a lawsuit, no matter whether they won or not, there had to be a settlement as usual.
Up and down fee expenses.
"This Linzhuang is good! On the pretext of a lawsuit, he collected a lot of money from the workers, and he swallowed at least half of it himself. After losing the lawsuit, he said that all the money was spent, and swallowed the rest, which made everyone
It made me miserable."
"That's not all. Later, Mr. Zhu gave him money and asked him to maintain the workers in the sugar house and prepare to embarrass you. I don't know how many times I received money. But, the latest time, I
I saw him lose more than a dozen taels in one go at the casino. In front of Monk Zou’s temple, young and old, they drink moldy rice porridge every day - if he is the one who leads the way, these sugar lair workers can be considered blind."
This statement is completely different from the "people are fairly decent" that Zhou Shizhai heard from him. It is almost as good as a "despicable villain".
"Isn't it fair to say that others are decent outsiders?"
"Haha, most people don't know what tricks he does. He also pretends to be presentable. He is in rags all day long and has a sad face. In fact, you only need to go to Ai's house in the back street of the county to see what he is.
Isn’t it completely clear what kind of behavior you are doing?”
"Who is Sister Ai?"
Xiao Zhanfeng was startled and said with a smile: "By the way, you have only been here a few months, so of course you don't know."
Sister-in-law Ai is a well-known local madam; she presides over a large "private shop". Most of the prostitutes in the county live in her home. In addition to women, she also runs a casino, which is a gold-selling den for the lower class in Xuwen County.
.
"Are you very familiar with Ai Ai?" Chen Tianxiong asked unexpectedly to see if he was an honest person. Chen Tianxiong thought that it was not a big deal if a person had some problems, but he was just afraid that he was a hypocrite. Xiao Zhanfeng said
Others are very enthusiastic, but in their words they seem to be very familiar with casinos and "private heads". I'm afraid he is not an upright gentleman.
"I'm not familiar with her, but I'm very familiar with one of her people." Xiao Zhanfeng didn't seem to notice Chen Tianxiong's intentions and said with great interest, "I'm a poor guy, but Ai Ai's eyes are very snobbish."
It turned out that he had a distant relative who had been widowed for many years and now worked as a maid in the kitchen. Xiao Zhanfeng often went to see her.
As for why he often went to Sister Ai's place, he kept silent. It was obviously not a glorious thing. Chen Tianxiong thought that it probably had some unclear relationship with the widow. It was inconvenient to ask more questions.
At the moment, he didn’t ask any more questions and started chatting about the world. Xiao Zhanfeng was very interested in machine-made sugar in South China, so Chen Tianxiong went along with it and told him some basic principles. Unfortunately, he had not known it since he was a child.
The only things I studied were the Thirteen Classics. I couldn’t understand science and technology, and I hadn’t even read some ancient Chinese science and technology books, so it was very difficult to explain.
"It seems that we are actually the frog in the well!" Although Xiao Zhanfeng could not understand eight of the ten sentences, he still listened with great interest, and finally said this sentence,
"It's just that the situation in South China is worrying now." Chen Tianxiong looked at it and brought the topic back.
Xiao Zhanfeng said enigmatically: "How can you see it?"
Chen Tianxiong immediately told Mr. Zhu what he was planning to do to make trouble for the sugar house workers.
Xiao Zhanfeng nodded and said: "I have heard about this matter. However, I thought that this matter would not cause trouble. Even if it did, it would be nothing more than thunder and rain."
"Why is this?"
"Hasn't Shopkeeper Chen ever heard of raising bandits to respect themselves?"
These words immediately reminded Chen Tianxiong. Xiao Zhanfeng said proudly: "What kind of thing is Linzhuang? He is a tough-talking person. Not to mention that if things happen, the Yamen will pursue him: the lightest, the lightest, he will be detained for a few days and have a meal.
He can't escape from the problem. Even if Third Master Zhu is there to clear things up in the yamen, he will always have to suffer. Besides, if Huanan is really defeated, isn't he afraid that Third Master Zhu will cross the river and burn the bridge?"
"Not bad, not bad!" Chen Tianxiong suddenly realized that this scholar's vision was indeed good. Once South China fell, Mr. Zhu no longer needed to give him money to maintain the team of sugar lair workers. Instead, the sugar lair workers had to fight against Mr. Zhu.
Thank you so much, how can he, a man who relies on the mediating of communication and reaps huge benefits from both sides, still get along?
"Then, according to Mr. Xiao's opinion, how should this matter be resolved?" Chen Tianxiong was in awe.
"Just call me Zhanfeng." Xiao Zhanfeng probably rarely received such respect from others, and he couldn't help but feel that "a scholar dies for his confidant." He immediately poured out his views on this matter one by one.
"Master Zhu also knows that Lin Zhuang is unreliable, so he organized a group of people - Zhao Jijiao's bad guys. They are desperadoes who are not afraid of anything, but unfortunately their number is too small to make a difference. So.
If they want to make trouble in South China, the sugar-litter workers and the gangsters are mutually exclusive. If the sugar-liao workers don't make trouble, the gangsters can't fish in troubled waters." Xiao Zhanfeng used his chopsticks to scratch on the table, "Why doesn't Linzhuang know that Zhu San
Master Zhu’s abacus? If something happened to Zhao Jijiao’s people, it must be the sugar house workers who came to jack up the vats. So he kept delaying in order to get more benefits from Mr. Zhu San. But what if Linzhuang was betrayed by Mr. Zhu?
The third master was forced to use his hands, and the matter became a big deal."
Chen Tianxiong listened very carefully and compared it before and after. Didn't Xiao Zhanfeng's words at this time contradict the previous "Things can't get into trouble"? After thinking about it silently, this person is a scholar after all, and he is "good at making shocking remarks".
It's a habit.
But there was no need to expose it at this time. Generally speaking, his analysis was quite reasonable, and he also talked about many details that they didn't understand originally. After all, he was a native of the hometown and saw things more thoroughly.
"so--"
"So as long as Linzhuang is subdued, people like Zhao Jijiao won't be able to get ahead at all."
"I also have this intention!" Chen Tianxiong said, "But I heard it was too late. They said they would burn incense and swear an oath at Monk Zou Temple in three days..."
"Everyone in Xu Wen knows about this." Xiao Zhanfeng disagreed, "Shopkeeper Chen, if you really want to make trouble, the only way is to secretly connect and suddenly gather to burn incense and cause trouble. How could the matter of burning incense be known to the whole city three days ago?
Besides, what Linzhuang said about burning incense and taking an oath was just a 'swear', and he didn't say that he would take action immediately."
The more he spoke, the more energetic he became: "Lin Zhuang was just forced by Mr. Zhu to make a gesture. It is worthy of the money he received. So he will definitely not take action after three days - you think the leader will be here
Did you still spend money gambling and visiting prostitutes in a private shop a few days before you started?"
It turns out that this is the true meaning of what Xiao Zhanfeng said: "If this matter doesn't cause a fuss, even if it does, it will only be a thunderstorm and a small rain." Chen Tianxiong secretly nodded, this man really has some skills.
"So there is still plenty of time to conquer Linzhuang."
"So Linzhuang is not in Monk Zou's temple?" Chen Tianxiong asked.
"Why is he there?" Xiao Zhanfeng said, "Ever since Third Master Zhu recruited him, he has been living at Ai Ai's place. He lived a romantic and happy life. He is probably still there now."
"Then I want to meet him and 'make friends' with him." Chen Tianxiong cupped his hands, "Brother Zhanfeng, please give me some advice!" He said, "I am an outsider, and I do this with dark eyes.
It’s all up to you to take care of me.”
"It's easy to say, it's easy to say!" Xiao Zhanfeng returned the courtesy, "But if there is anything I can do, I will do my best."
Chen Tianxiong saw that he was not shying away from him. He was obviously a man with a lot of responsibility. He took out ten taels of silver and put it on the table.
"Listening to your words is worth ten years of reading." Chen Tianxiong said, "Brother Zhanfeng lives a poor life. Please use this little money to supplement your income. I will thank you in the future!"
"No." Xiao Zhanfeng refused, "I absolutely don't want the money. Please take it back. I said this because I thought you were a friend, shopkeeper. If you don't mean what you said, I wouldn't even bother to say this even if you gave me ten thousand taels."
."
This is a man with a bit of character, although what he said later sounded like bragging to Chen Tianxiong. He immediately took the money back. "In this way, when I come back tomorrow, I will ask Brother Zhanfeng to lead the way to conquer Lin.
Banker."
"What's so difficult about this? It's easy to go today."
"No, no need," Chen Tianxiong said, "There are still a few things to deal with at hand. Since things haven't reached that point yet, there's still time to go tomorrow."
Chen Tianxiong took Zhou Shizhai back to the Sugar Shop. Although he didn't see Lin Zhuang today, it was a great harvest to make friends with Xiao Zhanfeng. Chen Tianxiong is a person who pays attention to his enthusiasm and coolness when doing things. Think about it.
After a while, Zhou Shizhai was invited to come in.
"Master Zhou!" He said straight to the point, "What do you think of Xiao Zhanfeng today? You can believe it or not."
Zhou Shizhai has been a prostitute for a long time and has a lot of experience in the world. He has a good way of recognizing people.
"It's trustworthy." Zhou Shizhai was unambiguous.
"Well, I also think this person can be used." Chen Tianxiong said, "But you must be on guard against others. This is a critical time. Please bring some local brothers to find out Xiao Zhanfeng's background."
"Okay, I'll go right away." Zhou Shizhai went out immediately.
In the evening, the sugar factory workers who went to lobby the sugar factory workers also came back one after another. Naturally, there was no big effect in one day, but the news they brought back was very clear. Many unemployed workers were depressed and felt hopeless about their future.
Linzhuang supplies brown rice on a daily basis to survive, but everyone feels that this kind of relief is not a long-term solution.
There is indeed something about burning incense and swearing an oath. And recently, some people have been inciting them to attack the South China Sugar Factory, saying that as long as the South China Factory is destroyed, the sugar factories in Leizhou will be restored. The sugar cooks are the most enthusiastic about this -
―After all, they benefit the most from using the old method, so they are willing to take risks. However, ordinary workers think that attacking the sugar factory, smashing weapons, and fighting is tantamount to "violating the king's law." Even if the old method of sugar production is restored, it is nothing more than a mouthful of food.
, so the enthusiasm is not high. In addition, Lin Zhuang, the leader, has an ambiguous attitude and never expresses his position. No one takes the lead, and no one is willing to take the lead, so the stalemate continues.
From this point of view, Xiao Zhanfeng's judgment that "burning incense" is just a "swear" and not a "riot" is completely accurate. Chen Tianxiong immediately asked these people to continue activities tomorrow, hinting to the unemployed workers that South China is willing to recruit workers.
Not only can they earn a living, but they are also willing to help their whole family.
No matter how many unemployed workers will be pulled over by them, at least people's hearts will be in chaos - but it seems that Linzhuang has never really united people - this ancient worker leader still had too many selfish thoughts, so it could not become a climate.
From this point of view, the matter is already 80% to 90% sure. It probably won’t take much effort to buy Linzhuang tomorrow.
The next day, still accompanied by Zhou Shizhai, the two disguised themselves as out-of-town merchants and domestic servants. They first took a sedan chair and secretly arrived at the "Dachang Rice Shop" in the county town - this was the place where Liao Daxing worked as a waiter.
, so the relationship between the two places is unusual. All the rice used in South China comes from him. Boss Zhu of the rice shop is naturally very attentive to such a big customer.
In order to avoid the possible spy, after the two arrived, they sent a waiter to invite Xiao Zhanfeng. After Xiao Zhanfeng arrived, Chen Tianxiong and his party accompanied him to lead the way to Ai's wife's house.
Go in through the front door and go out through the back door. Behind the row of meters is an alley. After walking for a few dozen meters, you turn onto a long street. It is paved with extremely smooth bluestone slabs. Looking around, you can see that the rows of buildings are quite neat. The clothing of pedestrians on the street
It is also much neater than Lingao - thanks to the prosperity of the sugar industry, Xuwen is quite a prosperous place.
However, private door owners are never in busy places. Xiao Zhanfeng led the way from the front of the county government office to a remote place behind the county. Most of the roads here are lined with the back walls of wealthy families. The wind and fire wall is towering, with only one open door.
There is a small door with few pedestrians.
After turning a few more turns, he walked to a small double door. Xiao Zhanfeng stopped and said, "This is it."