Although from Ma Gai's point of view, Kunyang is hopeless, he must admit that on the bright side, including in the reputation of the people, he Kunyang is thriving.

The arrival of those Ye County merchants provided many errands for the people of Kunyang with stable income, and the entire Kunyang County became vibrant.

But as the saying goes, some people are happy and some people are worried, Kunyang is happy, but Yexian is not necessarily, especially the current president of the Luye Freemasonry, Lu Kuang.

On the fifth day of the sixth month, the merchants of the Luye Freemasons held a meeting in Lü Kuang's mansion.

In this meeting, Lu Kuang targeted a part of Yexian businessmen led by Huang Fu and Huang Shao brothers.

It's not because a part of the Ye County businessmen led by the Huang brothers set up a workshop in Kunyang, but because they made a deal with the black tiger thieves in private.

No one is a fool, originally no matter who it is, as long as they pass under the mountain of Black Tiger Village, they must come up with a large amount of money to give the bandits, but suddenly, the caravan of the Huang family and other families is hanging their own flags, but they can actually come and go freely under the nose of Black Tiger Village, how can it be that there is no private contact with the Black Tiger Thief?

In the case of conclusive evidence, Rao is Huang Fu could not defend himself, and calmly admitted in front of everyone: "Yes, I did make a deal with the black tiger thief. ”

Hearing this, some uninformed businessmen showed shocked expressions, but some businessmen also looked indifferent, obviously already aware.

Or rather, they had actually made a deal with the Black Tiger Thief.

"You're betrayal!"

Lu Kuang glared at Huang Fu indignantly, "You betrayed the Chamber of Commerce!" Betrayed all of you! …… Do you remember the purpose of my Freemasonry?! ”

When he said this, the businessmen who were shocked that Huang Fu actually traded with the black tiger thief also sank their faces.

After all, Lu Kuang was indeed right, at the moment when his Luye Freemasonry should have jointly dealt with the Black Tiger Thief, the Huang family actually took some people to make a deal with the Black Tiger Thief, isn't this 'harming the public and benefiting oneself'? - Of course, the 'gong' here refers to the interests of the Luye Freemasons as a whole, as well as the interests of those merchants who failed to make deals with the Black Tiger Thieves in time.

In front of everyone, Huang Fu shook his head with a smile, and then said with a straight face: "Of course Huang remembers the purpose of my Freemasonry, 'help each other in the same boat', which was set by Zhao Ergongzi back then......"

"You know?" Lu Kuang sneered.

Hearing this, Huang Fu looked up at Lu Kuang and said in a deep voice: "President, President Lu, before you use the purpose of my Freemasonry to press me, let me ask rhetorically, have you fulfilled your duties as a president in the past few years?" ”

He looked around at the businessmen present and said loudly, "What is the duty of the president?" First, to lead the unity of the people; Second, actively negotiate with other parties to strive for greater interests for the people in the chamber of commerce......"

After a pause, he turned his gaze to Lu Kuang again, and asked in a deep voice, "Let me ask, did President Lu do it?" A few years after the unfortunate death of the second son of Zhao, the chamber of commerce still adopted the strategy formulated by the second son before his death, and the biggest trading partner for us was still the Wancheng Military Market negotiated by the second son, and even President Lu couldn't even keep the price negotiated by the second son...... What President Lu is best at is using the power of the president to suppress dissent. When the second son was there, my Freemasons were all over Luyang, Yexian, Runan, Kunyang, Xiangcheng, Rushang, Ruyang and other counties, and there was no opponent, but now? Not only did we lose the counties of Rushui, but we also had to compete with another Freemason in Runan, like brothers of the same family who turned against each other because of the separation, fighting to the death, making people laugh in vain! All of this is due to you, Lu and Wei......"

"Enough!"

Lu Kuang was annoyed and angry and stopped Huang Fu.

But unfortunately, he could not stop the whispering of the rest of the merchants.

In all fairness, Lu Kuang is actually not as unbearable as Huang Fu said, he is also trying his best to open up the market, Zhao Yu's choice of cooperation with the military market made Lu Kuang's eyes light up, so in recent years, in addition to holding the Wancheng military market, Lu Kuang is also trying to cooperate with the Jiangxia garrison.

The general of the Jiangxia garrison, that is, Han Yan, who is now encircling and suppressing the rebels in Xiapi, is the fourth righteous son of Chen Zhong, the imperial master of the dynasty, and one of the famous 'Five Tigers of Chenmen', in terms of status in the imperial court, comparable to Wang Shangde of Wancheng.

In view of these conditions, Lu Kuang originally thought that Han Yan would cooperate with him and build a military city in Jiangxia following Wancheng's example, but what he didn't expect was that Han Yan refused.

The reason is simple, because it is prohibited.

At that time, Lu Kuang knew that the army was not allowed to control the military market, and Wang Shangde was just an example, because he had his uncle, Wang Ying, the imperial master of the dynasty, to speak for him.

Although Han Yan's father-in-law, Chen Zhong and Chen Taishi, had a higher status in the court than Wang Ying, Chen Taishi himself did not agree to the military to control the military market, believing that this would make the imperial court lose control of the army.

Therefore, Lu Kuang couldn't persuade Han Yan to open Jiangxia Military Market, and in the final analysis, it wasn't Lu Kuang's ability, but others didn't think so.

I have to say that whether it is a person or a thing, I am afraid of comparison, compared with Zhao Ergongzi, the first president of the Luye Freemasonry, Lu Kuang is obviously much inferior, so that when Huang Fu mentioned this matter at this moment, most people agreed in their hearts.

Hearing those whispers, Lu Kuang couldn't help but feel a little flustered, and scolded in annoyance: "Huang Yuanying, you don't want to mess around, what I'm talking about now is that you are trading with the black tiger thief privately......

Huang Fu nodded, and Zhengse said: "Yes, I did make a deal with the Black Tiger Thief, I don't deny it." But why did I do that? Am I willing to make a deal with the Black Tiger Thief? ”

He glanced around, shook his head, and said, "The atmosphere in Freemasonry is not good to be honest. …… Back then, we waited for unity, that was real unity, and even the Runan County Commander was forced to ask Mao Gong for help, but now, is there unity in the meeting? I won't talk about those people in Weipu, since they choose to stand on their own, then it has nothing to do with us, but what about our club? In the past few years, there has only been mutual communication left, and even sometimes business opportunities are concealed for personal gain...... What about being in the same boat? ”

He shook his head again, looked at everyone present and said in a deep voice, "Is the black tiger thief so difficult to eradicate?" I don't think so! Back then, Zhao Ergongzi said that money can make grinding ghosts! …… If we really unite and come up with tens of millions of dollars, not to mention inviting the world's descendants, we can smash those bandits to death with just money! …… I, the Luye Freemasons, have this ability, but I don't want to, right? ”

"......" Lu Kuang opened his mouth.

"......" The businessmen present were also silent.

Seeing this, Huang Fu spread his hands and said, "Then don't blame the black tiger thief for cultivating the climate...... Now that the black tiger thief has become the climate, even the Kunyang County Ya has cast a rat trap on them, since the association cannot unite and help my family reduce losses, what is the fault of my trade with the black tiger thief? …… In the final analysis, it was because President Lu had not fulfilled his duties as the president, if President Lu had managed to eradicate those bandits earlier, how could Huang have made such a decision? ”

"You're just ...... Outrageous! ”

Seeing that Huang Fu blamed himself for the fault, Lu Kuang was furious.

On that day, the meeting ended unhappily.

The businessman, who was good with Huang Fu, reminded the former before leaving: "You have offended Lu Kuang today, you should be careful." ”

Huang Fu laughed.

In all fairness, Huang Fu has no hostility towards Lu Kuang, and he doesn't want to sit in the chairman's seat, because he knows that that seat is not easy to do.

Lu Kuang coveted the chairman's position, so he fought with Wei Pu and turned against him, but what was the result after he sat in this position?

Lu Kuang's ability is not enough to replace Zhao Ergongzi, so the decline of the Luye Freemasonry is inevitable, but the emaciated camel is bigger than the horse, so in the eyes of outsiders, the Luye Freemason still seems strong, until it bumps into the black tiger thief this time.

The next day, Huang Fu's younger brother Huang Shao learned that his brother had a grudge with Lu Kuang, and hurriedly returned to Ye County from Kunyang to inquire about the matter.

Huang Fu was not in a hurry to explain, but asked Huang Shaodao: "How is the workshop in Kunyang?" ”

"Okay."

Huang Shao explained: "According to the previous agreement, the brotherhood has recommended 500 people to our workshop, although these people are all new hands, it takes a period of time to sharpen, but considering that there are not many similar cloth workshops and dyeing workshops in Kunyang, and the Kunyang County Government also wants to keep us, so it provides some convenience, in general, I am still very optimistic about Kunyang ......."

"That's good." Huang Fu nodded and said, "When your side is on the right track, I will gradually close the workshop here in Ye County, and gradually transfer the workshop and craftsmen to Kunyang ......."

"Brother, you ......"

Huang Shao was taken aback, he never expected that his brother would have plans to transfer the family business to Kunyang.

As if guessing his younger brother's consternation, Huang Fu frowned and said: "You also know that in the past two years, my Ye County has been unstable, Zhao Ergongzi and Mao Gong are gone, and the imperial court does not know why, not to send a new county order, which makes Lu Kuang have great authority in the county, this time I offended him, it is difficult to guarantee that he will not target my family in the future, in this case, simply transfer the family business to Kunyang, not only to marry the black tiger thief, but also to marry the Kunyang County Ya, why not?" …… The ancestral house doesn't have to be moved, and Lu Kuang won't be able to do that. ”

Speaking of this, he asked his younger brother again: "By the way, I asked you to try to make friends with the people of Kunyang County Ya and the Black Tiger Thief, have you made any progress?" ”

Huang Shao immediately said: "Over there in the county government, I have visited several times, and I have made some connections up and down, but the black tiger thief ...... Zhou Hu, the leader of the Black Tiger Thieves, is very mysterious, and I have asked Chen Cai several times to meet with his leader, but there has been no news so far. ”

After a pause, Huang Shao added: "Although I haven't seen that Zhou Hu for the time being, I heard that there is a big leader of the Black Tiger Thief in Kunyang County, and it seems that it is the gold owner behind the Black Tiger Righteous House, Chen Hu, this person is now making friends in Kunyang City, I am planning to try my luck with him, to see if this person is a leader of the Black Tiger Thief as some sources say, but I don't want to hear that my brother has a dispute with Lu Kuang......"

Huang Fu smiled, nodded and said with relief: "Okay, you just do what you think, here in Ye County, I will continue to take care of it." ”

"Okay."

On the same day, the Huang brothers discussed for a while, and then Huang Shao went back to Kunyang.

After going out of the city to send his younger brother away, Huang Fu returned to the city in a carriage.

Along the way, he saw through the window of the carriage many shops in the city with the sign of 'Lu Ye Gongji'.

Looking at those signs, Huang Fu sighed.

Although the second son of Zhao, who founded the Luye Freemasonry back then, was a native of Luyang, this did not prevent the Luye Freemasonry from becoming the pride of Taye County.

He even heard that Mao Gong was very proud of this before his death, after all, it was not a businessman under anyone's rule who had the ability to let the county magistrate run to ask for help.

It's a pity that this chamber of commerce, which is the pride of Ye County people, is constantly weakening.

『…… If Zhao Ergongzi was still alive, he didn't know what he would think when he saw today's scene."

Shaking his head, Huang Fu returned to his mansion with a sigh on his face.

At this time, he had already made preparations for being targeted by Lu Kuang, and he had also thought of countermeasures for this, but in fact, Lu Kuang's mind was not so narrow-minded.

Of course, this does not mean that Lu Kuang has exposed yesterday's dispute with Huang Fu, for Huang Fu, Lu Kuang will definitely try to teach a lesson in the future, but what Lu Kuang cares about most at the moment is still the problem of the black tiger thief.

Who let Huang Fu defend himself like that yesterday - because you, Lu Kuang, as the president, have not been able to deal with the Black Tiger Thief for a long time, so I was forced to trade with the Black Tiger Thief.

Does this make sense?

At least this explanation is acceptable to at least half of the merchants in the Luye Freemasonry.

The reason is very simple, because Zhao Ergongzi stipulated the duties and obligations of the 'president' back then, therefore, while enjoying the authority of the president, Lu Kuang also has the obligation to come forward on behalf of the businessmen in the association to solve various problems that harm the interests of the members of the association.

If he can't do it, then he can't accuse those businessmen led by the Huang family of trading with the black tiger thieves without authorization.

Therefore, when someone questioned his ability, although Lu Kuang was angry that Huang Fu was disrespectful to him, he would not immediately try to retaliate, and the top priority was to deal with the black tiger thief and re-establish his prestige.

As long as the prestige is re-established, the Huang brothers will only be a minor problem.

But how to solve the black tiger thief?

Lu Kuang thought about it, and finally felt that it still had to fall on the Kunyang County Ya, after all, it was Kunyang's territory.

On the seventh day of the sixth month, the day after Huang Shao returned to Kunyang, Lü Kuang took a number of entourages and escorts to Kunyang in a carriage.

He has been to Kunyang many times before, and his evaluation of Kunyang County is average.

In his opinion, Kunyang County is at best the extent of Luyang County.

However, this time in Kunyang County, Kunyang County has undergone earth-shaking changes, and there are almost no shops in the city with the sign of 'Lu Ye Gongji', instead of shops with the words 'Brotherhood Cooperative Store'.

Lu Kuang knew that most of the shops with the signboards with the words 'Brotherhood Cooperative Store' were actually opened by their Ye County merchants.

『…… Traitor!'

Secretly scolding, he lowered the curtain of the car window, out of sight.

After turning around in the streets of the city for most of the time, Lu Kuang finally chose to settle down in the post house in the city, the reason is very simple, the post house was opened by the Kunyang County Ya, unlike those inns run by individuals, most of them hung signboards with the words "brotherhood", which made him unhappy.

Even if the inn is more modest than the inn.

After staying at a post house in the city, eating something casually, and resting for a while, Lu Kuang immediately took a carriage and went straight to the county government to ask to see the county commander Liu Bi.

At this time, Liu Bi was discussing with the county Cheng Li Xu in the study about the preferential policies used to attract businessmen in Ye County, and wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to attract businessmen in Ye County as much as possible, but he didn't expect that a county official came in halfway to say: "Gong Liu, there is a businessman from Ye County, Lu Kuang asks to see." ”

As soon as he heard this, Liu Bi, who was discussing with Li Xu, was suddenly in a bad mood.

How could he not guess the purpose of Lu Kuang's coming.

"It's this guy again."

Liu Bi frowned and glanced at the direction outside the door, shook his head and said, "He must have come to urge me to suppress the thief." ”

County Cheng Li Xu nodded.

Speaking of which, the black hand of the black tiger thief has not touched this county gentleman for the time being, but this does not prevent Li Xu from holding the same view as Liu Bi.

finally caught the opportunity to dig the corner of Ye County, how can you take care of the black tiger thief?

What's more, the black tiger thieves who have made a comeback honestly hardly look like a bunch of bandits.

Under Li Xu's funny look, Liu Bi instructed the county official in disgust: "You go and tell him, just say that this official is discussing a major matter with Li Xiancheng...... Forget it, you go to see Ma Gai and ask Ma Gai to come out of the government to meet you. ”

"Yes!"

The county guard retreated.

Looking at the back of the county guard leaving, Li Xu said jokingly: "Liu Gong's move, I'm afraid that the county lieutenant will complain." ”

"Complaining?"

Liu Bi snorted lightly.

Margai dares to complain about him?

At the beginning, that guy brought him Liu Bi to a group of black tiger thieves, and he hadn't forgotten this account!

Although the two of them are now grasshoppers on a rope, this does not prevent him from throwing some troubles and headaches to Ma Gai in retaliation.

Seeing Liu Bi sneering on his face, the county Cheng Li Xu muttered secretly in his heart.

"It is rumored that Liu Gong and Ma County Lieutenant fell out because of the Wang family's daughter, is it true? …… But they don't know who is the one who snatches love with the sword.'"

Li Xu pondered secretly.

In fact, he was also itching, like a cat's claw scratching his heart, but he still didn't dare to ask.

At this time, the county magistrate had already come to Ma Gai's squad room and reported the matter to Ma Gai: "County lieutenant, Ye County businessman Jia Lu Kuangya asked to see him, Liu Chengcheng and Li County Cheng discussed important matters, and it was inconvenient to meet him, so he ordered me to tell the county lieutenant and ask the county lieutenant to meet ...... on his behalf."

"Oh, I see."

Ma Gai smiled and nodded, secretly greeting the female dependents of Liu Bi's family in his heart.

However, scolding is scolding, he still has to obey Liu Bi's orders, after all, Liu Bi is his county commander in Kunyang.

While greeting Liu Bi's family, Ma Gai came to the outside of the county office.

Sure enough, he saw Lu Kuang waiting outside the county office with his hands on his back.

"Lu Laojia." He smiled and greeted him.

Hearing the voice, Lu Kuang immediately turned his head, and when he saw Ma Gai personally coming out to greet him, he immediately returned the salute: "Captain Ma." ”

After saluting each other, Ma Gai explained with a smile: "Liu Chengcheng discussed important matters with the county Cheng and ordered Ma to receive Lu Laojia...... Lu Laojia doesn't want to be surprised. ”

"Where, where." Lu Kuang said kindly: "It's the same with Captain Ma. ”

Hearing this, Ma Gai raised his eyebrows unconsciously.

It's the same with him? That's really the Black Tiger Thief.

Sure enough, after inviting Lu Kuang to his class room, Lu Kuang immediately expressed his intentions: "Ma County Lieutenant, in March, I came to the county government in Xia, saying that the black tiger thief had returned to Gui County, and implored your county to send troops to encircle and suppress it. ”

Ma Gai poured a bowl of water and handed it to Lu Kuang, then rubbed his hands together, and said with a little apology: "This...... There is some reason for this. ”

Licking his lips, he said with a little embarrassment: "Actually, after the spring ploughing, that is, in mid-April, the county government has already posted a notice to recruit righteous men to crusade against the black tiger thief, but ...... By the end of May, there were only 100 people, and even more than a dozen ...... ran in the past two days."

In fact, he was not embarrassed by himself, but embarrassed by Lu Kuang.

Why can't he recruit people to beg for thieves?

On the one hand, it is true that the Black Tiger Thief is really strong, and many people died in his first three crusades against the Black Tiger Thief in Kunyang, which scared off some people, but on the other hand, it is because many Yexian merchants have recently cooperated with the Brotherhood and opened many workshops in the city.

If you can get a job with a stable income, who wants to risk their lives to fight those gangsters?

As a result, the notice of the county government was posted for more than a month, but almost no one cared about it.

A few days ago, Ma Gai spent a month summoning more than 100 people, and a few days ago, he ran more than a dozen.

The Luye Freemasons wanted to exterminate the Black Tiger Thief, but some of the Luye Freemasons helped the Black Tiger Thief in disguise, and even Ma Gai felt embarrassed for Lu Kuang.

Sure enough, after listening to Ma Gai's explanation, Lu Kuang's face suddenly became very ugly.

Holding back the anger in his heart, he said to Ma Gai with a straight face: "County Lieutenant, you are a sensible person, the black tiger thief occupies the mountain as the king, there is no king's law, there is no noble county, there is no murder and goods, and all evil deeds are done, such evil thieves must not be tolerated!" ”

Ma Gai nodded and said with relief: "I understand what you said, but I really have no time to withdraw at the moment...... According to the people I sent to investigate, there are at least 500 people in Yingshan Black Tiger Thieves now, or even 600 or 700 people, and if you want to exterminate them in one go, you have to send at least two or three thousand people, but at the moment, Ma Mou can't even recruit two or three hundred people, so how can you talk about encircling and suppressing the thieves? …… Or, Lu Laojia will wait a little longer? Waiting for someone from the county to come out? ”

"County Lieutenant ......"

Lu Kuang persuaded again, but Ma Gai said that he could not do anything.

Half an hour later, Lu Kuang left the county government with a calm face, while Ma Gai took advantage of the convenience of inspecting the streets and immediately went to see Zhao Yu.

After seeing Zhao Yu, Ma Gai told Lu Kuang about it, and said, "I don't know if I stabilized him...... I felt that he was in a hurry, and even made a threatening statement, saying that if I didn't care about Kunyang, he would personally ask the county for help. ”

Hearing this, Zhao Yu nodded with a complicated expression, fortunately he was wearing a tiger mask, and Ma Gai couldn't see his expression.

Of course, Lu Kuang will be anxious, after all, Zhao Yu is dividing and weakening the Luye Freemasons by winning over some of them and attacking them.

If Ma Gai could persuade Lu Kuang in this situation and let the latter wait and see patiently for a while, then Zhao Yu would really doubt his original way of looking at people.

"Be prepared for someone from the county." Zhao Yu said lightly: "I guess Liu Gong must be eager to ask the county for credit, even if Lu Kuang informs the county, the county will not immediately send people to encircle and suppress, but will first send a few envoys to investigate, and then we can find a way to make friends with those envoys." …… After this year, Luye Freemasonry may not be a problem. ”

『…… Is it 'making a friend' again?'

Ma Gai glanced at Zhao Yu and nodded slightly.

By the way, sympathize with the messenger sent by the county in advance.