Gu Chang strode into the restaurant, and Xiao Er had already greeted him and bowed diligently.

"Captain Gu, are you here?"

Gu Chang snorted, and walked straight upstairs, he was a regular customer here, so he was naturally familiar with the door, went upstairs, walked along the corridor to a private room near the sea, and pushed the door straight in.

There were already several big men sitting around the house, and when they saw Gu Chang walking in, they all stood up in unison, clenched their fists and bowed: "Brother Gu." ”

"I've been waiting for a long time, please take a seat." Gu Chang smiled and returned the salute with his fists.

Gu Chang is the envoy of the Navy Yamen, that is, the person who is in charge of the logistics of the Navy Yamen, although his reputation is not obvious, but he is really in a key position. He is Pan Motang's confidant, he was injured in his early years and couldn't go into battle to fight, even if he couldn't stand the bumps in the sea, but like Pan Motang, he also read books, so after Pan Motang defected to Li Ze together, he took up this position.

In the past few years, he has not lived up to Li Ze's expectations, and helped Pan Motang to keep the water master up and down in an orderly manner. And here, the few people who met him were several of Pan Motang's right-hand men who parted ways with Pan Motang a few years ago and still went to be a bandit.

When he was a bandit, Gu Chang could only be regarded as a clerk, of course he was not in the eyes of these people, but time passed, and Gu Chang went ashore, but he became the person these people demanded.

Feng Shui takes turns, 30 years in Hedong, 30 years in Hexi, the vicissitudes of life, nothing more.

"Brother Gu, for more than a year, thanks to your care, our brother has opened up another financial road." A big man with a majestic figure and a big beard pushed a package in front of Gu Chang, "Speaking of which, it is really easier to attack those islands and rob the people there and sell them than to rob merchant ships at sea, there are more and more sea ships now, and there are groups of them, and business is not easy to do." The sea ship with the banner of the Tang Dynasty is not easy for us to start, for fear of angering the big leader to come to us for trouble. ”

Gu Chang smiled, looked at the other party, and said, "What is this doing, big brother?" Every time I did it before, you gave me a tap, and I didn't do anything, I just helped you connect with some buyers. ”

Quietly pushed the package back: "I don't dare to accept it without merit." ”

The bearded man pushed the burden back again, untied it, and looked at the things inside, Gu Chang couldn't help but change color: "Big brother, what does this mean?" ”

"Brother Gu, when you were at sea before, you didn't have any savings, and we also know that. went ashore, although he became an official, but only how many salaries? You are begging for a wife, buying a yard, and buying some land shops, life is very tight, yesterday I met my brother and daughter-in-law on the street, and I didn't even have a few decent jewelry! These things are a little meaning for our brothers, and we came to drink the wedding wine when you got married! Isn't it true that everyone said? The bearded man said with a haha.

Gu Chang smiled and retied the burden, looked at the bearded man and said: "Big brother, when I was still at sea, I was in charge of paperwork and sometimes money, and you all know that I am a cautious and cautious person, and I categorically dare not accept this gift." If the eldest brother has something, he will say something, as long as I can help, I can naturally help, after all, we have been floating on the sea together for so many years, and the incense will always be less. ”

"Okay, Brother Gu is a cheerful person and a person who values affection and righteousness, so I'll tell you straight, big brother." The bearded man looked at Gu Chang and said, "I think you also know, our business is not doing well now." ”

"Why is it not good? It should be better to do it, I used to be sneaky, but now I can trade openly! Gu Chang said: "The imperial court levied taxes, which is tantamount to acquiescing in this matter!" ”

"The taxes are too heavy." The bearded man sighed: "Because the tax is too heavy, some of the middlemen who Brother Gu contacted us in the past not only reduced the amount of purchases, but also fiercely pressed our prices, saying that they also had to pay taxes." As a result, the brothers did not have much to earn, just a little hard-earned money. ”

Gu Chang pondered for a moment and said, "But I don't have any way to help my eldest brother solve this!" ”

The bearded man smiled and said, "Brother Gu, you have!" ”

"What can I do?" Gu Chang was stunned.

"Brother Gu, you are the envoy of the sailor's yamen, and the logistics equipment of the sailor has been handled from you, and the shipyard and dock are under your control." The bearded man lowered his voice: "As long as Brother Gu can let us deliver the ship in the future be parked in your sailor's shipyard or dock and deliver the goods there, and the person who receives the goods can go out under the guise of the sailor's materials, wouldn't it be able to avoid this heavy tax?" ”

Gu Chang suddenly changed color, and Huo Ran stood up: "Big brother, are you trying to harm me?" ”

"How can this be a harm to you?" The bearded man smiled and said: "As far as you are concerned, this is not a trivial matter, you raise your hand, the brothers will pass, the brothers have made a fortune, how can you forget Brother Gu?" ”

Gu Chang shook his head slowly, and said: "Big brother, in the past few years since I went ashore, I have settled down, although I don't earn too much, but I can be regarded as having a family, a house, a wife and a doll, you don't know the power of the law of the Tang Dynasty, you don't know the power of the internal guard under Li Xiang, the Yixing Society, and the supervision of the imperial history, I have a deep understanding." I'm sorry, I can't do this, I don't want my family to be sent to the Western Regions. ”

Dropping these few words, Gu Chang turned around, walked out, walked to the door, turned around, and looked at a few people in the room: "Big brother, I advise you, don't have such an idea, if you still want to do business in Haixing, just abide by the laws here." ”

Seeing Gu Chang walking away without looking back, several people in the room looked at each other, and sat down for a while.

"Otherwise, I will take someone to tie up his daughter-in-law and son, and I am not afraid that he will not comply." A lean man said viciously: "When I was at sea, I saw how small we were, but now I am shaking, and I don't talk about it at all." ”

"At that time, you could easily throw him into the sea and drown him at any time, can you do it now?" The bearded man sneered.

"I can still easily kill him now!" The lean man snorted coldly.

"Forget it, now Gu Chang is an important figure in the water master yamen, if something really happens to him, we can't please him." The bearded man shook his head and said: "Old man Pan, you don't know, if you really want to anger him, we really don't have to mix at sea, the first few times you came, you didn't see their naval warships, how can we compare." ”

"And what's next?"

"Another way, hard-earned money is money, earn it like this first, and then talk about it when you find another way!" The bearded man raised his wine glass a little depressedly: "This Gu Chang, he left without even drinking a glass of wine, and it seems that there is no need to contact him in the future, he will not see us again." ”

Several people sighed, the bearded man stood up, and was about to close the door, this big table banquet can cost a lot of money, Gu Chang doesn't eat, they still have to eat, so as not to waste it.

As soon as he walked to the door, the door of a room next to him suddenly opened, and a person who looked like a shopkeeper walked straight over, clenched his fists and said: "Zeng Da is in charge, polite." ”

The bearded man narrowed his eyes and looked at each other vigilantly, but he made a few gestures behind his back, and several people in the room had already touched their hands to their waists.

"Who are you? How do you know about me? The bearded man asked.

"I also took the sea route to beg for food, if I hadn't even heard of the name of Zeng Shou Zeng's big family, then how could I mix at sea? Zeng Da is in charge, can you allow me to come in and talk to you in detail? The shopkeeper-like man smiled and said.

After looking at the other party for a long time, Zeng Shou laughed and said, "It turns out that you have been waiting for our brother here for a long time, haven't you?" ”

"Yes, some people want to see Zeng Da Boss, but Zeng Da is the head of the dragon to see the head and the tail, difficult to find, and then it is difficult to find out that Zeng Da Boss often haunts here, so I set such a policy of waiting for the rabbit, do not hide from the big boss, I am here, charter this room, it has been a whole month."

"Dare to ask your surname?"

"Don't dare, don't have your surname He."

"What a shopkeeper, please!" Zeng Shou turned sideways.

Shopkeeper He strode in without the slightest fear, and among several pairs of eyes that stared at him viciously, Shi Shiran sat down.

Zeng Shou closed the door, sat down opposite him, and said, "What is the shopkeeper, I don't know if that person wants to see me?" Do you have to spend so much time? ”

Shopkeeper He smiled, looked at Zeng Shou and said, "It seems that you had a very unpleasant conversation with Gu Zhi's envoy?" Talks collapsed? ”

Zeng Shoulai said thoughtfully: "I can't say it, it's just that he is timid, and he can't do some things in the future." ”

"Also, the slave business, under Li Ze's current policy, is indeed not very profitable." Shopkeeper He said with a smile.

"Whose person are you?" Zeng Shou was a little stunned. Listening to the tone of the shopkeeper, this guy is naturally not from Wuyi's side.

"Don't hide it from the big boss, it's the people from Lingnan down there." Shopkeeper He said with a smile: "The one who wants to have a good talk with the big boss is the young marshal Xiang Zhen of Lingnan." ”

"He, what does he want to see me for?"

Shopkeeper He said with a smile: "Zeng Da is in charge, how do you feel when you see Gu Chang's majesty today?" ”

Zeng Shou's face sank suddenly.

"Don't hide it from Zeng Da Boss, we Lingnan are now working hard to expand the water division, a big expert like Zeng Da Dang is the talent of our young marshal who thinks about the general, as long as Zeng Da is willing to go over, our young marshal will inevitably be greatly used."

"Why do you vote here?" Zeng Shou smiled: "Do you want to bully us at sea for a long time, and you don't know who is strong and who is weak?" ”

Shopkeeper He smiled faintly: "Zeng Da is in charge, with all due respect, even if you want to vote for Pan Hook now, will he still believe you?" ”