Nie Xiaoqi yawned and rubbed his somewhat sore neck lying on the table. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info turned his head to look at the sky outside the patio, and couldn't help but tear his throat and shouted: "Third master, third master, get up!" It's time! ”

He looked at the windows in the attic, the carved wooden windows were closed, and although he could not see anything from below or outside, there was a knowing smile in his eyes.

From time to time, I heard a man's voice in the attic, and although it seemed to echo, it seemed a little impatient. And faintly heard a gentle female voice whispering softly, the man's voice gently comforted two words, and the sound of rustling clothes came.

After a while, a man in his thirties appeared, and he naturally walked out of the attic. He was wearing a decent blue Shu brocade warrior suit, and it was rare that the brocade belt was also inlaid with a piece of Lantian white jade with a good texture, he was obviously the third master in Nie Xiaoqi's mouth, one of his current masters, the second generation of the Nie family's outstanding third young master Nie Wuyi.

Nie Xiaoqi respectfully waited for him to wash up in the hall, looking at the calm expression of this ordinary-looking man, Nie Xiaoqi became more and more respectful. Although he enjoyed Nie Xiaoqi's service without saying a word, Nie Xiaoqi was very respectful to him from the bottom of his heart, because in the Nie family, he, the third master, was Nie Xiaoqi's idol.

Nie Xiaoqi is now the descendant of Nie Huzi's family, the largest salt merchant in this state capital. Nie Huzi is not only the largest salt merchant in southwest and northern Guizhou in recent years, but also the largest salt merchant in charge of salt imported into Chu in southwest and northern Guangxi.

Because Daozhou City is located at the boundary between Lingnan, Lingxi, Guibei and Chudi, it is actually a place where there are no three things. Although Daozhou City has always belonged to Chu from a local point of view, few people have been able to control and completely govern this place in the past few decades.

Therefore, Nie Huzi, who is a giant salt merchant in Daozhou City, and the hundreds of people under his command, can be said to be a strong local separatist force, that is, the separatists of the past generations under the jurisdiction of Chu Di, and every time the local government officials appointed do not dare to do anything to him. As for the rest of the merchants, he is the leader, and most of the various things are headed by him, and he is particularly important in this place.

A person who has attained the Tao of the chicken dog ascends to heaven, as a descendant of the Nie Huzi family, he is naturally deeply honored, although it is just a different subordinate, it is also a person who is worth a little higher than ordinary people in the ordinary world. Although Nie Xiaoqi has never been so conscious, when he does go out and walk in the streets and alleys, he will also make many people who know his identity respect and look up to him. really responded to the words of the seven-rank official in front of the prime minister, and the fool is also the uncle.

Nie Xiaoqi usually lives a very simple life, and his ideal is that he can learn well from the housekeepers of the Nie family, and he can serve his master well. Of course, at the right time, the master can let himself find a housemate, a woman who can live with him, even if it is a subordinate to start a family. It is best if the master Kaien can let himself have an independent room, inherit the surname from generation to generation, continue to spread the branches, and live this life peacefully.

Daozhou City is actually not very big, but since the Tang Dynasty, although it has been under the control of the Hunan forces in Chudi, but since Zhu Wen rebelled and the Tang Dynasty destroyed the country and established itself, separatist forces from all over the country have emerged. The change of dynasty is too fast, and the common people don't know who to listen to. What's more, Daozhou City originally belonged to a barren place next to Wuling, and it really belonged to Emperor Yuan, and the officials who were transferred to Daozhou City were not as effective as the local powerful people.

Although the place is not very large, when it was still in the Tang Dynasty, this state city was an important material distribution center in Chu and northern Guangxi. The tea from Hunan, the salt and osmanthus nectar from all over Guizhou, the seafood from Lingnan, overseas materials and various local southern fruit specialties will all be transported to all parts of the Central Plains in Daozhou City, making Daozhou the last big city from Chudi Hunan to Wuling.

Due to the special geographical location of Daozhou City, and its close proximity to the Wuling wilderness area, there are many ethnic minorities living there. In the eyes of the Han people, the ethnic minorities of this era were still relatively barbaric ethnic groups, so the magistrates sent to govern them turned a blind eye to the ordinary behavior and activities of the ethnic minorities, as long as they did not infringe on the interests of the top Han people.

Because of the large number of ethnic minorities in Daozhou City, it will naturally be divided into various ethnic groups, large and small forces, of course, now Daozhou City is mainly dominated by Yao, Miao and Zhuang.

Daozhou City seems to be next to the barbaric place of Wuling, and in the eyes of the people in the Central Plains, it also belongs to a remote and uncivilized area. Many people are reluctant to manage, and naturally the emperor seems to be easy to be ignored, but in fact, they are still relatively sufficient. Moreover, in the Tang Dynasty, the Li family court ruled for hundreds of years, and there were only twenty-six champions in the entire Central Plains, and there was a person named Li He, who came from Yantang County, Daozhou, so it was known as the hometown of famous talents.

Therefore, no matter what nationality the villagers here are, they are faintly self-proclaimed with their literary style and talent, although this is also a difficult place in the remote Hunan Road of Chudi, but it is not a common person of insight to take root and develop here.

And a businessman like Nie Huzi, who was born by selling salt, is not actually valued by some local literati, and is not even considered an upper-class person. But because of the turmoil of this era, the literati were indeed far less effective than the martial arts. The locals also have to admire the existence of Nie Huzi, and the society in Daozhou City is much more peaceful. Because of his existence and strength, Daozhou City has hardly been contaminated with too many wars, and in recent years, it has not participated in the melee of warlord forces in various places, and Daozhou City has been peaceful here for a long time.

This is in the period of the Five Dynasties, in this kind of big environment, big division and chaos environment, for the specifications of a relatively large city, although Daozhou City is not a big city. But in the southbound direction, it's not too small. In the era of the Great Division, it is undoubtedly an outlier to compare peace and no major wars. Therefore, as locals, especially natives, there are still many people who recognize Nie Huzi, that is, those literati who consider themselves to be high do not have too many complaints about Nie Huzi, or simply do not say anything.

At the end of the Tang Dynasty, when Huangchao raised the flag to rebel against the Li family, Daozhou was an extremely important and critical pass as a place connecting the five mountains. Later, Huangchao was attacked by the coalition forces that fished in troubled waters from all walks of life, and after having to fight in a roundabout way, it passed through half of the Central Plains, and many places in Chu were naturally greatly affected. At that time, there was a place called Jianghua in Daozhou, and among the Yao people among the ethnic minorities here, there was a heroic figure, and this person was a real native of Daozhou, named Cai Jie. This Cai Jie is indeed a character, known as Zhenjiang Dragon at that time, and he managed the water and land in the Xiangjiang River basin for hundreds of miles. He and Lu Jingren, the leopard who later occupied Lianzhou, became brothers, and the two not only occupied a border city and a state, but also survived in the cracks of the big forces, and ruled the local area for 20 years.

Because of Cai Jie's painstaking management, and because he was originally a local snake, Daozhou City was well managed, but later because of the warlord's expansion of power, Chu was gradually managed by Ma Yin. Ma Yin naturally didn't want others to exist in his own territory, not to mention that Daozhou City could become a big hidden danger to Lingnan at any time. Cai Jie then became an object of Ma Yin's knife, and in the end, Cai Jie was still defeated by Ma Yin's army. In May 898, Ma Yin's army successively captured Shaozhou, Hengzhou, and Chenzhou south of Chu, and within a few months, the army conquered Yongzhou, which was connected to Daozhou. Cai Jie was worried that Ma Yin would continue to attack, so he took the initiative to attack Ma Yin's army, but was killed by Li Tang, a famous general under Ma Yin, and since then Daozhou City has been under the control of the Ma family.

Nie Huzi's family has seven generations, living in the Daozhou Mansion of Chudi, when Cai Jie was in power, the Nie family's family occupied a place in the circle of influence in Daozhou City, although it is not a big circle of influence and family, but it can be seen that it is extraordinary. Later, after Ma Yin commanded Chu Di, in order to deter the forces of various places, he suppressed many local famous families in Daozhou City, but the Nie family could be retained, so it was also a well-known figure and family in this nearby state capital.

Now that the entire Chu land was reshuffled and divided by the Southern Tang Dynasty and the Southern Han Dynasty because of the failure of the sons of Ma Yin in the struggle for power, the generals under the Ma family mastered the Chu territory in batches. Now the entire Chu land is basically under the jurisdiction of Zhou Xingfeng, who is close to the Wuping Festival of the Later Zhou State, although Zhou Xingfeng himself cannot personally inquire about the various territories in the jurisdiction, but now basically the officials who are in charge of the state capitals are his cronies and close branches.

And the state capitals of Guiyang, Yongzhou, Quanzhou, and Daozhou are now under the control of his former brother, the current Hengzhou assassin Zhang Wenbiao. This Zhang Wenbiao and Zhou Xingfeng were generals in the Ma family together, and they were known as the ten brothers of Ma Chuhu and Tiger Generals back then, and they were rare tiger generals under the Ma family's forces back then. And Zhou Xingfeng is basically relying on him to guard the south gate of Chu now to prevent the Liu family of the Great Han Kingdom in Lingnan from advancing north.

Zhang Wenbiao is a relatively prestigious person in Chu and the army, and he is a native of Wuling County, Langzhou. After Zhou Xingfeng grasped the power of Chu, he successively served as the governor of Langzhou and the envoy of the Wuping Army, and was an indispensable and powerful general around Zhou Xingfeng.

But Zhou Xingfeng, who is good at scheming, doesn't seem to trust the people around him too much, especially the people in the ten brothers at the beginning, so he asked Zhang Wenbiao to lead Hengzhou and govern several state capitals in the direction of Lingnan. Zhang Wenbiao didn't seem to show any dissatisfaction, and took the initiative to go out of Hengzhou and he has been guarding Hengzhou, making direct contact and confrontation with the Southern Tang Dynasty and the Southern Han Dynasty.

And Daozhou City, which is an important town for the division of several separatist forces, is entrusted with his cousin Zhang Wenxuan, who is also an extraordinary martial artist, but he is not the kind of material for governance. So Zhou Xingfeng took the opportunity to send a person to assist, and he followed an adjutant officer around him, a literati named Hong Feng, to serve here as the Sima of Daozhou.

It's just that Zhang Wenxuan's assassination history does not sell Hong Feng's Sima's account, and there are few long histories and other drivers attached to the assassination history in this era, unlike the Tang Dynasty, when the subordinate officials were complete. What's more, like Zhou Xingfeng, he will not allow it, there are too many jurisdictions in places like Daozhou City, so Sima is assassin history is as important. Although Thorn Shi is a relative appointed by Zhang Wenbiao, he is not good at government affairs, Sima is appointed by Zhou Xingfeng, although he is a civilian, he is also well organized in political affairs.

So the two chief officials of Daozhou City are obviously not in harmony with each other, and those who know know how to choose between the two sides. Naturally, the Nie family, as the head snake of the land, usually relies on the power and financial resources around them, and they don't look at the two of them at all.

The Nie family became a powerful family, really speaking, it started from Nie Huzi's father, at that time, when the world was in turmoil at the end of the Tang Dynasty, Nie's father had the courage to do that profiteering business in the Guizhou area of Lingxi across the mansion, and he did a few private salt transactions, but he didn't expect to make a little rich money, and since then the Nie family has become strong from Nie's father.

At that time, at the end of the Tang Dynasty, due to the sudden rise of the warlord Ma Yin, he actually controlled the entire 24 prefectures of the Chudi region of Hunan, including Tan, Heng, Yong, Dao, Chen, Shao, Yue, Lang, Li, Chen, Li, Lian, Zhao, Yi, Quan, Gui, Wu, He, Meng, Fu, Yan, Liu, Xiang, and Rongzhou, and there were five Jiedu feudal towns such as Wu'an, Wuping, and Jingjiang. The territory included the whole territory of today's Hunan, most of Guangxi, the eastern part of Guizhou, and many state capitals in present-day northeastern Guangdong that were later occupied by the Southern Han Dynasty.

Nie's father was very smart, and he had a relationship with the assassin Shi of Daozhou City assigned by Ma Yin at that time, handed over half of his net worth, and gave it to the assassin history at that time as a gift, and the return was not only to hit the potential opponent of the Nie family at that time, but also to have a relationship with the government since then, and the Nie family has really gained a foothold in Daozhou City.

Nie Xiaoqi's grandfather was a subordinate who ran errands with Nie Huzi's father at that time, and he knew that when Nie Huzi was a teenager, because Nie's father knew many chivalrous people in the rivers and lakes, he was taken by a master in the deep mountains of Lingnan. When he returned to Daozhou City before the age of twenty, he was already a master of flying eaves and walls.

Nie Xiaoqi naturally didn't know what Nie Huzi was doing, and it was impossible for his grandfather to know as a subordinate. But Nie Xiaoqi's father followed to serve Nie Huzi, and once died in order to block the sword for Nie Huzi, Nie Huzi deliberately took care of Nie Xiaoqi.

So although he is a subordinate, Nie Xiaoqi has grown up healthy in the Nie family. Nie Xiaoqi didn't know anything else, but since then, after Nie Huzi returned to Daozhou City, the Nie family has been led by Nie Huzi to monopolize Chudi's private salt business in Lingxi in just a few years. Since then, the business has traveled through Lingnan and Lingxi, and it has gradually become the largest family within 300 miles of the vicinity, and it is also famous in the rivers and lakes.

After that, the Nie family even built their own castle, with a radius of more than ten miles surrounded by mountains and rivers, and named Nie Jiabao. Close relatives and side branches all come to live in the castle as long as they are willing, and the talented and intelligent children are taught martial arts and studies respectively, and the children of people like Nie Xiaoqi are all trained from an early age.

If it was just practicing martial arts, Nie Jiabao would not be able to become the head of the most prestigious family in the vicinity. Under Nie Huzi's foresight, many children have studied literature and entered politics, which is the main reason why the Nie family is recognized by the surrounding families.

Nowadays, many children of the Nie family have infiltrated all levels of Daozhou City, and even more children who are mainly close to Nie Huzi have begun to emerge in Daozhou City. Nie Huzi even recruited a lot of high-rollers and down-and-out literati through acquaintances and friends, and ran Nie Jiabao well, and since then, even the officials appointed in Daozhou City when the Ma Chu family was in power have not paid much attention to it.

Nowadays, there are usually five or six hundred guests in the fort, most of whom are the kind of rangers who come and go from high to low, and some characters who are good at scheming. Some of the main officials in Daozhou City benefited from the Nie family, and when they saw that the Nie family had no other thoughts, they turned a blind eye and agreed that the Nie family would gather in this place smoothly.

Nie Xiaoqi didn't know anything else, but he was said to be clever since he was a child, and he also accompanied the masters in the Nie family's private school, learned some words, and read a few articles. Later, when he grew up, he was arranged to follow the daughter of Nie Huzi's fifth brother and brother, and became a horse boy with a lady named Nie Sanniang in the family.

Of course, this is still the Nie family and Nie Huzi, for the sake of the face of his dead ghost grandfather and Nie Huzi's father, and Nie Xiaoqi's father blocked the sword for Nie Huzi. Nie Xiaoqi didn't know how big his favor was, and he didn't delve into these complicated relationships.

Now that Nie Jiabao has been recruiting people for a long time and constantly enriching Nie Jiabao's combat effectiveness, Nie Huzi is afraid that too many people will damage the foundation, but Nie Xiaoqi has become an internal figure in the Nie family.

The man he is serving and following now is the cousin of Miss Nie San, and the third master of the Nie family's generation, Nie Wujiao. Because Nie Wuqi has a very good relationship with his sister Nie Sanniang, he knows that Nie Xiaoqi is usually honest, reliable and clever, of course, it is better than Nie Xiaoqi to be loyal to the Nie family, and it just so happens that the private affairs that came out this time are extremely secret and taboo, so he asked his sister for Nie Xiaoqi to follow.

This Nie Wuji is usually the best caretaker of the Nie family's business now, Nie Wuji is the widow of Nie Huzi's other third brother who died early, and has been treated like a parent by Nie Huzi since he was a child. He has been practicing martial arts since he was a child, but he is particularly proficient in the family's business, the private salt trade and the family business.

Nie Huzi is naturally quite discerning, and in recent years, he has handed over all these businesses of the outer gate to this nephew to manage, in fact, Nie Wuji still has some weight in the Nie family. Nie Wuqi is usually good at everything, he only has one special hobby, which is to like beautiful women, at this moment Nie Xiaoqi is to accompany him in private, and he will meet a new woman in the courtyard he secretly bought.

In the past two years, Nie Huzi has grown stronger, and gradually mastered most of the business on land and water near Daozhou City, and his reputation has become bigger and bigger, because he is bold and righteous on the surface, and he has the name of sending people to the town of Wuling and Xiangjiang.

The reputation is big, not to mention the complicated power of Daozhou City, Nie Huzi, just in case, now does not allow that kind of person of unknown origin to enter Nie Jiabao to live. Although Nie Wuji's father is Nie Huzi's elder brother, he has died early, not to mention that all the rights of the Nie family are in the hands of Nie Huzi, although Nie Wuji seems to be capable now, he has grown up in front of Nie Huzi since he was a child, and he has always known that his uncle's methods do not dare to be presumptuous. So usually, in addition to welcoming into the castle and following his own woman, Nie Wuyi can only greet other women at the outer door.

Looking at the sky outside the patio, Nie Wuyi suddenly felt a little uneasy, this was a feeling that came suddenly and inexplicably. Although Nie Jiabao was built next to Daozhou City, and it seemed to occupy a quarter of the area of Daozhou City from a high position, there was still a long way to go from here.

The most important thing is that you have to pass through Xie Laohu's territory, this Xie Laohu has been a little bit of a mess with his Nie family recently.

This Xie Laohu is said to have moved to Daozhou City for more than half a year, and he doesn't know how much benefit he has given to Sima Hongfeng in Daozhou, not only did he buy half a street of property, opened all kinds of businesses, and did business with the Nie family. Moreover, taking advantage of Zhou Xingfeng's excuse to block the river for armaments, he did not allow large merchant ships to pass through the Xiangjiang River Water Village at will, so he manipulated the transportation of small private ships by water in Daozhou Prefecture, and had several encounters with the Nie family, who realized it later, for the big battles for private ship transportation.

Because his relationship with Hong Feng is too good, several times Nie Huzi asked Zhang Wenxuan to punish Xie Laohu's business, Zhang Wenxuan actually passed after a few haha out of consideration for various factors. This undoubtedly made Nie Huzi angry, but he usually looked down on Zhang Wenxuan and a few people, obviously Zhang Wenxuan and Hong Feng both wanted to take the opportunity to suppress the Nie family's forces, so they had no choice but to secretly restrain the Nie family's children first.

Speaking of Xie Laohu's power, Nie Huzi also called a few good players recruited by the rivers and lakes, and tried to test it, but who knew that he didn't want to return home, so Nie Huzi was secretly careful, and he had to admit it.

Although Xie Laohu has not made public how to deal with the Nie family, some of the Nie family's own business now, because there are no large merchant ships, they have to use Xie Laohu's waterway.

Nie Wuyi naturally knew his uncle's methods, he was not a person who could suffer losses, and secretly always wanted to catch Xie Laohu's pigtails, who knew that Xie Laohu was a big man, and he made a big move during this time, taming all the ruffians in Daozhou City in one night, and also set up a Tiger Hall on the street where he bought his shop in the west of Daozhou City.

The Nie family has a few children who are close to the head of the house, and during this time in Daozhou City, they accidentally touched the moldy head of the Tiger Hall, Xie Laohu unceremoniously sent someone to beat him, and after beating him half to death, he was tied up and sent back to Nie Jiabao, and said that if it wasn't for looking at Nie Huzi's face, he would be slaughtered directly.

Nie Huzi was so angry that he was like thunder, but he didn't immediately fight back at Xie Laohu, he didn't want Zhang Wenxuan and Hong Feng to take advantage of the fisherman, for this new force in Daozhou City, Nie Huzi took a calm way, and has been thinking of ways to knock down Xie Laohu.

Of course, Nie Huzi also repeatedly warned the children of the Nie family to try not to do anything out of the ordinary in Xie Laohu's territory. Although Nie Wujiao knew that he hadn't done anything, he had forgotten that he had bought this courtyard, which was actually the place where a hall of the Tiger Hall was located.