The four eaves of the patio are like rain, and the rain is refreshing, but the Chu rhino who is pacing in the hall only feels a chill on his back.

"My lord asked the villain to spread the word: Zhao Ying and Guixian should complement each other, rely on each other, and have no intention of bullying each other. The letter is full of truth, if you understand the righteousness and are willing to let go of the past hatred, everything is easy to do, and from now on hand in hand; If the adults are still the same as they are and insist on going their own way, then the jade will be burned, and it will be difficult to deal with the result. ”

Deng Longye, who was standing at the entrance of the hall, lowered his head, letting the rain continue to wash his hat and coat from top to bottom, but his eyes were raised, like a pair of wolf eyes, revealing a bit of solemnity in the darkness.

Chu Xi was noncommittal, beckoned, and the servants on the left and right came up to ask Deng Longye to move. Deng Longye pushed away the servant's hand, but said, "Tomorrow at this time, the villain will visit again, and I hope that the adults will have made the best decision at that time." Without waiting for the servants to step forward again, he threw himself off his arms and strode away.

"Close the door." Chu Xi sighed and ordered, the servants closed the door in front of the hall, and for a while, the hall that only relied on the patio to let in the light looked extremely gray.

After taking two more steps, Chu Xidi finally couldn't support it anymore and fell on the chair. His eyes were blank as he stared at the countless falling rains in the patio. He understood that his all-out blow to Zhao Ying was afraid that it would become a dream. After sitting for a long time, he unfolded the letter and carefully read every word on it. In the end, it was a long sigh.

The letter came from Zhao Ying, but it was Kuang Yueguang, the official of Xiangyang Prefecture, who signed the letter, and there was Kuang Yueguang's private seal at the end of the letter. Kuang Yueguang served as a magistrate in the government, in charge of criminal prison justice, and was the backer of the Chu family in Xiangyang Mansion. Now, Kuang Yueguang is unusual, and he has persuaded Chu Xidi bitterly, asking him to turn big things into small things. The reason for this comes from the Lin people mentioned in the letter. Although Kuang Yueguang did not directly explain who Lord Lin was, how could Chu Xidi not guess Lin Mingqiu.

According to the judicial procedures of Xiangyang Prefecture, even if the case was delivered to the Fuzhong and accepted by the Fuzhong, and Kuang Yueguang helped Chu Xi to preliminarily determine the facts of the case, but because of the seriousness of the case, it will inevitably have to be reviewed at the level of the judge.

Whether it is Kuang Yueguang or Chu Xidi, there are actually some connections in Huguang according to the judge, but at this time, "the correction is done, but the reasons for each session are given, and the plan has to be the same as the government and the same office, and the most in the palace", according to the supervision function of the prosecutor has actually been encroached upon by the inspectors, governors and even Taoist ministers, etc., and the final decision is submitted to the central government, which must be through the hands of Lin Mingqiu. Chu Xidi and Lin Mingqiu have never had a relationship, and it can be seen from Kuang Yueguangxin's seemingly several dragonflies that Lin Mingqiu has a close relationship with Zhao Dangshi.

Although Chu Xi couldn't figure out how Zhao Dangshi got on the line with Lin Mingqiu, one thing is certain, Zhao Dangshi had Lin Mingqiu as his back, and there was little hope that he would go through the judicial process to bring down Zhao Ying. Lin Mingqiu's patrol is a Beijing official's errand, even if he tried his best to submit the case to the central government, but after the trial of the Criminal Department, the review of Dali Temple, and the picket of the Metropolitan Procuratorate and even the retrial, Lin Mingqiu or Zhao Dangshi's other eyes and ears in the court interfered with it, and all kinds of links were complicated and twisted, far from being controlled by a local official in Chu Xidi.

"If the teacher is still in the middle of the court, there is still some room for maneuver in this matter." Chu Xi thought of Hou Sui who was in prison, and couldn't help but feel a little angry. It is normal for people to climb the dragon and attach the phoenix, he is a country official, he can hold the power of one party, and his energy also comes from the backers behind him. The most important thing Hou Sui gave him was not money, but connections. In officialdom, relationships and favors are particularly prominent. is like Kuang Yueguang, the official of Xiangyang, if he didn't have Hou Xun's face, he would not be able to make friends with an official of such status no matter what.

According to Kuang Yueguang, Lin Mingqiu's support for Zhao Dangshi is undoubted. In addition, between the lines, Kuang Yueguang seems to have expressed another meaning, that is, in addition to Lin Mingqiu, Zhao Dangshi still has a bigger backer who has not yet shown the dew. But for Chu Xidi, one Lin Mingqiu is enough to turn his hard-working plan into a mirror, even if Zhao Dangshi still has a big backer, it is insignificant.

"The bright ones can't do it, but the dark ones can't do it?" Chu Xidi, who has an elegant appearance, is actually as hard as a knife. Many times, when the right way is difficult to solve, he will finally consider solving it by extreme means, "Send a few people to secretly do the surname Zhao?" ”

However, the thought was fleeting. Zhao Ying's situation is extraordinary, if it is a small family, it is not impossible to move your fingers and kill people. Regardless of the strictness of Zhao Ying's precautions, whether the Jianghu outlaws hired by him have a chance to succeed, even if God opens his eyes, Zhao Dang's life is worthy of death, but once he dies, the harm to Zaoyang County and his Chu family will be even greater.

Chu Xi knew in his heart what kind of person Zhao Dangshi was, as well as the temperament of the rest of Zhao Ying. It can be said that the reason why Zhao Ying, who is now stationed in Zaoyang, is calm and even can be said to have committed no crimes in autumn is because of Zhao Dangshi's restraint and pressure on the murderers under him. Without Zhao Dangshi's control, Zhao Ying is bound to be like a flash flood, which will pose a great threat to the entire Zaoyang. This ability to weigh the pros and cons is still there.

After thinking for a moment, Chu Xi felt that it was a foregone conclusion that he had fallen against Zhao Ying, and it was useless to insist on it, so he sighed a few times. This time, a big stone in my heart was put down, and my spirit was vibrant. My mind shifted to a few rows of small letters beneath the letter.

These characters, both in font and ink color, are very different from Kuang Yueguang's, and it seems that Zhao Dangshi added them himself after receiving Kuang Yueguang's letter. These small words read in a gentle tone, but the content is very sharp. first blamed Chu Xi for trying to get Zhao Ying, and then put forward conditions to Chu Xi Di with a victorious attitude.

"Win or lose."

These four words flashed in Chu Xidi's mind. He shook his head with a wry smile and began to carefully consider the sentence by sentence that Zhao Dangshi listed. The victorious and defeated soldiers are unexpected, and they are men who are ashamed and ashamed. This time, the "defeated" is himself, so he confessed it. The coming day is long, take a step back, and slowly move around.

Thinking so, Chu Xi took a deep breath and turned his gaze to the falling rain in the patio. Outside the hall was the abundant rain, but inside the hall, the anger in his heart was rekindled.

Hundreds of miles away, Chen Hongfan Manor on the shore of Tanxi Lake.

A hearty laugh came out of the small pavilion behind the garden, and the sound spread through the willow forest by the lake, and reached Zhao Dangshi's ears.

"If my brother encounters any interesting things, tell my younger brother." Zhao Dangshi smiled and walked into the small pavilion, and Zhou Wenhe, who accompanied him, took the umbrella and waited under the tree next to the pavilion.

There were two people sitting in the pavilion, one of whom was Chen Hongfan in brocade clothes. With a smile on his face, he invited Zhao Dangshi to sit down and said to the other person: "This is Chen's younger brother, the current general of Lutoudian Zhao Dangshi." I mentioned it to Brother Su. ”

The man hurriedly arched his hand and said: "Lord Zhao's prestige is like thunder, I can see it today, Su Mou is fortunate to have three lives!" ”

Zhao Dangshi returned the salute with a smile, looked at the person, saw that he was dressed luxuriously and well, and seemed to have some origins, and asked, "Listening to Your Excellency's accent, it seems to be someone from Jiangnan?" ”

Chen Hongfan said: "Brother Xian is right, this Brother Su Gaozhao Su is from Zhejiang. Now the southeast Zheng Gong is doing things. ”

The so-called "Zheng Gong of the Southeast", Zhao Dangshi knew it well, it was Zheng Zhilong, a coastal defense guerrilla who had surrendered to Xiong Wencan. Although he was only a guerrilla general, everyone knew the strength of Zheng's power in the southeast sea, so Chen Hongfan talked about him in front of Su Gaozhao, and did not mention his official position, but only said "Zheng Gong" to show respect.

After a few words of greeting, Zhao Dangshi was surprised: "Zheng Gongzhen, I am in the east of the Ming Dynasty, why did Brother Su travel thousands of miles to Huguang?" ”

Chen Hongfan explained: "Zheng Gongxing's business industry is huge, and he has set up 'five merchants from the mountains' and 'five merchants from the sea' to coordinate domestic and foreign commercial affairs. After pausing for a while, seeing that Zhao Dangshi had doubts, he continued, "Based on Hangzhou Mansion, the five merchants of Shanwu collected silk, porcelain, silk, yarn, medicine and other products from the interior of the Ming Dynasty and transported them to the Zhongzuo Institute; The five merchants of the sea used the center and left as a basis to sell their inland products overseas. Among them, the five merchants of the mountain are divided into five elements: gold, wood, water, fire, and earth, and they are respectively searching for products. Brother Su is the director of the water bank. ”

Su Gaozhao said: "Su is a native of Hangzhou, and he is responsible for the collection and distribution of silk and satin commodities in the five merchants of Shandong. Since the beginning of this year, he has been on a mission to visit various places to supply. In addition to Huguang, such as Henan, Shandong and other places, they have all been walked. In the Ming Dynasty, Henan, Shandong and Huguang were all important cotton-producing areas, because of their high quality, they had the unique name of "North Flower" along with "Zhejiang Flower" and "Jianghua". The cotton will then be transported to Jiangnan for supply and manufacturing, which is a complete industrial chain.

Chen Hongfan said again: "Brother Su only came here from Lu'an a few days ago, and after seeing the cotton fields in Huguang, he is going back to Zhejiang. "Lu'an is the largest textile center in the north, and the silk needed is given to Langzhong, Sichuan. Seeing that Su Gaozhao was weak and rude, but his skin was dark and straight like an old farmer, he knew that he had been exposed to the wind and sun outside for several months.

Zhao Dangshi nodded and said, "I see." ”

Chen Hongfan said: "Brother Su and I have an old relationship, and when I come to Huguang, I must take care of the wind and wash the dust." It just so happened that the virtuous brother was also coming, so I saved up this small game and introduced you to the two of you. ”

Zhao Dangshi said with a smile: "Brother Lao is bothered. Seeing that there was an empty seat, he asked, "The prince didn't come?" ”

Chen Hongfan shook his head and said: "The prince is not in good health today, I am afraid that he has been dyed with a little cold due to the tide in recent days, and he will not be able to come." ”

Zhao Dangshi responded and smiled. The relationship between Zhao Dangshi and Chen Hongfan and Xiangwang has become closer because of several cooperations, as if they have been friends for many years.

Chen Hongfan asked again: "Has the letter been sent?" ”

Zhao Dangshi took a sip of wine and said, "I sent someone to send it before I left, and when I go back to the camp, there will be results." ”

Chen Hongfan sneered: "But I will look at the crab with cold eyes, and see how long you will be rampant." The Chu family will kill itself if he commits many injustices, and in such a situation, he will definitely send someone over tomorrow to beg for mercy. ”

Zhao Dangshi smiled and nodded: "This little brother is worry-free, but there are some recent circumstances, but the little brother has to be vigilant, maybe he has to prepare in advance." ”

Chen Hongfan let out an "oh", observing that Zhao Dangshi didn't seem to be willing to say anything here, he didn't expect to wait for idle things, glanced at Su Gaozhao, suddenly piled up a smile, raised his wine glass and said: "It's fun here, don't talk about business, come, let's have a drink together." ”

Zhao Dangshi saluted Su Gaozhao again, and said: "Reading thousands of books and traveling thousands of miles, Brother Su has traveled all over the world, and the way of business must be perfect." Brother is not talented, and he has been suffering from the business of the businessman in the business recently, and there are some inconsistencies, so I have to consult Brother Su more. ”

Su Gaozhao hurriedly said humbly: "Lord Zhao is too polite. Su Moujie is a flat-headed businessman, how dare he be an adult, 'ask for advice'. "That being said, the attitude towards Zhao Dangshi is actually quite useful.

Zheng Zhilong is an important character that must be befriended in Zhao Dangshi's plan. Touqian sent Zhao Hudao and the other three to go to the southeast with Du Chunchen, which was considered a step, but it was like throwing a stone into the sea, and Zhao Dangshi actually had no idea what kind of result the three of them could achieve in the end. However, if you can make friends with some important people within the Zheng family, there is undoubtedly an extra guarantee. In particular, Su Gaozhao is responsible for the procurement and distribution of inland goods, and the intersection with Zhao Ying is bound to be greater.

After a brief conversation with Su Gaozhao, Zhao Dangshi made up his mind to win this person over. From Chen Hongfan's mouth, it was learned that Su Gaozhao would stay in Huguang for at least half a month, which also provided favorable conditions for Zhao Dangshi to have further contacts with others.