The news of the fire in the front hall of the Xianmian Temple spread far and wide, and it became a piece of news in Zuo Jin, but people who knew Yang Yuanxi's usual behavior commented in private. It is said that the fire started strangely, and in less than half an hour, the entire front hall was burned down, but more voices tend to be that these people died by themselves, saying that the dry wood and lamp oil piled up outside the hall are the direct cause of this consequence.

Although the investigation after the incident also found many suspicious points, and the confession of the fireman that day was also very strange, but since there was no evidence of death, and the death was such a group of splashes, the government had no interest in further investigation.

The death of Yang Yuanxi and his accomplices set off some waves, but it was only some waves, which subsided in less than two days, and no one in the market mentioned these bullying and dominating the market. Even the local people felt that such a group of wrongdoers had been punished in such a way that they must have angered Huang Po (Huang Dao Po) who was guarding this place, so they invited the fire god Niangniang to send down heavenly punishment to take people away.

But in the eyes of the proprietors who know the secret relationship between Guo Zengfu and Yang Yuanxi, this menacing fire must be inseparable from the open and secret struggle between the cloth and Wan Tong. None of the splashes in the first cotton temple that day could escape, which was quite strange, and those who went out to set fire and did not return afterwards were like frightened rabbits, and fled to the outside world, all of them disappeared, as if they had heard some terrible news.

Shanghai County just went through the motions and arrested the Taoist officials and a few small Taoist priests in the apse, and didn't interrogate anything.

Everything is calm, and the only thing left is Guo Xingshou himself.

He said that he couldn't get sick these days, but in the current situation, this 'disease' has to be cured after all.

suffered a big loss at the hands of Hu Barong twice in a row, which even involved the government and Australians, Guo Zengfu was finally a little afraid, but the wood was already in the boat, and most of his power was cut off, which made Master Guo have to think carefully about his future plans.

On the third day after Yang Yuanxi's accident, several big clans led by the Qian family began to make trouble, and those who were still swaying in the cloth line finally moved, especially what made him angry was that several fellow villagers who were originally supported in the cloth line also came to fall into the well at this time. These people have common interests with Guo Zengfu when dealing with Wan Tong, but when Guo Zengfu completely revealed his defeat, the contradictions between him and Deyuntang in the past came out again, and the fig leaf of some affection was easily punctured.

All kinds of crimes followed, what in the cloth shop to install cronies to occupy important positions, embezzlement of public funds, even his Guo family's family members are from the cloth bank's public funds, every year the cotton boat out of the port has to be escorted to the sea by the Guo family's people, these are an additional escort costs. On weekdays, there is nothing to do, but now it has become Guo Xingshou's troubles.

Thinking back on his experience in the past few decades, he even wanted to laugh, starting from a dental business, with the support of his wife's family and starting a cloth business, unlike those with a family background, Deyuntang was able to achieve today's situation, but it was his own real sword and gun. No matter how many despicable deeds and shady transactions there are, but compared with those gentlemen, Guo Zengfu feels that what he has done is not too much.

The phrase he often hangs in front of his family is 'Poor people are treacherous, rich and have a conscience.' ’

The struggle in the first half of his life allowed him to finally sit firmly on a high place at this age, and he also learned from those big families, from time to time leaking some from his fingers to the poor, which can be regarded as taking out his conscience to dry, so as to gain the reputation of a good person. Maybe the only deficiency is the lack of an heir, because of his own natural eunuch disease, it has become a heart disease of the old man, looking at everyone seems to be coveting his family property, and even acting in the cloth industry is used to accumulation, and I don't know who this huge family business is going to leave to whom.

was too impulsive, looking back and reviewing, Guo Zengfu found that he still underestimated his opponent, or because he had no worries behind him, he had fewer constraints in doing things, which was the reason for his defeat, and it would be better to be more cautious.

However, everything is irreparable, for the sake of today's plan, only think about how to get out of the body, at this point, I am afraid that it will not be possible to have a good relationship with Wan Tong, and since the other party is not even afraid of the big gang of pirates, it will be difficult to guarantee that their own ship will not be treated equally by the other party in the future, I heard that the Australian can be very powerful at sea, and the business of this cotton cloth shop cannot be done, and Songjiang Mansion may not be able to stay. This bit of industry in hand, with the momentum of ten thousand means can be tossed up in two years at most, and then it will be really a bamboo basket to draw water, it is better to retreat and seek the next best, to Nanjing or Yangzhou to be a rich man.

At this moment, he felt that Gu Changzuo was a real eyer, and it was no wonder that Gu Bancheng could become Gu Bancheng.

Just as he was thinking, there was a sudden noise from the side of the gate, and a family member ran in like a frightened person, "Old ...... Master, old ...... Oh no! ”

Guo Zengfu secretly said that it was not good, the first thing that came to mind was not the person who came to the door? But when they thought about it, they didn't feel right, how dare they in broad daylight. Besides, if the other party really comes to the door to cause trouble, and the government is in charge, then Hu Barong is by no means such a stupid person.

Before he could figure it out, there was already a team of people at the door, dressed in distinct clothes, clearly from Huating County.

Seeing that it was an acquaintance, Guo Zengfu calmed down, and hurriedly greeted the big man who took the lead and said, "Shen Tou, what gust of wind is blowing today?" How did you get alarmed. ”

The middle-aged man who was called Shen Tou wiped the beard on his face, squeezed out a smile and said, "I'm sorry, brother, I am also acting on orders, and I ask Master Guo to take care of it." ”

Guo Zengfu said in his heart that Zhang Yunru, the magistrate of Huating County, was fed with money, and he also heard him lobby last year to reduce the robes and clothes, how could he come to mention people without greeting one?

"On whose orders?" He was surprised.

The question was answered immediately, "Zhang Dafu personally sent a fire sign, and someone came out to accuse you of secretly communicating with Haikou and killing people and goods." ”

"This ......" Guo Zengfu's heart jumped, it turned out that Songjiang Mansion directly asked Huating County to take people, and it was such a fatal charge, but in a blink of an eye, he calmed down, "Wan Tong's people are bloody, and his family was dragged to me by Haikou." ”

The head of the Shen team glanced at Guo Zengfu a little strangely when he heard this, and then sighed, "The proprietor seems to have thought of a fork, since he is the first, he naturally will not be an outsider, otherwise the master's fire sign is so easy to make?" ”

Although Shen Bantou said so, his attitude was polite, and it seemed that he didn't get the benefits of this one on weekdays.

Guo Zengfu's eyelids jumped, and he hurriedly asked him to borrow a step to speak, but he didn't shy away from suspicion, and went directly into the study with Guo Zengfu.

The doors and windows in the study were closed, Guo Zengfu finally opened a little, and hurriedly asked, "Who sued me?" ”

He was not stupid, he asked people outside to take out some silver and scatter it with the fast hands, and this side of the box sealed a big red envelope for Shen Bantou.

Shen Bantou weighed the silver, and then gave the truth, "It is the steward of your mansion who sues you." ”

"Steward Ding...... it turned out to be him." Guo Zengfu didn't expect it to be like this, Steward Ding would stab him in the back, his surname Ding knows a lot, but he can't figure out why Steward Ding jumped out at this time, many things are obviously his share, even if he flees with money, it is more normal than denouncing himself.

At this time, he was really a little panicked, and pleaded with Shen Bantou, "There must be a misunderstanding, I should tell the difference, but I hope that the team leader will help accommodate you everywhere." ”

"It's not difficult, I can really talk to the people in the torture room, if Guo Dongzhu wants to ask some old connections to walk around, Shen doesn't mind helping you run errands. It's just ...... "For the sake of the silver, Shen Bantou is also calm, anyway, people are going to take it, this time in, the Guo family's industry is not allowed to eat cleanly, I am afraid it will not be able to come out, he sells well Yu Guo is just to get some first hands in Yuzhong, otherwise how can he fight for meat from the mouths of those masters."

"Save, save." Guo Zengfu said as he took out a box from the cabinet in the study and handed it to Shen Bantou, "It's five hundred taels here, and I hope the team leader will take care of it." ”

"Don't worry, you can't suffer in it, but you have to go through this scene, and you will be offended."

"It's okay, let me explain a few words to my family, the head of the team who is short of money just say, I still have a Zhuangzi outside Yangzhou City, if I can protect me this time, I will report it after I come out." There are also those who have dealings on weekdays, and they also trouble the team leader to help with it. At this point, Guo Zengfu knew that he would inevitably have to spend a lot of money, and he couldn't take care of a lot, so he just promised the benefits first and got out.

Shen Bantou nodded, which was considered a default.

Guo Zengfu delayed for another half an hour, and the fast shift left a team of people to guard Guo's mansion, and then he followed Shen Bantou's people all the way.

Unexpectedly, it would take half a month to go, and when he got rid of his crimes, the Guo family's property had been tossed to seventy-seven eighty-eight, except for a few shops in Yangzhou City, the ones that should have been sent had already been sent, and the officials below the general sentence of Songjiang Prefecture were all eaten with a round belly, and together with a few of his close family members, they also rolled up a lot of silver.

Steward Ding died on the second day after Master Guo was released, and his body was thrown on a mass grave not far from the city, with a total of more than 70 knife wounds on his body, only his face was intact, and it seemed that the person who killed him hated him to the core, for fear that others would not know who died.

Three days after Guo Zengfu's death, the bodies of more than a dozen members of the Guo family and their relatives were found in the Maohu Lake in the north and west of Xiaozhen Village, which is the only way to go from Huating to Wujiang County, and when you arrive in Wujiang, you can go all the way to Yangzhou along the canal, and Guo Zengfu finally fell on this last journey, and the whole family was not alive. Some people who know the inside story are saying that this is because Guo Xingshou has accumulated too much silver for many years, and he has been coveted by others, so he was poisoned on the road.

As for the bad guys who personally participated in the operation, it was an out-and-out revenge.

Although Na Ding's steward defected under Hu Barong's coercion and temptation, since he accepted his refuge, his safety should be under the protection of the Senate. Killing the protected object under the nose of a bad person, although it was indeed negligent, it undoubtedly made Ma Qianhu feel that he had lost face, which made the Guo family, who had already saved his life, step into the underworld again, but it was silver, after some tossing in the yamen.

The so-called impermanence of the world, the patriarchs never thought that a real villain would die, and they had a great impression in the cloth industry.

Hu Barong came forward immediately after Steward Ding's death, claiming that Steward Ding was killed with a grudge for exposing Guo Zengfu's evil deeds. He not only said in public that he would support Ding's old mother, help the orphans and widows of the Ding family, but also provide for the two sons of the Ding family to study and take school examinations. After a few days, even the deficit and spending accounts made by Guo Zengfu in the cloth shop were filled by Wan Tong, of course, Hu Dongzhu would not take the initiative to admit that the silver was found from the corpses of the Guo family.

With such an operation, coupled with the fact that Hu Barong spent money to invite the new prefect Zhang Zongheng to come forward, the cotton industry association was really established with the support of the government, and the remaining families in the original cloth shop have also switched over, and even the quota for unified purchase and sales has been sold out this year, so they just want to occupy a position first. Hu Barong also fulfilled his promise, and the other four deacons except himself were all elected by the public, including Rong Zongjin of Fuxing. Of course, there are also 'rapids retreating', and I heard that the people of the Qian family in Changshu have privately disposed of the cloth industry in the market.

At night, in the main hall of the backyard of Wan Tong, the Australian oil lamp reflects the warmth in the house, and the charcoal fire is extremely vigorous.

The cotton war in Matsue came to an end, and the Senate won the final victory, which was not surprising, but it took a lot of time, and everyone felt that it was a proper thing to celebrate.

On the banquet, Hu Barong took Hu Hai and Hu Feng to toast the leaders frequently, "Shanghai Station was able to survive the crisis this time, all thanks to the leaders and the Senate. ”

"We have all seen your work clearly and done it very solidly, and besides, this turmoil was originally because of the mission of the Senate. After this incident, all the ministers and ministers feel that it is quite reassuring that you are a member of the committee in Shanghai, so you should not be separated from each other. ”

"The villain never forgets the teachings and cultivation of the Senate."

Ma Qianhu sometimes feels that this Hu Barong is indeed a person who can do things, but he is too cautious in temperament, and he is a little boring in private, thinking of this, he decided to liven up the atmosphere, so he stood up and raised his glass and smiled: "I happened to have two new good news here, so I said that I had a drink with everyone." ”

"What's the good news?" Hearing this, even the patriarchs themselves became concerned.

Ma Qianhu also stopped selling Guanzi, and said: "Early this morning, Li Shi, the pastoral envoy of the Korean faction on Jeju Island, has led the people to surrender, and now the two counties and nine townships on Jeju Island are all under the control of the Fubo army, and our warships have also blocked the strait. ”

"North Koreans are so obedient?" Some people questioned it.

"What's the matter, in fact, it was more than a week ago that I landed in the south, but this level of military intelligence reporting authority is only to me, so I haven't said it since you were distracted, but this Jeju pastor Li Shi is a little interesting." Ma Qianhu couldn't help but shake his head when he thought of the things mentioned in the high-level briefing.

But the crowd didn't look interested in this, but asked another question of concern, "What about the good news?" ”

"The grain route in Mataram has been cut off by our army, and the victory and defeat on the island of Java have been decided." After Ma Qianhu finished speaking, he drank all the wine in the cup and said with a smile.

"As for the Jiulong River, a full-scale counteroffensive against Vietnam is scheduled to begin tomorrow."

He added with a smile.

"Xie Minh shouted in front of the two governments, saying that this year's Spring Festival and the army will celebrate the New Year in Hue."

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