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Although the Cao Gang on the Qianli Waterway is a nominal family, in fact, they all have their own territory and bosses, one is divided according to the administrative division, and the other is divided according to the size and strength of the gang, there is no absolute strict distinction between the two, and it is often a gang boundary formed by interweaving and fusing together. In the Qing Dynasty, friction and fire between the Cao gangs occurred from time to time, and the small gangs huddled together for warmth or took refuge in the big gangs to survive, while the big gangs expanded their scale and territory for development, so they completed a new round of industry reshuffle and pattern adjustment. On the waterway of Hujiang Road, Yan Xingji's Chukou Cao Gang and the Jiabai Second Gang who came today are the situation of three dominant and three-legged families.

The hair-haired one surnamed Lu Nickname Beard belongs to the Qian'an family, and the skinny old man belongs to the Pan'an family surnamed Zhao Mingxinggang, Simao can infer the status of these two people in the rivers and lakes from the posture of these two people and Liu Heipi's unexpected eyes, but he faintly noticed that Liu Heipi's face seemed to have a very complicated expression, although it was fleeting, it still did not escape Simao's keen observation.

"Uncle Heipi, the status of these two should not be low, today Baba rushed to participate in the Great Xiangtang for a nobody like me, I'm afraid that I have other intentions, right?" Simao said in a low voice.

Liu Heipi was stunned for a moment, and then returned to normal: "Take care of your own business, don't lose your etiquette later, and worry about other things." After speaking, he hurriedly left Simao, stood in the position of the guest teacher, and prepared to lead everyone into the Great Incense Hall.

After a routine procedure, he entered the link introduced by Liu Heipi's guests, and Simao knew that the two people who came were really not small, they turned out to be the two gang leaders of Qian An and Pan An, and Yan Xingji was also a brother in the same class, and Yan Xingji had to call Zhao Xinggang, the boss of Pan An, a senior brother.

Simao bowed all the way down like a kowtow worm, his head was dizzy and his waist hurt, but he still had to stand at the bottom of the rules and wait to listen to the master's teachings.

Lu Huzi looks like the kind of charlatan with a rough personality, with a loud voice and a big tone: "This guy knocks his head down, and I can't be a master in vain." As he spoke, he took out a brocade box from his arms, and the helper who was waiting on the side immediately stepped forward, took the brocade box with a tray, and sent it to Simao according to Lu Huzi's instructions, Simao hesitated and glanced at the brocade box, and looked at Yan Xingji hopefully, not knowing whether to accept it or not.

"A little gadget, don't be stunned, open it and take a look." Lu Huzi said.

Simao stretched out his hand to open the brocade box, and took out a jade pendant from both hands inside, the jade pendant was warm and moist, clear and crystalline, and the official book was engraved with a few words "Qian'an Yimai, Lumen disciple". When Simao looked at the jade pendant and didn't know what to do, Yan Xingji said in a deep voice on the side: "Thank you Master Lu soon, with this fast jade, it is like wearing a talisman on the road, but the ugly words are in the head, if you rely on this piece of jade, you will do evil, and ruin your Master Lu's name, and you will be the first to use family law to deal with you." ”

Lu Huzi laughed: "Senior brother is serious, it's just a thing, leave a thought for the child, don't scare him." ”

Simao was submissive, and hurriedly bowed his head and said yes, but secretly slandered himself in his heart: "Is a broken brand so useful?" Accept some gifts from you and carry them with you, as if anyone is rare. What he didn't know was that Lu Huzi only accepted two apprentices in total, and each apprentice carried a piece of jade pendant with him. However, according to the rules, this brand is generally passed on to his own disciples as a natal master, and Yan Xingji did not expect that Lu Huzi would be this great gift as soon as he made a move today, and it was unexpected to take care of Simao according to the treatment of his own disciples.

When it was Simao's turn to kowtow to Zhao Xinggang, Zhao Xinggang beckoned to his subordinates who were accompanying him, and helped Ding bring up a tray, the plate was covered with a red cloth, and he didn't know what it was containing.

Zhao Xinggang uncovered the red cloth on the tray, but inside was a booklet with broken corners and slightly torn, Yan Xingji, Liu Heipi, Liu Ba and others saw it, and their faces became extremely solemn, Yan Xingji even took a step forward to stop him: "Senior brother, this is not good, the etiquette is too heavy, and the bad guy can't stand it......"

Zhao Xinggang has not been smiling since he got on the boat, and only then did he speak: "It's your apprentice who is good, and now he is also my apprentice, but it is something outside the body, what is not heavy." As he spoke, he said to Simao: "Don't kneel, get up." ”

Simao was hesitantly looking at this booklet, I don't know what it was used for, is it an account book? It can't be that you just become an apprentice and have to collect usury for others, right? While he was thinking wildly, Liu Heipi reminded on the side: "Thank you master, this is the roster of a boat." ”

Although Simao is not a member of the Cao Gang, after Liu Heipi dialed it so little, he immediately understood. On the one hand, the Cao Gang is a Jianghu organization, but the continuation of the precedent is also the work registration of the imperial court, and the strength of the Cao Gang in various places mainly depends on two things, one is to see who has a large territory, and the other is to see who has more boats, and what plays a decisive role in this is actually more than the number of ships.

At the same time, the construction of large ships is basically concentrated in government-run institutions, which belongs to the category of imperial court control, so the source of the Cao Gang's ships are all dependent on the assignment and distribution of the government, and there are many life-and-death battles between the Cao Gang in the Qing Dynasty because they are dissatisfied with the distribution of the government, and they fight privately to grab the ships, because there are more ships, the transportation capacity is strong, and the grain is more, and the territory is naturally larger, and the income will be higher. Therefore, the boat is the foundation of the Cao Gang. And the inconspicuous shabby booklet that Zhao Xinggang put in the tray today is the Cao Ding book, and Yan Xingji and others, as experts, can see it at a glance.

When everyone was stunned, the river suddenly made a noise of gongs and drums, firecrackers rang out, a boat of more than ten zhang in the distance sailed closer, and more than a dozen small flags of bright red were hung on the mast, and the wind was fiercely displayed, and it was very good-looking. The sailors standing on the boat gang were also neatly dressed and looked very energetic.

The river wind is strong, the crossbow sails are full, the speed of the ship is extremely fast, as the ship gets closer and closer, about to enter the port, everyone can see that the flag hanging on the cabin is a big "Zhang" word, except for Simao and Zhao Xinggang's gang, the other people on the old hall ship all changed their faces.