On the carriage, Ruohan talked about the plan in detail and said to Shen Mo, and said with a silent smile: "What do you mean, do you want me to support the field later?" ”

"Of course," Ruohan said with a smile: "Outside the male protagonist, inside the female protagonist, people just hide behind their backs and come up with ideas, but they don't have the ability to charge." ”

Shen Mo knew that she had to, but she didn't want to steal the limelight, so she smiled and said, "Let's go into battle together." ”

Ruohan smiled sweetly: "Obey." ”

When he got out of the car, Ruohan had changed into the same outfit as Shen Mo, wearing a square scarf, a straight jacket, and foundation boots. It's just that the silent straight is royal blue yarn, and hers is moon white, and the two walk side by side, really like a pair of classmates and friends who travel together!

Ruohan pretended to bow his hand to Shen Mo and said, "Brother Shen, please." ”

"Brother Xian, please." Shen Mo also nodded in a similar way, gave in with her, and the two walked towards the entrance of the Songjiang Cao Gang together.

Walking on the road, Shen Mo couldn't help but secretly compare, and found that his daughter-in-law was wearing men's clothes, she looked good, and she really looked like a crown of jade and her eyes were like Langxing, but she didn't have the tall figure of 'Lu Ji', so she was still slightly inferior in terms of radiance and bearing.

was thinking wildly, listening to Ruohan whispered: "When the meeting comes, don't take it easy, there are too many rules and regulations of the Cao Gang, and I don't know which sentence will provoke them." ”

"It's all up to the virtuous brother," Shen Mo smiled and said, "Foolish brother, I'll just follow and watch the fun." ”

Ruohan gave him a beautiful roll of his eyes and whispered, "In the end, you still have to be in charge." ”

Laughing and laughing at the gate of the Cao Gang, the pink walls and black doors, the blue brick paving, did not show the slightest publicity, but felt simple and solemn. There were two strong men in short coats standing at the door, seeing that the two of them were extraordinary, they didn't dare to slack off, and clasped their fists with both hands and said, "Friend, what are you doing?" ”

Ruohan arched his hand and said loudly: "The two of you are invited, brother, I will go to the appointment of the fifth master of Ma." ”

"Which Ma Wuye?" A strong man asked.

"Three eyes, flying on the water, Huating Qingpu covers the sky for half a day!" Ruohan said.

"Dare to ask you old?" The strong man asked movingly.

"Inherit the previous business, and the family will be rich." Ruohan said.

The two strong men glanced at each other, one turned around and went in to make a report, and the other invited the two to go into the hall for tea.

Silent all walks of life have 'spring points', that is, the kind of black words that Yang Zirong said to the mountain carving, which has the meaning of covering people's ears and eyes, and also has the purpose of playing tricks and distinguishing the same kind, but for him, they are all like foreign languages, and he has to pretend to be dumb if he doesn't understand it.

Ruohan was afraid that he would be depressed, so he whispered: "If you don't know how to say it, the other party won't treat you as your own, and it will be very troublesome." ”

Shen Mo nodded and smiled: "I know this," said with some worry: "If you are still full of jargon later, won't I be blind?" ”

"No," Ruohan gave him a reassuring look, "Explain to them that you are a 'layman', and they will change their words." ”

Only then did Shen Mo put his mind at ease, and looked at this very spacious Cao Gang hall, which was as simple as the door face, except for the incense case in it, the two walking chairs under the hall only had the portrait on the wall and a couplet.

The portrait is a fierce monk, with his chest exposed, his beard and chest hair are very thick, and he is holding a crescent shovel in his backhand. Of course, he is not a hairy boy, and he will not talk nonsense.

Ruohan saw that he was looking at the portrait, and explained to him in a low voice: "This is the patriarch of Bodhidharma, the ancestor of the Cao Gang brothers. ”

Shen Mo secretly stuck out his tongue, nodded to indicate that he understood, and then looked at the plain white couplets on both sides of the painting scroll, which read, 'All things are good and filial piety comes first; Generosity is good. The two lines of words portray a gang with 'loyalty, filial piety, and righteousness' as the core cohesion of the rivers and lakes, which is very glamorous.

Just looking at the couplet, a hearty laugh came from the back of the hall, and the two of them quickly got up, and saw a middle-aged man about forty years old, wearing a green cloth robe, born short and quiet, came out.

"Ma Wu is late." The man came over with a smile, hugged his fists and said, "Little Brother Yin has been waiting for a long time." ”

"The wicked guest comes to the door," Ruohan clenched his fists and saluted, "Disturb the master." ”

"Rely on your parents at home and rely on your friends when you go out," Ma Wuye laughed and said, "Who can't meet a big ditch?!" Saying that, he glanced at Shen Mo and said, "This friend is the first time I have met, and I haven't asked for advice yet?" ”

"This is the brother's upper line." Ruohan smiled.

"There is no size of the introduction, please ask for advice." Ma Wuye still stared at Shen Mo and said.

Shen Moxin said how do I answer, so I had to smile and say: "Hello Fifth Master, I am a layman, I dare not pretend to be helping ......"

He introduced himself, and Ruohan continued: "Although my eldest brother is a 'hollow', it is only interlaced, and if there is a sea, he still needs his latte." That is to say, the one who took the idea was still silent, so he divided the priorities of the two.

"It turned out to be an outfield friend." Ma Wuye nodded slowly and said, "Sit!" Then he sat on the top, and when the two of them sat down, he looked at Shen Mo for a while, and said, "Is my friend studying or is he an official?" "Jianghu people have poisonous eyes, and their true identities can't be hidden.

"In the official." Shen Mo smiled faintly.

"What is the official residence?"

"Suzhou Tongzhi." He smiled silently, and his tone did not change for a minute.

"Oh......" Ma Wuye couldn't help but be moved: "Your old surname is Shen?" ”

"Shen said nothing." Shen Mo nodded and said, "Suzhou people." ”

Ma Wuye looked at Ruohan on the side, and suddenly realized: "I'm really confused, I heard that the eldest lady of the Yin family married Zhuang Yuanlang, do you still need to guess?" "Of course he knows Ruohan's surname, and the reason why he is called 'Little Brother Yin' is just not to say anything and take care of the face of both parties.

Ruohan blushed slightly and said, "It's my husband." ”

"Disrespectful, disrespectful." Ma Wuye got up and saluted again, and said, "Lord Shen's white dragon fish suit, cross the river to Song, what are you doing?" ”

"A full set of official clothes, a full set of pomp, it is inconvenient to meet friends in the rivers and lakes," said with a silent smile: "But if I don't come in person, I can't show my sincerity, so I rashly come to the door and ask Haihan, who is in charge." "There is a way that a strong dragon does not suppress the head snake, and the people in the rivers and lakes are the most reluctant to associate with people in the public gate. Shen Mo knew that only by not taking the official position at all could he make the other party less vigilant.

But the fifth master of the horse said: "There must be a teaching, the rivers and lakes talk about refreshment, you just say it." ”

"Okay, I can't hide it." Shen nodded silently and said, "I'm here to ask for help, and I'm here to rescue." ”

"How?" Ma Wuye said quietly.

"You should know where I am." Said silently.

"I've heard of it." Ma Wuye nodded.

"I also know the current situation of your Cao Gang." Silence continued.

Ma Wuye smiled and said, "The situation of our Cao Gang is plain, and it can't be compared with Lord Shen. ”

This is the opposite, but Shen Mo didn't care, he smiled faintly and said: "Actually, it's fifty steps and a hundred steps, there is no difference." ”

Ma Wuye smiled and said, "My lord said yes." "Obviously, he has insight into the other party's intentions and doesn't want to wade into this troubled water.

Ruohan said at this time: "Fifth Master, I know that you are the chief leader of the Su Songcao Gang, and you have to think about the tens of thousands of brothers under you first, so you don't want to provoke those people." First blocked the other party's excuse, and then continued: "But if you think deeper, you can find that if you really think about tens of thousands of brothers, you should have a good talk with us." ”

"Oh, really?" Ma Wuye smiled: "What does Madam make me think? I had the thought of refusing in my heart, and now even the title has changed.

In the hall of the Cao Gang, Dharma raised his eyebrows, and the atmosphere was not harmonious.

Ruohan likes this atmosphere with the smell of gunpowder, and only in this environment can she give full play to her talents without having to hide it deliberately. After a quick analysis of the changes on the field, she decided to go straight to the point, and said: "As far as I know, in the past few years, the situation of the Songjiang Cao Gang has been very difficult, and every year they have to take out a large amount of money to subsidize the gang. ”

Ma Wuye laughed dryly and said: "Our gang is a little cramped, but it still has a ...... turnover."

Ruohan did not relent: "If it is really as the fifth master said, how can there be so many troops, servants, and grain households fleeing?" Saying that, he sneered and said, "I have seen with my own eyes that the brothers of the Cao Gang have stopped four out of ten...... Even in the city of Shaoxing, there are many coolies with Songjiang accents! ”

Seeing that the other party was prepared, there was no need for Ma Wuye to dodge anymore, he let out a long breath of turbidity, lowered his head and said, "Hmm...... The Jiangnan Japanese invaders are in turmoil, and many places are exempted from money and grain, but we are the only ones who are in full force and cannot be exempted. As he spoke, he looked up and said silently: "I'm desperate now, and I'm not afraid of you getting angry with my nonsense......"

Shen Mo smiled and said: "But it doesn't matter, don't treat me as an official today." ”

Listening to Shen Mo's gentle words, Ma Wuye couldn't help but have a good impression of him - this is also the reason why Ruohan is the main pioneer, she wants to be a villain herself, and leave the good person to Shen Mo, which not only takes into account her husband's decency, but also makes Ma Wuye unconsciously have a good impression of him like this.

I only heard Ma Wuye say: "There are too few officials who are officials, and they all rely on money and food to consume their lives." Now that the imperial court has exempted many places from money and food, there is naturally nothing to be done. Therefore, they regarded Caoyun as a fat sheep, cleverly set up a name, gathered indiscriminate levies, and added miscellaneous factions, which emerged in endlessly. He said with a look of resentment: "This is equivalent to the burden that everyone originally carried together, all of which were pressed on one of our Cao Gang, and the burden was two or three times heavier than before, and in some places it was even four or five times." ”

Ma Wuye took a long breath, and continued with a melancholy face: "There is no way to live in this world...... Originally, the freight of the transporter, the transportation of military food, and the cost of repairing the ship were all borne by us, and when the wind and waves drifted, the gang still had to pay debts, even if our Cao Gang was covered with iron and how many nails were beaten? It can't help at all. As he spoke, he closed his eyes painfully and said, "You can't watch them being forced to death and their families ruined, right?" So if you want to run, I can't stop it. ”

Shen Mo glanced at his wife quickly and gave her an approving look...... Ruohan's vision is really powerful, and he found the Cao Gang in crisis from countless targets at once, and had insight into the crisis of the Cao Gang, so he was able to hit it with one blow and quickly break through the opponent's defense!

Now that the two sides of the negotiation are back on the same line, Shen Mo can finally express his opinion: "Fifth Master, are you willing to listen to me?" ”

"Ah, Lord Shen, what do you call that? Accept your affection to see the villain, that is a great love. Ma Wuye cleaned up his mood and said to Shen Mo: "You have advice, I can't ask for it, how can I ask if I want to listen to you say a few more words?" Could it be that you are angry with the old man? "Obviously, there is no longer the attitude of rejecting people from thousands of miles away.

"That's my gaffe." Shen Mo smiled warmly: "Let's open the skylight and say something, the problem of the Cao Gang involves several provinces and countless yamen, and I have a small acquaintance, and I can't solve it fundamentally." ”

"Hehe......" Ma Wuye said in his heart: "If you say that you can solve it, I will blow you out immediately."

I only heard Shen Mo's words turn around, and said in a deep voice: "But I have a way to greatly alleviate the predicament of your gang - the problem of your gang is that the burden is too heavy and you can't make ends meet," Shen Mo smiled slightly and said: "The solution is nothing more than throttling and open source." I don't have the ability to throttle now, but open source still exists. ”

"Oh?" Ma Wuye's appetite was finally lifted, and he said, "I want to hear about it." ”

"Do you know what official position I have now, in addition to Suzhou Tongzhi?" Silence finally showed the fox's tail.

"You know, the city is lifting." Ma Wuye said: "But it seems that I haven't seen your market open so far." ”

"Hehe, yes." Shen Mo smiled: "Although a resolution has been formed in the court, there is a lot of resistance at the local level. Saying that, he sighed and said: "The current predicament of Suzhou City is caused by those who don't want to see the opening of the port and make waves behind the scenes. ”

"Oh......" Fifth Master Ma nodded, his eyes flickering, "I see." ”

Seeing that the old slippery head retracted again, Shen Mo laughed and said, "But it's impossible for them to fight me!" ”

"yes, yes." Ma Wuye nodded and agreed: "Since ancient times, the people have not fought with officials, and they have committed taboos. Having said that, in fact, he didn't believe that silence could win at all, because those people could cover the sky at the top, and they were deep-rooted at the bottom, and even the feudal territory with military and political power like Zhu Kun was removed in a blink of an eye.

"I'm silent and never speak." But he saw Shen Mo pointing to the southwest and said: "You may have heard that Qi Jiguang, the new Suzhou staff general, led 3,000 soldiers and horses from Ningbo, and has stopped in Jiaxing for half a month. Saying that, his sword eyebrows tightened, and he said with a solemn face: "Everyone speculates whether there is any contradiction between me and General Qi, and now I tell you, I don't have any problems with him, he stopped moving, it was my order!" ”

"Oh." Ma Wu bowed his head and said, "It seems that everyone has misunderstood." ”

"I don't want the army to get involved unless absolutely necessary." Shen Mo narrowed his eyes slightly and said: "But if you really want to force me into a corner, I won't mind sending troops to open the granaries of those big grain farmers, and those who don't want to borrow grain will be punished by hoarding!" When the time comes, I'll see who can still make a fuss about food. ”

"Isn't that right?" Ma Wu was surprised: "There is no precedent for me to raid my house for no reason in the Ming Dynasty. "It should be said that the respect for private property in this dynasty is the highest in history...... Even if the powerful person is like Jiajing, although he knows that the business in Jiangnan is prosperous and prosperous, and the millions of homes are innumerable, he can only salivate, but he cannot take it for himself. Even if he wanted to raise the pitiful commercial tax a little, he would be hated by the officials regardless of faction, and he would be criticized for leviing and extorting like Emperor Yang of Sui...... said that any tax increase will eventually be passed on to the people, the people are already bitter enough, Your Majesty, are you still embarrassed to add to their burden?

Jiajing could only stare dryly, allowing the strange phenomenon of 'the court is poor, and Jiangnan is rich' to continue, and he never thought of robbing the rich to help the poor and confiscate the money of the rich.

So no one thinks that silence would do such a big thing, and that's part of the reason why those people have no fear.

But Ma Wuye doesn't think so now, and only listens to the silent murderous overflow: "It's better to force them than to force the people to rebel!" If the people rebel, I will kill their heads, and they will be forced to hurry, at most I will be dismissed and go home to farm, which is more important, I can still figure it out! ”

Ma Wuye felt that he had to get to know this young adult again, it seemed that he was appointed to the Yin side of the Mansion at the age of twenty, and he was really different from ordinary people! So he didn't dare to underestimate the silence anymore, and persuaded softly: "The future of the adults is bright, but you can't fall on this hurdle." ”

"It's heartwarming." Shen Mo patted the back of Ma Wuye's hand, and laughed at himself: "I won't break the net until I have to." As he spoke, he looked at Ma Wudao with blazing eyes: "That's why I'm looking for you for help...... Fifth Master Gaoyi, help me with this, from now on you will be my Shen Humble Yan's brother, after the opening of Suzhou, Songjiang Cao Gang will get all the transfer errands of my lifting division! ”

Ma Wuye's heart was pounding. If you can really open the port, then the world's goods will be concentrated in Suzhou City, if you can get a share of the flow of goods in it, why should Songjiang Cao Gang have no way to live?

(To be continued)