On the morning of the next day, on a battleship docked on the shore of Gusu, five people sat in the cabin on the second floor, and it was Chen Fan and others who set off early in the morning. With the arrival of Chen Fan and others, the ship set sail.

This time, Chen Fan decided to take a good look at the scenery on both sides of the strait, no longer do poetry and talk about chess, of course, chatting still has to talk.

"Aqing, why did you stick the sword in your waist today, I haven't seen you wear a sword before."

"Master Huang now allows me to wear a sword." Xiao Qing looked at Huang Shi and said.

"Oh, what's the point?"

"No, it's just that my swordsmanship is stronger now than before, so I brought it." Xiao Qing said a little proudly.

"Really? Then your true yuan can come out of the body? So fast! Chen Fan was a little surprised, he had just begun to refine a little sword element, this person was not more angry than a person.

"Not yet." Xiao Qing said a little embarrassed.

Chen Fan's mood was a little relaxed, and finally understood, to be friends, there is a gap, but it is better to be the gap that is stronger than others, rather than the gap that is inferior to others, otherwise, no matter how good a friend is, there will inevitably be a sense of loss in his heart. "Oh, by the way, what kind of fist move did you say last time, did you practice it?"

"It's a small success." Xiao Qing nodded.

"This is okay, the move is dead, the person is alive, it's just a sword move, and I have the help of 'Chengyin', but I will catch up soon." Chen Fan, who didn't know how hard it was to practice swords, comforted himself in his heart.

"Then if you can, show us the practice, I haven't seen you practice the sword yet."

"This cabin is a bit small, and it can't be opened, in case it damages your eldest brother's ship, it's bad, and when I get home, I'll show you."

"Okay." Chen Fan nodded.

"Big brother, what's the name of this river?" Chen Fan decided to change the topic and turned his head to talk to the eldest brother.

"Lou River, follow this river, go straight into the Yangtze River, and then go east, almost to the mouth of the sea, and then you will reach Hudu."

"It's not difficult to remember the road, it's the river surface that is more than ten zhang wide, and it can also be called a river?" The narrowest place of the Yangtze River, just on the Yangtze River Bridge, also has a width of one thousand meters and one hundred meters, this river is called the river, which is really a bit narrow.

"Well, this is just out of Gusu City, the river is relatively narrow, but it will soon widen, and the widest place is twenty or thirty zhang." The eldest brother explained the width of the sentence.

Chen Fan just asked casually, by the way, to understand the width of the river, and suddenly, a broken drink attracted Chen Fan's attention, "If you don't leave, don't blame me for being unkind to you." ”

Following the sound, I saw a fishing boat on the shore not far ahead, and on it stood a tall, surprisingly strong man, shirtless, wearing a pair of shorts, and holding a harpoon, confronting two men in black suits.

Xu is Chen Fan's sensing ability has strengthened now, maybe he is already closer, and he only hears the voice coming clearly.

"Lang Libai, I advise you to put down your harpoon obediently and give the money, otherwise you won't want to sell fish here."

"I've already paid business tax, why don't I sell it?"

These two men in black clothes are not from the government, and they should collect protection money; it seems that gangsters are rampant in this era, and it is better to have modern society, and this phenomenon has basically been put an end to it. Chen Fan quickly made a judgment in his heart, and at the same time, an idea was generated in his heart, Lang Libai, this name has been recorded, if there is a chance in the future, I want to see it, I am short of manpower now.

The battleship that Chen Fan was sitting on was moving very fast, and in a blink of an eye, he passed the fishing boat where the dispute occurred, and from a distance, he saw that the waves were white and the two black-clothed people were in action, who won and who lost, Chen Fan was not particularly concerned, in Chen Fan's opinion, if Lang Libai couldn't cope with these two ruffians, that is, the ability was average, and what he needed was a capable person.

"Big brother, look, those two men in black and a fisherman have started to do it." Everyone looked in the direction of Chen Fan's finger.

"This kind of thing happens a lot, Fa Sheng, you don't come out much, so you don't see much. Usually don't go out alone, let Hou Feng follow, you are alone outside, it is not safe. The eldest brother said unusually.

"When the boat passed by just now, I heard the two men in black say what to pay for the money, what is the money?" Money, in modern society, is a gift money, it is voluntary, Chen Fan naturally knows, but here, he naturally has to ask the eldest brother for advice.

"Oh, that's a way of saying that gangs collect money, but it's actually protection money, and it's available everywhere."

"Oh, so do we have blasphemy?"

"We don't have any blasphemy, mainly because the place is small, everyone basically knows each other, and I haven't heard of anyone setting up a gang to collect protection money."

"Then how can Gusu have it? Does the government care? The last sentence is that the government doesn't care, which is the focus of Chen Fan's concern.

"Gusu people come and go, there are a lot of outsiders to do business, this person is a lot, there are many right and wrong, fights and brawls are common, and there are people who have no work to do, so they naturally stretch out their bad intentions, which can not be managed by the government alone, some people have taken advantage of this loophole, set up gangs, nominally to maintain local security, protect the people's property, secretly in fact, colluded with the government, collected protection fees from all walks of life, and took a nice name, it is called a share of money, part of which is for the government, and the government naturally does not care."

"Then why didn't the government accept it? Isn't there a shortage of money in the government? ”

"This money must be poor, but even if you want to collect it, you can't collect it, mainly because the local people are simple, the people are poor, and the business is difficult, and no one is willing to pay. Besides, this gang can't be formed by anyone, didn't you just see those two men in black and fishermen fighting? Without a certain amount of force, gangs cannot be established, and people must be found to collect protection money. Also, the county orders that have always been in office are not willing to collect, and no one wants to be the first person to start collecting protection fees, if they start to collect protection fees, businesses will definitely raise prices and let the people bear the costs, not afraid of 10,000, just afraid of provoking a civil uprising, that is a big deal. ”

This is also true, officials can only pretend that they don't know what gangs there are, and secretly take some benefits, if they come forward to lead the establishment, in case they are used by people with intentions, it will become a big thing to lose their heads, and no one wants to do it. Chen Fan nodded secretly, which can be regarded as a deeper understanding of this society.

"Then did the money given by these gangs to the government go into the government's account, or did it go to someone who was in charge?" In Chen Fan's view, if it is into the account of the government, the gang is actually an extension of the government, and the protection fee is equivalent to the local tax, which has a certain reasonableness. If it is given to a certain official, then to deal with the gang, you can consider building a good relationship with the officials behind it, or dealing with this official together, relatively speaking, the way is much more flexible.

"Naturally, it was given to a certain official, and this money cannot be recorded on the surface, and it is not very clear how that official handled it."

It seems that the water here is very deep, but fortunately, some things can be understood first, after all, I am still in a learning stage, and I can plan for the future, but there is no need to rush. Chen Fan found that since he arrived in this society, he lacked a sense of security, this society is not like modern society, it is a peaceful era, you can have legal protection, you can have the help of the police, and in this turbulent era, only if you have the strength, you can protect yourself well, so Chen Fan always unconsciously wants to have the strength and plan for the future.

"In a place like Gusu, no matter where you open a store, you have to pay a share of the money?"

"That's definitely not needed, this gang collects money, it also depends on the object, generally only for those who have no foundation, like Fa Sheng, if you open a store, big brother, I will go to give you a store, if anyone dares to collect it, I will help you beat him out." Chen Dao Tan said dryly.

"Okay, then thank you brother first." Chen Fan said with a smile. This big brother wants to beat the gang out, and Chen Fan thinks about how to take the gang for his own use, this is the gap.

The boat drove along the Lou River, several people chatted while watching the scenery, Chen Fan suddenly saw a wide in front of him, it was the Yangtze River arrived, the boat turned to the right, and went east along the river, to express the feelings in his heart, chanting poetry is also a good choice, Chen Fan finally understood the hearts of the ancients, in the era when there was no TV and newspapers, to pass the time, to express his mind, poetry and poetry are indeed indispensable things among the literati.

"Big brother, when will you take me to your barracks?" Chen Fan actually asked where is the water camp in Hudu? But I don't know if the original owner knows, so I changed the question, Chen Fanke remembered that the last time he was in Youpanmen, the eldest brother said that the one thousand water army in charge of his father was stationed in Hudu, but he came to Gusu by boat before, and he had never seen any water camp, so he naturally had to inquire today. If it was possible, Chen Fan would like to see what kind of scale the water camp is. In addition, when I went around the pier, I saw fishermen eating at the pier when I left last time, and I thought that there should be a fishing village nearby, so I can go shopping if possible.

"Another day, this water camp is built on the Yangtze River, we will get off the boat at the wharf of Qingpu Town in Shenjiang, and there will be some distance to rush over."

"Then let's take this boat over, turn around, and then put us at the dock, and arrive at Hudu today, it's still early, we can go around without getting off the boat." Chen Fan continued to try to persuade, and at the same time secretly thought, listening to the words of the eldest brother, it was likely that the boat on the dock in Qingpu Town last time was probably the boat on the dock in Qingpu Town, and the fishermen he saw might live in Qingpu Town, and Tianshui Academy was also in Qingpu Town, so he wanted to go and take a look.

"Okay, Shuiying is not far from the mouth of the Shenjiang River, drive about five miles to the east, and go back after a look."

"Okay, thank you, big brother." Chen Fan was overjoyed.

"By the way, Aqing, you were going to go to the Gandao Academy to practice before, but now you don't go, do you feel a pity?" Chen Fan didn't know where this main Taoist courtyard was blaspheming, so it would be better if he could inquire about it by the way.

"No, I think it's good now." Xiao Qing looked at Chen Fan and said.

"Then you don't think about Baiyun Temple, there are five elements formation and the "Shangdong True Scripture" there, so you don't want to see it?"

"I don't want to." Xiao Qing shook his head, "Those may not belong to me, and it is best to get what is in front of you." ”

"I can't see it, it's quite philosophical. Could it be that he is too greedy, why does he want to see this "Shangdong True Scripture"? Is it a side effect of Chengying? Chen Fan couldn't help but ask himself, and then said: "I want to see this "Shangdong True Scripture", it would be better if I could learn it." ”