Chapter 9, there is a Guiyunzhuang in Taihu Lake

Li Shucheng taught the children in the village to practice martial arts every day, read the books by himself, and made an article every few days to ask Mr. for advice, and his life was very beautiful.

When Li Shucheng came back that day, he heard his father sigh and asked, "Father, what happened?"

"What else! Our family's boat was robbed by water thieves in Taihu Lake, they robbed the goods, and kidnapped people, and asked us to ransom people with money. Li Yu said.

"Water pirates?" Li Shucheng said, "Didn't they just crack down a few years ago? Where did they come from to be so bold? Aren't they afraid that the officers and soldiers will attack again?"

Taihu Lake is an important waterway, and it is not far from Suzhou, the seat of Pingjiang Prefecture, a few years ago, water bandits were rampant, Pingjiang Prefecture sent troops and horses to encircle and suppress water thieves in order to maintain regional tranquility, but it dealt a severe blow to the arrogance of Taihu Lake water thieves, and the boat was very safe in recent years.

"Taihu Lake is so big, how can it be possible to exterminate water thieves. Li Yu said, "And even if it is exterminated, there will be new water thieves." ”

Li Shucheng thought about it, it is true, although Pingjiang Mansion has achieved great results in suppressing bandits in the past few years, it has not completely eradicated the water bandits, and many water thieves have escaped. In addition, the times are like this, although the Southern Song Dynasty was prosperous in commerce and developed in maritime trade, there were still many people who couldn't get by, and they had to fall into the grass.

And after falling into the grass, accustomed to being unrestrained, and enjoying a large bowl of meat and drinking, the bandits are no longer in the original mind of survival, the more they rob, the more convenient they are, and it is normal to kill and injure people.

"Then take the money to ransom people, and I'll go with you. "The hostages are in the hands of others, and Li Shucheng is helpless. Li Shucheng wants to see the bandits of this era, and he can also protect his father. Although he is small now, no matter how young he is, he is a second-rate skill, and he is not afraid of water thieves. In his mind, if the martial arts reached the second rate, who would still be a bandit in the water village, he would have gone out to fight alone, even if he robbed, he would have taken it by himself.

"You kid, don't go. Li Yu said, "I'll take two nursing homes with me." Anyway, it's just a ransom, not a fight. Although Li Yu knew that Li Shucheng knew martial arts, but in his mind, Li Shucheng was still a child, how could he be able to do martial arts, and he could beat a few strong bandits?

"Father, is that tiger skin still there?" asked Li Shucheng.

"Yes, what's wrong?" Li Yu asked strangely. I don't know what Li Shucheng meant by asking if Tiger Skin was not there at this time.

"I killed that tiger. Li Shucheng said with a smile, "I can even kill a tiger, can't I deal with a few water thieves?" Although Li Shucheng killed the tiger at that time, it was more lucky, but now, Li Shucheng's success has grown a lot, and killing the tiger is not a problem.

"You killed that tiger?" Li Yu was taken aback, he never thought that his twelve-year-old son could kill the tiger. He always thought that this tiger was killed by the people in the village, and even if Li Shucheng was there, at most he would only help a little.

"Of course. Li Shucheng straightened his chest and said, "Father, can you let the child go with you now?"

"Okay. It's okay to follow, but don't talk or get into a conflict with the other person. Li Yu said, "They are bandits, and if they annoy them, we will not be able to transport goods from Taihu Lake in the future." "This time Li Yu went, not only to ransom people, but also to spend money to buy peace, and negotiate how much money to give on a regular basis in exchange for safe sailing. Otherwise, it will be hijacked once every time, so what kind of business will it do and what kind of money will it make?

When the group came to the trading place and saw only one person sitting on the stone, Li Yu arched his hand and asked, "I am the boss of the Fulai Trading Bank, I brought the money, what about the guys in my trading house who were kidnapped by you?"

After the other party made sure that Li Yu brought the money, he gave a whistle, and soon a group of people came out of the forest behind him, and five people from the trading house were tied up and brought out.

"Sir. When they saw their boss coming, they all shouted.

"Okay, you're fine. Li Yu said.

"Boss Li, people brought it, what about the money?" asked a strong man standing in the middle.

"Twenty taels for one man, five hundred taels for five, all here. Li Yu said and instructed the nursing home carrying the silver, "Give it to him." ”

"Okay, Boss Li is trustworthy, and we won't embarrass you. Fourth, let go. The strong man took the bag handed by his subordinates, checked the silver and said.

The five guys were rescued, Li Yu was relieved, and then asked the strong man: "Are you in charge of your water village? I want to negotiate a deal with you now." ”

"Talk to me about a deal?" said the strong man, "do you want those goods back? It's too late, those goods have already been sold." ”

"It's not the goods. Li Yu said, "That's not what I want to say. ”

"What's that?"

"We still have to sail in Taihu Lake, and what I want to say is, if we give you a sum of money every month, can you guarantee the safety of our firm's boats and not be robbed by other bandits in Taihu Lake?" Li Yu said.

"Well, tell me how much you can give first?" the strong man became interested.

"Fifty taels a month. Li Yu said.

"Fifty taels, only six hundred taels a year, that's too little!" said the strong man disappointedly, "The batch of goods I robbed you of is worth more than three hundred taels, plus the silver for ransom, it is more than four hundred taels." ”

"This big boss, although robbery like you comes quickly, it is not a long-term solution. Li Yu said, "Not to mention that it will attract the government to encircle and suppress the soldiers, who will dare to sail on the Taihu Lake after being robbed? It will definitely be changed to a carriage pulling, although the cost has increased, and it is troublesome, but is not safe? If the merchants don't go to Taihu Lake, who else can you rob?"

"Well, you have a point!" said the strong man, "if you don't go to Taihu Lake, then we will go with the northwest wind! ”

"My firm is so big, and I don't ship much, and fifty taels a month is already my greatest sincerity. If it's more, then I might as well go overland. Li Yu said, "Besides, there are not eight out of ten businesses sailing in Taihu Lake, so there are a lot of them in a year." ”

"Uh-huh. I think about it, during this time, you can take the name of the black water village mixed river dragon when you are sailing in Taihu Lake. The strong man said.

"Then thank you. Li Yu arched his hand and said.

Back at home, Li Shucheng said admiringly: "Father, I didn't expect you to think of such a method, Gao Ming!"

"What's so clever about this. Li Yu said, "How can you say that your father and I have been taking care of the family business for 30 years, and I am in business, isn't it just to seek safety." Although it is also possible to travel by land, the transportation of goods is slow, and it is necessary to raise mules and horses, which can cost a lot. If you can take the waterway, of course. ”

"But it seems that there shouldn't be many people in Heishui Village, and the Mixed River Dragon Kung Fu is not very good, is it useful to report his name? Taihu Lake water thieves can give him face?" Li Shucheng said.

"I heard that there is a mysterious master in the Taihu Lake water thieves, and the officials and soldiers do not dare to attack it easily. Li Yu said, "However, this mysterious master also restrains the group of thieves, and he generally does not act easily." ”

"Are there masters among the Taihu Lake bandits?" Li Shucheng was taken aback, so all the Taihu Lake water thieves were under his command, no wonder Mingjianglong said that he would report his name. It's a family, isn't it okay not to save face? If Mingjianglong sues that master, he won't be able to eat and walk around.

"However, who is this master?" Li Shucheng pondered, "In "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", the leader of the Taihu Lake bandits is Lu Guanying, and Lu Guanying is the son of Lu Chengfeng. Lu Chengfeng! It must be Lu Chengfeng!"

"Father, I know who the mysterious master of the Taihu Lake Water Pirates is. Li Shucheng said.

"Who is it?" asked Li Yu curiously. Even the people in the Pingjiang Mansion didn't know the mysterious master behind the Taihu thieves, but Li Shucheng actually knew.

"This person's name is Lu Chengfeng, and he is the owner of Guiyun Village. His master is the Evil Monster Hero, who is now known as the East Evil and is one of the four top masters with the highest martial arts skills on the rivers and lakes. Li Shucheng said. The evil monster hero, many years ago, was too famous in the Jiangnan area, from the princes and ministers, down to the peddlers and pawns, they have basically heard the name of the evil monster hero.

"It turned out to be his disciple, no wonder. Li Yu said. As a disciple of the evil hero, of course, he is a master, no wonder the officers and soldiers dare not attack easily. The officials and soldiers here have not yet arrived at the gate of the water thieves, and the people over there have already entered the palace. In order not to hit the ground, of course, the troops will not be sent easily.

When Li Shucheng's father and son were talking here, the owner of Guiyunzhuang listened to the words of Mingjiang Long.

"Owner, we don't rob those merchant boats, but they have to pay tolls. Do you think this solution will succeed?" asked the big boss of Heishui Village, Chao Jianglong.

Lu Chengfeng thought about it for a moment and said, "This method is indeed feasible. Certainly not what you came up with, though. Tell me, who came up with the idea?" Although Chao Jianglong said it quite methodically, Lu Chengfeng knew that he was a big boss, and he definitely couldn't come up with such a clever idea.

"Well, we robbed a boat a few days ago, and today the boss of the trading house came to ransom people, and this idea was his idea. Mixed Jianglong said embarrassedly.

Although Lu Chengfeng restrained the group of thieves, he mainly robbed the boats of corrupt officials and corrupt officials passing from Taihu Lake, but he usually occasionally robbed the boats of passing merchants to make a living.

"In the future, I will follow this method. Lu Chengfeng said, "As for this merchant, you only need to pay twenty taels a month." ”

"Yes, owner. ”

Lu Chengfeng restrained the Taihu bandits from robbing passing merchants and pedestrians, not because he was so kind-hearted, could the apprentice of the Eastern Evil Yellow Medicine Master be a good man? As for the corrupt officials who were robbed, they were robbed, and they could only eat coptis dumbly, so did they dare to notify the nearby government offices? Although most of us are corrupt officials, but in the officialdom, what you mix is a reputation, and if the reputation is stinky, the officialdom will not be able to mix. If the money is gone, as long as the person is fine, it is a big deal to continue to be greedy. Lu Chengfeng has grasped this point, he has done smoothly and harvested a lot over the years, and Guiyunzhuang has already been built.