Everyone followed Xiao Dong and Shopkeeper Feng towards the inn. Li Qiufeng and Wei Erbao are still at the end. He secretly thought in his heart that last year in the old shop of the Gu family in Yong'an City, he had heard Liu Shibo talking to several officers, and they had mentioned the name of Zhang Gui, the chief soldier of Liaoyang. This person seems to be a protégé of Uncle Liu, and it is very reluctant to come to Liaoyang to be the chief soldier. Just listening to what Master Jiang said, this Chief Zhang seemed to be not strict under his control. Liu Shibo is so shrewd, how could he accept such a person as a protégé?

Wei Erbao was quite excited, and he whispered to Li Qiufeng: "With the light of your masters, the villain can also stay in the Dongsheng Inn for a few days." When I talk to people in the future, I'm afraid that they will think that the villain is bragging. ”

After everyone walked into the courtyard, they realized that the courtyard of the Dongsheng Inn was amazingly large. The garden is planted with green grass and bamboo, and there are many flowers and trees dotted in the middle, which looks quite elegant. Li Qiufeng, Xiao Dong and the others were surprised, secretly thinking that Shopkeeper Feng knew at a glance that he was a greedy and cunning person, and it was really unbelievable that he could clean up this courtyard so elegantly.

The inn is a two-story wooden building, which is not visible from the outside of the gate. Standing in front of the wooden building at this time, I saw that the wooden building was about ten zhang long, carved beams and painted buildings, very majestic. Compared with the house of the magistrate of Dongliao County, it is not inferior. Seeing this, Xiao Dong said to Shopkeeper Feng: "Shopkeeper, your building is of such a scale, it cost a lot of money to build it? ”

Shopkeeper Feng smiled while inviting Xiao Dong into the lobby: "Lord Xiao is right. It's just that no matter how poor a place is, there are always a few rich people. Our inn was favored by several big families in and out of the city, and their friends lived here when they went to Dongliao County to do business. For example, outside the horses in the east of the city, and outside the kings in the north of the city. The business of these two employees is very prosperous, not only in Liaodong, but also in Beijing, Zhili, and Shandong. Every month, there are merchants who come to Dongliao County to do business, and most of them live in our inn. In addition, when officials at all levels go to Dongliao County, the county yamen will also invite these adults to our inn to stay. In this way, the inn will not lose money. ”

Xiao Dong is a person who has been in the officialdom for many years, and when he heard what Shopkeeper Feng said, he secretly thought in his heart, looking at the appearance of Li Zhisheng and Master Pan, the two of them must be up and down and feasting on their own pockets. They will settle the officials of Dongliao County to live in the Dongsheng Inn, and the original cost of one tael of silver will become ten or two hundred taels when written in the account book. In this way, Li Zhisheng took the lion's share, and Dongsheng Inn made a small one. As Shopkeeper Feng said, no matter how poor the place is, there are a few rich people. And the people are poor, but the government will not be poor. The government is not poor, and these shops that collude with the government are naturally profitable. Lao Tzu lived in the Dongsheng Inn this time, but he was afraid that Li Zhisheng and Master Pan, the two bastards, would be able to embezzle a lot of silver taels.

Shopkeeper Feng let everyone into the inn, only to see dozens of candles lit in the lobby, illuminating the room. Several fellows stood respectfully to the side. Shopkeeper Feng said to Xiao Dong: "Lord Xiao, the grass people will first let everyone take you to their respective guest rooms to recognize the door, and then go downstairs to have supper, I don't know what Lord Xiao thinks?"

Xiao Dong nodded and said, "Then there is a Lao shop." ”

The two guys took Xiao Dong and the others all the way to the second floor. Xiao Dong naturally lives in one room, and lives in the best Tianzi No. 3 room in the inn. The rest of the people lived in a room for every two of them. Zhang Shi and Li Qiufeng lived in a room. It's just that Shopkeeper Hu, Qin Lao Wu and the others didn't want to live in the same room with Wei Erbao, and in the end, a boatman and Wei Erbao were accompanied.

Zhang Shi turned around the house twice and said to Li Qiufeng: "I didn't expect that in this ghost place, there is such a luxurious inn, it's really rare." However, I think there must be collusion between Feng Fatzi and Yamen, and the two sides will work together to make a fortune. ”

Li Qiufeng nodded and said, "In the past few years, I have been running the dock outside, and I have heard a lot about the collusion between officials and businessmen. If there is no government support, it is extremely difficult for a businessman not to lose money. I heard Wei Erbao say that the boss behind this Dongsheng Inn is Master Pan in the yamen. ”

Zhang Shi was not surprised when he heard Li Qiufeng say this. He smiled and said: "This old Xi'er is really shrewd and has come home! But I see that the master surnamed Jiang is still a person who can do things, and with him handling cases, we can rest assured a little." ”

Li Qiufeng said: "Zhang Yuanwai, there is one thing that I don't understand in my heart, I don't know if I can ask Zhang Yuanwai for a lesson or two?"

Zhang Shi smiled: "Brother Zhu is too polite. We can also be regarded as a fateful friendship, if you have something to say, you don't have to be polite to Zhang. ”

Li Qiufeng said: "This time, Lord Xiao and the shopkeepers are going to Fusang to make a big deal, and it seems that the shopkeepers are all betting on their lives. It stands to reason that the ship was suddenly stolen, and the goods of these people were afraid that it would be difficult to keep them, and it stands to reason that they should be terrified. However, while watching from the sidelines, although Lord Xiao and these shopkeepers were quite anxious, they were not at a loss, which was a bit strange......

When Li Qiufeng said this, he deliberately pretended to hesitate and did not continue. Zhang Shi nodded, and said, "Brother Zhu, I treat you as a good friend, and there are some things that I don't have to hide from you." I met Mr. Hu a few years ago and made a few deals with him. As for having only met this Lord Xiao twice, he has no deep friendship. What kind of business did Lord Xiao and Shopkeeper Hu do this time, Zhang didn't know. It's just that looking at their sneaky appearance, most of them have other plans. Originally, according to Zhang's intentions, he just went around in the middle and found Qin Lao Wu's big ship for them, so there was nothing Zhang could do. But this time, Master Xiao and Shopkeeper Hu strongly invited Zhang to go to Fusang with them, saying that I have a good relationship with Qin Lao Wu, and with me going together, Qin Lao Wu will definitely do his best and save a lot of trouble. Zhang couldn't stand the trust of Shopkeeper Hu and others, so he had to agree.

"It's just that I heard Qin Lao Wu say that all the goods carried by Lao Hu and the others were placed in the cabin at the bottom of the ship, and as for what these goods were, Qin Lao Wu didn't know. However, Xiao Dong and Shopkeeper Hu and others had a shared box, but it was locked in a separate cabin. Qin Lao Wu secretly told me that this box is made of fine iron, and there is no gap in the whole body, and it can only be opened if you know the secret technique of the mechanism. I guess the most important goods of the trip of the surnamed Xiao and the shopkeeper Hu are placed in this iron box, and even if the rest of the goods are lost, they don't care. Although this iron box is in the hands of thieves, no one can open it. It was Xiao Dong and Lao Hu who were anxious, but they were not panicked. ”

Li Qiufeng listened to Zhang Shiyi's words, and his heart was full of suspicions, and he secretly thought that Xiao Dong would just pay it back, Hu Shopkeeper and others were all greedy people, even if they lost one or two pieces of silver, they would be sad for a long time. But now that they have lost their goods, they are not panicked like Xiao Dong, but seem to be confident. I think their treasure must have been in an iron box. As long as this iron box is not opened, they will make money. But what exactly is in this iron box? Why did Xiao Dong travel thousands of miles to bring it to Fusang?

Li Qiufeng was thinking to himself, when he suddenly heard Shopkeeper Feng say in the corridor: "Lord Xiao, uncles, please go downstairs for supper." ”

Zhang Shi smiled at Li Qiufeng and said, "Feng Fatzi is extremely shrewd, and he colluded with Li Zhixian and Master Pan to embezzle official silver. We don't have to be polite with these bastards, we have to eat and drink, and it can be regarded as eating back some of the money embezzled by these corrupt officials for the people of Dongliao County. ”

The two of them went out of the guest room, but saw that Shopkeeper Feng was already standing at the staircase waiting, and Xiao Dong and others also walked out. Everyone followed Shopkeeper Feng downstairs, only to see that two tables of wine and food had been set up in the lobby. The aroma of wine and vegetables is mixed together, and it is really full of aroma and appetizing. Shopkeeper Feng invited Xiao Dong to sit at the head of the table on the left, and invited Zhang Shi, Shopkeeper Hu and others to sit on Xiao Dong's left and right. Then he invited Li Qiufeng, Qin Lao Wu, the three boatmen and Wei Erbao to sit down at the table on the right.

Qin Lao Wu sat next to Li Qiufeng and whispered to Li Qiufeng: "Fuck, this dead fat man has so poisonous eyes! Look at his natural snobbish eyes, he can actually see that the identities of our people are different. Those who were officials and those who had a few stinky money were all arranged by him to sit down in the chief, and those of us who were lethal and those who served could only sit in the second seat. The dog's eyes look down on people, and it is the best way to describe this dead fat man!"