Hua Bushi said: "That's true, if Xiao Ke has the opportunity in the future, he will definitely do the clothing business, and he can make a lot of money if he wants to." ”

Cao Duyun said: "That garment shop can earn 1,000 taels of silver by doing such a single business, and an ordinary peasant household can not earn 5 taels of silver after a year of hard work. ”

He paused slightly, and then said: "Isn't it even more unreasonable that the current imperial court tax system imposes heavy taxes on farmers who farm their fields, but the tax silver collected from merchants is very small, almost nothing, which makes the poor poorer and the rich richer?"

Ordinary people in the government called the peasants who rebelled as "thieves", and they hated to wipe them out immediately. This Cao Duyun as a prince, but not only called it a "righteous army", but also seemed to be quite sympathetic to them in his words, and for the tax system, it is also quite reasonable, according to the tax rate set by the government, farmers are one ten taxes, and the business shop is thirty taxes one, it is indeed extremely unfair, Hua Bushi heard it in his ears, and his heart was very surprised, but it was inconvenient to interject.

Cao Duyun said: "A few months ago, the ministers of the court proposed to reform the tax system, reduce the tax rate on farmers, and instead impose heavy taxes on the merchants.

Hua Bushi said: "Whether it is correct or not, Hua Bushi does not dare to say anything, but as far as I know, anything that will cause some people to lose their interests will definitely be resisted by others, and this is the case on the rivers and lakes, and it is no exception to the court." ”

Cao Duyun said: "Brother Hua Gaojian! It was this move that caused trouble for my Cao family, and several other parties such as the Qi Party and the Zhejiang Party heard the news, and immediately went to the Holy Lord, framing my father for corruption and personal gain, and even Uncle Huachun was implicated, but fortunately, those party members could not come up with effective evidence for a while, and my Cao family was able to save it until now." ”

Hua Bushi was a commoner, and the political affairs of the DPRK and China had nothing to do with him, so it was meaningless for Cao Duyun to tell these things, but at this time, Hua Bushi suddenly understood why this Duyun prince wanted to tell him this.

The Ming Dynasty banned gambling, although most of the time it was a dead letter, but this decree still exists. And "Happy Island" is the most underground gambling house in Changsha City, at the critical juncture of attacking each other with many parties, if it is discovered by the opponents in the court, "Happy Island" is opened by the Cao family, then it will undoubtedly become a major crime.

Therefore, Cao Duyun must hide his identity, and he must not be held by others as the evidence that he is the boss behind the "Happy Island". Because of this, they tried their best not to let Meng Qingshan come in before, and even did not hesitate to fight.

Cao Duyun said: "In recent years, the emptiness of the Ming treasury has reached the point of being stretched, and the army stationed in front of Shanhaiguan has not been paid for several months. In fact, most of the hundreds of thousands of taels of profits earned every year are spent on buying food and paying salaries for subordinate soldiers, not for selfish desires, but I didn't expect that this move would become a handle for the traitorous party to defile my father's private business. ”

"The younger brother came to Jiangnan from Beijing this time to deal with some industrial affairs, so as not to be taken advantage of by the party in the DPRK and the central government, which will become evidence against his father. I didn't expect that I just arrived yesterday, and it is really an honor to be able to meet Brother Hua today!"

Hua Bushi said: "I don't know the situation, I really took the liberty to visit today, and I ask Brother Cao for forgiveness." ”

Cao Duyun said: "Brother Hua is polite. When Shicai was outside the building, the younger brother heard that the brother and his party came to discuss a deal with us, but is there such a thing?"

Hua Bushi said: "Yes, Xiao Ke came here today, with the intention of making a deal with the owner of this 'Happy Island', but after learning about Brother Cao's current situation, I am afraid that this transaction will not be done." ”

Cao Duyun said: "Although Brother Hua said it, the younger brother listened to it. ”

Hua Bushi did not hesitate, and immediately said briefly that the "Hengshan faction" and the "Pai Jiao" were attacking, and the alliance of the four factions in the city was determined to fight, and he wanted to ask the "Happy Island" to send a master to help.

After listening to this, Cao Duyun pondered for a long time before saying: "Brother Hua's expectations are good, now is a very important moment for the Cao family, the younger brother's trip to Jiangnan is extremely secret, that is, Commander Xue and Qiu Hengbo, it is also inconvenient to show up, openly and openly enemies with the Jianghu sect, otherwise the traitorous party will find out the whereabouts of the younger brother." In this matter, the younger brother is afraid that he will not be able to help Brother Hua. ”

Hua Bushi said: "This section Xiao Ke understands that when he sees Cao Gongzi here today, Hua Bushi will never tell others, the situation in the city is very dangerous now, and there are many things in the sect that need to be arranged. ”

As he spoke, he stood up and took his leave.

Cao Duyun also got up and clenched his fists, but suddenly said, "Brother Hua, slow down." Seeing Brother Tai today, the younger brother was unable to help Brother Tai, and he felt guilty, so he had a special gift for him, and asked Brother Hua to accept it with a smile. ”

He took out a folding fan from his sleeve and handed it to Hua Bushi with both hands.

Nowadays, most of the scholars like to play with folding fans, and the folding fan that Cao Duyun took out is only a few feet long, but the fan bone is white and smooth, it is carved from ivory, and it is very delicately made, and it is a valuable thing at a glance.

Hua Bushi said: "Brother Cao is too polite. Such a valuable thing, Hua Bushi didn't dare to ask for it, and asked Brother Cao to take it back. ”

Cao Duyun smiled and said: "As the young head of Brother Hua's faction, this folding fan is just a plaything, not worth mentioning. However, the younger brother gave it to the elder brother, and he also had ulterior motives, although the masters under the younger brother could not help Brother Hua to resist the enemy, but with this fan, it was also feasible to mobilize some official liliang for the use of the elder brother. ”

Hua Bushi's heart moved, he reached out and took the folding fan, took it in his hand and opened it gently, but saw that there were four large cursive characters inscribed on the fan:

"East of Jieshi".

The inscription under the word is a Cao character, and there is also a red seal of Dansha next to it, which can be vaguely identified as the three seal characters of "stop the void".

"East Linjieshi" is a famous sentence of Cao Cao in the Three Kingdoms period in "Watching the Sea", but the words on this folding fan were not written by Cao Cao, but from Cao Huachun, the commander of today's East Factory, that is, Cao Duyun's uncle.

The "Zhixuzi" in the seal on the fan is Cao Huachun's alias, and Hua Bushi has naturally heard of it. He immediately understood what Cao Duyun meant when he said that the government could be mobilized.

Even if the Cao family was attacked by the parties for a while, Cao Huachun was the first in command of Dongchang after all, and he had the privilege of spying on the officials of the imperial court, and the officials in the provinces must be very afraid. With the fan he inscribed, even the prefect of Changsha and the general soldier must have to sell some face.

Thinking of this, Hua Bushi was not polite, closed the folding fan, put it in his sleeve, and said: "That is the case, Hua Bushi thanks Brother Cao for the gift! In the future, as long as there is our four-faction alliance in Changsha City, if Brother Cao's casino is in trouble, we will definitely do our best to help." ”

Although it is politely said, but a transaction is a transaction, Hua Bushi and Cao Duyun are both delicate people, and they can understand each other's meaning in a word.

Cao Duyun said: "Thank you Brother Hua for being so little brother." Today's meeting with Brother Hua, although the younger brother really wants to have a long talk with Brother Tai again, but the affairs of the Brother Tai sect are urgent, and the younger brother is inconvenient to stay longer, so he can only wish Brother Tai a great victory and victory and defeat the two factions of Hengshan Pai Sect that came to attack. ”

Hua Bushi said: "Xiao Ke also wishes Brother Cao all the best, and thwart the traitorous party's attack as soon as possible." ”

The two looked at each other and smiled, saying goodbye to each other.

Cao Duyun gave the order to "send off", and Xue Yuan followed behind Hua Bushi and sent him out of the underground casino.

When passing by the flower-robed man Qiu Hengbo's side, Hua Bushi could no longer feel the biting chill, but on the face that was half-covered by black hair, the shining gaze was as cold as ever.

Xue Yuan is known as the first master of Jinyiwei, a set of 'seven-step red lotus knife technique' has entered the realm, and his martial arts are extremely famous, but in Hua Bushi's opinion, the real power is still this nunnery Qiu Hengbo. And Cao Duyun himself, although it is difficult to see the depth, is not weak in martial arts.

This Duyun Gongzi was born noble, quick-witted, handsome, and his demeanor was even more extraordinary, Hua Bushi had talked to him for a long time, he had always been so gentle and elegant, calm and unhurried, and he couldn't find a trace of impropriety in him.

Such a person can simply be described as flawless!

In fact, this Cao Duyun is not only powerful, but also has terrifying masters such as Qiu Hengbo under his door. If he is an enemy, he will be an extremely terrifying one, and I am afraid that he will not be easier to deal with than the "lifeless old demon".

May he be a friend and not an enemy. Hua Bushi had a secret thought in his heart, and walked up the stone steps to the ground step by step.

Within two days of ※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※, all the masters of the Four Factions Alliance had withdrawn from Changsha City.

The chaos in the city has not changed, but has worsened than before. It's just that the two sides of the fight are no longer many rivers and lakes shili joining forces to raid the alliance of the four factions, but it has become a mutual killing of all kinds of rivers and lakes, of course, it is still many lawless rivers and lakes people, plundering the rich merchants in the city.

More than half of these high-rollers who poured into Changsha City were completely unorganized and scattered, and many of them were underworld people, whose purpose was not to occupy territory in Changsha City, but to rob money in this city and make a windfall.

When the alliance of the four factions was in the city, the territory and neighborhoods of each faction were still guarded by masters, but now that the people have withdrawn, these people are even more unscrupulous and arbitrary.

In response to the chaos in the city, the chief soldier yamen sent soldiers and officials to maintain order and arrest the bandits, but unfortunately it was completely useless. The swarming of high-rollers in the rivers and lakes has made many masters of the Four Factions Alliance anxious, and how can those ordinary officers and soldiers who do not have much martial arts be suppressed.

After a day, the bandits did not catch a few, but many of the soldiers patrolling the neighborhoods were killed and wounded, so the chief soldier of Zuihou had to order the defense to shrink and use heavy troops to guard important areas such as the residence office, barracks, and ordnance warehouses, while the rest of the neighborhoods could only be left alone.