On Xuexue Street in Xining City, Liu Shizi was going to inspect the warehouse that King Han showed him.
Xingxue is the ancient name of the school. At the end of this street is the Confucian Temple and Xiningwei's Confucianism.
Those who study in Confucianism are all students, and it is not a place to popularize basic education.
Because of this, this street is very empty. After inspection by Hu Yuan, the steward sent by Han Fan earlier, it is very suitable to be used as a warehouse for King Liu.
When Liu Chengzong came over, Hu Yuan, the steward of the palace, was holding several inkstones for study. From a distance, he saw evasive action on the streets. Rows of brightly-armored officers and soldiers passed through the streets of the city. He thought Liu Chengzong was coming, so he hurried out to greet him.
Immediately he ran to King Liu and reported: "Da, Marshal, one hundred and eighty steps east and west of Huangxue Street, guarding East Street and North Street. The location is not bad. If Marshal wants, I can Get the title deed.”
He originally called him King, but when he saw Cao Huachun still following him, he changed his name to Marshal.
Liu Chengzong looked at this place and guarded the East Street and North Street in the city. The southwest corner of this place is the main entrance of Xining City, and it is as central as it can be.
Moreover, from Dongguan to Dongguan, Liu Chengzong saw that the shops and houses along the way were very prosperous, so he only gave Hu Yuan two hundred taels.
The original intention was to let Hu Yuan come over to look at the place and rent a warehouse. He didn't expect that this person planned to directly obtain the land title.
"Is land in Xining so cheap? How can you get such a big piece of land for just two hundred taels?"
"Ah? How can it be so cheap!"
Hu Yuan was confused: "I still have the two hundred taels that the prince gave me. I don't know how the commander does things, so I don't dare to give money without authorization."
Liu Chengzong probably took a look at this place and was quite satisfied, so he simply said: "You go with me first. The school ground is in the southwest. Let's pull the team over first and let my brother see the situation in Xining. You can follow me on the way." Tell me how to get the title deed here."
"That's the best thing. I'll lead the Marshal's horse."
As soon as Hu Yuan finished speaking, the young man in red who was leading the horse in front of Liu Chengzong said, "Just walk side by side with the commander. My name is Chen Shifo and I will lead the way for the commander."
"also."
Chen Shifo was the younger brother of the Han chieftain Chen Shiwen, and he was always briefing Liu Chengzong on the situation along the way.
They entered the city from Dongguan. Master Chen was very familiar with every plant and tree in the city and could tell which toast shop was behind each open shop.
Xining is a very strange acropolis. It may be the most commercially prosperous acropolis in the entire Ming Dynasty. There is no county in this place.
Therefore, all the trades in this city were monopolized by the guards and local officials. Some monopolized cattle and horses, some monopolized fruits and vegetables, and some monopolized tassels.
Before Hu Yuan came, Master Chen had just mentioned pawnshops. There were more than eighty pawnshops in Xining City, and each pawnshop paid five taels of silver to the court every year for a pawn tax deed of more than 400 taels.
In most counties in the mainland, in addition to regular grain and regular taxes, various miscellaneous taxes plus one dollar a year are less than 2,000 taels.
In Chen Shifo's words, there are three classes of chieftains in Xining. The first class can build a large Buddhist temple and keep the living Buddha in their home for generations. This kind of people make money every day; the second class chieftains can monopolize the market for an industry or a thing. They have the final say on the price of goods; the third-class toast follows others.
Liu Chengzong asked: "Then what business does your family have a monopoly on?"
"What kind of business does the Marshal think our family can monopolize? If my family could monopolize a business, would I dare to tell the Marshal about it?"
Master Chen laughed self-deprecatingly and said: "My family is covered in sheep and horse dung. We only open a small pawn shop to give people interest money. No one deposits money into our family, so we can't let out big money if we don't have it."
Liu Chengzong asked: "How do you calculate the interest?"
"When you borrow money from outside, you get three cents per month; when you collect money from others, it's usually one and a half cents per month." As he said that, Master Chen had a complicated expression: "No one goes to our pawn shop for the little toast who is gone if he says no." Put money.”
Liu Chengzong did the math and found that their pawnshop was okay for lending money, and the interest rate was really not too high.
But Chen's Chieftain, to be honest, is really sad: "They are all chieftains, and others monopolize the market and build temples. Your family has been in this kind of situation for more than 200 years. Even if you open a pawn shop, no one will come to your house." Put money.”
"What should we do?"
Chen Shifo said: "Who is not a chieftain anymore? There are more than forty commanders in Xining, but our family has not given them for several generations. Earlier when we sent troops to Huangzhong, our twenty-five soldiers could not even be sent. I can’t afford it.”
Liu Chengzong wondered: "Can't the son of a chieftain enter Confucianism?"
"The eldest son can do it, and my elder brother studies Confucianism there. But I can't, so I can only become a monk and go to a temple to study. The temple admissions also depend on one's family background. They are divided into three, six, and nine grades. Children from rich families study every day, while children from poor families do odd jobs every day. "
Chen Shifo said: "Actually, the people in the middle are more sad. I can't earn reward money by following the noble lamas like the poor monks, but the offerings in the temple are not enough to eat and spend money. It is difficult to study quietly, so I can only make a living on my own. .”
"Do simple things for people, come to their homes on time to copy and recite scriptures, and earn some money to spend."
As he said this, Master Chen didn't know what he was thinking of. He looked emotional and said nothing more. He just pointed at the facade of East Street and said: "You can open a pawn shop there. The handsome man has strong capital and is profitable."
Liu Chengzong was in business without capital, so he didn't like this kind of business that required capital, and he had no interest in such topics.
However, he was quite curious about the two Chen brothers. Both of them seemed to be obsessed with money, and they were thousands of miles away from the toast he imagined.
On his horse, he said to Hu Yuan who was following him: "Tell me, you said you got the land deed here. You just said you don't know how I do things. Does this have anything to do with buying the land deed?"
"Commander, it's very relevant. It depends on how you want to pay."
With that said, Hu Yuan glanced at Cao Huachun and said to Liu Chengzong: "How about the commander-in-chief take me forward, it's not easy to talk."
Liu Chengzong laughed, rode forward, and took a few steps in the team.
Hu Yuandao said: "This place belongs to Xiningwei. Everyone else wants it, but the main person who can compete with the Marshal here is Chieftain Li of Dongbo Mansion. He can't take it, but he can complain to Lanzhou about the Marshal's bad behavior. .”
"So I have three ideas. The first is to buy it hard and ask Su Fan to come forward and buy this land for about 18,000 taels. The second is to occupy it hard and don't pay a penny. That's fine too. These chieftains will definitely complain, but I don’t think the commander is afraid.”
"The third is to bribe Chieftain Li and turn this land into a warehouse together. A large area to the west of Hongxue Street will be used as a warehouse for the commander. To the east is Xiningwei's warehouse. To the east, more than 30 shops along the street will be rented out. The rent will be paid to Xining Wei, and the villain thought that a thousand taels would be enough to bribe him."
Liu Chengzong felt that it was unnecessary to buy hard.
Sooner or later, everything in this city will belong to him, and no one should give others money to buy their own things.
But the city is not his yet, and it is not suitable to occupy it by force. Although Chieftain Li's family only has 300 chieftain soldiers, the chieftain has strong mobilization power. He is in charge of 20,000 households. If two households are anxious, they can take a ding. Scary, no need to fight over this.
As for bribes, Liu Chengzong shook his head and said, "I heard Chieftain Chen say two days ago that Chieftain Li does not accept bribes."
"Yes, he won't accept it. After all, she is a big chieftain, and she carries money there. Doesn't she become a brothel actress? I remember that the marshal has a younger brother. Chieftain Li likes inkstones. There are many inkstones in his village."
"The inkstone is easy to handle."
Liu Chengzong was delighted when he heard this. His people had robbed a lot of good things. There were at least dozens of various expensive inkstones: "According to what you said, my brother will transport him a cart of inkstones and everything will be done?"
"It's not an inkstone, Commander." Hu Yuan said, "It's silver, one thousand taels of silver."
Liu Chengzong frowned and said, "You are a confused person, so what are you doing with the inkstone?"
Seeing that Liu Chengzong was anxious, Hu Yuan was also very worried. The commander-in-chief was not on the same channel as him. He simply said: "Well, the commander-in-chief asked the third master to look at the inkstone with me for a few days and take me to Dongbo Mansion. I can send a thousand taels in, and I can also talk things over.”
"How to send it?"
"The third master learned about the quality of inkstones. In the past, he only said that he would visit Li Tusi's collection. The third master would fall in love with an inkstone in his house and insist on buying it. He would spend a thousand taels of money to ask Li Tusi to part with it."
"Didn't the money just go in? I've seen many people in Pingliang who say they don't take bribes, but everyone in the world knows what they like."
Hu Yuan spread his hands and said: "Of course we won't tell him that we want to occupy that place forever. Why not set it up as a warehouse while Eunuch Cao is here? Then the third master will say that the marshal wants to use the west side to store things and the east side for shops. Rented by others.”
"What the commander-in-chief only wants is to enter, but once he's in, who else can let the commander-in-chief get out? In other words, even if he wants the commander-in-chief to go out, he is also the commander of the Xining Guard. Who has the final say then? .”
Liu Chengzong looked at Hu Yuan carefully. He saw that a person should not be judged by his appearance. He looked quite honest. He said: "You can stay with me, in Xining, and stay to deal with the chieftains, Su Fan and officials in Lanzhou."
"Thanks to the handsome man for looking up to me."
Hu Yuan cupped his hands in a very formulaic manner: "But the villain cannot make the decision in this matter. If the prince tells the villain to stay here, then the villain will stay here. If the prince asks the villain to go back, the villain has to go back."
"Okay, I'll follow him..."
At this moment, Liu Chengzong was talking when he saw a bright light on the North Street building from the corner of his eye, which made him feel alarmed.
Immediately, the sound of collapsing strings was heard, and he instinctively hid in the horse's belly. A sharp arrow shot through the air and grazed his helmet and nailed it to the ground.
Behind him, Fan Sanlang drew out the fire blunderbuss, bit the fuse and ignored the ignition of the match rope. He held the blunderbuss in one hand and pressed the fuse against the fire door with the other, and hit the blunder upstairs with a bang.
A man upstairs lost his bow, stooped low and held up his sword and shield, just in time to avoid the blunderbuss, and flew down on the railing of the building, shouting: "Give General Li his life!"
Because Liu Chengzong was talking to Hu Yuan, the team spread out more than ten steps in front and back, and there happened to be no one left or right. As soon as the words were spoken, the man jumped down from the building.
For a moment, the team was in chaos. The guards in front returned to support, and the Jing army behind also protected Cao Huachun and retreated, while the cavalry galloped forward.
Liu Chengzong got up from his horse and saw that there was only one assassin. He frowned and drew his sword to kill him.
The man jumped to the side, and just in time to catch up with Liu Shishi's sword, he first raised his shield to block it, but Hong Qi opened his mouth and bit it and pulled him aside. Then he raised his sword to block it, and heard Liu Chengzong curse: "Where did the thief come from!"
"Xining Mako!"
As soon as he finished shouting, Fan Sanlang hit him with a gun, and Marco quickly raised his shield.
Liu Chengzong couldn't remember who this person was. Seeing that he was about to come up again, he loosened his stirrup and kicked the shield, swung his sword and forced him back. Then he remembered that Ma Ke was Li Bei's subordinate, and said: "Li Bei How shameless!”
For a moment, Ma Ke froze. At this moment, the guards in front had already returned and were about to shoot him to death with a volley of arrows. Liu Chengzong raised his arm to stop him and said, "Wait a minute!"
Then he said to Ma Ke: "Li Bei is not dead. Put down your weapons and I will let you see him."
Ma Ke stood stunned for a moment and glanced at Liu Chengzong with a very complicated expression on his face. Although he did not drop his sword and shield, he was immediately kidnapped by the soldiers who surged forward and took him away and threw him behind him.
He had already forgotten about Li Bei. He even worked as a thief once in Yulin. He raised the rations and travel expenses to return home, and then ran all the way back to Xining along the Great Wall.
I sent a letter before I went home, asking my family to try to find some connections and see if I could be transferred back to Xining. Yulin was so miserable.
Unexpectedly, because of the time difference when he returned home, he did not receive news of his father's death, and there was no one at home when he returned.
Suddenly I felt that I could neither be loyal to the emperor nor fulfill my filial piety to my father. I usually thought that I was a nobody, but suddenly I turned around and realized that I was actually an unfaithful and unfilial person.
At this time, I suddenly heard that Liu Chengzong was coming to Xining, and he began to think of an ambush.
In essence, it was true that he wanted to avenge Li Bei, but to a large extent, he chose revenge because living was boring.
After all, anyone with any brain would know that even if he had preset ambush positions, he would be seeking death by himself.
Ambushing Liu Chengzong may have two results, either the ambush is successful or the ambush fails.
But he is dead no matter what.
But when I suddenly heard that Li Bei was still alive, I suddenly realized that not only was I unfaithful and unfilial, but I was also a big fool... I was confused.
The army continued to advance, and Liu Chengzong lost the desire to chat with others. He only praised Fan Sanlang, who was holding a broken gun: "It's okay. Go back and ask the work sentry to repair it for you... What is this thing? Followed from northern Shaanxi to Xining .”
On the other hand, Chen Shifo, who was leading the horse, was busy hiding from Ma Ke just now. He came back just in time to hear this sentence and answered: "Commander, he is from our Xining people. He passed the martial arts examination. I heard that he was demoted to a pawn after defeating the battle. Son, I went home hungry last month."
"Oh, you're from Xining? Hey, it's not a bad thing. Marco did me a big favor."
Liu Chengzong shook his head and smiled, then turned to Fan Sanlang and said: "Sanlang, go to the front to find Wei Qian'er and ask him to deliver the message and drive all the troops into the city. Wang Wenxiu and Feng Yu have taken the city defense, and Yang Yao and Cao Yao are in charge of the military. Street, ask Dai Daozi to lead Tangqi to blockade the school ground in the southwest of the city."
As he spoke, Liu Chengzong looked back at Cao Huachun, who was still in shock, and said to Fan Sanlang: "Tell them, if they encounter any obstacles on the road, just say a word. Someone is assassinating an angel in the city. The Lion Battalion is ordered to search for the remaining gang members of the thieves. Anyone who dares to stop them is a comrade. Call the whistle leader." We know in our hearts that we are going to take over the city defense, so it’s best to catch a few remaining thieves for me.”
