In this era, there were no centralized manual workshops for silk reeling. Most of the raw silk was raised and reeled by sericulture farmers themselves. If their own families were too busy, they would hire a few day laborers to help. [Read the latest chapter] There are also companies that sell cocoons directly to silk shops, but silk shops do not run workshops themselves, but outsource cocoons to individual craftsmen for processing. This model lasted until the beginning of the 20th century before it was ended by machine reeling factories.
A highly specialized and organized silk factory like Cihuitang Silk Reeling Factory is unique in this time and space. The intensity of the work and the cruelty of the environment are not comparable to traditional manual work.
So Hao Yuan's words immediately resonated in Xihua's heart. Although she is not responsible for managing the silk factory, she knows the situation of the silk factory clearly.
"Do you want places like Cihuitang Silk Reeling Factory to be in Hangzhou, or even all over the south of the Yangtze River, where thousands of people have to do hard work like cattle and horses?" Hao Yuan stared into her eyes tightly. .
Xihua was still making his final struggle: "Master, he is just a scholar. I see that he is often worried about money. He is not a rich man who can rival the country. He cannot be so big..."
Hao Yuan shook his head: "You think Mr. Zhao is just one person? You are wrong. Behind him is a group of people who are more arrogant and vicious than the current Mr. Zhao. They are not afraid of anything. They are not afraid of heaven and earth, ghosts and gods, even the universe. They don’t take any of the avenues in their sights. They will do whatever they can to achieve their goals. By that time, Shenzhou Luchen will fall into a darker night than now, and I’m afraid the sun will never rise again!”
These words were like an iron awl, piercing deeply into Xihua's heart. When she thought of the horrific scene described by Hao Yuan, her whole body trembled involuntarily.
While she was hesitating and trembling, she felt a warm and thick hand gently pressing her back. A tall figure came to her side, and a warm voice came from above: "Don't be afraid, I will protect you."
Xihua quickly told everything Hao Yuan wanted to know. Hao Yuan had originally collected some information through insiders in the villa, but the information was sporadic and not systematic. After all, Xihua is the main cadre around Zhao Yingong. Although she is not responsible for some things, she is in a high position. There is much more to know in the big picture.
"Where does Zhao Yingong spend the night on weekdays?" Hao Yuan finally asked the last question.
Xihua hesitated. She knew the purpose of Hao Yuan's question. However, no matter how Hao Yuan said that Zhao Yingong was a demon with a beastly face and a heart, women were always the most emotional. Zhao Yingong's kindness to her was no longer simple, but a kindness to her again. When she thought of all the benefits Mr. Zhao treated her in daily life. I couldn't help but be in a dilemma.
"Do you want to take Mr. Zhao's life?"
"Of course not," Hao Yuan smiled slightly, "Why should I take his life?"
"Then why do you want to find out where he lives? If you destroy the villa, you will destroy everything about him. After all, he has done a lot of good things - even if you say he is hypocritical."
"I won't take his life. He, Zhao Yingong, is no more than one of those arrogant ants, so why should I be afraid?" Hao Yuanchang said with a smile, "I want to know where he lives, but I just want to be the first to control him and let him The center of the villa has failed. It will definitely not harm his life - I know he has a great favor for you, and even for you, it will not harm his life. Don't worry!"
"Thank you, Mr. Hao." Xihua suddenly realized that he had been here for almost half an hour. "I have to rush back."
"What are you going to say when you go back?"
Xihua hesitated for a moment: "Say you want to know something about the Villa. But I'm still hesitant."
"Yes." Hao Yuan nodded. "You said that, Zhao Yingong will definitely tell you how to answer me. He must have prepared a complete set of things for you to hand over to me when the time comes."
"yes."
"You also have to say to him: I have promised: I will give you ten thousand taels of silver when the matter is completed, and let you move to another place anonymously. There is a third son from the Jin Gentry family who will marry you."
"Did he really say that?" Zhao Yingong asked.
"This slave dare not lie."
"Hao Yuan has such a loud tone!" Zhao Yiggong frowned. Ten thousand taels of silver was a large amount. Not to mention, the latter condition was simply beyond the reach of ordinary people. Who is this Hao Yuan and has such great power?
"My slave also feels that his conditions are too generous and unreliable."
"Now if you want the stars in the sky, he will definitely tell you to pick them off for you." Zhao Yingong said jokingly, "Let's not talk about this anymore. Just make it clear to him next time."
"yes."
"I've roughly estimated the information he wants," Zhao Yingong took out a handbook from his desk, "Just tell him the contents."
Xihua took it and read it several times silently. This set of false information was compiled in great detail, almost based on Hao Yuan's questions. The master is indeed a thoughtful person. But when she saw the end, she couldn't help but be startled:
"Master, are you going to tell him where he sleeps every night?"
"Of course, there are many people who know about this matter, and they don't necessarily need your information to know." Zhao Yingong said, "He will definitely try to verify the authenticity of this information. Just tell him, otherwise once he knows about you If I give you false information, you will definitely die."
Xihua was in a state of confusion at this moment, but he didn't dare to show it on his face, so he could only ask reluctantly: "Isn't this going to put the master in great danger?"
"The cunning rabbit still has three burrows. Even if I don't have three burrows, I can still do it several times in one night." Zhao Yingong said, "Tell him all this information. He will not be satisfied with this, and he will ask you to do it again in ten cases." Internal response. I'm afraid I will try to meet you in the future. You need to know a few things clearly: first, who is Hao Yuan's backstage boss? Second, what means do they plan to use to attack the Villa; third, when are they going to launch the operation? Fourth, how many people will participate in the attack? Don’t give out our key information all at once, but keep your appetite high so that you have the opportunity to enter their meetings and face more important people.”
The plan of both parties continued to operate like this day by day. During this period, Xihua sometimes met Hao Yuan in person, and sometimes passed news through Jia Le, constantly delivering all kinds of information. True and false news was passed back and forth, making her " Double Agent” is about to collapse.
Fortunately, under this huge pressure, Hao Yuan still maintained the rare gentleness of a man. Although due to their status, the two rarely meet each other, but from time to time, Hao Yuan will ask Jia Le to bring some gifts. These gifts are very light, just some cakes, bait, snacks, sachets and folding fans. The most valuable ones are just a pair of golden twists. silk bracelet. But Xihua always felt his care.
In contrast, Zhao Yingong felt more and more pressure. There are more and more posters and nursery rhymes outside. Every day, Zhao Tong's men sent these materials of postings and nursery rhymes for him to study.
In Zhao Yingong's view, the contents of these nursery rhymes are all "Yihequan" routines. They all rely on various gods and Buddhas to build momentum. But no matter how much later generations ridiculed the Boxers for their ignorance, the inciting and destructive power they unleashed when they rose up swept across the land of North China.
If this scheme breaks out in Hangzhou in advance, Zhao Yingong can only hope that his villa is Dongjiao Minxiang.
Although Xihua has been successfully trusted by the other party, he has never had particularly valuable information. Xihua also failed to meet anyone higher than Hao Yuan. The only thing that emerged from this line was that the Maoxing was a contact point for the enemy. For this reason, Zhao Yingong specially sent people to investigate the shopkeeper of the Maoxing, but could not find anything valuable. He knew that the wealthy owner of the Maoxing came from the capital. As for which company in the capital? No one could find out his last name at all.
What is a little gratifying is that the false information he revealed through Xihua's channel is enough to make the enemy passive once they start, and he can be prepared to avoid being suddenly attacked. As long as you deal with it properly, saving the villa during a riot won't be a problem.
As for Hao Yuan, Zhao Tong's people tried to target him more than once, but never succeeded. Although Zhao Yingong didn't mind the use of violence at this time, he was already very passive in the current situation, so he had to act before he could - the special reconnaissance team was still on the way. Even if the special reconnaissance team arrived, it would not be a problem to kill a Hao Yuan with a long-range sniper, but the mastermind behind the scenes would still not be found.
If the mastermind behind the scenes cannot be found, the conspiracy against the villa will continue to be carried out. The weather was getting hotter and hotter, and Zhao Yingong felt angry and had blisters on his mouth.
As a response, he sent out all the available manpower from Wulong Club and Niangan Department to inquire about information. At the same time, he mobilized more refugees to temporarily join the infantry team for training, and fortified all entrances and exits of the villa. Be prepared to reject the horse. There was originally only one trench outside the villa, but now two fences have been added. Walls were also built high and trenches dug around important buildings in the village.
Zhao Yingong discussed with the main managers in the villa that this was outside the city after all, and the enemy would not openly use swords, guns, bows and arrows - otherwise the government would not be able to explain it, so a large number of people would definitely use sticks, and a small number of people would secretly carry daggers and daggers. .
The disadvantage is that they cannot use cold weapons on a large scale. Although people will die in armed fighting, it is not like Jinhua, Yiwu and other places where armed fighting is common. The movement is too big and it is difficult to end it.
"We mainly need to fortify the wharf, silk factory and residential headquarters." Zhao Yingong pointed on the map, "These three places are the most important places in the whole villa. We will give up other places for the time being. As for the silkworm farm, tea farm and the like The places are all in the mountains, and there isn’t much money or water, so the enemy won’t be able to go there.” (To be continued.)
