January 26, the 20th year of Yongtai.
Guangzhou Prefecture, Longmen County.
This morning, it rained.
The rain wasn't heavy and didn't last long.
By around Si hour, the rainbow was gone, the rain was falling, the wind was light and the clouds were clear.
The air moistened by the spring rain has a fresh feeling, which is refreshing.
With such pleasant weather, people's moods are supposed to improve, but...
At this moment, in a certain teahouse in the city, there was a group of people, but they were enveloped in a depressing and suffocating atmosphere.
This group of people are all men. Although they look to be in their seventies or eighties, they all have a stern look in their eyes. Many of them have not even gained weight and are out of shape, but still maintain the same shape. With the physique of a middle-aged man, he looked like a Lian Jiazi.
"If I had to choose, it would be Da Dai. Everyone knows what kind of person Da Dai is. Ah Ba is not bad, but he doesn't seem to be qualified enough to be the 'leading man'."
"As for Ah Ba... he always thinks of his brothers the most. Whenever his brothers are in trouble, he always contributes money and help and never refuses."
"Ah Ba's popularity is good, but I'm afraid that his power is not big enough... He has a little bit of human and financial resources, but it's different in big cities. Now in Panyu, it can be said that everything is... His men and horses.”
"Hmph... If you choose whoever has the most power, why not choose Zu Tingfeng? After all, the combined power of Da Da and A'er is not as powerful as him, the 'General Manager of the Green Forest Road and Overland Road', right?"
"How can this be done? Who doesn't know that the man surnamed Zu has been coveting the position of 'leading' for many years and is a sworn enemy of Mr. Gong. Now the cause of Mr. Gong's death has not been found out. If it is the man surnamed Zu who is behind the scenes, we still have no idea. Wouldn't it be ridiculous to choose him?"
"Eh? What about Hao Jingyu? He, the 'master of the waterway', is equal to Zu Tingfeng in terms of status. Moreover, he is thoughtful and humble, and his brothers are all under his control. They are well-behaved, and it’s rare to hear that people from their ‘Cangdu Gang’ cause trouble everywhere.”
"Anyone can do it, but Hao Jingyu can't do it... I heard that he has a close relationship with the imperial court. If he is to be the 'leader', the brothers will not know when they will be sold; and , If we, the men of the Green Forest Road, don’t cause trouble, how can we still be called Green Forest Heroes? We are all well-behaved, why not go home and farm."
"You old ghosts, why are you going further and further? If you ask me, just choose Mr. Gong. He is almost thirty this year. He has been following Mr. Gong since he was a child. This 'Longmen Gang' is up and down. Come on, who dares to disobey him? No matter how capable Daxie and Afan are, they are just disciples of Master Gong, how can they compare with their own sons?"
Everyone must have heard this. These old men are all from the "Green Forest Road", and what they are currently discussing intensely is undoubtedly about who to choose as the next "leader" .
It should be explained here that although the Green Forest Road of Dashu is also located in the south and the north, each is fighting for its own, and there are often grievances between people on the road, but just like the Jianghu Road has a "martial arts leader", the Green Forest Road There is also a recognized "leader".
How the leader of the martial arts alliance was born, we will not mention this for now; anyway, the "leader" of the Green Forest Road has always been a group of people who have the title of "地" or above in the "Thirteen Roads", and have "washed their hands in the golden basin" "Elected by my uncles.
As for how often to choose... that's not necessarily the case, because usually you wait until the previous leader takes the initiative to close the mountain or is killed.
The "Gong Ye" mentioned by the old men just now, whose full name is Gong Lianjun, is the leader of the "Longmen Gang", the most powerful green forest gang in Guangdong and Guangxi, and the current leader of the Green Forest Road.
Because he died suddenly a few days ago, the position of leader was vacant, so today's conversation took place.
Lei Chao and Lin Huaile, also known as "Daxie" and "Ahren" to the old people, are both Gong Lianjun's favorite students and the two most popular leaders in the Longmen Gang. It is natural for them to become candidates. .
Gong Lianjun's son Gong Jingyi, as the "Prince" of the Longmen Gang, must also be considered.
As for Zu Tingfeng and Hao Jingyu... the situation is more complicated.
The two of them are the "chief scoopers" of the land and water routes of the Green Forest Road respectively; these two titles are second only to the "leading" on the road and can be regarded as "quasi-leading"... and these two titles They are not "selected" by their uncles, but are recognized by their comrades through "strength".
In other words, the strength of the gang led by the chief laobaozi is not necessarily lower than that of the gang led by the "leader", but in name the leader's power is higher than that of the chief laobaozi; at a critical moment, or when encountering someone When there is a disagreement, it is still the leader who "talks" the matter, and the boss has to listen.
This form of power distribution is, to put it bluntly, a kind of "balancing", just like the one done by Cao, the leader of the Salt Gang, in the "Four Gates and Three Gangs", except that Green Forest Road turned it into a kind of "balancing". The rules on the surface have been passed down from generation to generation.
"What do you mean? Does the leader have to be someone from the Longmen Gang? Can't people from other gangs do it?"
"What are you doing? Did you charge Zu Tingfeng a lot of money? You have been speaking for him since just now!"
"Huh? How dare you slander someone without any evidence?"
"Hmph! You know whether I am right or not!"
Snapped--
At this stage of the discussion, it is almost over, because an old man has already overturned the table, so the next step is to beat him.
As for the old man who was arguing with him, he was right - we are all young and Dangerous. He who has been struggling on the road for so many years and can still save his life and successfully "wash his hands" can be a kind person. Stubble? Who can take a break?
"Hey...we're all our own people, don't mess around."
"Yeah, you're already old, don't let people see the joke anymore."
Of course, there were also many peacemakers among the old men around, and they were very good at persuading each other to start a fight. A group of people separated the two of them by trying to tease each other.
And just when these old guys were in a mess, another group of people suddenly broke in outside the door.
Looking at their neat uniforms, you can tell that they are all government personnel.
The leader, about forty years old, was tall and strong. When he stood forward, he saw that his face had crescent eyebrows, close eyes, sword-ringed ears, and aquiline hooks. The nose and mouth are lined up one by one, which is called sharp edges and corners.
Who is this person? It is implied in our book that he is Bai Zhulong, the "Second Master of Dashu" and known as "The First Sword of Longmen".
Seeing this, someone must be asking, what is the relationship between this eldest brother and Yue Youque, the "No. 1 catcher of Dashu"?
In fact, it didn't matter. Yue Youque wasn't familiar with him. She only knew his name and had met him a few times, but they didn't exchange a few words in total.
But... Bai Zhulong hates Yue Youque very much.
The reason is very simple, because there has never been a "second god" in this world. It's just me, the storyteller, telling you that he is the "second" after Yue Youque.
The actual situation is that the world only knows that the "Number One God" has a waning moon, but few people care about who else is under the "Number One".
This is just like how in various sports competitions, in the end, only the previous champions are often remembered by passers-by and cloud viewers...
Bai Zhulong is the "second place" who is obviously a little bit behind the first one. He even thinks that he is not inferior to the other one, but his reputation is far different from that of the first one.
What’s even more interesting is that there are three other people who are as miserable as him, two of them are Jin Yiwei, and one is a member of the Qianhu Army. These four can be collectively called "tiger, leopard, dragon and wolf". Basically... that is A low-end version of "Feng Yun Shui Yue".
The four people, Feng Manlou, Yun Shili, Shui Hanyi and Yue Youque, are the "four masters of the imperial court" appointed by the emperor. Each of them has a treasure given by the emperor, and is famous and respected by everyone.
And the four "tiger, leopard, dragon and wolf"... although their strength is only a little less than that of "Feng Yun Shui Yue", they have their own positions and have nothing else.
If "The Storm" is the "Era of Miracles", then "Tiger, Leopard, Dragon and Wolf" is the "Five Tigers without Crowns", two words - really miserable.
There is no doubt that people as miserable as they are generally not very good-tempered.
"Officials are investigating the case! Everyone, stand against the wall!" At this moment, as soon as Bai Zhulong entered the room, he shouted at the old men. He was really a powerful official.
The gang of old thieves turned around when they heard the sound. Seeing so many errands at the door, they immediately stopped. Apparently they didn't want "outsiders" to see the joke of their internal fighting.
But...it's not that easy to make them stand obediently against the wall.
"Hey, sir, what's going on?" An old man who was closer to the door reacted very quickly. He immediately put on a smile and rushed towards Bai Zhulong.
As the saying goes, the old man has been dealing with officials for more than a day or two. He felt that a young man like Bai Zhulong couldn't stand his deception.
As for Bai Zhulong... when he saw the old man approaching, he followed the principle of reaching out and not hitting the smiling person, raised his foot and kicked him to the ground.
"Is it your turn to ask me something? Get over here and stand still!" After kicking the person, Bai Zhulong continued to yell and curse, not treating the other person as an elder at all.
The old men around were shocked at that time. Who is this? Do you know who we are? If you don't give us face, do you want the old brothers to practice stretching with you?
But immediately after, there was an old thief in the crowd who knew Bai Zhulong, and he quietly said to the people next to him: "This... is really not easy to mess with. He is our local Bai Da arrester. He has martial arts skills." It’s very high, so let’s just be cowardly..."
So, these old men thought for a while: Hey, we are not big shots. If we don’t want to lose face, why don’t we just go and stand by the wall for a while? Just go.
Just like that, in the blink of an eye, they were all standing in rows.
Bai Zhulong just looked at them briefly, and then accurately targeted an old man with the Chinese character for "天" before washing his hands in the golden basin. He came to the latter's side and asked: "How many?"
"Master... you are asking..." The old man actually vaguely knew the meaning of the question, but he still pretended to be confused.
Hearing this, Bai Zhulong snorted coldly and continued: "I'm asking you, you old guys have been sitting here for a long time, and finally decided who can take Gong Lianjun's seat... who are they?"
