"You went to Yizheng this time to clean up the Lu family." Wen Zhong walked through the front yard of the dyeing house, passed Chu Zi to the backyard, and sat down on the stone bench.
"Shopkeeper Wen understands." Guo Chuzi continued to talk about his plan, "I want to use the name of choosing a burial place to contact the major merchants in Yizheng, and stay there permanently to show my determination to live in the family. The Lu family was naturally frightened by the news and did not dare to compete with me."
"It seems that Brother Guo wants to destroy the Lu family and kill them all." Wen Zhong said.
Guo Chuzi smiled and said, "Shopkeeper Wen is still wrong about what I mean. Brother, just imagine, one of the Lu family and the Guo family run a dye shop and the other a pawn shop. They are not in the same business. Why have they become so tense in the past few years?"
Wen Zhong thought for a moment and replied: "In order to win the patronage of the government, I need to find a backing for myself."
"That's it. Not only do we want to do business, but we also want to seize power in the officialdom, so we can only save one of the two."
"But you want both to exist." Wen Zhong gradually understood his intention.
Guo Chuzi laughed loudly: "That's right! The master definitely doesn't want my family to become the dominant one, and wants to make Guo and Lu fight. The Lu family cannot prosper, nor can it perish."
Guo Chuzi hired a Feng Shui master and looked around the city and outside with Lu Zhengfu, and finally selected a vacant piece of land in the city as a place to bury his son.
Everyone immediately calculated the funeral expenses, and all the thirty-three taels of silver went out through Chuzi.
"You might as well stay here for a few more days and take a rest." Seeing his expressionless face, Lu Zhengfu was glad that he didn't cause trouble here.
"It doesn't have to be like this. I have to go back to Jiangdu to take care of the dyeing workshop. I take care of it!"
Seeing Chu Zi turn around and walking halfway, Mr. Lu was about to get on the sedan. Suddenly he turned back and said to him: "Uncle, my foolish nephew cashed the silver note in order to buy a burial place. The remaining money is , it’s useless for me to take them with me, so I might as well give them all to you, so as not to express my condolences.”
"Why bother..."
Lu Zhengfu held the handle of the sedan chair and stretched out his arms to stop him. Unexpectedly, he was so kind that he could not refuse, so he planned to accept it.
Guo Chuzi took something out of his trousers. He was stunned and couldn't move. After a while, tears and runny nose came down, and he cried bitterly.
Mr. Lu was so panicked that he asked anxiously: "Why is Guo Yuanwai suddenly sad?"
After hearing this, Chuzi took out the piece of khaki-colored paper in his hand. The handwriting was blurry and unreadable, like old paper pulled out of a wastebasket.
He paused and said with sobs: "You don't know something. My uncle passed away the day before yesterday, and I am his nephew. I can't fulfill my filial piety all my life. I feel so guilty. Now I want to build a monument and a shrine for my uncle. I hate that Jiangdu has left the Jiji land idle. Young Master, it is so remote outside the city that we have been delayed until today. I wanted to find a place to bury Yizheng, but my uncle’s soul could not rest in peace, so I couldn’t help crying."
Lu Zhengfu remained silent, and the servant behind him curled his lips at him.
"I'm sorry for my rudeness," Guo Chuzi sighed, taking out a few coins, "Uncle, take yours and leave."
He staggered for three steps, but Lu Zhengfu remained unmoved; after passing Chuzi, he slowed down and kept his ears pricked up.
The servants winked, but Lu Zhengfu shook his head helplessly and quickly stopped him: "Excuse me, why don't you discuss this matter with me?"
Guo Chuzi said "Okay" secretly, hid his secret joy, and hurried back: "I'm afraid it will be difficult for me to help you with this matter."
"Master Guo traveled thousands of miles to pay for me, and I feel bad about it. I can take this opportunity to build an ancestral hall in Yizheng to make up for the kindness I owe to my colleagues. I will pay for it." Lu Zhengfu was full of anger. His cheeks were twitching.
"My foolish nephew is not willing to build a temple in Yizheng, I'm afraid it will steal your limelight; but the matter is so important that I dare not refuse it lightly. When I return to Jiangdu in the future, I will repay the money in full, and I will not wrong my uncle. Flowers come one cent at a time." Guo Chuzi bowed deeply.
Lu Zhengfu didn't expect that the dye shop owner would be so cunning. This strategy of strengthening the wall and clearing the country seemed unstoppable. This ancestral hall was built with great fanfare, but now it is useless to hide it from anyone. In view of the current situation, Mr. Lu ordered the pawn shop to be opened and allowed the situation to develop badly. Now that he was the weaker party, he had to give face to the family, so all he could do was burn incense and pray to Buddha, praying that the Lu family would have some way out.
Seeing the situation, the local small businessmen turned their backs one after another, making Yizheng feel like a gust of wind blew away the original prosperity of the Lu family.
Guo Chuzi was very prosperous at this time, but at the same time he could not forget a key figure, that is Chen Tongpao. He sent a letter to Wenzhong's gambling house and told him to arrange for Chen Zhixian's promotion.
This is not because they are good at making opinions, but according to the news from the family, the prefect has begun to discuss the matter, and Wen Zhong's job is to enable Chen Tongpao to take a step forward and reach a higher position.
He has a wide network of contacts in Jiangdu, so it is not a problem to send people to please some high-ranking officials, but after all, his identity does not allow him to move around openly, so he needs someone to pass the message on his behalf.
Generally speaking, he often borrowed Chu Zi's identity, but not today. The people negotiating were high-ranking officials, and people with authority must have a grudge against businessmen's direct participation in politics.
"Check who pays the most money in our gambling house." Wen Zhong squinted slightly and ordered the shopkeeper.
The account books turned over with a crackle.
But for example, some country squires have the power to influence officialdom. It was hateful to him to say that in Yangzhou there were outstanding people, but the squires in Jiangdu, the capital, were all crooked. There was not a single Jinshi master in the village, and the most outstanding one was none other than the great gentry Feng. Just relying on the abundant land.
"It was found out that he is the young master Feng Dashen."
"Oh?" Wen Zhong showed a smile from the corner of his mouth, "It's just what I wanted. I wonder how I called this young master?"
"The casino will open tomorrow morning, I wonder if he will come."
"Don't worry, he is the son of a country squire. Since he comes to gamble, he will most likely not be involved in the property and just idle around." Wen Zhong turned his head and said, "There are many men coming to gamble, so be careful."
"I understand, little one!"
"Let's go. Remember, don't scare people when the time comes." Wenzhong said in a joking tone.
Mr. Feng was helped up the stairs by the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper kept saying good things all the way, his tongue was dry, and he kept saying: "Young Master, we, the shopkeeper, have been waiting for you day and night. We just want to thank you in person. The kindness... You have been here several times, wouldn't the big shopkeeper be respectful?... How dare a small gambling house not show the face of Mr. Feng..." and so on, he brought it into the house.
This time Wen Zhong got rid of the bluffing men on his left and right. He washed his hands, wiped his face, put on a good appearance, and bowed to Master Feng.
