"What? Are you going to the north of the city?"
The man was shocked when he heard that Zhu Yuanzhang was really going to the north of the city.
It was okay to ask him to chat and introduce the local customs to Zhu Yuanzhang, but if he really went to that devil's cave, he really didn't dare to go.
"Um!?"
Zhu Yuanzhang hummed softly, and immediately the two guards behind him pulled out their waist knives.
Seeing this posture, the man knew that he had met a strong man, but he was still unwilling to go to the north of the city and said aggrievedly:
"Sir, you have a lot, please let the little ones go."
"I will return your money to you. I have an eighty-year-old mother and a newborn child. I really don't want to die."
Seeing this man's appearance, Zhu Yuanzhang was surprised that the north of the city was so terrifying. Could it make people cry?
But judging from the fact that this person was only in his twenties, and how could he be an eighty-year-old mother, he was probably lying.
Zhu Yuanzhang didn't have a good look on this kind of person at all, and snorted coldly:
"Hmph, why don't you take us over now to take a look at this devil's cave, or I'll send you to the West directly."
"Choose one of the two, your choice."
After saying that, the guard behind him stepped forward and put the sword on the man's neck. No matter how hard he struggled, it was to no avail.
With the shining sword right in front of him, this man no longer dared to show off in front of Zhu Yuanzhang, and honestly began to lead Zhu Yuanzhang from the front.
Zhu Yuanzhang saw that this man was still on the right track, so he did not embarrass him. Instead, he comforted him and said:
"Lead the way accordingly. As long as you get to the place and see what you want to see, I will naturally not make things difficult for you."
"When the time comes, if we are satisfied, we will give you more money."
The man nodded fearfully and said:
"Actually, what I know about Chengbei is just what I heard."
"Only big businessmen are qualified to enter there, ordinary people like us are not qualified to enter at all."
Zhu Yuanzhang narrowed his eyes slightly and asked in a leisurely tone:
"So, you are deceiving us?"
"Did you know that if you frame a county magistrate falsely, you will be thrown into jail?"
"No, no, no, the young one did not deceive the master."
The man hurriedly explained and said:
"The place in the north of the city is indeed a place where filth and evil are hidden, just like the brothel you just saw, in heaven and on earth."
"Many of the girls there are sold from the north of the city."
"What?"
This time it was Zhu Yuanzhang's turn to be surprised. He couldn't believe that in Shanghu County, there were still people forcing good girls into prostitution?
"Does the county magistrate not care about this kind of thing?"
"Tube?"
The man sneered, then lowered his voice and said:
"It is said that the biggest boss behind the scenes in the north of the city is the county magistrate."
"With the monthly income from the north of the city alone, the county magistrate can get more than one hundred thousand taels of silver."
Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes suddenly widened!
One hundred thousand taels? per month? ?
Income of one million taels of silver every year! !
The Ming Dynasty's annual treasury income does not exceed four million taels, but here, Li Jin can get one million taels per year?
Not only Zhu Yuanzhang, but also Liu Bowen and Zhu Biao brothers next to him were equally shocked.
How can Shanghu County make so much money? So how much has Li Jin made here over the years?
"Take us to the north of the city immediately!!"
Zhu Yuanzhang panted heavily and looked very urgent.
Seeing a corrupt official like Li Jin get money was even more uncomfortable for him than Zhu Yuanzhang losing money himself.
He had to see with his own eyes that Li Jin was actually doing some illegal business, so that he could get all of Li Jin's money into his own hands.
The few people were very fast, and they could reach the northern area of the city all the way from the center of the city.
However, on the way to the north of the city, Zhu Yuanzhang obviously found that there were much fewer people here than in other areas, and there were not even a few people in sight.
It seemed that the man in front of him was not lying when he described the area north of the city.
This is indeed a place that scares the people of Shanghu County.
Soon, Zhu Yuanzhang arrived at a city area surrounded by fences. The entire city seemed to be surrounded, and the situation inside could not be seen from the outside.
Zhu Yuanzhang noticed that there was a gap like a city gate not far away, so he led his guards towards the gate.
As soon as he arrived at the door, Zhu Yuanzhang was stopped by several soldiers at the door.
"Stop, this important area in the north of the city, no one else is allowed to enter!!"
One of the soldiers at the head shouted angrily at Zhu Yuanzhang and the others.
Zhu Yuanzhang was about to get angry.
The entire Shanghu County area is a prosperous scene, and you can walk around at will.
But he was blocked here. There must be something fishy here, and it might be evidence of Li Jin's corruption.
Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang planned to force his way in. He wanted to see what Li Jin was doing?
Zhu Yuanzhang was about to break in, but was held back by Queen Ma next to him.
Empress Ma quietly winked at Zhu Yuanzhang, then smiled at the soldiers guarding the door and said:
"We are businessmen coming from the capital to do business. We heard that there is business to be done here, so we came here."
"Can some of you be accommodating?"
As she spoke, Queen Ma took out ten taels of silver from her arms and wanted to hand it to the soldier.
But when the soldier saw Queen Ma taking out the money, he felt as if he was seeing a snake and said angrily:
"What are you doing? Put the money away."
When Zhu Yuanzhang saw this, the anger on his face suddenly subsided a lot. In any case, the soldiers here can resist the temptation of money, which is not something ordinary people can do.
"You said you are businessmen, but what proof do you have?"
The soldier then asked, wanting to see the directions for Zhu Yuanzhang and others.
Zhu Biao took out the road guide beside him and handed it to the soldier.
After checking it, the soldier nodded and said:
"He is indeed a businessman, you can go in."
"But remember, don't make trouble inside, otherwise no matter who you are, I will keep it safe so that you never come back!"
As he spoke, he waved his hand to ask those behind him to get out of the way, and Zhu Yuanzhang entered the city smoothly.
....
As soon as I entered the city, I found that it was surrounded by a high wall, like a separate city wall, isolated from the outside world.
Not only that, before I even took a quick step forward, I felt that the sky seemed to be getting dark all of a sudden.
However, if you look closely, you will find that there are much fewer lights here than in the outside world, which means there is not enough light here at night.
On the streets of this walled city, there are countless shops open on both sides of the streets, but unlike the outside world, the shops here are only three floors high.
There were various store names written on it, which made Zhu Yuanzhang feel dazzled for a while.
The people walking here all look fierce, and their faces are full of ferocity. At first glance, they are not easy to mess with.
Each of these people acts alone and rarely moves forward in groups like the outside world. After selecting a target, they will quickly enter the store and will not communicate with each other.
This walled city seems to be two different worlds from the outside world. Outside there is a world of fireworks, but here it is an endless purgatory.
"Come on, let's go in and have a look too."
Zhu Yuanzhang was not afraid and directly chose the nearest store to go in, wanting to see what kind of business was being done here.
And on the signboard of that shop, it clearly says:
Arena! !
