"Master, shopkeeper Huang is here."
The housekeeper of the Zhang Mansion walked into the study and saluted a middle-aged man sitting on the Grand Master's chair.
The middle-aged man held the cup lid in his hand and moved the tea in the lidded bowl, and said in a calm tone: "Did you tell me what to do?"
"That's not true. I'm just anxious to see you, sir." Butler Zhang said.
The middle-aged man picked up the tureen, took a sip of tea, and said, "Bring him in!"
"Yes." Butler Zhang agreed and left the study.
Not long after, footsteps were heard outside the study. The middle-aged man put down his bowl and walked towards the door of the study.
After walking a few steps, he saw his butler and someone walking in from the study door. Then he smiled and said, "Brother Huang, why do you have time to visit me today?"
He took a few steps forward, raised his hand sideways, and made a gesture of invitation.
Huang Mingcheng entered the study and said, "Brother Zhang, something big has happened."
"Brother Huang is joking, what big deal could it be? Come and try the new tea here." The middle-aged man Zhang Guangkun turned his head and said to his butler, "Go and make two cups of the new tea I just got."
Butler Zhang bowed and retreated from the study again.
Huang Mingcheng walked to the seat next to him, sat down, and said, "Such a big thing happened outside, and you're not in a hurry at all?"
"Little brother, what is there to be anxious about?" Zhang Guangkun smiled and said, "No matter who Su Nang uses troops against, it has nothing to do with little brother. If someone is anxious, it is only the people of the Tiger Character Flag who are anxious, and it has nothing to do with you or me. .”
While speaking, he pointed at himself and Huang Mingcheng sitting beside him with his fingers.
"How can it be irrelevant!" Huang Mingcheng frowned and said, "Don't forget, our two families have taken goods from Huziqi. If Su Nang is really to blame, neither you nor I will get anything good to eat. "
While talking, he repeatedly tapped the back of his right hand on the heart of his left hand.
"It's not as serious as you said!" Zhang Guangkun said with a disapproving look, "We just took some goods from Hu Ziqi and resold them. Apart from that, there is no relationship between you and Hu Zi Qi. There is no other relationship.”
"You! You!" Huang Mingcheng tapped Zhang Guangkun in the air and said, "How could such a shrewd person become confused at the critical moment?"
Zhang Guangkun frowned slightly, a little unhappy.
Huang Mingcheng continued: "The little business relationship between us and the Tiger Flag is really not a big deal in normal times, and most of the entire Tumut tribe has dealings with the Tiger Flag, but have you ever thought about it? My family is Mongolian, and the two of us are Han Chinese."
"So what about the Han people! Those herdsmen outside the city have lived a less comfortable life than us." Zhang Guangkun curled his lips.
"Why don't you understand yet?" Huang Mingcheng slapped his thigh anxiously.
Zhang Guangkun said disapprovingly: "Brother Huang, you are making too much of a fuss. Doing business with Tiger Flag is not a big deal. Su Nang can really blame our two families for such a trivial matter!"
After speaking, he picked up the tureen at hand and took a sip of tea.
Butler Zhang walked in from outside the study, holding a wooden tray with two bowls of tea on it.
When he got closer, he said: "Master, your tea."
As he spoke, he took a bowl from the wooden tray, placed it next to Zhang Guangkun's hand, and then took Zhang Guangkun's previous bowl back to the wooden tray.
Turning around, he said again: "Shopkeeper Huang, please have some tea."
The other one was placed on the table next to Huang Mingcheng.
After doing these things, he took two steps back, turned around and left the study.
"Brother Huang, let's taste my little brother's new tea and see how it tastes." Zhang Guangkun raised his hand to signal Huang Mingcheng to drink tea.
Huang Mingcheng did not touch the bowl of tea on the table, but said: "Brother Zhang, you are so confused! This is Bansheng City, and it is not us who can speak, but Su Nang, those Mongolians."
"Brother Huang, don't get excited." Zhang Guangkun advised, "We have never given the bulk of the money we have earned over the years to Su Nang. Even if we have business dealings with Tiger Flag, most of the profits we can earn will be No, we also gave Su Nang. To put it bluntly, we are making money for Su Nang, and he can’t use the Su Nang to kill the donkey.”
"You are confused!" Huang Mingcheng pointed at Zhang Guangkun again and said he was confused.
Zhang Guangkun's face looked a little ugly.
No one will feel comfortable if someone points their finger at their nose and scolds them several times.
Huang Mingcheng didn't care at all whether Zhang Guangkun looked ugly, and continued: "I think you have lived a stable life too comfortably these years. Don't forget, we are in the territory of the Mongols. What do the Mongols want to do to us? , no one can stop them, they don’t care who we make money from doing business with Huziqi, they will only focus on the little family fortune our two have accumulated over the years, have you forgotten how the Chen family didn’t That’s it.”
After saying this, he looked at Zhang Guangkun.
The Chen family was once a famous Han merchant in Bansheng City. Later, they somehow offended the Mongolian nobles. The family property was taken away and the clan members were turned into slaves. The fate of the women in the family became even more miserable.
The expression on Zhang Guangkun's face gradually changed, and the pads of his fingers that were grasped on the outer wall of the tureen had white marks due to excessive force.
After saying so many words, Huang Mingcheng felt his mouth was a little dry. He picked up the bowl, blew in the hot air inside, and took a small sip.
Putting the lid on the cup, he asked, "Do you understand now?"
Zhang Guangkun had a bitter look on his face and said, "We have helped Su Nang make money over the years. He can't really attack our two families just because of such a trivial matter as the Tiger Flag!"
"It seems you still don't understand." Huang Mingcheng put down the bowl in his hand and said, "The Mongolians have always looked down on us Han people. To put it bluntly, we are just two dogs raised by vegetarians. When the dogs are fat, we can kill them for meat at any time. I don’t care what the dog has done before.”
"Then, what should we do?" Zhang Guangkun was frightened and began to stutter when speaking.
Huang Mingcheng said: "What Su Nang has to deal with now is the Tiger Flag. We should not be concerned about our two families for the time being. We still have a chance now."
"What chance? Run, run?" Zhang Guangkun said hesitantly.
Huang Mingcheng showed a trace of ridicule and said: "There are Mongolian soldiers and horses outside the city. Where are you going? Besides, are you willing to leave behind the family fortune you have accumulated over the years?"
"I can't bear it." Zhang Guangkun shook his head vigorously, and then said, "How about you and I pool a sum of money together and send it to Su Nang?"
Huang Mingcheng waved his hand and said: "No matter how much money you put out, it can't be worth your family property. The Mongols want to take over your family property, and they can do it easily. How can they care about the money you sent?" Some money!"
"Are you and I really going to have our family property taken away by the Mongols, and our people become slaves of the Mongols?" Zhang Guangkun looked bitter.
Officials of the Ming Dynasty wanted to seize the business of merchants, so they had to do things tactfully, in the name of official purchase, but the Mongolian nobles were eyeing any Han merchant's family business, without any cover-up, and directly led troops to rob it. If you don't obey, you will be killed.
Huang Mingcheng said: "It's not that there is nothing we can do, otherwise I wouldn't come to you, Brother Yu."
"What can we do?" Zhang Guangkun asked eagerly.
