Song Che lent two wolf dogs to Xu Xiao.
Xu Xiao took the dog and rushed to the west dock of the city with the government officials to arrest the evil woman of Zhu Wei's family and search for the abducted women and children.
Song Che was quietly waiting for the good news.
An hour later, midnight is approaching.
Xu Xiao personally led the wolf dog back to Yunshuifang.
"How is my magical dog doing?" Song Che asked, stroking the dog's head.
Xu Xiao said: "Most of the people who can go to the dock to work hard are honest men who support their families. The Hong brothers were arrested, and the trees fell down and the hozens scattered. I didn't even pull out the knife, and someone gave me an explanation."
"How many women and children are you looking for?" Song Che asked.
Xu Xiao's tone was heavy: "Seven women and six children were imprisoned in the bottom of a cargo ship. When they were found, they were all naked and almost scared to death..."
"At least they regained their freedom," Song Che asked again, "Are those evil women from the Zhu family also captured?"
"One pot at a time."
"Very good. Next, we will take all the women and children to the Yamen to beat drums and complain. We will deal with these evildoers tonight."
"So, have you taken care of Mr. Zhou?"
"Go and get him right away."
Things that can be solved with money are no big deal.
Song Che packed three thousand taels of silver and drove to the Yamen with Xu Xiao.
Inside the carriage.
"By the way, Xu Dutou, I've always been curious, how much salary can you get from being on duty for a month?" Song Che asked.
Xu Xiao was confused: "Why are you asking this?"
Song Che smiled and said, "I suddenly remembered it, so I asked casually."
Xu Xiao was silent for a moment before slowly spitting out a number: "Three thousand yuan..."
"You have a head, and your monthly salary is only three taels? All the weavers in my workshop are taller than you, uh..." After finishing speaking, Song Che realized that he was not very good, "You talk but you don't mean it, you talk but you don't mean it..."
Xu Xiao had a straight face and hummed: "So what if you have money? If you commit crimes and do evil, I will still arrest you."
The title of Dutou, in modern times, would have to be that of a police chief. If he really wanted to make money, he would have it at his fingertips.
For example, the three thousand taels of silver that Song Che carried on his shoulders were prepared for those who knew how to make money.
Xu Xiao stared at the bulging burden on Song Che's shoulders and asked, "Are you going to bribe Mr. Zhou?"
Song Che said: "There are many ways to give money, why do you have to name it with the word 'bribery'?"
Xu Xiao said: "You business people can turn black into white. But I still want to remind you that Mr. Zhou wants to be an upright official in his heart."
How could Song Che not understand?
Whether or not to be an upright official is only secondary. The important thing is that every official wants others to think that he is an upright official. Therefore, how to give money away without damaging his image of integrity and asking him to accept it as a matter of course is a very complex technical task, and its beautiful name is "humanity and sophistication".
Sophistication is a word with mixed reviews. The positive meaning is that one is tactful in dealing with things, while the negative meaning is that one goes with the flow.
Song Che always believes that the true way to be a human being is to be knowledgeable but not worldly, to be smooth yet naive, to laugh at oneself but not others, to live in the world and stay far away from the world.
"Xu Dutou, are you married?" Song Che asked with a smile.
People like Xu Xiao are often high in force and low in emotional intelligence. Wrong is wrong and right is right. These people are very "simple" and very "cute". They don't have too many selfish ideas and are very suitable for making friends. .
Judging from Xu Xiao's appearance, he is about 25 or 26 years old. Although his income is a little low, he has a good career and looks masculine and powerful. He should be very popular with women.
Unexpectedly, Xu Xiao simply said: "I'm not interested in women."
Song Che's tiger body trembled, and he subconsciously moved his butt back. In fact, there were not a few people who had the habit of cutting off their sleeves in ancient times.
Xu Xiao glanced sideways at Song Che, "I'm not interested in men either."
Song Che breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile: "In life, you have to find some fun for yourself. For example, I like money." He shook the package on his shoulder, and the ingots clattered against each other, "This is simply the best thing in the world. The most beautiful sound ever.”
Xu Xiao's eyes were far-reaching, looking at the street scene outside the window, and after a long time he said: "I am a martial artist who wants to do good but lacks the ability. I can only catch more bad people because I have always believed that as long as there is one less bad person in the world, there will be ten more good people." , maybe twenty more."
Song Che wanted to say something, but when it came to his mouth, he felt that the words were a bit redundant, so he had to smile to himself. Compared to this simple boss, the fact that he likes money is really vulgar.
While chatting, the Yamen arrived.
On the left is the court and on the right is the mansion.
Song Che got off the carriage in front of the mansion and told Xu Xiao: "Two quarters of an hour later, if you take the abducted women and children to beat drums and complain, the Hong brothers will definitely not escape death tonight."
Xu Xiao nodded and followed the carriage to the court.
Song Che came to the door of the house and rang the knocker.
After a while, the door of the house was opened a crack. The servant rubbed his sleepy eyes and yawned: "Who is it? Knocking on the door in the middle of the night."
Song Che said: "I am Song Che, the son-in-law of the Shen family in the north of the city. I have something important to see Mr. Zhou, please let me know."
When the servant heard that he was from the Shen family, his attitude became more respectful, but he said: "It's past the third watch now, and the master has gone to bed long ago. Why don't you come back tomorrow?"
"But there are some things that need to be done at midnight," Song Che said, taking out two or three taels of silver from his sleeve and stuffing it into the servant's hand: "Sorry, brother, just give me an announcement."
The servant accepted the request and said, "Then I'll just make an announcement. If the master can't get up, you'll have to come back tomorrow." After that, he closed the door of the house.
Half an hour later.
The door of the house slowly opened half way, and the servant said politely: "Master heard that it was Uncle Shen's family who came to visit, so he got up and changed his clothes immediately. Mr. Song, please follow me to the living room."
Song Che happily entered the house and went with his family.
There was a small candle in the hall, and there was a faint light. A thin old man in his sixties, wearing only a coat, was sitting alone in the hall, quite elegant.
"Song Che, a late student, is here to see Mr. Zhou. Please forgive me for disturbing you at midnight." Song Che bowed and paid homage.
"Oh? Are you the recently famous son-in-law of the Shen family?" Zhou Jinchun looked at Song Che up and down with shrewd eyes.
Song Che said: "Wan Sheng just knows how to do some small business. This visit is also to do business with Mr. Lai Zhou."
Zhou Jinchun squinted his eyes and said nothing.
Song Che took off his baggage, put it on the coffee table, and slowly opened it. It was an ingot of snowflake silver, and then he looked at his words - Zhou Jinchun's old eyes instantly shone when he saw the silver.
Looking at the greedy look in his eyes, Song Che knew that everything would be done tonight.
"Master Song, what do you mean?" Zhou Jinchun looked away, pretending to be reserved.
Song Che said solemnly: "The Hong brothers formed a clique, monopolized the dock business, trafficked women and children, and kidnapped my shopkeeper the day before yesterday, set fire to my workshop, and even threatened to take my life... Come here tonight to beg Master Zhou. Give him the death penalty and eliminate harm to Suzhou City!"
Zhou Jinchun grimaced, and his voice became colder: "If the Hong brothers are really guilty of this, I will deal with them according to the laws of Daliang. Are you coming here in the middle of the night to give money and bribe, do you want to prevent me from guaranteeing you at night?"
"On the contrary!" Song Che said: "Master Zhou is over sixty years old, and soon he will be able to go home and enjoy his old age without having to work hard on paperwork. The Hong brothers have done a lot of evil in Suzhou City, and everyone can punish them. If Master Zhou can be there, If you eliminate evil in Suzhou before taking office, you will be deeply loved by the people, and your name will be immortalized among the bamboos and silks."
At this point, Song Che pushed the silver taels forward again, "Sir, please don't misunderstand. These three thousand taels of silver are definitely not meant as bribes, but as personal donations."
Zhou Jinchun stroked his beard, and a smile gradually appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Song Che added: "The war broke out in the Liang Dynasty, and all the taxes collected by the local governments filled the national treasury, resulting in insufficient local finances. Even the government officials could not recruit more, so they were helpless in the face of local snakes like the Hong brothers who had a large number of people. ;
My father often taught that businessmen take things from the people and use them for the people. As a wealthy businessman in Suzhou, we, the Shen family, should do our best to eliminate evil in Suzhou out of emotion and reason.
However, businessmen are still businessmen after all. They have money but no power, and it is difficult to contend with evil. Therefore, by raising this amount of money, they can solve the financial difficulties of the government and help the government clean up evil! "
Zhou Jinchun nodded with satisfaction, held the silver in his hand, and sighed: "Uncle Song, your reputation is indeed well-deserved..."
He added: "Okay, if that's the case, then I will accept the donation, but -"
He changed the topic again: "The Hong brothers gathered at the dock and have a very wide influence. Unless the city defense army is dispatched, it will be difficult to control them."
Song Che smiled and said: "Master Zhou doesn't know something. While you were sleeping, I had planned to capture the Hong brothers together with Xu Dutou. Now they have been imprisoned in the Yamen prison waiting to be punished."
He bowed deeply to Zhou Jinchun again, "Here, I would also like to apologize to Mr. Zhou. Due to the urgency of the situation and fear of disturbing Mr. Zhou's rest, I beheaded Xu Du's head first and then played the show without your consent."
Zhou Jinchun waved his hand and said, "That's all. I have long wanted to eradicate the Hong brothers, but I have been led by them. Now that you have arrested them, we will go to court tomorrow morning to judge the crime and sentence them."
Song Che said, "Why wait until tomorrow for the trial? The Hong brothers have been entrenched in Suzhou for many years and have many crazy people under their command. The longer the delay, the easier it is to change. Therefore, Wan Sheng proposed that he be convicted tonight and be executed tomorrow."
Zhou Jinchun frowned slightly: "Even if you know that his crimes are heinous, you still have to pay attention to evidence when trying a case——"
"Dong dong dong!"
Heavy drum beats pierced the night sky.
Zhou Jinchun was startled: "Who is beating the drum to complain?"
After a while, the servant hurried into the living room: "Master, a group of women and children came outside the Yamen, saying they wanted to sue the Hong brothers and Zhu Wei's family. They were all dressed in ragged clothes, crying and playing drums. It was very interesting to see... It’s so worrying!”
Zhou Jinchun was stunned for a moment, then glanced at Song Che knowingly.
Song Che smiled politely and said: "Mr. Zhou, all the witnesses and evidence are here. Are you going to go through the motions?"
"Hey! Suzhou is so lucky to have your talents!" Zhou Jinchun couldn't help but admire and greeted loudly:
"Come here, take off your clothes and go to the hall!"
