Zheng Xiu has lived in this world for more than twenty years and understands one thing.
Zheng's father died in battle, and Zheng's mother was depressed, and later committed suicide by drowning in a river. In the end, Zheng Xiu was left with only the empty Zheng residence and the hereditary title of "Zhongliehou".
Zheng Xiu, who has a weak human nature and wants to use his late father's relationship to carve out a niche in the imperial city. He has neither a golden finger nor bad luck, which is tantamount to wishful thinking and only exists in movie plots.
Therefore, although Zheng Xiu has memories of his past life and some cleverness, his struggle from scratch to become the richest man in the imperial city is not due to his own efforts.
Behind this huge business empire, there is a complex chain of interests.
And hidden behind the chain of interests is the third prince of the current emperor, Laoer, Wei Chaozhong.
Just as every emperor worries about the bloody plot of "too much haste" in his old age, Lao Wei, who sits on the imperial throne in the deep palace, has produced a total of seven princes since he took office.
Among them, due to various reasons, only three of the seven princes are left now. The third prince Wei Chaozhong has noticed Zheng Xiu's business talent and various whimsical ideas very early. In front of Zheng Xiu, he always treats him as "a close friend". Get along with Zheng Xiu as a "good friend".
It was impossible for Zheng Xiu to truly devote his life to the third prince, but on the surface, Zheng Xiu always looked grateful and maintained a friendly relationship between the two.
Of course, with the financial resources and skills that Zheng Xiu gradually displayed, it was impossible for the other two princes not to try to win over Zheng Xiu. Zheng Xiu also gave full play to the spirit of Tai Chi, pushing here and there, implying that he was a law-abiding businessman who only focused on money and did not dare to ask about other things.
There are many strange things about his imprisonment. The statement of "hiding 50 million in taxes" is outrageous to anyone who hears it. If Zheng Xiu really has the ability to hide 50 million in taxes until now, does he really think that the emperor's subordinates are all trash and cannot be found out?
Logically speaking, it makes sense for the emperor to let Zheng Xiu grow up like a leek before taking action now. But whether he hid taxes or not, there is no basis for others to say it. Zheng Xiu himself has more money than others. Isn't it clear?
Not to mention anything else, 70% of the shops on Zhengyang Avenue in front of the palace are now owned by Zheng Xiu. Does he need to hide taxes?
Zheng Xiu fiddled with the bright green on the golden vine at will.
The more I think about it, the more I understand.
Attacking Zheng Xiu without warning and sending him to prison was just to make Zheng Xiu calm down and stop causing trouble.
Today, Zheng Xiu's move of asking Er Niang to lead someone to prison seemed extravagant and enjoyable, but in the eyes of interested people, it was a little different, indicating that Zheng Xiu needed to take action.
So in the evening, Shi Wentong was ordered to come and give a warning.
"If I were them, and they wanted to take advantage of my Zheng family's property, they would definitely be fully prepared and seize the opportunity."
"It seems that it's not that they didn't expect it, but that something unexpected happened and it was too late."
"I obviously just want to live my life and be an ordinary wealthy businessman."
"Why force me?"
"If you really want money, just ask me. It's not like I won't give you money, so why bother?"
Zheng Xiu fiddled with the green vines for a moment and sighed softly:
"It seems that Lao Wei is very likely to die soon."
…
At night.
Now it is November and autumn has entered. The sun has set in the west, and the thin moon has just climbed over the branches. There is already a chill in the city. The young men who are looking for flowers at night are in groups, lively and laughing, and the atmosphere is still lively.
On the canal, there are sparkling waves and hazy water vapor. In the painted boats with colorful flags with the word "Zheng" in them, soft songs could be heard, sometimes weeping and complaining, sometimes wailing and squealing, and those who heard it were mesmerized.
Although Heaven and Earth is a brothel, regular customers all know that in Boss Zheng's mouth, he calls his "Heaven and Earth" a "nightclub."
The front door of Heaven and Earth is magnificent, and the paintings on the doorposts on both sides are very particular. What is painted above is a strong man with a hazy face, surrounded by veiled beauties in different poses. Such a scene makes people involuntarily empathize with the man in the painting, and their imaginations and blood surge.
Today, the heaven and earth are open to welcome guests as usual, and all those receiving guests are rich young men and high-ranking officials.
"Ding-ding-ding-ding-dang..."
I don’t know what a good day it is today, but a flower-seeker discovered that there were many small bells hanging in front of the door of the heaven and earth, with red satin hanging under the bells.
Every time someone comes in, the bells collide with each other, making a series of crisp jingling sounds, rising and falling. Close your eyes and listen carefully. Combined with the scent of precious sandalwood wafting from the building, you are in a trance, as if there is a peerless beauty. A beautiful voice said "Welcome".
"Wonderful!"
The flower-seekers all marveled at today’s unique decoration, adding to their interest.
"What the hell, you dare to come to heaven and earth to run wild? Looking for flowers and asking willows is about love and mutual agreement. If you want to play something strong, please go out and turn right. There is a house next door that can use strong ones. Here? Hey, it won't work! "
"Throw it out."
At this time.
Several Zheng family guards, dressed in black and with sinister faces, threw out a richly dressed young man like a chicken.
The young master felt pain when his butt fell to the ground, but he said that he did not suffer any loss, and shouted that it was just a broken brothel, and that the father of so and so must make the boss behind him look good.
"Father Li Shuangchui!"
The Zheng family guard was not surprised by these unfamiliar foreign visitors: "You don't care about your sledgehammer, double hammer, three hammers or four hammers, but you don't care who owns the territory here?"
The others gathered around for a while, pointing, secretly amused, and then dispersed in a short time.
It's such a trivial matter that someone comes to the heaven and earth to act wild. Regulars who come here to have fun will encounter it once every ten and a half months. They bump into each other every year and month. They have long been tired of seeing it. There is nothing lively and interesting to see. It is better to seize the time. It is more practical to hang your own name tag under the girl you like.
Foreigners are ignorant.
The young master who shouted "Father Li Shuangchui" saw the crowd quickly dispersing, felt bored and left angrily.
inside of.
Today, there is rarely the most famous "stage opera" in heaven and earth. The flower guests can only concentrate on dealing with the girls beside them.
After thirty years of drinking, at some tables, the florists whispered to each other.
"I heard that Mr. Zheng...had something happen to him?"
Someone has a circle in his left hand and a finger in his right hand, which goes deep into the circle. With this gesture, he wanted to metaphor whether Mr. Zheng had "entered in."
"I've heard this too, but I can't do this. Didn't I just throw out a tyrannical young man? If something really happens to Mr. Zheng, how can these servants be so confident?"
Everyone sitting in the seat suddenly understood, and they understood it tacitly, even saying it was impossible.
"That is!"
"To say something happened to Mr. Zheng is sheer nonsense!"
"What nonsense!"
"drink!"
"Done!"
All kinds of incidents did not affect the business of the brothel. Soon, as the night went on and the lights were on, some people came in to express their interest and others left in displeasure. In short, this street was full of people coming and going in an endless stream.
About the middle of the moon, a man dressed in shabby clothes came to the door of heaven and earth.
I saw him walking dressed up, wearing straw sandals, with a little mud under his rolled-up trouser legs, wearing linen clothes on his upper body, and carrying a broken bamboo hat behind him.
When Zhizhi arranged the bell outside the door in advance, she took the initiative to apply to Er Niang to guard the counter tonight.
From a distance, she saw a man walking in costume. Her heart skipped a beat, but she did not greet him. Instead, she lowered her head to settle accounts.
Those who come to heaven and earth to spend money are either rich or noble. A cyclist walked in, attracting the attention of many people.
Some people stared and watched, some waved their fans and smiled, some raised their glasses and drank, all waiting to have fun.
Zhizhi on the counter showed just the right amount of disdain, but soon put on a smile and asked: "We have friends from far away, welcome to heaven and earth."
Xingzhi seemed to be visiting such a luxurious place for the first time, his expression was gleaming and he was a little trembling.
He took out a cloth belt and poured out some broken silver and copper plates.
They started negotiating prices, asking about prices, and looking for girls.
Zhizhi breathed a sigh of relief, and the secret code was met quietly. She quietly kneaded a piece of cloth into a ball and embroidered the words of the master's instructions on it in advance.
Zhizhi calmly found a girl who was willing to sell herself. She was old and experienced, and her skills were proficient. When the girl saw tonight's flower guests, she looked reluctant. Zhizhi smiled and said: "He is only paying for prostitution. Sister, you can just rest assured. Drink, sing, and talk until dawn. Why not!"
The florist and the girl went upstairs.
The next step is to have fun behind closed doors, drinking and talking, which makes people endlessly daydreaming.
