One day ago, Laizhou Gambling House.
Today's gambling house is as lively as ever. Under the instructions of Andre, the foreign owner of Laizhou Gambling House, Shen Fang took the new "big gambling supervisor" Xu Gong to familiarize himself with all aspects of the casino environment, and by the way, he shared some of the things he learned when he left office. Transactions and ledgers are handed over to the other party.
But there was a noise at the door, and a group of officers and soldiers filed in. The officers and soldiers in the front row were also familiar with the road. They walked directly through the crowd and walked to the back door to guard it, catching all the gamblers who wanted to slip away and default on their debts while taking advantage of the chaos. Blocked at the door.
The officers and soldiers at the end of the team lined up in two rows at the front door. They all held the sabers on their waists. Their faces were full of ferocity, and their brows were full of evil. Under the passage, the leader who was walking at the end entered the door. Come.
"What...what's going on?" Xu Gong has only been in office for a few days, so how do you know what he is doing? After hesitating for a moment, he looked at Shen Fang - it doesn't mean that he has never seen the world. He has seen a lot of such scenes, but he didn't know that these officers and soldiers came for the gambling house. It was someone who came.
"Brother Du, what kind of wind has brought you here?" Although this line sounds like a brothel madam, people in the food, drink, prostitution and gambling industries basically use the same words. Seeing the leader show up, Shen Fang He walked towards Du Captou with his arms crossed.
This Du Captou looked to be in his forties, and his general belly was already very prominent. He held a handkerchief in his right hand and kept wiping his sweat. He pressed down in all directions with his left hand and replied with a smile: "Routine Check, routine check!"
Faced with Capt. Du's remarks, the old gamblers in Laizhou Gambling House looked at each other. Some of the hot-tempered and high-status ones couldn't help but reveal imperceptible sneers on their faces - "Don't worry about you, Lao Du." The catcher or the soldier under his command, which one is not a frequent visitor to the gambling house? Isn't the routine inspection on weekdays that you, Lao Du, bring two big soldiers to the casino to hang out and play cards to mop up some profit? Is it possible to offend so many people in Wuyangyang? What about fools?
"Brother Du, we have known each other for such a long time and have a good friendship - is it really a routine inspection to bring so many people here?" Shen Fang hugged Du Captou's shoulders.
"Aha...Brother Shen, you misunderstood - isn't this all caused by the martial arts conference? There are so many Jianghu people here, and the superiors said that if something happens, just three or two people can't suppress it." Du Captou He seemed to be a good talker and explained to Shen Fang in a low voice.
This explanation is also very reasonable. Shen Fang nodded slightly, and then shouted loudly to a room full of gamblers: "Listen clearly, Capt. Du said it is just a routine inspection, just do whatever you need to do!"
It has to be said that as soon as he stepped into the threshold of Laizhou Gambling House, Shen Fang's words had the final say. The crowd that had been chattering just now immediately calmed down a lot. The gamblers returned to their original positions and bowed their heads in the corner. Those who were hiding found their places anyway, but the officers and soldiers shuttled back and forth so that everyone was no longer in the mood to gamble.
"By the way, Brother Shen, I have one more thing to talk to you about your gambling shop." Du Captou saw that the situation was under control, so he pulled Shen Fang and motioned for him to follow him to the side.
"It's so mysterious, it's a business and a private matter? Then you have to wait for me to arrange for my younger brothers to entertain your younger brothers." Shen Fang hugged his arms and smiled, and then directed his servants: "Leopard, Shunzi, stay with me." Gentlemen, take a walk. Remember, if we don’t do anything bad, we won’t be afraid of ghosts knocking on the door. Gentlemen, please don’t stop us from seeing anything, otherwise it will appear that we are guilty.”
"It should be regarded as official business." After Shen Fang settled the errands of his men, Du Captou replied seriously, but there was an unspeakable look on his face.
"If it's official business, then you can find him." Hearing this, Shen Fang casually pulled up a stool and sat down, pointing to Xu Gong beside him.
Du Captou was also stunned. Laizhou Gambling House has always had the final say with the Chief Gambling Supervisor. What does it mean to hire someone else for official business? But he didn't ask explicitly: "This brother looks unfamiliar...doesn't he look like a local?"
Xu Gong was about to introduce himself to his family, but Shen Fang was the first to introduce him: "This is Xu Gong, the new chief supervisor of the gambling house - a member of the boss's family. However, he has just arrived, so even if I have resigned, I still have to get him familiar with it." Familiar with the work."
The amount of information in just one sentence was so large that Mr. Du was silent for a moment, then tapped his fingers on the table of the counter: "Since Laizhou Gambling House has changed its chief gambling supervisor, it is not appropriate for me to approach any of you alone. So let me put it bluntly - there is an order from above that your taxes will be increased by 10% from now on."
After hearing the news, both Shen Fang and Xu Gong's expressions changed significantly. Obviously they knew what this 10% meant.
The tax laws of the Sheng Kingdom have changed many times since Qi Changgeng came to the throne. The current tax rate is that farmers in most areas should pay two bushels of rice per mu of land per year, craftsmen should pay eight taxes and one tax per year, and merchants should pay five taxes and one tax per year. , some wealthy areas have to pay one or two more buckets of grain per acre of land. As for brothels, gambling houses, gourmet restaurants, high-end restaurants, etc., the tax rate is as high as four-tenths. Without it, the profit is too much. If Mr. Wang and Sun drank too much, he might be able to earn as much as an average family of four or five in a year in one night.
And what does a 10% increase mean? This means that in the future it will be a 50-50 split.
"Oh... Then the extra 0%, did all gambling houses increase, or is it just our Laizhou gambling house?" The question Shen Fang asked is very critical, and the answer to the question will determine the future "wind direction", not to mention It is said that Laizhou Gambling House had to spend nearly 10% of its income on ups and downs every year, which is equivalent to half of the income it originally received.
"Well... several big gambling houses, including ours, are like this, but other small shops don't have it." Du Captou has a lot of reasons for being shy - he gets a lot every year, and it's good news. He has never done it before, so he still has to do the bad things.
Shen Fang has been a gambling supervisor for ten years. He knows very well the harvest of Laizhou Gambling House. Even a 10% figure will be particularly eye-catching if it is shown. And Xu Gong was born in a businessman's family. Although he is still I haven't looked at the general ledger of the past ten years, but when I heard that the government was going to increase the tax rate by 10%, I already knew in my heart that this Laizhou gambling house was a good job. I couldn't help but feel happy and annoyed. I was so happy that it was a blessing in disguise that I was free and wealthy. position, I was annoyed that I hadn't come under Andre's staff earlier, why did I have to follow that madman Samson.
For businessmen like Xu Gong, many people regard this sentence as a golden rule - if you can't pick it up, it's not lost. Xu Gong was even more unlucky to lose four fingers.
"We honor a lot of people above us every year..." Shen Fang lit the tobacco and took a long puff: "This is a casino, not a temple of merit."
Du Captou also laughed twice and said no more - the other person was considered a good person, but it was impossible for him to open the door for others to take less.
At this moment, Leopard and Shunzi led the inspecting officers and soldiers downstairs in disgrace.
"Supervisor Shen, could you please open the locked door upstairs for us?" The officer was Captain Du's deputy. He first lay next to Old Du's ear and whispered something, and then walked up to Shen Fang.
"Door? What door? The doors upstairs are usually unlocked?" Shen Fang was stunned for a moment. Except for the distinguished guests who asked Shen Fang to accompany him twice, the doors of several rooms upstairs were never locked. .
"The innermost room." the deputy commander reminded.
When he mentioned the innermost room, Xu Gong's face instantly turned ugly: "The innermost room is our boss's room - there's nothing to check there, right?"
"The order we received is a 'thorough investigation', so please make it easier." The deputy commander's attitude was very tough, and his right hand was already pressed on the handle of the knife at his waist.
"What order? Who gave the order?" Xu Gong was a little anxious.
"Me." At this moment, another person walked in at the gate. This person was quite young. Xu Gong thought he was about the same age as himself.
"Are you..." Xu Gong asked tentatively.
"Don't ask if you shouldn't ask. Now I will give you two choices - first, open the door and let us check. After checking, we will do business and leave when it's time; second, let's break the door to check, and then Take this guy who is obstructing official business to the Yamen together." Zhao Xike was too lazy to talk nonsense with him and directly gave him two choices.
Xu Gong absolutely did not dare to open the door and let the police search, because he also knew that there was something ulterior in Andre's room, but if he blocked it with a very strong attitude, he might not be able to avoid being beaten. After a pause, the matter has come to this, and he can only take a roundabout way for the time being: "Sir, this locked room is the owner's room. He is not here at the moment. You might as well wait for a while until I send someone... "
Zhao Xike didn't even wait for Xu Gong to finish his nonsense, and waved directly to the deputy commander: "Break the door."
As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Gong stood up. Zhao Xike, with quick eyes and quick hands, held him down and ordered people to tie Xu Gong up, while the deputy commander went upstairs with several police officers. The people in the lobby on the first floor of the gambling house immediately fell silent and secretly watched the show here.
After waiting for a long time, the team of detectives came back. The deputy leader held a cloth bag as big as his head in his hand: "Sir, we found this."
Xu Gong looked up and his face suddenly turned pale, while Shen Fang had a trace of curiosity on his face, as if he didn't know what was in the bag before it was presented to Zhao Xike as evidence.
"You are the former chief gambler of Laizhou Gambling House, right?" Zhao Xike acted as if he had never met Shen Fang and had just heard about it from Du Captou. He opened the bag and looked inside. He glanced at the thing, then took it to Shen Fang and shook it: "Come with us for a walk!"
