Chapter 10 News (Part 1)
I haven't seen Sujialou for half a month, and it has changed a lot. The newly opened tables are in good order, and there are many customers coming and going. Basically, 60% of the seats are full, which is very good. At several tables, people are already 50% to 70% drunk and talking loudly.
As soon as he entered the restaurant, he saw a young man on duty. The young man also saw Zhang Xuanning, and he hurried forward: "Hello, Master Xiang."
Zhang Xuanning still remembered him. He was one of the four young men specially sent by Xiangkou to serve Master Su, so he asked calmly, "Akang, is everything ok? Where is Master Su?"
"Master Su is in the secluded room on the second floor." A Kang answered respectfully, paused, and said: "Master Yan is in there today!"
"Go and tell Master Su if it's appropriate to see me?" Zhang Xuanning stopped. Yan Zhao was one of the four helmsmen of Fengzhu Hall, with five hundred brothers under him. How could he have the time to come here?
"Yes, I'll go right away." A Kang responded. He hurriedly passed through the crowd and went upstairs. Not long after, he came down again: "Master Su asked you to come over."
"Gao Zhandao, you take a rest here first. I'll call you if there's anything." Zhang Xuanning turned around and said, "Akang, this is Brother Gao, the leader of the fourth team. You can serve him!"
Both of them agreed. A Kang quickly brought a pot of wine, some dried meat, and two stir-fried dishes, and sat down at a seat in the corner without attracting anyone's attention.
Zhang Xuanning went upstairs. There was a small room upstairs, which basically did not entertain guests. It was usually used by some relatively special people. Only those who were allowed to enter could enter. At the door, he saw two guards, both of whom were holding two bamboos. When they saw Zhang Xuanning, they nodded and let him in.
"Greetings to father and Uncle Yan." Zhang Xuanning said respectfully as he entered. What caught his eye was a table full of dishes. Yan Zhao and Master Su were sitting on each side, and Yan Zhao was pouring wine into his throat.
"Xuan Ning, you did a good job. Did you transport the salt back?" Yan Zhao called his name affectionately. "I heard that you subdued a group of pirates on your way back?"
"Yes, thanks to Uncle Yan, we were able to get the goods smoothly. As for the pirates, they had always admired the reputation of our Bamboo Flower Gang, so my nephew was able to subdue them so smoothly." Zhang Xuanning was shocked and answered. He didn't expect the news to be transmitted so quickly.
"Come, sit down and have a drink with me, don't be shy." Yan Zhao said.
"Yes, I'd like to offer a glass to father and Uncle Yan." Zhang Xuanning first poured wine for the two of them, then raised the glass to toast them and drank it in one gulp. Although the alcohol content was not high, it was quite good and it went down the throat and landed in the esophagus and stomach.
After the wine was served, Zhang Xuanning sat down without saying much. He listened to the conversation between the two men. It was obvious that the two men were already a little drunk. Yan Zhao complained drunkenly, "Brother, this place is still good. Business is really good. At least three thousand taels of silver a year, right? I built a , which cost two thousand taels, but after half a year, the business is not very good. I can barely break even. If you count the wine and food for the brothers, I'm even losing money!"
"Just hire a few more good chefs." Master Su said with a smile, "Brother, I hired a few good chefs, so the business is good!"
"It's no use hiring a good chef. After all, the place I manage is in the county, and it's not as lively as Yangzhou." Yan Zhao understood this in his mind and said.
Zhang Xuanning listened quietly, knowing in his heart that collecting protection money was not acceptable. Except for gangs that monopolized some huge profits such as salt and iron, other gangs still had to have an economic system if they wanted to support so many members - money houses, pawnshops, restaurants, ordinary stores, wineries, oil mills , rice mills, inns, gambling houses, private salt lines, etc.
Fortunately, this world is not the Sui Dynasty in history. Not only is the economy in the south prosperous, but the economic level and model are also quite advanced, so it is able to support tens of thousands of gangs. But even so, the actual combat members are only about 20% of them. After all, most of them are industry personnel, not specialized combat gangs.
"I heard that you had some friction with the Qingyi Gang?" As he was talking, Master Su ended here.
"Yes, my brothers are fighting for business and territory, which makes things quite unhappy. However, in the local Hukou County, they are the local tyrants with great power and are in league with the government. If they really start fighting, I'm afraid we may not be able to survive. So, let's just leave it alone!" Yan Zhao sighed and said, "It's true that our Zhuhua Gang has four halls and fifteen helms, but they are distributed all over the place, and it's not up to me, the helmsman, to transfer them. Moreover, although the other party is not a member of the Haisha Gang, it is also its subordinate gang. It is complicated and difficult to swallow it all at once."
"Then take your time!" said Master Su.
"That's the only way." Yan Zhao picked up a glass of wine and drank it again: "But the brothers below still need me to suppress them. If there is a conflict, it will be difficult for me to deal with it!"
At this moment, there was a burst of hurried footsteps outside the door. After a few crisp knocks, the door opened by itself before anyone inside could open it.
"Mu Changhua, you came in such a hurry, is there something wrong?" Yan Zhao frowned and wanted to get angry, but when he saw that it was Mu Changhua, the incense master he valued the most, he immediately suppressed his anger.
Mu Changhua bowed but said nothing.
"Don't worry, everyone here is your brother."
"Yes, Captain, this morning, our Fourth Fragrance had a conflict with the Qingyi Gang."
"So what if there's a conflict? These guys won't feel comfortable until they cause me trouble." Yan Zhao picked up a piece of beef and said, "Come on, Mu Changhua, sit down and eat. I'll teach them a lesson when I get back."
"But the incense master Wei Qi is dead."
"What, what did you say?" Yan Zhao stood up immediately after hearing this, and even knocked over two plates, but of course he didn't care at this time: "What is the specific situation? How did it develop to this extent? Tell me."
"Captain, you know, in the past few months, our power in Hukou County has grown, so we have been in small-scale conflicts with the Qingyi Gang. This kind of conflict is normal and can also train our brothers, so we have not interfered. But this morning, Wei Qi was ambushed when he went out for inspection. Wei Qi died on the spot, and eight brothers also died."
"Immediately afterwards, our forces in Hukou County were uprooted, and twenty-three brothers were killed, eleven of whom were captured and beheaded by the government. It was obvious that this was not an accidental conflict."
Yan Zhao turned around with a gloomy face, then said, "Whether it was an accidental conflict or not, if he kills our Xiangzhu, there is only one way out, which is war. Why does he have such courage? Is the Haisha Gang, its backer, going to take action as well?"
Small conflicts between the two gangs happen all the time and are not uncommon, but generally speaking, those who die or get injured are the younger brothers at the lower levels. Even if they can be killed, the incense master-level personnel are generally not killed, because killing them means the outbreak of a real all-out war between the two gangs.
