Chapter 3: Worship (Part 2)
There is not much to say about the future. After all, Master Su used to be the deputy hall master and has a high seniority. Now Zhang Xuanning is also the deputy incense master. Compared with some of the incense masters who came before, he is not much inferior. What's more, most of the incense masters who came today are Master Su's former subordinates, so of course they are more polite.
After several rounds of drinking, Zhang Xuanning became dizzy after drinking three times, which made many incense masters laugh.
"Brother Zhang is still young after all, so I will let you go today. There won't be such a good thing in the future." A incense master laughed, but he saw the signal of Master Su.
When Zhang Xuanning heard the incense master say this, he immediately understood the meaning of his concern and became even more hesitant. After apologizing, he went downstairs, went to his room and lay down on the bed.
In fact, Zhang Xuanning was not drunk yet. After all, the alcohol content was still low, not as strong as the white liquor of later generations. It's just that there are many things that need to be carefully measured.
The first thing is that the Bamboo Flower Gang is very powerful, with tens of thousands of members, and spread across several nearby counties. Why didn't they establish any gangs in Yangzhou? They didn't even have a rudder, and they barely had some peripheral forces.
You know, at that time, Yangzhou, by going east along the Yangtze River, could actually go directly to Japan, Ryukyu and the South Seas, and became one of the most important transfer stations for the country's external affairs, busier and more tense than any other city, not to mention that the ships on it could carry hundreds of tons!
If we build a church here, the profits will be very considerable!
After much thought, there are probably only two factors. First, Yangzhou is located in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, close to the Huai River, with convenient transportation, and increasingly important military and economic status. During the Three Kingdoms period, it became a place of fierce competition between Wei and Wu. During the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties, Yangzhou was the "king's capital", so it was the focus of the court's supervision, and it was difficult for gangs to grow.
Secondly, this place already has an owner. The martial arts halls and dojos are actually another kind of underworld force. The more than ten martial arts halls and dojos in the city have already controlled the underworld forces in the entire city. Moreover, there is the Shilong martial arts hall of Yangzhou's number one master, Shilong the Mountain Pusher. This person is a first-rate master with many disciples. Even the gang leader Yin Kaishan would find it difficult to take him down, so it would be difficult for the Bamboo Flower Gang to intervene.
He became the deputy incense master from the very beginning. One reason was that the gang leader remembered their old friendship, and the other was that he planned to use the local forces in Yangzhou to slowly establish a foothold in Yangzhou city!
There are more than a thousand people in the hall, more than three hundred people in the rudder, and only dozens or a hundred people in the incense. It seems that the gang is a little cautious and dare not make a big move at the beginning. It would be best if they can succeed. If not, it will only be the loss of an insignificant chess piece. After understanding this, Zhang Xuanning couldn't help laughing.
Just when he was drowsy, he heard a noise outside. Zhang Xuanning got up quickly. It turned out to be Master Su.
"Why, are you sober now? I see you only drank and didn't eat anything, so I brought some to fill your stomach. Come, let's talk a little."
"How can I ask father to bring the dishes?" Zhang Xuanning hurriedly went to greet him. A small table was placed on the fire pit, and the dishes were quickly brought up. It turned out to be a braised white fish, a plate of peanuts, a plate of meat slices, a small bottle of wine, and two small cups.
Touching the dishes and wine, they were both hot. Zhang Xuanning was grateful for his kindness and felt warm in his heart. He invited Master Su to the pit, asked him to sit down, covered his legs with a thin blanket, and then poured him another glass. The father and son drank from the glass together. Fortunately, it was rice wine, sweet and light in taste.
The two of them drank, ate, and chatted. After a few drinks, Master Su said seriously, "I didn't expect the gang leader to appoint you as the deputy incense master. I wanted to gain experience for a few years before that. You are still too young to be in this position all of a sudden."
"Yes, I also think that this matter is a little too hasty. If I had received my father's teachings day and night in another three years, I could have been the deputy incense master or even the deputy helmsman. But now, I don't know anything. I have been appointed as the deputy incense master all of a sudden. It seems that I am not even as good as the incense master. I am also confused!" Zhang Xuanning said in a low voice, with an extremely humble look and a distressed expression: "I was stunned when I accepted the appointment, but it was not easy to refute the orders of the gang leader and the hall master. It is difficult for us to judge the ideas of the gang leader and the hall master. It would be bad if we mess up the important matters of the gang leader and the hall master."
When talking about the first half, Master Su nodded repeatedly, but when he spoke the second half, Master Su was stunned, and then he pondered for a while, as if he had some understanding.
"I know that my talent and prestige are shallow, and I cannot be the incense master. But I think, in this huge city of Yangzhou, there must be people in the huge gang. I just need to listen to the gang leader, the hall master, and my father, do my own thing, and be willing to sacrifice my life. That's enough. Thinking this way, father, do you think it's right?" Zhang Xuanning said.
"Yes, that's right, that's right." Master Su came to his senses after being hinted at by him.
Although he had not been well- and his martial arts skills were not very good, he had been in the gang for decades after all. He did not know the overall situation in Yangzhou City, but he knew the details. Based on this, he also vaguely understood the gang's intentions.
"So what exactly are you going to do?"
"Although no one has been sent from the hall now, I believe the gang must have their own arrangements and intentions. I'm young now, so I'll set up the incense shop first. Some young men still have great potential. I can recruit them first and build a street first." Zhang Xuanning said slowly.
"I feel relieved that my son is so cautious. Ah, I've had some wine and I'm going to sleep for a while." Master Su nodded and said, "Well, this is the sword manual sent by the gang leader. Back then, the gang leader relied on one sword and one person to lay the foundation for his business. You should learn from him carefully."
"Yes, I understand. Father, I will give it to you."
After sending Master Su out, he came back to his senses, took out the sword manual and began to study it.
Yin Kaishan was just a branch of a small family, but he had great ambitions since he was young. Occasionally, he had the opportunity to learn some martial arts, and after studying them carefully, he made a name for himself.
Yin Kaishan started his business at the age of sixteen, from scratch. Over the past twenty years, he built a group of tens of thousands of people. His talent is certainly extraordinary, and the sword techniques he created are mostly for practical combat.
In the sword manual, the inner strength is the simplest. After all, it is a secret that is not to be passed on, so only the most superficial level is mentioned above. Secondly, the body movement and swordsmanship are explained relatively clearly, using the most common language.
At a glance, Zhang Xuanning's original body began to practice internal energy from the age of four until the age of fourteen. He practiced this method every day, so his memory was the deepest and it was also very solid in his residual memory. Therefore, he basically acquired all he had learned. There were three levels in total, which were of course much more profound and effective than this.
As for body movements and swordsmanship, they were not the focus of the original physical training, so Zhang Xuanning did not remember much. This had always troubled him for a long time, and now it was truly a timely help.
Especially in Zhang Xuanning's opinion, the so-called body movement and swordsmanship must be practical, and Yin Kaishan has experienced more than 200 battles, so the swordsmanship he acquired is of course extremely practical. Even if he has not practiced it in practice, from his description, he knows that every time he chops with the sword, he considers the maximum lethality. There are not many swordsmanship techniques, only twelve moves, but he has already grasped the true meaning of the swordsmanship.
Zhang Xuanning once remembered that he had read: During the Anti-Japanese War, there were only eight practical sword techniques in bayonet fighting with the Japs, and the rest were all fancy moves.
Even though this world has changed a lot because of internal forces, I guess the basics are still these!
I was so engrossed in reading that I finished reading a few thin pages until a candle was lit. Only then did I realize that I was tired of sitting there and the kang was almost cold.
"The long road ahead is as hard as iron, but now we start over again!" I closed these thin pages, got off the kang, and walked outside. Although I felt the biting cold wind outside, the moonlight was like water. When I read this sentence, I felt that my mind was as free as the sky and my energy was as bright as a rainbow. The enterprising spirit of life is all contained in these fourteen words.
All the resentment in my heart from enduring humiliation and bearing heavy burdens for the past six months suddenly disappeared at this moment.
