Chapter 61: Ancient Swindlers
The housekeeper really stopped and said to Su Luo and the others viciously: "Our boss is here, you will suffer the consequences soon!"
Su Luo snorted. With Yun Lang by her side, she was not afraid of anything.
Looking over, a slightly fat middle-aged man with seven or eight people were walking along the bluestone path. The man was dressed like a scholar, wearing a six-handed scarf on his head, and had a bit of a Confucian temperament, but Su Luo always felt that he had a dark aura, like a legal advisor to a gang, who used all his knowledge to give bad guys dirty tricks. As lectured the people behind him, saying that they must find out where the other party came from before taking action in the future. Do you know who that person was yesterday? If you don't do it well, it will cause trouble for the master!
The few people following behind him all had bruised faces and noses, but they still had to bow their heads and say yes. Su Luo couldn't help but think that this casino industry was not easy to do. It was okay to bully honest people at ordinary times, but if you met someone with a backer, you would still get beaten.
In a blink of an eye, the owner came to the foot of the rockery, stared at Su Luo with a frown, and asked the housekeeper, "What's going on?"
The housekeeper angrily and proudly exaggerated the misdeeds of Su Luo and others. Before Su Luo had time to refute, the housekeeper waved his hand and said impatiently: "Country people have never seen the world. If they want to see more, let them see more."
Su Luo was immediately furious. Of course, there were people who got angrier than her. Yun Lang had already yelled, "What's wrong with being a country bumpkin? If I'm in a good mood, I'll come over to look at your house. If I'm not in a good mood, I'll just bring my brothers to smash your kiln. You watchdog has dog eyes, but your boss doesn't have human eyes either!"
Su Luo nudged him with her elbow and said, "Pay attention to your manners."
Yun Lang snorted, jumped off the rockery, turned around and shouted to Su Luo: "Jump down."
Su Luo hesitated for a long time, but still felt that it was safer to climb down. When she was halfway up the rockery, Yun Lang jumped up and grabbed Su Luo's collar and pulled her down. Turning back, the host had changed his face and bowed to Yun Lang, "Who is this hero?"
There was a hidden meaning in what Yun Lang said just now. The boss couldn't figure out Yun Lang's background, so his attitude changed. It was a pity that he had just taught the people behind him a lesson when he fell into trouble.
Of course, Yun Lang's background could not be revealed. If he didn't tell anyone, the boss would think that he had an extraordinary background and kept saying that if Yingxiong was interested in the house, the price could be negotiated and they could just make friends.
Su Luo quickly jumped out of Yun Lang's hand and asked, "How much is the price?"
When she jumped, something accidentally rolled out of her arms. It was shining with golden light. Su Luo reached out to grab it, but it was too late. The thing fell to the bluestone road with a crisp "clang".
Everyone's attention was drawn to it. It was a small sign with a roaring tiger head engraved on the upper side.
The person following behind the boss suddenly changed his expression and stepped forward and whispered something. The boss was quite surprised and stared at Su Luo for a long time. Finally, he bowed and asked if he could see the gold medal.
This was originally a prop that Su Luo brought with him for emergencies, to scare people at critical moments, and it really came in handy. Su Luo picked up the gold medal and threw it over. Yun Lang and Zhou Chongwen both looked puzzled, and Su Luo secretly pinched them, signaling them to be quiet.
The owner's face was not so good when he held the token. He whispered to the person behind him, "Are you sure it's this?"
The man with swollen eyes behind him took it and looked at it carefully, then nodded vigorously, "This is what the person who fought with us yesterday took."
The host's attitude suddenly changed 180 degrees. He handed the gold medal back to Su Luo with both hands and said with a smile: "My name is Yang Cheng. I was rude just now. Please forgive me. Please have some tea in the front hall."
Zhou Chongwen took the token from Su Luo's hand, flipped through it, and frowned slightly. Yun Lang snorted, "That's pretty good."
"We have something else to do." Su Luo pulled Yun Lang and said, "Just pretend, don't go too far."
However, Yang Cheng was extremely enthusiastic and insisted on taking everyone to the front hall. Su Luo had no choice but to agree. When leaving, she deliberately lagged behind and secretly asked Zhou Chongwen what was written on the token.
"Xuanfu General's Mansion." Zhou Chongwen stuffed the token back into Su Luo's hand. "Xuanfu General Li Rusong, the son of Liaodong Governor Li Chengliang, is a remarkable figure."
Su Luo was stunned for a moment. She actually knew this person, Li Rusong.
Speaking of history, Su Luo didn't know much about other dynasties except the pigtail dynasty that had been overly shown on TV. Even if she knew some anecdotes about celebrities, she only knew about a vague era and couldn't accurately identify them. However, she knew Li Chengliang and his son very clearly.
It all originated from their hometown, Tieling Wei. More than four hundred years later, this place would produce a peasant comedian who was extremely popular among the people. It was because of a sketch that Su Luo accidentally looked up some historical celebrities in Tieling, including Li Chengliang and his son Li Rusong.
There is a saying that Qi Jiguang is in the southeast and Li Chengliang is in the northeast. Although Qi Jiguang's military management skills and achievements in pacifying the Japanese are more praised by later generations, at that time, Li Chengliang's reputation far surpassed his. In an era when generals and officials were greedy and cowardly, and border defenses were neglected, Li Chengliang traveled across the northern border for more than 40 years. The northern nomadic tribes that claimed to have iron cavalry were all frightened by him and fled when they heard his name. Nurhaci's father died in his hands, and that was not all. In the eleventh year of Wanli, Li Chengliang captured Nurhaci and his brother Shuerhachi alive. Later, it was said that it was because Li Chengliang's wife fell in love with the two brothers and secretly released them. So sometimes women are really unreliable. If he hadn't coveted a pretty boy at the time, there would probably not have been any of Nurhaci's seven hatreds, and the history of the Qing Dynasty would have been rewritten.
Speaking of Li Chengliang's achievements, it would take more than 10,000 words to write about them. The biography of Li Chengliang in the History of Ming Dynasty is basically a dazzling history of military exploits. As for why Li Chengliang's name was not as loud as Qi Jiguang's , it had something to do with his personality. At that time, Wanli was the great emperor in Beijing, and Li Chengliang was the little emperor in the northeast. The Ming Dynasty had a "military settlement" system, which meant that soldiers went to the military settlement to farm when there was no war, and went to fight when there was a war, which could greatly save military expenses. In theory, the military settlement belonged to the country, and the grain grown was also the country's. There would definitely be corruption, but the land was still there. Li Chengliang directly divided the military settlement and distributed it to his soldiers. Throughout the country, only his soldiers were landlords. Dividing the state land privately could be charged with rebellion, but no one in the court dared to say no. There were people who said it before, but they were scolded by the emperor and the memorial was sent back. There is no way. Without Li Chengliang, the Northeast will be useless and it will be difficult to be the emperor.
As for Li Rusong, generally speaking, it is difficult for a son to be outstanding with such a father, but the Li family has always adhered to the principle that a tiger father will have a dog son. Li Chengliang is crazy, and Li Rusong is even crazier than his father. Basically, he does whatever he wants, and no one can stop him, and no one dares to stop him. Of course, this is partly due to Li Chengliang, but Li Rusong is also a man who speaks with strength.
Words like "brave and good at fighting" have been used too much. Let's put it this way. He was the youngest general during the Wanli period. In modern terms, a general is the commander-in-chief of a local military region. Who has ever seen a commander-in-chief in his twenties? And the commander-in-chief is nothing. We have to look at the place he guarded, Xuanfu, which was one of the border fortresses of the Ming Dynasty. People who only relied on their father's influence would not be placed here.
Among Li Rusong's glorious war history, the one that left the deepest impression on Su Luo was the war in the 20th year of Wanli, when Toyotomi Hideyoshi launched the Korean War and attempted to use Korea as a springboard to conquer China and India. The King of Korea at that time was worse than tofu dregs. In just a few days, even the capital was captured and he could only ask for help from the Ming Dynasty. With such a scumbag opponent, it is no wonder that Toyotomi Hideyoshi's dream at that time was to conquer the world. However, his dream only lasted for one year. Li Rusong returned triumphantly a year later and recovered all the lost territory of Korea.
By the way, hundreds of years later, Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s grandson’s grandson’s grandson also had the same dream as his grandfather’s grandfather’s grandfather. The result is self-evident. So dreaming is hereditary, and the consequences of dreaming are also hereditary.
Su Luo patted his head. He had never expected that Qin Huai would hook up with such a powerful person. With such a background, it would be hard for him not to succeed! It seemed that he had to grasp this line well and ask Qin Huai to introduce him to someone later.
Everyone came to a spacious hall. Yang Cheng first asked someone to serve tea. After everyone was seated, he asked Su Luo if he really liked this house.
Su Luo now has a lot more confidence in her mind. Qin Huai's friends are her friends, and Qin Huai's backers... cough! They are her backers. From what Yang Cheng said, it seems that the price is negotiable. It's easier to get things done with a background! That's right, this house was originally acquired by collecting debts. With the money-making method of loan sharks, they didn't spend much money to get this house.
Su Luo pretended to be silent for a while before saying, "The location is not bad, but the price is..."
"We are all family, so what's the price?" Yang Chengyi bowed, "To be honest, I am the manager of the Hongyun Casino in the city, and our boss's brother is the prefect of Yingtian Prefecture."
What Yang Cheng said was like revealing the truth. The so-called boss was the younger brother of the prefect of Yingtian. In fact, the big boss behind the gambling house was the prefect of Yingtian. Su Luo could still figure this out.
Su Luo scratched his chin, then smiled and bowed, "We are all doing things for the leaders, it's not easy."
By saying this, she undoubtedly admitted that she was from the "Xuanfu General's Mansion" and was working for a "leader". It was self-evident who this leader was.
Yang Cheng nodded quickly, and then complained about the difficulty of work, hoping to form an alliance with Su Luo on the same front. It was not until the end that he asked: "I wonder who you bought this house for?"
Su Luo waved his hand and said, "I'm sorry, brother, I can't say more. I can only say that we can't afford to live in such an expensive house." Su Luo deliberately made his words ambiguous, leaving more room for speculation.
Sure enough, Yang Cheng slapped his forehead and said, "I was too talkative."
At this point, Su Luo didn't want to come here in vain, and sighed, "It's really not easy to work for someone like us. We have to do what our superiors say, and we only get so little money... Alas!"
Yang Cheng didn't say anything. He stood up and said a few words to the housekeeper, then turned to Su Luo and said, "Since you have come to me, as a brother, I cannot make things difficult for you. Just do the job as usual. As for the money, you don't have to worry about it."
This statement is too debatable. Su Luo gave a fake smile and said, "Let me ask you something. I am also a servant, so can I be the master of this house?"
"Don't worry, brother. My master has admired the general for a long time. Not to mention a house worth ten thousand taels, I can also decide on ten houses. I don't ask for anything else. I just ask you to say a few good words for my master when you report back."
It was a blatant bribe, but as the saying goes, if you don't take advantage of an opportunity, you're a jerk. Su Luo naturally had to take advantage of the opportunity. "Brother, I won't refuse your kindness, but I can't let you lose too much. I'll leave the money at my place, and I'll send someone to get it. Is that okay?"
As she said this, she was fiddling with the token of the General's Mansion in her hand as if unintentionally. Zhou Chongwen moved visibly uneasily in his seat. Yun Lang kicked him, turned his head and told him with his mouth: You're a bastard if you don't take advantage of an opportunity!
Very good, it seems that Su’s employees all agree with this corporate philosophy.
Yang Cheng's face darkened, "Brother, don't you want to make friends with me?"
Since the other party was angry, Su Luo had to be sensible. In the end, the two sides reached an agreement. Su Luo handed over the silver he had on him as a token of his appreciation.
Su Luo took down the silver bag, which contained thirty taels of silver, all of which were of average quality. Yang Cheng didn't care. He didn't care about even ten thousand taels, let alone thirty taels. The housekeeper then handed over two agreements and a land deed. Su Luo's palms began to sweat a little at this time. She didn't know if this was considered a scam. What if this prefect saw Li Rusong in the future and said that I gave you a mansion? What should I do?
She looked back at the other six people sitting on the chairs. Except for Yunlang who was excited, the others all had cold sweats on their heads. The one who didn't understand the most was Old Li. He kept pulling Yunlang aside and whispered to him, "Who are we working for?"
In fact, Yun Lang didn't know, but he understood Old Li's intention very well, and whispered: "I can only publish your book because I took advantage of you."
Sure enough, Old Li no longer had any questions.
When signing the contract, Su Luo specifically asked, "Can the transaction amount be written as three thousand taels?"
The trick of issuing more invoices made Yang Cheng trust her even more. He gave a wink and asked the housekeeper to change it. Then he silently sighed in his heart that the Xuanfu general had a sharp eye and could tell at a glance that the house was only paid for three thousand taels.
After the contract was amended, Su Luo said, "This name can only be written as mine, not my 'boss'."
Yang Cheng was very loyal and patted his chest, "Of course, this house is sold to you, I don't know anything else."
After signing the contract, Su Luo rubbed his hand lightly on the paper before pressing his fingerprints. As a modern person, he still has a psychological trauma about fingerprints, so he made them a little blurry in case of future comparison.
Holding the title deed of the mansion, Su Luo declined Yang Cheng's invitation to the banquet in the name of "going back to report", and mysteriously told Yang Cheng to withdraw his people from the house as soon as possible, because the superiors might arrange for people to move in at any time. While speaking, Su Luo winked at Yang Cheng ambiguously, and Yang Cheng smiled knowingly. It seems that he thinks he has mastered some secrets that cannot be known to others - the romantic secrets about the Xuanfu general.
After leaving the mansion, Su Luo led everyone to take a few more detours before returning to the inn, in case Yang Cheng sent someone to watch them. The first thing Su Luo did after entering the house was to pull Zhou Chongwen into his room, lock the door, and reach into the collar.
Zhou Si was a little flustered, feeling both conflicted and expectant. Finally, he saw Su Luo take out a stack of papers from his arms and did not make any other moves, and he was a little disappointed.
Su Luo gave the title deed of the mansion to Zhou Chongwen and took out the contract, asking Zhou Chongwen to write another one accordingly, but changing the transaction amount to seven thousand taels.
Zhou Chongwen pointed at the name on the contract signed by Su Luo and asked, "Whose name is this?"
"Me." Su Luo answered without any guilt. At the same time, he was busy signing the same name on the Party A position of the new contract written by Zhou Si, and then asked Zhou Si to write Su Yi's name on the Party B position, creating a second-hand person out of thin air. This is called asset transfer. Even if there are any problems in the future, it will be easier to distance himself from the problem.
When Su Luo was writing the new contract, a rumor quietly spread in Nanjing City. Li Rusong, a famous general in the important city and the commander-in-chief of Xuanfu, spent a large sum of money to buy a mansion in Nanjing City. According to gossip, it was used to house his mistress.
Two days later…
Two men in black, exuding a cold and fierce aura, walked into a hidden house in the wealthy area of Nanjing City, walked all the way to the study, and knocked gently on the door. After a long time, a voice came from inside the door: "Come in."
Two men in black pushed the door open and entered. The room was warm as spring due to the charcoal fire. A man was leaning leisurely on the soft couch next to the bookshelf. He was only about 26 or 27 years old, with a perfect body proportion. His light wheat-colored skin shone with a healthy luster. He was handsome with a neat and handsome look. There was a bit of youthful arrogance between his eyebrows, which was suppressed by the cold and quiet in his eyes. These two almost contradictory temperaments were perfectly integrated in him, which also brought him a sense of mystery that was hard to fathom.
At this moment, he was reading a book very intently. The two men in black came into the room, but they did not dare to disturb him. They stood respectfully with their hands lowered.
"Did you find out?" The man on the couch still had his eyes on the book. His voice was cold, which was particularly pleasant in this warm room.
"Yes." One of the men in black took out a paper envelope from his arms and handed it to the person on the couch with both hands. "This is the contract. The people from Hongsheng Casino said that there were seven people, two of whom were neither male nor female. Young master, could it be that the factory guards are causing trouble?"
The man on the couch put down the book in his hand, but did not take the envelope. He picked up the wine glass on the small table beside the couch and drank slowly. After a while, he shook his head gently, "They don't have the courage, nor are they so bored."
The man in black added, "The signature on this contract is very strange." He then took out the contract from the envelope and unfolded it in front of the man.
The man on the couch looked at the contract, biting the wine glass and slowly tilting his head back, letting the wine slide into his mouth casually. It must be said that he looked very handsome. But the next second, the wine glass and the wine in his mouth sprayed out, choking and making his face red.
The man in black at the side wanted to step forward to help, but then he remembered that the young master didn't like others to touch him, and he was at a loss for a moment. The contract in his hand fell to the ground. On the contract, four big, crooked words were written in the place of Party B's signature: Bill Gates.
