A knife in love

Chapter 1292

Shopkeeper Hu and the others hastily agreed, saying that Xiao Dong had come forward in person, how could Li Zhisheng and Master Pan dare not do their best to help?In the final analysis, it was Xiao Dongen's combination of power and force that made the magistrate of Dongliao County not dare to underestimate himself and his party.With Xiao Dong presiding over the important event, the big ship will be recovered soon.At that time, the anchor will be lifted and set off to Fusang. Everyone will earn a lot of money, all thanks to Master Xiao's blessing.

All of a sudden, everyone was full of flattery, and all the top hats flew on Xiao Dong's head.Being praised by everyone, Xiao Dong smiled, and said: "The shopkeepers are too high on Xiao. As the saying goes, although the flowers are beautiful, they need green leaves to support them. If it weren't for the efforts of the shopkeepers, Xiao alone would What can one person accomplish?"

Shopkeeper Hu took a step forward, and said in his mouth: "As the saying goes, if Mr. Xiao hadn't drawn us a path, everyone would be blind. I'm afraid they would have fallen into the ditch long ago. How can we still make a fortune? This is a good opportunity? So to trace the origin, I would like to thank Mr. Xiao for taking care of us."

Li Qiufeng and Zhang Shixin were clear-headed, knowing that shopkeeper Hu and others were afraid that Xiao Dong would reprimand everyone for gambling, so they flattered Xiao Dong desperately, hoping to make him happy and stop reprimanding everyone.Zhang Shi thought to himself, Lao Hu and others are also rich and powerful, but they are like grandsons in front of Xiao Dong.And Xiao Dong is just a minor official in the Firearms Bureau, so he has such power.It can be seen that having money is not as good as having power.As the saying goes, "The magistrate who breaks the family and the county magistrate who destroys the door" has been like this since ancient times.After this major event is completed and I return to Ningbo, I must quickly ask the great Confucianism to teach my sons who are useless, so that I can find an official position at that time, so that I will not be afraid of any troubles in the future.

It wasn't until Shopkeeper Hu and the others got tired of talking that Xiao Dong waved his hand and said, "Several shopkeepers are so high on Xiao, if Xiao doesn't lead everyone to get rich, it's too unreasonable. Everyone go back and rest first." , after Master Pan calls the patriarchs of those big families, Xiao will naturally ask them to do their best to find our big boat as soon as possible."

Everyone complimented Xiao Dong a few more words, and then left one after another.Li Qiufeng and Zhang Shi returned to the guest room, but Qin Laowu also followed in.He closed the door tightly, walked quickly to Zhang Shi, and said in a low voice: "Mr. Zhang, if the big boat is not found, we will lose all of our wealth and lives. The surname Xiao can only talk big, I'm afraid It’s not going to be easy.”

Zhang Shi was startled, and said in his mouth: "Old Wu, you don't have to worry so much. The surname Xiao suppressed the county magistrate of Dongliao County as a Beijing official, and these small officials would not dare to offend him. As long as the Dongliao County Yamen sent If people search with all their strength, they will definitely be able to find the big ship."

Qin Laowu shook his head, and said: "The thieves not only stole a dozen boats, but also took away hundreds of people on the shore. This is not something that ordinary thieves can do. I'm afraid it's the pirates. They plundered the wharf, escorted the people onto the big ship, then pulled anchor and set sail, leaving Dongliao County."

When Qin Laowu said this, his voice trembled slightly.I only heard him continue to say: "If this is the case, we only search in Dongliao County, wouldn't it be a waste of time to fetch water from the bamboo basket?"

Zhang Shi pondered for a moment, and then said: "Old Wu, you have been sailing for many years, and you know several times more about maritime affairs than Zhang. I have heard of it. But capturing poor people is something pirates would never do. We have all gone into the houses of those people on the shore of the pier. It can be said that there is nothing valuable except for a shabby quilt. The pirates took these people away, of course not for ransom. From Zhang's point of view, most of them were worried that these people would leak the news, so the thieves took them all away. Dongliao County is located in Liaodong, with Dongyi in the north and Dongyi in the north. The south is the sea, and the west is Shandong. The mast of our big ship is damaged. If it goes to the sea, it will be very risky. Unless the thieves die, they will never go out to sea. Thinking of this, Zhang, surnamed Xiao, naturally I will also think of it. This big ship is hidden somewhere on the coast of Dongliao County in all likelihood. It is extremely difficult for us to find it. However, the county magistrate of Dongliao County It will be much easier if the local big families are willing to provide their full assistance. They are local snakes, and they are very familiar with the terrain. Naturally, they know the ditches and ditches by the sea. Therefore, it is much better for them to look for it than for us to look for it ourselves. Fifth, put your heart in your stomach."

Hearing Zhang Shi's words, Qin Lao Wu's face became better.Zhang Shi went on to say: "You can put your heart in your stomach as much as you can. Take ten thousand steps back, even if there is a mistake this time, Zhang will try his best to deal with you, and let Lao Hu and the others come up with money to compensate you. That's the loss."

Only then did Qin Lao Wu feel relieved, and chatted a few gossips with Zhang Shi, then left immediately.After Qin Laowu left, Zhang Shi said to Li Qiufeng: "Old Wu's wealth and life are all on this boat, no wonder he is so impatient."

Li Qiufeng nodded and said: "That's true. If it was changed, I'm afraid I'd be restless. I'm just very curious, who is so powerful, who can steal so many ships all at once. And ships are different from chariots and horses. They can only be hidden at the pier by the sea. If thieves want to obtain property, they only need to take away the money and goods on the ship, why should they also steal the ship?"

Zhang Shi glanced at the door intentionally or unintentionally, and then lowered his voice and said to Li Qiufeng: "Xiao Dong and Lao Hu put the goods in a hidden place in the bottom of the cabin, and locked the bottom of the cabin firmly with an iron lock." Live. We left the big ship and went to the county town to have a drink, and it took only a few hours. The thieves couldn’t open the bilge and take away the goods, so they had to steal the big ship.”

Li Qiufeng said: "But they not only drove away the big boat, but also took away all the people on the shore. Just now Zhang Yuanwai also told Fifth Brother Qin that the reason why the thieves took the people away was because they were worried about leaking the news. I'm afraid that some of these common people know the faces of the thieves. Otherwise, why would they bother to capture all the common people? In Dongliao County, there are no more than [-] people in and out of the city. .Ordinary thieves definitely don’t have such a great ability. Therefore, Brother Fifth’s worry is not unreasonable. Those who can accomplish this will most likely have some relationship with officials.”

Hearing what Li Qiufeng said, Zhang Shi's heart trembled, and he said in a trembling voice, "Brother Zhu, you mean that someone in the yamen was involved in this matter?"

Li Qiufeng shook his head and said: "I'm just speculating, it's not necessarily that the high officials in the yamen did it. Maybe it's just a small official who secretly colluded with the thieves, knowing that our ship is parked at the pier. They communicated with the thieves They wanted to steal the belongings on the ship. But when they got on the ship, they found that the bilge could not be opened, so they had to drive away the big ship. But they were tossing about on the ship, but they were seen by the people on the pier and the boatmen on other small boats. These people may not know the thieves, but they must know the little officials in the yamen. That's why the thieves will take away all the people and boatmen, so as not to leak the news."

After hearing Li Qiufeng's words, Zhang Shi remained silent for a while.Finally he sighed, and said in his mouth: "If that's the case, Xiao Dong went to Master Pan for help, wouldn't he be seeking skin from a tiger?"

Li Qiufeng said: "I see that Mr. Jiang doesn't look like a villain. We need to make friends with this person, maybe we can help."

Zhang Shi stood up all of a sudden, and said to Li Qiufeng: "Brother Zhu is right. I'm going to find the person surnamed Xiao and tell him the pros and cons of this matter. Although the person surnamed Xiao is arrogant, he is not a fool." Egg. What's more, he is in charge of this transaction, if the big ship is lost, he will be in bad luck. I remind him to be careful of Master Pan, and he will pay attention. Brother Zhu, wait for a while, I will come as soon as I go. "

After Zhang Shi finished speaking, he hurried out.Li Qiufeng paced around the room for a few steps before walking to the window and looking out.There was no one in the yard, but the noise in the lobby could be heard faintly.Looking further into the distance, the tall and short houses stretched all the way.Because it was almost noon, smoke came out from the chimneys of many houses, covering most of Dongliao County in a gray smog.Li Qiufeng thought to himself, since he came here, he also encountered many strange things.Just like the smoke in front of you, people can't see the surrounding situation clearly.This small county town, like Xiuwu County town, seems to have infinite murderous potential hidden in it.

(End of this chapter)