Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 279 Fighting with weapons
When the group arrived at the place, Qin Yun and his men were already there.

This time, Qin Yun brought with him more than a dozen brothers from the Jinyiwei. Apparently, he had received a generous reward from the last fight, which won him the hearts of his colleagues.

Chai Meng brought over a dozen people, all of whom were fully armed.

Only then did Jin Qi realize that today's fight was not just a child's play, but a real fight.

"Second Young Master, do we really have to do this?"

As a scholar, Chai Meng was most opposed to solving problems with force, although he still followed orders and brought people over.

Zhang Yanling explained: "Mr. Peng hired someone to cause trouble in our medicine shop, making it difficult for us to do business. Can we just sit there and suffer in silence?

"The situation was tense a few days ago, so it was not appropriate to fight back, but today... we must get our ground back no matter what!"

"Then do it."

Qin Yun was the most straightforward. Taking people to fight could not only vent the anger accumulated from being ordered around by the powerful for a long time, but he could also make money. For him, it was a good deal to win the hearts of his subordinates.

More importantly, he could use the opportunity of working for the Zhang family to gain the trust of the Zhang family, especially Zhang Yanling, which he thought was the most profitable...

After all, the Zhang family is the future queen's maiden family, the father-in-law of the emperor, and their status is much more secure than that of their uncle who holds the seal of the Imperial Household Department.

Zhang Heling waved the stick in his hand and shouted: "I will knock out all their teeth! Let the old lady drink rice soup, sizzling."

Zhang Yanling ignored his eldest brother who was in an extremely excited state and ordered: "Everyone, we must remain calm and not reveal our identities when we act today. In general, we should smash and destroy things and then leave. We must not let anyone know who we are...

"You must kill with one strike, and make a quick decision. Don't drag your feet, and don't meet with the government officials... After the mission is completed, retreat immediately. I will prepare a banquet to welcome you."

"What do you mean?"

After hearing this, Zhang Heling felt something was wrong.

He thought it would be the same as last time, where he would go to fight under the title of the head of the Zhang family, causing a sensation in the city and making a name for himself.

Zhang Yanling shrugged and said, "It's nothing special. It's just about being equal in doing things."

Seeing that Zhang Heling still had a puzzled look on his face, Chai Meng said, "Can we understand it this way? The Peng family came to the medicine store to cause trouble without revealing their identities. Although we know it was them who did it, we couldn't find any evidence for the time being. So we should give them a taste of their own medicine?"

"Correct."

Zhang Yanling nodded and said, "So please make sure you can withdraw from the battle safely. It is best not to leave even a hair on the scene. Even if Peng Mianfu goes to the government to file a complaint, he will not be able to find evidence."

“That’s a little difficult.”

Zhang Heling complained.

Zhang Yanling laughed, patted his brother on the shoulder, and said, "So, big brother, you don't have to go on stage today. Just watch the fun from the side with me... Little cousin, do you want to take action this time?"

"What are you doing?"

Jin Qi was very confused.

It doesn't sound like it's a good thing, as if it's a big deal and not something he can handle at his age.

Zhang Yanling said, "If you follow us, you will know everything, right?"

……

……

The Peng family did not have any public shops in the capital because according to the rules, officials were not allowed to run businesses on their own.

Therefore, Peng Mianfu has always been known for his plundering and robbery. This is also the usual method used by the powerful in the capital to accumulate wealth. That is, use power, coercion and inducement to buy back other people's properties at a low price, and then resell them or rent them out to obtain long-term benefits.

But Peng Mianfu seemed to have stretched his hands too far. He owned several warehouses outside Deshengmen in the capital. Generally speaking, he was a sedentary merchant, purchasing goods from the south at low prices at Tongzhou Wharf, transporting them to the capital on his own ships, and then wholesaled them to merchants in the capital to make a profit.

"That store is quite large. What's in it?"

After leaving the city and still some distance away from the Peng family warehouse, Zhang Heling couldn't help but ask.

Zhang Yanling said: "I have asked, it is wood... Peng Mianfu has a monopoly on most of the wood business in the capital. In the past few years, the Taoist temples and Buddhist temples built in the capital have basically been built with wood from his family.

"This kind of business is not something that ordinary people can get involved in. He has close contacts with Wei Xing, the person in charge of the construction of the inner palace, and the two sides are deeply connected."

Qin Yun said: "I heard that they are used to passing off inferior materials as good ones... They used a lot of rotten wood to build Buddhist temples, but charged the price of high-quality materials."

"It's unethical to do such a thing." Zhang Heling said this, but he was muttering in his heart, "Passing inferior goods off as good ones? Is it possible to play like this?"

Obviously, the biggest feeling Zhang Heling had from this incident was... I have learned a new way to make money.

If I ever undertake to build a Taoist temple, Buddhist temple or palace in the future, I will just pass the bad ones off as good ones and make a lot of money.

Zhang Heling rolled his eyes and asked, "Second Brother, what do you think about us burning down his store?"

Zhang Yanling shook his head: "We absolutely cannot do anything like murder or arson. We are just teaching them a lesson. We cannot do anything reckless.

"Today, a batch of timber from the Peng family arrived at the shore of Jishuitan along the canal. Our people can rush onto the boat, untie their timber, and throw it directly into the water."

"Second brother, I have something to say to you... If a piece of wood falls into the water, it will float. It is better to burn it and get rid of it once and for all."

Zhang Heling began to demonstrate his profound knowledge.

Qin Yun said: "According to the rules, the wood used to build royal buildings must not be soaked in water, because doing so may cause the wood to deform, mold, and be eaten by insects, affecting the stability and life of the building. Since we made a fuss, this batch of wood may have to be returned intact.

"But the value of wood and stone is not high in itself. The high value lies in the transportation. If this batch of goods is damaged, the Peng family will definitely lose all their money."

Zhang Heling pouted and said disapprovingly: "It is said that they are good at passing off inferior goods as good ones. Can't they just pick up the wood and continue to use it?"

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "Brother, you don't have to worry about this matter. Just follow the established plan. Captain Qin, do you think there is a problem with this matter?"

"no problem."

Qin Yun said seriously, "Their timber-carrying boats don't have many people guarding them to begin with. If we make such a fuss at Jishuitan, everyone in the industry will know that their timber has been soaked in water. If they dare to continue using it in the construction of the royal buildings, the censors will definitely impeach them."

"Then come on!"

Zhang Yanling said, "Everyone, please remember my words and leave no evidence. Once you are done, leave. If anyone tries to stop us, beat them up, but don't kill anyone."

"Okay."

The people present were very excited and felt that it was no different from going into battle to kill the enemy.

……

……

Jishuitan is the northern terminus of the Grand Canal transportation in the Ming Dynasty. Its docks are widely distributed inside and outside Deshengmen and are divided into two halves by the water gate. Most of the docks inside the city are owned by the royal family, while those outside the city are used by both officials and civilians. It is the terminal for transportation from the Grand Canal to Tongzhou, and then to the capital via the North Canal. The area outside the city gathers the largest cargo warehouse distribution center in the capital.

Many bulk materials were transported to Jishuitan, and powerful officials and businessmen would directly set up warehouses and stores around Jishuitan, engaging in freight, warehousing and logistics businesses.

Moreover, this business is extremely profitable, because river transportation requires relationships and connections. Only the ships of the rich and powerful can pass through the various water gates without being exploited. There are also many foreign merchants who are affiliated with them, or directly use their ships to transport and store goods.

It was because Peng Mianfu saw the huge profits behind this business that he took the risk of being criticized by everyone and got involved in it.

When they arrived at one of the docks at Jishuitan, a group of people rushed towards the Peng family warehouse with great momentum.

Qin Yun stayed beside Zhang Yanling and pointed to Zhang Yanling.

"That's the store of the Duke of Baoguo, and this is the warehouse of the Duke of Ying. Both families are now in high positions in the Beijing camp, especially the lineage of the Duke of Baoguo in recent years. It can be said that they are deeply trusted by the current emperor. In addition, there is the Zhou family, the relatives of the emperor. Their store is in the east, but they are engaged in grain business..."

All the businesses in the capital, big or small, were controlled or even monopolized by some aristocratic families. When it came to large-scale purchases, especially for the Beijing camp, even Liang Fang and Wei Xing found it difficult to intervene, as it was mainly controlled by the nobles.

As they were talking, a boat carrying timber had already docked at a pier at Jishuitan, and the plainclothes guards hired by Qin Yun took the lead. A group of them rushed over silently, jumped directly onto the boat, and beat up anyone they saw. They soon pinned a group of boatmen to the deck, and immediately assigned people to use crowbars to unload the wood into the water.

"Wrong direction."

The warehouse owner ran out to greet people, thinking that his employees had unloaded the goods in the wrong direction. When he saw the situation clearly, he found that a group of people had boarded the ship to cause trouble in broad daylight. The owner was obviously panicked.

"There's a strong man! The thief is abominable!"

"Damn it... let you be rude!"

Zhang Heling, with his face covered with a torn black cloth, rushed over and hit the shopkeeper on the head with a stick. The shopkeeper's face was full of horror, and he covered his head and ran away.

Jin Qi followed his cousin and chased him with a stick.

Qin Yun said worriedly, "There are many employees in their store, I'm afraid the eldest master will suffer."

Apparently he noticed that Zhang Heling, Jin Qi and a few servants who had little time to spare were rushing towards the gate of the warehouse, so he hurriedly reminded them.

Zhang Yanling sighed, "We didn't let him go, but he insisted on going. Maybe he will suffer a little loss before he realizes that the powerful people in the capital are not easy to mess with."

Seeing that the owner of Peng's warehouse had fled back to his own warehouse, a group of people soon rushed out. Although this group of people was defensive in nature and had not made any preparations in a hurry, they only had sticks and other things but no weapons. However, because the people in charge of carrying the goods on the dock were all porters, they were generally strong and sturdy. After they rushed out, they overwhelmed the group led by Zhang Heling with just the momentum.

Tan Yun looked at Zhang Yanling and asked, "What should we do?"

Zhang Yanling sighed and said, "Then I'll have to trouble Captain Tan to help him out."

"Row."

Qin Yun quickly rushed over with the last few of his men.

Fortunately, Qin Yun himself was a martial artist with pretty good kung fu. He knocked down the leading few Peng guys with sticks in just a few moves. Then he didn't want to fight anymore and directly pulled Zhang Heling and Jin Qi back, while the people around him continued to rush forward, knocked out a few people with sticks, and after shocking them, began to lead them away from the shore like flying a kite.

At this time, the people on the boat had unloaded almost all the wood into the water. The boat behind wanted to avoid it, but its hull was heavy and the draft was too deep, so it was not easy to turn around temporarily.

Some who could swim rushed to the side of the boat and knocked down a boatman with a paddle. Then several people carried the boat to the second boat and repeated the same routine... first they beat the people and then unloaded the cargo, prying the wood into the water.

The group of people were like well-trained thieves. In addition, a complete action plan was formulated from the very beginning. Everyone had a clear division of labor. Although there were not many people, they were extremely efficient in doing things.

It also has something to do with the fact that Zhang Heling, Qin Yun and others have tied up most of the Peng family's guys...

"Boss, the ship... our ship..."

"Ignore those people and go to the dock to secure the wood! Go now!"

"There are quite a lot of people over there, and we don't seem to have enough manpower!"

"Where did the thieves come from? Hurry and report to the police! It's too late to report to the police... Ask for help from the city gate guards, saying that there are bandits robbing in broad daylight."

However, two groups of people were fighting over there, and people from the surrounding warehouses came out to watch, clasping their hands together to admire the excitement, and the people unloading goods at the dock also stopped.

Because they found that these so-called "bandits" were not here to rob anything. If they were to rob anything, they would not rob heavy goods such as wood and stones. Besides, since they were standing under the emperor's feet, most of those who did this were out of personal vendettas. Almost everyone could understand the current situation, so no one went up to help.

The Peng family was so distracted that they had already lost their composure.

"That's enough, blow the whistle! Get going!"

Zhang Yanling saw that the second ship had almost finished unloading and began to organize the retreat.

Zhang Heling shouted loudly: "Come over here if you have the guts! I will teach you a lesson!"

As soon as he finished speaking, someone hit him on the head with a stick. Zhang Heling touched his forehead and saw blood on his hand. Perhaps because of his hot blood, he almost turned back and hit back, but under the pull of Qin Yun, he had to give up the counterattack and run away.

Because he knew that if he didn't leave, the government officials would really come.

……

……

The Zhang family’s revenge was about quick victory and quick resolution. Even after their men had withdrawn, the government officials were still two or three streets away.

In the carriage, Zhang Heling had gauze wrapped around his head. He had not yet recovered from the confusion of being hit with a stick. He looked abnormal and dazed.

Jin Qi next to him was extremely excited.

This was the first time he participated in a large-scale fight and escaped unscathed. At this moment, he looked at Qin Yun with great admiration. It was the first time he saw what a real martial artist was like.

"Second cousin, that Captain Qin, is he a soldier? He is very strong." Jin Qi exclaimed.

Zhang Yanling looked at his boss and asked, "Are you okay?"

Zhang Heling frowned and said, "I just can't understand why I let that guy find the opportunity to hit me like that? A little blood is not a big deal, but it's really embarrassing. If I take them out next time, they won't laugh at me, right?"

Zhang Yanling rolled his eyes.

His previous life was hit on the head with a brick, which led to a direct transfer of souls from modern people to ancient people, while the eldest son of the Zhang family was hit on the head with a stick, which just made him think about life?
"Jindouzi, do you know what a centurion is?" Zhang Yanling asked.

"do not know."

Jin Qi answered directly, "Maybe it's the name of an official position? I heard there are sergeants, squad leaders, etc. I heard about it from a storyteller."

Zhang Yanling said: "You think Captain Qin is amazing, so learn more from him in the future... I think you have the potential to be a Jinyiwei in the future."

"Emperor's Guard? I heard they are very impressive. Is Captain Qin a member of the Imperial Guard?" Jin Qi had always been very envious of Qin Yun's kung fu, and after hearing this, he became even more alert.

Zhang Yanling said to Tan Yun, the driver, "Captain Tan, please find a place to drop us off. We should clean up and have a celebration banquet... Let's go to the restaurant not far from my villa. The owner is usually very honest, so let's take care of his family this time."

"it is good!"

Qin Yun continued to drive the car.

The group did not return to the city. Instead, they planned to hold a banquet to cleanse themselves from the filth, divide the proceeds among themselves, and then go home.

Zhang Heling asked, "Second Brother, am I holding you back today?"

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "Brother, you were very brave today, but as a leader, it would be best for you to let others do the things like charging into battle in the future. Both of us brothers have suffered in fights, so we must learn from our mistakes!"

"If you don't rush to the front when fighting with others, what's the point?"

Zhang Heling seemed very unwilling.

Zhang Yanling advised: "Now is different from the past, your life is more precious now, bravery and fighting will not win people's hearts, but planning and strategizing will make people admire you. From now on, everyone will call you the big boss, and you will be the one who has the final say in the capital's rivers and lakes. What do you think?"

"Oh, is this still possible?"

Zhang Heling's eyes lit up, and he said, "You are the only one with many ideas. Okay, I will be more careful when we fight next time... Oh, I don't know how to explain this to me when I get back."

It’s only after getting hurt that one realizes the consequences of being reckless.

Zhang Yanling was too lazy to explain too much to this reckless elder brother. In short, if his elder brother didn't make a fuss, the Zhang family's arrogance and domineering nature would not be revealed. The more diligent and low-key he was, the more others would think that the Zhang family was ambitious.

The Zhang family needs someone to take the lead and make people feel that... Oh, it turns out that they are just like the previous in-laws, doing evil and having a very bad reputation. This way everyone will feel relieved.

Stay safe, everyone!

(End of this chapter)