Yefutidaolu

Chapter 70 Cleanup
Of course they'll cause trouble.

What Gao Jian did was to dig up the roots of other foremen.

Li Jun's two or three docks can earn a profit of four to five gold coins a year. There are more than a thousand docks in the entire outer city of Cangzhou, which means an annual profit of two to three thousand gold coins.

This is all the money that goes to the foreman.

That's a lot.

To take over all the docks is not only a huge project, but will also certainly lead to joint resistance from many foremen.

To say it is a boycott is actually an understatement.

There is a high probability that it will evolve into a fight or even an assassination.

It's normal for Li Jun to be worried.

This is deadly.

But Gao Jian smiled and said, "Don't worry, I will go to their house to talk to them in person. You just need to introduce them to me. You should be familiar with them, right?"

"Boss, what are you going to do?" Li Jun had a bad feeling.

"Just lead the way," Gao Jian said, "Get on your horse and show the way."

"Don't you want to live a good life? Or, you dare to risk your life to fight the foreman, but you don't dare to go with me?"

Hearing Gao Jian say this, Li Jun gritted his teeth.

He already understood what Gao Jian meant.

"Boss, if I die..."

"You won't die. Look at my horse. It can travel two thousand miles a day. If you encounter any problems, just climb on it and ride away." Gao Jian said with a smile.

"You can run away for a while, but you can't run away forever. As long as you keep working in Cangzhou, you will eventually be found. It's just... Boss, are you really sure? Even if I die, you can still move forward with this matter?" Li Jun's hands were shaking, but he still asked Gao Jian seriously.

This made Gao Jian's expression become serious.

He could see that Li Jun really thought he was going to die.

But he seems ready to get on the horse.

Even though he knew that death lay ahead, he was not afraid and was still prepared to go with Gao Jian.

This made Gao Jian take a deep breath and smile: "Don't worry, you won't die, but you probably won't be able to sleep tonight."

"Boss, what on earth are you——"

Before he could finish his words, Zoulong rushed out. From stillness to movement, he seemed to have hit the door panel and swallowed back the rest of his words.

The first pier.

"Which dock is this? Who is the foreman?" Gao Jian asked.

"The foreman here is Zhou Yinggang, and he lives in that house." Li Jun said.

Gao Jian nodded, dismounted, and left with his sword in hand.

Not long after, someone ran away in a panic, and Gao Jian came out.

"Go and tell the laborers over there that if they work with you in the future, you won't pump water," Gao Jian said.

Li Jun smiled bitterly and nodded.

Now that I have done it, I will not turn back until I hit the wall. There is no need to hesitate now.

Although he knew that Gao Jian's behavior would definitely lead to counterattacks from all the foremen and even the forces behind them.

Although these hard laborers at the docks earn little money, the bigwigs will certainly not tolerate anyone messing with them.

But... since the boss is so confident, Li Jun is still willing to take a gamble.

The laborers had a very hard life.

Not to mention the daily exposure to wind and sweat and skin burnt by the sun, it was difficult to save the money they earned, which was basically just enough to support themselves. They were prone to injuries and some of them died of illness at a young age if they were unlucky.

If you are lucky and live to old age... then you will have no money, can't carry a bag, and will probably still be single. What can you do then?

Of course, the only option is to die.

If I really stop pumping water, my income can double. At least I can save some money and maybe I can afford to marry a wife. Even if I can't marry a wife, it's good to have money for medical treatment.

Thinking of this, Li Jun followed Gao Jian.

As for anything else, we’ll talk about it later.

So Li Jun walked forward and said a few words to the laborers here.

The other party was obviously unbelievable.

But it was obvious that Li Jun was actually a celebrity. Among so many laborers, only a few dared to stand up against the foreman like him, and some even won.

Although he relied on Gao Jian's financial support, it can be seen that Li Jun had everything, whether it was popularity or passion.

So with just a few words, these laborers believed it.

When Li Jun came back, Gao Jian was a little surprised: "So soon?"

"Thanks to the previous funding from the boss, they can all see that, in fact, at the docks where I work, the laborers earn much more than before. We are not blind." Li Jun nodded.

This is also the reason why he is willing to come here and fight hard.

Gao Jian, in fact, has done a lot of things and has brought many results. Li Jun feels that these things are enough to buy his life.

Therefore, even though he knew in his heart that the joint counterattack of the foremen would most likely kill him here, he did not back down and still followed Gao Jian to do the job.

As for Gao Jian, he nodded slightly and said, "Then, let's go to the next one."

So Li Jun continued to point the way: "The next one is the Xicha Wharf in Sancha River. There are two people over there, and one of them is a foreman named Han Sheng..."

The dragon arrived quickly.

"The next one is on Tongren Street, on the east side. His name is Zhang Siqi."

"The next one is the outskirts of the city. There is a tributary over there, with a few private warehouses next to it. It is a private plot jointly owned by several chambers of commerce, led by Huiyuan Trading Company..."

Li Jun is indeed a talented person. Although he is a hard worker, he is different from ordinary laborers. He can not only organize the laborers to resist the foreman, but also understand the general situation between these docks.

There are over a thousand docks and hundreds of foremen, but he can remember them all.

But Gao Jian didn't feel surprised at all.

Many people can remember every skill in hundreds of hero pools and can recite the effects of thousands of cards. If you put in some effort, these things are not difficult, and hundreds of foremen are not a lot to remember.

but……

Most of the things in this world are stuck on the word "care".

How could a hard-working person like him take the trouble to remember all this?

This is enough to show that even without any brilliant ideas, Li Jun can accomplish something on his own.

And with brilliant ideas, this matter will become even bigger!
Three hours passed quickly and it was already dusk.

Li Jun's mouth was already dry.

And Gao Jian was also a little tired.

Not physically tired, but heart tired.

I dealt with too many people today.

After discussing the situation with over a hundred dock foremen and killing about half, the rest wisely decided to either flee or surrender control of the docks. As a result, Gao Jian also amassed a large collection of accounts and paperwork.

He visited almost one-third of the docks today.

"Okay, that's all for today. The operation will probably be similar for the next few days. By the way, where do you live?" Gao Jian asked.

Li Jun pointed at himself: "Me? I live at the dock, what's wrong?"

"I'll live with you these days, so they don't come looking for the wrong person." Gao Jian said with a smile.

"Well, it's just... Boss, are you used to living here? The environment at my place is not very good." Li Jun frowned.

"I've spent quite a bit of time in the Pit of the Dead, so what does it matter if I'm a little broken? Lead the way. By the way, what do you want to eat? I'll treat you." Gao Jian said.

"Then I won't be polite. The pig intestines at the Sancha River Wharf are delicious and cheap. When we need to do big work and make more money, we go there." Li Jun said.

"Okay, call all the brothers at the dock, and I'll buy all the food for you. You can eat as much as you want." Gao Jian said with a smile.

"Thank you very much, boss!" Li Jun immediately bowed.

As he spoke, Zoulong had already arrived at the Sancha River Wharf.

Li Jun dismounted and shouted, "Brothers! The boss is providing the meal today! Eat the pig intestines!"

It was not uncommon for the host to provide meals at the dock. At Li Jun's shout, everyone rushed towards Li Jun, and then bowed to Gao Jian in unison, and some even came down to kowtow.

Gao Jian shouted, "Jun Ge'er said the pig intestines over there are delicious. I see there are restaurants all over that row. Today we're only going to eat in that row. Everyone, eat as much as you want! You'll be full!"

"Thank you, boss!"

"The boss is generous!"

The laborers cheered and praised them one after another. A group of people, about a hundred people, rushed to the restaurant over there that specialized in catering to laborers and boatmen.

Both of these professions require hard labor, and if you want to do hard labor, you must be well fed. If you work hard without being well fed, you are just squeezing your own marrow oil, grinding your bones and nourishing your intestines, and you will die before long.

So there are mostly restaurants around here, and the food is cheap, but of course the quality of the food is not that great.

Brown rice, whole grains, wild vegetables, offal, all these worthless things were stewed together, and they didn’t look very clean.

A group of people walked over, chatting with the shop owner and bragging to the people around them about the wealth of their boss.

Li Jun was surrounded by a group of people, who kept repeating Li Jun's words and saying what he had done today.

However, as they talked, the noisy laborers quieted down.

Because what Li Jun said was too outrageous.

What the hell? Jun Ge'er and his boss went out and conquered hundreds of docks and killed dozens of foremen in one day?

What is the boss going to do? This is bound to be discovered by others, right?

The laborers originally had the courage to greet Gao Jian, say some auspicious words, praise Gao Jian, and seemed to want to get to know him better.

But after Li Jun spread the news, these laborers became a little scared and no one came to talk to Gao Jian.

The meal was served, a hodgepodge cooked in several large iron pots, with a lot of spices but not much salt. There were a lot of small silver fish, wild vegetables, algae, mushrooms, beef and pork offal, pig skin and the like, all put together and stewed in a large pot.

One person held a bowl of brown rice in his hand, and there were several wooden barrels filled with rice next to him. Everyone picked up some vegetables and soaked the rice in soup. One person casually ate five bowls, not caring about the fishy smell, because it was suppressed by the spices anyway.

Gao Jian could see that these people were still a little afraid of him. Although they ate without hesitation, they were a little depressed and the atmosphere was not as cheerful as it was at the beginning.

Gao Jian didn't disturb them, nor did he actually go to eat with them.

They said they wanted to get along well with everyone, but Gao Jian knew that if he really sat among them, they probably wouldn't be able to eat, so it would be better for him to just wait aside.

He bought a bowl of noodles nearby and just watched.

After everyone finished their meal, Gao Jian paid the bill.

More than a hundred people had the meal, and they ate to their heart's content, but it only cost more than two thousand yuan, which is only 0.2 gold in total.

Let’s take a look at the prices at Bazhen Food House.

A bowl of porridge starts at one gold coin.

Gao Jian shook his head and said that he should at least start as a laborer at the dock. If he wanted to leave Cangzhou safely, he had to start from here.

He didn't want everything to go back to the way it was after he left.

He is currently arranging for the hundred ghosts to become gods, and before that, these dock workers are also essential.

These coolies can be said to be the most basic labor force and the source of the most basic value produced among the poor in the outer city of Cangzhou.

It can be said that it was with these coolies carrying goods at the docks and being responsible for the flow of materials throughout the outer city that the outer city was able to achieve basic development.

Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to say that these coolies and farmers outside the city are the soil of the entire Cangzhou.

Although they don't earn much, they actually undertake the final part of Cangzhou's freight, which is a very important job.

There are thousands of docks in the outer city of Cangzhou, which means tens of thousands of people are doing this.

Gao Jian was preparing to take control of the outer city of Cangzhou, so he said that the first priority was to control the loading and unloading and transportation at the dock, to the extent that no cargo would come into the outer city of Cangzhou without his approval.

Right now, I think those foremen are talking to the boss behind them. I think they will come to cause trouble tomorrow.

Those bosses behind the scenes should not have reached the level of contacting the aristocratic families.

The water transport that the aristocratic families truly control is not the small amount in the outer city, but the Baishan River wharf in the inner city and the tower ships in Duanlong Gorge.

Over there, the value of a ship is equal to the total value of cargo throughput at the entire outer city’s docks.

The port transportation in the outer city is really not worth their attention.

Then, I’ll wait until tomorrow to look for Shui Cangcang.

Gao Jian thought about this and waited for them to finish eating.

After eating, the laborers all greeted Gao Jian and went back to sleep.

It was dark, and they couldn't light candles, and there was no nightlife to speak of, so naturally they went to bed early, got up early the next day, and worked for another day.

Gao Jian watched them go back to their shabby house to sleep, while he himself stayed at the dock with Zoulong.

He sat by the dock and listened to the constant noise of the black water below.

Because of the lack of light, the outer city of Cangzhou is extremely quiet at night, and only in places where rich people live is there a little light.

Gao Jian did have a night-shining pearl on him, which he had pulled out from the bodies of the Zuo family members. However, he put it in a bag so that the light could not shine through, so he was in darkness.

Gao Jian was at the dock, and Li Jun and the laborers had already fallen asleep.

Then... let's practice.

He stood up and began to temper his body, moving his Qi and blood, one move at a time, transforming all the delicious food he had eaten at the Eight Treasures Restaurant during the day into essence.

This set of actions is called "refining essence into qi."

Transform the essence into other components of the body, strengthen the physical body and improve the physique.

Of course, the transformation of qi does not necessarily have to be qi and blood. Internal qi and magic power can be transformed by essence and qi. This is also the source of the original qi of all practitioners.

It is impossible to come into contact with any energy from heaven and earth at the beginning. Normally, there is no energy from heaven and earth for you to absorb. You have to rely on eating, and then digest it into essence, and then transform the essence into other energy.

Gao Jian was refining his Qi outside the dock.

Soon, it was the next day.

It’s time to find Shui Cangcang.

(End of this chapter)