Transmigrating into Murong Fu, may you have many children and much happiness.

With a slight sense of apprehension, Abi took her seat.

Murong Fu gave an order, telling the kitchen staff not to forget to prepare a vegetarian meal for Kumārajīva.

The banquet featured a simple selection of thirty dishes, including... early forms of dishes from the four major Chinese cuisines: Sichuan, Shandong, Huaiyang, and Guangdong.

At this time, chili peppers had not yet been introduced to China, so the various dishes were naturally quite different from what Murong Fu had eaten in his previous life.

However, last year, Murong Fu specifically instructed that people be sent to Dengzhou in Jiaodong (now Yantai, Shandong) to collect sea cucumbers, dry them using a special method, grind them into powder, and use them as MSG.

There were also ten chefs, specially invited from grand restaurants in various places.

Therefore, Mu Wanqing and Zhong Ling discovered that the banquet at the Murong family's dinner was even more delicious and abundant than what they had eaten at the restaurant the day before.

Deng Baichuan and the others had a lot to say, but they didn't have time during the day, so they naturally wanted to start talking now.

However, seeing Zhong Ling and Mu Wanqing present, they hesitated. Murong Fu told them to speak frankly, as they were all true relatives.

Deng Baichuan said, "Young Master, regarding the 'Murong Machine' and the loom you asked me to build, I have gathered many skilled craftsmen, but they haven't been completed yet..."

Murong Fu waved his hand:

"Brother Deng, don't rush, this can't be rushed."

But how's the mahjong and Suzhou poker going?

Deng Baichuan said excitedly:

"There are ten mahjong parlors in the city, five underground casinos, and they're also doing a great job with loan sharking..."

Murong Fu nodded. Mahjong parlors were used as an extension of the intelligence system and didn't make much money, but casinos and loan sharks were extremely profitable.

This line of work is actually very dark, so Murong Fu had specifically instructed that no one should resort to intimidation or selling their children to those who couldn't repay their debts, as that would be morally reprehensible.

So Deng Baichuan recruited these gambling addicts to work as porters at the Lingyan Mountain quarry outside Suzhou or at his own dock, providing them with food and lodging, and paying them off their debts.

Moreover, the annual interest rate is only 50%. In Murong Fu's previous life, the legal maximum was 36%, but now the Song Dynasty's "Song Criminal Code" stipulates that the maximum annual interest rate for loans is 100%. Some unscrupulous impoverished households often use methods such as "inflating the principal", "shortening the repayment period" and "interest compounding" to indirectly raise the interest rate.

They would often cut off hands and feet, and sell other people's wives and children.

In comparison, the Murong family's approach seemed overly benevolent.

Even some good families, under the guidance of others, borrowed money to support their elderly mothers and relatives, while they themselves carried heavy loads, with food and lodging provided.

In reality, the living standards of the people in the Suzhou area are already among the highest in the country. However, this is how it is for the lower classes. When they encounter floods or diseases, they may go bankrupt at any time and have to sell their houses and land, borrow money at exorbitant interest rates. Without any safety net, they are extremely vulnerable. A perfectly good family may be exploited and divided up, or even enslaved or forced into prostitution.

Murong Fu had often lamented that he, a highly educated young man who had passed the postgraduate entrance examination, could not bear to see this, and warned his subordinates that they should not go too far in doing business until they had made enough money.

Having faced life and death, he has gained a much more open-minded perspective on life.

Then Deng Baichuan said, "When we started these businesses, many local gangs were dissatisfied with it."

Some even attacked us, but we recruited many skilled martial artists, taught them martial arts, and provided daily guidance. Even a few third-rate experts joined us. Those small-time gamblers and loan sharks were like mice before a cat when they saw our men...

There was one family, whose son was the county magistrate's brother-in-law...

Murong Fu nodded in satisfaction when he heard that Deng Baichuan had followed his previous instructions to train his men.

If we really want to cultivate a large number of usable combat forces, these second- or third-rate martial arts are much more useful than so-called Shaolin secret techniques or Wudang mental cultivation methods. How could ordinary people possibly learn martial arts that are too profound? Even if they practice for ten years, it would all be for nothing.

Speaking of which, the supreme protective divine skill of Tantric Buddhism, the "Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill," is also very suitable for people with little martial arts aptitude, especially for soldiers' daily training...

If we were really going to rebel, we should definitely learn this skill, but let's talk about it when we go to Mongolia later. Murong Fu knows that Kumārajīva is from the Tibetan Tantric sect, which is not the same as the Mongolian Tantric sect, so he probably doesn't know this skill...

Upon hearing Deng Baichuan mention the county magistrate, Murong Fu said:

"Brother Deng, there's no need to worry."

First, get rid of him in the middle of the night, then personally go to the county magistrate's bedside and deliver a thousand taels of silver, then tell him that he will receive a share of the profits every month, appealing to his emotions and reasoning with him.

Presumably, the local officials can understand us ordinary people.

In addition, find out which of the county magistrate's advisors and concubines he trusts, and bribe them all.

Silver, secret manual?

They could use even the second- or third-rate martial arts techniques from the Shishui Pavilion, or even the first-rate Murong Heart Sutra.

The magistrate's brother-in-law doesn't sleep with him, and the magistrate is just backing him up because he wants money.

Moreover, if he doesn't take it, how will his staff and concubines take it?

He's just a low-ranking official, earning only a few hundred strings of cash a year. What's the point of him taking it so seriously?

Those present had different interpretations of Murong Fu's words.

The three retainers studied each word carefully and diligently.

Wang Yuyan, Abi, and Azhu: Young Master is so handsome.

Mu Wanqing: Bah! That tycoon is going to collude with corrupt officials.

Zhong Ling: Hmm?! This is numbing and delicious!

Murong Fu was very satisfied with the reaction of the three retainers. Although these three men had no business or political acumen before, many things were just a thin layer of paper, and once it was broken through, everything would be fine.

Murong Fu never kept anything secret in this regard. After all, if he did keep something to himself, would he expect him to do the work himself?

As for things like technology and inspiration, Murong Fu would tell his subordinates to implement whatever came to mind.

On the one hand, it can improve his quality of life, on the other hand, it can earn more money. Furthermore, Murong Fu felt that if the whole world became a better place, he, Murong Fu, as a member of the world, would also live a more comfortable life.

After the eldest brother's problem was resolved, the second brother, Gongye Qian, said excitedly:

"Young master, since you're not here, I noticed no one's setting off fireworks anymore, so I made some more mixed fireworks."

However... hehe, instead of testing it on the road, we put it in the water. On the one hand, we could continuously improve it by recording the scale of the water waves, and on the other hand, we caught quite a few fish. I had my men scoop them up in baskets and send them to the various properties under the Murong family, saving a considerable amount of money.

Murong Fu stared wide-eyed at Gongye Qian, who had a smug look on his face.

Well, I was only gone for a little over a month, and you guys started frying fish?!

It makes sense, considering that gunpowder was strictly controlled in the Song Dynasty and wouldn't fall into the hands of the common people. Therefore, Song Dynasty officials wouldn't have imagined that someone would risk execution to manufacture gunpowder for fishing...

"Second Brother Gongye, this..."

As the ancients said, "Do not drain rivers and lakes, do not drain ponds and pools."

Our Great Song Dynasty also had regulations prohibiting the use of "curtain nets" (bamboo woven mesh nets) and "fish weirs" (river blocking devices).

It's actually about preventing overfishing, the kind of short-sighted killing that kills the goose that lays the golden eggs.

"Blow-frying fish kills an entire school of fish, big and small. If this continues, there will be no fish left to catch. It's better to use fish traps and weirs."