Xiao Chen and Xiao Chen were walking slowly on the street.
I walked into several shops in a row and found either only one roll of silk or none at all.
"Is it true that as they said, there was too much rain last year and the mulberry fields were damaged, so there was no production in Siberia?" Duan Tianming said while looking left and right.
"Probably not. The heavy rain only makes it a little troublesome to pick mulberry leaves. Silkworms are raised indoors. Even if the output drops due to lack of food, it will definitely not be very much. There is almost no silk in the market. It should be
It was hoarded by others." Xiao Chen smiled faintly.
"Wang family?"
"Who else but the Wang family? They bought all the silk on the market and hoarded it, creating the illusion that there was no production. The Wang family is really ruthless." Putting his hands behind his back, Xiao Chen thought about how to find the evidence of all this.
.
"The Hangzhou government and the Wang family are collaborating together. Doesn't the Chief Secretary of Zhejiang know about it? Or are they also involved in it?" Duan Tianming was puzzled.
The imperial court had more than one official office in each place. In Zhejiang alone, there was the Chief Secretary, the Department of Punishment, Prosecution and Envoys, and the three departments of Command and Envoys co-existed. If there were no interests involved, the Hangzhou Prefecture would not have the guts to suffer disasters with mulberry fields.
As an excuse to control the entire silk market.
"It's hard to say, but it's impossible to say that it has nothing to do with it. But we don't have time to care about this now. The top priority is to find the silk in Hangzhou and transport the goods to Taicang on time when the Ming Dynasty treasure ships are assembled.
I don’t know what the situation is with Eunuch Zheng, maybe it’s the same as here. We can’t expect them to make a breakthrough. We must find the silk from Hangzhou Prefecture.” Xiao Chen said softly.
The reason why the emperor sent himself to handle the gathering of treasure ships was probably because he knew that it was difficult to collect silks from the south of the Yangtze River. If the silks from Hangzhou were not found on time, it would delay the schedule of the treasure ships going to sea.
The sailing of this treasure ship depends on the February monsoon. If it misses it, it will have to wait until the next year. The imperial court has spent so much manpower and material resources. If it was caused by itself, it would be a trivial matter to embarrass the East Factory, but the loss would be huge.
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"Xiao Chen, I feel like someone is following us." Duan Tianming's voice came to mind, interrupting Xiao Chen's thoughts.
"Are those four or five men three feet away?" Hearing the sound, Xiao Chen glanced behind him with the corner of his eye.
"Well, we have been keeping this distance for a while." Duan Tianming said in a low voice.
"It seems that the amount of silk we purchased is too large, which has attracted the attention of the other party. They are now waiting for the opportunity. It just so happens that I don't know how to find traces of the silk, so I will capture them first and see if I can get it.
useful information."
"Do you want to do it here?" Duan Tianming held the handle of the knife and looked at Xiao Chen.
"Not here. If I'm not wrong, these people are here to kill people and silence them. Let's go outside the city and help them." Xiao Chen smiled faintly and walked towards the outside of Hangzhou.
The few people in the back may have lived on the boat all year round, and their skin was darkened by the sea breeze.
There is a man standing in the middle, about forty years old, not tall, his legs are firmly planted on the ground like heavy weights, a few strands of white hair are exposed at the temples, and there is a three or four inch long knife from the corner of his left eye to his mouth.
The scars set off the dark complexion, making people feel chilly at first glance.
"Deputy Gang Leader Chu, those two people were walking towards the outside of the city. Did they notice us?" Looking at the direction in which Xiao Chen and the two were traveling, a man leaned into "Scarface" Chu Wen's ear and whispered.
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"Whether they find us or not, if you want to follow us, let's go ahead. The gang leader's order is to make them disappear. There are few people outside the city, so it's easier to do anything." With that, a few people followed.
In the Shuihu Gang, gang leader Liu Qi is responsible for finding business and establishing relationships between superiors and subordinates. Chu Wen, the deputy gang leader, is actually responsible for suppressing with force. Chu Wen takes action against individuals or other gangs who have conflicts with the Shuihu Gang.
, eliminating the opponent without any sound.
This time, the reason why Chu Wen took action personally was to wipe out any possible threats to Hangzhou Prefecture cleanly and without leaving any trace.
Outside Hangzhou, unlike Beijing, there are endless paddy fields.
Although it is winter, there is no ice in the paddy field. In the middle of the paddy field, there is a channel about two feet wide, with clear water about a foot deep flowing slowly in the middle.
Xiao Chen walked along the official road for more than five miles, stopped, and quietly watched the water in the south of the Yangtze River.
"Who are you?" Chu Wen narrowed his eyes, held the handle of the knife at his waist with his left hand, and walked over slowly.
"People looking at the scenery." Xiao Chen didn't even look back, quietly staring at the slowly flowing water.
Chu Wen secretly hesitated in his heart.
Not only did this person not seem to have any guilty conscience, it looked more like he had deliberately led his group here. Either there was a strong backer behind him, or he had strong strength.
Moreover, the person next to him was also extremely calm and showed no signs of panic at all.
In Hangzhou Prefecture, there were at least hundreds of innocent souls who died at his hands, but at this moment, his right hand actually felt a little afraid to grab the handle of the knife.
"Deputy Gang Leader Chu, do you want to take action?" The men next to them saw that Xiao Chen was so arrogant and did not reply after hearing the Deputy Gang Leader's question.
When he thought about the guarantee he had given to Gang Leader Liu, Chu Wen gritted his teeth and pressed his right hand fiercely on the steel knife at his waist. With a bang, he pulled the knife out of its sheath.
"Pretend, come on."
Following this greeting, the man next to him rushed forward. Four sharp blades flashing with cold light struck at Xiao Chen's head.
Xiao Chen didn't seem to know that the other party was attacking him, and remained motionless, as if he was looking for something in the flowing water, concentrating on it.
However, Duan Tianming moved.
The moment the opponent rushed towards him, he shook his left hand and raised the standard saber at his waist to the height of his eyebrows. He made a standard drawing action and the sword was unsheathed.
With a shake of his right hand, he blocked the two steel knives that were slashing at Xiao Chen. His body quickly squatted down, and with a flash of cold light, he struck at the lower body of the two men who were rushing past him.
In Dongchang, although Duan Tianming lost to Xiao Chen, he was definitely a top-notch master.
And the thugs from the Water Tiger Gang are just a bunch of rabble.
Seeing Duan Tianming's blade cutting towards his lower body, he could not contain the power of the charge.
"Ah, ah..." Two screams broke the tranquility of the Jiangnan water town.
The four broken legs were still standing on the ground. The two of them had fallen to the ground, and the steel knives in their hands were thrown more than ten feet away.
Duan Tianming then jumped up and swung two more knives. The two people on the ground did not offer any resistance. Their heads were cut off from the shoulders and they rolled into the paddy field beside the official road.
As if he was disturbed, Xiao Chen slowly turned around and looked at Chu Wen, who was standing there not far away.
