Chapter 117 – Charmin’s Record

“Do you know how the kind of copper spiked wire that the Great Hall of Justice pulls when he kills a huoma was invented?”

“Hm? Isn’t that iron?”

“The difference isn’t that great, you know?”

To be honest, Beiqi really didn’t have this thing, and the Beiqi monarchs and ministers were also most interested in the military products in the three workshops of the Nanqing Inner Treasury, so it was not easy for one side of the conversation to take the initiative to bring this up today, and the other girl naturally felt a twinge of happiness, and said with great sincerity, “I don’t know.”

“Oh, this copper wire stuff is hard to pull.” That gentle voice sighed, “I heard that it was the merchants in Jiangnan who pulled it hard to grab a piece of copper.”

The joke itself was funny, but coming from his mouth it seemed rather cold.

So the girl’s family just curled their lips.

He asked again, “Do you know how the channel that breaks the dike into the river at Sand Lake there in Shazhou was dug out?”

The girlie shook her head, not really wanting to play these things with him.

The man shook his head and said, “Because a Jiangnan merchant dropped a copper plate into a rat hole in the dike.”

Haitang looked at Fan Xian, who was telling jokes, and looked at him quietly for half a day before speaking, “I can understand these two jokes. I just don’t know what you’re trying to say.”

Fan Xian scratched the neck of his hair that was a bit itchy and sore, Si Si had not been in good spirits for the past two days, and when he combed his hair every day, he used too much force, and the hair strands at the back of his head were pulled too hard, so he had gotten a few small red spots. While scratching, he said, “These two jokes tell us that for businessmen, stinginess is always the most appreciated virtue, and profit is always the temptation they can’t resist.”

These were two jokes about Jews that he had heard in his previous life, and it wasn’t too awkward to use them on Jiangnan merchants at this time.

He turned to Hai Tang and pointed to his undershirt, having just tickled himself, and as a result, the itch expanded rapidly and immediately ran to the exact center of Heaven’s Slayer’s back, and although with Fan Xian’s small means, his palms could easily gouge there, it didn’t feel very good.

So he pointed at his undershirt.

Haitang glared at him, but his hand had already reached over and gently tickled his back through his clothes.

Feeling that wonderful hand that could easily defeat the Second Priest, tickling his itchy spot with supreme mind techniques, Fan Xian only felt soothed and moaned comfortably as he continued, ”Being miserly is the nature of businessmen, and it’s a bit of a surprise that Ming Qingda is so willing to cut his meat, and with the interests at stake, next year, I’m sure I’ll have to appease the Sun family of Quanzhou, as well as the merchants that have fallen through the cracks this year, so I’m going to have to trouble you to tell your family’s emperor to know that next year, at most, you can keep this year’s share, any more, that’s extremely difficult.”

Haitang gave a hmmm.

Immediately after that, she continued to ask, “What is the Ming family going to do about it? It looks like you’re satisfied with Ming Qingda’s attitude.”

Fan Xian shook his head and said seriously, “His attitude does not fully represent the Ming family’s attitude, the matter from that night has not been wrapped up yet, and it is impossible for me to call it quits, the Ming family’s injuries today are all in the economy, and in the year to come, relying on the Inner Vault shipping card alone for him, I will be able to make his family continue to bleed… …But the Ming family’s entire muscle is still healthy, so if I want to eat them in one bite it’s impossible, so as long as I’m in Jiangnan for a day, I’ll be chipping off a piece of meat down every few days.”

The so-called encroachment, perhaps this is the truth, just Haitang couldn’t help but listen with some sadness for Ming Qingda, that Elder Ming had put up a sufficiently low profile, but still had no way of controlling the execution of Fan Xian’s strong plan.

Seems to guess what she is thinking, Fan Xian explained: “The Ming family certainly will not wait for death, the problem is that this time, the plan set by Xiao Yan, and against the Cui family is not the same, the Supervisory Yuan’s tactics are all the means to see the light of the day, the things I carry out, all in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Qing law, this is not a conspiracy, but just a Yang conspiracy, in the face of the strength gap, the Ming family is not possible to make a frontal counterattack! The first thing you need to do is to get rid of all the people in your family. You do not think that Ming Qingda purely want to put things to rest, he is not the same is in the time-consuming, waiting for the situation in the capital to change.”

He aggravated his tone and said, “For the Ming family, there must be a change in the situation in Kyoto, or else they will only have to wait to be eaten by the court.”

Haitang softly picked up, “That’s why you won’t let them just wait peacefully, but instead, you’ll rush before the situation in Kyoto changes, and weaken their strength as much as possible.”

“Not bad.” Fan Xian said expressionlessly, “Everything is according to the foot rules, my only worry is that the Ming family’s reputation is so good that it’s a bit hard to understand, and I can’t find any problems with the accounts of the Inner Treasury Transit Division, and the other party’s ability to smooth out the traces is too strong……. Now that there’s no more news from that island going over there, it seems as if there are people who are helping to They cover up. In the face of such a seemingly gentle and virtuous great family, if I, or the Supervisory Yuan, push too hard on the Ming family, and the Ming family puts up a gesture that is too pathetic, the scholarly people of Jiangnan might rebound.”

“You’re not someone who cares about what others say.” Haitang said with a smile.

Fan Xian smiled back, “That’s true. But just because I don’t care, it doesn’t mean that His Majesty doesn’t care, His Majesty wants to stay in history and wants the king’s power to last forever, which is inherently troublesome. If it wasn’t for this, there are too many ways for the court to directly cut down the Ming family, so why haven’t they done it? Isn’t it because of the fear of the impression of the Son of Heaven being ungrateful and the court being shady in the hearts of the people, and the fear of leaving a less than honorable mark in the history books?”

“Is Emperor Qing Guo this kind of person?” Haitang asked doubtfully.

“Trust me.” Fan Xian said with a bitter smile, “His Majesty is indeed a person with a good name, or else the previous time when the sky fell with auspiciousness, he wouldn’t have had to fight with your emperor for that idle breath …… This time, when His Majesty sent me down to Jiangnan to collect the Ming family, he of course hoped that I would be able to do it beautifully, and stomp on the Ming family to death, and not to fall into any bad reputation, if by that time the people of Jiangnan or even the world are holding a grudge for the Ming family …… and those forces inside Kyoto make another fuss, even if His Majesty is so heartless that he is willing to let me go as a black dog, he will be forced to call me back to the capital.”

“If that’s the case, today is already the fourth day after the bidding for the inner treasury was opened, why haven’t you done anything?” Haitang asked curiously.

Fan Xian smiled and said, “Who said I haven’t done anything? I still put a lot of thought into the matter of the Moon Embracing Building.”

At the mention of the Hugging Moon Building, Haitang’s feeling became a bit odd and sighed, “It’s fine that you borrowed silver from me to repair the river work, but you took the silver of my Daqi Dynasty …… to open a brothel, and when the news of this spreads back to the Shangjing, I’m afraid that His Majesty will die laughing at me as a little sister-in-law.”

Fan Xian knows, this Northern Qi holy woman for his own open green house matter, always some not very comfortable feeling, he said with a straight face, “River work is to do good, what you know, I immediately want to embark on the resettlement of exiles is also to do good, but in fact you do not know clearly, open green house …… is also to do good. ”

Haitang was greatly puzzled, thinking that the green house forced women to perform that kind of pitiful things, and what does performing good deeds have to do with it?

“The two oldest professions of mankind, one is the killer and the other is the prostitute.” Fan Xian snapped his fingers and pointed to his back, signaling Haitang not to stop scratching his back, “You can’t change this, I can’t change it, even my mom can’t change it …… Since that’s the case, and this profession will absolutely last forever, we might as well take control of this profession in our own hands , lay down some regulations to protect the interests of those poor women as much as possible.”

After first saying Gu Long’s famous words and repeating what he had said to convince Shi Yanli back then, Fan Xian seriously summarized, “I opened the green house in order to protect those prostitutes, and to put morality over one’s head, ignore it, and pretend that there is no such thing in the world when one has one’s eyes covered is to truly not have a heart of benevolence, and to treat those prostitutes as less than human beings.”

When Fan Xian talked specifically about the “new policies” of the Moon House, such as hiring doctors and monthly vacations, Haitang stopped tickling Fan Xian’s hand and looked at the back of his head in shock, as if she hadn’t thought that Fan Xian wasn’t just talking about falsehoods, but was actually doing these things.

When he heard that last sentence, the look of admiration on Haitang’s face appeared and disappeared, and he said softly, “Anzhi has a point.”

“Hm?” Fan Xian turned back with some surprise, not expecting the other party to reply so seriously, it felt really bad, like Xu Ziling was convincing the master nun.

He shook his head, pushing this sad, sad association out of his mind, and said without a thought, “Duo Duo, I’m sorry.”

This time it was Haitang’s turn to unexpectedly hmmm.

Fan Xian said, “A few days ago, you and I got a bit raw, and afterward I thought about it, and it was mostly my problem, and of course there was also your problem, but in the end, it was my problem.”

Although Haitang didn’t quite understand what he was trying to say, nor did she comprehend this oddly redundant word-counting-cum-wastewater-infused sentence, she still easily associated it with the eight or nine o’clock sun, the world your and mine, and so on, that the young man in front of her had once said by the side of the ancient road outside of the Shangjing City in Northern Qi.

A light smile spread across the corners of her lips.

Fan Xian clapped his hands together and stared into her eyes and said, ”I have the luxury of honesty between friends, but I’m actually not honest enough with you, so that’s my problem. And since you left Beiqi and came to Jiangnan, you have to keep an eye on so much silver every day, and you have to worry about how I’m doing, you’re under too much pressure, making it difficult for you to have peace of mind, not as good as it was in the beginning, and you can’t successfully dissolve this pressure, so that’s your problem. But, you have pressure, I have pressure, in the final analysis, these pressures are made by me, so this problem is also mine.”

Haitang laughed and covered her mouth, revealing only those eyes that were as bright as a clear lake.

Fan Xian was slightly stunned, and subconsciously said, “Pretty eyes.”

“Hmm?” A third hmm between the two.

Fan Xian laughed, “I didn’t realize that you also have a little girl’s side …… But in the end, you didn’t tell me how old you were until today.”

Seeing Haitang’s slightly angry look, he waved his hand noncommittally and said, “Changing the subject! Didn’t you ask just now why there was no action against the Ming family in the past two days?”

“You said you were busy with the renovation work of the brothel.” Haitang was also capable of joking, just on the raw side.

Fan Xian nodded and laughed, “That’s one pile. Of course, the main issue is …… that I’m waiting for Xia Qufei to recuperate.”

The evening of March 26, Suzhou west city along the salt merchants imperial merchants residence gathering place, red lights hanging high, firecrackers noisy sky, a joyful flavor, it turned out to be these days in the internal library matter out of the limelight in the south of Jiangnan water fortress commander Xia Qufei, officially in Suzhou city to buy a compound, today for the first time to open the door to welcome guests.

In fact, the real Jiangnan rich, outside of Suzhou, Jiangnan water town have their own compound, weekdays are also living in their own manor, rarely stay in the city, but each of them are bound to pre-positioned in the west of Suzhou, a luxury residence, because this is a symbol of status, and the family strength of the show.

West city land price is extremely expensive, and always no one is willing to sell property, so not everyone is qualified to live in, and Xia Qufei can successfully open his own mansion, which represents after the battle of the inner library, Jiangnan has recognized his qualifications.

Of course, living in Suzhou City, Xia Qufei, of course, to wash himself a little cleaner, the face does not leave a trace of the mob, so naturally, can not be Jiangnan water fortress commander’s identity to stay in, his identity today has been shaken, became the proprietor of the Xia Mingji.

Xia Mingji, naturally, is also a newly opened merchant bank, this name hidden meaning, come to congratulate the merchants know well, that Ming family is so conspicuous and piercing, just do not know the Ming family today will not send people to come, listen to the master of the family Ming Qingda old master fainted that day after two whole days before he woke up, the body is weak and a mess.

A carriage, stopped in front of the summer residence, carriage all black, without any emblem, but around the eye of the guards, and the street suddenly more strangers, all show the identity of this carriage.

The merchants gathered at the entrance of the Xia residence hurriedly came over, bowed to the carriage, and eagerly prepared to greet the people in the carriage.

Inside the carriage, Fan Xian said to the Third Prince in a harmonious voice, “Your Highness, do you really want to join in the fun? It seems a bit inappropriate.”

The Third Prince smiled sweetly and said, “I know what teacher is worried about, but since teacher is not avoiding suspicion to come and help Xia Qufei today, adding one more student to the mix is nothing.”

Fan Xian smiled, knowing that this little guy had not forgotten Yi Gui Concubine’s teachings at all times, and was dead set on being tied to himself, not only psychologically, but also in terms of public opinion.

A large and a small, the two nobles of Suzhou city haughtily got out of the carriage, attracting a clamor and a succession of invocations from outside the carriage.

Fan Xian stood in the room, running his hand over the desk that was obviously newly made, sniffing the faint scent of fresh wood coming from his nose, thinking that this world was not so good at anything else, but the newly decorated house did not have the smell of methane, and that this benefit was good enough, and he suddenly had a startling thought, realizing that he had not thought about the original world for a long time, and wondered what that meant.

Maybe it was the fact that he was getting more and more used to this world, but why was it that unknown craving in his heart that kept still scratching and making his heart itch, but he didn’t know exactly what it was that he was craving.

It wasn’t tobacco, it wasn’t porn, I don’t know what it was.

He got rid of it from wandering off, only to realize that Xia Qufei and the Third Prince were both staring blankly at him, and couldn’t help but smile to himself and say, “Qingcheng you’re injured, sit by yourself, don’t pay any attention to me, I’m often in a daze.”

Knowing that the Lord of the Qin and the Third Prince have come together, the Jiangnan merchants who came to congratulate in the front yard, one is secretly envious of Xia Qufei’s luck, amazed at the Qin and the Third Prince’s action of not avoiding people’s words, on the other hand, they also do not dare to be too noisy, so the sound of drinking and enjoying in the front yard did not disturb the conversation in the study in the back garden.

Xia Qufei was actually shocked at Fan Xian’s arrival, not to mention the fact that there was a Third Prince following him!

Fan Xian shook his head and said, ”Nowadays in Jiangnan, everyone knows about your relationship with me, and I think Kyoto should know about it as well. If that’s the case, why bother to cover it up?”

Xia Qufei glanced at the Third Prince, and once he thought of the rumors in the community, he didn’t try to avoid it too much, and said directly, “Lord Titus, my subordinates are afraid of bringing you trouble.”

“What trouble?” Fan Xian looked at him and said mildly, “You’re working for the imperial court, and you seem to be in the limelight lately, but you’ve actually suffered a lot of losses.”

Xia Qufei thought of his brothers who died that night and his face darkened slightly.

“Have you gotten better from your injuries?” Fan Xian asked.

Xia Qufei respectfully responded, “Much better.”

“Uh-huh.” Fan Xian said slowly after a little contemplation, “You don’t have to worry too much, about the Ming family, my attitude is very firm, perhaps the progress will be slower, but …… you don’t think that this official was fooled by anyone’s posturing.”

The contemporary master of the Ming family, Ming Qingda’s kneeling in the inner library mansion courtyard, and the fainting spell after winning the bid, had long been rumored in and out of the city of Suzhou these days, so Xia Qufei, as the knife in Fan Xian’s hand, was most worried about the hand that was holding the knife, and whether or not it would suddenly change its mind. At this time, when he heard that Fan Xian had made a promise, Xia Qifei’s wounded body was invigorated by no reason – revenge and reclaiming the Ming family was his greatest wish in this life, and without Fan Xian’s help, he would never be able to do it.

Fan Xian looked at his look, said in a deep voice: “You do things for the court, the court will have to support you, and then say directly, since you are the people of this official, this official must be open and aboveboard to the world, this relationship, do not need to pull off, there is no need to cover up, in the future, you do things in the south of the Yangtze River, to the north of the loss of goods, there is this layer of influence, all will be much easier. ”

Xia Qifei face touched, but the heart is a little terrified, do not know why the Lord Titus is so anxious to pick this matter. In fact, Xia Qufei nowadays still always thought that he was working for the court, he did not understand that Fan Xian used him, does not mean that the court used him.

Let Xia Qufei to the north to lose goods, through the year’s Cui family line, and the north territory of the Fan Sicheng joint, in the south Fan leisure north emperor’s shelter, re-open that smuggling line, this is Fan Xian’s purpose.

Now the south side of the Supervisory Yuan secretly, the north side of the Zhenfu Division Commanding Officer Wei Hua, both Fan Xian’s old acquaintance, but also the small emperor of North Qi trusted people, this line itself has been seamless, the only need to hammer two more times …… is the beginning of the place of the Xia Qufei himself.

Fan Xian today topped the discussion to come, is nothing more than to use the world’s words, will be firmly tied to Xia Qifei in their own side, after today, no matter who, will not believe that Xia Qifei is not Fan Xian’s beloved, after the start of smuggling, Xia Qifei is to want to sell out the Fan Xian, I am afraid that no one dares to believe that he is, and Fan Xian’s enemies will also be aimed at Xia Qifei, Jiangnan residence has been a good start before, so that only forced the Xia Qufei held Fan Xian tighter ……

To external danger and firm heart, tie people on board, the third prince is dead begging to get on the boat, Xia Qufei is not on also impossible.

“The day after tomorrow.” Before Fan Xian left the Xia Mansion, he finally instructed Xia Qufei: “The required formalities should be complete, and then it’s time for you to step in.”

Xia Qufei was slightly grateful, although he understood in his heart that Lord Titus only needed himself to attract the attention of the Ming family, but he could finally roar in Suzhou Mansion, and it seemed that he was getting closer and closer to his goal in life.

“But you understand.” Fan Xian sighed and patted him on the shoulder, “Qing law does not have an established precedent for this kind of thing, the other party is the eldest son of the eldest house, according to the law, he is taking advantage of it, even if the courtyard helps, it is unlikely to get the desired result……. Losing something, and then wanting to get it back again, there are many ways to do it, don’t you be anxious , and don’t be too disappointed.”

Xia Qufei heart trembled slightly, always felt that in front of this young Tiji adults said more than just the Ming family, between the upper and lower levels, it seems that because of the two words of the family property, and produced some kind of homophonic harmony, he clasped both fists, moved to say: “Because of the matter of Xia, so that the adults to take the trouble, really do not dare to be.”

“Deserved.” Fan Xian said compassionately, “Playing the beginning of the explanation, this official is also the interests of the first person, you do not be too tied to the feelings.”

The more he emphasized on benefits, the more Xia Qufei felt that the other party was sincere, and he bowed again and again, sending him and the Third Prince out of the mansion. Accurately speaking, Fan Xian and the Third Prince only stood slightly in Xia’s house and then left, before and after only a tea time, but the gesture and determination shown in this will definitely be passed out through the mouths of those businessmen and officials, and will be passed on to the ears of the Ming family’s main person in charge.

After the carriage left the Xia Residence, it didn’t rush back to Hua Yuan, but headed towards the northern city, Suzhou’s northern city was mostly filled with Jianghu good people, so the guards beside the carriage were nervous.

“What day is the day after tomorrow?” The Third Prince asked Fan Xian with his innocent and harmless eyes wide open.

Fan Xian responded, “Xia Qiu flew into the Suzhou government office to sue the Ming family for the underhanded seizure of the family’s property.”