Chapter 76 Inner Factory

Chapter 76 Inner Factory

Chapter 76 Inner Factory
Yingtian Prefecture, Tianxiang Tower.

Tianxianglou is one of the businesses run by the Jiaofangsi.

This can be regarded as a major feature of the Dayu Dynasty in Southern Zhili. Because Southern Zhili had a developed economy and the entertainment industry was lucrative, but collecting taxes was troublesome, so the emperor of a certain generation came up with the idea of ​​officially operating brothels.

In fact, such things are not without precedent, they have existed since ancient times.

For example, Guan Yiwu, the ancestor worshipped by brothels today, was a pioneer in the industry. He set up the first official prostitution venue in history - Nvlu.

Chen Madam from Tianxianglou was behind Su Lianqing, combing her hair. She looked reluctant and said, "Inspector Wu has said something, so I can't keep you here. Now that you are no longer a prostitute, have you thought about your future livelihood?"

Su Lianqing: "I still have some savings, which should be enough to last for a while, and you know, Mother Chen, I will have someone to rely on when I go there..."

Mother Chen sighed, "I know that you went there because you really had someone to rely on. But we women are floating around, and this kind of fate is not a formal marriage, so it can end just like that. You still have to think of a way out."

Su Lianqing asked: "Mother Chen, what ideas do you have?"

Mother Chen smiled and said, "I have discussed with Mother Lu from Jiangning Prefecture. We will open another Tianxiang Courtyard in Jiangning Prefecture under the name of the Jiaofangsi. After you go there, if it is convenient, you can help to recruit a few female students every now and then. If they spend money with you, their value will increase greatly. As for you, you can also be a female teacher and have a long-term stipend. What do you think?"

"I'll have to discuss this with him when I get there."

Mother Chen: "Don't worry, we have already made connections and have communicated with Lord He of Jiangning Mansion in advance. However, Lord He made a request, that is, Mr. Xu must hold 20% of the shares, and we have agreed to this."

When she said this, she smiled and said, "I think his two percent stake was also taken for Lord He, but it is still a benefit. So he also has his interests in it, and he will definitely not make things difficult for you."

Su Lianqing felt a bit hopeless when she heard that He Zhifu was also involved. One was the ex-lover who had betrayed her, and the other was the current owner. The two were probably partners. The relationship was too complicated.

Fortunately, it was Inspector Wu who stepped forward this time, and Su Lianqing took the opportunity to report to her superiors, who agreed to her "plan" to infiltrate Xu Qing and gave her an additional secret agent from the Lotus Sect.

Su Lianqing didn't want it at all, but her superiors insisted on giving it to her, thinking that she had made a great contribution this time.

Because Luo Jiao now has a very high opinion of Xu Qing and believes that he is a key chess piece in the current situation in Nanzhili.

After all, this man has three important figures from Nanzhili around him, Inspector Wu, Minister Zhou, and Prefect He, and he has an unclear relationship with Lin Tianwang, the underworld overlord of Jiangning Prefecture.

If Su Lianqing can tame Xu Qing, it will undoubtedly be of great help to the great cause of our sect.

Su Lianqing could only say that the higher-ups had a nice idea, but did they know that she had already been "tamed"?

Anyway, she has clearly refused, but the higher-ups are still pushing the blame on her, so the blame cannot be taken from her.

It was even mentioned above that if Xu Qing was persuaded to rebel in the future and passed the imperial examination, they could even offer him a position as a "freeloader".

The status of Sanren is higher than that of altar masters and incense masters in various places of Luojiao, and he can barely be considered a true "high-level" of Luojiao.

As for Mother Chen beside Su Lianqing, she is not simple either. She can now almost conclude that Mother Chen is not backed by a high-ranking official, but the emperor's inner factory.

The Neichang and the Xiuyiwei were the two major secret agencies under the emperor, especially the Neichang, which was more terrifying than the Xiuyiwei.

Theoretically speaking, the eunuch in charge of the Neichang also nominally commanded the Xiuyiwei.

Because the Inner Factory Supervisor was too powerful, there was no position for the Inner Factory Supervisor in the Silijian, the highest institution for eunuchs in the Dayu Dynasty.

This is also a kind of check and balance.

Mother Chen and others partnered to open Tianxiangyuan in Jiangning Prefecture, which was probably the new layout of the Neichang in Jiangning Prefecture.

Su Lianqing was very tired. Her trip to Jiangning Prefecture was indeed more dangerous than her stay in Yingtian Prefecture.

And is she destined to be a female spy all her life?

If she is recruited by the internal factory later, it will be really fun.

By then, there will be too many identities for her to remember. Besides, if she keeps acting, will her soul be split?

"too difficult!"

...

...

"What's so difficult about it? Just do this first, then that..." After a good sleep, Xu Sanyuan came to Fushe to inspect the work and, by the way, instructed the members to practice eight-part essays.

As the nominal boss, Xu Qing still has to show up from time to time.

Many of these members may become his "accomplices" in the officialdom in the future.

The guild hall of Fushe was part of the original Zhao Xiong residence. It was now government property, and Xu Qing rented it for one or two taels of silver per year. Originally, one penny would have been fine, but he still had to give the government face.

What's more, Mr. Xu is also a particular person.

There is a couplet posted at the entrance of Fushe.

"The sound of wind, rain, and reading are all pleasant to the ear."

"I care about everything, family affairs, national affairs, and world affairs."

In order to ease the boredom of practicing eight-part essays, Xu Qing also sent people to copy the court bulletins and provide them to the members for study and practice.

I have to say, the sense of immersion came up all of a sudden. After practicing keyboard politics, I have more motivation to practice eight-part essays.

It must be said that the level of being a "master" is very high. Under Xu Qing's guidance, the members who were instructed seemed to enter a state of "enlightenment".

Okay, this could also be an act.

Anyway, let’s just say it was an epiphany or not.

In any case, Xu Sanyuan must have remembered this member.

After Xu Qing inspected the area, he called Yan Shan and said, "Wei Zhong, do you know that there is an old scholar named Li Feng who moved from Wuzhong County to the city recently?"

After this trip, he was infected with the spirit of the underworld. Xu Sanyuan almost blurted out, "Let's have an old hero named Li."

It damages the image of Master Sanyuan.

It's all Yan Shan's fault. He gave him the nickname "Jiangning Timely Rain" and called him "Brother Gongming" all the time, which made him seem like he was part of the Water Margin.

After all, Yan Shan was born into a legitimate aristocratic family. Even though his family was a small clan and had long been in decline, he had studied at Julu Academy. In addition, due to family connections, there were some things that Xu Qing didn't know that he might really know.

After all, memorizing family trees and lists of family relationships is one of the compulsory courses for children of noble families or students in academies.

This is also a major advantage for children of aristocratic families in entering officialdom, as they always have various connections that can be used as a stepping stone.

Ordinary people don’t have this kind of connections and can’t even get through the door.

These days, it costs a lot to ask someone to do something for you, or to point you in the right direction. Whether or not the thing can be done is another price, and the price is ridiculously high.

Yan Shan recalled for a moment and said, "Could it be Mr. Li Feng, one of the Eight Great Shanren of Wuzhong?"

When Xu Qing heard this, he realized that Bada Shanren was a person who made his debut in a literary group. His level of prestige was obviously lower than his own, who claimed that "one day he would become a scholar of the world".

Judging from the grade, it seems to be no different from the Eight Horses of Jiangning, or even lower.

After all, among the Eight Horses of Jingzhou in history, there was also Liu Jingsheng, who controlled nine counties, had an army of 100,000 and ruled a region.

"Uncle" Zhou asked him to go to this man to study, which would damage Xu Qing's status.

Of course, Xu Qing was just complaining in his heart. Logically speaking, the other party should have other origins.

"Does this person have any relatives or students who are important figures?" Xu Qing asked again.

Even Prefect He might not be clear about this kind of local relationship.

But Yan Shan didn't know either.

After shaking his head, he asked Xu Qing: "Brother Gongming, Mr. Li belongs to the same generation as my great uncle. Why don't you come with me to ask my great uncle?"

...

...

Mr. Yan used to be a private tutor at the Yan family school. Later, as he got old and had difficulty teaching, he recommended Feng Xifeng to take over his position.

Now that Feng Xifeng has passed the imperial examination, he will go to Shendu to take part in the next spring imperial examination. Mr. Yan, who is already old, can only come out to support the family for a while and wait until spring to find a new young tutor.

The elderly are very happy to see young people visiting them.

He only passed the imperial examination and became a scholar in his life, but he was old and did have a lot of experience.

I heard that Xu Qing was the top three scholar in Jiangning Prefecture, so he didn't put on airs and was very polite.

Xu Qing explained his purpose.

Mr. Yan: "Has Li Anguo also come to live in the city?"

"Ah."

"Friend Xu, how do you know that Li Anguo has a background?"

"An elder mentioned that I should look after an old man in the city. I was curious, so I wanted to ask someone about it."

Mr. Yan glanced at Xu Qing with a half-smile.

Xu Qing thought, this person has lived a long time, it is easy for him to become a spirit, the old fox might see something. But he didn't worry about anything, he came here now, just to get an answer, to have a clear idea in mind, if there is really no answer, he will still go to Li Feng to ask for advice.

Mr. Yan continued, "Li Anguo once worked as a private tutor at the Fan family in Wuzhong, but that was almost twenty years ago."

"The Fan family in Wuzhong, I heard that this family hasn't had any successful candidates in the imperial examinations in the past twenty years." Yan Shan said.

He followed Xu Qing and his horizons became broader.

After he finished speaking, he was hit by his uncle's cane. Yan Shan then realized that he had said the wrong thing. The old man was only a scholar.

After the old gentleman hit his grandson with his cane, he continued, "Although the Fan family hasn't produced any successful candidates in recent years, the adopted son of the Fan family is Shen Mo, the top scholar in the 32nd year of Wanshou. Shen Mo originally took the Fan family's surname Fan, but later became the top scholar. The Fan family informed him of his life story and asked him to change his surname back to Shen."

Wanshou’s thirty-second year was fourteen years ago.

Li Anguo used to be a private tutor for the Fan family, so probably even fewer people knew about this.

After asking this question, Xu Qing had a clear idea of ​​the matter.

This Li Anguo was actually a top scholar, and I'm afraid that few people know about this, because it seems that the old gentleman doesn't want to brag about this.

In fact, if this kind of relationship is not revealed, even if outsiders know that the other person was a top scholar, they will not know how deep the relationship between the two is.

More importantly, the top scholar is a Hanlin scholar in the capital. Unless someone in his family is an official in the capital, who can use such a relationship?

If they really work as officials in Beijing, they would be from the same hometown and would naturally stick together for warmth.

Xu Qing was also confused. Could it be that Shen Mo, the top scholar, would be the chief examiner of the Nanzhili Provincial Examination?

However, the inherent practice of this dynasty made it impossible for someone to return to his own province to serve as the chief examiner for the provincial examination.

"After all, the imperial court is in the process of reforming the law. If Shen Mo is a reformist, choosing someone from his hometown would actually be more conducive to forming a party and getting things done."

Juren did not need to enter the imperial court, they were a force in the local area.

This is how the saying "Jin Juren" and "Yin Jinshi" came about.

In terms of influence in one's hometown, a Juren is definitely greater than a Jinshi who serves as an official in the imperial court.

The reform of the dynasty was bound to touch the cake of the old forces, so it would be beneficial to promote the reform cause to have a group of new scholars who were close to the reform in the local area.

Moreover, if the new scholar wants to expand his family business and share the cake, he will inevitably come into conflict with the old forces.

With the result in hand, it is indeed much easier to deduce the cause.

Xu Qing knew what was going on.

He said goodbye to Mr. Yan. Before that, he had someone leave a lot of charcoal at the Yan clan school and Mr. Yan's home.

This is truly a timely help, which is more useful than leaving money.

Although he had found out all about Li Feng's background, Xu Qing was not in a hurry to study there. Instead, he planned to further find out about the other party's preferences and personality, and make full preparations before visiting him.

Sometimes, the success or failure of things often lies in the details.

Xu Qing doesn't care whether it's useful or not, just do the details first.

...

...

As for the details, Xu Qing was responsible for the general direction, while the specific operations were naturally handed over to Yan Shan and the people from Yihetang.

Yan Shan is now quite skilled in being Xu Qing's housekeeper, mainly because there is money to be made.

The children of impoverished small clans and aristocratic families also need to make a living.

And when it comes to making money, Yan Shan seems to have awakened his talent and is very motivated.

Xu Qing just let it go.

He really doesn't care about money and can't take too much care of it.

What he cares about is how many resources he can mobilize to achieve his goals when he wants to do something.

This is more important than money.

Moreover, as the founder of a power, his prestige is incomparable to his successors. As long as Xu Qing is alive, he can maintain his dominant position.

As for his death, there is nothing to consider.

After all, it was because he had too few people under him.

So keeping Su Lianqing also has this advantage, she can do some dirty work for him.

Besides, the Lotus Sect has always been a hidden danger, so it is always a good thing to have this traitor around.

The other thing is to explore Su Lianqing's abilities, such as the art of disguise...

Things will happen step by step, there is no need to rush.

Xu Qing returned home and rode his Huoyun horse to the horse farm in Jiangning Prefecture. The place was not big, but it was enough for the horse to run away.

Sergeant Zhang was there to look after Xu Qing and teach him horse riding skills.

On the road ahead, Xu Qing has already learned some basics, and now he is learning more in depth.

As for the Fire Cloud Horse, although it was a fierce horse, it was as obedient as it could be in front of Xu Qing, because Xu Qing used the Yaksha King to get into its body and gave the fierce horse a good scare.

Now in Huoyun Horse's eyes, Xu Qing is a demon god in human form.

In fact, animals obey the natural law of the survival of the fittest, so after taming the Fire Cloud Horse, the fierce horse also cooperated with Xu Qing's equestrian movements.

Seeing this, Sergeant Zhang could only think that the horse belonged to Xu Sanyuan.

And feel happy that Huoyun Horse has found its true master.

Xu Qing raised the cow tendon bow on the horse.

Normally, he used this bow to practice the Bull Demon's great power method and temper his body, so he was quite familiar with the performance of this bow.

This weapon is easy to use once you get familiar with it.

What suits you is the best.

Xu Qing put the arrow on the bow and pulled the string, combining his waist and horse, and carefully pondering the details of shooting on horseback.

He is in a state of "absolute concentration" and is very sensitive to feedback on details.

As he shot arrows one after another, he gradually found the feeling of exerting force and his aim became more and more accurate.

During this process, Xu Qing felt the power of the Fire Cloud Horse and coordinated it with his own strength, and the feeling in his heart became more and more wonderful.

Riding a horse between heaven and earth, killing people in the world.

This kind of chivalrous and willful style is truly fascinating.

Xu Qing now feels a bit like he did when he was a child in his previous life, watching martial arts dramas.

While riding his horse at a gallop, Xu Qing felt very comfortable and happy.

This is also the reason why he has been living too restrained and cautiously since his rebirth.

The more people lack something, the more they yearn for it.

In this world, there are not many opportunities to be willful and wanton.

Xu Qing sighed inwardly.

He was riding a horse and shooting arrows at the stable until it was getting dark, when Guard Wang came and said that Prefect He wanted to see him about something.

Xu Qing bowed his hands and apologized, "I was planning to go and see you tomorrow when you are on vacation, but I never thought that you would want to see me right now. I am really being rude."

Guard Wang smiled and said, "The Lord of the Palace just discussed an important matter that is related to Gongming, so he came to look for you. As for the etiquette, given the relationship between Gongming and the Lord of the Palace, there is no need to go into the details of the formalities."

He is half a gangster, and having followed the government officials for a long time, his speech becomes a bit flowery.

Xu Qing smiled, and handed the exhausted Fire Cloud Horse to Sergeant Zhang for care, and then followed Guard Wang on two other horses to the government office.

On the way, Guard Wang was surprised: "It's been a while since we last met. Gongming, your horsemanship has improved a lot."

Xu Qing smiled and said, "After all, I still have to go to Beijing to take the exam. It will definitely be easier to go there on horseback."

Guard Wang nodded and said, "By the way, Master Fayue, please let me tell you that if you are free, he would like to visit you."

Xu Qing knew that they had mentioned the idea of ​​doing business together last time.

He said, "Let's set it for tomorrow. Then Brother Wang can come over and we can have a vegetarian meal together."

Guard Wang laughed: "Those monks who practice martial arts have to eat meat, they don't have to be vegetarian."

Xu Qing also knew it, but he had to give the other person face so that he wouldn't lose face.

Judging from Guard Wang's tone, he probably has a pretty good relationship with the Jinguang Temple recently and can joke around with him casually.

After all, they already had a relationship with the Great Zen Temple, and now that they had common interests, they were even closer.

The two chatted all the way until they arrived at the government office.

Prefect He saw Xu Qing at the door of the study and said, "Gongming, I heard that you did a lot of great things this time when you went out."

Xu Qing: "It is all thanks to your teaching. I dare not take credit for it."

Magistrate He pulled Xu Qing into the house affectionately and said, "I said I would help you revive your family business. This time I have a job for you. Please pay attention."

He paused and said meaningfully, "This business also has the background of Shendu."

(End of this chapter)