Eighth year of Chongzhen

83 Blackmail
Everyone in the store was stunned, only to see a man in his thirties with thick eyebrows and big eyes, wearing a royal blue satin pattern gown and a square scarf on his head, walking quickly into the lobby from the backyard. It was Li Shiqun, the owner of the firm.

Li Shiqun, who was negotiating business with customers in the backyard, suddenly heard that the shopkeeper Xu had been beaten and his life and death were unknown. He hurriedly said to the merchants and then ran to the front shop. Cursing, when he got closer, a few clerks rushed out of the store with their heads in their arms. Some had bruised faces and blood from their mouths and noses. He quickened his pace and trotted forward. A few steps away, he heard that someone was going to set the store on fire. , so he stopped immediately.

Li Shiqun saw shopkeeper Xu lying on the ground, his body was motionless, his head was swollen, his face touched the ground and he couldn't see the situation clearly, and a pool of blood was faintly visible. Mouth and nose, there is no breath at all.

Li Shiqun got up slowly, filled with grief and indignation, shopkeeper Xu had followed him for many years, and now he died tragically, he must seek justice for him!
He had no expression on his face, his eyes became extremely cold, he turned around and cupped his hands to Hou Dingguo and said, "I don't know what to call this little brother? What is the enmity with my Li family? He even beat my old shopkeeper to death! He even wanted to set fire to him!" Shop! Li needs an explanation! Otherwise, Li will report to the police!"

Hou Dingguo was overjoyed at this time, heard and asked questions, squinted at Li Shiqun, and said in a strange way: "You are the owner of this shop? Our family was sent by Yang Gonggong to buy wood for the restoration of the imperial mausoleum. Who would have thought that this old bastard would insult the nobles in the palace with his words! It would be easy for such a pariah to be beaten to death! Why? Do you still want to stand up for him?"

Li Shiqun's complexion changed, and he thought: What a big hat!What insult to the nobles in the palace is almost insulting to the emperor!That is a serious crime against the Nine Clans!
He sneered and said: "Hehe, shopkeeper Xu has been with my family for many years. He is diligent and kind. There is an old saying: If you want to commit a crime, there is no excuse! Now that there is no proof of death, don’t you let your father-in-law say whatever you want?”

Hou Dingguo gritted his teeth and said with a smile: "Stop talking nonsense! Our family is here to do shopping for the palace. Since you are the owner, then this matter will fall on you! Listen to our family: I want to buy fifty high-quality beams from your lumber shop for rebuilding the house. The materials must be of the highest quality. If the house collapses in the future, you will be fully responsible! In addition, I need to prepare [-] pieces of other wood for use. For making doors and windows, all the wood will be ready and delivered to the imperial mausoleum within ten days, and the palace will pay with precious banknotes!"

Li Shiqun's eyes stared at Hou Dingguo as if they were about to breathe fire, and he said through gritted teeth, "Baocha? Father-in-law wants my Li family to go bankrupt. Is the family ruined?"

Hou Dingguo turned around and walked out, chuckling lightly as he walked, "Our family doesn't care what you think, the ten-day period cannot be delayed, otherwise, our family will consider you a traffic thief! That is a serious crime of ransacking your family and exterminating your family!" Wan led a group of entourage through the crowd outside the store and walked away.

Li Shiqun looked at Hou Dingguo who was going away, but felt that the anger was rolling in his belly, but he had nowhere to vent it. He just wanted to wave his arms and roar to the sky. Gradually calm down.

Judging from his many years of experience, he concluded that the ten-day period Hou Dingguo mentioned was a time for him to find a way to open up joints and bribe him. , and then take out a lot of valuables such as gold and silver or antique calligraphy and paintings and give them to the eunuch guarding the mausoleum.

In normal times, Li Shiqun would have used the connections he made in the officialdom to spend thousands of taels of silver to settle the matter; but the tragic death of shopkeeper Xu made him really angry. Shopkeeper Xu has been in the Li family for 20 years. He selflessly taught Li Shiqun some key points in the business field, worked hard for him, and helped him earn a lot of family property. On weekdays, Li Shiqun regards him as his father and brother, and respects him very much. , have been together day and night for 20 years, just like relatives, who knows that today, heaven and man will be separated forever, and they will die tragically!

If you don't avenge this revenge, you swear not to be a human being!Li Shiqun secretly made up his mind that no matter how much money he spent, even if he gave up the entire timber business, he would avenge shopkeeper Xu and let him rest in peace underground!

The crowd outside the store gradually dispersed after Hou Dingguo and others left. The shopkeepers of several neighboring shops entered the store to inquire. After hearing what happened, they were all very angry and expressed their regret for the death of shopkeeper Xu. They spoke out to comfort Li Shiqun one after another, but none of them were big businessmen, and they couldn't help other than expressing sympathy and anger.

Li Shiqun expressed his gratitude to his neighbors for their condolences. After several people left one after another, he ordered to put up a closed sign and close the store. Then, enduring his grief, he scrubbed the shopkeeper Xu clean with his buddies, and sent people to the shroud store to buy coffins. , and then buried the body of shopkeeper Xu. After everything was in place, he would personally take the coffin back to Nanjing for burial.After the thieves ravaged Fengyang last time, because they felt that Fengyang was not safe enough, both he and shopkeeper Xu moved their homes to Nanjing.

After arranging everything, Li Shiqun returned to the backyard, expressed his apologies to the long-awaited merchants, and said that the business that the two had negotiated before was void, and he would take out some money as a breach of contract compensation to the other party.

The businessman, surnamed Ma, is a native of Fengyang. He used to run a restaurant. In the early eighth year of the Chongzhen reign, the bandits captured Fengyang, and his family fled to Nanjing. After two months, I returned to Fengyang after confirming safety. Seeing the market was in a slump, I didn't plan to rebuild the restaurant on the original site, but wanted to develop in Nanjing in the future.

After returning to Nanjing, Boss Ma also took over a small hotel, but because he was a foreigner, he did not make a big splash in Nanjing. The hotel was either harassed by hooligans or exploited by local officials for several months. After losing a lot of money, he sold the hotel at a low price in a fit of rage, and planned to return to Fengyang to rebuild the restaurant. After all, the natives in this town, both the officials and the green skins, were already familiar with it, which saved a lot of trouble.

He came here today to negotiate with Li Shiqun about purchasing the wood needed for the reconstruction of the restaurant. Because the three-story restaurant needs a lot of wood and money is not a small amount, so Li Shiqun personally received him. , The price was basically negotiated, at this moment, a clerk came to report the news, and Li Shiqun left in a hurry.

Boss Ma and Li Shiqun were also acquainted with each other. After all, they had been in Fengyang for many years, and they had dealt with each other occasionally, so the two sides knew each other well.He is also very satisfied with the price negotiated today, everything is ready, just waiting to pay the deposit, and rebuild quickly after the wood is in place.

Who knew that Li Shiqun actually overturned the previous contract when he came back, which surprised Boss Ma inexplicably. Li Shiqun has a very good reputation in the business field, and Li Shiqun has never breached the contract. What happened today?Do you regret that the price is too low?
Boss Ma clasped his hands and said, "What's the meaning of Dong's family? Could it be that I think my price is too low? Our business people are the most honest. Why did Dong's family back then? You have to explain it to me today!"

Li Shiqun sighed helplessly and said: "Brother Ma, Mr. Li has been in business for many years. He has always followed the principle of honesty and has never broken his trust. Today, he has to do this because he has no choice. He really doesn't want to drag Brother Ma down!"

Boss Ma was even more puzzled, and continued to ask: "Master Li, please don't lie to me. You sell the wood, and I buy the wood. You pay the money and deliver the goods. This is a legitimate business. How can you drag me down?"

Li Shiqun had no choice but to briefly narrate what happened in the store just now, and Boss Ma was stunned. Unexpectedly, someone died in broad daylight. law?
After Li Shiqun finished speaking, he continued: "Brother Ma, those people asked for wood in the name of repairing the imperial mausoleum, and they paid for it with precious banknotes. This is no different from robbery! I, Li, would rather close the business than Hand over a piece of wood! Not to mention killing my old shopkeeper, I am at odds with them! If I sell the wood to you today, and then close the shop and leave, they will definitely turn their anger on you when they are angry, how can I be embarrassed?"

Boss Ma suddenly felt grateful, he stood up and bowed to Li Shiqun and said: "I was thinking about it, and Li Dong's family is really thinking about me. Someone Ma just blamed you, and I am here to make amends for you!"

Li Shiqun hurriedly got up to return the salute, saying that he didn't dare to do so.

Boss Ma said: "What is Li Dong's family planning to do next? Is it really necessary to close down the firm that has been painstakingly managed for decades? That would be a pity!"

(End of this chapter)