Starting from crossing the Fengshen

Chapter 14 The Yin family’s troubles

Yin Mansion.

Tingyuzhai is Yin Chengtao's study.

Yin Chengtao is wearing a green robe and a dark gold melon cap. He has a handsome appearance and an elegant temperament.

But at this moment, he frowned and looked heavy.

Yin Xuan looked solemn and said solemnly: "Dad, the Caohe Gang is entrenched at the dock. Without their nod, the ship owners would not dare to transport goods for us. If they stop delivering goods, they will have to pay a lot of money for overdue breach of contract."

Shaoxing has a dense network of rivers and is close to the sea, making water transportation extremely convenient.

Today is not the future. If you want to do business with foreigners, you have to go to a treaty port. Therefore, the silk and tea of ​​the Yin family need to be shipped out of Shaoxing first and go to Hangzhou, or Shanghai and Ningbo for sale.

These three places are treaty ports.

However, large merchants like the Yin family basically have fixed customers and have signed contracts with both parties.

The Yin family originally had their own cargo ship, but it accidentally caught fire last month, so they had to find a cargo ship to help transport the goods, but to their surprise, no one was willing.

All the ship owners seemed to have made an agreement not to do business with the Yin family.

Yin Chengtao and Yin Xuan's father and son instinctively sensed that something was wrong, and quickly secretly inquired for information. Only then did they realize that the Caohe Gang was responsible.

The Caohe Gang warned all ship owners not to carry the Yin family's goods.

The Caohe Gang occupied the wharf, controlled all the water systems around Shaoxing, had thousands of people in the gang, and had connections with the government. Even the Yin family had no way to deal with them for a while.

Therefore, Yin Chengtao could only make an appointment with Caohe Gang leader Lu Xianba.

If there is any grudge, just resolve it.

After all, the Yin family values ​​harmony in doing business and never easily makes enemies with others.

But who knew that Lu Xianba was so open-minded that he wanted [-]% of the Yin family's annual profits, and there was no room for negotiation. Even Yin Chengtao's offer of sending two thousand oceans a year was rejected.

The two sides parted unhappily.

Naturally, Yin Chengtao would not sit still and wait for death. He mobilized all his connections, whether in politics, scholars, or business. As a result, Lu Xianba was unable to make any progress and insisted on the conditions.

Yin Chengtao frowned and thought, and sighed: "There is no way to deal with Lu Xianba, it just takes time, but what we need most is time. Xuan'er, what do you have in mind?"

After all, the Yin family is also a family of officials, and now they have millions of dollars. If they really want to use their strength to deal with the Caohe Gang, it really won't be a problem.

Gangsters may be able to run rampant for a while, but they will never come to the fore.

Yin Xuan blurted out and said seriously: "Ask my Japanese classmate for help. He is in Hangzhou now, and there is no problem in transferring a few cargo ships from Hangzhou. But the Caohe Gang does not dare to take care of the Japanese cargo ships."

Although there are three trading ports near Shaoxing, the closest one is Hangzhou. Therefore, the Yin family's tea and silk are basically sold to all parts of the world through Hangzhou.

"no!"

Yin Chengtao's expression suddenly changed and he said sternly: "The ambition of the Japanese pirates is my mortal enemy of the Qing Dynasty. Our Yin family has been bathed in the emperor's favor for generations, how can we collude with the Japanese pirates?"

Yin Xuan retorted: "Dad, my Yin family is just a businessman now. What does military and state affairs have to do with us? Besides, the defeat in the Sino-Japanese War is an indication of the incompetence of the imperial court. Could it be possible that we can still resent Japan?"

Yin Chengtao said angrily: "Why can't you be resentful? With the momentum of great victory, the Japanese pirates forced the imperial court to sign the Treaty of Shimonoseki. Not only did they demand compensation of [-] million taels of silver, they also forcibly ceded the Liaodong Peninsula, Taiwan, and the Penghu Islands.

With such wolfish ambition, it is clear that he wants to destroy our Qing Dynasty.

The poems and books of my Yin family are handed down to the family in an upright manner. Even if my family is ruined, I will never turn to Japanese pirates for help, lest I have the shame to go underground to meet the ancestors of the Yin family a hundred years later. "

Yin Xuan disagreed with his father's words.When Japan was victorious in the Sino-Japanese War of [-]-[-], the trend of studying in Japan started in China, because compared to studying in Europe and the United States, Japan is not only close, but also has the same culture, making it more meaningful to learn.

Many people believe that as long as they learn from Japan, the Qing Dynasty will quickly become stronger.

It was also under this trend that Yin Xuan was sent to Japan to study by Yin Chengtao. The original intention was to 'know yourself and the enemy', but he did not know that Yin Xuan had been brainwashed by Japan unintentionally.

Yin Xuan felt that China and Japan share the same roots and are separated by water. They are brothers and should help each other.

Compared with white people in Europe and the United States, China and Japan are friendly countries.

He also firmly believed that Japan would help the Qing Dynasty develop so that it could join forces to fight against the European and American powers.

Although he disagreed, facing the furious Yin Chengtao, Yin Xuan could only hold his words in his stomach.

He said angrily: "If that's the case, what do you think we should do?"

Yin Chengtao suppressed the anger in his heart, his eyes were sharp, and he said in a deep voice: "Since the waterway is not possible, then we can take the land route. There is not much road from Shanyin to Hangzhou anyway."

Yin Xuan frowned and said thoughtfully: "Dad, it's not impossible to take the land route. But let's not talk about the robbers first, let's talk about the Caohe Gang. Since they have blocked our water transportation, will they just watch us take the land route?"

In an era when there were no trains, roads or trucks, water transportation was the most convenient.

Not only is the shipping cost cheap, but the cargo capacity is large.

It’s only a hundred miles from Shaoxing to Hangzhou, so it’s not impossible to travel by land.

It's just that the world is in chaos, there are refugees and robbers everywhere, and it is not safe to travel by land.

In fact, the Yin family is not afraid of them. The worst thing they can do is hire more guards.

What they really want to guard against is the Caohe Gang.

There are thousands of members in the Caohe Gang, and all of them are brave and fierce.

It is said that Lu Xianba is still a master and has a group of thugs with strong martial arts under his command. Even if the Yin family hires many guards, they may not be able to resist their attacks.

Yin Chengtao said calmly: "Look for Master Chen. Didn't you tell me that Master Chen can move the stone lion in front of our house with his bare hands? I guess he is also a master. If he leads the team, he may be able to deal with the Caohe Gang. . No matter what, I have to try this, and I will think of other ways at the same time."

Yin Xuan frowned.

There seemed to be no other way.

He nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go find Master Chen and discuss this matter with him."

Yin Chengtao nodded and asked: "By the way, is that little beast still peaceful these days?"

Yin Xuan couldn't help but smile and said: "Dad, you would never have imagined that now the second brother has been completely transformed. And as far as I know, he has been practicing martial arts in the yard these days without any thoughts of escaping."

Yin Chengtao was surprised, but there was a smile in the corner of his eyes, but he still said: "I'm afraid he is holding back some crooked tricks, and we must not be deceived by him. Go and tell him, if he dares to step out of the yard without my order, Half a step and I break his legs."

Yin Xuan nodded.

After chatting with Yin Chengtao for a few more words, he turned and left Tingyuzhai.

Soon, he found Master Chen in a courtyard.

The other party was teaching Yin Hai how to practice at this time.

Yin Xuan was secretly unhappy when he saw this, but he didn't show it. He just stepped forward and asked doubtfully: "Master Chen, why are you teaching Yin Hai to practice here?"

(End of this chapter)