The World of Martial Arts

Chapter 11 The Gang
The voice of the old butler, Uncle Qin, was a little trembling, "Actually... there are many reasons. When the master bought this workshop, the old servant wanted to remind him, but he didn't dare to..."

Xu Zhengping raised his hand and said: "I know, I usually behave in a serious manner, and I am too serious, and several of you are afraid of me, so I hold back some things and dare not say them.

It’s okay, it’s still a long time, you can understand slowly, just sit down, drink a cup of tea, sort out your thoughts and speak slowly. "

While talking, Xu Zhengping shouted: "Aunt Zhu, bring some snacks in. Uncle Qin and I want to talk about the workshop, so we will talk late."

Outside the study, Aunt Zhu, who was in charge of cooking and laundry, quickly responded and went to the kitchen to get busy.

Seeing that Xu Zhengping didn't sternly blame him, Qin Butler felt relieved, so he took a sip of tea, cleared his mind, and then slowly began to talk about the weaving workshop.

"Actually, my lord, that weaving workshop had a very prosperous business two years ago, and there were at least 50 female workers in it, supplying the rich merchants from Yangzhou.

But it was also because the business was so good that the local Nanshan Gang took a fancy to it and wanted to take a stake in the joint venture and provide protection for the workshop. "

Xu Zhengping let out a smirk, and he naturally understood that this so-called joint venture was actually an empty-handed wolf who wanted to share a large share without paying a penny.

Butler Qin continued: "But the owner of the workshop didn't agree, so the matter was left alone. Then one night two years ago, the owner and his wife died at home strangely. It is said that the death was very tragic.

The boss seemed to be tied aside, watching his wife and daughter being insulted by many people, and then brutally tortured to death.The corpse was not discovered until it rotted and smelled..."

Xu Zhengping frowned slightly, "Could it be that the workshop owner and his wife live in the yard we live in now?"

Qin Butler nodded slightly, "It is indeed this yard, so it has been hanging there for two years and has not been sold."

"Since the boss of the workshop is dead, what happened to the boss before I bought it? It doesn't look like a person in the world."

Butler Qin continued: "The previous boss was the brother of the original boss, who happened to come to visit, and when this happened, he inherited the workshop and claimed to find the murderer to avenge the brother.

But everyone knew that the murderer must be a member of the Nanshan Gang, how could he, a small businessman, be able to deal with it.

However, that person was also stubborn. Under the threat and harassment of the Nanshan Gang, he couldn't hold on for so long and wanted to sell the workshop at a low price.

When the old servant saw the master going to buy a workshop, he wanted to remind him of this..."

Xu Zhengping understood it already, and said: "I understand, you mean the workshop is sold at a low price, but it was actually forced by the Nanshan Gang, and when the price drops to a certain level, the Nanshan Gang will buy it, but in the end, I cut it off. "

Butler Qin nodded slightly.

"So this month, the Nanshan gang has been causing trouble for my workshop, making them unable to produce normally, so that when I checked the accounts, I actually lost hundreds of taels of silver."

Qin Guanjia said: "Besides, the government servants often come to the door to beat the autumn wind, and set a lot of exorbitant taxes for us..."

"Hehe, it turned out to be the collusion of officials and bandits. It's ok, I understand."

Xu Zhengping stood up, took down the three-foot-long broadsword hanging in the study, and carried it on his back.

Seeing this, Butler Qin said in surprise, "Master, you are going..."

"I'm going to reason."

Butler Qin's gaze shifted to the knife on his back.

Xu Zhengping said: "If you want to speak the truth, you can say it with your mouth; if you don't want to, you can say it with a knife."

"But there are at least a few hundred members of the Nanshan Gang, and their core members all come from Nanshan Col, [-] miles south of Yuhang City, which is poor and remote.

They couldn't survive, so the whole family went to the city to make a living. Because it was a clan force in the countryside, they were very united and barbaric, and gradually became the strongest gang.

Among them, the gang leader and two brothers have been taught martial arts by masters, and their martial arts are the best in Yuhang County.

There are many of them, and their martial arts are high. If the master goes like this, I am afraid that he will go to the tiger's mouth. I don't think there is any need to keep this workshop. It is better to sell it to them at a low price, or not to cause trouble. "

Xu Zhengping thought about it, and what Qin Butler said was actually not unreasonable. If he sold the workshop, he would lose one or two thousand taels of silver.

You can still practice here in a low-key manner until all the money is spent.

But when I turned my head and thought about it, if a martial arts practitioner has no blood at all in an emergency, what's the point of practicing such high martial arts?
What's more, Yuhang County is just a small remote county, and there are no rivers and lakes forces around him that make him very afraid. If he is even afraid of a mere underworld gang, then he should stop practicing martial arts.

At the very least, the truth still needs to be talked about.

"Come on, let's go to the weaving workshop first."

The two came to the weaving workshop, and just stepped in, they saw a mess inside.

All kinds of looms were smashed to the ground and extensively damaged. All the tables and chairs were overturned, and the doors and windows were also smashed.

A group of female workers were crying around the manager. The manager was beaten until his nose was blue and his eyes were swollen, his face was covered with blood, and he fell unconscious on the ground.

Xu Zhengping didn't recognize any of these female workers, he only knew the main and deputy supervisors, and now the one who was knocked unconscious was the supervisor, named Fu Tianxiang, and the deputy supervisor went somewhere.

As he strode forward, a group of female workers looked at Xu Zhengping suspiciously. Among them were two bolder female workers, holding feather dusters and wooden sticks in their hands, standing firmly in front of Fu Tianxiang's supervisor, timidly and bravely blocking Xu Zhengping from moving forward.

Xu Zhengping said in a deep voice, "What's going on?"

"You guys have beaten enough, people have robbed them, and the looms in the workshop have been destroyed. What else do you want to do? Don't you even want to spare the life of the manager?"

Butler Qin hurried up, "Stupid! This is the boss! The person who pays you money every month! Hurry up and get out of the way!"

A group of female workers were very surprised, and it was the first time they saw the boss himself.

Xu Zhengping squatted down, input a stream of internal force into Fu Tianxiang's body, he immediately groaned and woke up.

Seeing Xu Zhengping, he quickly cried out: "Master! It's my fault. I failed to take good care of the workshop and was smashed by those Nanshan Gang! Even Yan Chu was arrested by them, I'm afraid...I'm afraid..."

Then he burst into tears.

Qin Butler explained: "Yan Chu is our female worker with the best weaving and embroidery skills. She has been in charge of handling the most complicated weaving and embroidery techniques. She was arrested like this..."

Xu Zhengping asked solemnly, "When was it arrested and how long has it been?"

The female workers chattered: "Just a quarter of an hour ago! The Nanshan gang is too domineering. They bullied our workshop for two years, and the government didn't make decisions for us..."

Fu Tianxiang said: "It's not just that, Yuhang County, all walks of life, which one of them doesn't intervene? Not only collect insurance premiums, but also forcibly buy shares. I don't know how many businesses have been bankrupted!"

If it continues like this, sooner or later all businesses in Yuhang County will wither and be destroyed in their hands. "

Xu Zhengping asked in a deep voice: "The government has never been in charge?"

Fu Tianxiang said: "The group of people in the county government have been colluding with them for a long time, and they have shared a lot of benefits.

Two years ago, there was a head catcher who was going to thoroughly investigate the murder of the owner of the workshop, but he died soon after, and the head catcher who replaced him was also a member of the Nanshan Gang.

The entire county government naturally turned a blind eye to this, and the county magistrate only wanted to successfully collect the taxes stipulated by the court, and he would be transferred to another office within three years at most, regardless of the flood. "

Xu Zhengping nodded, stood up, and said, "Where is the Nanshan Gang?"

Everyone looked at him in amazement. They thought that Xu Zhengping would retreat and give up the workshop. Although everyone was reluctant, they could only divide the money and leave.

But looking at the boss's appearance, it is clear that he is going to make trouble.

Fu Tianxiang said: "Master, are you going to find them?"

"Well, let's be reasonable."

"But they are unreasonable!"

"Just tell me where they are. I still have a female worker in their hands. Since they work for me to make money, I won't just sit idly by."

(End of this chapter)