Chapter 2002
After all, Yang Chengye is a man who has seen the world. Although he is a bit cautious when making choices, once he makes a decision, his execution ability is still very strong. Within a short time, the steward had already prepared the sedan chair, and at the same time sent people to the river to prepare the boat.
Yang Chengye didn't want his movements to attract attention from the outside world, so in addition to the two bearers, he only took two personal bodyguards with him to go out.
There is a large field outside Yangjiazhuang. There are no traces of people at this time, but the canal is still a bit lively. Many painted boats that cannot be seen during the day have appeared on the canal at this time. These boats are specialized in business for foreign merchants, but there is no wharf for them to dock in the river section near Yangzhou City, so most of them come out to solicit business after dark, and there is no need to dock. They can just set up a springboard to let guests come from other boats. .
Yang Chengye has many ships under his name, and he usually takes his own ship in and out of Yangzhou City. Therefore, even if he suddenly arranges a trip at night, he can still prepare everything in a short time and wait for his arrival by the river.
After crossing the river with the sedan chair, Yang Chengye explained the final destination to the bearer. His destination was actually not far from the place where he and Lu Kangtai had dinner more than an hour ago, but at this time he didn't want to bump into each other again.
"Master, there seem to be a lot of people making trouble in front of you!"
The report from outside the sedan brought Yang Chengye out of his thoughts. He quickly ordered the sedan to stop and opened the curtain. Sure enough, there seemed to be people standing on the pier in the distance, and there was a lot of noise. The place was exactly where he was going.
Yang Chengye couldn't help but frowned. It was obviously impossible to be a coincidence that so many people were gathering at the dock to cause trouble at this time. Moreover, the two salt cargo ships docked at the dock were the two salt cargo ships from Ningbo.
"Wait and see what happens." Yang Chengye finally made up his mind to go out and cross the river to implement his plan. Although the situation in front of him was beyond his expectation, he did not want to change his mind and give up his previous plan.
In fact, the fight on the pier was already coming to an end at this time. This group of trouble-seeking gangsters had completely lost their structure. From the moment their leader was taken down by Gong Shiqi, they became a piece of loose sand. Fight or talk, go or stay, there was no unified attitude at all. Although they had the advantage in numbers, they did not move as neatly as the other party. As soon as the fight began, more than a dozen people were injured and fell to the ground. Others discovered that there was a gap in combat power between the two sides and that it was impossible to seize the lead from the other side. Some people became fearful and did not dare to go up any more.
"Someone is really looking for trouble!" Yang Chengye could probably guess the purpose of these people coming here to cause trouble, but he had no idea who was driving them here. There were too many people in Yangzhou City who had the reason and the strength to attack the Ningbo salt merchants. It was difficult for him to judge who was driving these gangsters behind the scenes.
The only person Yang Chengye could exclude from suspicion was probably Lu Kangtai, whom he had dinner with before. Judging from Lu Kangtai's attitude at that time, it was obvious that he planned to sit back and wait for others to test the strength of this group of salt merchants before considering whether to Call out his musketeers. He had just been separated from Lu Kangtai for more than an hour. It was unlikely that he would change his mind and send a group of people to try to attack the Ningbo salt merchants in such a short period of time. The most important thing is that Yang Chengye thinks that the people under Lu Kangtai can't be so good. They clearly have the advantage in numbers, but they are driven back by the opponent, and they are about to be scattered.
Gong Shiqi was very calm about the current situation. The gangsters' lack of operational experience was exposed as soon as they started fighting, so it was not too difficult to deal with them. Even if the number of people on the opposite side doubled, Gong Shiqi believed that there would still be no need to put combatants using rifles into the battlefield. He handed over the on-site command to his men and returned to the ship along the gangplank with his hands behind his back. Instead of watching this one-sided fight, it would be better to quickly interrogate the prisoner and find out who was behind it.
Of course, Gong Shiqi would not really put a sack on the newly captured prisoner and sink him into the river so easily, at least not until he got information from him.
He went straight to the lower cabin and smelled a faint smell of blood as soon as he entered. The guy who had just been put on the ship was tied to a wooden frame. It seemed that he had been punched and kicked here. There were marks on his face and forehead. There were several cuts, and blood slowly dripped onto the floor along his drooped jaw.
Gong Shiqi nodded towards the two shirtless thugs and said, "You guys take a rest first."
The two of them nodded to Gong Shiqi, clasped their fists, and retreated to the side to drink water.
Gong Shiqi slowly walked up to him and said in a deep voice: "If you really want to keep your master's secret, then I can help you. After all, only the dead can truly keep secrets, so I can sink you to the bottom of the river." That’s it. But if you still want to live, then I advise you to give up resistance as soon as possible and choose to cooperate with us, because no one can take you out of this ship alive except me.”
The man didn't answer, but Gong Qiqi could clearly hear his breathing becoming rapid. Gong Shiqi had so much experience in interrogation that he knew that his words had an impact on him, so he tried to strike while the iron was hot: "If you are afraid of being settled by your master Qiu Hou after revealing the truth, then I can also arrange an escape route for you and ensure that you leave. Yangzhou City, how about going to Ningbo to make a stable living? If you think Ningbo is not safe enough, I can also arrange for you to leave Daming.”
Gong Shiqi has been operating on the front line of the intelligence battlefield all year round. He has a very good understanding of the psychology of such low-level tool people and knows that their loyalty is actually very limited. Most of them work for money. There is actually no great morality in betraying their employer. burden. But if the employer is rich and powerful and has the means to counter them, then they may have more concerns. At this time, arranging a very feasible escape route for them is actually breaking down their psychological defenses.
Of course, this method is not 100% effective. Gong Qiqi will make adjustments based on the reaction of the person involved. For example, although the strong man who was subdued by him has never revealed the information, Gong Qiqi has no intention of prying his mouth open. Very confident.
"Sooner or later you have to speak, it's better to speak earlier and suffer less." Gong Shiqi continued to encourage the other party in a leisurely manner: "Don't take any chances, your gang of accomplices can't accomplish anything at all. We have been driven away.”
"Aren't you afraid... of summoning more revenge!" The strong man finally spoke, half of his tone was filled with unwilling hatred, and the other half was filled with despair.
Gong Shiqi smiled and said: "I'm not afraid to tell you that the purpose of bringing these two ships to Yangzhou is to lure the local salt merchants into action. If they swallow their anger, I will be very disappointed. Do you think your master will send troops? Save you? Stop dreaming. At this moment, he is probably jumping up and down somewhere nearby, calling you a useless fool. You try your best to keep it secret, but your master probably wants you to die soon. Then there is no risk of betraying him.”
Gong Shiqi's words were heart-breaking. Even if the man was strong-willed, he would inevitably be shaken after hearing these words. He was just a street gangster. In terms of psychological games, he could not cope with the experienced Gong Shiqi. He was defeated in just a moment.
Gong Shiqi was about to continue to put pressure on him when a subordinate came to report that there was a person outside claiming to buy a large amount of salt and wanted to meet Gong Shiqi to discuss it in detail. "It's almost midnight. Are you here to buy salt?" Gong Shiqi said with a smile: "How many people did he bring here?"
The subordinate responded: "There are only two bearers and two attendants. It doesn't look like they are looking for trouble."
Gong Shiqi nodded thoughtfully, and after a moment of silence he said: "Then invite him on board the ship to meet."
A moment later, Gong Shiqi saw this uninvited guest who came late at night.
"The conditions here are simple, please don't mind, distinguished guest." Gong Shiqi personally poured a cup of hot tea for the guest sitting opposite: "I heard that the distinguished guest is here to buy salt, I don't know what to call him?"
"My surname is Yang." This man took the teacup handed over by Gong Qiqi, but put it directly on the table: "I heard that Boss Gong shipped a lot of refined salt on these two ships, and the price was quite reasonable, so I planned to purchase it. ”
"It turns out to be Boss Yang. How much salt does Boss Yang plan to buy?" Gong Shiqi saw that the other party only gave his last name but did not sign up, so he didn't feel strange. After all, this is Yangzhou and it is the sphere of influence of the local salt merchants. He took the initiative to come here to talk to Meeting to buy salt by yourself is inherently risky, and it is understandable that the other party would not directly state his or her real name.
"All."
The two words spoken by the other party surprised Gong Qiqi. He couldn't help but repeat it to confirm the other party's intention: "All?"
"Yes, give me a price for all the salt on your two boats. I want it all."
Gong Shiqi smiled and said: "To be honest with Boss Yang, in fact, several groups of people came this morning, and they all made the same opening remarks as Boss Yang. However, the price they offered is a bit difficult for me to accept. If Boss Yang It’s the same plan as those people in the morning, so I don’t think we need to waste time and saliva anymore.”
The person who came to buy these two large ships of salt in the middle of the night was naturally Yang Chengye. After much deliberation, he concluded that only by letting the Ningbo salt merchants leave Yangzhou as soon as possible could the conflict between the local salt merchants be temporarily eliminated, and the tasks imposed on him by both parties would automatically lose the necessary conditions for execution. In order to make Ningbo salt merchants disappear quickly, the only feasible way to drive them away by force is to make them lose their reason to stay locally - such as buying all the salt they transport and moving it to other places. delivery, and then asked them to leave Yangzhou immediately.
Of course, Yang Chengye is not stupid. He knows that this is just his unilateral wish. Since the other party has shipped these two ships of salt to Yangzhou for sale, he obviously has the intention of deliberately causing trouble. It is very likely to use this to anger the local salt. business. Even if you offer a reasonable price, the other party may not make the deal with you. It is more likely that the other party will ridicule you and then kick you out. However, this is the only way for him to resolve the current complicated situation. In any case, he can only bite the bullet and give it a try first.
But just as the negotiations started, Yang Chengye hit a wall. He didn't know who had come to see Boss Gong in the morning and what conditions were offered to him. However, Yang Chengye could roughly imagine that the local salt chamber of commerce would have a negative opinion of Ningbo. The response from their colleagues was definitely not too friendly. The offer that the other party said was "somewhat unacceptable" was probably just a symbolic offer, with the purpose of driving them out of Yangzhou as soon as possible.
"Boss Gong, my purpose is different from those who came before. I am here to buy salt sincerely." Yang Chengye knew that it would be difficult for the other party to immediately believe his intention, so he could only try to make his words appear more sincere.
Seeing that he was serious and not joking, Gong Shiqi asked tentatively: "I wonder what kind of price Boss Yang can offer?"
When Yang Chengye heard that he seemed to have a chance, he quickly responded: "What's your selling price today?"
When Gong Shiqi heard this, he realized that this man didn't even ask for a discount. He was either joking to himself, or he was really relieved to eat this batch of goods.
If Gong Shiqi came to Yangzhou to sell salt, then he could sell the two ships of salt to the other party at once, and then collect the money and go home, saving time, trouble and worry. But the problem is that the purpose of his trip to Yangzhou is not to sell salt here. The two shipments of salt and his identity as a salt merchant are just a disguise to stimulate the local salt merchants to use the elusive weapon. musketeers, and then tried to identify the composition of the musketeers and, most importantly, the source of their weapons.
Of course, it would be better if there are other ways to achieve this goal, but Gong Qiqi is not optimistic about this. He believes that only when an armed conflict occurs and escalates to a level that cannot be solved by conventional means, will local salt merchants resort to their A big killer in hand. Creating conflicts seems to be the only way to achieve this situation.
At this time, someone came to the door and wanted to buy these two shipments of salt in one go. Gong Shiqi's first reaction was that some of the local salt merchants still wanted to use peaceful methods to solve the problem, but this was not the situation he expected to see. Even if the price offered by the other party sounds sincere, Gong Qiqi still cannot agree to him.
"Boss Yang, I would like to ask, what are the additional conditions for buying these two ships of salt?" Gong Shiqi was very curious about the other party's true purpose, and was not in a hurry to reject the other party. He slowly started to trick the other party.
Yang Chengye hesitated before responding: "I believe Boss Gong also knows that there are some local people who don't want to see you stay here any longer, including me. So after buying these two ships of salt, I hope you can leave as soon as possible." Yangzhou, it is best to leave before dawn. As for the two shipments of salt, the delivery can be completed elsewhere.”
(End of chapter)