Chapter 35 Chapter Thirty-Five

Participating in the Nian Rebellion back then, and serving as the head of the Second Regiment of the Nian Party, became a heart problem that Xiao Taiping would never get rid of.With the prosperity of the coal kiln industry year after year, Xiao Taiping became more and more timid.I always feel that my luck in the past ten years is a little mysterious, a bit like a dream.I often worry about my rebellious history back then, for fear that after this dream of prosperity and wealth, I will become a prisoner of the government again. Thinking about it is also lucky.In the tenth year of Tongzhi, Mr. Zhang Sanye and Cao Bajin almost ruined his affairs. Mr. Bai Er rescued him and returned him the "Self-Confession of Anti-Thief" that Cao Bajin had drawn as a charge, and gave him to deal with it decisively. Zhang Sanye's opportunity saved him from danger.In the fifth year of Guangxu's reign, because he had greeted the kiln workers in advance, no one from Baijiayao and Xiaojiayao went to mix it up, which saved him from a catastrophe.If his subordinates had also gone to beat Maozi at that time, they might have been in big trouble.Qian magistrate is not the pedantic Wang magistrate, Mr. Qian is ruthless and bald, if he gets to the bottom of it, the rebellion of the past will be leaked.Just for the sake of beating hair, Mr. Qian can destroy the family of the scholar, and for him, the head of the second group of the twisted party, Mr. Qian will even put him to death.

It was precisely because of this timidity that Xiao Taiping suppressed the joy of success in his heart and did not dare to be too arrogant. Every time he stood on the coal wharf by the Damo River and watched the coal boats go southward, Xiao Taiping would always tell himself in his heart: The world today is not owned by the Nian Army's Han Dynasty, but by the Qing Dynasty.If I want to continue this dream of prosperity and wealth for a long time, I have to act according to the face of other people's government.Therefore, when Mr. Wang was the magistrate of the county, Xiao Taiping got to know Mr. Wang through Mr. Bai Er. Whenever there is a festival or funeral, he would always present generous gifts to Mr. Wang.Mr. Wang's change of views on the coal mines in Qiaotou Town in the later period of his tenure, besides the reason why the imperial court Li Zhongtang expanded the Westernization, naturally also had the reason of Xiao Taiping's filial piety.When Mr. Wang was sent to prison because of the teaching case, Mr. Qian took over, and Xiao Taiping was labeled as Mr. Qian again.Lord Qian is not Lord Wang who is full of people's fat, but a hungry dog ​​who just rushed to Mohe, with a big appetite.First he hinted, and then he told Xiao Taiping openly that he was different from his predecessor, Mr. Wang, that the seventh-rank county magistrate spent a lot of money to donate it, and waited for another eight years, which was a sea of ​​money.Therefore, Mr. Qian asked Xiao Taiping to give him one hundred taels of silver every month in addition to the rituals of celebrating and mourning during the New Year.

Master Qian said to Xiao Taiping very kindly: "... Shopkeeper Xiao, let me tell you the truth, from the bottom of my heart, I don't want to be greedy for ink, and usually I hate those stupid officials who are greedy for ink and useless law to grab land. As soon as I took office in Mohe, I thought about it. This county has to make decisions for the people and be an honest official. But then again, even if I am an honest official, I can’t do business that loses money, right? I don’t make money as an official, so I can’t make money Lao Ben, right? The money I donated must be recouped, right? Don’t you think so?”

Xiao Taiping echoed: "Yes, yes, these days, how can anyone do business at a loss?!" Master Qian happily patted Xiao Taiping on the shoulder: "You understand reason, very good, very good! If you don't understand reason, I won't talk to you. But I always like to talk ugly things in my head ——This is one hundred taels of monthly silver, but your brother insisted on giving it to me, right? Don’t bring it up in the future and accuse me of begging for it from you..." Xiao Taiping quickly declared: "Hey, hey, Mr. Qian, why do you not trust me, Xiao, so much? I won't tell anyone about this month's marriage!"

Master Qian became even happier: "That's good, that's good..." Xiao Taiping wasn't afraid to give away the one hundred taels of monthly silver - anyway, Bai Xiao and Li's three kilns shared it, and it wasn't much that fell on him, but what he was afraid of was the indelible heart disease.Then, taking advantage of this exceptionally friendly atmosphere, he tentatively said: "...Master Qian, the matter of making money this month is really not worth mentioning! We have made so much money from the four kilns in Qiaotou Town, how could there be any difference?" Your reason for filial piety, my lord? The kiln owners of our four families know that without the protection of Mr. Qian and the government, it is very difficult to manage these kilns. Maybe someday someone will accuse us of something!"

Mr. Qian said with a smile: "That's right! As soon as I took office, I asked about the lesson plan. As soon as I asked about the lesson plan, I knew that there are a lot of troublemakers in Mohe, and they are so courageous that even foreigners dare to beat them. In the future, these troublemakers will If you make trouble at your kiln, who will take care of it? Don’t you have to rely on the county to speak?! Besides, if you set up a kiln and deal with Lord Hades all day long, can you not kill someone? You decide? Isn’t it me, my lord? So I don’t take your moon money for nothing, right?”

Xiao Taiping said: "That's it, that's it! In the future, we will always have to trouble Mr. Qian." Mr. Qian responded repeatedly: "It's easy to say, easy to say! Shopkeeper Xiao, as long as you open the kiln to dig charcoal, and you don't rebel, and you don't hit people, we can talk about anything! It's really a little trouble, like a collapsed kiln seeping water and dying." Personally, don’t be afraid, the county will make the decisions for you—take money from others and eliminate disasters for others, this county understands this truth!” It was a good talk, like a good deal was done.

Xiao Taiping thinks that Mr. Qian, who is the county magistrate of the seventh rank, is a good businessman. Although he is a bit greedy, he goes straight to the point. He even said the words "take money from others and eliminate disasters for others", which is very happy.From this point of view, Mr. Qian is better than Mr. Wang earlier, and he can always be counted on in case of trouble.So Er Xiao Taiping didn't dare to be negligent, since that conversation, he sent someone to quietly send one hundred taels of silver to Mr. Qian every month, and praised Mr. Qian everywhere as an upright official who made decisions for the people.Mr. Qian also felt that Xiao Taiping was reasonable, and often used various means to run to Qiaotou Town, pull charcoal from coal mines, grab money, and also go to Yuguer's Nuanxiang Pavilion to call girls and ask for donations.Sometimes Mr. Qian came with a sense of patriotism, and he would put his arms around the girl and talk about the principles of opening kilns to dig coal for the benefit of the country and the people.Whenever someone scolds the coal mines and flower kilns in Qiaotou Town in front of Mr. Qian, Mr. Qian will have no good face and no good voice.

In the seventh year of Guangxu, Xiao Taiping and Mr. Qian were already fighting fiercely.Mr. Qian no longer has the official airs of his parents and adults, and he and Xiao Taiping call him brother and brother, and talk about everything.Once he drank too much, Mr. Qian actually persuaded Xiao Taiping to do like him, spend some money to donate to a seventh-rank magistrate to do it, saying that this business is only for profit but not for loss. Mr. Qian put his arms around Xiao Taiping's shoulders, and said with all his heart, "...my brother, let me tell you the truth: there is probably no better business than buying an official position in the world. Your brother Didn’t you hear the old sages say it? ‘Three years to clear the magistrate, one hundred thousand snowflakes’! Although we are not a magistrate, but a seventh-rank county magistrate, we only need to be a little bit more, and in three years at least one hundred thousand snowflakes are easy to earn of."

Xiao Taiping once served as the head of the Second Regiment of the Nian Party, and he is still the target of the government's suppression and killing. How dare he dream of such a big head?Then, by flattering Mr. Qian, he said: "Mr. Qian, I am not you! Although you, the seventh-rank county magistrate, was donated with money, your academic ability is very comparable. In my opinion, I am afraid that Gao I don’t know how many times I have surpassed those sour scholars with professional backgrounds!” Mr. Qian was proud, and immediately boasted: "That's true! Let's talk about the teaching plans of the past two years. The governor praised the county for its solutions! Others don't know it, but the governor knows it. How difficult is the foreigner to deal with? The imperial court was alarmed, and the old man was tossed to death. Once the county arrived, the matter was cut off. The foreign pastor James was satisfied, and the local people were also satisfied, and no one was killed People. Isn't this a skill?"

Xiao Taiping said: "Yes, yes! The ability to negotiate with foreigners cannot be learned from books. Mr. Wang reads a lot, but he is stupid. If he has half the ability of Mr. Qian, It’s not like you’re going to be sent into exile.” Master Qian thought that he had met a bosom friend, he patted Xiao Taiping on the shoulder and laughed, "Heroes see the same thing, heroes see the same thing..." Known as a hero by Mr. Qian, Xiao Taiping's rebellious heart disease has disappeared a lot. He thinks that Mr. Qian is the backstage of the government, and his dream of wealth and honor can be carried on safely.He never imagined that in the days to come, Mr. Qian, a vicious dog of the seventh grade, would bite his neck and drink his blood for nearly ten years without letting him go. The matter started from the kiln industry dispute between Xiaojia Kiln and Wangjiayao. Xiao Taiping was careless, his originally repressed ambition suddenly exploded in the day-by-day enthusiasm with Mr. Qian, and he wanted to eat the Wang's kiln of Mr. Wang Xishan, and control all the coal mines in the town in one fell swoop. The true monopoly of the coal industry in Qiaotou Town—Xiao Taiping always thought that it was a waste for the Wangjiayao to be in the hands of Uncle Wang. The location of the Wangjia Kiln is not far from the south of the Xiaojia Kiln, and the two kilns are closely connected.How many times has Xiao Taiping seen it? As long as a road is built from Wangjiayao to Xiaojiayao, the charcoal from Wangjiayao can reach the coal wharf directly, and the two kilns become one kiln, and the profits are much richer.Xiao Taiping can't earn the money from Wang's Kiln, and Uncle Wang's profit is also low - the charcoal from Wang's Kiln has to go to Mohe via Qiaotou Town on the dry road, and the transportation fee is too high. In the second year of Guangxu's reign, the coal wharf of Damhe River was built, and when the three coal kilns of Xiao Bai and Li joined forces, Xiao Taiping thought of Wang's kiln.I hope that Uncle Wang will be as smart as Li Wuye, he will take the initiative to find the door and hand over the kiln to him.But Uncle Wang is not smart, and he turned a blind eye to the coal wharf connected to the coal ship.There was no other way, Xiao Taiping had no choice but to ask Li Wuye to persuade Uncle Wang.Uncle Wang refused to do it, and advised Li Wuye not to do it.It is said that the relationship between Xiao Taiping and Mr. Bai Er is extraordinary, and the two masters are both rich and powerful masters. I am afraid that if they get together, they will be eaten by the Xiao Bai family. Li Wuye didn't think so, and said to Uncle Wang with all his heart: "...Brother, we have to admit that none of us are the opponent of Uncle Xiao when it comes to making a kiln. The kiln produces a little charcoal in our hands. In Uncle Xiao’s hands, he can produce flowers. Now Uncle Xiao has a coal terminal and a fleet of ships, which saves labor costs. The four companies join forces, so we can save worry and earn more money. What a wonderful thing! From now on, I will be in charge of transporting charcoal and selling charcoal, and I will not care about the kiln anymore!" Uncle Wang is a stingy meathead, he is always worried if the kiln is not held in his hands, and he still shakes his head.Li Wuye had no choice but to go back and tell Xiao Taiping the truth.Although Xiao Taiping was angry, he had nothing to do with Uncle Wang and Wang Jiayao.Later, he wanted to attack Uncle Wang several times to bring down Wang's kiln, but because of his rebellious mentality in the early years, he was afraid of offending Uncle Wang and causing uncontrollable chaos, so he didn't dare to do anything wrong.This is five years of peace and harmony. For five years, Uncle Wang tended his kiln carefully, just like tending a good crop field.Uncle Wang has no ambitions, so he has no anger. Seeing that Li Wuye has followed Xiao Taiping, his heart is still peaceful, and there is absolutely no reason for jealousy or hatred.Because of his weak power, Uncle Wang never dreamed of selling the charcoal from his kiln directly to the south of the Yangtze River. He only lived peacefully with regular customers in the three neighboring provinces and four counties. Unexpectedly, in the winter of the seventh year of Guangxu, Uncle Wang's life could not go on. In the winter of this year, Xiao Taiping declared that coal sales were not good, and the price of coal in Jiangnan remained unchanged, but he reduced the price of coal sold to Mohe City and the three surrounding provinces and four counties by half.Wangjiayao had no choice but to cut prices accordingly.When the price was lowered, Xiao Taiping's huge profits remained undiminished, and Uncle Wang suffered a lot. After selling the charcoal for the whole winter, he settled the accounts, and his busy work for a few months turned out to be wasted. Uncle Wang found Xiao's kiln shopkeeper with a dark face, and said to Xiao Taiping: "Uncle Xiao, you have run me hard." Xiao Taiping said: "Why did I run on you? You sell your charcoal, and I sell mine. We are not offending the river." Uncle Wang said: "You lowered the price of charcoal by half." Xiao Taiping said: "If the charcoal can't be sold, I can lower the price. What does it have to do with you?!" Uncle Wang said: "Then why don't you lower the price in Jiangnan?" Xiao Taiping said: "Your question is unreasonable - Jiangnan can sell well, why should I lower the price?" Uncle Wang said: "I know, you are cheating me, trying to force me to my death." Xiao Taiping said: "This is wrong again. I will not force you, but you insist on going to a dead end. If you don't want to go to this dead end now, we can discuss it..." Uncle Wang asked, "What are you discussing?" Xiao Taiping said: "Talk about giving me the kiln plate! I won't bully you, I will give you a good price." Uncle Wang said: "Uncle Xiao, I advise you not to dream, even if my kiln can't keep running, I won't offer it to you. If you really have the ability, you can keep selling the charcoal at this price!" After returning, Uncle Wang took the initiative to stop the kiln, just to see how long Xiao Taiping's reduced price charcoal could last. Xiao Taiping changed his smiling face again, and sent Li Wuye to find Uncle Wang's door, not to talk about Uncle Pan Wang's kiln, but only said that he wanted to be like Mr. Bao Baier's kiln, Uncle Bao Wang's kiln.It is quite generous to propose that, based on the charcoal output of Wangjia Kiln in the previous year plus 10%, charcoal will be given to charcoal, and silver will be given to silver.Uncle Wang refused straight away, saying that he would never deal with someone surnamed Xiao again.There was really no other way, so Xiao Taiping invited Mr. Bai Er. Mr. Bai Er and Xiao Taiping are like a family, so naturally they are willing to help Xiao Taiping, so they invited Uncle Wang to Mohe City, like close friends, and said kindly to Uncle Wang: "... , What are you and Uncle Xiao doing? Uncle Xiao wants to buy your kiln, isn’t it for your own good! I, Bai, can trust Uncle Xiao. I dare to hire him for new kilns and old kilns. Why can’t you trust Mr. Wang? What about Uncle Xiao? Uncle Xiao has made me so much money in the past ten years, can I still have a loss for you? If you are afraid that Uncle Xiao will not count what he says, I will be a middleman, okay?" Uncle Wang said: "Second Master, don't persuade me, I know that I am different from you - you are kind to Xiao Taiping, and you are also a big kiln owner, so Xiao Taiping is naturally inconvenient and unable to blacken you. I It's different, as long as my kiln falls into Xiao Taiping's hands, I won't be able to get back alive. Besides, I have to fight for my breath." Mr. Bai Er said: "Why are you fighting? As long as you can earn more money, I think it's better than anything else." Uncle Wang shook his head and said, "Speaking of which, Erye, you are an old householder in Qiaotou Town, and you are the first kiln owner in Qiaotou Town, why don't you think about it, our coal mines in Qiaotou Town are now all in a foreign town. Is there any light on our face?" Mr. Bai Er said: "Uncle Wang, what you said is wrong. Uncle Xiao didn't take away the coal mines in our Qiaotou Town, and he didn't let us earn less money, but he made our Qiaotou Town prosperous. Our face The light on the top is still small? Without this Uncle Xiao who can build a kiln, our coal mine in Qiaotou Town would not be what it is today! You and I will not be convinced. Depending on you and me, Jiangnan will never know that there is our Qiaotou coal now!" At that time, Uncle Wang didn’t know that there were as many as ten layers of coal underground in Qiaotou Town, which could be mined for more than 120 years. Have you ever done it? Xiao Taiping is an outsider after all. Let’s not talk about his own kiln. Our kiln is in his hands. Can he have it? He won’t go crazy and dig you to death? The charcoal has been dug up, and he has earned enough, so he pats his ass and leaves, what shall we do? Shall we just stay in the dilapidated kiln and drink the northwest wind?" Mr. Bai Er felt that Uncle Wang was too narrow-minded, so he said: "No matter who digs the charcoal under the kiln, we will open a new kiln at that time! Who would guard the broken kiln and drink the northwest wind!" However, no matter what Mr. Bai Er said, Uncle Wang just kept silent. Xiao Taiping saw that Mr. Bai Er had not talked with Uncle Wang when he came forward, so he moved his hands. Taking advantage of the opportunity of the Wang's kiln to be closed, he blew up the coal hole of the Wang's kiln from the ground, connecting the Xiao's kiln and the Wang's kiln. In a fit of anger, he openly dug up charcoal under Wang's kiln.At first, Uncle Wang didn't know about it, but when he found out, he became mad and took hundreds of brothers to fight against Xiao's kiln, which triggered a kiln war between Xiao's kiln and Wang's kiln. This kiln industry war broke out in the spring of the eighth year of Guangxu.At that time, it was April, when the crops were not harvested, and the kiln workers at Wang’s kiln had nothing to eat, and they had long been filled with resentment towards Xiao Taiping and Xiao’s kiln. .There are also many seasonal workers from the surrounding three provinces and four counties, so Uncle Wang has no worries about manpower.Uncle Wang, who was usually stingy, was very generous this time. Before the fight started, he gave each brother five buckets of old sorghum. It was hit from the ground. On that morning in April of the eighth year of Guangxu, the lame Uncle Wang coiled up his braids, wrapped his head in a turban, and drank some wine before he took Brother Baishi down from the Wangjia Kiln.He didn't beat them at first, but asked his brothers to use sticks to force the kiln workers on the Xiao's kiln to turn backwards, and carried all the charcoal that had been dug out to the mouth of the Wang's kiln.The kiln workers of Xiao's kiln were quite sensible, seeing that the brothers under Uncle Wang were all holding their hands, so they listened to Uncle Wang's words honestly.Later, there was no charcoal coming up from the kiln mouth of the Xiaojia Kiln, and the kiln guards became suspicious and went down to the ground to see, and then the fight broke out.Uncle Wang came prepared, there were many people, and the dozen or so kiln workers of Xiao's Kiln were not opponents, so they suffered a loss when they started fighting, and wailed and ran towards the entrance of Xiao's Kiln with their heads in their hands.Uncle Wang's brother was able to fight and chased all the way underground, rushing to the upper entrance of Xiao's Kiln. At this time, the situation changed. The mouth of Xiaojiayao is closely connected to the coal wharf of Damo River. There were more than 300 kiln workers and coal loading boat workers gathered that day.These people didn't know what was going on at first, and they swarmed up after seeing the lame Uncle Wang commanding the brothers of Wangjiayao to grab charcoal from the coal yard and beat people.The brothers picked up the iron mills, poles, and picks in their hands and fought with the people on the Wangjia Kiln, until the mouth of the kiln and the wharf were spattered with blood and flesh... The battle was fought bitterly.One person died in Wangjiayao and more than 30 people were injured.On Xiaojiayao's side, two people died and more than a dozen people were injured.Uncle Wang himself was also injured, his shoulder was chopped off, his collarbone was broken, and the bright red blood soaked the sapphire blue jacket.At the last moment, Uncle Wang escaped from the siege only after being carried by four brothers from the Wang family. It's a coincidence.On this day, Xiao Taiping was not in Qiaotou Town, let alone on the battlefield of Xiaojiayao, but in Mohe City, accompanied by Mr. Bai Er, drinking with Mr. Qian.During the banquet, after receiving the report from Xiao Taizhong, the head of the kiln guard team, who was panting, Xiao Taiping and Mr. Bai Er kept silent and stared at Mr. Qian. Mr. Qian became angry. Taking advantage of the wine, he slapped the table and shouted to his messenger: "... this Wang Xishan is really out of control. He dared to hit Xiao's kiln in broad daylight and even killed someone. What a shame!" It’s worth it! Quickly lock the troublemaker Wang Xishan and others with iron ropes for this county!” Only then did Xiao Taiping say: "Lord Qian, everything is up to you to decide. My brother and Mr. Bai Er are both people of status. In the past, I always didn't want to get entangled with this kind of scoundrel. I didn't expect that this scoundrel would make progress. It hit our kiln..." Lord Qian said: "Don't worry, don't worry, this county has its own good way to fix this rascal..."