Chapter 23 0023

The salt market on the dam on the west bank of the river prospered amidst the torrent of suffering. Between the Yanhe River and the Laohuai River, the khaki-colored mound stretches eastward, like a dragon playing in the water, and the bustling salt market sprang up along the mound.In the ancient oriental land, there are different absurd legends for the rise of each city and place, replacing the untraceable roots; the rise of Xiba Salt City is exactly like this. ——On the depression in the east of the dam, there is a lotus pond with a radius of several miles. It is rare today.) Guarded in the pond, the residents on the dam call it Yuanshen; since the Yuanshen guarded here, the dam has been shrouded in a purple mist all year round, no matter in spring, summer, autumn or winter, Dark and windy, this group of purple mist has always been faintly caged on the dam.

There is no need to trace the origin of the mythical legends, but the prosperity on the dam is a fact that we can see: from the mouth of the bridge in the east to Maosheng Street in the west, there are seven miles of houses in the Yanshi market; Eight salt stores, six shore merchants, and a small salt store gather here, making it the center of Lianghuai salt distribution; Although it was renamed the inn, people still call it the stall store.) Inside, there are full of transport merchants, shore merchants, masters of the audit office, lakers who spend a lot of money, and buyers from all over the world. Every tea house and brothel along the river bank Here, the lights are bright all day and all night, and the strings are constantly singing.

The Beiyang government set up a salt audit office in Yanshi, a sub-division of the official salt bureau, the Lianghuai anti-private headquarters, and a recruiting team adapted from gangsters; the blood-drinking merchants not only have to support these people , and have to raise all the food and salaries of a whole division of the Beiyang Army on a monthly basis.And these people are all the enemies of the poor who help the poor. Guan Baye knows this better than anyone else. When he went from being a leader of the defeated smuggling gang to joining the army to being the captain of the anti-smuggling team, he saw the true face of the Beiyang warlords.If it were a drifter, today's Guan Ba ​​would never drink wind and snow on the long distance, but he put aside those sensual dogs and horses, and walked into the dark prison from the bustling lights.

The heavy snow was still falling, and the crowd who came to Dadukou to pick up Guan Baye came back to the dam with Baye and his Xiangyan gang.In order to meet Baye Guan, Shaodong of Fuchang Zhan specially prepared a luxurious single-seater double carriage, but Baye was still willing to ride his white horse with a piece of jade. The boss of the boss specially pulled up a number one barge, and put sixteen Xiangyan trucks and Lei Yipao's gang on board; Guan Baye couldn't figure out why these stackers treated him so hospitablely. At the end of the line, the salt market on the other side appeared. Guan Baye, who had been to the headquarters of the private sector for many times, stared at him as if he was seeing an old friend. Those houses, those docks, and the world of luxury and gold, he had experienced but also resolutely abandoned. Off, those who never belonged to his kind. ...Until now, he can still recite those warehouse numbers, from west to east, Yuxing, Laozhenxing, Hetai, Yuanheng, Xingtai, Changfa, Gongmao, Sansheng, Jingxing, Lihexing, Tongxin, Yonglongyuan, Fuchang, Qianfu, Xietai, Gongtai, Dexing, Xinyonghe... He even remembered the scene of mountains of salt accumulating in those vast warehouses, how much blood?How much fat?In this corner created a deformed prosperity.If there really was a turtle god in the legend, it would have sunk into the East Sea with this piece of sinful soil on its back!

Eighteen trekkers hugged Guan Baye for the transition, and landed at the stone-built Yang's wharf. Only then did he discover that Gaohou was not only the shipper and shore merchant and some lake customers, but also the audit office. The chief, the director of the Salt Affairs Branch, and the chief of the anti-private private sector all greeted him respectfully in the snow. Even though Baye Guan was puzzled, he didn't show any emotion on the surface. The dinner for Guan Baye to wash the dust was held in the big flower hall of Fuchang innkeeper Wang Dashao. The flower hall was so spacious that fifty tables of banquets were set up without congestion, and there were hundreds of people accompanying the guests in the open room. And a place to rest.An opium couch was set up in the dark for the guests who smoked and smoked to enjoy it.

In the innermost exquisite small suite, a couch is specially prepared for Guan Baye. It is covered with brocade lion felt, and a layer of beautiful tiger fur is added in the middle; a pair of silver silk pillows and duck down pillows are placed at one end of the couch. There are cushions, and two gold-lacquered footstools are placed in front of the couch. "Sorry for the panic," Guan Baye said, "Brother is really... not good at this..." "It doesn't matter, Ba Ye," the head of the audit department hurriedly said, "Ba Ye, you really don't smoke. It's also good to make the bed crooked and loosen your legs. But, it doesn't hurt to make a play every time, and burn some bubbles to refresh yourself. , Runshan, this is the best cloud soil specially prepared for you."

"Wang Shaodong has kept a lot of vats of smoked soil," Xietai's owner said, "there are not many such good smoked soils, and they are all specially prepared for distinguished guests; Ba Ye, you don't know how to plant poppies, to bloom and bear fruit, to extract pulp How much effort did it take to boil the ointment?... Each poppy root is fertilized with pig liver and lung juice, so smoking this kind of opium is nourishing." As he spoke, he waved his hands courteously. : "Come here, bring the smoking set for Master Ba!" As soon as the words fell, the servant boy carrying the gold tray came up to greet him, and slowly lifted the red velvet of the tray; Eighth Master saw that there were seven sets of smoking sets in the tray; gold, sterling silver, and white jade chisels Made, oolong wood inlaid with glass mouth, crystal with warm and cool jade... each with a silver pick and silver pinch for making bubbles.Guan Baye didn't intend to smoke, but he grabbed a white Hanyu bong and played with it in his hand.

First a servant boy bowed and retreated, and another waiter who was carrying a sterling silver tray came up to greet him, slowly lifted the green velvet on the tray, and there were two extremely small and exquisite purple sand teapots on the tray. Hall fort smoke, eight-style Huaiyang fine points, an octagonal gemstone-studded smoke lamp; even the tray is placed in the middle of the smoke bed. "Baye, please sit on the couch," said the head of the auditor, "Brother, I'll take care of it myself. I'll burn it for two bubbles. It takes a lot of effort to make a good soil, and the aroma is enough. My brother handles the salt business, and the others don't learn. Now, this threshold is well learned."

Guan Baye has figured out these yamen; in terms of power, the audit office is the largest, and it is divided into yamen, and everyone who arrests private parties has to listen to it.When he was leading the anti-smuggling team, the high-ranking director is now personally burning cigarettes for himself; there must be another article here? !I obviously don't smoke, but I have to make a show, and listen to which direction they are talking?Therefore, without being very polite, he took off his cloak, hung up his pistol, and tilted it down. The suite is spacious enough. In front of the cigarette couch, there are more than a dozen sandalwood grand master chairs with jade inlaid backs on both sides. By the wall is a screen with bamboo carvings of ten scenes of the West Lake, and there are a variety of mountain calligraphy and paintings. After getting off, the merchants and salt officials took their seats one after another.

"I said Ba Ye, do you want to find a waiter?" Wang Shaodong stood up again before he could sit still, and said with a smile: "The girls in the halls on the dam have long been preparing in the outer compartment, so you don't need to order them." It’s too small to let them in.” "To be honest, Brother Wang," Guan Baye said, "Brother chose Weizi Xing'er when he debuted. Brother, you have never experienced all the prosperity you have prepared, if you intend to open Baye Guan's horizons, brother will not mind!" "Hurry up! Hurry up! Eighth Master is really a fast man!" said the head of the police department.

Guan Ba ​​held the purple sand teapot and smiled wryly. "If I remember correctly, Yingzuo." He said: "The old Liuhe gang led by the boss of Shuangqiangluo was planted by the private cavalry when it was arrested, and the new Liuhe gang led by the brother is also called Ruanwo in yours." At the gate of the yamen, can I, who has taken off the gun and hung it on the wall, obediently obey orders?——I still count on the side of the big lake!" "It's a crime, it's a crime," said the head of the anti-private business, leaning over his body, and said in fear: "That case is really irrelevant to my brother, and I have nothing to do with it. The handsome anti-private business and Sun Shuai's anti-private business have nothing to do with it." It's not a team. At that time, the heads of those battalion officers have been picked up several times. Even if the team is still there, after all these years, the iron-clad battalion sailors have been wiped out!" "Once I was bitten by a snake, I was afraid of grass ropes for ten years." Guan Baye sipped his tea: "Until now, I am still afraid of seeing red necks!" Son.)" After Guan Baye said this, he was so embarrassed that the private owner hurriedly took off his red embroidered hat, handed it over to the horse, and took it out; then he turned to Guan Baye and said, "You don't want to see outside, Ba Ye, brother." Knowing that you are not material, I dare not hope to marry you, but I have long admired your demeanor in my heart!...Eating a public meal, the situation is forced, I have to, I hope Ba Ye will be more considerate..." What else is there to say about the arrest of private owners, someone over there picked Lianzi and reported: "Masters, the girls who are in charge of the situation are here!" Before the girls entered the house, attendants from each hall took the hall lanterns and snow-stained cloaks, and those girls, all dressed up colorfully and dazzlingly, walked to the smoke couch one by one, twisting their handkerchiefs towards the gate. Master saluted; Wang Shaodong of Fuchang Zhan, as a landlord, introduced them one by one as usual. "This is the famous sister flower of Sixitang. The flower names are Seven Years Red and Eight Years Red." Seven-year-old Hong in a purple satin jacket and eight-year-old Hong in a blue satin jacket came up hand in hand, bowed their heads with a smile, turned to Wanfu, and said softly in southern dialect: "Seven-year-old Hong, eight-year-old Hong, have you met Ba Ye?" .” Guan Baye supported his upper body on his elbows.Looking carefully at the two quiet and shy girls in front of them, who are only eighteen or nineteen years old, rubbing their half-red melon-seeded faces in white, they are almost cast out of the same pattern, and for a while, they can't tell who is the older sister and who is the elder sister. sister. ... Seven-year-old Hong, eight-year-old Hong, if they were not in this kind of situation, who would have thought that they have been reduced to prostitution for more than ten years? "Ten yuan per person," the owner of the Dexing Inn was smart, seeing that Guan Baye was not in this way, he said, "Baye rewarded it!" Seven-year-old Hong and eight-year-old Hong thanked him, followed by Hua Yubao, a red girl from Sanhetang, and Xiao Xiaotian, a pillar of Fengyuetang.Wang Shaodong of Fuchang Inn approached Guan Ba ​​Ye and said: "Ba Ye has been wandering here and there for half his life, and he is not used to wind and moon, so I have to be an old horse who knows the way to lead the way... On the dam, can a girl in the hall To become popular, apart from age, appearance, poetry, wine, and talent, the most important thing is to see how well she speaks?" "I would like to listen to the high theory." Guan Baye said.