Chapter 5 Section five

Di Bin stood in the middle of the street in Hehefang, looking up.Workers are carefully hanging the gold-lacquered signboard of "Dashutang" sealed with red paper on the top of the drugstore's gate.There was pride in his eyes. The building area of ​​"Dashutang Kyoto Store" is almost eight times that of the old store of Piaocheng's "General Store".The two-story building looks ordinary, but the masonry beams used are the most solid and superior materials, the windows are equipped with thick bars, and the back door is made of beech wood sandwiched with copper plates, just like a shrunken fortress.

Because in addition to Yu Runsheng's mansion (that is, Pang Wenying's former residence), this place will serve as the second base of "Dashutang" in the capital. Di Bin looked at the scenery of the surrounding streets.The post-disaster reconstruction works of Hehefang and Wuchangfang have re-planned the streets in the two places. This street has no name yet, and it has to wait for officials from the Ministry of Industry and Rites of the imperial court to draft a name and then submit it to the emperor for approval.The reconstruction is not even half completed, but it has begun to take shape.Restaurants, hotels, restaurants and various shops have all started operating in downtown areas.There are still relatively few residential buildings, and many of the surrounding areas are still unleveled and large areas of bad land, but they have begun to attract the interest of Beijing officials and wealthy households.

Looking at such a street scene, Di Bin suddenly felt as if he had returned to Piaocheng. —I seem to be building another Anton Avenue here... He wished that Qi Chu would come to the capital now.Directing construction projects is interesting, but facing the hundreds of large and small accounts every day, he feels extremely bored. It would be much easier if the fourth brother Qi was there.Fortunately, under the arrangement of Huaquewu, Di Bin hired a group of skilled "hand counters", so that he didn't have to deal with the piles of files and books on the case every day. Di Bin walked along the street for a while, looked around at the newly built buildings, and suddenly had a strange feeling.

His life is like riding a fast carriage, all the changes are coming.Nine years ago, "White Dou" was just a deserter hiding in the mountains, eating wild vegetable porridge and drinking wild pheasant blood. He only thought about how to survive every day, and the future was gloomy; In the city, with a blueprint, a bright and lively street can be built with just one drawing. ——This guy Di Bin is actually building a house... Those guys in the countryside wouldn't believe it even if they were killed? ... When Di Bin returned to the pharmacy, Tian Ahuo was instructing the workers to arrange various tables, chairs and utensils.The shelves and warehouses in the store are still empty - the sale and import of medicinal materials in the capital is strictly controlled by the imperial court, and Di Bin is still clearing the checkpoints of various ministries through his connections with the Taishifu.Since working in the capital, he has deeply experienced the rigid habits of Beijing officials. Even with large sums of bribes, things are still as slow as a tortoise.On the contrary, in Piaocheng, as long as the governor Zha Song is dealt with alone, any approval will be obtained within one or two days.

The day after tomorrow is an auspicious day for opening.Di Bin himself didn't believe this, but he had to let his subordinates feel at ease.He has already ordered his subordinates to buy goods from other pharmacies in the city, temporarily filling up the stores so as not to delay the day. "Enough." Di Bin waved to Tian Ahuo. "Let's go back first." Tian Ahuo nodded, and asked a dozen of his subordinates to guard the pharmacy carefully.Hall Master Yu strictly ordered that no one else be allowed to sneak in and peek at the layout of the drugstore. Di Bin, Tian Ahuo and the four thugs walked through the store and came out from the back door, quickly jumped on their mounts, and drove southward to their mansion in Jixingfang, the eastern capital.

The only good thing about the capital that pleases Di Bin is that it is big enough and there are plenty of opportunities to ride around the city.As he galloped through the rows of buildings holding the reins, he felt extraordinarily clear in his mind. Although the reconstruction of Hehe and Wuchang Erfang is a big profitable business, the "Dashutang" has also advanced a lot of money for this.Every month, Di Bin struggles with the scheduling of silver between different projects. Fortunately, the new port in Piaocheng is already in operation.Without the big logistics of Piaocheng to transport funds to the capital, the "Dashutang" would be in financial trouble at any time.Di Bin estimated that it would take another year before the huge capital invested in Liangfang began to roll back gradually...

——If it wasn't for the favor of Rong Yushan and Grand Master He, it would have been impossible to swallow such a large piece of fat with the power of "Dashutang"... Di Bin smiled wryly: When did I become a businessman whose mind is full of capital allocation?I was originally just a gangster. It was much easier to open a gambling shop in Piaocheng in the past. When I opened the door, a large number of greedy idiots would send money in. If there was any trouble, I would use a knife to solve it... But Di Bin understands that as long as the "Dashutang" continues to grow, this is an inevitable change.

"Feng Yilong" is a ready-made example-when an organization expands to a certain extent, there is no "underworld" or "white way", "legal" or "illegal" at all.The law no longer applies to it, and everything is reduced to interests and power. ——And if I want to continue to assist the boss, I have to grow up with the "big tree hall"... Di Bin understood that this was Yu Runsheng's expectation of him.Ever since he became sworn brothers nine years ago, he has made up his mind never to disappoint Boss Yu in anything. They passed the rotten area of ​​Wuchangfang.There was originally a settlement of complaining peasants stranded in the capital, and the flames destroyed hundreds of houses that were as fragile as paper.

After the "Eastern Fire" last year, the Imperial Army forcibly expelled a large number of unregistered poor people in Liangfang from the capital.However, Di Bin heard that nearly half of the poor did not return to their homeland or go to other states. Instead, they gradually gathered in the wild fields on the outskirts of Beijing, relying on wild plants and cultivating private land for a living, waiting for opportunities to sneak into the capital to find work... ——This imperial court has become so rotten... How long can it last?Does everything I do now mean building a house on a pile of floating sand? ...

Liuqi returned to Jixingfang's mansion with Fengchen, and the subordinates guarding the door held their mounts for them.Di Bin jumped off the saddle, feeling much better all over his body.For work, he has sat too much these past few months. When he walked through the front yard and walked to the corridor outside the front hall, he saw a thin figure approaching, with his head, face and body completely wrapped in a shawl.It's Ning Xiaoyu. Every time he sees her, Di Bin doesn't know how to address her.She and Lian Shou haven't worshiped yet, so of course they can't call her "sister-in-law", so he can only nod.

"Do you want to go out?" Ning Xiaoyu only showed half of her face, and replied a little shyly: "No... just came back." "But I didn't see you going out this morning... I didn't hear that you were going to use a car." "Someone made arrangements for me..." Ning Xiaoyu's face was a little pale, and Di Bin noticed that she seemed very tired. ——It's a bit strange...not even the maid... Yu Runsheng assigned Lian Shou to work in other places, and he has been away for more than two months.During this time, Di Bin didn't pay much attention to her.Di Bin was a little surprised that Fifth Brother didn't bring her with him.But he remembered that Lian Shou seemed to have said that it was the boss's order before he left. "It's okay, don't wander around outside, this place is no better than Piaocheng." Di Bin said in a soft voice, lest Ning Xiaoyu misunderstand that he was scolding her. "If you want something, just ask someone to buy it for you, or send someone to ask the owner of the shop to bring the goods over for you to pick." "Hmm..." Ning Xiaoyu replied vaguely. "Uncle Six, I'm going back to my room now." He said hurriedly. When passing by, Di Bin frowned. — Am I smelling it wrong? ...it seems to smell like a man...but... "Master Six." The call interrupted his chaotic thoughts, it was an old scholar named Zhou Chengde.Di Bin couldn't read much, so he was hired to handle the copywriting.Because sometimes it is unavoidable to contact some essentials, so someone specially selected him from Piaocheng, and the details of his experience have been clearly investigated. "I've already drawn up the two letters that Master Liu is going to write, and I've bought all the other things that need to be done. Here are the bills." Di Bin didn't even look at the bill in Zhou Chengde's hand, he just said, "Take me to have a look." When they arrived at the storage room, Zhou Chengde showed Di Bin one by one presents: a pair of buckskin boots and a mottled jade ring for Long Bai; a set of jade chess pieces and a silver silk crown for Qi Chu; Snow-white sable fur and Dragon Mother's brocade fabric... Di Bin knew that the second and fourth brothers who stayed in Piaocheng would inevitably feel a little left out now.Di Bin wrote letters every two or three months to send gifts back home, because he didn't want the friendship between brothers to cool down. He carefully reviewed the presents, and listened to Zhou Chengde dictate the content of the family letter. After feeling satisfied with everything, he stepped out of the storage room and walked into the inner hall of the mansion. Standing in front of the shrine enshrining the Zhentang torture knife "killing grass", Di Bin silently lit three incense sticks, inserted them into the stove respectfully with both hands, closed his eyes and clasped together. Everything around him is changing, but in Di Bin's heart, there is still a sanctuary that no one can change.