To be frank, all the important officials in Yangzhou should be on this boat at this moment.
If something really went wrong with the boat and it capsized on the water, the entire Yangzhou economy would be severely hit.
Now, because of the ship in front of them, all of this almost became a reality, and the people on the ship were going crazy.
Given the power of these people, no matter who is on the boat in front, they will not have a good ending.
This is also the reason why Liao Huasheng spoke so confidently at the beginning. All the important people in Yangzhou want to deal with you. How can you not die?
But after hearing these words from the fourth master of the Qiao family, Liao Huasheng, who had just been eager to rush forward and engage in boarding battle, suddenly calmed down.
Looking at the servant in front of him, Liao Huasheng said with an unpleasant expression: "Which Fourth Master of the Qiao family?"
"Sir, you are such a joke. There are several fourth masters of the Qiao family in Yangzhou City!" The servant responded while wiping the cold sweat from his head.
Now, not only Liao Huasheng was silent, but even everyone else on the boat was silent.
Seeing everyone's expressions as if they had eaten something dirty, Lu Chen also became curious.
He stepped forward and asked, "Master Liao, who is this Fourth Master of the Qiao family? Is he very important? Why is it that even you, the Governor of Yangzhou, are in such a dilemma?"
The governor of Yangzhou, what kind of person is this? A serious and important official.
In the official system of the Great Qi Dynasty, the prefect was equivalent to a governor who held military power.
There are only a few states in Da Qi, and those who can serve as prefects of Cheng Wei are undoubtedly powerful people.
Not only does he possess immense power, but his family's influence should not be underestimated.
But even such a person actually stopped after hearing the words "Fourth Master of the Qiao Family". This is so interesting.
Liao Huasheng responded with a somewhat embarrassed look: "Ahem, well, he's just a local businessman."
Lu Chen tried to ignore his displeased expression and said, "Lord Liao, this is really boring. I treat you as one of my own, yet you're hiding something from me. You're really too dishonest. How can an ordinary businessman make a high-ranking official like you swallow your anger? When did merchants have such great power?"
Liao Huasheng actually wanted to say, we just had a meal together, how come we became family?
But saying such words would offend people, so he could only bite the bullet and say, "This Fourth Master of the Qiao Family is naturally from the Qiao Family. As for the Qiao Family, they are naturally a famous and prestigious family in Yangzhou."
"The Imperial Master may not be aware that among the many prime ministers of our dynasty, three have the surname Qiao, and all three of them come from the same Qiao family, the Qiao family of this Fourth Master Qiao."
Lu Chen really knew about this matter. Three prime ministers came from one family, which was considered a good story among the scholars.
Of course, these three prime ministers did not appear under the rule of the same emperor. If that were the case, it would be too terrible, and the emperor would never allow such a thing to happen.
But even so, it was enough to make the Qiao family a prominent family in the local area.
Three prime ministers can make this family prosperous for at least two hundred years.
The prosperity of a prominent family for two hundred years is enough for it to manage the area where it is located into an ironclad entity.
During this century, officials and people in Yangzhou have received a lot of favors from the Qiao family.
The entire Yangzhou officialdom is basically composed of people cultivated by the Qiao family.
If those officials who come from other places want to make a difference during their term of office, they must have a good relationship with the Qiao family.
Otherwise, his order might not even get out of the county government office, because all the minor officials below are from the Qiao family.
Over time, the Qiao family's voice in the entire Yangzhou area became increasingly important.
To say something outrageous, many times in Yangzhou, a word from the Qiao family is more effective than the emperor's edict!
Many times when people from the Qiao family went out to do business, they only needed to bring a two-finger-wide piece of paper, and the local government would give them face.
Over time, this behavior naturally led to the Qiao family developing a domineering style of behavior.
As the saying goes, once you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
Lu Chen felt that this could not be blamed on the Qiao family. You had no objection to my being arrogant once, and you said nothing when I was arrogant twice. So if I didn't continue to be arrogant in the future, wouldn't that be a bit too unfair to you?
Lu Chen grabbed an apple from the side and took a big bite. "Haha, so you're from the Qiao family. I heard the Qiao family has been a salt merchant for years? The largest salt merchant in Yangzhou?"
"That's right. Because of the connections with the three prime ministers and the Qiao family's years of management, they did secure a spot as a salt merchant."
Lu Chen nodded and thought to himself, no wonder, this is the legendary rich and powerful!
"In that case, let that Fourth Master Qiao come up and offer a toast and apologize. I just arrived here and don't want to make things too awkward."
Lu Chen waved his hand, feeling that he was being very generous.
He was the imperial master, and he had been frightened by the local people. Now it was not too much to just ask the instigator to come over and offer him a glass of wine.
Not to mention that the other party was at fault first, even if the other party did not do anything wrong, Lu Chen is the imperial teacher, and your Qiao family eats royal meals. What objection do you have if I ask you to come over and toast us with a glass of wine?
But after Lu Chen said this, he found that Liao Huasheng did not move, which was very interesting.
Lu Chen held the apple in his hand and looked at the other person thoughtfully, "What's wrong? Is this difficult to handle?"
Liao Huasheng wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "Grand Master, if it was anyone else in the Qiao family, it would be fine, but this Fourth Master Qiao has a rather nasty temper and isn't very easy to deal with. Even people like us don't want to have too much contact with him. It's a disgrace to our status."
"Don't worry, the Qiao family is not without sensible people. If we want to negotiate, we should talk to someone who has a say in their family. Why bother with a playboy? The Qiao family is a salt merchant. Now that the court is in trouble, they naturally have to contribute. Later, I will have a good talk with the head of the Qiao family and ask them to donate more money."
Liao Huasheng's words were quite nice, but Lu Chen heard another meaning from his words.
He said in disbelief, "You mean to say that if that Fourth Master Qiao confronted me head-on, he would probably do something even more outrageous?"
"And among all those present, there's no one from the Qiao family? Haha, they're truly a powerful family that has produced three prime ministers. They're truly impressive!"
As he spoke, Lu Chen's eyes narrowed slightly.
Liao Huasheng's heart trembled. He had heard something about the character of this imperial teacher.
If the two sides really come into conflict, it would be like gods fighting and mortals suffering.
Liao Huasheng felt he should say something, but before he could open his mouth, he heard someone outside shouting, "Is Miss Zi Yan from the capital on board? Our Fourth Master wants to invite you to his boat for a drink. Each drink costs one ounce of gold!"
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