Chapter 696 If words don’t work, a rough man can also use some fists
Gui Sheng is over fifty years old and has been in charge of the Gui family for twenty years. He has led the lower four families in the Nanxun Chamber of Commerce to compete with the upper three families. This shows his strength.
Moreover, Gui Sheng's behavior is very different from others.
After leaving the dock and arriving at the lodgings Xue Liu and the others had arranged for them, and having a simple meal, Sang Zhixia said to Xu Yu as soon as she entered the house, "Gui Sheng is a very cunning man. He always tries to please both sides without offending either."
"Even though he's the leader of the four lower families, and the difference in strength between them isn't that great, he never shows off his prowess in front of others, and only flatters the people of the three upper families."
"His status is enough to be on par with the head of the three families, the Yan family, but any young master from the Yan family can humiliate him in front of others. Gui Sheng never cares and always greets them with a smile."
Such people are either really weak-minded and only know how to compromise and work like slaves for others all their lives.
Or, they are extremely scheming and always hide their true self where others can't see, leaving no trace.
Sang Zhixia took the handkerchief from Xu Yu's hand, wiped her hands, and said subtly, "Personally, I'm more inclined to the latter guess."
"A person who has been able to control the Gui family for twenty years and maintain his position as the fourth family under the insatiable demands of the three upper families is definitely not a softie."
A softie cannot survive in a place surrounded by jackals and wolves.
Gui Sheng is definitely not as simple as he seems.
Xu Yu pulled Sang Zhixia to sit down and added the medicine bag given by Qi Lao to the hot water that Diancui had drawn earlier. Instead of responding to Sang Zhixia's words, he said, "You soak first. I'll go get another pot of hot water."
Sang Zhixia held his hand, not knowing whether to laugh or cry: "Let's talk about business."
"This is also serious business."
"You've been traveling for so long, and you always have trouble sleeping at night. Take a good bath tonight to relieve your fatigue. Nothing is more important than this."
Xu Yu kissed Sang Zhixia between the eyebrows like coaxing a child and said softly, "Be good, I won't delay you."
"Let's talk while we soak."
The wooden basin that Diancui sent was big enough and contained plenty of hot water.
Sang Zhixia simply asked Xu Yu to take a stool and sit opposite her.
The couple stepped on each other's toes, accompanied by the steam rising from the wooden basin, and continued: "When I sent someone to deliver the invitation before, Gui Sheng accepted it without saying anything."
"But the meeting place was not Gui's house, but a villa of Gui's family."
Sang Zhixia only found out about this after arriving in Nanyun.
As soon as she entered the city gate of Nanyun, less than half an hour later, Gui Sheng's reply was delivered to Sang Zhixia, setting the place for the meeting tomorrow.
Xu Yu lifted Sang Zhixia's calf and placed it on his knee, pressing the acupoint to help Sang Zhixia relax her calf. He said with a smile, "We were being watched as soon as we entered the city."
"right."
"That's the only explanation that makes sense."
Sang Zhixia glared at Xu Yu, who was tickling the soles of her feet, and said, curling her toes, "Gui Sheng has actually been watching. This is not surprising."
"Initially, perhaps he was indeed tolerant of my people because of the great kindness that Old Qi had shown to the Gui family. But later on, it was more because he didn't know my background and was wary of me, so he was polite."
As Sang Zhixia's people gained a foothold despite the obstruction of the Nanxun Chamber of Commerce, Gui Sheng became more wary of Sang Zhixia than before and was more polite to him.
But beneath such politeness lies an unfathomable defense.
Sang Zhixia said not very optimistically, "What do you think are the chances of us convincing Gui Sheng to cooperate?"
Xu Yu grabbed the dry towel he had prepared and wiped the water stains on Sang Zhixia's feet. After Sang Zhixia put on clean soft-soled shoes, he wiped himself casually, stood up, picked up Sang Zhixia and walked towards the bed.
Sang Zhixia hit him in the chest with her forehead in annoyance: "Let's talk about business!"
"If you want to cause trouble, go sleep in another room!"
"Who said I was fooling around?"
Xu Yu suppressed his laughter and held the person in his arms. He fell on the bed and pulled the quilt over him tightly with one hand. He lowered his head and kissed him, saying with a smile, "I'm listening to everything you say."
"It's the same if we just lie down and talk, why make the atmosphere so tense?"
Sang Zhixia was hugged so tightly that she couldn't move. She tilted her neck back and gritted her teeth.
Xu Yu lowered his head, smacked his lips, and said softly, "Zhizhi, don't be nervous."
"Since we are here, even if Gui Sheng is an old fox, he must trick me."
The hook has been put down, whether to open your mouth and bite is not something Gui Sheng can decide.
Xu Yu kneaded Sang Zhixia's fingers, and felt a softness and warmth in his heart. A smile appeared in the corners of his eyes: "Zhizhi, this is not up to him."
"I just want to give him a chance. It's not up to him whether he wants to or not."
Sang Zhixia took a breath and narrowed her eyes slowly: "You mean..."
"What I mean is, doesn't the Nanxun Chamber of Commerce have seven major families? The one I can use doesn't necessarily have to be from the Gui family."
If Gui Sheng was sensible, he would know what to do in this situation.
If you don't know...
Xu Yu didn't mind having Gui Sheng as one of the ghosts in his hands.
Sang Zhixia wasn't used to this kind of rough and crude way of dealing with things. She moved and lay on top of Xu Yu, whispering, "But don't you want to hurt the foundation here?"
"If violence really breaks out, wouldn't all our efforts be in vain?"
No matter where you go, after war, you will see people living in misery.
Rich families may have an easier life, but once their vitality is damaged, it may take years or even decades to recover.
This did not meet Xu Yu's initial expectations.
Xu Yu gently pinched Sang Zhixia's face and imitated her, saying softly, "A bloodless battle is the most desired process, and a bloody sacrifice is an indispensable deterrent."
"Zhizhi, businessmen have their own strategies for fighting, but I'm not a businessman. I'm a reckless man from the military."
"Do you know what's the best way for a reckless man to deal with someone who refuses to obey him?"
Sang Zhixia poked the reckless man's nose and said with a smile, "What?"
"If words don't work, then this brute can still do some fighting."
Xu Yu opened his mouth and took Sang Zhixia's fingertips, smiling vaguely, "Besides, I don't want to ruin the livelihood of people in Jiangnan and other places, not to indulge these evil-doing gentry any more."
"To be honest, even if these people didn't cause trouble for me, I would still go and cause trouble. It's only a matter of time."
When a new dynasty is about to be established, the old system must be adopted.
Emperor Yongshun and the emperors before him could tolerate the emergence of a large number of local tyrants in places like Jiangnan, allowing these people to sit on mountains of gold and silver and exploit the people. Jiang Yubai could not tolerate this.
It would be fine if the Nanxun Chamber of Commerce had some moral integrity and did what it should do.
But the power of the Chamber of Commerce is greater than that of the government.
They could even ignore the deployment of troops and keep the imperial army out on the pretext of fearing it would affect business dealings. This was truly excessive.
Today we can resist the troops of Emperor Yongshun, but when the new dynasty is established in the future, it will be Jiang Yubai’s people who will be stopped.
This is not a good sign.
Gold and silver are not power.
This should be a well-known fact, but in this area, people who are used to using gold and silver as weapons and are invincible seem to have forgotten this.
Temporary indulgence will turn it into a thorn in the flesh that will be even harder to remove in the future.
If we allow these people to continue to grow, they will sooner or later become a thorn in our side that must be eliminated.
Jiang Yubai had no intention of reconciling from the beginning.
Xu Yu had never thought about slowly negotiating terms with these people.
Not using military force to take the place is to protect the people's livelihood and not to harm their lives.
As for the rest...
Xu Yu leaned over to Sang Zhixia's ear and whispered, "Zhizhi, the war is raging and the troops are marching thousands of miles away, spending a huge amount of money all the time. Our young prince's family is not wealthy, and he is short of money, but he shows no restraint. Can you guess why?"
Sang Zhixia's eyes lit up slightly: "Young Prince, are you planning to use other people's money to pay the army?"
"This young man is teachable."
Xu Yu rubbed the back of Sang Zhixia's head, kissed the corner of her lips gently, and said in a hoarse voice, "So now that we're here, the so-called Nanxun Chamber of Commerce and the so-called Seven Great Families are just dishes on the plate."
"As for how to use your chopsticks, it depends on whether the person being served knows how to do it."
"If they don't know what's good for them, I don't mind letting them find another opportunity to wipe their eyes..."
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