There is a local saying in Suzhou: "You can't pull out all the weeds in the soil, and you can't catch all the robbers in Taihu Lake."

Taihu Lake is vast and boundless, with numerous islands and crisscrossing harbors, and is known as a swamp.

It happens to be located at the intersection of three prefectures and is adjacent to more than a dozen counties, which is extremely conducive to the hiding and transfer of bandits.

Often when the government troops from Suzhou arrived, the bandits would hide in the border of Changzhou. After the two governments had finally reached an agreement, the bandits would hide in the border of Huzhou again.

Huzhou is in Zhejiang. The difficulty of suppressing bandits across provinces is enough to calm people down and go home to take a shower and go to bed.

Therefore, Taihu Lake is the perfect breeding ground for bandits. There are so many of them that it is impossible to eliminate them all. This was no exception during the Qing Dynasty.

It is said that when the bandit problem was at its most rampant, there were more than a hundred large and small gangs in Taihu Lake, adding up to nearly ten thousand pirates.

He even had a glorious record of killing the prefect who came to suppress bandits.

But that's all in the past.

Since the Japanese pirates became rampant, the imperial court loosened its control over local armed forces and encouraged each prefecture and county to recruit local militiamen and form gunner teams for self-defense.

The counties along the shores of Taihu Lake were all richer than the other, and they soon began to recruit soldiers and hire experienced officers for training.

The best training is actual combat, and the best actual combat training is to practice with pirates.

Moreover, naval warfare is dominated by long-range weapons.

The Taihu Lake bandits were suddenly in trouble.

They were armed with swords and javelins, and few of them could even use bows and arrows. How could they be a match for the Gunners?

When their boats met, the other party raised their muskets and aimed at them from a distance. If they wanted to row closer, they would have to be the target.

Hiding below deck meant I couldn't steer the boat, and I lost all my temper.

In the past, it was the pirates who bullied people everywhere, but now they come to bully us. How can we live like this?

To make matters worse, the Japanese pirates went up the river several times and invaded Taihu Lake to plunder the coast. The court sent a lieutenant general to lead the government troops to garrison Taihu Lake.

Life is totally unbearable now.

The pirates either changed their profession and went ashore, or accepted the amnesty and turned into government troops. There were also many pirates who loved their careers and did not want to change their profession, so they chose to collude with the big families and live under their protection.

Facts have proved that choice is indeed more important than hard work.

As a result, those who changed their careers have long disappeared; those who were recruited became cannon fodder; only those who colluded with the rich and powerful are living better and better lives.

Especially after the victory in the war against Japanese pirates, the wealthy dog ​​owners managed to abolish the post of Taihu Commander, and all the original garrisons were withdrawn.

Taihu Lake has completely become the territory of pirates and dog owners...

As an outstanding representative of the dog-owning family, the Hua family was naturally able to control the pirates in North Taihu Lake.

But after all, most of Taihu Lake belongs to Suzhou. Beyond Wugui Mountain and Xiaojiao Mountain to the south, the Hua family no longer has the final say.

~~

"Since they were going from Yixing Dongyu to Kunshan, they should have taken the route south of Xijing Bay, from Muguang River to Suzhou and then to Loujiang River. This is much faster than going around Guajingkou."

Hua Bozhen pointed to a map of the Taihu Lake and explained to Mr. Zhao, "But this route is entirely within the territory of the Dongting Chamber of Commerce."

"Dongting Chamber of Commerce..." Zhao Hao crossed his arms and sneered, "Nine out of ten places where gongs are played have this."

After all, Hua Bozheng was not from Suzhou Prefecture, and he didn't know about the Dongting Chamber of Commerce's embargo on grain exports to Kunshan.

Hearing this, he was slightly stunned and asked, "Why, my dear brother, do you have a conflict with the Dongting Chamber of Commerce?"

"Their vice president, Liu Zhengqi, has a close relationship with me." Zhao Hao simply told Hua Bozheng about the grudge between the two families.

"Is that so..." Hua Bozhen said with a puzzled look: "It seems that this is not a misunderstanding."

"How could it be a misunderstanding?" Zhao Hao sneered and said, "On the day I set off, Wu Ji sent the first batch of rice to Kunshan despite the warning of Dongting Chamber of Commerce. Only the second batch of rice was robbed by pirates. Dongting Chamber of Commerce is really domineering."

"The Hui merchants are everywhere in Dongting Lake. They are a big business group that is as famous as the Hui merchants." Hua Bozhen couldn't help but smile bitterly: "Besides, Taihu Lake is their home base. Those merchants all came from the East and West Mountains of Dongting Lake..."

Although these wealthy and powerful families are high and mighty, they do not take individual businessmen seriously at all.

But precisely because of this, businessmen will actively unite to compete with the aristocratic families.

The Chamber of Commerce gathers the strength of hundreds of families, so its influence is naturally stronger than that of the aristocratic families, but they dare not provoke the aristocratic families easily.

Only when both sides reach a certain degree of balance can they coexist peacefully.

Therefore, Hua Bozheng was also very troubled by the Dongting Chamber of Commerce and could not guarantee that the other party would release the person.

"But don't worry, my dear brother. I will go south with you and help you negotiate with them!"

But considering the relationship between the Hua family and Zhao Hao, they still had to help. Hua Bozhen stood up and said:

"Their Chairman Weng and my father have been friends for many years. He should give my Hua family some face."

"Then I'll have to trouble you, brother, to negotiate for me." Zhao Hao bowed, his face full of gratitude.

"My dear brother, please pack up a bit. I will report to my father and then set off with you." Hua Bozhen said in a deep voice.

"Well, I will say goodbye to the old man later." Zhao Hao nodded.

After Hua Bozheng left in a hurry, Zhao Hao gave another order to Gao Wu who had just returned.

"Order Captain Jin to bring all the brothers and march out immediately!"

As he said this, he pointed to the map of the Taihu Lake and said, "Don't go to the Loujiang and Wusongjiang rivers. Don't alarm anyone. Wait for me in the north of Xijing Bay!"

"Yes!" Gao Wu's eyes lit up when he heard the order. It was obvious that this order from Master Zhao was exactly what he wanted.

He quickly turned around and gave new orders.

Secretary Ma rolled up the water map... Actually, the map belonged to the Hua family, and they didn't say it was a gift to Zhao Hao, but Secretary Ma just treated it as a gift.

While whispering, "Sir, didn't you say to negotiate first?"

"Negotiation bullshit!" It was extremely rare for Master Zhao to swear in front of a girl.

He usually swore when he was with the gentlemen.

It was obvious that beneath his calm expression, his anger could no longer be suppressed.

"How many times have they tried to mess with me? Why am I negotiating with them? Are you trying to save face by going to the countryside?!"

Secretary Ma put the map away and replied, "Once in Nanjing, and this is the second time since coming to Suzhou."

I thought that although I had treated Mr. Liu very badly in Nanjing...

"Although I have always believed in peace and harmony, I will never do that again!" Zhao Hao sneered and said, "If I don't kill them this time, I will no longer be called Zhao!"

Then he flicked his sleeves and walked out.

Secretary Ma hurriedly followed him, she felt that what the young master said made a lot of sense.

~~

Zhao Hao and his party had originally planned to set off tomorrow, so naturally there was nothing to pack.

It was just that Mr. Zhao himself had a lot of trivial things, but Qiaoqiao and Ma Xianglan managed to clean them up in a short time.

Everyone was ready to go, and Zhao Hao went to say goodbye to Grand Tutor Hua.

Hua Cha already knew the whole story, so he was naturally very angry. He ordered his eldest son to handle the matter properly. He also robbed Liu Zhengqi to vent his anger on Zhao Hao.

Hua Bozheng naturally agreed, but he would not do what his father said last.

After coming out, Hua Bozhen whispered to Zhao Hao: "If it is not necessary, don't make enemies with the Dongting Chamber of Commerce."

"Understood." Zhao Hao nodded, thinking that it was necessary now...

Hua Shuyang wanted to go along, but Zhao Hao glared at him and kept him at home.

I'm going to kill people, why are you, a weak mathematician, messing around?

What? I am also a weakling?

Are you kidding? I have practiced pulling out tendons before!

ps. Chapter 5, thanks to the new leader 'Ling Yanqi' for his support, thank you. Please give me a monthly ticket~~~

ps2. It's dry, not a drop left...