The new Li Mansion is still under construction, and I am afraid that I will not be able to live in it for less than half a year. Now everyone in the Li family lives in a villa of the Gu family.

It is called a villa, and this courtyard is also the best house in Jiangcheng County. It is even better than the Gu family’s own main house. It not only covers an area of ​​three or four acres, but also has five or six courtyards in front and back, but also has various pavilions, towers, gardens and ponds. If you put it in Luoyang City, you can’t get a yard like this without a tens of thousands of taels of silver.

Originally, this yard was planned to live for Gu Yuezi's son Tianle after he got married, so now he naturally let Li Ling's family live first. The servants and others of the Gu family who were originally staying here were sent back, and all the servants of the Li family took over, and the regulations were very similar to those of the Li family in the capital.

The guests were naturally invited to the living room of the second courtyard to see tea, and some people sent some fruit and snacks. But the rough-looking man and burly figure were not interested in these foods, and he couldn't even sit still. He kept paced back and forth in the hall. After a while, he pulled Li Xu, who was accompanying the guests, and asked, "Why, Lord Li is not back yet? Miss, let me see her first."

"Sir Hong, don't be impatient. My master and wife went out for a walk in the morning and were not at home. But don't worry, the young man has already sent someone to send a message to them, and he should be able to come back soon. In fact, it's just a matter of urgent matters, and it's not too late." Li Xu had experienced it in the capital, and he should be polite and polite at this time.

However, the other party still couldn't help it. After walking around for a few more times, he stomped his feet decisively: "Where are they going out for a walk, I really can't wait..." This guy was really impatient, and the matter was even more urgent, so he didn't want to delay for a moment.

Seeing this, Li Xu was a little embarrassed and could only continue to comfort him, saying that he would come back soon. At the stalemate, there were greetings outside, which made him breathe a sigh of relief: "The master is back..."

The one who came was Li Ling and his wife. When Li Kang rushed to report that it was the Cao Gang who rushed to ask for a meeting, they felt a strong sense of uneasiness in their hearts. They didn't have time to turn around with the others and rode their horses first. As for the other families, Li Moyun watched and escorted them back.

When Hong Yang saw Li Ling and the others coming, he rushed out and quickly bowed in the yard: "Son-in-law, Miss, you must save the gang leader and save our entire Cao Gang. This time, many of our brothers and the gang leader were taken away and put in prison..."

"What?" Even though he was mentally prepared, after hearing what he said, the couple's faces suddenly changed. Yang Qingxiao even said anxiously: "You said my elder brother was also arrested? Which government arrested him, why should he arrest people!"

She was really anxious, and she felt like she was going back. Seeing this, Li Ling quickly patted her back: "Qingxiao, go in and talk first, don't scare others. Brother Hong, let's go in and talk." As she said that, she took a step forward and helped the other party up with force.

Li Ling had a majesty that people could not resist. Even a rude man like Hong Yang, he stood up obediently and half pulled him back to the hall. Yang Qingxiao was stunned for a moment, calmed down and followed in with a serious expression. Then, Li Xu, who was a little nervous, closed the door, leaving only three people.

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Speak here.

"What happened? Tell me slowly, don't be anxious." After Li Ling sat down, he spoke calmly, not affected by this sudden change.

Perhaps because of his infection, Yang Qingxiao and Hong Yang calmed down. After taking a deep breath, the latter said, "Just ten days ago, more than ten cargo ships from our Cao Gang came down from the north. As a result, when they entered the Huaibei boundary, they were stopped by the people from Anshui Pass."

Li Ling nodded. Just like there are many checkpoints on land that specialize in collecting tax and silver from caravans, there are also such tax limits on water. There are five passes above the Caohe River, and there are two within the two Huaihe Rivers. Anshui Pass is one of them, which is controlled by the Huaibei local government.

"Sir, you should know that our Cao Gang has opened up all the relevant joints over the years, and we don't need to look closely at the pass. As for the tax, it is only 20% less than other ships." Hong Yang continued, this is also the old rule. After all, the Cao Gang has a close relationship with the government, and often it will help local governments transport goods free of charge, so it can naturally take some benefits.

"But this time, the people in Anshui Pass suddenly turned against each other. Not only did they forcibly stop our ship, but they also drove the brothers on our ship to the shore and sent people to search. As a result,... they found a lot of banned goods from the ship and took these brothers..."

Yang Qingxiao heard it and was about to have an attack. But her husband held her hand and shook her head gently. Li Ling knew that things were not that simple, and there must be more problems later.

Sure enough, Hong Yang said again: "When the matter was reported, the gang leader naturally refused to stop. First, he asked the deputy gang leader to take people to negotiate with the government over there, but the person ignored him and just said he wanted to talk to our gang leader in person. In order to help the overall situation, the gang leader had to agree and rushed to the Jingzhou Prefecture City and wanted to have a detailed discussion with the officials over there." Anshui Pass is located in Jingzhou, which has hundreds of miles of land with Hengzhou. It is the most prosperous prefecture among the Huaibei prefectures, only under Xuzhou.

It is precisely because there is a prosperous place and convenient land and water transportation, and the military system that has always been difficult to deal with the governors of the Lianghuai River, the Governor's Office of the Lianghuai River was set up in the city of Jingzhou!

Li Ling naturally knew the arrangements in these places. When he heard him say that Yang Qinghou had gone to Jingzhou, he felt a little shocked. Isn’t this sending a sheep into the tiger’s mouth?

Perhaps some people have forgotten it because it happened many years ago, but Li Ling still remembered it clearly. Many years ago, when the scholar who was still a trivial, took a boat to Xuzhou to take the imperial examination, there was an incident on the Taiping Ferry that the government colluded with the internal ambitions of the Cao Gang and wanted to eradicate Yang Qinghou to seize control of the Cao Gang.

The promoter behind this civil strife in the Cao Gang was the governor of the two Huai Rivers.

Although the rebellion within the Cao Gang was decisively suppressed and even killed the officers and soldiers who cooperated with them, the real culprit was finally free. After all, he was an official, and he held the military power of the two Huai Rivers. The power of the governor was extremely expensive, so it was not just a Cao Gang who dared to be the enemy head-on.

So in the end, this matter was left in vain, as if it had never happened. The Cao Gang could not settle the score with him, and he did not extend his tentacles to the Cao Gang affairs.

But this time, after many years

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Later, when something happened to the Cao Gang and Yang Qinghou rushed to Fei Chong's old nest Jingzhou and wanted to explain the situation to the relevant people, Li Ling knew that he would inevitably be difficult to return.

"But the people from the Governor's Office detained your gang leader?" Li Ling finally spoke and asked, "What are the reasons they used?"

Hong Yang was stunned for a moment, but he didn't expect that Lord Li would tell the truth in one sentence. But then, he said truthfully: "That's true. As for the crime, at the beginning, I just said that my Cao Gang smuggled and evaded taxes, and found a lot of banned items such as private salt from the ship..."

Li Ling frowned. What should come is still here. Sure enough, the problem lies here.

I reminded him last year not to act like he used to be, and to ask him to restrain himself a little, but now it seems that Yang Qinghou really didn't take it seriously.

This is actually reasonable. After all, the Cao Gang family is very rich now, and these illegal activities have long become the main means for them to make a living. How could they stop at the right time? I am afraid that even if Yang Qinghou really listened to Li Ling's words and issued a ban in the gang, the people below would continue to secretly transport these banned items.

But obviously, this alone is not enough for the government to take all Yang Qinghou and other Cao Gang people to deal with. After all, people are also well-known and powerful, so how can they be dealt with so easily?

Sure enough, Hong Yang said again: "My gang leader also argued with them. The original intention was to say that the brothers below made their own decisions and that there was no problem with other ships. In fact, when the gang leader rushed to Jingzhou, he had already issued an order to send banned items and other things to the ashore as soon as possible. As long as they checked, they would not find any other problems."

"Well, this is a solution. What went wrong?"

Now, Hong Yang's eyes showed a look of confusion: "Just when the two sides were competing, several more cargo ships from our Cao Gang arrived in front of Anshui Pass. As a result, those brothers were panicked when they saw that some officers and soldiers were about to board the ship to search, and even lit up their weapons."

"Hmm?" Li Ling was even more surprised. This was not the Cao Gang style, "What about it?"

"Then the officers and soldiers directly sent warships to attack, killing all the brothers on the spot, and..." He said this, his whole body trembled a little.

Li Ling did not continue to ask questions, but just looked at him quietly. It seemed that he had received some encouragement from Li Ling. After a few strokes, Hong Yang finally revealed the most critical point: "They actually found dozens of boxes from the lower floor of the cabin. After opening it, they found that there were actually military crossbows and armor, with hundreds of sets of sets!"

"What did you say?" Li Ling shouted sternly, and the man suddenly stood up, almost stepped forward to the other side, staring at him tightly.

Even though Li Ling was mentally prepared, he was already very cunning, and his idle things would make him lose his emotions. However, after hearing such an explosive result, he still lost his attitude and his hands were trembling slightly.

Yang Qingxiao, who was beside her, was also pale at this time, looked at her husband with panic and Hong Yang, almost unable to speak.
Chapter completed!