Chapter 29: King Hui Divides the Stew

  After Wu Gan escaped from the North Gate, he happened to run into Zhou Wang. Without saying a word, Zhou Wang ordered his archers to shoot Wu Gan full of arrows, turning him into a hedgehog, and then beheaded him.

  Lin Chunhong saw that Wu Gan's head had been obtained, and immediately ordered the local militiamen to return to Geheyan. He himself led the Zhijiang archers to stay in Dangyang to maintain order, clean up the remaining bandits, and within two days, they searched the bodies of the dead bandits and found more than 50,000 taels of silver. Lin Chunhong also wrote a letter to Defender Yan Jiehe, saying that under his brilliant command, when he arrived at Banyuetown, he encountered bandits blocking the way, fought and won, and fearing that the opportunity would slip away, he ordered the archers to pursue them to Dangyang, break into the city, and obtain Wu Gan's head. They also captured more than 10,000 taels of silver.

  Yan Jie and received Lin Chunhong's battle report, shocked to the point of being stunned. After seeing Wu Gan's head, he also received more than 10,000 taels of silver, and immediately became overjoyed, praising Lin Chunhong for his bravery and good fighting skills, as well as his deep understanding of the way of being an official. He immediately ordered his troops to enter Dayang County City. He also drafted a battle report to Jingzhou Prefecture and Huguang Governor, stating that the soldiers had fulfilled their duties, and within five days they had eliminated Wu Gan and other bandits. In particular, he praised Lin Chunhong for his bravery in battle, leading by example, and being worthy of first honors. Lin Chunhong requested to borrow Wu Gan's head to offer sacrifices to his father and brothers, Yan Jie heard about the tragic events that had occurred at Lin Chunhong's home and felt great sympathy for him, so he agreed to his request.

  Xiaowan Village, Jiangling County.

  In the main hall of Lin's mansion, three tables were set up. On the table against the wall, the memorial tablets of Lin Dewen and his son, Chen Gouzi and Dou Chong were placed. Next to it, on the second table, pig heads and other sacrificial objects were arranged. In the center of the first table, a plate holding Wu Gan's head was prominently displayed. The grayish head had long lost its former luster, and even under the illumination of more than 20 candles, it still looked terrifying and eerie.

  Lin Chunhong held the incense, lit it and bowed three times with reverence, inserted it into the incense burner, his eyes already filled with tears. He then knelt down on the mat, kowtowed to the ground, and could no longer hold back, bursting into loud sobs. Next to him, Dun Shiwen and Chen Jixing also burst into loud crying, while the villagers nearby rushed to console them. It was no wonder that over the years, the people of Xiaowan Village had been jealous of Lin Chunhong's success, secretly despising him for forgetting his father's and brother's grudges, only knowing how to make money but not seeking revenge. Now, with their long-held hatred finally avenged, they were also silenced by the villagers' gossip.

  Alas, doing things is difficult. It's easier to just stand by and criticize others for their actions. Lin Dehai, Lin Deshao, and a few others used to follow Lin Chunhong around, who knows how much pressure they had to bear? Even if they made money, showing off in the countryside couldn't alleviate it at all. Now that Lin Chunhong has become an inspector, he will only continue to rise through the ranks in the visible future. This has finally made the people of Xiaowan Village realize that instead of standing by and belittling Lin Chunhong for psychological comfort, they might as well follow him to gain real benefits. Moreover, now there's no reason to even belittle Lin Chunhong, so they all fawn over him, hoping to do something and make some small fortune. Lin Chunhong doesn't refuse them either, instead instructing Zhou Wang to select honest villagers with good physical conditions. Some are sent to Guo Mingyan to chop wood, while those who are good at swimming are given to Zhang Zhao, starting from being a boatman.

  From then on, Lin Chunhong's power and influence grew day by day. Fortunately, he never interfered with the official affairs of Zhijiang County, so his relationship with other officials was still maintained, and there were no major incidents for the time being. However, the exorbitant profits in the timber industry inevitably attracted envy from others, and a large number of people flocked to this industry one after another. Lin Chunhong's methods had long been known even by old ladies on the street, and even toothless old ladies could accurately recite terms like pulleys and winches.

  The small businessman's logging volume was small, and in the case of Lin Chunhong eating meat, he would make some soup to drink. Lin Chunhong didn't mind either, too lazy to care. However, after the people from Jingzhou Huiwangfu intervened in this business, it could no longer be ignored.

  Jingzhou Blushing Building

  Two middle-aged men, dressed in silk and with rosy complexions, had just arrived at the door when Mother called out in a shrill voice: "Ah yo! Master Chen and Master Fu, it's been ages since we last met. The girls here have all been thinking of you two! Cloud and Orchid, come quickly to welcome our honored guests!"

  Yun'er and Man'er swayed out, a strong fragrance of cosmetics wafted over, Yun'er said in a delicate voice: "It's been a long time since you two came, which fox spirit has captivated you?"

  Mr. Chen sniffed with his nose, said it smelled good, and then pinched Yun'er's butt hard with his salty pig hand, saying: "I've been thinking about you, this fox spirit!"

  Then Mr. Chen and Mr. Fu respectively put their arms around Yun'er's and Man'er's slender waists and entered the private room.

  After entering the room, Mr. Chen ordered Yun'er and Man'er to sing some of their best songs, and he and Mr. Fu were busy chatting, no longer paying attention to the two girls.

  This Chen boss is named Chen He, the nephew of the long history of Jingzhou Huiwang Fu, doing wood business, every year to Hui Wangfu tribute a large amount of silver, relying on this relationship, about the wood business is all-encompassing, is the largest wood merchant in Jingzhou. The old boss Fu is named Fu Jiahe, also a wood merchant, mainly concentrated in Wuchang, the two are mutually supportive and often support each other. In the past two years, Lin Chunhong's fleet has been transporting wood non-stop, almost turning Jingzhou into a hub for wood distribution in Huguang. Finally, Chen He and Fu Jiahe couldn't sit still, although Lin Chunhong's impact on their business was not great, but they couldn't resist the temptation of Lin Chunhong putting silver into his pocket like flowing water, so they intentionally organized personnel to cut down trees.

  After Chen He revealed this intention to the Chancellor of Huai Wang, both Huai Wang and the Chancellor were moved, and immediately ordered Chen He and Fu Jiahe to start cutting wood, promising to provide some convenience.

  The two were also old hands in the business world, never fighting without a grasp, today came to Yan Hong Lou, one for the carefree and happy, and the other was to discuss the preparation of logging.

  "I just couldn't understand why nobody had turned logging into a profitable business before. But after Lin Xiao San came out, logging even became a lucrative industry. After many days of investigation, I finally understood that the method Lin Xiao San used was to transport wood along the mountain waterways, and the difficulty of logging in the past lay in the fact that it couldn't be transported out. It's said that Lin Xiao San invented a way to use pulleys and winches to save labor, so no matter how thick the wood is, it can be easily transported out." Chen He said with great admiration for Lin Chun Hong.

  Fu Jiahe didn't speak, just closed his eyes and enjoyed the singing of Yun'er. Chen He also ignored him and continued: "Moreover, it's said that Lin Xiaosan even brought in the military households from Datian Qianhu to cut wood, and the barbarians from Baiyan Cave and Sinan followed him to do so. This kid really has a lot of energy. But after making money, he bought land on an uninhabited island in Jiangxin, buying up all the arable land on the entire island. Does he want to be the master of the island? How much grain can that broken island produce? Unfathomable, unfathomable." Chen He shook his head and took a sip of wine by himself.

  Fu Jiahe finally woke up, and a pair of small eyes glanced at Man'er's chest, saying: "This is just like Miss Man'er's chest, if you don't unbutton your shirt, you'll never know how big it is!" Man'er listened, stopped playing the zither in her hand, wrapped her arms around Fu Jiahe's neck, and rubbed his back with her chest, saying: "Boss Fu really knows how to pamper a young woman." Fu Jiahe let Man'er do as she pleased, enjoying this romantic moment.

  Yun'er also stopped singing, snatched the wine cup from Chen He's hand, and said: "Master Chen doesn't care about little girls?" Chen He put Yun'er on his lap and repeatedly said: "I care about you, why wouldn't I care about you."

  "After finishing, he walked around dishonestly and said: "I've already chosen a location, going upstream along the Yangtze River to a place called Sanduoping. The trees there are dense and thick, and the wood is said to be very valuable. As long as you recruit people and boats, we can start right away."

  "No problem, it'll be ready in three days. We can also grab some gold from Lin Xiaosan's mouth!" Pujiahe's hands were already gone, and only Man'er might know where they were.

  "What shall we play today?"

  "Why don't we have a hundred birds pay homage to the phoenix?"

  "Still, Brother Pei is creative!"

  ……

  In an instant, the whole house was filled with spring colors that couldn't be shut in, and obscene voices overflowed from every floor.

  Chen He and Fu Jiahe were also figures of great momentum, and through the relationship with King Hui's mansion, they selected a logging site in Sanduoping under the jurisdiction of Rongmei Tusi, and immediately started logging.

  Three Du Ping is not a good place for logging, the mountain is high and the road is dangerous, and the cost of transporting wood out of the mountain is extremely high. But this difficulty did not stop them, they just invested more manpower and brainstormed to come up with a solution. The most difficult part was that Three Du Ping was located in Xiling Gorge, where the water flow was rapid, and at first, the wooden rafts they had made would accidentally hit the underwater rocks, resulting in financial losses. Two people gathered the most famous boatmen on the Yangtze River to come up with a solution to this problem. The final solution was to push the wood directly into the Yangtze River, and then send a large number of people downstream from Nanjing Pass to collect the wood and reassemble it into rafts that could float downstream.

  Chen He and Fu Jiahe also learned about Lin Chunhong's wage payment method through various channels. After careful consideration, they felt that there were many doors inside, so they took it without hesitation. As a result, the enthusiasm of their workers was very high, and with the help of their extensive network along the Yangtze River, their timber was sold to Nanjing in a short period of time, becoming another timber giant after Lin Chunhong.