Chapter Seventeen: Getting Rich

  Luo Xiaobei is a personal matter, this point Song Qing knew the first time he saw him, although he hadn't been to Xuzhou City many times, but he was familiar with all kinds of gossip news inside, and even more so with some other places outside the city's Wei Suo, this kid is definitely a good material for mixing gangs.

  When Song Qing asked about making money, other children would think of proper businesses like wine houses and grain shops, then gradually introduce the masters and the inheritance of these shops, and finally ask Song Qing what he meant by asking about these things.

  Ke Luo Xiao Bei didn't have that much nonsense, her eyes rolled around and the corner of her mouth curled up as she asked: "Big brother wants to find some silver to spend?"

  "Hey, you're quite clever!" Song Qing couldn't help but laugh and said: "Since that's the case, I'll be straightforward with you. I'm not content with just being a small flag, but if I want to get promoted in the future, I need to have people under me. Right now, it's already hard for me to make ends meet with just the ten of you, and my silver and money are running out. If I don't find ways to increase our income, before I even get promoted, I'll probably end up begging on the streets! If you know of any good opportunities, speak up, and when the time comes, you won't be left out!"

  "It's fine if there are no benefits, as long as I can follow Big Brother!" Luo Xiaobei's tone was very determined, but it was unclear how much of it was true or false. However, the words that followed were exactly what Song Qing had always wanted to know - the distribution map of the forces outside Xuzhou City.

  The forces inside and outside Xuzhou City had long been divided. Outside the city was the domain of the governor and wealthy merchants, while inside the city was the territory of the Xuzhou Garrison and those powerful guests. They didn't interfere with each other, each making a living on their own turf. The largest force outside the city was the Xuzhou Garrison, but even the garrison wasn't all-powerful. Those wealthy guests who kept thugs were also not to be underestimated, especially since within the garrison itself there were still divisions of power, with different factions below the commander.

  Xuzhou Garrison, although it has been a long time since the war, is still an important place. Over the years, it has been continuously expanding, and now there are more than 10,000 military households, plus those who eat under the name of the garrison, totaling around 30,000 to 40,000 people. With so many people, the number of wine shops and tea houses is not small, and the profits are naturally substantial. Where there are profits, there is money to be made. For the military officers of the garrison, protection fees are actually the most convenient way to make a fortune.

  Song Qing and his side are mainly based on the thousand households, with many restaurants below, and several halls, but these places have already had their owners. Now if they want to go over, it's like snatching food from someone's mouth. Judging from Song Qing's current strength, it seems a bit unrealistic. Luo Xiaobei also thought of this, roughly introducing the situation without going into details about the specific conditions of those places. Song Qing just nodded and didn't ask carefully, focusing his main energy on those unmanaged areas.

  Every place actually has some lawless areas, these areas are formed for various reasons, some are because several forces intersect and can barely reach a balance, so they leave the most central area as a buffer zone. Others are because someone or something appears in this area with certain strength, everyone can take a bite, but no one can leave unscathed, so nobody wants to provoke them, over time they form their own small force and become lawless areas.

  These two forces are nearby, some are even next to Song Hu's territory, and it can be imagined that the troubles in these places have been going on for so many years without Song Hu intervening. In this regard, Luo Xiaobei is completely helpless, he can only introduce the land and the people involved, then stare with wide eyes waiting for Song Qing to make a decision.

  Song Qing was also thinking that, to be fair, none of these people were easy to deal with, otherwise there wouldn't have been a situation where no one was in charge. But even though these places were troublesome, they were still better than the places from his previous dynasty where you had to ask for permission before taking action. In a place with no one in charge, if you took something by force, no one would say anything about it. Even if you didn't succeed, at most people would just laugh at you and say you were young and reckless, but there wouldn't be any real trouble. But if you tried to take something from the places that did have someone in charge, trouble would come knocking on your door right away, and getting killed over it wasn't even unusual.

  After some thought, Song Qing chose Wu Laohei from the gambling den. He didn't think Wu Laohei was any different from the other candidates on the list. The main reason was that the gambling den would definitely make a lot of money, and he could collect more later. Moreover, the subordinates of the gambling den were somewhat capable of fighting. As long as this family was defeated, the other families would be easy to deal with later. This obvious killing one to warn a hundred convenient thing, of course, had to be done first. As for not being able to swallow such a big pie, he hadn't even thought about it.

  To put it bluntly, he's here to defy the heavens and change his fate. If he can't even take down a small gambling den, what's the point of talking about defying the heavens and changing his fate?

  "Alright, that's settled!" Song Qing licked his lips and said to Luo Xiaobei: "You little brat must be following me. Don't mention the other nine for now. Tomorrow morning, gather everyone together and tell them clearly that it's fine if they don't want to follow us. I'll still treat them to meat every now and then as long as they train well. However, those who dare to follow us will have their business taken care of from now on, and I'll give them a reward every few days. Let them decide for themselves!"

  "Yes!" Luo Xiaobei also seemed somewhat excited. His father was a notorious good-for-nothing in the military household, and his mother wasn't someone who could hold her own on stage either. As a result, he had been looked down upon by others since childhood. After growing up a bit, he went around competing with others to get ahead. Having finally caught up with Song Qing, he naturally wanted to stand out even more. This kind of thing, similar to a dog-eat-dog situation, didn't fill him with even half a measure of fear; on the contrary, it excited him greatly. He just thought about how tomorrow, following Song Qing, they would take down that gambling den, and afterwards, there would be rewards. Therefore, he agreed extremely readily.

  After settling the account, Song Qing also had to go back and prepare. However, the training did not end ahead of schedule. In addition to standing at attention and running laps, there were also 200 rounds of bayonet training. Only then were the young men sent home, but he didn't return himself. Instead, he went straight to Ding Kui's house.

  Upon arrival, he saw Ding Kui and his younger brother Ding Mao collecting farm tools in the yard. It was clear that they had just returned from the fields. Song Qing rushed forward a few steps, grabbed hold of Ding Kui, and laughed: "Old Ding, when did you also start farming?"

  "What's wrong with farming? My dad isn't the general, and I'm not a little general!" Ding Kui said in a bad tone: "It's actually you who are now unstoppable, I heard that the first few days you even invited those kids to eat braised meat. Heaven have mercy on you! You were never so generous to me before, and I am still your brother!"

  "Of course you're my brother, and I'll definitely think of you when something good comes up." Song Qing smiled mysteriously and leaned in close to Ding Kui's ear, saying: "There's a lucrative business opportunity, it just depends on whether Old Ding has the guts to do it with me!"

  "What's going on?" Ding Kui asked hastily.

  "Do you know Wu Laohei's gambling den?"

  "You want to go gamble? How can that be, I'm a small door and small household with no capital, and nine out of ten times you lose. Don't look at the fact that your father is a general, your family's foundation is shallow, it'll all be gone in a few days! No, Song Qing isn't an idiot, he definitely wouldn't run to send money...” Ding Kui was saying with his mouth running like beans, when suddenly he had an epiphany and said: "You, you want to cheat... cheat that guy?"