Chapter Fifty-two Smuggling Goods

  "No regrets, I asked you to pay attention to Zhang Lei's movements, have you found anything recently?" Xu Guangqi summoned his trusted subordinate in his own study.

  Qin Wu Hui bowed his fist and paid respects to Xu Guang Qi before saying, "Reporting to sir, the current Xu Family Camp has basically reached a level of prosperity, and is considered one of the top in the surrounding villages. However, due to many restrictive rules, it can be seen that Zhang Lei's idea of re-planning and designing the Xu Family Camp was forced to be suspended."

  "Replan Xujia Camp? He's really got a big mouth, he's neither a meritorious official nor a royal relative, it's fundamentally impossible for him to make any moves, even if County Magistrate Yan Jue wants to replan, he'd still have to submit a memorial to the higher-ups. This guy is playing with fire!" Xu Guangqi couldn't help but feel moved upon hearing that Zhang Lei had such a plan.

  "Sir, I think I understand his idea now. Xujiayang is really too backward and can't meet Zhang Lei's needs at all. The natural river port there is also something he wants to make good use of. It won't take long for the tobacco harvest to be ready, and with the support of Yongfu Business Firm and the Bai family, it might be possible to re-plan Xujiayang. However, he seems to have given up and turned his attention to Songjiang Prefecture instead."

  Regarding Zhang Lei's abandonment, Xu Guangqi also expressed his agreement. He said: "The land issue has always been the most sensitive, and he is right to give it up. If he really has a good heart, let's wait until his younger brother passes the imperial examination in the future... Ah, yes, his younger brother is called Zhang Chen, isn't he? He participated in the Tongsheng exam this year - what else did he do in Songjiang Prefecture?"

  "In Songjiang Prefecture, he established a merchant association, gathering the strength of various households to jointly resist the largest timber merchant in Songjiang Prefecture, the Su family. Ah, speaking of which, I must report something that happened that day." Qingwu felt it was necessary to inform Xu Guangqi about what had happened that day, so he carefully explained everything from start to finish. Finally, he said: "Sir, I suppose Zhang Lei dared to offend Tongzhi because he thought you were backing him up?"

  Xu Guangqi burst out laughing and said, "Don't underestimate him. In my observation, he shouldn't be that kind of person. Although there's some truth in what you say, he will still rely on his own strength to resolve the crisis. Unless absolutely necessary, he definitely won't come looking for me."

  "Alright, you continue to pay attention, this kid really has some ideas, in just one year he can do so many things. I'm getting more and more optimistic about him." Xu Guangqi said with a smile. What Zhang Lei did was also what he wanted to do, now that Zhang Lei was doing so well, he was naturally very happy too.

  Qin Wu Hui responded with a sound, then retreated. But saw Xu Min walking towards him. Xu Min quickly ran to Qin Wu Hui's front and happily said: "Uncle Qin, you're back. How is Zhang Lei doing?"

  "Miss, you're too direct! Who asks that right away? Tell me, do you like him?" Qin Wuwei said with a smile.

  Xu Min was talked down by him and lowered his head, saying: "Uncle Qin is teasing me, who do I like? I'm not even familiar with him?"

  "Come on, big sister, you said it yourself," Qin Wu Hui teased. "If you don't like him, why ask so many questions? Uncle Qin has important people to meet, I'll leave first."

  "Oh dear, oh dear, Qin uncle, please don't tease me anymore, tell me, tell me!" Xu Min pulled on Qin Wu's sleeve and said pitifully.

  "Haha, look at you, still not admitting it, it's not like it's something to be ashamed of. I also appreciate that young man, what's the big deal about saying it out loud? Alright, alright, if I don't tell you, I'm afraid my sleeve is going to be torn apart by you." Qin Wu said helplessly.

  At this point, Zhang Lei recounted everything he had done recently, of course omitting the crucial parts. Xu Min still listened with great joy. Knowing that Zhang Lei was fine, the big stone in her heart was finally put down, and she chatted for a few more sentences before leaving.

  The words were divided into two branches, each representing one branch. After all the preparations were ready, Qin Luo Feng's cargo ship finally set off on its journey to Guangzhou Bay. Zhang Lei handed over the keys and detailed address of the house he bought in Pinghai Town to Qin Luo Feng, instructing them to settle down there.

  After introducing Zhang Lei's drilling and milling machine, the efficiency of various franchisees including Xu Feng has increased several times. Although they need to transport wood from outside, the price has not increased, which makes Su Lun feel very annoyed, because if they don't raise the price, customers will naturally choose more convenient and faster equipment at the same price.

  Finally, after enduring it no longer, Su Lun decided to take action. On this day, he found Guo Yu.

  "Director Su, how come you have time to sit down with me today?" Guo Yu said warmly as he saw Su Lun. Because they didn't belong to the same system and their offices were naturally in different locations.

  Su Lun sighed and said: "Alas, don't mention it, it's still that Zhang Lei, now he's making me lose my appetite."

  "This is indeed a strange rumor, within the borders of Songjiang Prefecture, there are people who can make you lose sleep and appetite." Guo Yu said with a smile.

  "It's all thanks to you, sir, that I have my current achievements. Who doesn't know about it in the Songjiang Prefecture? But this Zhang Lei is simply a foolish young man, he doesn't care about these things. He made me lose face in front of so many people, how can I swallow this?" Su Lun said gritting his teeth.

  Guo Yu said: "So I understand now, you came to find me, is it because you want me to take someone to teach him a lesson? Hehe, if soft doesn't work then use hard?"

  Su Leng nodded without hesitation and said: "Yes, I want to ask you to come out of the mountain and help me avenge."

  "This is a bit tricky, I'm afraid it's not easy to handle." Guo Yu said suddenly at this time.

  Su Lun hastily handed over a silver note and smiled apologetically: "Sir, I'll have someone bring the name you want over to you right away."

  Guo Yu nodded, and Su Lun stood up and said: "Goodbye."

  On the dock of Songjiang Prefecture, a large ship was unloading its cargo. The logs were the raw materials purchased by Xu Feng.

  Just as everyone was in the midst of their busy work, dozens of yamen runners wearing bright red official robes came running from a distance and soon surrounded the area, making it impossible to get through.

  "What's going on?" Suddenly so many officers and soldiers came, leaving everyone at a loss, looking at each other in dismay.

  After a while, Guo Yu brought several attendants and appeared. He looked around, very satisfied with the intimidating power of this scene to everyone, he cleared his throat and said seriously: "Someone reported that the wood on your boat is smuggled goods, which has not been registered by the government. In order to strictly enforce the law, it was decided to temporarily seize these goods, and after investigating the truth, if they are regular channel timber, we will naturally let you transport them back, but if they are of unknown origin, this official has the right to confiscate the goods."

  "Huh?"

  This sudden change left everyone in shock. How did it suddenly become a smuggled item? However, some people who knew better saw that it was Guo Yu and guessed a few things in their hearts.

  Kuo Yu saw that everyone was still motionless and repeated what he had just said.

  "Something big has happened, I didn't expect him to show up after all. What should we do now?" someone asked, looking at their companion beside them.

  The companion who was asked shook his head and said, "How would I know? This situation is beyond our control, let's hurry up and report to the boss instead."

  "What? Guo Yu has seized my ship?" Hearing the report from below, Xu Feng was so angry that he almost smashed the table with a slap. He said hatefully: "Needless to say, this must be Su Lun's doing behind the scenes. How big is his guts, daring to use official soldiers?"

  "Boss, I heard that the Su family has a deep relationship with Guo Yu, so it's likely that as soon as Su Lun speaks up, Guo Yu will agree immediately. We can talk about these things later, but the problem is, what do we do now? There's a batch of goods that needs to be shipped out at the beginning of next month, and if we don't have this wood, it's impossible to ship them out."

  "I'm going to find Boss Zhang, where is he now?" When something happened, Xu Feng's first thought was of Zhang Lei. He seemed always mysterious and should be able to cope with the crisis.

  At this moment, Zhang Lei is inspecting the factory. The quality of the hemp rope produced here is very good to a large extent because of Zhang Lei's inspection, which makes everyone dare not be lazy.

  "Boss Zhang, something bad has happened." Xu Feng said as soon as he came in.

  "Hmm?" Zhang Lei furrowed his brow, then invited Xu Feng into his own room and asked: "What's wrong?"

  Xu Feng said: "Just now I received a message, the wood we bought was seized by the government."

  Zhang Lei was extremely surprised and said: "How can this be?"

  "They say the wood on this boat is smuggled goods and they want to seize it for inspection." Xu Feng said.

  "What department is this? Why are they suddenly inspecting this? Didn't we already pass inspection to unload the cargo?" Zhang Lei asked in surprise.

  Xu Feng echoed: "Yes, they are all goods that have been inspected before unloading, how did they become smuggled goods? Right, the person was brought by Guo Yu."

  "Guo Yu? Isn't he the backer of the Su family? I heard it was because of him that the Su family got in touch with Tongzhi." Zhang Lei said. As soon as he heard this name, he immediately thought that Su Lun must be involved in this matter.

  Currently, once the wood is seized, not to mention whether it will be confiscated as smuggled goods or not, even if it can come back eventually, it's estimated that it won't be before at least half a month later. No need to think about it, definitely can't deliver on time. By then, not only Xuji old shop with decades of history will have its reputation ruined, but also the newly established Zhangshi Business Association will suffer an even greater blow.

  "Boss Zhang, don't think about who is behind the scenes for now, just think of how to keep this batch of goods safe first." Xu Feng said anxiously.