Chapter Thirty-Two: Business Discussion

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  The town of Mengzhen is now more lively than before, those big and small salt merchants are nowhere to be seen, the only ones who come here to deliver salt are three groups of people: first, Li Meng's salt stick, second, the salt workers responsible for this area, and third, the people from Lingshan Salt Field itself.

  The people of Lingshan Salt Yard and the salt workers were, after all, just a backdrop for officialdom. Li Meng's attitude towards them was "you don't offend me, I won't bother you". Anyway, the salt they delivered, whether in quantity or quality, was far inferior to Li Meng's salt goods. The salt workers hated Li Meng's salt rods so much that their teeth itched, but for now, they couldn't gather enough people to fight back and could only swallow their anger.

  As soon as the salt peddler's group walked out of the alley, Hou Shan was already waiting there. However, he didn't expect Li Meng to come over either. Hou Shan was taken aback for a moment, but immediately ran up with a bow and asked how he was doing, then said in a low voice:

  "Mr. Li, how come you're here today? Lately, in Fengmeng Town, there's no other salt merchant's household that would have gotten the news before yours."

  The previous crackdown on large and small salt smugglers, those messages were all brought by Hou Shan, who acted as an intermediary. The news from each household was known to some extent, and Hou Shan told Li Meng in detail, which allowed Li Meng to mobilize his forces and break through the various salt bandits and salt smugglers with ease, monopolizing this market.

  Li Meng casually pulled out five taels of silver and handed them over to Hou Shan, smiling as he said:

  "However, I have something else to attend to today. Go and invite the bosses of the Wang and Kong families to meet me at the small wine house in the east of the town for a casual drink this afternoon. Also, do you know who runs the gambling den in this town? Take me there to take a look."

  Hou Shan smiled and accepted the silver, thinking to himself that working for this master would come with some risk, but the benefits would also be substantial. He asked the two shopkeepers to keep it simple, as he was now a person of some standing, one of Li Meng's men, and the other side would certainly give him face. This gambling house... Hou Shan slapped his forehead and laughed, saying:

  "Is Old Man Li saying that the dice shop in East Town..."

  Zhang Ma originally was a butcher in Fengmeng Town, had great physical strength and was also ferocious, ordinary people didn't dare to provoke him easily. Six years ago when this place just started smuggling salt, outsiders and local troublemakers began to increase, Zhang Ma's mind was quite active, knowing that he himself had no way to smuggle salt, so he decided to do something else.

  He then pulled in a few familiar friends who enjoyed drinking and eating, opened up a dice shop, collected protection money, and unexpectedly found that this business was actually quite profitable.

  Smuggling private salt, the peddlers were mostly vagrants with no family or dependents, and their money was spent on food, drink, prostitution, and gambling, with few other ideas. This dice shop opened, and business was booming. Salt workers, private salt smugglers, salt merchants' apprentices, and nearby guards all liked to come and play a couple of rounds.

  This rascal is a fierce person himself, and now he has four or five idle men supporting him. Nobody dares to provoke him, so he can be considered a small tyrant.

  It was still early when Zhang Dashan left the brothel, the sun had not risen high in the sky. Although it was cold, he still walked with his chest open, revealing a thick layer of hair on his chest, as if showing off his ferocity. He was thinking about whether to go to the dice shop or have some hot wine first. Before he took a few steps, he was stopped by someone.

  If it weren't for the person blocking his way being tall and large, Zhang Ma would have opened his mouth to scold him. The man was wearing a half-old but still neat short-sleeved shirt, looking like a fellow from somewhere, with a clean and tidy body all over, and a warm smile on his face, saying:

  "Excuse me, is this Mr. Zhang? May I have a word with you?"

  Seeing the other side being polite, Zhang Ma Zi suddenly became angry and said in a loud voice:

  "Whatever it is, don't block the road, I still have to go drink!"

  "Wait, Zhang, I heard your shop was closed by someone who owed you 300 taels of silver."

  Upon hearing this, Zhang Ma Zi immediately became vigilant and stared at his opponent, saying:

  "What's it to you? What are you doing here?"

  "A small dice shop, winning or losing no more than three hundred taels. Ma Ge is a sensible kid, his parents must be worried sick. Zhang Da Ge, have a kind heart and let him off. How much silver did he lose in the end? Thirty taels or fifty taels, I'll give it to you. The young man's parents are anxious, at their age..."

  The words had barely left his lips when Zhang Butou suddenly flew into a rage, grabbing the man's front lapel and cursing loudly:

  "What are you, daring to speak to me like that? Ma Gun's kid owed three hundred taels and was beaten for it. Paying back debts is the natural order of things. Whether his parents are dead or alive has nothing to do with me."

  That man pushed away Zhang's butcher's hand, still with a smile on his face, and said in a gentle tone:

  "My name is Li Meng. Since Big Brother Zhang doesn't want to, then forget it. But if you change your mind, I'll be at the small wine shop on the east side today, you can come find me."

  After finishing speaking, Li Meng turned his head and left. The butcher felt that something was wrong, but still jumped up and down, scolding loudly:

  "You don't even know who Old Man Zhang is. You can still speak like this in Fengmeng Town, you're really asking to be killed..."

  The shout was so loud that it could be heard three streets away. To say that Li Meng was the leader of the Salt Gang, this thing has not been widely spread, because Li Meng had only come to Mang Town a few times. However, there is something very interesting, if someone says "Li Erlang", then the popularity will be much higher.

  Ao Meng Town, a small town that only became slightly prosperous because some out-of-town salt merchants came to collect salt, would not have any good wine houses. The so-called wine house was just a clever resident who set up a shed in his own courtyard and sold strong liquor and salted fish.

  Those with money in their hands naturally hire cooks to cook, and some salt merchants come here for entertainment. However, for Li Meng, this place is a social venue and a public place where people discuss business matters. This is also one of Li Meng's habits formed in modern times.

  This small wine house is really simple, there is no sign or plaque at the door, it's purely for receiving familiar customers. Such a store put in modern times still has a name, called "private dishes", that is, the price is expensive to the sky, and the taste of the dish is not necessarily delicious.

  It's already the twelfth lunar month, and the weather is cold. The shop owner has put all the tables and chairs inside the house. At this time of year, people from outside are rushing back home to celebrate the New Year, so business in the shop has also slowed down.

  When Li Meng walked into the store, a strong smell of wine and dried fish hit him in the face. On the counter side, more than a dozen dried salted fish were hung directly there. The smell was not pleasant, but it was still bearable.