An Lin, the leader of Fenghua's Heaven and Earth Society, was currently leading his gang members to welcome the Long Hair Army into the city. He didn't know Fan Ruzeng, but he had connections with the Heaven and Earth Society. Everyone could casually exchange a few slang words, and they would immediately know that they were on the same side. They weren't the kind of people who would just eat their fill, and they weren't the kind of people who worshipped the teachings of Confucius and Mencius.
In fact, those who specialized in the underworld or those who advocated the underworld model hated the people of Confucius and Mencius in most cases. They felt that they were simply pretending to be ignorant. Their hearts were extremely dark, but on the surface, they pretended to be sanctimonious and revealed hypocrisy and cunning everywhere.
Although underworld figures made many mistakes, they did not want to hide their shortcomings. They liked to walk their own path and let others talk about it. They even challenged others. Come on! If you're not convinced, feel free to challenge me.
Therefore, the people in the underworld disdained Confucius and Mencius. They only believed that their words and deeds were the truth, and that people who pursued beauty would bow in front of them.
An Lin was introduced to Fan Ruzeng by his informant. An Lin's legs trembled uncontrollably in the face of General Fan's murderous aura, and he mustered all his energy to smile as he tried to appear as happy as possible to win General Fan's favor.
An Lin had been in the underworld for a long time, and even without any background in psychology, he knew that General Fan was obsessed with money and women.
Therefore, he had come prepared to meet General Fan. A few days before he knew that Long Hair would attack Fenghua, he had packed 50,000 taels of silver and neatly placed them in 20 red wooden boxes. A layer of red cloth was placed on top and bottom to show his wealth.
He felt that it was best to use bright yellow cloth with silver. It was graceful and luxurious, making people's eyes red and ears hot. It could instantly attract everyone's attention.
It was just that he didn't dare to use it publicly since it was only used by the royal family. Although Long Hair's rise made him not afraid of the imperial court's temper, he was worried that Long Hair would be jealous and think that he wanted to snatch the fruits of victory and gain the title of a royal noble. Therefore, he used it in advance to show off.
Thus, An Lin only thought about it in his head and didn't dare to put the yellow cloth over the silver.
An Lin immediately knelt on the ground and kowtowed six times in a row upon seeing the leader of the Long Fur Tribe, Fan Ruzeng. He didn't even kowtow to Qu Zhixian when he met him, as he still looked down on Qu Zhixian's seventh-grade official rank.
An Lin learned from his comrades in the Heaven and Earth Society that there was a secret organization in the Gong Prince's residence that was similar to the Ming Dynasty's Embroidered Uniform Guards. They used evil methods to control the world. Although the Heaven and Earth Society would occasionally go against the Qing Dynasty's government, they were secretly in contact with the Gong Prince's secret organization. For the sake of their mutual interests, they worked together and worked together.
Therefore, the history books always said that some of the underworld groups in the dynasties were always against the imperial court. However, this was not entirely true. There were still many connections between them that could be used.
Due to their relationship with the Gong Prince, the Heaven and Earth Society instinctively looked down on the government and often deliberately caused trouble, disrupting the normal order of society. They even directly opposed the government under the secret command of the Gong Prince's residence, embarrassing or killing some officials.
As such, An Lin wasn't willing to submit to the puny county magistrate Qu in Fenghua City. Although he couldn't replace Qu Yuan's position as county magistrate for a while, Qu Yuan's position in An Lin's heart had long disappeared.
If it weren't for the fact that Prince Gong's Mansion didn't care about minor officials like Qu Zhixian and only cared about high officials like the provincial governor, An Lin would've made up a whole bunch of shit and poured it all over Qu Zhixian, using the fact that the Heaven and Earth Society could expose him to slander Qu Zhixian.
As long as the anger of Prince Gong's manor was stirred up, both Prince Gong himself and the head of the secret organization in charge of the manor would only need to nod their heads slightly before An Lin could publicly punish Qu Zhixian in Fenghua and use the government and the underworld to attack Qu Zhixian.
If Qu Zhixian didn't know what was good for him and insisted on competing with An Lin, An Lin might really dare to assassinate Qu Zhixian and push the blame onto the Gong Prince, saying that the Gong Prince had ordered Qu Zhixian to be killed.
Thus, as long as Prince Gong's Residence was willing to cover up for him, An Lin wouldn't be held legally responsible even if he killed someone. He might even be able to take over the position of county magistrate by flattering the people of Prince Gong's Residence. This way, he would be able to gain public authority and become the Double King of Fenghua City.
The first time Fan Ruzeng met An Lin, he heard from one of his trusted subordinates that An Lin was one of their own and was a friend of the underworld. Without An Lin's cooperation, Fenghua City would have been difficult to capture.
Thus, Fan Ruzeng hurriedly put on a wide smile and warmly welcomed An Lin. He reached out and wrapped his arm around An Lin's arm as he said," Brother!" It's all thanks to you! We're all family. The world will be ours in the future. Come, come! Sit down!
He turned around and ordered some food and wine. He was going to have a few drinks with the Sect Leader of Fenghua City today. If every city had a cooperative figure like An Lin, it wouldn't be a problem for him to take over the Qing Dynasty. It was a pity that he had not paid much attention to this work in the past. The main reason was that the soldiers around him said that the underworld figures had a bad reputation. If they always cooperated with them, it would inevitably ruin the Taiping Army's wisdom.
Fan Ruzeng felt that it made sense. In addition, he still had a lot of righteous factors, so he did not use his brain to contact the underworld. He only thought about fighting independently and fighting wherever he went. He did not believe that the Qing army was an iron wall.
Now that Fenghua City had been taken down so quickly, there was no need for any brutal street fighting after entering the city. The people and merchants did not show any fear and were in high spirits. They welcomed the Taiping Army into the city and stationed them. Fan Ruzeng could not help but admire the effectiveness of the underworld's methods. They could instantly grasp the thoughts of the grassroots.
Thus, he was willing to treat An Lin warmly. At the same time, he made up his mind that he would need to work closely with the local underworld forces and use their influence as spies to eliminate the Qing army in the shortest time possible.
An Lin was a little overwhelmed by the unexpected favor. This general had a good attitude and should be easy to deal with. His fifty thousand taels of silver was a little too much. He had interacted with all sorts of people for many years, and he knew that a person who was easy to deal with could save him a lot of money.
He instinctively wanted to tell his family to withdraw the thirty thousand taels of silver, leaving only twenty thousand taels for Fan Ruzeng. Then he would sweetly say that his family's wealth was meager and that it was the Tartars who bullied the Han people, making it difficult for him to make a fortune. Fan Ruzeng would believe that he had emptied his family's wealth.
Perhaps General Fan wouldn't accept a single cent of An Lin's money because of his significant contributions, and might even reward him with a large sum of money instead. After all, the Long Hair Army had just conquered Fenghua, and they had confiscated a lot of private money. Fan Ruzeng was going to distribute it to whoever he wanted, and he was now the new county magistrate of Fenghua City.
Even though this thought flashed through An Lin's mind, Fan Ruzheng didn't give him any chance to take advantage of the situation. General Fan beamed with joy at the sight of the fifty thousand taels of silver that had been brought up. He didn't seem to care about money at all.
Fan Ruzheng glanced around at the silver taels before turning his gaze to An Lin. He was about to say a few words of courtesy when he saw An Lin staring intently at the silver taels, and he immediately understood what An Lin was thinking. He was indeed a little reluctant to part with this pile of silver.
Fan Ruzeng was worried that An Lin would go back on his word, so he changed his words and said that he had contributed greatly to the uprising army's entry into the city. He hoped that General Fan would show some mercy so that An Lin wouldn't be disappointed in his finances, or at least he wouldn't have to fork out more money.
Thus, Fan Ruzeng quickly gestured to his advisor to move the silver away so that An Lin wouldn't regret donating so much money and embarrass General Fan.
At the same time, Fan Ruzeng's face was full of smiles as he shouted," Brother An, we are all family. There is no need to be so polite!" "From now on, your matters are my matters. Fenghua City will always be our heaven.
An Lin had been feeling a little jealous at first, but when he heard Fan Ruzeng pat his body and promise him that he would take over the world, his ambition and pride were stimulated.
An Lin really wanted to take this opportunity to become the county magistrate of Fenghua City. Whether it was the Qing Dynasty, the Taiping Country, or even the Ming Dynasty, as long as he could become the county magistrate publicly, it would be the greatest happiness in his life. He would be able to earn a lot of money and have countless beautiful women to enjoy himself.
Therefore, he felt that as long as he could be a superior, giving some gifts was the right way. If he could sit on the position of county magistrate, what was 50,000 silver? He even felt a little regretful. He should have taken another 50,000 taels of silver to round it up for good luck.
An Lin's mood soared, and he looked up at the fifty thousand taels of silver beside him, only to see Fan Ruzeng's personal guards carrying the silver into the inner room. He couldn't help but feel a sense of dissatisfaction in his heart, and he blamed the mighty General Fan for being so petty. He didn't even have time to be polite, afraid that the silver would run away after being left in the hall for a while?
However, he knew that Long Hair was in charge of the world now. He and the Heaven and Earth Society's power could not compare to Long Hair at all. Even if he was angry, he had to suppress it deeply and not let General Fan find trouble to kill him.
An Lin hurriedly forced a smile onto his face as he bowed deeply toward Fan Ruzeng. He praised General Fan for being a god who had descended from the heavens and was able to easily conquer Fenghua City.
Fan Ruzheng was often in a brutal and brutal environment, so he was naturally pleased to see An Lin's seductive attitude. He felt that An Lin could bring him a sense of relaxation and pleasure.
Thus, he felt a little embarrassed and didn't want to appear overly selfish in front of An Lin. He stood up from his seat and walked over to An Lin. He reached out to help An Lin up and said," We're all family, so don't stand on ceremony!" Look at you! They were all brothers with hearts linked to each other, so why did they have to kneel and bow? It's all because the government dogs have gone too far, causing us commoners to bow our heads and bow our backs, unable to live an upright life.
Fan Ruzheng's words evoked An Lin's chivalrous feelings. In addition to the fact that he had always been looked down upon and humiliated by the officials, An Lin instantly became closer to General Fan. He no longer felt that Fan Ruzheng was greedy and lecherous, and only thought of him as the most adorable person in the world. This was because Fan Ruzheng understood the thoughts in the depths of his heart, just like how he understood Wansui, and he was able to blur the subtle relationships between people.
An Lin's eyes reddened from excitement, and tears nearly fell from his eyes. Fortunately, Fan Ruzeng was experienced enough to know that a minor character would be grateful to a major character.
Thus, he hurriedly patted An Lin on the shoulder as if he was comforting his own son. He advised An Lin not to think too much. The corrupt government of Fenghua had already collapsed, and the chaotic situation still required the cooperation of Brother An. Once the situation was settled, he would be the number one person in Fenghua.
Fan Ruzeng didn't say that An Lin could be the leader of Fenghua, but he vaguely said that he was the number one person in Fenghua. There were many different ways of saying this. One could say that An Lin was the wealthiest person in Fenghua, or that he was the number one person in the Taiping Country Army.
Fan Ruzeng knew that the Taiping Army should not stay in Fenghua for long. Occupying Fenghua was just a tactical move by the virtuous king to gain influence. Only by stabilizing Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui could he stabilize his mind and train local officials.
Therefore, Fan Ruzeng only wanted to sell his official hat for money. If he could get real money, anyone could become the new county magistrate of Fenghua and temporarily watch over the Taiping Army. Once he won the final victory, all kinds of local official hats would definitely need to be reorganized.
Otherwise! Those Taiping Country soldiers who had sacrificed their blood and effort to conquer the world would definitely not agree. If they angered the ruffians, they would really dare to rebel again.
Fan RuZeng didn't dare to think too much. He could only take it one step at a time and stabilize the situation in Fenghua City first. War required a lot of money, and General Fan himself needed to hide a lot of silver. Whether Taiping Country won or lost, having money wasn't a bad thing.
Thus, he needed to blindfold An Lin and the others with his official hat to make them willingly offer up their wealth.
Of course, what he needed the most right now was silver. Beauties were just a matter of stealing. As long as the war was not urgent, he would find a few peerless beauties to enjoy himself.
However, because Fan Ruzheng was born into a poor family, his standard of appreciating women was still at the civilian level. In addition, the Taiping Army only had civilians as fans, and most of the beautiful women who were willing to sacrifice themselves for heroes were from the civilian class.
General Fan had rarely seen the beauties of the wealthy families in the city who had been pampered since childhood. Naturally, he had little contact with them. Even if the army attacked the area, the wealthy families would either escape or have a certain relationship. They could even climb up to the name of the Virtuous King Li Shixian. Fan Ruzeng could only drool when he saw the beauties. He could not do whatever he wanted and relax the fire in the man's heart.
Today, when General Fan saw An Lin, he could tell from his appearance and attire that An Lin was a rich man in the city. He couldn't help but feel a sense of inferiority when he thought about how he had lived in poverty for most of his life. This feeling then turned into a sense of hostility, and he wanted nothing more than to destroy An Lin and take everything he had, including his wives and concubines.
Fan Ruzeng guessed that An Lin's wives and concubines might not be very good-looking, but they definitely had supple skin and didn't work in the fields. The men and women of wealthy families were all Caucasian, and their skin was smooth and supple. Anyone would want to reach out and touch their skin to satisfy their primitive desire for beauty.
An Lin was a little flustered when he saw Fan Ruzeng's dazed expression. He was worried that Fan Ruzeng was thinking of a way to deal with him, and he couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine, as if he was about to die.
Fortunately, General Fan came to his senses and knew that he couldn't cause trouble for An Lin yet. He needed the cooperation of An Lin's Heaven and Earth Society to speed up the war.
Thus, he didn't dare to neglect An Lin and hurriedly pulled him into the inner room. As he walked, he said," Let's have a good drink. Fenghua City is now our territory, and we should celebrate."
An Lin hurriedly nodded and smiled apologetically. He couldn't help but nod in agreement as he snuggled up to General Fan. He had lost his usual carefree demeanor and didn't dare to walk away with his back raised, afraid that General Fan would blame him for being arrogant. Even if he didn't die immediately, he would be the bane of his arrogance. If he were to be exposed to any scandals in the future, he would be enraged by General Fan, and he would be severely injured even if he didn't die.
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