"Boss, you are wise! When we saw the secret signal you left, we sent people to follow him from a distance. After landing, he went straight to the Zhou family. Isn't our Cao Gang at odds with the Zhou family? We didn't dare to stay for long and withdrew first."
Zhou family? Liu Yue was immediately very unhappy! Then why is such a beautiful man involved with the Zhou family
Then I thought about the man's inquiries about the Cao Gang and his deliberate observations of the boatmen on the returning ship, as well as the name that sounded obviously made up, could he be a member of Zhou Zhiyuan's gang
Although Liu Yue felt secretly relieved that the handsome man was not the prince, the person who was involved with Zhou Zhiyuan must not be a good person!
Thinking of this, Liu Yue felt that the world was so bleak!
As the Grand Princess' birthday banquet was getting closer, there was still no progress in the plan to meet with Song Ruiyang.
After much difficulty, they found someone who could meet and talk to the prince, but the news they got was that the prince steadfastly refused to meet him.
Liu Yue, Hei Muzi and several elders have discussed this repeatedly. Although the Crown Prince is a member of the royal family and serves as the Minister of Works, he will not personally handle many specific matters.
The businessman Zhou Zhiyuan, the prospective brother-in-law, almost became the prince's spokesperson and agent in the execution of specific projects.
It was understandable that the prince was proud of his status and refused to meet Liu Yue, but now even Zhou Zhiyuan was so arrogant that he didn't give any face to the Cao Gang and refused to meet Liu Yue.
Liu Yue was sitting on a tree by the river, very annoyed. In the past ten days or so, the business of the Cao Gang had decreased by another 10%. The strangest thing was that some small bosses avoided Liu Yue as if he were a ghost.
There is no sun today, and Liuyue's mood is as gloomy as the sky.
In the three years since I took over the position of gang leader, I have been managing the Cao Gang successfully, but now I feel unprecedented frustration and powerlessness.
"Dad, is the Cao Gang going to get over this hurdle? I've tried everything I can think of, but I can't just stay on other people's roofs every day."
Suddenly there was a commotion at the dock. Liu Yue looked in the direction of the sound and saw that a group of people from the Cao Gang had a conflict with someone else, and it looked like a fight was about to begin.
Liu Yue's heart tightened! He flew away from the tree and ran to the front, pretending to be a spectator, and squeezed into the crowd from the edge, and found a gap to slip to the front row.
"The whole world belongs to the king. Not to mention this dock, the entire Lujiang River belongs to Daliang. Now the court wants to promote new policies to regulate the grain transport, so of course you have to make room for it."
Hearing this, the canal workers became excited and started talking at the same time, each one louder than the other.
"I grew up by the river, why can I just leave like that?"
"The Cao Gang has been doing honest business all these years, earning money through hard work, and operating the docks based on strength. The court should also abide by the law!"
Seeing that everyone was getting more and more excited as they spoke, and pressing forward step by step as if to surround the speaking clerk, the few yamen runners brought by the clerk had trembling hands holding knives, and watched helplessly as the men of the Cao Gang reduced the encirclement smaller and smaller.
At this time, a burst of hurried horse hoof sounds came from far away and got closer. When the horse reached outside the crowd, the reins were suddenly pulled. The tall horse raised its head, raised its hooves and neighed loudly.
A man jumped off his horse, holding a whip and proudly pushed his way through the crowd and came to the middle.
"A bunch of lowly people want to rebel? This is the world of Daliang, not the world of your Cao Gang! How dare a small Cao Gang go against the imperial court?"
(End of this chapter)