Tang Dynasty Little Godfather

Chapter 44 Open and Covert Struggles (Seeking monthly votes and to continue reading)

The next day.

An unnamed academy.

"Brother Que, did you sneak off to the brothel again yesterday?"

When Li Jieman saw Wang Xi, his face was full of suspicion.

Wang Xi asked in astonishment, "Xiaoman, what nonsense are you talking about so early in the morning?"

Li Jie looked him over and said, "Look at you, you look so haggard. You must have been exhausted last night."

Wang Xi was immediately enraged. "If I go to a brothel, I'll be full of energy the next day. Who do you think you are?"

After saying that, he sighed again, sat down, and rested his head in his hand. "I had nightmares all night last night. Ugh, it scared me to death."

Wang Shuang leaned closer and asked curiously, "What kind of nightmare was it? It was so scary?"

"That's it. Never mind, don't even mention it. It makes me sick just thinking about it." Wang Xi shook his head and sighed.

At this moment, Huangfu Sengnian walked in and said, "Some candidates have already made their moves."

"So fast?"

"who is it?"

“It’s Yang Hun and his group, and they have to be quick with this move,” Huangfu Sengnian said. “Because they’ve chosen to raise wages.”

"Salary?"

"Exactly."

Huangfu Sengnian said, "They didn't do any careful calculations. Instead, they immediately went to several well-known carpentry shops in the West Market to place orders, then spread the news that we were going to build an academy, and secretly sent some people to order some small items. In this way, the wages would naturally increase."

"I see."

Wang Xiyun smiled nonchalantly, "This was originally just a random idea for building the new academy, so it's full of flaws. But they're quite clever to come up with the idea of ​​raising wages. Raising material costs would require a lot of money and would easily expose their scheme, while raising wages is relatively easy. In fact, if each craftsman's wage increases by just a few coins, they would have a huge advantage. The key is that the Equalization Bureau can't control that."

Huangfu Sengnian said, "But according to the information I received, it was probably Wu Chongwen, Yang Zhan and others who came up with the idea behind it."

Wang Xi couldn't help but frown.

Wang Shuang asked curiously, "Why did they do that?"

Li Jieman exclaimed, "Brother Shuang, have you forgotten that Yang Hun is Yang Zhan's cousin?"

Huangfu Sengnian said, "I think the reason is more than that. They probably want to use this opportunity to send some spies here."

Wang Xi nodded. "That's what I think too."

Huangfu Sengnian said, "This is what we should be wary of. Once they expand their enrollment, we won't be able to defend against it!"

Wang Shuang gritted her teeth and said, "They are really insidious."

Wang Xi laughed and said, "But I've already thought of a way, so I'm not afraid of his trick."

"What method?" Li Jie asked hurriedly.

Wang Xi took out a piece of silk cloth from his bosom. "I had a nightmare last night and couldn't sleep, so I wrote something down."

After saying that, he handed it to Huangfu Sengnian.

Li Jieman and Wang Shuang immediately leaned over and read aloud, "Catch and release Cao Cao?"

"what is this?"

"A story?"

"To be precise, this is a script."

"Script?"

"good."

Wang Xi nodded and said, "It's a script similar to a military drama, but I don't have the skill to write it. I'll need Monk Nian's help to polish it."

Li Jieman asked uncertainly, "Are you planning to use acting to let them learn on their own?"

"correct."

"What's the point of this?" Wang Shuang asked, scratching his head.

His impression of traditional opera was that it was all about joining the army, but that was something lowly people did, a shameful job. At most, it was just something to watch for amusement, but it was meaningless and embarrassing for him to perform it himself.

Wang Xi asked, "What if there's a female lead?"

"The female lead?" "Yes, the female lead who is paired with the male lead."

Li Jieman said excitedly, "That's right, in this way we can recruit some female students and female teachers."

Wang Xi smiled and nodded, "At the same time, Lao Tao can retreat behind the scenes. Even if the other side sends spies in, we won't be afraid."

"Wonderful! Wonderful!"

"Wait a moment."

Huangfu Sengnian suddenly looked up and said, "Your story has no educational value whatsoever, which will be hard to explain later."

"First of all, I can't write educational scripts, and secondly, I have other plans."

At this point, Wang Xi paused slightly, "We'll talk about that later. For now, let's deal with the exam. Quickly instruct the orphans to follow the plan and tell their parents to make this play as realistic as possible."

Left Guard, Headquarters.

"Yang brat, come out here."

Han Dachui strode into the hall and shouted loudly.

"Who dares to make a noise here?"

Hearing a shout, General Yang Jing emerged from the side door. Upon seeing Han Dachui, he was taken aback. "Han Dachui? What madness are you having now, you scoundrel?"

Han Dachui rushed forward and said, "Your Yang family only knows how to use despicable means. If you have the guts, let's go outside and have a showdown."

Yang Jing didn't ask for the reason and rolled up his sleeves, saying, "Fine, let's fight. I'm not afraid of you."

"stop."

Then a shout was heard, and a burly general entered the hall.

Upon seeing this man, Han Dachui and Yang Jing immediately stepped forward, clasped their hands in greeting, and said, "This humble general greets the Great General."

This man was named Ge Fushun. He was the Left General of the Imperial Guard, Duke of Geng, and a favorite minister of Emperor Li Longji, who was responsible for protecting the palace.

Ge Fushun reprimanded the two, saying, "This is a military camp; you cannot act so recklessly here."

Han Dachui said, "General, it was the Yang family who started the trick."

Yang Jing asked, puzzled, "I have no idea what you're talking about?"

Han Dachui said, "You don't know? Let me ask you, did you secretly send people to carry up the wages of the craftsmen and carpenters in the West Market?"

"Salary?"

Ge Fushun, puzzled, asked, "What wages?"

Han Dachui immediately informed Ge Fushun about the entrance exam for the Nameless Academy.

Ge Fushun immediately said, "Is it really necessary for you to shout and make such a fuss over such a small matter?"

Han Dachui said, "General, this matter concerns my son's future. The nameless master stipulated that parents cannot interfere, but the Yang family resorted to such despicable means. Since that's the case, can I also target their son?"

After hearing this, Ge Fushun asked Yang Jing, "Is this true?"

Yang Jing said, "General, you are wise. I swear to heaven that if I had known about this, I, Yang, would have died a horrible death. I suppose this was a plan devised by my son and his men."

Ge Fushun nodded slightly, then said to Han Dachui, "Dachui, I believe this was not done by Yang Er."

Han Dachui was also straightforward. "If that's really not the case, then I'll apologize to you."

Yang Jing snorted, "That won't be necessary."

Ge Fushun added, "Since the rule is that elders should not interfere, then let the children handle it themselves. Let's not ruin everyone's friendship."

Han Dachui and Yang Jing exchanged a glance and then nodded.

Ge Fushun suddenly asked again, "Is that nameless man really that powerful? Mao Zhong has been mentioning him to me quite often lately."

Han Dachui immediately said, "General, you may not know this, but that nameless gentleman is truly a master. He is the son of the Duke of Qi, as you should know. He has only been a disciple for a few days, yet he is already able to paint for His Majesty. Even the Imperial Academy does not have such ability."

Yang Jing said, "Whether it's good or bad, I don't know how to evaluate it. But judging from the facts, that nameless gentleman is indeed good at disciplining unruly children. My son, on the other hand, only knows how to misbehave all day long. Now that the higher-ups are keeping a close eye on him, I'm afraid he'll cause trouble again. That's why I thought of sending him to the nameless academy."

"is it?"

Ge Fushun sighed, "It's a pity my son is too sensible and his grades are outstanding; otherwise, I could have sent him to Wuming Academy. Oh, where are you all going?"

"We suddenly remembered that we still had some official business to finish."

"Yes! Yes!"

(End of this chapter)