In order to develop, in addition to growing its own strength, it must cut off some contact with the outside world. The most important connection is to cut off the line of smuggling. Since taking office, Yuan Xiuyuan has made up his mind to cut off contact with smuggling vendors outside and has removed a group of officials in the city.

This series of actions violated the interests of a group of veterans in Suzhou. In addition to some important positions, they also include some big families, such as the Kong family. They are big families that have risen in the past decade. They openly run pawn shop business, but in fact they secretly communicate with other states next door, smuggling including treasures, horses, high-quality fabrics, etc.

Yuan Xiuyuan has been very troubled about how to deal with the Kong family in the past few months. The Kong family's sphere of influence is not only in Gusuzhou, but also in the capital. As for the official position, Yuan Xiuyuan did not check it carefully. In fact, if you think about it for a moment, there are only a few people with the surname Kong who are above the third rank.

This fat man was in a state of great trouble recently. He wanted to find the man who likes to play chess in the yard, but later he thought about it. Since Liu Xinxing was about to take office in Beijing, he could only do these things himself.

The delicate lady saw her husband for a while and joked that her husband had lost weight. Yuan Xiuyuan looked in the mirror and felt that she had lost weight, but it happened that the tailor gave Yuan Xiuyuan a brown dress recently.

This dress is neither big nor small, just like his own official, neither up nor down.

Although this official position is not very high, the current magistrate Yuan, the upcoming magistrate Yuan, was wearing this brown dress and walking on the street, feeling proud.

Gusuzhou is rich in the west and the east, and there is a mansion called Confucius Mansion located here. The mansion is not big, but there are many servants and few tourists. Therefore, the mansion is basically servants who walk around the mansion. Every now and then, the servants will go out to buy large-scale places, almost all of which are daily necessities, such as grain, cloth, etc.

The Kong Mansion is different from the mansion of Yi Daoke. Since the latter disclosed his identity, the mansion has been filled with people and is not afraid of the government's investigation. However, the Confucius Mansion is mysterious. Even as the most powerful family in the dark side of Gusuzhou, they dare not engage in these businesses openly.

A white-faced boy with a cane stopped at the door of the mansion. He hesitated and did not dare to enter. The boy seemed to have some problems with his feet. He was wrapped in a large white cloth and some blood oozed out.

It seemed like a very miserable boy, but his expression was not a painful expression, but an extremely entangled look. After a stick of incense, he gritted his teeth and knocked on the door solemnly.

As a knock on the door sounded, a man holding a simple knife in his hand was like frosty. He slowly opened the door. The white-faced boy took that step with difficulty. After he came in, he looked around and felt a little familiar. However, the moment he came in, his eyes narrowed, as if he felt the sun was a little dazzling.

The white-faced boy looked at the Park Knife next to him and asked in a low voice: "Uncle Hong, my grandfather...is still angry?"

The latter still said coldly: "Go back to the young master, go and see it yourself."

The white-faced boy nodded, but walked away with a hard time with a cane.

The old man with Park Daozhe was named Hong San. He stayed in the Confucius Mansion for thirty years. It is said that he was a person from the Twelve Prisons before. Later, he was expelled from the Twelve Prisons for committing crimes. He didn't know how he was displaced to the Confucius Mansion in Gusuzhou.

Hong San controlled his footsteps very slowly, as if he was deliberately trying to take care of the boy with injured feet. He walked for a long time before he came to the innermost room.

The small house is very simple, just like the entire Confucius Mansion.

There is a big table and a lounge chair in the house, and a landscape painting is hung on the wall.

"The ancient and modern times are not other ghosts. There are heavenly ghosts, mountains, rivers, ghosts and gods, and some people die to become ghosts." This is a landscape painting. This landscape painting was painted by Zhan Yuheng in the Spring and Autumn Period, and is called the Spring Festival Picture. The picture shows the situation where water and sky connect, with green mountains on the top and lakes on the bottom.

It looks very similar to the pattern of Gusuzhou.

The old man in the room was wearing a blue shirt and holding a string of Buddhist beads in his hand. The beads were a little shiny, and he looked at the light golden light carefully.

The white-faced boy thought about it outside the door, but still knocked on the door.

There was no response inside the door, but there was a slight cough. After a while, the old man said lightly: "Come in."

But the old man stopped stroking the Buddhist beads, and the melancholy on his face disappeared in an instant.

The white-faced boy heard and thought for a moment. He took off his crutch with difficulty and deliberately dispersed the bandage on his feet, so that the blood stains were more obvious from the outside. It seemed that the boy thought this was not enough, so he deliberately pinched his face. The pain was not ordinary.

But he was indifferent, and he had a mood, so he slowly touched the door. When the old man saw it, his pupils first tightened, and then quickly recovered, and his gaze swept on the boy's face. When the old man saw the red marks on his face, he felt a little strange, but he didn't ask.

The boy stared at the old man, smiled first, and then said, "Don't you be fine?"

The old man said with a stern face: "You just talked to your grandpa like this?"

The boy scratched his head embarrassedly, opened his hug, and signaled to hug him. As a result, the old man rolled his eyes and kicked him back.

Of course, it didn't kick the boy in the lap.

However, the boy still let out a soft "scream".

The old man didn't even look at it. He looked at the picture of the spring outing with his hand on his back, and said casually: "What do you think of this picture?"

The boy said casually without thinking, "Okay, this picture costs a lot of money, right?"

The old man ignored it and continued, "Do you know Zhan Yuheng?"

The boy thought for a moment and said, "That Spring and Autumn Painting Saint?"

The old man nodded.

"How much money did that cost?" The boy was obviously more concerned about this issue.

"Silver..." the old man touched his chin and said softly, "It seems that he didn't spend any money?"

The boy was stunned and whispered to the old man: "Then... how much money can this painting cost?"

The old man obviously lost his tolerance this time, so he turned around and kicked the white-faced boy again, who fell to the ground,

After the boy struggled for a while, he stood up and said, "Grandpa, is this painting given to us by the painting saint?"

The old man was a little surprised when he heard this, but he didn't care much. He stopped staring at the painting, but turned around and looked out the window, as if he was recalling some past events.

The old man's surname is Kong and his name is Hongjue. Kong Hongjue is the head of the Kong family in Suzhou. He doesn't like to go out on weekdays, so he likes to stay in the small room and write a few words and look at the painting on the wall. After he came back from his thoughts, he said to his grandson: "Do you know our business?"
Chapter completed!