As soon as Li Ling said this, the three people around him focused their eyes on him. Even Yue'er looked puzzled and couldn't help but say, "Brother, those people are so tired, do you still say that?"

Fu Tao's face was even more dark: "Young Master Li, don't talk nonsense." As he said that, he looked at the young man, and the meaning was obviously that you should not be deceived by him.

Li Ling just smiled and touched Yue'er's hair: "You only see their fatigue, but you don't know that this is indeed their livelihood. If there is no canal and they don't even have this work, then what do they rely on to support themselves and their families?"

Yue'er frowned and replied, "They can go farm."

"But look at the two sides of the Caohe River here, how much land is there?"

"Then you can still work in the town, just like the workers in Brother Gu's family, you can support yourself."

Li Ling turned around and looked at the Taiping town behind the ferry head and laughed again: "This town rose because of this Taiping Du, and Taiping Du was born because of the Caohe River. If there was no Caohe River, they would naturally not be able to work in any town."

"Is that true? Then..." Yue'er completely said nothing this time, and Fu Tao fell into silence after opening his mouth. He really didn't consider this.

Before Li Ling finished speaking, he looked at the two of them again: "There are only two or three thousand people in front of him, but they are all born on the Caohe River, either working hard to pull fibers, loading and unloading goods at the ferry, and preparing food and water sources for the return and docking ships, etc. necessary supplies... This is what is called water-drinking. There are more than one or two ferry towns like this, and there are hundreds of thousands of people involved. Brother Fu, how should these people live if they really abandon Caohe?"

After all, Fu Tao was not the senior sensual masters in later generations, and he was still reasonable. He was stuttering and couldn't speak. After a while, he said: "If there was no Caohe River, a large amount of farmland could be reclaimed on both sides of the river, and they could still be supported."

"Maybe, but what if there is annexation in fields like other places? And why are you sure that farming must be better than they are now?"

Fu Tao was completely speechless this time, but the young man's eyes were flashing with praise, and he waved his hand quietly, dismissing the crew members who had already arrived next to the few people. Then he nodded to Li Ling with a smile and said, "This young man has some knowledge and I admire him. By the way, my name is Yang...Yang Qinghou, I don't know the name of the young man's surname?"

"Yang Qinghou..." Li Ling didn't react, but Fu Tao's expression changed first, and suddenly he frowned and put his lower abdomen in his hands: "Sorry, the pain in his abdomen suddenly became unbearable, so I won't compensate you to speak here, say goodbye." As he said that, he turned around and left without waiting for the two of them to react, looking like he was running away.

Li Ling was a little stunned, then thought of something, and then looked at the young man carefully. This was a handsome young man with even a little bit of makeup, so how could he scare a juren away? But he still replied politely: "Li Ling, a native of Jiangcheng County, Hengzhou Prefecture, Huaibei Province, whose courtesy name is Wen Zhong."

"It turns out to be Mr. Li, so lucky. Are you going north to participate in the imperial examination?" Yang Qinghou immediately guessed Li Ling's exact identity and asked.

“That’s right.”

"No wonder, young master, I think you will definitely pass the exam in this subject." The young man said, and his eyes turned, "I am quite close to Mr. Li, and I have some other things to ask for. I wonder if you can follow me to sit down and play chess in the hall in front?"

"Do you play chess? I really can't do this..." Li Ling was about to refuse, but the other party made another invitation gesture: "Brother Li, don't be humble. You are a scholar who has passed the imperial examination. You will definitely know the six arts of gentlemen. Please!" As he said that, he walked forward first, and the men behind quickly followed, blocking Li Ling's way out.

Li Ling smiled helplessly. The other party exuded the temperament of a person in the martial arts world, which was really different from the people he had contacted before. Youdao is a scholar who was in a military service and couldn't explain it clearly. It was really hard for him to have any disputes with such a martial arts world figure, so he could only follow it.

However, he was still careful and followed him to Yue'er and said, "Yue'er, go back to the cabin first, and then say to Mo Yun. I'll talk to someone in the hall at the bow of the boat and tell him not to worry."

Yue'er immediately understood what Li Ling meant and wanted to say something, but after seeing her brother wink at her, she still responded obediently, turned around and ran towards the cabin. Those men were not good at Yang Qinghou's life, and they really did not do anything to the little girl, so they could only let him leave.

Yang Qinghou led the way in front of him. When he heard the movement, he smiled again: "Mr. Li, are you too careful, are you? I just want to get to know you, there is no malice."

"Haha... I'm just asking my sister to go back, don't worry about others." Li Ling responded casually.

Since he didn't admit it, the other party didn't say anything more, but he still brought him to the rather bright hall. It was just opposite the middle of the river in front of him. The view was indeed wide, which was much more comfortable than the cabin.

As the two of them entered the hall, someone brought some tea, as well as a wooden chess board and two ceramic chess boxes. Yang Qinghou was really going to play chess with Li Ling, and he was playing Go!

Seeing the other party skillfully placing the chessboard, lifting the lid, and pushing the two boxes of black and white chess pieces in front of him, Li Ling was stunned. If it was chess, he would at least understand the rules. At least he could make a few moves. Military chess is fine, and checkers are just a good one. He was just a board game like Monopoly. He had played mahjong poker in his previous life. As for mahjong poker, he was even more adept... but this Go, I'm sorry, I won't.

"Well, how can you not play chess? Let's just talk..." Li Ling asked tentatively.

"Brother Li, don't be too humble. In this way, let you go first." Yang Qinghou still insisted and pushed the chess box full of chess pieces into front of him.

In desperation, Li Ling could only bite the bullet and go on. The moment he made a move, his heart moved, and he became calculating again, so he dropped the white word on the black dot in the middle of the chessboard.

Yang Qinghou was slightly stunned and looked at him again: "Brother Li is really a master's style. The first one is already Tianyuan's start. I admire him." As he said that, he landed a black piece on the black dot on the left in front of Li Ling, but it was a regular small eye to start. Li Ling smiled, picked up another piece and put it under his chess piece. Yang Qinghou frowned slightly, and couldn't understand the intention of his hand, so he made another move and said in his mouth: "I can't tell that although Mr. Li is not old, he has a lot of knowledge about my Caohe business."

"I dare not say anything about my own opinion, it's just some of my own opinions." Li Ling fell into another son, but followed the second one behind.

"Then what do you know about the Cao Gang?"

"Cao Gang? The Jianghu Gang that was born because of Caohe, relying on helping the government transport various goods, and at the same time he took over the entire Caohe business and took all the affairs of all kinds of things in his hands?" Li Ling asked carefully. Knowing that the existence of this gang was still relied on some chats with Wanlang, because some of the Wan family's business and the Caohe business did have a lot of interactions, but Young Master Wan was dissatisfied with them, thinking that the other party had too much appetite and dominated many of the business and business on Caohe, and his food was too ugly.

Seeing the other party nodding, Li Ling carefully explained some of Wan Lang's views. He had actually guessed the other party's identity. He attached so much importance to Caohe and came to argue with them for a word from Fu Tao. What's more, the performance of the strong men around him made people quickly guess their identities.

Because of this, some of his statements about the Cao Gang were quite tactful, but at the end he said: "The Cao River is rising, and the Cao Gang is rising, which is naturally true. But I also think that the Cao Gang's unscrupulous expansion over the years may cause trouble for itself. After all, they are not people from the court. If one day the court really wants to completely take the power of the Cao Gang into his hands, then the Cao Gang will probably be in danger."

Yang Qinghou raised his long eyebrows gently: "Do you think the court will fall in love with these miserable things?"

"There is no need for the court to send officials to do these chores, just send people... Well, just hold on to the decision-making positions that originally belonged to the Cao Gang. In addition, they can also use the methods of making money on the Cao Gang on weekdays to use them. I think those officials who value money more are willing to interfere in this."

Yang Qinghou's face became more and more serious: "But after all, the Cao Gang has been operating here for many years. Isn't the government afraid of causing chaos and severing the major events in the Cao Transport?"

"If I were to do it, the consequences could be minimized with just one differentiation plan. After all, it is impossible for the Cao Gang to be truly united because of the vast area. As long as some of them can be moved, the government can legitimately intervene in the Cao Gang affairs. With the power and prestige of the government, it would not be too difficult to completely annex a small Cao Gang, right?" Li Ling said, leaving the fourth son, and at this moment, the chessboard has been connected from the middle to the bottom of the chessboard.

However, Yang Qinghou no longer cared about playing chess, and his expression became more and more gloomy: "So if something happens to the Cao Gang, such as the death of the old gang leader, and some old people want to jump out to seize power, the government will never let it go?"

"Of course, after all, the opportunity is rare. Uh, you lost." Li Ling said, leaving another son, connecting his five sons, "I have already connected with the five sons, and I have won this one."
Chapter completed!