The Legend of Bimeng: Section 160: The Trap of Gambling
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Section 160: The Trap of Gambling
In this case, this bow and arrow workshop alone brings a net profit of nearly 100,000 gold coins to the Stephen family every year, which can be regarded as a piece of fat. And the most important thing is that this business is very stable and has lasted for hundreds of years with almost no setbacks.
Other families are naturally coveting such a business. They have also imitated it, but unfortunately, the quality of the bows and arrows they produced was always unsatisfactory. They can only occupy the low-end markets that the Stephen family does not want, such as civilian mercenaries, private armies of nobles, etc. These guys are more stingy than the others, and the profits are of course far less generous than those purchased by the state.
But improving the quality of bows and arrows is not that simple. In the manufacture of bows and arrows, in addition to the craftsmanship of the craftsmen, the most important thing is the processing of the bow body and the quality of the glue used for bonding. These two secrets have always been particularly valued by the Stephen family.
Outside the imperial capital, in the Stephen family's manor, there are two heavily guarded areas, one specializing in the production of adhesive glue, and the other specializing in bow processing. There are dedicated people responsible for each step of these two processes, and these people can only know one process. There are only a few people who know all the processes, and they are all strictly controlled by the Stephen family. Spies from other families and forces have no way of knowing for sure. Therefore, for about 200 years, the Stephen family has been in a leading position in this field. But now, this leader's position has been broken, and the reason is obviously an insider!
Of course the Duchess understands the seriousness of this matter. Once all the formulas for making bows and arrows are leaked, the Stephen family will lose more than just 100,000 gold coins every year. Once this kind of secret involving the military's combat effectiveness is leaked abroad, it will be tantamount to a serious crime of liaison with the enemy. Even if the Stephen family will not be overthrown, if it is used by political opponents, there will definitely be a lot of trouble. Besides, there are interests of the royal family in this. If His Majesty the Emperor loses hundreds of thousands of gold coins every year because of this leak, he will definitely go crazy!
When she thought of the serious consequences, the duchess did not dare to neglect, and asked her son in an angry voice: "Tell me, is this true?"
"No, definitely not, I didn't!" The pretty boy obviously knew the problem was serious and would rather die than admit it.
The Duchess looked at him doubtfully, and the guy hurriedly said: "Mother, I'm not a fool, how could I do that kind of thing?"
The Duchess frowned, and finally chose to believe his words. She turned to the fat man and said, "Master, he is not that stupid, is he? Did you wrong him?"
"I wronged him! It's my fault, asshole, for stupidly handing over the workshop to this **** for the two vixens you gave me. In less than a month, he sold it to me. !" The fat man cursed angrily.
The Duchess blushed when the fat man said it. Lao Xie was covering his mouth and laughing. He finally understood. It turned out that the duchess wanted to encourage her son to make progress, so she specially prepared two beauties for the lustful fat man.
But the fat man wasn't done yet. He then cursed the guy lying on the ground: "You still dare to talk back now. You really don't know whether to live or die. You don't admit it, right? Okay, I'll make you convinced!" After saying that, the fat man waved to the butler.
The butler immediately walked to the back and brought out a well-dressed middle-aged man in a short time. The fat man continued: "This is one of the leaders of the bow and arrow workshop. Now let him tell everyone what he saw!"
"I, I saw that the young master once stayed in the data room where the formula was stored for a long time!" The man said tremblingly.
"When was that, and how long did you stay in there?" Fatty continued to ask.
"It was very late at night. I don't know how much time there was, but I estimate it was at least two or three hours!" the man said.
"How did you find out?" Fatty then asked.
"The villain is responsible for managing the data room. He knows that the things inside are of great importance and is afraid of problems, so he often patrols at night. Then, he discovered this!" The man said with some fear.
"Oh, don't be afraid. You have done meritorious service and you are responsible for your work. I will not punish you!" The fat man waved his hands helplessly and said, "Give him a reward of ten gold coins and go on down!"
"Yes!" The man hurriedly bowed his head and thanked him, then turned around and went out.
The fat man then said to the pretty boy: "Did you hear that? Tell me, why are you in the reference room if you don't sleep in the middle of the night?"
"I, I just want to see the information." The boy still said stiffly: "Since you have given me such a big family fortune, of course I have to pay attention to it and cannot let it go to waste, so I went inside Study secretly so that you don’t understand anything and get deceived by the people below! ”
"Fart!" The fat man fainted after hearing this, and couldn't help scolding: "Why don't you study openly and have to sneak around at night?"
"Aren't I afraid of being seen by others and thinking that I am ignorant and incompetent? That's why I chose such a quiet time!" the pretty boy said pretending to be aggrieved.
"Ha!" The fat man couldn't help but laugh when he heard this: "I must admit, you **** is not good at anything else, but your glib tongue is absolutely first-class. But don't think you can deceive me with your mouth alone! "After speaking, he waved his hand again.
The butler understood immediately and immediately turned around and walked back. In a short time, another middle-aged man was brought out.
"You don't know this guy, do you?" The fat man sneered: "Let me tell you, he is one of the leaders of the August family's bow and arrow workshop, and he is also a nail that I planted more than ten years ago. ! Now, tell this **** what you know!"
"Yes!" It was the first time for the man to face such a big shot, and he was a little scared, so he said tremblingly: "A few days ago, the person in charge of the bow and arrow workshop of the Augustus family suddenly shouted We held a meeting, and at the meeting, he presented a complete set of bow and arrow manufacturing processes, which were much superior to the ones we had mastered. At that time, the person in charge proudly told us that as long as we understood the process thoroughly, our bows and arrows would be absolutely perfect. It won’t be any worse than the ones made in the Stephen family’s workshop. I thought it wasn’t too much at the time, so I was more thoughtful and secretly wrote down the part I was responsible for. I originally wanted to report it earlier, but as you know, I just got the formula. The workshop was very busy, and I had no chance to come out. It wasn’t until yesterday that I found some time to report to you!”
"You did a good job!" The fat man then said: "Your identity has been exposed. There is no need to go back. From now on, you can continue to work in your own workshop. I will reward you heavily! You go down first!"
"Thank you, Master!" The man hurriedly bowed to express his thanks, then turned and left.
The fat man then gritted his teeth and cursed: "The formula he made at that time was exactly the same as the family's formula. I knew the secret was leaked at that time! So I quickly investigated and found out first that your kid had been quietly staying in the data room, and then... I found out that you, a bastard, lost 50,000 gold coins outside, but you were still able to spend a lot of money. At a banquet the day before yesterday, you paid 3,000 gold coins on the spot. Bastard, tell me now, where did your money come from? ”
Hearing this, even the Duchess directly confirmed her son's crime from her heart. After all, as the little pretty face's mother, no one knows the little pretty face's temperament and financial situation better than she does. If you ask this guy to drink and play with women, he can stay up all night long without any problem. But if you ask him to study, even if he is whipped with a whip, he will have to work hard in the data room in the middle of the night to study boring technological processes. ? That is unless the solar energy comes from the north.
As for the financial situation, she knows more about it. Her son usually doesn't earn a penny, and it's her mother who pays for it. How can she not know her son's background? Not to mention 50,000, even 500 gold coins are not something he can always have in his hands. He will definitely spend them quickly. Every time he gives them hundreds or hundreds, he is just afraid that he will spend them all. If he can come up with 3,000 gold coins on the spot, , that is simply impossible, there must be something fishy in it!
So the Duchess immediately pulled her face down and cursed angrily: "You little bastard, if you don't tell the truth now, do you want to drag me to death with you? This matter is of great importance, and it is even possible. It has caused harm to the national security. If you speak out now, you may be able to remedy it, otherwise you will be dead!"
When he heard this, the pretty boy was frightened and cried hurriedly: "Mom, I was wrong. To be honest, they forced me to do it!"
"Stop **** nonsense, who are they? What's going on? Tell me clearly!" the fat man roared.
"Yes, that's it!" The pretty boy had no choice but to confess everything he had done.
It turns out that a few months ago, this boy met several nobles from other places at a banquet. They behaved smartly, were generous, and they were also good at flattering, and they could always get all kinds of good things. , let this kid Dawei admire. In the end, several like-minded people came together and gambled and played with women all day long.
Under the temptation of these people, this boy's desire for gambling was completely aroused. It didn't matter if he lost all his money. They were generous enough to let this kid make an IOU. Stimulated by the desire to make money, he couldn't control it and lost tens of thousands in one breath. When the last few people came to him to ask for the account, the boy was stunned on the spot.