Chapter 67: Gu Tongshan

Xu Hu and Wei Xiangzuo's master was called Gu Tongshan. This old fellow was one of the absolute elders of the dock gang, of the same generation as the current head of the dock gang - both had the character "Tong" in the middle of their names.

Gu Tongshan was the previous gang leader of the Zha'nan dock gang. Only when he got a bit older did he let Xu Hu and Wei Xiangzuo take over the hall and temple to manage Zha'nan dock gang's specific affairs. He himself had entered the Dock Workers General Association as a director and secured a councilor position in the city council. In short, he had successfully made it to shore and no longer directly participated in the underworld's fighting matters himself.

Although Gu Tongshan was no longer in Zha'nan, his influence remained very strong. First, Zha'nan's sitting hall Wei Xiangzuo had always respected him greatly, calling him "Master" wherever he went. Additionally, many old members of the dock gang in the Zha'nan area also listened to him very carefully, so he was the real figure controlling the direction of the Zha'nan dock gang.

In the room.

Hearing his master's question, Xu Hu didn't even dare to sit down, and immediately replied: "It was Feng Hai who didn't inform me and privately added over a hundred jin of his own goods to the six hundred jin shipment."

Although Gu Tongshan was nearly sixty years old, his body looked very robust, his face had few wrinkles, and his hair was dyed completely black. In short, when he sat there, he looked quite impressive.

After Xu Hu finished speaking, Gu Tongshan didn't respond immediately, just looked at him with his hands inserted in his sleeves.

"Master... I was indeed negligent about Feng Hai mixing in and privately selling goods," Xu Hu added. "This kind of thing definitely won't happen again in the future."

Gu Tongshan withdrew his gaze and said slowly with his hands still in his sleeves: "Sigh, now even people like Feng Hai dare to privately import goods. It's really hard to manage when there are too many people."

Hearing this, Xu Hu didn't respond.

"Sit down," Gu Tongshan beckoned.

Only then did Xu Hu bend down to sit at Gu Tongshan's side.

"People have been arrested, goods have been seized, and attention has risen," Gu Tongshan didn't dwell on the issue of Feng Hai mixing in goods, but said softly: "With things at this point, it's clearly impossible to clear anyone or extract anyone from this. The case has been locked down, we have to accept this result."

Wei Xiangzuo nodded upon hearing this.

"Who do you think did this?" Gu Tongshan asked Xu Hu.

"Very obviously, it's most likely the Yu family's side," Xu Hu replied.

"Since the case is locked down, we need to minimize losses. On the dock gang's side, whoever needs to come out and take responsibility, whoever needs to spend money to work things out, everyone needs to do their part," Gu Tongshan continued after pondering for a while. "The maritime police side took money but didn't protect the goods, they should bear greater responsibility. So, have them quickly push out someone to take the blame, let the incident settle quickly."

"Yes!" Xu Hu nodded.

"Over ten million worth of goods seized, more than ten people arrested - the Yu family's move this time was clearly aimed at killing," Gu Tongshan turned to look at Wei Xiangzuo. "The gun must point outward, do you understand my meaning?"

"Of course!" Wei Xiangzuo replied without hesitation.

"While settling the matter, we need to investigate it clearly," Gu Tongshan pointed at Xu Hu and said. "I don't want to hear guesses, I only want to see who moved the goods. To catch a thief, you must grab their hand - you need evidence."

"Yes, Master!" Xu Hu nodded.

"The goods are lost, and Old Mo's people have come," Gu Tongshan stood up and said. "You receive them, settle them in properly, that's all."

With that, Gu Tongshan walked directly into the inner room.

Seeing the master leave, Wei Xiangzuo immediately said to Xu Hu: "I told you long ago not to touch Old Mo's goods, but you wouldn't listen. This thing will sooner or later bury the dock gang!"

Xu Hu, troubled and irritated, retorted directly: "Why don't you say this to Master?"

Wei Xiangzuo was silent for a while: "Forget it, no point arguing. If you need my help, just say so."

With that, Wei Xiangzuo also left.

......

In the following days, the dock gang, maritime police, and customs anti-smuggling department were dealt with one after another. One deputy bureau-level official, more than ten captain-level officials, and over twenty officers were all suspended and isolated for questioning, including Tang Baiqing and that squadron leader.

Meanwhile, Feng Hai and others were sent to the major case detention center. The lightest sentence would probably be over ten years, and the leaders would definitely face the death penalty.

However, since Feng Hai was a team leader of the Zha'nan dock gang and Xu Hu's confidant, he might be saved from death, with someone else who could take the blame being pushed up as the leader. But how much money this would cost, nobody knew - at least without properly arranging things with Wang Daolin, this definitely couldn't be achieved.

On the other side, Yu Mingyuan, Su Tianyu, and the others returned to Dragon City's urban area after spending three days and two nights on Guangji Island.

After everyone returned, they spent almost every day at Yu Mingyuan's home, discussing the situation at the docks. Because at this stage, they no longer needed to deliver additional blows - the incident had been pushed up, they just needed to keep watching.

After the smuggling case fermented, the dock gang's business definitely stopped too. At least in the short term, they wouldn't dare to move goods, so everyone's situation was about the same. However, the dock gang's volume was large, so their losses definitely far exceeded those of Mingyuan Company.

In this incident, although Yu Mingyuan hadn't gained any vested interests and had actually spent quite a bit of money, he was happy inside because he had achieved two objectives.

First, the other side had also blocked the port now, and as long as Yu Mingyuan was in Dragon City for one day, even if the dock gang resumed moving goods in the future, they would have to be constantly on guard against the Yu family, otherwise they might have trouble again. So the goal of stalemate had been achieved. If the dock gang wanted to do business peacefully in the future, they would definitely have to negotiate with Yu Mingyuan.

Second, with over ten million worth of goods seized, the pressure Xu Hu faced was definitely unprecedented, because he simply didn't have the financial strength to control such a large operation. He was just the person openly responsible for operations, and the behind-the-scenes bosses in the relevant interest chain would all question him - like the maritime police, the suppliers, and the old men from the Dock Workers General Association who wanted their share of the profits. At the same time, with Zha'nan Port unable to move goods for some time in the future, the dock gang's lackeys would have no food to eat. With everyone having no work to do and no grey income, that would also put pressure on Xu Hu, and this kind of pressure would also push him to compromise.

Therefore, Yu Mingyuan and Dog Six and the others were not in a hurry now, and were actually in good spirits and quite relaxed.

......

After more than twenty days had passed, the Chinese Lunar New Year was approaching.

That noon.

In the Police Bureau's criminal detention center, Daxiong was squatting in the cell's toilet, using a brush to clean the squat toilet with his bare hands.

A short-statured suspect walked up from behind, saw the burly Daxiong squatting by the toilet, and immediately raised his arm to slap him.

"Slap!"

With a crisp sound, Daxiong's neck turned red from the hit, and he turned his head in panic asking: "Big... Big Brother, what's... what's wrong?"

"Scrub more quietly, making all that squeaking noise, don't you want others to rest?" the suspect cursed, looking sideways. "Get out of the way, I need to piss!"

Daxiong looked at him and moved his body to the side.

The suspect took a piss in the squat toilet, then pulled up his pants and turned around to continue: "Keep scrubbing, make sure it's clean! If it doesn't pass inspection tonight, I'll beat you up."

Daxiong looked at the urine in the squat toilet, hesitated for a while, then continued scrubbing with his bare hands.