On the rivers and lakes, whoever has a fast knife and a hard fist will say the count. If in other state capitals and cities, the interests of various gangs are competing, the most direct way is to gather the disciples of the gang to fight to the death, but in the dignified capital of the Ming Dynasty, under the nose of the emperor of heaven, if he openly fights and kills, it obviously will not work. Moreover, these sects all have official backgrounds, and it is even more inappropriate to do such things that violate the king's law.

So the solution is the "Jingwu Lion King Conference".

"Jingwu Lion King Conference" has a long history, in the past it was a very ordinary folk festival, to the annual Duanyang Festival, it is held in the most lively Tianqiao Street in the capital. Most of the participants in this meeting are the dart martial arts hall in the city, and there are also some merchants and wealthy families, and there are often dozens of lion teams competing for dance, which can also be called festive and lively.

Since the rise of the "Eight Gates of Yanjing" in Beijing, the Lion King Conference has naturally been controlled by these eight gangs, and it has evolved into a way for these sects to compete with each other in terms of strength and power.

Today's "Jingwu Lion King Club", only ten lion dance teams can participate every year. Eight of them belong to the "Eight Gates of Yanjing", while the remaining two are other sects that want to enter Beijing to develop Shili. The quota for participating in the Lion King Conference must be approved by the "Eight Gates of Yanjing", which can be purchased with silver taels, or obtained by means of power and force.

The top eight gangs in the Lion King Conference are the "Eight Gates of Yanjing" in the new year, and the two gangs ranked Zuihou must withdraw from Beijing City on their own, otherwise they will be expelled by other parties.

The so-called competition with the lion dance is not just as simple as a competition, but actually contains the dual meaning of light and dark.

At the annual Lion King Conference, each of the ten sects sends out the masters of the sect to form a lion dance team to compete for the eight auspicious flower balls set up by the conference in the way of lion fighting.

But that's just the rule. In fact, the leaders of the major gangs and the backstage bosses will also participate in this meeting and gather in one place to discuss the distribution of various benefits in the city. If a compromise can be reached, the lion dance will become a formality, only when there is a stalemate, will be used to win the ball in the way of the lion king to fight higher, in this regard, to determine the "Jingwu Lion King Conference" ranking, the strength of the martial arts of the masters of each faction is important, but also whether its backstage is strong enough, whether the power can suppress other gangs and many other conditions.

In addition to the official position in the court, the size of shili in the rivers and lakes is also a pivotal part of the competition between the gangs in the capital of the Lion King Conference, and it is also one of the important factors in determining the ranking. After all, it is only the official authority of the Ming Dynasty, and many people in the rivers and lakes will not sell their accounts, and they want to grab the big fat meat of the capital, and it is still difficult to move an inch without the support of Baidao Shili.

In the past, at the "Jingwu Lion King Conference", the "Yanjing Eight Sects" often invited the masters of the "Seven Major Schools" to attend, called to come to watch the lion dance conference, which was actually to increase the momentum of their own sects and increase the bargaining chips for negotiations.

"Wanli Tang" originally had some friendship with an elder of the "Kongtong faction", and he was always invited to the Lion King Conference a few years ago. However, this old elder is not young, and he unfortunately drove west just over a month ago.

The support of the "Kongtong faction" is very important to whether the "Wanlitang" can sit firmly in the position of the "Yanjing Eight Gates". Hearing the news of the elder's death, the hall master Dou Ruyuan went to Kongtong Mountain in Shaanxi Province a few days ago, in addition to paying tribute to the funeral, he also wanted to have some friendship with the "Kongtong faction", and asked them to send masters to cheer for the "Wanli Hall". However, the matter did not go well, as soon as the master of the Dou Hall arrived in Kongtong, he learned that the "Kongtong faction" had decided to support another sect "Changqing Xuan" that was about to enter the capital at this year's Lion King Conference.

In addition to being familiar with the deceased elder, the Dou family did not have much friendship with other people in the "Kongtong faction", and it is said that the female owner of the "Evergreen Xuan" not only had an old relationship with Feiyunzi, the head of Kongtong, but also had already made a heavy promise. In this way, Dou Ruyuan's trip to Shaanxi will be in vain, not to mention the famous masters of the "Kongtong faction", even the disciples and grandnephews of the original elder can't invite half of them.

Dou Ruyuan, who returned to Beijing, was anxious, just because the Lion King Conference was about to be held, not to mention that "Wanlitang" had no friendship with other famous factions, even if he really wanted to spend money to invite people, it would probably be too late.

But at this time, this Young Master Hua suddenly came to the door, which was undoubtedly a good opportunity for the Dou family. Although the "Evil Dog Gate" has only risen in the rivers and lakes for a few years, and the "Evil Dog Boy" Hua Bushi is even more infamous, no one can deny that the current "Evil Dog Gate" is divided into seven provinces, and its shili is enough to compete with the "Seven Major Sects".

Dou Fei explained in detail the causes and consequences of the Lion King Conference, and said: "If Young Master Hua can participate in the conference at the invitation of this sect, my Dou family and the 'Wanli Hall' will be grateful! ”

"Evil Dog Boy" is famous for his greed for money, lust and cunning, instead of telling some lies to the eldest young master, Dou Fei is so straightforward, telling the truth and inventory of the Lion King Conference, and immediately proposing gift money conditions, which is the wisest move.

After listening to the young hall master of "Wanlimen", Hua Bushi did not answer for a while, and pondered for a moment before saying: "Brother Dou has done this young master a great favor today, and the invitation of the Duanyang Conference, I should not have refused it because of reason." However, this matter is not small, there are two problems below, and I also ask Brother Dou to report according to the facts. ”

Dou Fei said: "Young Master Hua, excuse me." ”

Hua Bushi said: "First, the background of the ten sects participating in this year's Lion King Conference, as well as the official shili that supports them, has your hall mastered it?"

Dou Fei said: "Originally, the 'Yanjing Eight Gates' were in the backstage of the official mansion, and the hall was already very clear, and we have also done some research on the two new sects participating in the meeting this year, one was recommended by Wu Zongda, an old scholar of the Imperial Court, and the other seemed to have something to do with the eunuchs. ”

Hua Bushi nodded and said, "The second question is the list of distinguished guests from various sects on the rivers and lakes invited on the day of the Duanyang Festival, do you know about it?"

Dou Fei said: "The guest list is self-contained, just because the Lion King Conference is jointly organized by our 'Yanjing Eight Gates', and all the participating sects can temporarily change the people invited, just like the hall is now inviting Young Master Hua, and the people who will finally participate in the Lion King cannot be confirmed at the moment." ”

Hua Bushi lowered his head and thought about it, and said: "Listening to what Young Proprietor Dou said, the Duanyang Lion King Conference is very involved, and the current situation is not very clear, so Young Master Ben can't agree for the time being. However, if you are patient, I will give a clear answer to Dou Shao in two days, and if you don't want to wait, you can also go and invite others as guests, which doesn't matter at all. ”

It seems simple to be invited by "Wanlitang" to participate in the Lion King Conference, but in fact, it is equivalent to intervening in the conflict of interests between the "Eight Gates of Yanjing", and it is also possible to be the enemy of the "Seven Great Sects of the Central Plains". Even if the current strength of the "Evil Dog Sect" is no longer under the "Seven Major Sects", it is not a wise move to force the way for others and rashly establish a strong enemy just for the sake of a little gift money.

This truth is self-evident, Hua Bushi did not agree immediately, and it was already expected by Dou Fei, in fact, the other party did not refuse, which was enough to make Dou Fei hopeful.

Dou Fei's face was full of sincerity, and he said: "The Lion King Conference will be held in five days, where can this hall invite other masters of famous families, and they have pinned all their hopes on the 'Evil Dog Gate'." If Young Master Hua feels that the gift money is not enough, the hall can add more. ”

Hua Bushi waved his hand and said: "Young Owner Dou is thinking about it, the gift money you promised just now is already a lot, and Young Master Ben has no intention of bargaining." Anyway, two days will come in a blink of an eye, and I will give you a reply in the next time. ”

Hearing this, Dou Fei already knew that it was useless to say more, but fortunately, listening to this Young Master Hua's tone, the possibility of agreeing to be invited was still not small, so he immediately arched his hand and said: "Okay, two days later, Dou will listen to Young Master Hua's news." ”

Hua Bushi smiled slightly, returned the salute with his fists, and walked into the secret passage on the wall.

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※ out of the secret passage is a small courtyard, a black painted carriage is parked in the courtyard, and a young man in the driver's seat is Meng Huan.

Hua Bushi got into the carriage, Meng Huanyang whipped the horse, and the carriage left the small courtyard and drove towards the street.

Beijing's ancient name was Yanjing, which was the capital of many dynasties, and was renamed Beiping Mansion when Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, and it was officially determined as the capital of the Ming Dynasty when Zhu Di ascended the throne of Yongle Emperor Zhu Di, and was renamed Beijing.

Compared with Kaifeng, which is also the ancient capital, the layout of Beijing City is obviously more kingly. Although the city is big, the buildings of the street houses are mostly wide and straight, with the Forbidden Imperial City in the middle, the four sides are arched and guarded, the north faces south, from the Yongding Gate in front of the outer city to the bell and drum tower in the north of the imperial city, forming a central axis that runs through the north and south, the buildings on both sides are symmetrically arranged, making the whole city extremely imposing.

During the Jiajing period, a Portuguese Pinto came to the city of Beijing, and after returning to China, he wrote in his "Travelogue": "Beijing is a rich, civilized and magnificent Shijie metropolis, with thick walls, straight pavilions, many shops in the city, department stores in the city, walking in the market, as if entering a fantasy land. ”

However, for Hua Bushi, he didn't know much about the prosperity of the capital. In the days since he entered the city, he has lived in seclusion, and even when he travels, he often takes a carriage, and locks himself in the carriage and does not show his face, just so as not to attract the attention of others.