Don't look at Hong Tao who has gone up the mountain to fight brown bears and gone down to the sea to catch sharks, but he has never eaten hippopotamus meat. This thing is a protected animal in later generations, living in groups in the rivers and swamps of Africa, it is not easy to hunt, and there is little economic value, and few people will spend money to kill hippos for fun. In my last life, I went to Africa, and lions, antelopes, wildebeests, and zebras all fought, but I never fought hippos.

What does hippopotamus meat taste like? It doesn't taste good, it's about the same as grilled crocodile meat, don't look at the hippopotamus's fat virtue, its meat is quite delicate, and the fat and thin are moderate. It's just that these long-distance transported hippo meat is marinated, and there is no shortage of spices and salt, so it is difficult to eat the original taste.

Sitting by the window, eating delicious dishes, drinking cold wine, blowing the slightly salty sea breeze on the Golden River, and watching the people coming and going on the commercial dock, it is a bit of a quiet feeling. Hong Tao added another one, a cigarette after dinner, and a race over the living immortals! After eating a full stomach, drinking another cup of tea, there is fat in the mouth, the pungent taste of tobacco will be reduced a lot, and the remaining taste will be more mellow.

With a teacup in one hand, a cigar in the other, eyes looking out the window, and humming a tune that no one understands, Hong Tao has no idle place in his whole body, and even his feet are beating. Seeing the emperor's virtue, the two guards were much more relaxed, and they used a small gesture to carry Hong Tao behind their backs and gesture downstairs, probably to report the situation upstairs to Ciqi, so that he could rest assured.

"Come on, come on...... Manager Weng, please first, please ...... "Jinhewan is such a big place, it is difficult not to meet acquaintances, just when Hong Tao was relaxing and immersed in his state, the only idle ear suddenly stood up. A new group of guests came to the door of the private room behind him, and they were greeting each other, and one of them was a little familiar.

"Boss Jin, let's not call the manager here, just call me by my name, or call me manager according to the custom of the empire." Sure enough, it was an acquaintance, not too familiar, but Hong Tao probably knew who it was. The person who spoke was a manager in the chemical group, the Weng family, and he couldn't figure out what the relatives were, and the relationship between them was too complicated and he was not interested in inquiring.

"Yes, yes, Manager Weng, Manager Weng, I heard the peers in the Strait Company call it the same, so decent, atmospheric, and status!" The voices of the other two people, Hong Tao, couldn't tell who they were, but it was certain that they should be Southern Song Dynasty maritime merchants, unlike Jinhe people, because the accent was wrong. Unless they are people who have just emigrated from the mainland, there are almost no places to immigrate as merchants.

The Weng family basically works in the chemical group, which is not that they deliberately want to monopolize an industry, but a problem left over from history. When Jinhewan was first built, there was a serious shortage of labor, and the men went to sea to hunt whales, cut down trees and build houses, and most of the people who stayed to boil whale oil were women, and the Weng family had the most women, because there were very few men in their family, and almost all the adults died, and all the women who came out were women. Later, Hong Tao got oil, which needed to be fractionated, and simply handed it over to the women of the Weng family who boiled whale oil, if not for anything else, because they were familiar with this business.

Slowly, as the chemical industry in Jinhewan became bigger and bigger, the Weng family actually controlled the industry, and the skilled masters were all from their family, plus this industry was very dangerous and toxic, and it was unrealistic for ordinary people to want to plug in. Those experiences, tricks, and data are all earned by the Weng family for two or three generations, whether they are taught or not to outsiders, they have to have the final say, Hong Tao has to discuss it carefully, and orders are useless.

Of course, the Weng family did not inflate themselves because they actually controlled the chemical group, in fact, among the elder families in Jinhewan, the Weng family is the most low-key and inconspicuous family, and at the same time, they are also the most grateful to Hong Tao to Dade's family. Every time Hong Tao advocated something, they didn't ask too much, let alone wait for the emperor to come to the door to say hello, as long as the old lady in the family nodded, they immediately agreed, let the vote, let the raise hands, there was no other word.

Several existing old ladies of the Weng family regard Hong Tao as their godson and benefactor, if there is no Hong Tao's appearance, their family is likely to be cut off from the incense, even if they are related to the Bo family, the Huang family, the Bu family, and the Ou family. At that time, the Tan family all produced and lived in the family unit, and if there was no man in the family, it was equivalent to no labor, and it was impossible for everyone to eat this meal without a meal, and it was impossible to expect others to help them.

The rich have distant relatives in the mountains, and the poor in the downtown no one asks.

The ancients are very reasonable, since the Weng family has become the management of the chemical group, many women in the family have become government officials, or at least managers of state-owned enterprises, and more and more distant relatives have come to join them. After suffering from the withering of the family, the Weng family is a little hungry and does not choose to eat, as long as it is surnamed Weng, who is willing to recognize their ancestors and return to their ancestors, they accept them all. Not only as a guarantor, but also to help arrange work, other departments can't be plugged, so they stuff it into the chemical group.

For this kind of behavior of the Weng family, Hong Tao used to turn a blind eye, and was unwilling to be too serious with these orphans and widows, as long as it did not affect normal production, did not violate the laws of the empire, and did not blatantly engage in family affairs in the group.

This Weng Xiaoyi is the Tan family recruited by Rong Weng Weng from the sea, and when he came, he was a brother and a blind mother, all of whom were singles. However, he had a good life, a sweet mouth and a surname Weng, and it didn't take long for him to marry a widow of the Weng family, who was one of the more core personnel in the Weng family, specializing in managing logistics and transportation in the chemical group, responsible for transporting oil back from the port of Brunei, and then transporting the waste generated by the chemical group out by ship.

Due to work reasons, Hong Tao and he have been in contact with him a few times, people are okay, down-to-earth and willing to work, these years in the wind and rain, in the logistics of raw material supply has never delayed production. What satisfied Hong Tao the most was that he strictly abided by the laws of the empire, and never threw those toxic and harmful chemical wastes casually because he was lazy, but put them in wooden barrels and sent them to the scrap dump near Mindoro Island by boat.

He has a relationship with the Great Song Dynasty maritime merchants, Hong Tao didn't care at first, it's normal, he runs around on the sea all the year round to transport goods, and it is inevitable to meet a few friends somewhere to talk to, not to mention that he himself is in charge of logistics work, and the people he interacts with are complicated, and there is nothing to make a fuss about. Whether it is a maritime merchant inviting guests or Weng Xiaoyi being the host, businessmen eat and drink with each other, Hong Tao does not prohibit it.

However, Hong Tao is very curious and wary, and it is difficult to trust others completely. Now that his seat was right next to the private room, the Emperor took up the work of listening to the corner, leaning back as far back as he could, leaning against the carved partition of the private room, trying to distinguish the intermittent voices from the cracks in the wooden planks. Listening to it, Hong Tao's ears became longer and longer, and he even forgot to stuff the cigar cigarette into his mouth, so he took it in his hand and let it slowly go out.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! What are you doing? Hong Tao's posture and demeanor quickly attracted the attention of the two guards.

They really obeyed the emperor, and they did everything in person to listen to such a high-end and high-grade thing as the root of the wall, and they really got along with the people. If it is placed in Jinhe City, the emperor will listen to whoever he likes, even if people are holding hands, the guards will not recruit this annoyance. But it's different here, this is a business district, a place open to the outside world, and there are foreigners everywhere, if this is seen by others, it will cause some misunderstanding, and then expose the identity of the emperor, how faceless! Not only did Hong Tao lose face, but they also lost face. Wouldn't it be a joke for this kind of thing to get out! The emperor of a country loves to listen to the roots of the wall! It is rumored that if you don't keep it even, it will become that Emperor Hong likes to pull out the widow's wall. But this kind of thing can't criticize the emperor openly, it can only be a side reminder.

"You two go down and wait for me first, and when you go downstairs, call the little second boy just now...... Don't forget to check out! Hong Tao was listening carefully, so that the two guards interrupted, and they didn't hear several key words, and they were very annoyed. However, the guards were right, their own outfit was already eye-catching, and it was obviously inappropriate to stick to the partition wall and tilt their heads to eavesdrop. But he doesn't want to give up yet, and he must understand this matter, otherwise there will be endless troubles.

"Then you ...... yourself" The two guards were a little reluctant to go downstairs, according to the rules, they could not leave the emperor's side.

"I'll go down then, I promise!" Hong Tao knew their difficulties and didn't want to embarrass them.

"What more do you want to order, officer? Hey...... Your Majesty, I didn't deliberately tease you, we have discipline......" The two guards turned around and walked away step by step, Xiao Er came over, and shouted their working words in his mouth, until he got close to the table, and then explained to Hong Tao in a low voice.

"I know, you executed it well, I made a note of it. Now let me ask you one thing, this restaurant is the property of the Internal Affairs Bureau, right? Hong Tao simply praised Xiao Er, stopped his nonsense, and then asked him a question in the same low tone.

“…… It's ......" Xiao Er was a little panicked, he didn't understand what the emperor had caught again.

"The Internal Affairs Bureau's industry should have eavesdropping devices, right?" Hong Tao then asked.

“…… Your Majesty is going to check the inspection? Xiao Er understood a little that the emperor was not trying to trouble himself, but was inspecting the work.

"Take me, right away! If you don't have the right, go downstairs and ask your director, who is sitting in the teahouse across the road. Hong Tao didn't explain, and gave the order directly.

"Then you come with me......" Xiao Er was very happy, he didn't use any rules and irregular prevarication, he probably knew that Ciqi was sitting opposite, and he had been sitting for almost an hour. As for asking for instructions from superiors, it is better to carry out the emperor's orders first and then ask for instructions, from Hong Tao's expression and tone of voice, he heard that the emperor was a little anxious.

(To be continued.) )