Fenghou

Not long after, Cheng Guangya, the county magistrate, organized a fleet to send thousands of shi grains and thousands of loads of forage to the barracks. The kindness of the people is used to reward the army, which means asking them to strictly observe military discipline and not harass the people.

Cheng Guangya then brought a big businessman to bring more than [-] sheep, and he could order meat from this businessman for a long time in the future.

Chong Huan thanked him again and again, sent Cheng Guangya away, and then slaughtered pigs and sheep to reward the army.

When night fell, a man came to see Zhong Huan, and Zhong Huan ordered him to be taken to his tent.

This man is called Qin Kuangming, very young, only twenty-five or six years old, and he is a head of the inner guard. Last year, more than a thousand people from the inner guard came to kill illegal salt. Before leaving, more than twenty people were left behind. Stationed in Tanzhou, Qin Kuangming is the leader of this team.

"See the commander for the humble position!" Qin Kuangming knelt down on one knee and saluted.

Chong Huan smiled and asked him to sit down, "Did you see the internal letter from Jing Zhao sent by Wang Tongzhi?"

"The humble job saw it!"

"I find it very strange, why did the suppression of illegal salt fail last year? You should know the inside story!"

Qin Kuangming nodded, "Humble job is very clear about the reason. The root cause is that the other party has an internal response. When the news leaked, the other party retreated to Poyang Lake. We sold private salt instead of official salt. When we asked the people, the people said they bought it. Official salt, no one will admit that you buy private salt, and when the internal guards withdraw, they will show up again."

"Who should be in the other party?" Zhong Huan asked again.

"Of course it's officials from all over the country. Without the cover of the government, how could private salt be so rampant?"

Zhong Huan nodded, "So this time I came to Yuezhou to stay instead of going directly to Tanzhou. On the surface, I aimed at Jiangbei, but in fact I didn't want to startle the snake."

"The commander did the right thing. If your troops go to Tanzhou, they will definitely flee immediately."

"Who are they referring to?"

"Of course they are Yan Xiao Zhang Tai, Yan Xiao Wang Santai, and Yan Xiao Li Taishan. The names of the three major Yan Xiao have the word Thai, so they are called Yan Xiao Santai."

"What about the private salt dealer?"

Qin Kuangming quickly explained: "Private salt dealers are local salt dealers. They are responsible for taking goods from salt lords and then distributing them to various retail shops. Private salt dealers have their own territories, and various government governments also benefit from them. Salt lords generally don’t deal with the government, but they will ship the private salt to the warehouses designated by various private salt dealers. They have been trading for more than ten years, and they all abide by the rules and cooperate with each other very tacitly.”

Chong Huan thought for a while and said: "It's been more than ten years, so who is the private salt dealer should be clear!"

"Almost! The key is that private salt dealers will flee. It was like this last year. Once the inner guards arrived, all the private salt dealers escaped without a trace, and they all have another identity. They are benevolent members, justice-seeking villagers. Old man, I heard that there are professors in the county school, all of them are innocent, without any evidence, so it is not easy to touch their family members."

"What about Yuezhou's private salt?" Zhong Huan asked again.

"Yuezhou's private salt came from Jinghu North Road. It should be the private salt sold by Zhang Jun in the legend. But I have been here for a year, and I have no clue about Yuezhou's private salt. The key is that I don't know about Yuezhou. Who is your private salt dealer?"

Only then did Chong Huan realize that it is really difficult to eradicate illegal salt. No wonder he failed last year. At this time, he still needs to consult more experienced people.

"Then Qin Dutou thinks where should I start?"

Qin Kuangming thought for a while and said: "The humble officer suggests that the commander should start with the Yanxiao first. If these people escape to Poyang Lake, we will not be able to get through."

"They fled to Poyang Lake by boat?" Zhong Huan asked.

"Most of them go to the Yangtze River by boat, and then go to Poyang Lake from the Yangtze River."

"Now are they active?"

"Almost, Zhang Tai's fleet is in Tanzhou, and the other two Tai's are in Hengyang. It's autumn, which happens to be their shipping season."

Zhong Huan pondered for a moment and said: "Take thirty scout brothers back, find Zhang Tai's fleet for me, and keep an eye on them. Don't worry about the other two Tai, I want to catch big fish."

"Humble job understands!"

The two negotiated many details, and Zhong Huan sent thirty elite scouts, dressed as ordinary people, to follow Qin Kuangming to the south on a large cargo ship.

Two days later, Yang Yuanqing sent people to send [-] war horses. This was an order directly issued by Chen Qing. Yang Yuanqing didn't dare to disobey or ask more questions, and he didn't even come to Yuezhou to visit.

Two days later, Qin Kuangming sent someone to send news that they had discovered Zhang Tai's Yan Xiao fleet and were also keeping an eye on the other party.

Zhong Huan immediately led [-] cavalry to go south to Changsha County.

Tanzhou is located in the south of Yuezhou. It is a populous state. It was far less damaged than Yuezhou during the Yang Yao Rebellion. After Yang Yao was put down, Tanzhou recovered quickly. The prosperity of the Land of Fish and Rice has been rejuvenated.

Tanzhou was included among the five prefecture jurisdictions that Chen Qing proposed to the imperial court, so the officials in Tanzhou were all appointed by Jingzhao.

Zhonghuan made a lot of noise, and the cavalry rushed to Changsha City with great momentum. They had already put on the special black helmets of the inner guards, which is the symbol of the inner guards. As you all know, the soldier in the black helmet is here again.

Before the inner guard cavalry arrived, Ji Chunlai, the county magistrate, got the news. He hurriedly wrote a letter and sent someone to deliver the letter to the king's mansion outside the city.

Wang Yuanwai is a well-known benevolent person with a radius of tens of miles. He builds roads, builds bridges, and helps students. He provides food and rice every month to support dozens of lonely elderly people. His name is Wang Conglin, and his official status is a big landlord. His family has thousands of acres of land and several shops in the city.

But he also has another identity, a private salt dealer in Tanzhou. He controls all the private salt in Tanzhou. Tanzhou is his territory. He bought private salt at a price of [-] Wen per catty and sold it to retail shops. He earned [-] Wen per catty, and the retail shops sold it to ordinary people at [-] Wen per catty. A catty of official salt is much more cost-effective.

Salt lords, private salt dealers, and salt shops have all made money, and the common people seem to have benefited, but the government's tax revenue has disappeared.

Wang Conglin received Ji Chunlai's urgent letter and read it through. In autumn, when the salt was most urgent, the inner guard came again, and the person who came was not good.

Wang Conglin felt the need to go out and hide for a while. Of course, he would not go to the mountains to suffer. He went directly to Xiangtan County and hid under a different name. No one could find him except his three sons.
In addition, he had to notify Zhang Tai's fleet to retreat. Anyway, the goods were almost out, so go back quickly.

Wang Conglin immediately found his third son, Wang Han, and said to him, "Go and inform Zhang Laizi's cargo ship to retreat immediately, the inner guards are coming again."

Wang Conglin has three sons. The eldest son, Wang Xun, inherited his positive image and also dealt with officials. The second son, Wang Bin, was in charge of shipping to various shops. The third son, Wang Han, was quite sturdy as his name suggests. Yan Xiao Zhang Tai dealt with him, responsible for purchase and warehouse storage.

Wang Han nodded, "Boy, tell them to evacuate now!"

Wang Conglin said to his second son, Wang Bin, "Go arrange all the shops and sell official salt instead."

The second son, Wang Bin, also left in a hurry.

Wang Conglin took out another five hundred taels of silver and asked his eldest son Wang Xun to take it to deal with state and county officials. Once the silver was in place, his safety would also be in place.

After making some arrangements, Wang Conglin took two concubines to take refuge in Xiangtan County on a painting boat, but he never expected that this time there would be not only internal guards, but also more professional army scouts. Then, a fishing boat followed his boat from afar.