Late Tang

On the inaccessible mountain path, a group of people are marching with their mules and horses under the scorching sun.This is a group of sturdy and strong men, dressed in short brown clothes, straw sandals on their feet, and straw hats on their heads.Under the rolled up sleeves, there is a strong arm with thighs stretched out.

While this group of people was on their way, they looked left and right from time to time, their expressions full of vigilance.On the backs of mules and donkeys, besides straw sacks woven with straw, there are hidden knives and guns.

"Meng shopkeeper, let's take a rest, it's too hot today, wait under the tree to escape the noon sun before leaving." A burly man with a full face and beard said to the burly man in front of him. .That brawny man was more than seven feet tall, with a tiger back, a bear waist, ape arms, and a leopard head, but he was wearing a blue silk round-neck gown with a leather belt around his waist, and a shawl with stiff feet on his head, making him look like a scribe. , people always have a feeling of being crowned with a monkey at first sight.

Shopkeeper Meng looked up at the big fireball shining in the sky, reached out to wipe the sweat from his neck, and slapped his face like a big cattail fan.

"Then rest for half an hour. We have already made an appointment with Wang Ba to deliver the goods in Wudang Mountain tomorrow, so we must not lose our word."

Bastard, not tortoise bastard, and bastard is not a curse word.The bastard mentioned by shopkeeper Meng refers to a person surnamed Wang who is the eldest in his family.This person and shopkeeper Meng are also old acquaintances. Wang Ba's real name is Wang Jian, and he is from Xuzhou, Henan Zhongwu Army.When he was young, he was a rascal, slaughtering cattle and donkeys, and sometimes stealing chickens and dogs to follow donkeys. The villagers hated him, and because he was the eighth in his family, they called him "The Eighth Thief".Later, when he couldn't get along in the village, he simply took risks and joined the most profitable and dangerous salt smuggling business in the late Tang Dynasty.

Wang Jian, who is 27 years old, has left his hometown Xuzhou for many years, and now he is the head of a salt gang in Junzhou, the eastern province of Shannan.

Shopkeeper Meng is also a illicit salt dealer. He sold illicit salt with Wang Jian in the early years. Later, Wang Jian was caught by the government. Reward a thousand coins; the festival observation envoys use judges and state officials to record things and join the army to inspect private salt, and if they leak more than one stone, they will be fined for class materials; those who sell two pools of salt, the owner of the house in the square and the city, and the city's peddlers will all sit down; steal and scrape the soil One bucket is one liter more than salt.Anyone who sells salt without permission can be executed for a stone!

At that time, when Wang Jian was arrested, he was arrested along with his illegal salt. There were ten cartloads of illegal salt seized, and more than a dozen rock salts, which was already enough to be executed.It was Meng Kai who found his uncle who worked in the yamen, and finally spent money to buy a death row prisoner to die for him.After he came out, Wang Jian went far away, and finally arrived in Junzhou.

"Shopkeeper, Wang Jian's reputation is not very good. They call him the thief. Many brothers on the road said that Wang Jian is not particular. They were brothers who knew each other before, but they would suffer losses if they did business with him. The last time Chenzhou Shopkeeper Zhang and the others made a deal with Wang Ba, and they agreed on a Zumo transaction, but in the end all they received were short-mo. What I received was only more than 70 guan, and the money was not Kaiyuan Tongbao, it was all white money minted by his mother's Lingnan side. After calculation, it was only discounted to [-] guan Kaiyuan Tongbao. It's dead. At that time, I wanted to turn my face, but that bastard took advantage of the large number of people and wounded a few shopkeepers Zhang and the others. We should not do business with such a person!" The strong man next to him persuaded Dao, and told some bad things about bastards that he had heard.

Shopkeeper Meng sighed, a little helpless, he had heard of the bad reputation of Wang Ba.But right now, there is no way to find him to trade.The profit of smuggling salt is indeed very high, but now there has been a severe drought for several years, followed by locust plagues, and then the imperial court and local government are urging the payment of two taxes, so that many people have lost their homes and become refugees, fleeing famine.

This time, he took dozens of brothers to Jiexian County in Hedong, north of the Yellow River, and stole a hundred stones of salt from the Jiechi salt pond in Jiexian County.

Originally, they thought that now that the imperial court has raised the price of salt to 150 Wen per bucket, they would sell it at half the price of [-] Wen per bucket, and they would always make a fortune.But who would have thought that drought and locusts will follow one after another, thousands of miles of red land, no smoke from cooking, and hungry people in the wild, even private salt is not easy to sell!

They came all the way south, looking for opportunities to sell.Unexpectedly, the bad luck is extremely bad: many villages are deserted, and the government that does not collect the two taxes pays more attention to the income of salt profit, and further strengthens the crackdown. As a result, they are more likely to encounter salt collectors than salt buyers along the way. It's too high, this business really can't be done!

Up to now, he has not sold much of a hundred stones of salt, otherwise, he would not have thought of going to Junzhou to make a deal with Wang Ba.

In fact, he was unwilling to do business with the bastard in his heart, or the bastard sent someone to contact him on his own initiative, saying that he was willing to eat his batch of salt, but he had to discount the current price.One hundred stone salt, the bastard is only willing to stand out by eighty guan.Shopkeeper Meng thought about it several times, but there was no other good way. The salt left in his hands could neither be eaten nor worn, and it would be very risky, so he finally had to decide to sell it to bastards.

Although he temporarily stopped to rest, shopkeeper Meng was also a veteran of Jianghu, so he ordered two guys to go around to check and watch to prevent Yan Ding from appearing suddenly.

Now not only the imperial court has made the price of salt extremely high, but even the governors of feudal towns and prefectures in various places have also strengthened the collection of private affairs.Jiedu envoys specially appointed judges to be responsible for inspecting private salt, and prefectures and counties also sent state recorders to participate in military affairs and county recorders as officials in charge of private inspections.Touka Yanding has been set up in various places, and there are also Yanding inspections from time to time.Because these salt minions often fight against salt dealers, they are even stronger than the officers and soldiers of Namufan Town.

Once the salt dealer and the salt dices meet, it is an endless situation.

Shopkeeper Meng has 50 people around him. Although they are all outlaws licking their blood, he doesn't want to meet those even more desperate people.

Lead the mules and donkeys into the woods, and the men took off the salt bags on the pack, and some men led the donkeys and mules to drink water and feed fodder. Shopkeeper Meng and others also leaned on the tree to get water bottles to drink, and took out biscuits to fill their stomachs. .

"Even if we sell the salt to bastards this time, we will lose money." Meng Yang, the shopkeeper's assistant, muttered while chewing on pancakes. "Shopkeeper, last time I heard shopkeeper Zhang from Chenzhou say that the batch of salt produced in Dengzhou is not boiled like Huaiyan and other sea salt, but dried. And the salt is white and grainy. Big and dry. It is said that it is much better than Huai salt, even the solution salt and well salt are not comparable, and even comparable to the green salt in the northwest. And I heard that the salt production is huge, Dengzhou A bucket of salt only sells for fifty yuan, even if you buy it from a salt dealer in another place, it only costs eighty yuan a bucket."

Shopkeeper Meng smiled, "I also know about this. It is said that they dig salt fields to dry salt, but the specifics are not clear. But the salt production is indeed large. It is said that it is the Duke of Zhendong County who has been very popular recently, the Governor of Dengzhou Li Jing made it. I heard that they have sent more than 30 stone salt to the Emperor Chang'an. The great eunuch Tian Lingzi sold it at a high price of [-] yuan per bucket of salt, which was higher than the bargain price of green salt. I heard that the salt is really good, not inferior to green salt. Now all the dignitaries in the capital use Dengzhou salt."

Meng Yang's eyes lit up, "Shopkeeper, let's sell this batch of salt and go to Dengzhou to sell the salt in Dengzhou. This salt will definitely make more money than we go to Jiechi to steal the salt. Douyan is [-] yuan, A stone of salt is only [-] Wen, and Tian Lingzi can sell bucket salt for [-] Wen, so we can make a lot of money selling [-] Wen.”

"Dengzhou Salt Bucket Salt Bashiwen, that is a small bucket, and there are 21 small buckets per stone. Calculated, one stone salt costs at least half a penny. However, if you can really buy it, you can still make money. But you may not have heard However, as early as when Dengzhou had just produced salt, Mr. Shang, the head of the Puzhou Salt Gang, went to Dengzhou to find Li Jing to buy salt, but Li Jing directly tied him up and sent him to the government, and finally he was escorted to Puzhou Asked whether it was Wang Xianzhi who led someone to rob the execution ground and rescued him. This Li Jing doesn't seem to be an ordinary official, I'm afraid this business is not easy to do."

Just as he was talking, he saw a guy who had been on guard come back, followed by another person.

As soon as the man saw Shopkeeper Meng, he immediately said loudly: "Sure enough, it is Shopkeeper Meng, follow me quickly, I'm afraid it will be too late."

"Ah, who are you?" Shopkeeper Meng and Meng Yang were both vigilant, their hands already on the handle of the knife.

"Oh, I forgot to report my family name. Xialin Yan is the nephew of Mr. Huang Liu from Caozhou."

Hearing that it was Mr. Huang Liu's nephew, shopkeeper Meng immediately relaxed his vigilance.Like Wang Ba, Mr. Huang Liu is also a salt dealer on the road.Wang Ba is the boss of the salt gang in Junzhou, shopkeeper Meng is now the boss of the salt gang in Xuzhou, and Shang Junchang and Wang Xianzhi mentioned earlier are the leaders of the salt gang in Puzhou.And this Mr. Huang Liu is the boss of the Salt Gang in Caozhou.Because he was the sixth in his family and he was a scholar who had participated in the imperial examination, he was honored as Mr. Huang Liu in Taoism, referring to Huang Chao of Caozhou.

Although they are both the leaders of the Salt Gang, Wang Xianzhi and Mr. Huang Liu are the largest salt dealers in Shandong, and they have many brothers, far from being comparable to Shopkeeper Meng and Wang Ba...

"So it's Mr. Huang Liu's nephew. I don't know what's the purpose of coming here?"

Although the one who came was from his own family, shopkeeper Meng was still a little wary of Lin Yan. First, he had never met Lin Yan. Second, he had already heard on the way that Mr. Huang Liu and Wang Xianzhi had rebelled against Tang. Both captured Changyuan County and Yuanju County successively, and now they have captured Caozhou City.Although his smuggling of salt is also a business that loses his head, it is better than rebellion.Rebellion, that is a serious crime to exterminate the nine clans.

"Don't shopkeeper Meng know? Wang Ba has turned his back on the water and brought his gang to the government. Now he has become an officer in the Zhongwu Army, and he is arresting other brothers who sell salt as titles!"

"What's going on?" Shopkeeper Meng was shocked.

After listening to Lin Yan's explanation, he finally understood what happened.It turned out that Wang Ba had a conflict with a salt gang in Junzhou and Fangzhou. The two sides fought for territory. As a result, Wang Ba won a few games at first, but in the end, the people of Fangzhou invited helpers to attack Wang Ba.Wang Ba was defeated, and fled all the way back to Xuzhou with the remaining brothers under his command. In the end, he just gritted his teeth and joined Xuzhou's Zhongwu Army, wrapped in a yellow turban. .In order to be promoted, Dao Shangyan, who is currently leading people around to catch the pian, helps his brothers to make a nomination certificate.

"Shopkeeper Meng didn't know that the first thing Wang Ba did when he joined the Zhongwu Army was to arrest all the brothers on Xuzhou Road. Shopkeeper Meng's family members and clan members were also arrested by him. Fortunately, my uncle heard about it. , immediately sent me to Xuzhou, spent some money, and secretly rescued Mrs. Meng and several Meng Xiaogongs. Killed." Lin Yan said in a low voice.

Shopkeeper Meng was already furious after hearing this. He drew his knife and chopped off a branch as thick as an arm, and said in a hateful voice: "This damn thief! When the incident happened in Xuzhou, he was put in the government's death row. It was my distant family uncle who rescued him and secretly released him. It’s fine for him to change his career to eat official meals, but he used me, Meng Kai, as a stepping stone. It’s so dishonest! I swear against him , I will cut off his dog's head and avenge my people and brothers."

"That's right, I swear against the king of thieves!" Meng Kai's brothers also roared with red eyes and gritted teeth.They already knew that apart from Meng Kai's wife and children, the rest of the family members were probably gone.

"That's right," Lin Yan, Huang Chao's nephew, echoed, "It's not easy to sell salt now, so let's make a living elsewhere. The leader Wang Da of Puzhou and my uncle are fighting with the government!"

"This, I've heard others say, it's not impossible, but..."

"Did Shopkeeper Meng not hear the prophecy of the folk song?" Lin Yan suddenly looked mysterious and lowered his voice.

"what?"

"The golden toad fights for attention, but the whole world in Caozhou is turned!"

At this point in the matter, Xuzhou no longer has his territory.Moreover, now that the small capital is in Huang Chao's hands, Meng Kai knows that he has no other choice now.

"It's the other way around!" Meng Kai gritted his teeth and made a difficult decision.Since the government is forcing the people to rebel, they have to rebel.If he didn't join the grass army, how could he, a small salt seller, fight against the king of thieves who had already joined the army.

"Reverse! Reverse! Reverse!" Dozens of other salt dealers also shouted.They were originally a group of desperadoes, and now that their family members are gone, who in the world can stop these violent people.

(To be continued)