Brocade clothing as the country

Chapter 347

After Wang Tong pointed out the location on the map, the generals all leaned over to look at it. The map was really rough. After Wang Tong found the original in the Qianhu government office, it was already covered with dust and was eaten by moths. presentable.

What I show to the generals now is copied by an artist, and the location is not accurate. Even Wang Tong, who doesn't know much about maps, knows that it is wrong. He ran in Hebei and Shandong in that life, and the scales and the like needless to say.

The generals leaned over to look. Except for those from the Tan family, everyone else's eyes were a little ignorant. Judging from the simple points on the map, it was really embarrassing.

Wang Tong sighed in his heart. He used to think that military affairs were nothing more than leading troops to fight. After experiencing it himself, he realized that there are so many things to worry about.

"I will inform you three days before the dispatch, and now we are returning to the camp to arrange for the New Year. You can not do exercises tomorrow and the morning of the next day, and you will start combat readiness in the afternoon of the next day."

Everyone agreed abruptly, Wang Tong put down the bamboo pole and said with a smile:

"The military supply side buys pigs and sheep, and has prepared a lot of fish and shrimp. Tonight, everyone will lead the children below to have a fat year. It's a year of tension. It's good to relax and relax, let's go!"

The following generals bowed together and said goodbye. Except for the older generals of the Tan family on Wang Tong's side, the other officers and soldiers are not too old. This is their first Spring Festival in the barracks. Everyone There is no feeling of nostalgia and homesickness, but it feels very fresh.

When these people dispersed, Wang Tong said to Cai Nan:

"I have to trouble Cai Jianjun to run once. The food for each battalion must be good tonight and tomorrow. It's a reward. Every battalion has to check once to avoid any mistakes.

Logically speaking, this is also the duty of the supervisor, Cai Nan nodded quickly and went out, Wang Tong said to Zhang Shiqiang next to him:
"Brother Zhang went to Chuantouxiang once, and he will take a look with that Pan Ming. Of course, there is no reward for criminals, but don't make things that will not last a year. Such criminals need to be rescued. After all, we will still have these people in the future. To use."

Zhang Shiqiang also took orders, there were only a few people left in the room, Wang Tong looked at Yang Sichen beside him, Yang Sichen nodded, opened the notebook in his hand, and reported:
"The New Year's money and rice for Jinyiwei Baihuhang Bridge and those former Tianjin Jinyi guards have been distributed, and the money and rice for the Haihe patrol Tangshan and the sailors and boatmen on the five ships have been distributed. The craftsman Qiao Da and the three masters and The rewards for the craftsmen and apprentices below have also been distributed, and the money and rice for this year's fire organ workshop have also been distributed, and the craftsmen have also received the money and food for the New Year, and they are all grateful. Your lord is really merciful."

After the report from the beginning to the end, Yang Sichen wanted to flatter at the end, Wang Tong smiled, the craftsmen of Daming are like half-slaves, the wages for working for the government are severely deducted, and they can't even eat enough, let alone mention anything Work enthusiasm, since Wang Tong took charge of this workshop, this deduction has been strictly prohibited. During the Chinese New Year, he also paid special attention to paying an extra month's salary. For those craftsmen who are used to hardship, this team is really compassionate. .

After talking one by one, Tan Jiang next to him added with a smile:

"The head of the official square has arrived. His family, Granny Ma, is entertaining him. The New Year's gift from the masters of the capital arrived yesterday. If the master wants to see it, he will move here later."

Wang Tong nodded, laughed at himself and said:
"Don't be free on New Year's Eve, Mr. Yang, please go and entertain the next chief. I still have some military affairs here."

Yang Sichen bowed and said goodbye, and when he went out, the door was closed, and only Wang Tong, Ma Sanbiao and Tan Jiang were left in the room.

"Sanbiao, in the future, you will take Chihei and the others from Tianjinwei to that Zhuangzi, and ride a horse once to know the way. This operation will not start until you come back."

Ma Sanbiao hurriedly got up to take orders, Wang Tong said with a wry smile:
"After doing the math, I only know the road from the capital to the Tianjin Acropolis, and the other places are completely blind. I really don't feel at ease leading the soldiers on the road like this."

"The master is also thinking a bit left-handed. The army knows the way every time it marches. It's just a matter of finding a guide who is familiar with the terrain."

Hearing Tan Jiang's words, Wang Tong shook his head and said in a deep voice:

"Now it's more difficult than simple. Fighting that Zhuangzi is a small matter, but training soldiers is a big matter. Today you can also see that the generals below are a little ignorant. They always work like this behind closed doors, and they can't train anything."

Since he said that, Tan Jiang fell silent, but Ma Sanbiao who was beside him said carelessly:
"My lord, why should you be so careful? You're just a Zhuangzi. If our soldiers and horses from thousands of households drove over, it would be as simple as crushing an ant to death."

"The lion and the rabbit strive for nothing. Marching and fighting is a matter of using swords and soldiers to kill people. Of course, you must be careful, and there are a bunch of salt lords and gangsters who smuggle salt in the village. This time, they are not dealing with those Chuantouxiang."

"Salt owl?"

Tan Jiang couldn't help being surprised. This was the first time Wang Tong told them who he was going to deal with this time. He originally thought that Zhuangzi was just a den of bandits.

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Salt tax is one of the most important fiscal revenues of Ming Dynasty. Trafficking in smuggled salt and evading salt tax are also the most serious crimes punished, often with a small amount of beheading.

There are people who make a lot of money even if they kill their heads. There are people who traffic in illicit salt in every province.

However, the biggest illegal salt traffickers are those officially recognized salt merchants. They have salt in their hands, but in addition to the official salt, they have to sell ten or more illicit salts for a load of salt. A considerable part of private salt is bought in rural villages and towns.

To transport these private salts to various villages and towns, it is necessary to ensure sales, to ensure that they will not be violated by those local tyrants, and to ensure that the transportation along the way will not be robbed by bandits in the mountains, and that they will not be robbed by government inspections and private armed forces of other salt merchants. If you catch it, you must be on guard against the above. The big salt lords have tens of hundreds of outlaws in their hands, and because of the huge profits in private salt trafficking, their equipment is also excellent.

The so-called bandits and thieves, with a steel knife and a spear in their hands, are considered the main force in the team. The others are holding farm tools and sticks, and they are completely mobs.

The team under Yan Xiao was different, and if there was money, there was a way. Naturally, they could get excellent weapons, swords and spears, standard longbows, and it was common for the leaders to wear armor, and there was no shortage of horses.

In addition, the scale of this smuggling of salt is large, and the backbone of the subordinates earn a lot of money. There are often soldiers who join in, and gangsters and desperadoes are often recruited, and they are even more powerful.

In a sense, during the Taiping season, the strongest illegal armed forces in the region are these salt lords.

This kind of salt lord is often a local tyrant, who is familiar with the local area, and the local government helps him. Trafficking in private salt makes him powerful and extremely difficult to deal with.

************
General Tan was just surprised. To him, the Yan Xiao is the same thing. Fighting in battle, with thousands of troops, Tartars outside the Great Wall, and pirates in the southeast. Those are not a hundred times more vicious than this Yan Xiao. , and after they dispersed, they went straight to Zhang Chunde's house.

After everyone left, Wang Tong went back to his study, opened a locked cabinet on the bookcase, took out two documents from it, and read them carefully.

The reason why the salt owl was chosen this time was not random. Before and after the destruction of Chuantouxiang, more than 100 vacant tank boats appeared on the canal wharf. After a simple inspection, it was found that these boats had been loaded with salt.

Wang Tong has always had a judgment, that is, Tianjin Wei's upper and lower sides are just the front desk of a certain force, and the maritime trade and private salt trafficking are all for the purpose of making money.

For whom to collect money and how to collect money, Wang Tong can't make a clear judgment. It's one thing to keep an eye on it due to insufficient manpower. In addition, after Wang Tong's outstanding troops occupied both sides of the Haihe River, he was already scaring the snake. I don't know how many related people disappeared from Tianjin Acropolis for a while, and although Panda and Wandao didn't escape, many people who were on business were missing.

There is no personal evidence, only physical evidence, and nothing specific can be found out at all. However, there is one thing that Wang Tong has learned in the process of continuous learning.

Illegal salt trafficking does not mean that the salt bags are sold on the canal along the canal. The common people buy half a catty, and the big family buys ten catties and hundreds of catties. Is it worthwhile to let the big ship dock for loading and unloading once?

This kind of sales requires the big salt lords along the way to buy in large quantities, and then they will distribute and retail them. As long as you find these big salt lords who bought in large quantities, you may be able to find further clues or news.

It is easy to make this judgment, but how to find these big salt lords is a difficult problem. Wang Tong currently has a security department in the capital and his own team in Tianjin Wei. It will be in places like Beijing and Tianjin.

If you want to check, the intelligence systems of Dongchang and Jinyiwei are useless at all, and the Department of Public Security is useless. Could it be impossible to send people out of the city to inquire everywhere?

However, Wang Tong also has a way. Through Yang Sichen, he wrote a letter to Shen Shixing, a cabinet scholar. Shen Shixing has many useful people in the Ministry of Punishment, and the Ministry of Punishment has close ties with the local prefectures and counties. , this matter is much simpler.

In the middle of the twelfth lunar month, a head catcher from Qing County came to Tianjin Wei, and took the initiative to ask Wang Tong to see Wang Tong at the Jinyiwei Thousand Households Office, and told him the situation of that Zhuangzi——Bao Danwen, a local good man, secretly called "Fat Wolf" Big salt lords, the scope of trafficking includes Dahao in Beizhili and several prefectures in Shandong.

The county magistrate of Qing County is about to resign, and he is bolder in doing things. He wrote a letter and sent it directly to Hejian Mansion, saying that there is a serious disaster in the local area, and please go to the peak to send troops to suppress it. Then, under the intentional or unconscious promotion of several aspects, he became a soldier. The garrison cannot be easily transferred, and the matter is urgent. Please send Wang Tong, a thousand households stationed in Jinyiwei, Tianjin, to handle it...

(End of this chapter)