Zhang Shicheng because he has been selling hard to make a living since he was a child, so he has developed a strong physique, and he is very righteous, although his family often can't open the pot, but as long as his friends are in trouble, he will help and respond to requests, so he has a very high prestige in the local area.

Due to the meager income from transporting salt to the government, Zhang Shicheng and a few bold fellow villagers started a business selling illicit salt, and while transporting salt to the government, they also carried a part of the smuggled salt with them and sold it to local wealthy households to subsidize their families.

But after a long time, these rich people in Baikochang also knew that the salt they sold was not coming from the right way, so there were always people who threatened to report the government, not only did not pay for the salt after getting the salt, but also scolded them.

Because of their low status and the illegal act of selling illicit salt, they can only swallow their anger and only select some wealthy people with good credit to sell.

Over time, Zhang Shicheng and others became aware of their livelihood by selling illicit salt, a local salt policeman named Qiu Yi, who was responsible for supervising the work of salt people and arresting smuggled salt dealers.

Qiu Yi is a well-known villain in the local area, he used his power, not only often deducted the wages of the salt people in Baijuchang, but also demanded that the salt people pay a certain amount of wages every month to pay tribute to him, otherwise they would find a reason to expel him from the salt field, and those who dared to stand up against him were severely beaten, and the salt people, including Zhang Shicheng, were afraid of his obscenity, so they could only swallow their anger and pay tribute to him.

But Qiu Yi was still not satisfied, he heard that Zhang Shicheng was praised by everyone, so he became jealous, and ordered Zhang Shicheng to be his subordinate to help him collect tribute.

Zhang Shicheng rejected Qiu Yi as a matter of course, but it also attracted Qiu Yi's resentment, and he sent people to follow him every day, no longer giving him the opportunity to sell illicit salt, and did not allow him to rest while working, as long as he put down the salt bag, he would beat or scold him.

As the so-called "official coercion and civil rebellion", Zhang Shicheng really couldn't bear it, so he ordered his three younger brothers to secretly contact his friend Li Bosheng and others to actively prepare for the uprising.

It was not until the first month of the thirteenth year of Zhizheng that the eighteen salt people led by Zhang Shicheng were finally ready, and these eighteen people chose the location of the gathering in the grass weir field near Baiju Field.

That night, these eighteen people made a bloody alliance, made a vow to share weal and woe, and then picked up the flat pole used to pick up salt, quietly entered Qiu Yi's house in the bitter cold wind, beat this wicked man who harmed the villagers to death with a stick, and then set fire to his house.

When the salt people who lived near the salt field saw Qiu Yi being killed, they all breathed a bad breath in their hearts, and at this time, Zhang Shicheng ascended to the top and echoed, and more than 100 people volunteered to join their team on the spot.

Zhang Shicheng took these salt farmers to rush into the homes of various local rich families overnight, killed the rich ones who bullied them on weekdays, and then opened the warehouse, took out the grain and money and distributed them to the local poor people.

At this time, the local garrison Yuan soldiers and salt police also arrived, and they were preparing to arrest Zhang Shicheng and others and suppress the rioting people, but they didn't expect these people to elect Zhang Shicheng as the leader of everyone on the spot, and they all went home and took out farm tools to help Zhang Shicheng fight against the Yuan soldiers.

These soldiers and salt police are used to bullying the soft and afraid of the weekdays, where can they beat these sturdy salt people, and within half an hour, they were wiped out by Zhang Shicheng and others.

The news of Zhang Shicheng's uprising soon spread, and the people of Linxian County and Linxiang also rushed to help when they heard the news.

The defenders of Taizhou were defenseless, and the dignitaries in the county government were beheaded while they were still asleep, and when the soldiers reacted, Zhang Shicheng had already led people to control the county government and the two city gates.

Coincidentally, there was a person who had received Zhang Shicheng's great favor in the early years was on an errand in the Taizhou army, and this person heard that it was his own benevolence that rebelled, so he immediately persuaded the people around him to fall to Zhang Shicheng's side.

These low-level Yuan soldiers are not less angry on weekdays, rather than die in the hands of the rebel army, it is better to throw away their armor and join in, so they fought and many Yuan soldiers fell to Zhang Shicheng's side, but after a long time, the Yuan soldiers were defeated by Zhang Shicheng and others, and Taizhou City was easily occupied by Zhang Shicheng.

The news of the turmoil in Taizhou soon spread, and Li Qi, the prefect of Gaoyou Mansion, was greatly shocked when he heard about it, and after learning what happened, he thought that Zhang Shicheng and his gang also had a reason for the incident, so he sent people to recruit An.

Zhang Shicheng and others captured Taizhou was also a moment of brain fever, and they were afraid in their hearts, and when they saw such a good thing, they immediately nodded and agreed, accepted Li Qi's reward, and in order to prove their loyalty to Li Qi, they also took the initiative to ask for orders to help Yuan Bing suppress the Red Turban Army.

When Wen Xuan and others arrived near Taizhou, Zhang Shicheng and others had already been recruited by Li Qi, Mu Chong thought that he was running for nothing, and scolded this Zhang Shicheng for being a soft bone.

Wen Xuan thought about it and thought that there was still a turning point in this matter, so he secretly sent Shen Fu to bring people to contact him and bribe the people around Zhang Shicheng to persuade Zhang Shicheng to formally rebel, and promised to provide him with military food and weapons.

Because of Wen Xuan's strategy, most of the people around Zhang Shicheng were unwilling to continue to join the Yuan Court, and Zhang Shicheng himself was always hesitant and did not make up his mind.

In case Zhang Shicheng and others changed their minds and caused a disaster, Zhao Lian, the governor of the province, moved to Taizhou and ordered Zhang Shicheng to lead people to build warships to conquer Hao, Si and other places.

Because Zhao Lian's attitude was very bad, Zhang Shicheng's subordinates were even more reluctant to be loyal to the Yuan court, and Zhang Shicheng himself finally saw the faces of the Yuan court officials and made up his mind to revolt and rebel.

Zhang Shicheng led people to rush into the county government at night to kill Zhao Lian, reoccupy Taizhou, and then personally led people to capture Xinghua and stationed his men near Desheng Lake.

The news of Zhang Shicheng's rebellion spread quickly, coupled with Wen Xuan and Shen Fu behind the scenes, nearly 10,000 people came to him within a few days, and Zhang Shicheng also had the confidence to oppose the Yuan court.

Seeing that Zhang Shicheng was almost in the weather, Shen Fu personally visited him, claiming that he would do his best to support him in his trouble, and offered a thousand taels of silver on the spot.

Although Zhang Shicheng and others did not know Shen Fu, but Shen Wansan's name had been heard for a long time, with the help of this cornucopia, Zhang Shicheng immediately sent people to hoard food, build weapons, and prepare to attack Gaoyou.

Li Qi, the prefect of Gaoyou, blamed Zhao Lian for acting recklessly, but he did not have the ability to lead the troops, so he made up his mind and prepared to come in person to persuade Zhang Shicheng to defect to the imperial court.