The Cao Gang was one of the three major underworld organizations in the Ming and Qing dynasties, the other two being the Salt Gang and the Hongmen. However, the Salt Gang was established very early, dating back to the salt and iron monopoly period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Compared with the other two, Hongmen is a small font, and this period has not yet been established.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Cao Gang did not have the prestige of later generations, but was composed of a group of boatmen who begged for a living on the Grand Canal, in order to avoid being bullied by local tyrants.

The Cao Gang originated from the folk religion of Luojiao in the Ming Dynasty, which was originally distributed in Beizhi, Shandong and other places, and later developed along the canal to Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and other regions. His disciples mainly engaged in transporting grain in the ports along the canal, also known as the grain boat gang or grain gang. Among them, it is divided into two factions, one is the main gang, which is composed of people from Wenzhou and Taizhou in eastern Zhejiang; One is the guest gang, which is composed of people from northern Anhui and Jiangbei. There are gang rules and ceremonies in the gang, there are seniority differences, and apprentices are accepted according to generations.

The one who wants to invite Ma Cheng to dinner today is the guest gang, a group of businessmen composed of Jiangbei people. Although the Cao Gang is a loose guild organization, there are also many factions in the gang, and the main gang has a lot of money and has a great say in the affairs of the gang.

The guest gang mainly arose in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, and these Jiangbei people have a shallow foundation and have always been bullied by the main gang, and they can't get any benefits. This time, I heard that Ma Cheng was going to Hangzhou with an army of 110,000 people, and it happened that Ma Shiying had been the governor of Fengyang for several years, and he was also half of Fengyang.

Ma Cheng's heart moved when he heard Zhang Guozhu say it, now Ma Cheng has no way to deal with the local forces in Nanzhili, and the arrival of these Jiangbei people is just an opportunity.

Nanzhili is also the Taihu Lake Basin, which has been the economic center of South China since the Tang Dynasty*, Han Yu said: "Give the world, and Jiangnan is nineteen." From today's point of view, the east and west of Zhejiang are 19 in the south of the Yangtze River, and the five prefectures of Su, Song, Chang, Jia and Hu are also in 2 Zhejiang and 19 in the south.

When Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, because the Susong Second Mansion in the Taihu Lake Basin supported Zhang Shicheng to resist Zhu Yuanzhang, the taxes of the Susong Second Mansion were very heavy, and the taxes of these two governments accounted for half of the world's taxes in the early Ming Dynasty. In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, due to the development of Huguangjiangxi and other places, the proportion of taxes in Susong and other places declined, but it also accounted for 30% of the world's taxes.

There is money in the Taihu Lake Basin, and it has also created a very prosperous literary style in the Taihu Lake Basin, there are more than 20,000 Jinshi in the Ming Dynasty, and the Taihu Lake Basin accounts for 20%, and the base camp of the Donglin Party in the late Ming Dynasty is Susong Erfu.

The economic base determines the superstructure, and the superstructure controls the economic base, so the economy of the Taihu Lake basin is in the hands of large and small scholar families. If Ma Cheng wants to dominate the world, he must master the money and grain in the Taihu Lake Basin, and to master the money and grain, he must offend these large and small scholar families. These families are in the court to respond to the official policy and have the right to speak in the township, but it is not something that Ma Cheng can just say and clean up, so how to reasonably and legally divide and disintegrate these scholar groups has become the top priority of Ma Chengnan's Zhili strategy.

Now that Cao has sent these unpowerful Jiangbei people to the door, Ma Cheng naturally can't let it go easily.

"Since the township party has invited it, the governor is also very gracious, so let's go and see what these township parties want to say!"

Zhang Guozhu was overjoyed when he heard Ma Cheng's promise, and hurriedly went out to prepare. Ma Cheng, who can go to eat a good meal, will not eat the military food in the bowl, let the soldiers clean up the dishes and chopsticks, then change into ordinary clothes, and bring 200 personal soldiers to follow Zhang Guozhu out of the camp together.

The Ming Dynasty was different from later generations, rich merchants did not live in the city, there was no modern infrastructure, and the big cities of tens of thousands of people were really not suitable for people to live, so some large landlords and scholars lived in towns not far from the city.

The businessmen who invited Ma Cheng to dinner today live in Donghu Village on the south bank of the canal, where only more than 100 families live, nearly ten miles away from Zhenjiang Fucheng, and it is really a good place to live in seclusion.

In February, spring has entered in Nanzhili, and the snow on the road has melted away, but the road is muddy and inaccessible. Ma Cheng rode a horse with 200 cavalry to Donghu Village, and the Hakka merchants who had already received the news greeted Ma Cheng, a big warlord, at the entrance of the village.

Led by an old man in his sixties, these gang knelt on the side of the road and shouted, "The grass people greet the general!" ”

Ma Cheng's official position is the marquis of Zhenguo and the governor of Jiangnan, but Ma Cheng likes outsiders to call him a general, and now listening to these guys say this, Ma Cheng smiled and said: "This old man, get up!" After speaking, Ma Cheng got off the horse and helped the old guy up, so he looked at it.

This old man is of medium height, kind and kind-eyed, and wears an ordinary out-of-the-box dress. Although this old man is dressed inconspicuously, Ma Cheng knows that none of these guys are good things. As the saying goes, the car and boat shop should be killed if they are innocent. These guys are doing something similar to Zhang Heng, the boat fire in the Water Margin, and they go to the river and ask if you want to eat pandao noodles or wonton noodles!

After the old guy at the head got up, he bowed down and said: "The second little brother, Jin Chun, is really fortunate to be able to invite the general and Zhang Junmen to come to the cold house!" ”

Zhang Guozhu is a Chinese, and at this time he stood up and said: "Jin Chun, my family is busy with affairs, and I can take time out of my busy schedule to come to your house this time, but your Jinjia ancestral tomb is smoking!" ”

"Yes, yes, what Zhang Junmen said is very right, please invite the general and Zhang Junmen into the cold house!" After Jin Chun finished speaking, he led the way in front and led Ma Cheng into the village.

Donghu Village was not very big, but Jin Chun's home accounted for one-third. Although the Jin Mansion in front of Ma Cheng does not have the grandeur of the Zhenguo Mansion, it has white walls and blue tiles, and it has the charm of a water town in the south of the Yangtze River.

When you enter from the main entrance, you will be greeted by a shadow wall, and then you will see the main house. Jin Chun let Ma Cheng into the main room, and then served tea.

Ma Cheng sat down and took a sip of tea, it was not bad, it was Ma Cheng's favorite Biluochun, it seemed that Jin Chun had spent a lot of effort to welcome himself.

"General, tired all the way, sit down and drink some tea and some pastries first, and then invite the general to the table later!"

Dantu Town is only less than three miles away from Donghu Village, so tired that he is not very tired, but Ma Cheng is a little hungry, these pastries are very good, Ma Cheng picked a few appetizing and ate a few pieces.

"Jin Chun, I don't listen to your accent like a local, why did you live in Nanzhili?"

The grain gang is a very regional organization, and there are local organizations in various places, and they dare not cross the border to grab business without any major matters.

Jin Chun heard Ma Cheng say this and smiled bitterly: "Back to the general, Xiao Lao'er was originally from Linqing, Shandong, and has been engaged in shipping on the Grand Canal for three generations!" ”

Speaking of this, Jin Chun smiled bitterly and continued: "Originally, we, the Jiangbei people, Shandong people, and the peers of Nanzhili did not violate the river water, but in the past ten years, the northern army has been in chaos, and many brothers have no way to live and can only go to Nanzhili to ask for a living. After Jin Chun finished speaking, he knelt in front of Ma Cheng and wept bitterly.

Jin Chun cried pitifully, but Ma Cheng is now a person who has experienced great storms, so naturally he can't be deceived by his words, Ma Cheng took a sip of tea and asked: "No, this governor heard that you were still transporting grain to the Tartars just last year, how can you have no way to live?" ”

After Duoduo occupied Zhenjiang that year, he immediately restarted the transportation according to Dorgon's orders. The backstage of Nan Zhili's main gang is the Donglin Party, and the Donglin Party supports King Lu on the throne at this time, plus Duoduo implemented the head-shaving order in Jiangnan, how can these main gangs help Duoduo transport grain? So Dodor turned his mind to these southbound guests.

And Jin Chun had no loyalty to the Ming Dynasty, and the difficult life coupled with the disagreement with the main gang made Jin Chun and them take refuge in the Manchu Qing without the slightest hesitation.

If Jin Chun and them hitchhiked in the later generations, after the Manchu Qing Dynasty unified China, they handed over the transportation of the whole of China to the Kebang to take care of. But there was a Ma Cheng in this plane, so Jin Chun and them were unlucky.

After the 400,000 Qing troops led by Duoduo were wiped out, Xie Qikun, the prefect of Zhenjiang, ruthlessly cleaned up these surrender factions, and the first to bear the brunt was this gang of outsiders who had milk and mothers. In less than half a year, half of the elders of the Kegang were killed, and the remaining Jin Chun would have been killed half a year ago if he hadn't hugged Zhang Guozhu's thigh.

Although Zhang Guozhu's thighs are very thick, Zhang Guozhu is a military general, and the power in his hands is not small, but with the two systems of military attache and civil official, Zhang Guozhu can't control the Zhenjiang prefect at all. Jin Chun is also worried about when Zhang Guozhu will be transferred, what if he leaves, what if Xie Qikun is dealing with him? At this time, Ma Cheng came, and after Jin Chun got the news, he decided to replace Zhang Thigh with Ma Cheng's golden thigh after careful consideration, after all, Ma Cheng's Laozi is Ma Shiying, and he is also the Marquis of Zhenguo, which should be able to deter that Xie Qikun.

It is understandable for Jin Chun to think so, it is feasible to change a thigh in order to save his life, but Jin Chun forgot, these officials are so good-looking? Zhang Guozhu just needs some of their money, but Ma Cheng wants them to work for themselves.

Jin Chun heard Ma Cheng mention the matter of transporting grain to the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and quickly knelt down and kowtowed: "General, this is no way, the brothers want to eat, the main gang is still bullying us, and the little old man is forced to do this!" ”

Ma Cheng heard Jin Chun say this and snorted: "Hmph! Why are you justified in being traitors? You can skip eating, but how can you not uphold the righteousness of the country? According to your crimes, Lao Tzu can directly lead troops to destroy you, don't think that you can sit back and relax if you have a few hundred brothers, Lao Tzu's two hundred personal soldiers can completely slaughter your village! ”

Ma Cheng is not bad at all, the combat effectiveness of his personal soldiers is not inferior to that of the Manchu Qing Dynasty's Bayala personal soldiers, and it is not difficult to kill this village of hundreds of people. Gu Yong, the head of the pro-soldier behind Ma Cheng, heard Ma Cheng say this, and also took out his waist knife and stared at Jin Chun in the room.

Jin Chun didn't expect Ma Cheng to say this, it was really a cool breath from the top of his head to his ass, he originally invited Ma Cheng to eat today, but he didn't expect the meal to be finished, and he also led the wolf into the room, attracting Ma Cheng to be such a killing god.