The two thin men were dragged from the ridge to a black-faced man on the path, and with a pop they were forced to hold their necks and kneel on the ground. I don't know how many cuts have been cut on the faces and bodies of the two of them by branches and rocks, and the pain on their bodies is hot, and they screamed a few times at first, and after being kicked a few times, they didn't dare to make a sound again.

"This thief is so cunning, if it weren't for my brother's quick hand, maybe he ran away!" A man was so angry that he kicked the thin man a few more times, and the parts fell on the lower yin and lower abdomen, and the pain made the thin man hold his stomach and shrink into shrimp.

"On which road are you, and why are you spying in the shadows? Dare to have the slightest concealment, peeling and cramping! The black-faced man asked in a deep voice. In the early hours of this morning, he suddenly found that someone was watching, and the black-faced man remained silent, but secretly ordered a few of his subordinates to hide on the side with the help of the forest boulders in the mountains, and quietly touched the back of the mountain to capture the two in one fell swoop.

The thin man and his companion were seized and forced to kneel on the ground, each with a sharp blade at their necks, and the pockets in their arms had already been turned over, and only some dry food and broken silver were found, and nothing else.

"Brother Tiger, there are two horses behind the mountain, they should be these two rabbit cubs, and the horses also have the brand of military horses on the road, and eighty percent of them are Tartar scouts! I think we should just slaughter it on the spot, we still have to hurry! A man walked up quickly from behind the mountain and said to the black-faced man.

The black-faced man is called Brother Tiger, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, and a beard all over his face. He sat on a large bluestone, looked the two captives up and down, and his eyebrows trembled slightly when he heard his subordinates mention that they were military horses.

Since he rode a military horse, he was clearly not the patrol department in the city, and he was guarding against the arrest of the government along the way, could it be that there was a leak this time, and the government also used the imperial court soldiers and horses this time?

The two thin men looked at each other, and the obedient voice made the oolong big this time! The companion fat man ate and asked, "I don't know where the heroes are developed?" I'm really not from the Yuan Court! ”

"If you are not from the government, why are there military horses? Your waist knife is also the imperial court system, and if you talk about it, do you deceive me ignorantly! Brother Tiger doesn't need to talk to him, it's important to get down to business, hand it over to us, and then chase after the team. A big man sneered, and waved his big hand like a fan, and a few people came up behind him to tie the thin man and his companion hand and foot, and strangled him hard, and the rope was tightly sunk into the muscles, and then he carried the collar of the two to a cliff next to him, and the big man held the sharp blade in his hand, and he was about to make a gesture.

Brother Tiger didn't say anything, just watched coldly.

was so shocked that the two thin men repeatedly told forgiveness: "A good man spares his life, a good man spares his life, we are definitely not the lackeys of the Yuan Court, but the subordinates of Linqu Liu Tianwang came to explore the way!" ”

The news of Liu Zhengfeng's victory in Linqu was already vibrating around Yidu Road at this time, and even rumors began to be heard about it as far away as Banyangfu Road, Jinan Road, and Jining Road. When Brother Hu heard this, he hurriedly drank his subordinates and asked sharply: "You are called Liu Tianwang's subordinates, do you have a certificate?" ”

The thin man was stunned for a moment, and replied, "No." ”

A person next to him sneered: "In this case, can't you say anything arbitrarily?" Without a certificate or a certificate, what is the use of staying and so on! "Still doing it is going to kill.

Xu is sharp blade in the man's hand, startled a pack horse that was passing by, the horse Xu Lu screamed, raised his front hooves, stood up, the pick on the horse's back fell to the ground with a bang, and there was a sack in the pick. The mouth of one of the bags was not completely tightened, and a puddle of white grains spilled out of the mouth of the bag!

The thin man has sharp eyes and sees clearly: it is white salt, it turns out that they are illegal salt dealers! No wonder they have so many weapons.

"And slow down, you heroes listen to the truth, the small one is really a scout under the throne of Liu Tian, originally came to explore the way in the mountains, but I met you last night, I thought it was a Tartar dress, intending to seek Linqu, so I followed all the way, but it was the water that washed the Dragon King Temple, it turned out that everyone was a family!" The thin man had a quick mouth and said a few words with a pout.

"Who's with you? Do you know what you are? A red-faced man next to him said in an urn.

"My brother has heard that there are salt goods on this road before, but it's not my brother's doing!" The thin man said with a smile on his face.

Since the Han, Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties, many poor and tyrannical people in this seaside have ganged up to sell illicit salt. Because salt and iron were the source of heavy profits in previous dynasties, the government has always cracked down on smugglers. However, the smuggling of salt often came in groups, even as many as thousands of people, and they carried more weapons when transporting them, and if they were surrounded by the inspection department or officers and soldiers, they even dared to openly kill them, and the officers and soldiers were destroyed when they were weak.

Therefore, after encountering a large number of smuggler salt dealers, after several times of bloody efforts, the officers and men also learned to be obedient, and often retreated and turned a blind eye.

There are hundreds of people in Brother Hu's group, and the number is not small, not only dozens of swords, but also seven or eight bows and crossbows. If they encounter the inspection departments in various places, they are naturally not afraid, but if a large number of officers and soldiers come, it is difficult to say.

Brother Hu and the others were surprised in their hearts, most of the paths they traveled were secret, not to mention the government, even outsiders mostly didn't know, where did this thin man come from?

The goods lit up, and Brother Hu was not annoyed, and ordered his subordinates to pack up quickly, and asked, "Where did the news come from?" If you don't understand, today is the day you are waiting for the next year! ”

The thin man nodded and said: "It's good to know that the little Ma Yan is the head of the scout brand under the Shuntian army, and when he was the leader of Yu Hai in the past, there was a leader in the scout team Zhao Shi, who used to walk through the private salt here, and listened to the chief's chatter, saying that he walked this road in partnership with others, and now when he sees your brothers, he knows that this is true." ”

"Zhao Shi? But his face is red and his beard is slight, he is about thirty years old, and his physique is nine feet? Brother Hu's eyes lit up and asked.

"Exactly! General Zhao is now the deputy general of the Jing'an Army, only under General Fei, and the martial arts of the two generals are praised in Linqu City. "The thin man's face is colorful, and his head is like a chicken pecking rice." In fact, we are all scouts under the Jing'an army, and this time we are also under the orders of the two generals Yu and Zhao. ”

"Brother Tiger knows this person?" The red-faced man asked in a whisper.

"Brother is begging for a life in Qingfeng Village, and things in the northeast may not be clear. This Zhao Shi had been in a gang with us for a few years, and later heard that there was an accident in his family, and he killed the officers and soldiers with some people and defected. I haven't seen each other since then, it turned out that I was from Yu Hai! Brother Hu said slowly, "The matter of Linqu is not small, if it were not for the strict closure of Linqu's road by the government, it would be very convenient for me to go north to Zi, Bin, and Di in Linqu, and now I have to go west to Jinan and Tai'an." ”

Hearing that the red-faced man next to him was from Qingfeng Village, the thin man's eyes couldn't help blinking, and he glanced at the fat man.

Brother Tiger asked the thin man some details, especially trivial matters such as Zhao Shi's body shape, voice, appearance, etc., and the thin man replied truthfully one by one, and Brother Tiger believed him.

"It turns out that the two heroes are not from the Inspection Division! I misunderstood just now, and I was offended, so I still ask my brother to forgive me. This is a load of white salt as a certain apology, please bring the two brothers back to Linqu, by the way, give a message to Brother Zhao Shi, and say that Rizhao Cui Hu asked him hello! ”

The Yuan Court Inspection Department not only arrested thieves, but also arrested smugglers. These smugglers are at odds with each other.

Cui Hu personally untied the two, and ordered the servant to lead a mule and horse with camels, and the thin two had to get out of their lives, and thanked each other one after another, and broke up because of their differences. However, because the red-faced man is a strongman in the mountains, this time it is Qingfeng Zhai who joins hands with Brother Hu to sell salt, passing through here, and Qingfeng Zhai sent him to guide and escort him all the way. Ma Yan and the others had the heart to get acquainted with him, and before parting, they flattered him and discussed the contact information.

This red-faced man is a small leader in the village, the lord went out to run, to find out the news, Linqu war naturally knows, see the thin man two lowered their figures, their words were hot, and they chatted happily, so they agreed to contact in the future.

Since ancient times, there have been many steep places, and there are often hungry people and fugitives gathering. There is Yimeng Mountain in the territory of Lunan Province, the mountains are undulating, because the local land is poor, the people are poor, and there are many people who go up the mountain to be strong. The government is overwhelmed.

Hearing that there were many strong people in the mountains, Zhao Shi specially told the scouts to try to get in touch with them if possible and get help for the army to go south, so Ma Yan and the two became friends.

Eight hundred miles of Mengshan Yishui, there are four plugs, boats and vehicles are not passable, foreign goods are not entered, and local goods are not out. Yu Zhilong and Zhao Shi also privately agreed that if the future is not harmonious, they will use this as a basis to learn from Liu Futong and wait for the opportunity.

As for these smuggled salt sellers, Yu Zhilong and Zhao Shi also hope to have the opportunity to accept them more, most of these people are strong, more resolute, and have a grudge against the government, which is an excellent source of recruitment.

It is a pity that Shandong Binhai is inferior to Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian and other places because of the climate, and the salt production is much less than that in the south. During the time of Renzong and Yingzong, it has maintained an annual output of about 380 million catties, which can meet the needs of more than 60% of the country's population. From time to time, there is a saying that "the state funds, the salt is the eighteenth, and the Huai salt is only half of the world".

At the beginning of the salt method, each quotation price was ten taels of silver. When he arrived at Meng Ke Khan, the Huaibei salt area added thirteen taels of silver for every citation (400 catties). Later, the Yuan court's expenditure was insufficient, so it had to rely on the rise in salt prices and increase the collection of salt taxes, thinking that it was the cost of the military state. In the second year of Wuzong's reign, each citation had soared to 50 taels of silver. In the first year of Renzong Yanyou, the price was raised by 50%. The retail price at which households buy salt is several times higher than the official wholesale price.

Therefore, "the price of official salt is high, and the private misfortune is the baby." "There is an endless stream of salt smugglers from the north and south, and they are gradually getting bigger, and they even go public during the day, without fear. If there are Chen Liangchens in Guangdong, there are tens of thousands of people.

Zhang Shicheng was able to quickly get into trouble and gather hundreds of thousands of people, which is also for this reason.

Ma Yan elaborated what he knew, Yu Zhilong and Zhao Shi glanced at each other, felt something for each other, and the two looked at each other and smiled.

Yu Zhilong said: "There was a plan before, and now there is an east wind, and this trip to the south is not in vain!" ”

Zhao Shi said with a smile: "If there are local aborigines to respond, not only can the Tartar camp be taken, but then the army will continue to move south, entering Yishui, Mengyin, Juxian, and even Rizhao, our army should be like a dragon into the East China Sea, and then unrestrained!" ”

"That's right!" Yu Zhilong applauded, and then rewarded Ma Yan and the two of them with ten taels of silver each, so that after the two of them rested, it was strictly forbidden to leak the news, and directly changed horses, and ordered Ma Yan to return to the mountains first, and then return to the mountains to get in touch with Qingfeng Village.

Zhao Shi continued: "This matter is very important, and people who are not cadres in the army cannot be trusted. The general is in charge of the whole army, and he must not move lightly, and if a person goes, he should be the forerunner! ”

Yu Zhilong thought about it again and again, the generals in the Jing'an army were not from Yizhou, only Zhao Shi had partnered with someone to sell smuggled salt and walked through the southern path, and knew some characters over there, and he might be able to meet some acquaintances on this trip, which would be of great benefit to this trip, so he finally agreed.

"Brother Shi is going, be careful! Looking at its reality and finding out its intentions, as long as it is willing to be a backup, all conditions can be negotiated! "With Zhao Shi personally going to investigate, Yu Zhilong is also very relieved." When I repair a book, Brother Shi will bring it with me, so that I can make a certificate. ”

The two of them retreated left and right, and then talked about the situation and countermeasures they might encounter.

As for the way out in the future, Yu Zhilong faintly has some thoughts, and now Liu Zhengfeng is becoming more and more wary of himself, this is not a long-term solution, and Wan Jinhai and other departments are too independent. In the early stage, in order to win the hearts of the people of the Shuntian Army and establish prestige, Yu Zhilong did a lot of things in military and political affairs, and now that the Jing'an Army has gradually become prosperous, Yu Zhilong can finally be like a finger, and there is no hindrance, it is time to consider the integration of the Shuntian Army.

Becoming a big thing is not informal, Yu Zhilong is not a rigid person, as long as he is guided by the situation, it will come naturally, and it doesn't matter if he does some private and dark things underneath. The big festival is not lost, the small section is not restricted, it moves with the times, and takes advantage of the momentum to generate wind, which is Yu Zhilong's current thinking.

Everyone wants to be a leader, but Liu Zhengfeng can only take the initiative to let Xian, and in the future, it would be good not to stumble on Yu Zhilong secretly. Thinking about Chen Sheng's actions at the end of Qin, this kind of grass king can't do anything at all! The way forward is on one's own. Since Liu Zhengfeng didn't want to go down, he had to think of a way.

Zhao Shi is close to himself, and Yu Zhilong really wants to hear his opinion, so then the two of them retreated and whispered for a while.