After a few days of rest for the New Year, the construction of the salt pond in Hedong began. Qin Qiong contacted Shi Jin and Wang Bodang to transport the salt stone again.

Due to the mutual help of Shi Jin and Wang Bodang, the first two times of carrying salt and stone were very smooth.

If everything goes well, it only takes more than a month, and then transports three salt stones, which can meet the needs of Taiyuan.

After the new year, the spring flowers are blooming, and they are full of vitality.

However, nothing is smooth sailing. Just like the snow-covered road, when the ice melts and the snow melts, it reveals not only the smooth road, but also the potholes and gravel hidden by the ice and snow......

……

There are a mix of various forces in Hedong County. It's not that there are no county guards, and there are not only them, but there are several.

The imperial court has appointed, Yuan Shao, and Yuan Shu have also been appointed, but no one dares to come to the post. Someone may have tried to come to work, but it is estimated that they will disappear halfway through.

Anyway, there is no local governor in the current government office of Anyi, the current Hedong County Governor. But there are also people who work here, handle simple matters, and sometimes deal with neighborhood disputes.

It's just that the people who work here are not local officials appointed by the imperial court and princes, but people sent by Chao Gai, one of the leaders of Wuzhai.

According to the agreement of the leaders of Wuzhai, the area of Anyi belongs to Chaogai.

And Chao Gai himself does not live in Anyi City, but in the Gufeng Mountain in the west of the city.

In the lonely peak mountain, there is a ridge called Tianwang Ridge.

Chao Gai, the people of the rivers and lakes are called Chao Tianwang, and the name matches the name of the mountain. People in the rivers and lakes are more or less superstitious, there have been Fang Shi to Chao Gai to see the fate, said that he is a golden life, criticized: leaning on the mountain and looking at the sea, sitting on gold and silver; Real gold avoids red fire, and beasts avoid dragons.

Tianwangling is a mountain, belonging to the earth, and the earth is golden. The salt pond is the sea, which belongs to the water, and the gold gives birth to water.

Under the Tianwang Ridge, the white saline-alkali land is in response to the meaning of "stepping on silver".

Chao Gai is in a majestic figure. It was uncomfortable to sit on his knees, and he was used to sitting on the wide and comfortable chair made of hundreds of years old tree roots, with a whole piece of money leopard skin, which should also mean "sitting on gold".

Sitting on the Tianwang Ridge. Facing the sea of wealth, the past two years have been really smooth. Got along with the surrounding forces in harmony, and his brothers bought and sold smoothly, and the life of King Chao was comfortable and comfortable.

It's just that. It is also said in the batch that "real gold avoids red fire", and fire overcomes gold. Chao Gai is extremely taboo about fire, even if it is a cold winter, he would rather wear a thick coat than light a fire in the house to keep warm.

……

At this time, Chao Gai was wearing an otter fur hat on his head, a fox fur coat on his body, and the ring finger and little finger of his left hand were gently combing his thick beard, his face was calm, listening to the complaints of the person opposite.

The person opposite. The body is also very burly, but compared with Chao Gai, it is a little thin. The knife sharpens the axe and cuts a face, and the cheeks are sunk like scars. At a glance, it gives people a sense of decisiveness and fierceness.

The man's skull was even more peculiar, with the back of the head visibly rising upwards and his hair difficult to hide, as if he was wearing an official hat.

This person is the largest salt lord under Chao Gai, Hou Junji, who is known as "Shangshu Hou" in the rivers and lakes.

After listening to Hou Junji's complaints. Chao Gai nodded and said, "Old Hou, what you said, Da Lang and Sect Leader Lin have told me. They're making a big deal. But. It is salt stone that is sold, not salt. Moreover, Da Lang said that this transaction was to help a friend. ”

"Heavenly King, I know they are helping Qin Shubao. Although I have no friendship with Qin Shubao. But if he looks for my old marquis, I will also help. Help a friend, I'm okay with that. Selling salt stones, don't delay my shipment, I have no opinion. However, Taiyuan County is the way I shipped, and they sold salt and stone to Taiyuan, which is too unrighteous, right? Under the same banner of the Heavenly King, they are too unruly, right? ”

"Old Hou, don't worry. Da Lang told me that they did not take Taiyuan Road, but because of the inconvenience of salt and stone trafficking, they boiled it out into salt in Taiyuan and then sold it to Yanmen, where Da Lang's road was. ”

Hou Junji sneered and shook his head. "King of Heaven, do you believe what they say? Seek the near and far, and don't sell Taiyuan Yanmen? ”

Chao Gai stood up, patted Hou Junji's arm, and said with a smile: "Old Hou, Da Lang and I promised that we would never break the rules. Moreover, Da Lang also said that in order to help Qin Shubao, this transaction had to go. Da Lang also promised that he would not take a penny from the profits of this transaction and hand them over to the village. I'll give you a bottom here, and the benefits of this trip will all be yours. Brothers in our village, speaking is credibility, don't you still believe it? ”

"Don't! The words of the king, of course the old marquis believed. The love of the king of heaven, the old marquis also received. However, the benefits of his Shi Dalang, Lao Hou didn't want to touch. I just want them to abide by the rules, Taiyuan is my way, and the idea of fighting Taiyuan ......" Hou Junji's eyes spasmed a few times, revealing ruthlessness, "Lao Hou has no other skills, and he still has the ability to take care of the house!" ”

"Hahaha......" Chao Gai laughed heartily, "Old Hou, the words are too heavy, not as serious as you think." ”

"Not that serious? Heavenly King, you don't know the situation in Taiyuan. Do you still need Lao Hou to put it bluntly? Yuan Shao of Jizhou cut off the salt road of Bingzhou, and Taiyuan and Yanmen are the territory of Liu Mang. They are righteous, but is there a difference between taking Yanmen Road and Taiyuan Road? ”

Seeing that Chao Gai was silent, Hou Junji added another sentence. "As far as I know, Qin Shubao sold salt and stone this time for the government, not to make money for himself!"

"Lao Hou!" Chao Gai's sword eyebrows were raised, and his expression became serious. "You can't just say that. There are rules in the salt pond, and thieves and thieves do not sell officials and businessmen. I think no matter how bold Da Lang is, he won't dare to break the rules casually. ”

"Heavenly King!"

Chao Gai raised his hand and interrupted Hou Junji. "Even as you say, you can't keep a word out about it. We do things at home, and we can't let other villages see our liveliness. Lao Hou, you go back first, I will understand things clearly, and I will never let you Lao Hou suffer. ”

"When the king of heaven said so, Lao Hou has a bottom in his heart." Hou Junji said, but his expression was still dissatisfied, "Heavenly King, there is one more thing. That Uncle Wang has been in office for too long, right? He is a person of Shan Xiongxin, why should he meddle in the business of our village? ”

Chao Gai's brows tightened.

Yanchi Wuzhai, between the big and small salt owls, many people know each other, and many people have friendships. However, it is indeed taboo to meddle in the business of other villages.

Chao Gai waved his hand and did not speak.

Hou Junji snorted coldly and left......

……

Hedong, northwest of Pingyang, at the foot of Luliang Mountain.

In order to avoid people's eyes and ears, Qin Qiong chose to take the path here several times to transport salt and stones.

The snow and ice melted, the roads were muddy, and the mule and horse teams were burdened with heavy burdens, and the march was extremely difficult.

The leader of the hired mule and horse team, commonly known as the "head horse", saw that the mules and horses were walking hard, and he was worried that he would hurt the livestock, so he ran to discuss with Qin Qiong.

"Boss, this road is too difficult to walk. Unload half of the goods first, and cross this road in two batches, okay? ”

"Boss" is the honorific title given to the employer by the mule and horse team.

Qin Qiong looked around. The terrain here is complicated, and there are too few escort teams with me. It is transported in two batches, and it is difficult to take care of the front and back.

"Brother, the road is difficult, just go slowly, you can't distribute it."

"But, Chief, ......"

The horse still wanted to discuss, Qin Qiong's eyes suddenly widened, he turned around sharply, took off his spear from his horse, and shouted at the guards: "Copy the guys, protect the horse team!" ”

Not far away, in the mountains and forests, a group of thieves rushed out and rushed straight over! (To be continued.) )