There is a place in Hangzhou that many people are afraid of but yearn for, and it is the teahouse contacted by the Hangcheng Salt Gang. Most of the merchants who usually go in and out of the teahouse are members of the salt gang and officials, as well as those merchants and eunuchs who came here from all over the Song Dynasty to buy salt. Every day here, it can be described as full of friends and lively.

This mansion, which is not like a teahouse, is patrolled by a group of thugs hired by salt merchants at the door every day, and ordinary people don't want to set foot in it without the introduction of people from inside the salt merchants. Even the officials in Hangzhou need to be of some grade if they want to enter here. Ordinary officials also don't want to step into one of them, which also makes it the safest place to buy and sell illegal salt in Hangzhou.

Compared with the businessmen who walked into this mansion in the past, all of them were red and happy, but today, the big mansion with the five-flavor teahouse seems to have a somewhat depressing atmosphere. The salt merchants who had been notified early in the morning had their expressions a little solemn at the moment, and they seemed to be worried about the arrest of the governor of Hangzhou and the transfer envoy and the officials involved with them last night.

At this moment, the salt merchants were organized to participate in this emergency meeting, and it was Lu Wuwei, the president of the Salt Chamber of Commerce, a salt merchant giant crocodile who had been engaged in salt trading for three generations. Faced with this situation where the imperial court once again pointed its sword at the Jiangnan salt tax, since he took over the family's salt manufacturing and selling business, he finally became the chairman of the salt gang, which was also the first time.

Although he was worried, he also knew that the imperial court would not dare to kill all of them who owned salt merchants. Otherwise, if these big salt merchants are killed, there will be problems with the salt transportation and supply of the imperial court, and the price of salt exclusively sold by the imperial court will be raised. If the price of salt rises too quickly, the people will suffer, and if they provoke protests, chaos will ensue. They know this very well!

"President, do you say that the imperial court really wants to rectify the Jiangnan salt tax this time?" Isn't the imperial court afraid that it will cause chaos in Jiangnan? The Jiangnan officials who have received benefits on our side, not to mention six or seven percent, at least fifty percent still have them. Could it be that the imperial court wants to arrest all these officials and let there be no officials available on the ground in Jiangnan? ’

Facing the inquiry of the same salt merchant members, Lu Wuwei said with a solemn expression: "According to our spy report, Liu Zhizhou and Chen Zhuan will be detained by the Lord Qincha. The soldiers in armor we saw in the city earlier were all Ying Tianfu forbidden troops secretly transferred by the imperial court. This means that the imperial court is afraid that this time it will really rectify the salt transportation tax in the south of the Yangtze River! ”

As the head snake on the ground in the south of the Yangtze River, the news channel of the Salt Gang is naturally not too slow. In just a few hours, they not only clearly knew what was happening in the Yamen of Suzhou, but they also received information that a salt merchant had been arrested in Suzhou City. It was precisely when they saw that this time, the imperial court seemed to be ruthless to the salt merchants, and they would seem a little worried.

Listening to the elder's worries, a new salt merchant sitting in the hall said disapprovingly: "What are you afraid of, we can control nearly half of the salt transportation business in the imperial court." If the imperial court is too pressing, we only need to stop supplying salt for a month, not to mention the chaos in Jiangnan, I am afraid that the people around Jiangnan who eat our salt will make trouble.

What's more, all the salt we shipped out of the country was handed over to the government. If the imperial court wants to hold them accountable, it can only hold those corrupt officials accountable, so what can they do with us? We can't just make a mistake because we paid the tax money, right? This Great Song Dynasty also talks about the law, so you can't just because Qin sent us to rob us of our money, right? ”

Disappreciating this new salt merchant, Lu Wuwei sighed and said: "Liye, having said that, when did the imperial court pay attention to such a cheap merchant as us?" If the imperial court really wants to ruthlessly investigate our crime of bribing officials, do you think we can stop the thousands of troops of the imperial court? Although we have a back hand, this back hand is not easy to use.

If you anger the court and really cut off our heads, do you think we can resist? In the final analysis, no matter how much money you have, sometimes you can't match a word from being an emperor! So, I'd like to wait and see what happens to this Chincha-sama for the time being. If we don't move our foundation, it's a big deal to change new officials, and we will be honest for a while.

As long as the court still needs us to make salt, then we can make money, if even the guy who eats on his neck drops, what is the use of more money? Since ancient times, the people have not fought with officials, not to mention that this is still a minister sent by the imperial court? Don't be rash, stop all the salt production during this time, and talk about the salt after this matter is over! ”

Hearing this president's words, a salt merchant below said: "President, this matter is not appropriate, right? A few days ago, we just negotiated with the people of Lianghuai about transporting salt, and the salt has been loaded onto the ship, if it is not transported. Isn't the share of salt sales that we have finally grabbed to be snatched by others again?

I think it would be safest to get the salt out of the ship as soon as possible while the minister was dealing with those officials. If we let the imperial court block this huge amount of salt, then we will be really in trouble. There are a lot of them, all of which are private goods of the Chamber of Commerce, and there is no salt citation! ”

Lu Wuwei, who was mentioned by this salt merchant, said sharply in his heart: "Shouldn't the goods of Lianghuai be shipped last night?" Why haven't you sent it out today? ”

The salt merchant who spoke said with a wry smile: "Last night, the forbidden army entered the city to block the four gates, and our crew couldn't even get out of the city gate, so how could they send the ship?" Early this morning, I was invited by the president, and we also wanted to hear what the president meant, and then decided whether to ship or not! After all, this is a big deal for the Chamber of Commerce this year, and there is no leakage! ”

Hearing this, Lu Wuwei hurriedly said: "This is all a matter that has been discussed, how can it be delayed?" Send someone to inform the departure of the ships immediately, and the sooner these ships leave, the more sure they will be. I always feel that the Lord Qincha who came this time is not ordinary from the officials sent by the imperial court to inspect in the past, so don't have an accident. If something happens, we're really in big trouble. ”

When Lu Wuwei quickly sent this salt merchant to inform the crew waiting at the dock to start the ship, Zhao Xiaoxi, who was sitting in Hangzhou and got the report. He had already personally led his troops to the wharf, and when he saw the salt ships on the wharf that had not yet been untied, Zhao Xiaoxi immediately ordered to come forward and seal them. As a result, the Cao Gang guards, who were in charge of guarding these salt ships, dared to blatantly step forward to stop them.

Looking at the hundreds of warriors armed with swords, Zhao Xiaoxi said coldly: "Those who dare to block the officials and soldiers will be killed!" ”

With Zhao Xiaoxi's order, the hundreds of forbidden soldiers brought out quickly rushed forward. And these outlaws, who know how important the salt on these ships are, also realize that if this batch of salt is seized, they will also end up in a situation where there are no corpses. What's more, in this batch of private salt, the Cao Gang also accounts for a large share!

For these outlaws who lick blood at the head of a knife all year round, in their minds, they only recognize money and not people. Even if they knew that these officers and soldiers in front of them were very big, but they had always been arrogant and domineering, and they were not afraid of being surrounded and killed by officers and soldiers of similar numbers. In other words, it is not the first time that some of them have killed officers and soldiers.

It's just that what they don't know is that compared to the officials of the Caoyun Yamen who were killed before, there are also those van troops who defend the city. The hundreds of officers and soldiers in front of him are the forbidden army of the imperial city. For these forbidden troops, those who dare to provoke them are undoubtedly provoking the authority of the royal forbidden army. Therefore, when you start, you will naturally lose your strength!

The leader of the thugs who led the team to guard the docks, watching his subordinates fight with these officers and soldiers, seemed to have some upper hand. Soon stared at Zhao Xiaoxi, who looked a little like a wax gun. I think that as long as I grasp this leader, I believe that these brave officers and soldiers should not dare to act rashly, right? The leader of the thugs is also well aware of the personality of the officials who are afraid of death.

In fact, they dare to be so bold, and they know that in Jiangnan, as long as it is related to the Cao Gang and the Yan Gang. If you don't break the sky, the bigwigs of these two gangs will be able to settle for them. It was precisely because of such self-confidence that they dared to be so bold and dared to do something to obstruct the officers and men who came to inspect the ship.

As for the boatmen and the people at the other docks, they also knew that they could not afford to offend either side. Therefore, sitting on the wall is the best choice. Anyway, all they earn is good money, and there is no need to risk their lives for a little good money. This principle of life is also the reason why they have been able to live until now.

Seeing that these outlaws' martial arts are not bad, and they can compete with the forbidden army, Zhao Xiaoxi knows. In these years, the strength of the forbidden army is indeed not very good. But at the same time, he also knows that this is in this kind of solitary situation. If they form a battle formation, I am afraid that these outlaws in front of them will not be enough to see.

Just as Zhao Xiaoxi calmly watched the forbidden army fight with these people, the middle-aged man who was holding a long sword and leading the way was dressed after stabbing a resisting forbidden army. A few vertical steps appeared not far in front of Zhao Xiaoxi, causing many forbidden soldiers to exclaim: "Protect Lord Qincha!" ”

As soon as these words came out, the middle-aged man also felt shocked, and the young man in front of him was not an ordinary official. It's Lord Qincha, and killing a Lord Qincha is not the same thing as killing an ordinary official.

But since the sword is out, there is no chance to collect the sword again. It's a big deal, I kidnapped this Lord Qincha, protected these salt ships, and flew away when I got the reward. Even if the court wants to want him, I'm afraid it's not easy! After all, he is a lonely widow, and he has a lot of money in the world. What are you afraid of?

It was a good idea, but he ignored it. Compared with these forbidden troops who are ready to come back, the members of the military department who Zhao Xiaoxi brought with him to join the battle have no intention of returning to help. Because these members of the martial arts department knew that if they found this pavilion master, who was not even an opponent of their heavenly members, the fate of this outlaw leader was already predictable!