The conditions for Anton Wang's cooperation have been opened, and whether he can really get this opportunity depends on Liu Jun's own strength in the final analysis.

Perhaps in order to test the strength of the nine-headed bird, Hu Guang came over this time to convey King Anton's words and send thanks, but did not mention at all about how to crack down on the smuggler of salt, nor did he provide any information. Liu Jun was sure that Hu Guang must have a lot of information about smugglers in his hands, but the other party didn't mention it at all, the intention was obvious, it was to see their ability.

After Liu Jun summoned the officers of the nine-headed bird to discuss, he immediately dispatched Feng Sheng of the 12th Taibao and Zhu Yuancheng of the 13th Taibao to lead the night team and the pro-army team to go around to reconnoiter the news of the illegal salt dealers in Taiping Township, Macheng.

After many days of careful investigation, Liu Jun got a lot of useful information.

There are many smugglers, and they are also organized. Generally speaking, there are two types of smuggler salt dealers in Taiping Township, one is those powerful merchant groups, some are salt merchants from other places, some are local gentry and wealthy merchants, in short, they are rich and powerful people, they sell salt, the quantity is huge, directly from the coastal areas to transport salt by boat, and then they have already established a distribution network in various places, only responsible for transporting salt in. Then, at those land and water wharves with developed transportation, the salt was disembarked and directly distributed to the private salt merchants at the next level.

The low-level private salt merchants were generally local landlords and gentry, either local clans or close ties to the local government. After they get the salt, they distribute it downwards, and eventually they distribute it layer by layer. This not only speeds up the sale of illicit salt, but also reduces the share of insurance. After all, those big salt merchants sell salt at the first level, although the profit is not as much as their direct sales, but through such a network, the sales speed is faster, and the risk is passed on, just like reinsurance in the modern insurance industry.

Compared with this relatively tight network, there is another type of salt dealer that is much simpler, these people are some single gangs, small in scale, shoulder-to-shoulder, and belong to the bulk sellers.

Since they wanted to cooperate, and at the same time to show their strength to King Anton, Liu Jun was voluntarily unwilling to waste his first attack on some retail vendors.

Through the information gathered, Liu Jun discovered one of the largest illegal salt distribution points in Taiping Township.

"Shuangheji Zhaojiazhuang is the salt distribution place of Taiping Township." Feng Sheng pointed to the location of Shuangheji on the map and said to Liu Jun and others, "There are rivers here that can go straight down the big river, and the big salt merchants from Guangdong directly transport salt from Jiangxi into the big river into Huguang. Zhao Wu of Zhaojiazhuang behind Shuangheji was a local wealthy landlord and also a smuggler of salt in Shuangheji, he went to Wuchang to take salt from the salt merchants in Guangdong, transported it back to Shuangheji by boat, and distributed salt in Zhaojiazhuang on the first and fifteenth day of each month, and his private salt was sold to almost the entire Taiping Township, and even sold to the mountainous area of Guangzhou, Henan. ”

"What's the specific situation with this Zhao Wu?" Liu Jun asked.

"Shuangheji's Haoqiang has thousands of acres of fertile land and operates a lot of shops. Zhao Wu is in his forties this year, and it is said that his family was not wealthy in his early years, and later went south to run a business, and heard that he had worked as a sailor to go to sea in Fujian, and had been to Dongying Korea and other places. Later, I heard that I married the daughter of a captain, and later after the captain died, he sold the boat, returned to Shuangheji with his wife and children, bought a house and opened a shop, and made friends with Haoqiang, and the Zhao family also prospered, and now has become the richest man in Shuangheji. ”

Liu Jun smiled, "I'm afraid this set of rhetoric is just fooling ordinary people." This Zhao Wu is actually secretly doing illegal salt trading, so he must not have done anything good in Fujian before, maybe he was a pirate or something, otherwise, how could ordinary people develop in such a short time. And if he was really innocent before, then since he came back, since he was so rich, what kind of illicit salt he still sold, it doesn't make sense. I see, this guy used to be a thief, but now he is a salt lord. ”

"How many families does Zhao Wu have?" Liu Jun didn't care if Zhao Wu really relied on his son-in-law to get a windfall before, or if he was a pirate, all he cared about now was that Zhao Wu had been on his blacklist. He only cared about how many men and horses Zhao Wu had now.

"There are not many families in Zhaojiazhuang, that is, twenty or thirty people. But he still has several shops on Shuangheji, and even a dart shop, and according to our inquiry, another shop is actually controlled by Zhao Wu. In addition, there are several Zhuangzi, all of whom sell salt for Zhao Wu. ”

Hearing this news, Liu Jun was not surprised, people like Zhao Wu are different from ordinary big salt lords, they are only the lowest level of illegal salt dealers, and they pay the most attention to local forces and networks.

Zhao Wu's strength is not weak, but there is also a fatal shortcoming, that is, his power is relatively scattered, darts, fighting, and shop men, the Zhao family's family, and even the salt of the following Zhuangzi, which are naturally not weak, but they are usually scattered.

If he took the initiative to attack, Zhao Wu would definitely not be able to withstand the attack of the nine-headed bird.

"Do you know what military attache Zhao has to do with it?" Liu Jun asked, since Zhao Wu can sell smuggled salt in the local area, he must not only rely on his family thugs, but also have ties with the government, so that it is possible to stand on his feet and eat these benefits. In terms of force, the nine-headed bird has no pressure to deal with Zhao Wu, but Liu Jun must first find out the official support behind Zhao Wu.

"Zhao Wu doesn't have much to do with the government, it's just that he spent money to feed the people in the yamen. However, Zhao Wu has a younger sister who is the second aunt of the third room of the Liu family in Suokouhe. Zhu Chengyuan reported to Liu Jun the relationship between Zhao and Wu that he had discovered.

"Suokouhe Liu Family!"

When he heard these five words, Liu Jun's eyes narrowed slightly, he also had complicated feelings for the Liu family, when he learned that the Liu family in Xiwan was a branch of the Liu family in Suokouhe, he excitedly came to the door to recognize his relatives and wanted to hug the thigh of the Liu family, but he was ruthlessly rejected by Mrs. Liu.

"Big brother, why don't we clean it up with someone else." Zhang Shan saw that Liu Jun was silent, thinking that he was afraid of the power of the Liu family. After all, Liu Qiao of the Liu family in Suokouhe is now a high-ranking official of Jinyiwei, and it is said that he has been valued by the emperor recently and has been promoted to the position of governor of the five cities.

"No, just take Zhao Wu and cut it." Liu Jun said in a resolute tone. Zhao Wu's sale of illicit salt, maybe the Liu family knows, maybe the Liu family has also taken benefits from it, but Liu Jun is not afraid of the Liu family, he is helping King Anton to do things, and as long as he moves fast enough to take Zhao Wu in one fell swoop, the evidence is conclusive, then it is impossible for the Liu family to embarrass him Liu Jun for the sake of a concubine of a branch brother.

Besides, it is not so easy for the Liu family to embarrass him, and now he is no longer the Liu Jun who came to the door and wanted to hug the Liu family's thigh.

"How have the brothers been training lately?" Liu Jun asked instead.

"It's very hard and hardworking, and the results are good." The cavalry division is 100 years old, and Zhang Shan returns.

Liu Jun nodded, "It's time to take the brothers out to let loose, especially those new team members, blindly practicing on the training ground, after all, it is not enough, you must really see blood." Let's go back and prepare, and today we will have a combat test to see how effective their training has been in the past few days. ”

"Are all the team members on the move?" Zhang Shan asked.

"Well, this time we don't make a sound, and if we make a sound, it must be amazing. All of them went out to sweep down Zhaojiazhuang in a high-profile manner and take Zhao Wu. Liu Jun said, the inspection department has the responsibility of anti-smuggling, and although the regimental training is mainly responsible for suppressing bandits and reassuring the people, it also has the responsibility of anti-smuggling and arresting thieves. Liu Jun wanted to go out to crack down on Zhao Wu, who was selling illicit salt, and no one could say that he was not.

However, under normal circumstances, those officials who catch and arrest smuggled salt have long been fed by these salt lords, and they don't care about their affairs at all, and they don't dare to care, at most they dare to catch a few kittens and dogs from retail vendors.

At dusk, the nine-headed bird's day's training has just ended.

Soon after the team was disbanded, the team members lined up in the bath room to take a shower, and then queued up to the cafeteria for dinner.

"Assemble the Gathering!" Zhang Donggou stuffed the nine-headed bird drill in his hand into his arms, ran to the dormitory of the team members in a few steps, and shouted loudly.

Zhao Gouyu also hurriedly called for the members of the team to dress quickly.

According to the usual training, the team members quickly armed themselves, put on cotton armor, picked up knives and guns, and went to the warehouse to receive gunpowder, lead bombs, rockets, etc.

Liu Jun stood on the school field in the twilight, looking at the self-striking bell next to him.

In a quarter of an hour, the team members had all assembled in the school field according to the flag.

"Check your gear!" Liu Jun shouted.

Officers at all levels began to inspect the weapons and equipment of their subordinates very seriously.

After the inspection was completed, Liu Jun asked Zhenfu to take the military prisoners to check again.

"Okay, let's go!" Liu Jun waved his hand, and took the lead in getting on the horse to open the way, and the team members followed in a daze.

"Big brother, where are we going?" Gou Yu rode on a horse, followed by Zhang Donggou, the team leader, and asked in a low voice.

"Don't talk." Zhang Donggou interrupted Zhao Gouyu's curiosity, for this sortie, in fact, Zhang Donggou didn't know much, only knew that this was a real battle. But who is being beaten and where is it going, nothing is known.

Nearly 600 people in the whole team quietly moved forward in the twilight, and Liu Jun brought all the team members with him this time.

The traders and people on the streets of Hutoubao were all surprised to see the nine-headed bird group coming out of the stream, and they were all surprised when they looked at their heavily armed team.

"Sanniang, the nine-headed bird is dispatched." In the Red Sleeves Workshop, Sister Li Feng ran upstairs with a red dress and said loudly to Shen Man. Shen Man pushed the door out, ran to the railing upstairs and looked down at the railing, and sure enough, Liu Jun was wearing a vermilion lacquer mountain armor, a phoenix wings on his head, and a big crimson cloak on his shoulders.

She also wanted to wave to Liu Jun, but he led the team quickly through the long street and disappeared into the distance.

Hutouguan is not far from Shuangheji Zhaojiazhuang, and it is about twenty miles. Liu Jun deliberately chose to set off after nearly dark, and the team marched quietly all the way, and the speed was very fast, and many people who returned from the curtain along the way saw this heavily armed team, and they all avoided to the side in fear.

Half an hour, the nine-headed bird group has arrived in Zhaojiazhuang.

Zhaojiazhuang is not a small Zhuangzi, it is estimated that there are more than 100 households, Zhao Wu's house is built in the east of Zhuangtou, the name is conspicuous, and the wall courtyard is high and deep.

"Fence it off!" Liu Jun rode his horse and waved to Zhao Zhai.

The team members didn't light torches, but went directly to the black, and then the dogs in the village barked, mixed with the shouting and scolding of men. The lights in Zhao's house were bright, and it was a lively scene.

"My lord, it's fenced, this net has gained a lot, and there is a lot of movement in Zhao's house."

Liu Jun smiled, there was a reason why he chose to come tonight, because today is June 30, according to the custom, Zhao Wu will divide the salt tomorrow, at this time, the salt must have been prepared, and even a lot of the salt under his command must have arrived. He came today to catch them all, and he got all the dirt.

"The Zhao family found out that we didn't?"

"Probably not, but if the dog barks like that, they'll find out."

"Then what are you waiting for, break the door!" Liu Jun waved his hand, "Pass my order, there are salt lords inside, if there is any resistance, kill on the spot." ”