Yancheng of Huai'an Prefecture is a veritable salt capital, from the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, "Hongwu dispersed", there were a large number of immigrants to burn salt on the seashore in this area, and in order to implement the management of the stove people scattered in the coast, each salt field set up a total of a number of them, Dongtai Fu'an Salt Farm, a total of 30 total.

In all dynasties, the salt tax was almost the main source of revenue, this endless source of wealth from the sea, was used by the government of the previous dynasties to the fullest, everyone had to eat salt, for the officials, this is a product that does not cost too much, and controlling it is the most effective way to fill the treasury.

So, the salt gang came into being, which is perhaps the oldest smuggling industry in China.

The salt field in Yancheng is of self-evident significance to central and northern Jiangsu, but after the Pingyuan Army landed in Tongzhou, the battalions in this area were almost exhausted overnight.

The salt gangs were pleasantly surprised to find that they had become the actual talkers of the salt works in the Yancheng area, and they no longer had to fight and bribe officials to dig out a little bit of salt from their fingers to make a living.

Luo Lihong is the daughter of Luo Ansheng, the big boss of the Luohan Gang, who has been living with her father since she was a child, with her head tied to the waistband of her trousers, earning a mouthful of hard-earned money.

Luo Lihong is eighteen years old this year, during the Chinese New Year, she tied up the red head rope for the first time, changed into flower clothes, and she grew up with rough men for the first time She had some femininity.

Luo Ansheng knows that his daughter has reached the age when Sichun is looking for her mother-in-law, but who would want a woman who eats and lives in a pile of rough men to be her daughter-in-law? Not to mention that she still has a bandit name like "Salt Owl" on her head.

Find her in-laws from the gang? There are more than 90 men in the Luohan Gang, almost all of whom are singles, in this world, it would be good to have a bite to eat? Looking for a wife? That's not what they dreamed about.

The Qing court battalion suddenly went empty overnight, which made Luo Ansheng ecstatic, the Luohan Gang had a small salt field that they secretly drummed out, so they naturally wanted to take advantage of this season to burn more salt and sell it to the north, and the Luohan Gang has also been operating the northern line, and in Zhili, there are several merchants who regularly purchase his private salt.

A long time ago, Luo Ansheng also walked through the southern line, but then there was a long hair, the salt road was blocked, and now the salt trade in the south is free, and there is no room for the survival of the private salt gang.

I heard that the profits of going west to Qinghai and Tibet are not bad, and Luo Ansheng is also ready to find a few people who understand to inquire.

The soldiers and horses of the Southern Dynasty occupied Tongzhou, Luo Ansheng did not think that they could support it for a long time, across the Yangtze River moat, ration supply is a big problem, and several northern expeditions of bandits ended in fiasco.

Now the soldiers of the Southern Dynasty are blocked in Tongzhou, and sooner or later they will be driven down the river. Luo Ansheng has seen the guys of the new army in Huai'an Mansion, all of them are divine cannons, and the power is amazing, and the sound alone can scare people to stumble.

When he came back from Huai'an Mansion, Luo Ansheng still had palpitations, fortunately the new army was not dealing with their salt gang, otherwise how could the Luohan Gang still survive?

This morning, the Arhat Gang salt lords put these more than 30 sacks of private salt burned on the wheelbarrow, from Suzhong to Zhili, all the way to the spilled sale, the more north, the higher the price of salt, in the territory of Zhili, each catty of salt can be sold for three cents of silver, which is also much cheaper than the official salt, the official salt has soared all the way since the Kangxi era, and now Yanjing City, at least five cents of silver per catty of salt, if it is like the Arhat Gang this is not mixed with sand and water refined salt, seven or eight points are also available.

This trip of thousands of catties of salt, if the road is smooth and does not encounter any obstacles, can be sold for more than 200 taels of silver, and whether the more than 90 men of the Luohan Gang can eat in the next few months depends on this transaction.

In addition to leaving a few elderly caretakers, the Luohan Gang can be said to be out of the nest, and now there are thieves everywhere, if someone robs this batch of salt, the big guy can only starve to death.

Thinking about it, Luo Ansheng is a little sad, a sturdy young man, doing work and fighting knives, is no worse than anyone else, why is it so difficult to eat?

The route to the north, the Luohan Gang is familiar with the road, and every time it is day and night, going to remote villages, so as not to encounter government inspections, and taking Henan, Shanxi, and Zhili, these three places also have regular customers to respond.

However, this time, the salt team had just hit the road, and before they left Jiangsu, they ran into trouble.

The waters in this area are vertical and horizontal, there are rivers everywhere, thousands of acres of green water are clear, and it is a famous land of water and rice.

The ferry head of Jianyang Town turns west to the Grand Canal, and every time the salt team of the Luohan Gang takes the waterway here, takes the canal, and then turns to Henan when it reaches the Yellow River section.

The salt team hid far away in a small forest, Luo Ansheng choked his wrists, and the few boats that he received seemed to have been seized, and he was afraid that he would not be able to escape the fate of confiscation, but the Luohan Gang desperately saved money to buy it, and used hundreds of taels.

"Dad, what should I do?" Luo Lihong ran to his side, and her daughter with thick eyebrows and big eyes had already clenched the dagger in her arms.

On the wheelbarrows, there are more than 20 steel knives under the sacks, and more than a dozen bird guns, compared with other salt gangs in Yancheng, the Luohan Gang is indeed a strong soldier.

It's just that Luo Ansheng shook his head helplessly.

Luo Lihong gritted her teeth, "Dad, let's fight, we can't just let the black-toothed dog rob our boat, for those boats, Uncle Li and Uncle Zhang have all lost their lives!" "The black tooth dog is the name of the Yancheng salt owl for the officers and soldiers, she still remembers that when there was no boat, the brothers in the gang, it was difficult to eat a full meal, and they could only fight the tooth sacrifice in the fish season, when they were hungry, every time Uncle Li and Uncle Zhang would laugh and give her a small amount of salted fish per person, saying that they didn't like to eat, and when Luo Lihong grew up, she understood their simple love, but before she could say thank you, the two uncles died tragically under the knife of the black tooth dog.

"Wait." Before Luo Ansheng's words fell, he saw a group of black canopy boats coming to the west of the ferry, stopping near the ferry, and from the boat, a group of soldiers wearing uniforms walked down.

Luo Ansheng's eyes narrowed suddenly, and his heart sank to the bottom, these officers and soldiers knew at first sight that they were not green battalion soldiers, they were all ten magic cannons in their hands, they were the armed guards of Yangzhou Mansion, Peng Xueqin and Peng Dashuai's subordinates.

"Don't be presumptuous!" Luo Ansheng drank his daughter, now, it is not a matter of whether to take salt or not, if it is discovered by the officers and soldiers, I am afraid that more than 70 surnames of the Luohan Gang will die here, and the salt car will be lost? This time, I will drink the northwest wind.

"Who?" The man on guard at the edge of the grove suddenly asked in a low voice.

"Merchant, honest man!" Crisp answer, along the half-human tall weeds, walked over a few people.

Luo Ansheng frowned, the people in front of him were all clear-eyed, although they were wearing robes, they could see that they had thin breasts and waists, and they were all girls. Are you still so bold? Obviously, I saw that the woods were full of rough men, and I dared to come over.

When he saw the last person, Luo Ansheng was stunned, such a handsome character, a pretty face that bullied frost and snow, a blue splendid horse coat robe, and a jewel-inlaid melon skin hat, the whole person was really like a pearl and jade, making the whole forest seem to be bright.

The man who was originally in charge of the wind was also dumbfounded, and let a few people swagger past him.

"Are you ......" Luo Ansheng greeted him and asked suspiciously.

The beautiful young man hugged his fists and said, "You are brothers who walk salt, right?" It doesn't matter, borrow precious land and use it. "The voice is delicate and mellow, indescribably good, but it has a more ** bone-eating taste.

Luo Ansheng was stunned again, this young lady is quite a Jianghu, but I really can't see what kind of road she is.

The beautiful young man and the girls who looked like followers walked up the mound, and Luo Lihong said urgently: "Sister, come down, don't be seen by the black-toothed dog, they are not things, maybe you are a southerner." Luo Lihong had never seen such a beautiful woman, and she had a good impression unconsciously.

Hearing her call the master's "sister", a famous girl frowned and wanted to say something, but the beautiful young man had already smiled and said, "It's okay, I'll take a look at the excitement." ”

As she spoke, the guard next to her had already handed her a clairvoyant mirror, and she put it in front of her eyes and looked towards the ferry.

"You, what are you?" Luo Lihong leaned over in surprise and asked, as for the men of the Salt Gang, no one dared to approach because of the beauty of these uninvited guests, and some of them were barefoot, or those with ragged pants, and walked away.

The beautiful young man handed her the clairvoyant mirror and said, "Just look at it." ”

"Yikes!" Suddenly, seeing something a few miles away clearly appear in front of her, Luo Lihong was so frightened that she almost threw the clairvoyant mirror to the ground.

Seeing the young man laughing, Luo Li's face flushed, and she mustered up the courage to put the cylinder mirror on her eyes again, and then exclaimed again, saying, "What, why are there still foreign devils?" ”

The beautiful young man snorted and said, "Rakshasa ghost." Pretty face froze.

At this time, Luo Ansheng coughed, walked up and said, "Girl, what are you doing here?" ”

Before the beautiful young man could speak, Luo Lihong suddenly said: "It's not good, they, they seem to be coming to our side." ”

Without a clairvoyant, you can also see a group of officers and soldiers slowly moving towards this side, presumably sensing some unusual movements in the grove.

Luo Ansheng's head buzzed, what else could he do at this time? Since his surname is important, he turned around and lowered his voice and ordered: "Quick, take all the guys, let's go!" ”

Luo Lihong said to the beautiful young man: "Sister, you, you follow me, I know a path, they can't catch us." ”

Luo Ansheng also said: "Yes, girl, although Xue Shuai's military discipline is still strict, but you, as far as I can see, I can't figure out your way, his subordinates, are not vegetarians, there are a few ruthless masters, even if you are not an ordinary person, you can't eat the immediate loss, it's better to hide." ”

In the woods, the big men are dumbfounded, these salts are their blood, they are their sweat!

"Not leaving?!" Luo Ansheng let out a low snort.

(To be continued)