Not long after, the county magistrate Cheng Guangya organized a fleet to deliver thousands of stones of grain and thousands of loads of fodder to the military camp. This was the first batch of grain and grass. He also sent dozens of fat pigs and several large carts of vegetables. This was the first batch of grain and fodder in the county.
A little kindness from the people is used to reward the army, which means asking them to strictly observe military discipline and not to harass the people.
Cheng Guangya then brought a big businessman to bring more than two hundred sheep, and he could order meat from this businessman on a long-term basis.
Zhong Huan thanked him again and again, sent Cheng Guangya away, and then killed pigs and sheep to reward the army.
As night fell, a man came to see Zhong Huan, and Zhong Huan ordered his men to take him to his tent.
This man's name is Qin Kuangming. He is very young. He is only 25 or 26 years old. He is a captain of the inner guard. Last year, more than a thousand people from the inner guard came to kill the illegal salt collectors. When they left, more than 20 people were left behind.
Stationed in Tanzhou, Qin Kuangming is the leader of this team.
"In this humble position, please see the commander!" Qin Kuangming knelt down on one knee and saluted.
Zhong Huan smiled and asked him to sit down, "Have you seen the internal ultimatum Wang Tongzhi sent from Jingzhao?"
"I saw it!"
"I find it very strange. Why did the crackdown on illegal salt trading fail last year? You should know the inside story!"
Qin Kuangming nodded, "The low-level official knows the reason very well. The root cause is that the other party has an internal agent. The news was leaked and the other party retreated to Poyang Lake. We here sold private salt and switched to official salt. When we asked the people, they all said they were buying it.
Official salt, no one is willing to admit that you buy private salt, and when the internal guards withdraw, they will show up again."
"Who is the enemy?" Zhong Huan asked again.
"Of course it's officials from all over the country. Without the protection of the government, how could illegal salt sales be so rampant?"
Zhong Huan nodded, "That's why I stopped in Yuezhou this time instead of going directly to Tanzhou. On the surface, it was for Jiangbei, but in fact, I didn't want to alert the enemy."
"The commander did the right thing. If your army goes to Tanzhou, they will definitely flee immediately."
"Who are they referring to?"
"Of course they are Salt Owl Zhang Tai, Salt Owl Wang Santai, and Salt Owl Li Taishan. The names of the three major Salt Owls all have the character Tai, so they are called Salt Owl Santai."
"What about the private salt dealers?"
Qin Kuangming quickly explained: "Private salt dealers are local salt dealers. They are responsible for getting the goods from the salt lords and then distributing them to various retail shops. The private salt dealers have their own territories, and each government government also takes benefits from them.
Salt lords generally do not deal with the government, but they will ship private salt to warehouses designated by various private salt dealers. They have been trading for more than ten years, and they all abide by the rules and cooperate very well."
Zhong Huan thought for a while and said: "It has been more than ten years, so it should be clear who is the private salt dealer!"
"Absolutely! The key is that private salt dealers will escape. This was the case last year. As soon as the internal guards arrived, all private salt dealers fled without a trace. Moreover, they all have another identity, benevolent officials and villagers who uphold justice.
Lao, I heard that there are also county school professors who are all innocent and have no evidence, so it’s hard to touch their families.”
"What about Yuezhou's private salt?" Zhong Huan asked again.
"The private salt in Yuezhou comes from Jinghu North Road. It should be the private salt sold by Zhang Jun in the legend. But Beizhi has been here for a year and there is no clue about Yuezhou's private salt. The key is that Beizhi doesn't know about Yuezhou.
Who is the private salt dealer?"
Only then did Zhong Huan realize that it was really difficult to eradicate illegal salt sales. No wonder it failed last year. At this time, we still need to consult more experienced people for advice.
"Then where does Qin Dutou think I should start?"
Qin Kuangming thought for a while and said: "I suggest that the commander attack the Yan Owl first. If these people escape to Poyang Lake, we will not be able to get through."
"They all fled to Poyang Lake by boat?" Zhong Huan asked.
"Most of them take a boat to the Yangtze River, and then go to Poyang Lake from the Yangtze River."
"They're active now?"
"It's almost the same. Zhang Tai's fleet is in Tanzhou, and the other two are in Hengyang. It's autumn now, which happens to be their shipping season."
Zhong Huan pondered for a moment and said: "Take thirty scout brothers back, find Zhang Tai's fleet for me, and keep an eye on them. Don't worry about the other two Tai. I want to catch big fish."
"I understand the humble position!"
The two negotiated many details, and Zhong Huan sent thirty elite scouts, disguised as ordinary people, to follow Qin Kuangming on a large cargo ship south.
Two days later, Yang Yuanqing sent someone to deliver 500 war horses. This was a direct order from Chen Qing. Yang Yuanqing did not dare to disobey or ask questions. He did not even come to Yuezhou to visit.
Two days later, Qin Kuangming sent someone to send news that they had discovered Zhang Tai's Yan Xiao fleet and were keeping an eye on it.
Zhong Huan immediately led 500 cavalrymen and quickly headed south to Changsha County.
Tanzhou is located to the south of Yuezhou. It is a populous state. It was not as severely damaged as Yuezhou during the Yang Yao Rebellion. After Yang Yao was pacified, Tanzhou recovered quickly. With the influx of people from the Jianghuai River, Tanzhou also
The prosperity of the land of plenty was restored.
When Chen Qing proposed to the court the jurisdiction of five state capitals, Tanzhou was included, so the officials in Tanzhou were all appointed by Jingzhao.
Zhong Huan's movement was very loud, and the cavalry rushed to Changsha City with great momentum. They had already put on the special black helmets of the inner guards, which is the symbol of the inner guards. Last year, the inner guards conducted an earth-shaking investigation on Jinghu South Road. Even a three-year-old child
Everyone knows that the soldiers wearing black helmets are here again.
Before the inner guard cavalry arrived, the county magistrate Ji Chunlai got the news. He hurriedly wrote a letter and sent someone to deliver the letter to the king's palace outside the city.
Wang Yuanwai was a well-known philanthropist within dozens of miles around. He built roads, built bridges, helped students, and provided food and rice to support dozens of orphaned elderly people every month. The imperial court commended him many times and awarded him the title of Xiaoqiwei. This is Wang Yuanwai's full name.
His name is Wang Conglin, and he is officially a big landowner. His family owns thousands of acres of land and has several shops in the city.
But he also has another identity, a private salt dealer in Tanzhou. The entire private salt in Tanzhou is controlled by him. Tanzhou is his territory. He purchases goods from the salt lord Zhang Tai and sells them at twenty-five cents per catty.
He buys private salt at a reasonable price and then sells it to a retail shop for forty cents per catty. He earns fifteen cents per catty, and the retail shop sells it to ordinary people for fifty cents per catty. Compared with eighty cents
A pound of official salt is much more cost-effective.
The salt lords, private salt dealers, and salt shops all made money, and the people seemed to benefit from it, but the government's tax revenue was gone.
Wang Culin received Ji Chunlai's urgent letter and read it over. In autumn, when the salt production was most urgent, the inner guards came again, and they came with bad intentions.
Wang Conglin felt the need to go out and hide. Of course, he would not go to the mountains to suffer. He went directly to Xiangtan County and hid under a different name. No one could find him except his three sons?
In addition, he also wanted to notify Zhang Tai's fleet to retreat. Anyway, the goods were almost shipped, so he should go back quickly.
Wang Conglin immediately called for his third son Wang Han and said to him: "Go and notify Zhang Laizi's cargo ship to retreat immediately. Those internal guards are here again."
Wang Conglin has three sons. The eldest son Wang Xun inherits his positive image and also deals with officials. The second son Wang Bin is responsible for shipping goods to various stores. The third son Wang Han is as his name suggests, he looks quite tough.
The salt owl Zhang Tai is responsible for purchasing goods and warehouse storage.
Wang Han nodded, "Haier, go and notify them to evacuate!"
Wang Conglin then said to his second son Wang Bin: "Go and arrange all the shops to sell official salt."
The second son Wang Bin also left in a hurry.
Wang Conglin took out another five hundred taels of silver and asked his eldest son Wang Xun to take it to supervise state and county officials. Once the money was in place, his safety was also in place.
Wang Culin made some arrangements and took his two concubines on a boat to Xiangtan County to escape. However, he never expected that this time there would be not only internal guards, but also more professional army scouts. They had been here long ago.
, a fishing boat followed his boat from a distance.