The Salt Class Division of Hedong Road had just fallen asleep at this time.
Suddenly I heard a servant coming to report that the captain of the soldiers in Yancun across the street wanted to see him. I immediately became energetic and my drowsiness disappeared.
The Salt Class Secretary has been sitting in this position for a long time, and of course he knows that the salt lords will secretly go to the south bank of Jiechi to collect salt in the middle of the night.
Usually they would give the guards a small amount of money to open the door, then buy a few hundred kilograms of salt and run away.
But if Yan Xiao wants to play bigger, the guards on the opposite side will not dare to mess around and will come to see him. At this time, it is no longer a matter of a few small coins, but a large sum of money to do big work.
So when someone wakes me up in the middle of the night, it means that I want to make a fortune, and it’s hard not to be happy about it.
The Salt Class Secretary put on a coat and got up. When he went to the outer room, the captain of the guard came forward and handed over a bag.
The Salt Section Secretary picked it up with his hands and knew that it was almost two hundred taels of silver.
I was immediately overjoyed!
"Is the big salt owl here?" The salt officer smiled and said, "How much does he want?"
The captain of the guard whispered: "He wants all the salt in Fengjia Village.
"Yo!" The Salt Class Secretary laughed: "It's a great game, this Salt Owl is very powerful."
The captain of the guard nodded: "He's our old friend. You've also met him. His name is Tie Niao Fei."
Salt Division: "Iron Bird Flying? I can't remember clearly."
The captain of the guard said in a strange tone: "Please quote a price."
Salt Section Division: "Ah, I remembered, it turned out to be that guy. I remember that guy's business wasn't very big. Now he can swallow up the entire village's goods?"
Guard captain: "I don't know if I can swallow it, but he did give me two hundred taels of silver."
The Salt Class Secretary nodded: "Okay, for the sake of these two hundred taels of silver, I don't care what he does. Sell him all the salt in Fengjia Village. I will report to the superiors that Fengjia Village suffered a fire. It’s being rebuilt and it’s done without salt.”
Guard captain: "Okay."
He said yes, but did not leave, looking at Shio Keji eagerly.
The Salt Class Secretary reached into the silver bag and took out a few ingots of silver, about fifty taels in total. He threw it into the hand of the guard captain: "Give this silver to the brothers in the Feng family village. Don't let this matter leak out." go out."
The captain of the guard was overjoyed, and quickly retreated with the silver in his hands, and took a boat back to Fengjiacun.
This time he rowed eight miles on the water, which really wasted a lot of time. When he saw Tie Niao Fei again, it was already late at night: "Master Tie Da, the matter is settled, Yan The class secretary nodded. All the salt in Fengjia Village will be sold to you, but...you know, those two hundred taels are only qualified to buy salt. If you want to take away the salt, you have to pay another amount. .”
Tie Niaofei smiled: "Please quote a price."
The captain of the guard held out two fingers: "Twenty cents per catty."
Tie Niao Fei: "Sure! You can also ask the saltsmiths in the village to transport all the salt. I will pay another freight fee and ask them to help me transport it to Puzhou."
In ordinary years, salt can be sold for at least four pounds in the salt-producing area of Jiechi, while in non-producing areas, it is almost seven or eight cents per pound.
But during severe droughts and wars, things are different. The price of food from the place of origin is twenty or thirty cents per catty. If it is not from the place of origin, it can even reach seventy or eighty cents per catty. The price rises very ridiculously.
But Tie Niao Fei didn't care. He made a good deal with the guard captain and immediately returned to the woods and called out to Xing Hong Lang. Then Xing Hong Lang's forty-two people, plus Tie Niao Fei's eighteen people, came together. He emerged from the woods and stood guard at the entrance of the village.
Soon, the guards organized the saltsmiths and transported the illegal salt truck by truck from Fengjia Village. The two parties also negotiated the price of transporting the salt all the way to Puzhou Gudu Wharf, and the saltsmiths I happily pushed the car and set off.
Xing Honglang and Tie Niofei's subordinates were guarding the convoy.
Until here, it looks like an ordinary private salt transaction.
The guards didn't think much, smiled and waved, and sent them off.
When the salt transport team was out of sight of the officers and soldiers...
Suddenly there was the sound of horse hooves in the woods, and the warbler rushed out with fifty cavalry and dozens of empty horses.
This shocked the saltmen who transported the salt.
However, the cavalry did not do anything to them. They just handed over the horses to Xing Honglang and Tie Niaofei's men. The two groups got on the horses together and became "extraordinary private salt dealers."
The saltsmiths looked at these menacing private salt dealers on horseback and thought to themselves: Is something wrong with the big boss today? It wasn't such a popular battle before, why is it like this now?
At this moment, Xing Honglang spoke to them: "Brothers saltsmiths, how much money will be put into your pockets for the salt I bought from you today?"
The saltsmiths looked at each other and whispered: "Two cents a pound."
Xing Honglang sneered: "What I actually paid was twenty cents per catty."
Saltsmiths: "..."
Xing Honglang chuckled: "The government has tricked you too hard. If you are interested in bypassing the government, I will pay you directly. I can give you ten cents per catty."
Isn't this nonsense? Who wouldn’t want to quintuple their income?
The saltsmiths responded in unison: "Of course I do."
Xing Honglang: "It's easy to think about it. Do you have the guts to escape from Fengjia Village, dig a salt pond out of sight of the government, and sell all the private salt you make to me?"
When the saltsmiths heard this, they were confused: "How... how dare you do this? If the government finds out, you will die."
Xing Honglang: "Don't be afraid! Jiechi is so big, more than forty miles long and four miles wide. Find a corner of the pool, where the government can't see it, and secretly dig a salt pond. As long as there is The tall thatch covers you and you can’t see it unless you get close. Then lead the water into the pond, dry the salt as much as you want, and every copper you earn belongs to you. Wouldn’t it be better than what we are doing now?”
Saltsmith: "If we do this, we will all become gangsters.'
Xing Honglang: "Don't you know what's going on outside now? There are rogue bandits in Shanxi. Fifty-six out of ten good people have become bandits. They have all become gangsters. Who is afraid?"
When the saltsmiths heard this, they thought it was true.
A saltsmith said: "It is difficult for the government to secretly build a salt pond next to Jiechi without being discovered. But to the west of Jiechi, there is a pond called Nitre Pond. The salt produced by Jiechi has a slightly bitter taste. There is no Jiechi. Salt is delicious, so the government never asks about it. If you dig a private pond next to the saltpeter, you are not afraid of inspection by the court.
He gritted his teeth and said: "If Master Tieda and this... female master are willing to protect my dog's life, I will dare to escape from Fengjia Village and become a refugee, go to the saltpeter and build a hut to live in, and do personal gains. "Chi makes salt for you, but he is afraid that the salt will taste bitter and you will not like it."
Xing Honglang grinned. Gaojiacun asked for salt mainly to make alkali. Why should he be afraid of suffering? It’s not for human consumption anyway, so he chuckled and said, “Okay! Then we’ll do it by the saltpeter.”
What they said gave the other saltmen courage, and several more saltmen said, "We are also willing to come."
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