Presumably when Tian Mi found Hongjiang, their dozen or so brothers on the water were afraid that the river gang would be so crowded that they would have no way to survive. It was a time of distress.
The appearance of Tian Mi was their life-saving straw.
Without Gaokan's business, they would have nowhere to go, and they might not even have money for a meal of rice soup.
Tian Mi obviously had more ambitions than that. From the moment he called Kai Hongjiang and came to talk to Gao Kan alone, we knew his intentions.
After Gao Kan heard what he said, he understood immediately and asked, "Do you want to take these dozen people into your pocket and build your own fleet?"
"Young Master is wise, this villain has this intention." Tian Mi said continuously.
"Shicai has already discussed this matter with Hong Jiang and asked him what he thinks. He heard about the young master and he is also interested."
"What did the He Gang say?" Gao Kan ignored Hong Jiang and others and asked about the situation in the He Gang.
Tian Mi also immediately explained: "They are a group of idlers. The leader is called 'Zhen Erjiang' Cao Tuo. He was originally a rogue at the dock. He gathered a group of people from nowhere and started doing business on the water. After years of clever plundering, it gradually grew bigger, and now it has hundreds of people under its command, calling itself a river gang."
Gao Kan's expression changed slightly after hearing Tian Mi's explanation.
If it is true as Tian Mi said, this Cao Tuo was just an ordinary gangster, but in just a few years, he was able to pull up a water team of hundreds of people and dominate the transportation of the two rivers. There must be an expert behind it. exist.
Gao Kan didn't want to cause too much trouble. The more secure and smooth the Daming Mansion's financial path, the better.
The simplest way is to discuss business with Cao Tuo. As long as the price is right, it doesn't matter if the grain and grass transportation is handed over to them in the future.
However, he still gave Tian Mi one more chance and asked, "What if we talk to Cao Tuolai?"
"Cao Tuo is a domineering and greedy person. Ever since he established the banner of the He Gang, the amount of money escorted to the dock has increased by more than 30%. Not only that, if you want to transport goods through the dock, you have to hand over the transportation to the He Gang." Money matters.”
Tian Mi explained.
Hearing this, Gao Kan couldn't help but frown.
It’s just that the freight rate has increased by 30%. Even transporting goods up and down has to be paid separately.
By hoarding wealth in this way, doesn’t it mean that others are regarded as weak and easy to take advantage of?
He can't control other people, but he has never heard of taking advantage of his high office in this way.
As soon as his thoughts changed, he said again: "Daming Mansion has a shipping department that is responsible for water transportation. The Caotuohe Gang is so rampant, don't they care?"
"I don't know this time. If the young master is interested, I can go find out more." Tian Mi said honestly.
"Okay, you go to find out the situation first. The dozen or so people in Hongjiang will be kept for the time being. Use them or not. I will give instructions then." Gao Kan agreed for the time being.
In fact, when he heard that Cao Tuo could be so rampant on the water of Daming Mansion, he had some concerns.
The officials of the Song Dynasty always had their own methods. The Ship Department was in charge of everything on the water, so it was impossible not to know about the affairs of the river gang.
Since they can just sit back and watch it grow bigger and dominate the two rivers for several years without any supervision, it means that there must be a connection, and it depends on the extent of the connection.
If he wasn't very powerful, Gao Kan could sell himself as Captain Gao and talk to someone above him.
No matter what others do, you can always do your own business.
And if you really run a fleet on the river and have reliable manpower, it may not have other uses in the future, and it may even be a surprise force.
After receiving Gao Kan's instructions, Tian Mi got up and went to talk to Hong Jiang.
The two of them walked away hand in hand. It seemed that they were going to investigate the affairs of the He Gang. It would take some time.
After the two left, Lin Chong stepped forward and asked Gao Kan: "Master, where should we stay first?"
Gao Kan said: "Let's find a nearby inn. Coach Yang hasn't arrived yet. Wait for him to arrive before doing other things."
"Understood." Lin Chong nodded in agreement.
The group tidied up and found a spacious inn nearby to stay, waiting for Yang Zhi to arrive at Daming Mansion.
It turned out that Gaokan had ordered him to transport the gold and silver from the birthday card first that day to avoid being stuck in Nanle. Later, he changed his mind and sent it to the Tan family's blacksmith shop for smelting.
However, Yang Zhi did not stay, and Gao Kan gave him other instructions to do.
Thinking about it, if there are no accidents, it will be a day late at most to arrive at Daming Mansion, and then come back to do things after everyone is together.
In the evening, Tian Mi came back from outside and found the inn and Gaokan.
After meeting, he said: "Sir, the matter has been investigated clearly."
"Say." Gao Kan said straightly.
"According to the people on the dock, Cao Tuo often interacts with an official from the Shipping Department. This official has a supervisor, and the general is from the same group." Tian Mi explained.
After hearing this, Gao Kan pondered for a moment.
According to Tian Mi's investigation, the person behind Cao Tuo was at most a supervisor from the Shipping Department.
The official position is not high, but it is easy to deal with.
But I'm afraid that this business is not managed by the supervisor, but by everyone from top to bottom.
But for the more detailed information, Tian Mi was naturally unable to find out from the market. Only Gao Kan himself visited the shipping department, and he might have a chance to hear the news.
There is no need to rush this matter, and Gao Kan has more important things to do during this trip, so he will put it aside for now.
Then he said to Tian Mi: "Let's put this matter aside for the time being. You go and negotiate with the granary and take out the grain and grass first. Hong Jiang and the dozen or so people have nothing to do for the time being. Ask them to help escort the guards and find another one." A few of my own guys are traveling with you, so don’t argue if something happens to you, just wait for me to handle it.”
"I understand, villain," Tian Mi said immediately.
He knows how powerful he is. Since ancient times, people have not fought with officials. Now they don't know the situation of the Shipping Department, so they can't act rashly.
Anyway, there is a guarantee behind it. If something happens, as long as you don't fight with the other party to the point of no return, there will always be an explanation.
After some explanation, they fit each other and rested.
It wasn't until early the next morning that Gao Kan came out of his room, went downstairs, and saw three people standing in the lobby of the post station.
The one who took the lead was Yang Zhi.
Seeing Gao Kan, Yang Zhi hurriedly came forward and said anxiously: "Young master is not good, something happened to the second master!"
After hearing this, Gao Kan's face darkened and he asked, "What's going on? Please tell me in detail!"
"The second boss called the officers and soldiers to surround them in Weidian. They rushed and killed most of them and lost most of their men. Then they hurriedly escaped into the nearby mountains. But now they have been surrounded by the officers and soldiers and they are afraid that they will not be able to get out."
Yang Zhi looked anxious and kept talking.
Hearing this, Gao Kan couldn't help but feel shocked. If it was as Yang Zhi said, Jiang Jing led his men and horses to hide in the mountains, but was surrounded by the army and couldn't escape, then in a few days, the army would be called together. Clean up the siege.
There weren't many hiding places around Weidian for them to escape.
