Chapter 148: Collecting the Power of Tigers for Wu Song

Li Jun, a river dragon, built up a considerable fortune along the hundreds of miles of rivers between Wuwei Army and Jiangzhou.

He and the Tong brothers were going to Liangshan, but he couldn't just ignore his brothers.

According to Cao Jie's instructions, those who are willing to go with them will be warmly welcomed. If they have elderly parents and young children and are reluctant to leave their hometown, they will not be forced to do so. It is okay to give the private salt business to the brothers who started the business together.

But all this will not be settled until the trip to Jiangzhou is over.

After all, we don’t know what kind of accidents will happen, and the group of people under Li Jun can be a great help.

Two flowers bloom, one branch each.

Cao Jie and his party went down Jieyang Ridge and went straight to Jieyang Town.

The town was originally an administrative unit that managed the military and civilians in a military manner. The person in charge was called the town commander, who coordinated all civil and military affairs within the jurisdiction.

Later, this system led to disaster and destroyed the Tang Dynasty.

When the Song Dynasty was established, Emperor Taizu Zhao Kuangyin realized the harm that would be caused by excessive power of military commanders. In order to prevent it from happening, he resolutely implemented the national policy of respecting culture and suppressing military power.

Even military towns on the border were brought under the jurisdiction of local governments.

In other words, by the Song Dynasty, towns in a purely military sense no longer existed, but market towns in the sense of commodity trading began to emerge.

Since the Song Dynasty, any place with a population that is not large enough to form a county but has a large amount of commodity transactions and tax collection is called a town, hence the term "town". This has continued to the Ming and Qing Dynasties and to the present.

Because the trade on the Yangtze River was absorbed by the Jiangzhou City opposite, Jieyang Town was not very prosperous. It did not even have a city wall, only an empty market fence where people went to market on the first and fifteenth day of every month.

The arrival of Cao Jie and his group of unfamiliar faces immediately attracted the attention of the people in the town.

Since ancient times, the imperial power did not extend below the county level, so Jieyang Town naturally had no government agencies. It all relied on the self-governance of the gentry, and the tax collectors were all their own sons and nephews.

The most domineering elder in Jieyang Town was named "Mu".

The three tyrants of Jieyang, Li Jun was a contraband salt dealer, Li Li was a black shop owner, brothers Zhang Heng and Zhang Shun were black ship operators, and Mu Hong and Mu Chun were landlords.

If we kill all the landlords in the world, there might be some innocent people among them, but if we kill nine out of ten, there will definitely be some that slip through the net.

The Mu Hong brothers are the gangsters in the town.

We don’t know whether he killed anyone or bullied his neighbors, but it is certain that he bullied outsiders.

"Brother, do you want me to go to Mu Family Manor to pay a visit first?"

Chao Gai was also born into a small landlord family. He was ruthless when he bullied the neighboring village. He even took away the pagoda that the people had spent a lot of money to build to suppress the village.

In this day and age, it is normal for local bullies to bully people. Just like Su Dongpo gave his concubine to others, it is simply unimaginable, but this era created this deformed culture, which cannot be judged by the morality of later generations.

Just as Li Jun said, the emperor wants to eat people, the civil and military officials want to eat people, the landlords and profiteers want to eat people, everyone wants to eat people.

Although the people at the bottom of society are oppressed, they are no more merciful than others when it comes to cannibalism.

Cao Jie has ambitions for the world, so he cannot judge others with the morality of ordinary people.

To put it simply, there is a bottom line, but it is not high.

The three tyrants of Jieyang only occupied one side, but they were not the three evils of Jieyang.

Then Zhou Chu is still one of the three evils!

As long as you repent, you can still benefit others.

Cao Jie nodded and said, "Brother Chao Gai will lead the way this time. Brother Shi Qian will accompany Brother Chao Gai, and we will find a hotel to stay in."

"Brother, just wait for my good news!"

Chao Gai and Shi Qian bowed, asked people for the direction of Mujiazhuang, and left at high strides.

As for Cao Jie and his party, they found a shabby inn near the market and stayed there. They also spent money to buy some wine, meat and food, so they would not treat their stomachs badly.

While everyone was enjoying the delicious food and drinks, a poor man walked into the inn, bowed with a smug look on his face, and asked the shopkeeper: "Shopkeeper, can I borrow your precious place to perform and attract customers for you?"

"Go! Go! Go!"

The shopkeeper didn't say anything, but the waiter chased him away, shouting, "You've offended Mu's second son. He has told the townspeople not to give you any tips. You'd better go perform in another town!"

"Alas! It's not that I don't want to leave, but I have run out of money and have no money left..."

"Then you must leave Jieyang Town as soon as possible! The second son of the Mu family is very capable, but he does not allow you to give rewards. If you go to other places and try to get food without paying your respects first, you will not end up well." The shopkeeper waved his hand and continued to calculate.

"Ugh!"

The down-and-out man sighed deeply. When you are in the underworld, if you are not careful, you might offend a powerful man.

Liu Tang took a look and then looked away.

He was an old hand and saw the key at a glance.

If you perform in the county, you don't need to pay respects to the government, because that is the government's territory. But in the towns, it's different.

The Mu family regards Jieyang Town as their territory. If you come to them to get food, you have no right not to pay your respects to them.

"Those two brothers of the Mu family are a bit overbearing!" Jiao Ting spoke quickly as always.

"Although it's a bit overbearing, it's not unruly." Liu Tang pointed to the north and said with a smile: "When I was in Shanxi, I didn't pay my respects to the local bosses and was surrounded by them. Fortunately, I didn't escape from that village."

Jiao Ting scratched his head. If he had not met Cao Jie, he would have also fled famine in various places in Shandong.

The local people in various places are not able to get enough to eat, so how can they allow outsiders to come and get food?

"I am so lucky to have met my brother. That's why I have a place to stay and I am so rich today."

Cao Jie turned his head and looked at the man, saying, "Brother Liu Tang, call that man over here."

Liu Tang was stunned: "Brother, why don't you wait a little longer and make friends with the Mu brothers first, then resolve the grudge between them, it won't be too late."

"I know what you mean, brother. It's just that we are not enemies that cannot be reconciled. If the two brothers Mu Hong don't have this much tolerance, what kind of heroes are they?"

Liu Tang thought about it and nodded, "Brother is right. I will call him over now."

Soon, the poor man bowed before Cao Jie and said, "My name is Xue Yong, nicknamed Sick Big Bug by people in Jianghu. I am from Luoyang, and I make a living by using guns and selling medicine in Jianghu.

You all look like the heroes of Shezha, so why don't I show off my skills with a set of spears and sticks to cheer you up. My plaster is not bad either, my grandfather was an officer in the army of the old General Zhong, and this medicine for wounds and sprains was obtained from the army, and those who have used it say it is good. "

Before Xue Yong finished speaking, everyone looked at him in surprise.

Ruan Xiaoqi was speechless and said, "You said you are a sick bug?"

"Exactly! A good man knows a bad man?"

"I don't know, but... your soul is a tiger?"

Xue Yong hesitated for a moment, but still nodded and said, "It is indeed a tiger."

"Okay!"

Liu Tang clapped his hands and said, "If it weren't for my brother's good eyesight, I would have missed such a good man today."

Xue Yong: “???”

Gongsun Sheng was also delighted: "If the Subduing Tiger Arhat can get the help of a group of tigers, his abilities will at least improve. Congratulations, brother, for meeting such a talented person!"

(End of this chapter)