Chapter 248: The Great Salt Smuggler Li Jun Appears

The heroes of Liangshan Mountain came to the south of the Yangtze River in three groups. The first and second groups had already gained something in Jiankang and Shezhou.

As for the third route, although the action was a little slower, it was steady and solid, setting up flags all the way southward.

The first stop of Liangshan’s journey south is Mangdang Mountain.

After the "Devil of Chaos" Fan Rui surrendered that day, the bandit den in Mangdang Mountain became deserted.

A year later, Fan Rui led the Liangshan heroes back again and rebuilt the stronghold in just a few days.

The troops headed straight for the Huai River and Huainan regions, and their prestige far exceeded that of before.

The name of "The Devil of Chaos" soon spread in Pei County and was known to the public for its ability to stop children from crying.

The group continued southward, hiding during the day and traveling at night. "Moyun Golden Wings" Ou Peng also rebuilt the Huangmen Mountain Stronghold in the Dabie Mountains.

During this time, the group also conquered some small hills.

Liangshan now has two hands, one of which is firmly extended to the Liao Kingdom in the north, grasping the commerce of the grassland; now the other hand is extended to the south of the Yangtze River, and along the route of Mangdang Mountain, Dabie Mountain, Huangmen Mountain, and Jiuhua Mountain, it has formed a certain combat power.

But when it comes to the Yangtze River Basin, the most important link is missing.

It's like an arm, with the upper arm, forearm and wrist, but missing five fingers. It has a lot of abilities but is unable to fully display them.

It was impossible to truly cooperate with Buddhism and Manichaeism in Jiangnan.

As for these five fingers, Cao Jie had already planned with Zong Ze, Wu Yong, Huang Wenbing and others when he was in Liangshan.

Li Jun, the "Dragon of the River", was chosen to return to the Yangtze River Basin to take charge.

After Cao Jie raised the dragon for a year, Li Jun's soul had grown into a real baby dragon. The growth of the soul was secondary, the most important thing was the improvement of his abilities.

Other heroes can only improve their fighting ability at most, but Li Jun reads Sun Tzu and Spring and Autumn Annals, and seeks knowledge from scholars like Zong Ze. As long as he is given a few years, he will be able to grow into an all-round talent who can rule a place.

Now that he is conquering Jiangnan, it is impossible for Cao Jie to stay here for long. Li Jun, the former leader of private salt dealers, has to take on the heavy responsibility and shoulder the major responsibility.

"elder brother!"

Qiupu River in Chizhou is the place where Li Bai wrote "Qiupu Song". There are green mountains and clear water on both sides of the river. When Cao Jie was about to set sail in his boat, a clear call came from the shore.

Li Jun walked on the water and boarded Cao Jie's small bamboo raft.

"Brother, you've worked hard." Cao Jie reached out and patted Li Jun on the shoulder: "Come on, take care of the two first."

As he spoke, he took out the wine gourd and dry food he carried with him and handed them to Li Jun.

While replenishing his energy, Li Jun said, "It's not that hard. Before I met my brother, I smuggled salt from Lianghuai to Jiangzhou. It was not only hard work, but I also had to put my head on the belt and made very little money a year. Now I follow my brother, I have wine, meat, gold and silver, and so many brothers following me. If the salt gang controlled by Liangshan is not established, then I, Li Jun, will have failed my brother's trust."

Huai salt is named after the Huai River that runs through the Jiangsu salt fields. It has the reputation of "the best salt in Lianghuai" and "the treasury of East China".

Nowadays, people in Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and other places eat Huai salt.

Cao Jie said solemnly: "Salt and iron are different from other things. Brother, if you want to unify the Lianghuai Salt Gang and become the largest salt lord in Jiangnan, you will completely affect the interests of the government, which is more dangerous than our rebellion in Liangshan."

What is the Salt Gang?

As the name suggests, they are smugglers who sell private salt. The term "Salt Gang" refers to the private salt trade in contrast to the "Salt and Iron Officials" in China since ancient times. They are also known as "Salt Smugglers".

The salt gang is different from private salt dealers. It is a salt gang officially recognized by the government. In ancient China, salt was controlled by the government from mining to selling. Salt was a necessity of life and it was difficult to survive without it. Controlling the supply of salt was equivalent to controlling the people under its rule.

Therefore, salt in the Song Dynasty, like in previous dynasties, has always been monopolized by the government. Private individuals are not allowed to enter this field, and this is clearly stipulated in the criminal law.

However, due to the special environment of feudal society, the country often had to face the problems of continuous wars, water conservancy construction, and border defense, which required a lot of money and manpower. At this time, if merchants took the initiative to donate money or even took the initiative to contract to complete the project, the court would issue them a salt trade license, allowing them to sell and transport official salt, and they could even get exemptions such as corvée reduction.

Thus, the Salt Gang emerged.

The Lianghuai Salt Gang was originally a lucrative business, but under the harsh taxation by the imperial court, it has become a mere shell.

Private salt trading was rampant.

After all, private salt does not need to pay taxes.

Li Jun has been the head of a private salt business for more than ten years. He can be said to be very experienced in the Lianghuai private salt business.

He swallowed the dry food in his mouth and said with a smile: "Brother, don't worry about my safety. Those salt officials have long been corrupted and are not worth mentioning. The biggest obstacle in front of me now is not the government, but those former salt gangs."

"These salt gangs could have done legal business, but the court imposed many heavy taxes, forcing them to smuggle and become private salt dealers. If I interfere, I will be attacked by the gang."

"However, with so many brothers in Liangshan here, why should I be afraid of these local tyrants?"

"Brother, I know your ability. I won't ask about other things. Just tell me what kind of manpower you need."

Now in Shezhou, a preliminary consensus has been reached with Manichaeism, so there is no need to leave the heroes idle here.

Chizhou, which is close to the Yangtze River and adjacent to Jiangzhou, is also the territory of Buddhism and is safe enough.

Li Jun shook his head and said, "I have brothers Tong Wei and Tong Meng under my command, and Mu Hong and Zhang Heng help me. There are also many brothers in Mangdang Mountain in the north, Huangmen Mountain in the west, and Jiankang Prefecture, who can all provide support nearby. What's more, Liangshan's large sea ships can already go out to sea, which is enough for me to operate."

"Yufan Gan" Meng Kang does have some skills in shipbuilding. After several years of development, Liangshan's shipbuilding industry can be said to be the best in Shandong.

Ruan Xiaoer has also trained a lot of sailors, and now he is trying to sail near the coast.

If there is a rebellion in the future, we can also contact Jiangnan through sea transportation.

In the future, when attacking the Jurchens, we will be able to reach the heart of Liaodong directly through the Bohai Sea.

After communicating with Li Jun, Cao Jie still gave him some good men to help him successfully become a big salt smuggler.

After meeting with Cao Jie and Fang Tianding, Wang Yin, Pang Wanchun and Du Wei from Shezhou wisely joined Deng Yuanjue's team.

Deng Yuanjue is the face of Jiuhua Buddhism in Shezhou.

Cao Jie is also a distinguished guest of Buddhism, so rounding it off, he is one of us.

At that moment, in Qingyang County at the foot of Mount Jiuhua, Li Jun had a friendly meeting with the heroes of Shezhou, led by Cao Jie.

Wang Yin and the other two were very interested in the private salt trade.

Before, they had no connections, were poor and destitute, and could only rely on Manichaeism.

Now that they have joined, they can get a big deal like illegal salt without doing anything. The three of them are all excited...

(End of this chapter)