In the spring of the fifteenth year of Yongtai, in a certain basin of Longshui River.
In the early morning, a medium-sized cargo ship floated on the river.
The water flow under the boat is very gentle, but the situation on the boat... is quite turbulent.
The sounds of weapons clashing and people shouting to kill came and went.
There were more than thirty people fighting on both sides. It looked like the fight was lively, but in fact the strength gap between the two sides was very different; the stronger group was almost all fighting with bare hands. They started fighting with the other side who was holding weapons, but as they fought, the weapons were all taken away by them.
And what was taken away along with the weapons were fresh lives...
As the blood splashed out and stained the deck red, this scene The battle has also come to an end.
On the defeated side, there were a total of fifteen people, almost all of whom were wiped out. Only the last strong man was left. Although he was knocked to the ground and covered in blood, he still screamed desperately for the others. People take revenge.
Unfortunately, the reality before us cannot be changed by momentum and determination.
Soon, the only survivor was captured by three or four people. After being tied with ropes, he was escorted to a man in white.
"What's your name?"
The man in white who asked the question looked to be in his fifties, and his movements showed the majesty and indifference of a superior.
"Bah! Kill him if you want! What are you talking about!" As for the strong man, not only did he not answer the other party's question, he even spat at the other party's feet without fear.
Packing——
The next second, the strong man was slapped hard by the person holding him down.
"Hey~forget it." The man in white waved his hand, motioning for his men to stop fighting, and said to the strong man again, "Actually, it doesn't matter whether you say it or not, because I I already know your name." He paused, "I not only know your name, I also know all the fourteen people lying on the ground."
Hearing this, the strong man was cold. He hummed: "Hmph... So you have been targeting us for a long time?"
At this moment, in the heart of this strong man, he thought that the other party was "taking advantage of others".
But...
"I'm not just staring at 'you'." The man in white's next sentence changed his view, "but 'everyone'. "
The strong man is not stupid. He thought about this and then realized: "Are you from the government?"
"Okay, smart." The man in white nodded. , "Then I won't beat around the bush with you. To put it simply... I will spare your life today and ask you to tell the other small fish and shrimps selling smuggled salt on this waterway that if you want to do this business, just Obediently go to the government to get the salt, otherwise..."
He didn't finish what he said, and there was no need to finish.
The fourteen corpses on the ground have spoken for him.
“Nonsense!” But a strong manHe immediately said angrily, "If we can get the 'salt guide', who is willing to take the risk? It's not the local state officials who are greedy and want too much, which forces us to have no choice but to seek refuge in the green forest!"
The situation he described is very realistic, but also very helpless.
It is impossible to catch all the corrupt officials in Dashu, and even if anti-corruption work was being done at that time, it was advanced very slowly; generally speaking, as long as officials do not go too far during their term of office , just forcing some people to death, not all, then they can basically survive until the next transfer.
In the past few years, they, a group of salt dealers in the Luoding area, just happened to meet a state official who took advantage of their industry and made a big fuss about "salt introduction" to obtain bribes.
A large group like the Salt Gang can naturally cope with this situation, because they cooperate with the government across the country, but it is not a big problem to do something wrong in one place. They can also ask some larger officials who have been "handled" by themselves to help them coordinate.
However, ordinary small businessmen and hawkers are not that capable, so they, who have been cut off from their livelihood, can only turn into bandits and find some water bandits on the green forest road to cooperate and form a clique for private ownership. < /p>
The strong man was obviously dissatisfied, and immediately shouted: "They are all transporting private salt on the same river. Why do you ignore the boats of Hao's men? Aren't they also on the Green Forest Road?"
"Ha..." The man in white smiled, "Are you talking about Hao Jingyu?" He paused for half a second and then continued, "We have already negotiated with him, and he is 'facing the court'."
The strong man's voice became louder: "I can talk too! I can also talk to the court!"
The man in white looked at him, was silent for two seconds, and then said: "You What is your identity? Hao Jingyu is the talkative person of the Cangdu Gang. In a few years, he may be the boss of Green Forest Road... What about you? Why are you talking to 'us'?"
As soon as he said this, the strong man's eyes suddenly changed. He stared at the man in white, and his voice became firm and deep: "As long as I become as powerful as him , can anything be done?”