All Heavens and Worlds Modified History System

Chapter 283: Encountering Wang Xianzhi on the Road and Joining the Smuggling of Salt

"Captain Wu, thank you for your help."

At a ferry crossing on the Jinti River, a sturdy man stuffed a few coins into the hands of the leader of the defending army.

After weighing the amount, the armored leader's face darkened. "Is that all?"

The sturdy man looked embarrassed and said, "Captain Wu, please forgive me. Business is not good these days. I really can't help it."

"Humph."

Captain Wu shook the sword hanging from his waist and said, "Don't talk about these useless things. How could I not know what business you are doing?"

He looked at the cart carried by the burly man and his group. "Don't talk nonsense, this is not enough!"

The sturdy man looked embarrassed. After a moment, he gritted his teeth and took out ten pieces of silk from the cart and sent them over.

Captain Wu then revealed a satisfied smile, glanced at Fu Chuan casually, and waved his hand to let the group of people and the cart pass.

Among the waiting crowd, Chen Ran saw this scene thoughtfully.

"Talisman, pass on."

When it was Chen Ran's turn, he naturally took out the talisman he had made and passed it over.

Captain Wu, who was checking the talisman, stared at the sturdy Chen Ran and asked, "Your name is Huang Yaoshi? Where are you from? Where are you going? What are you doing?"

"I am from Weizhou, and I am going to Puyang to visit my relatives."

"Where are you from Weizhou?"

"From Wei County."

"To whom?"

"Go to my relative Huang Chao."

Hearing this, the sturdy man who was about to board the ferry turned around and looked over in confusion.

"Hey." Captain Wu laughed strangely, "You acted like it was real, but it's a pity you can't hide it from me."

As he was speaking, more than a dozen soldiers guarding the city had gathered around him.

Chen Ran's expression remained unchanged. "What does this mean?"

"I am from Wei County." Captain Wu drew his sword and said, "This talisman is fake! Capture it!"

Two soldiers immediately stepped forward and locked Chen Ran's shoulders.

Chen Ran was also depressed. His work was obviously very beautiful and impeccable, so how could it be seen through?

In fact, it was because it was done too delicately that the flaw was exposed.

At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the country was in chaos and the local officials made shoddy talismans for the people.

For example, the talisman in Chen Ran’s hand is more exquisite than the fish talismans of the officials. Of course, it is fake.

When two big hands were placed on his shoulders, Chen Ran shook his body suddenly, and immediately shook the two people behind him away.

Without waiting for everyone to react, he rushed forward and crashed into the arms of the team leader.

He rushed forward with all his strength, and the armor on Captain Wu's head and body was deformed and damaged.

Suddenly something unexpected happened, and more than ten soldiers guarding Jin shouted, took out their weapons, and rushed towards Chen Ran.

Chen Ran raised his toes and picked up the sword from beside Captain Wu, who was lying on the ground and spitting blood.

With the swords flashing, all the troops defending Jin were quickly defeated.

Before he could catch his breath, Captain Wu, who had already vomited blood, struggled to crawl over and stabbed his calf with a short blade in his hand.

‘Click! ’

He raised his leg and crushed Captain Wu's wrist, then slashed his neck with a knife.

"The soldiers of the Tang Dynasty are so brave."

Among the dozen or so soldiers defending Tianjin, no one retreated, and the team leaders even fought to the death.

This kind of bravery is unimaginable for the Song and Ming armies.

While expressing his admiration, Chen Ran's hands were not idle. He collected the few coins and ten pieces of cloth that the team leader had collected before.

There were too many pieces of cloth to carry, so he simply tied them up with ropes and carried them on his back.

At this time, most of the people waiting to cross the river had dispersed.

Only a group of strong men, each holding a weapon to protect their carts, stared at Chen Ran vigilantly.

Chen Ran ignored them, stepped onto the ferry, and called out to the shivering boatman, "Go to the other side."

There was no conversation along the way and both sides lived in peace.

When they reached the other side, Chen Ran got off the boat carrying ten pieces of cloth and left. It was only then that the strong man shouted, "Sir, please stay."

Chen Ran turned to look at him, his eyes slightly puzzled. "What's the matter?"

The sturdy man put away his sword, stepped forward and saluted, "My name is Wang Xianzhi, nice to meet you, sir."

"Wang Xianzhi," Chen Ran grinned, "Huang Yaoshi is a pseudonym used when traveling in Jianghu. My surname is Chen, my given name is Ran, and my courtesy name is Zihou. I have a little reputation in Jianghu, and people call me Yun Dayu."

Wang Xianzhi'(→_←)'

It's just a simple name, why did you come up with such a long string of names?

"So it was Mr. Chen in person." Wang Xianzhi forced a smile. "I heard that you were going to look for Huang Chao?"

"Ah."

Chen Ran nodded in agreement, thinking, "It's ok to find you."

“Haha~~~” Wang Xianzhi laughed, “My dear, you must have only heard of the name Huang Chao.”

"How do you know? Do you know him?"

"Of course I know him." Wang Xianzhi said with a smile, "I do salt business in Puzhou, and Huang Chao is from Yuanju (Cao County), and he does salt business in Caozhou."

"So that's it." Chen Ran understood instantly that he had remembered it wrong. He thought Huang Chao was from Puyang, but he never imagined that he was from Cao County next door.

Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao were both private salt dealers. Naturally, Huang Chao was more famous in history books, but when the uprising began, the real boss was actually Wang Xianzhi.

It was only after Wang Xianzhi died in battle that Huang Chao's moment of glory came. "I wonder why you went to look for Huang Chao?"

"I have no place to live, no food or clothes." Chen Ran said frankly, "I have heard of his name for a long time, so I went to work for him to make a living."

Wang Xianzhi showed a look of astonishment. "Huang Chao just has a good family background, but he himself has no ability. He is idle all day long, always thinking about going to Chang'an to take the imperial examination and become an official."

Not surprisingly, Wang Xianzhi was in the dark, "He is not surnamed Cui, Lu, or Zheng, and he is not a lackey of the royal family. Why is he an official?"

"Since you have such ability, how about joining me?"

Sure enough, Wang Xianzhi was impressed by Chen Ran's abilities and wanted to recruit him into his group.

As for what he said about Huang Chao, they were basically true.

Huang Chao did have an outstanding family background. His family had been private salt dealers for generations and was very wealthy. He was considered the most typical good family in the Tang Dynasty.

He learned martial arts and studied since childhood. Not only was he outstanding in archery, horse riding and shooting, he was also good at reciting poems and composing essays. He could be considered a man of both civil and military talents.

However, at this time, the Tang Dynasty court had already been firmly controlled by the aristocratic families.

He is not from an aristocratic family, nor does he work for the nobles as a lackey. He is just a commoner, but he still wants to become an official through the imperial examination?

It's so funny~~~
Chen Ran thought about it and asked, "How do I join your business? Do I become your subordinate, or do business with you?"

Wang Xianzhi has recently been competing for market share with his local colleague Shang Junchang, and the private fight between the two sides is very fierce.

Shang Junchang and his younger brother Shang Rang are both extremely brave men. Wang Xianzhi intends to recruit Chen Ran, a strong man who can single-handedly defeat an entire team of troops defending Tianjin, to deal with the Shang brothers.

Thinking of this, he immediately said generously, "My dear, you have the ability, so we should help each other as brothers! So, how about we work together to take over the entire Puzhou business, half for each of us?"

The other half of Puzhou's private salt business was still in the hands of the Shang brothers.

If Chen Ran can snatch it away, I will find a way to get it back later.

Chen Ran nodded with a smile, "That's great."

Wang Xianzhi laughed out loud and called his salt workers to come up and salute. "Let's go back to the farm and have a feast to celebrate!"

There were frequent wars in the late Tang Dynasty. In the last ten years, there were large-scale wars such as the Qiu Fu Uprising and the Guilin Garrison Uprising, which affected a wide range of areas.

As for small-scale wars and uprisings, they were extremely frequent.

Coupled with the deserters and bandits everywhere, the public security situation was extremely bad.

In order to protect themselves, forts were built in various places.

The so-called dock fort is a dock built on flat ground, surrounded by walls, with doors at the front and back, a watchtower built inside the dock, and corner towers built at the four corners, which is somewhat like a city.

In short, it is a small military defense fortress.

In troubled times, only defensive facilities like this can protect lives and property.

Wang Xianzhi had his own fortress, where almost all the people living were his family members and core subordinates.

If Chen Ran did not mention the partnership, but instead joined his team as a thug, he would also be qualified to live in.

The diet in the Tang Dynasty was mainly boiled, roasted and eaten raw.

It’s not that they don’t know how to cook or how to make an iron pan. In fact, iron pans have appeared as early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.

The reason why it is not popular is because of the lack of oil.

No matter what dish you cook, as long as there is no oil or water, the taste will be absolutely inedible.

The lack of oil is the real reason why stir-frying has not become popular on a large scale.

Chen Ran ate some cooked dishes but declined the pork chop.

Who knows how many parasites are in raw, unprocessed meat?
From ancient times to the present, countless people have been killed by parasites because of eating raw meat.

"Mr. Chen."

Wang Xianzhi took out his treasured grape wine and said, "Try this."

The culture during the Tang Dynasty was very prosperous, and wine from the Western Regions was very popular.

Of course, the price is also not cheap.

Chen Ran drank a few cups and found the taste a bit bitter. It was obvious that he was not interested in the drink.

In fact, he was not very interested in either eating or drinking.

At this moment, he just wanted to build his own power as soon as possible.

After finally having enough food and drink, we can finally start talking about business.

"In Puzhou, the private salt business is split equally between me and the Shang brothers."

"The two sides have fought privately many times in order to grab business."

"We don't want to fight, but we have no choice. We have so many brothers who need to support their families. If we don't expand our business, we won't be able to support them."

Chen Ran only believed half of these words.

The reason why the brothers cannot be supported is not because the business is not big enough, but because the boss is unwilling to share more.

Chen Ran listened patiently and finally heard the key point.

Wang Xianzhi burped and said, "I have an agreement with the Shang brothers. We have set a date to fight each other. Whoever loses will respect the winner. From now on, we will no longer fight and expand business to other states together."

"So, you want me to fight?"

Chen Ran raised his eyebrows. "If you win, how will you explain it?"

“Haha~~~” Wang Xianzhi used laughter to cover up his dissatisfaction. “Of course, the Shang brothers respect you. Let’s go to other states together to grab business.”

"The brothers of the Shang family are unruly. Even if you win in public, they will still be dissatisfied in private. When the time comes, you will be in trouble and have to beg me for help~~~"

Since ancient times, those who have engaged in private salt business have all been cruel and ruthless.

When Chen Ran was useful, Wang Xianzhi naturally treated him as a brother.

But once it's no longer useful, it's common to turn against each other on the spot.

Chen Ran smiled calmly and nodded, "Yes."

(End of this chapter)