Looking north towards the rivers and mountains

On the first day of the fifth month, when the ships Pingjia and Pingyi docked near the coast of Huai'an, Tang Li, the judge of the Lianghuai Transport Office, had just arrived at Baijuchang in Xinghua County, Gaoyou Prefecture, to the southwest. He immediately ordered that security be strengthened. Before the establishment of Gaoyou Prefecture, Xinghua County was under the jurisdiction of Taizhou.

Baijuchang didn't actually have many soldiers; its size was about the same as a fully staffed patrol station, which consisted of about thirty people.

However, they were almost never paid without working, and their weapons and equipment were better than those of the patrol officers. Their combat effectiveness was about the same, since the salt field patrolmen, commonly known as "salt police," were richer and less motivated to fight.

Tang Li acted swiftly, immediately gathering the patrolmen who were about to board the boats at the riverbank, and said, "Leave ten men behind to guard the salt field carefully, without fail." The supervisor in charge was greatly surprised and asked, "Judge Tang, has something happened?"

Tang Li said with displeasure, "Just obey, why are you making such a racket?"

Seeing Tang Li's gloomy expression, Guan Gou knew something was wrong. He then pointed to a man named Qiu Yi and said, "You will take ten men and escort five ships of salt. Be careful on the road and don't make any mistakes."

"Yes," Qiu Yi responded loudly, then turned around and assigned men to the various boats, boarding the first boat himself. Tang Li thought for a moment and felt that there were some things that shouldn't be hidden from the officials and soldiers of Baijuchang. In fact, due to the shortage of officials and soldiers, they would have to conscript a large number of strong and able-bodied salt farmers and villagers, provide them with weapons, and order them to assist in the defense.

Therefore, he continued, "Something has happened at the Lüsi Saltworks in Tongzhou. The bandit leader, Wu Dalang, led his men to attack and break through the saltworks, killing twenty people, including the magistrate, supervisor, and clerk, and stealing hundreds of taels of government salt. According to a report from the Tongzhou government office, the bandits have already boarded boats and headed north, seemingly intending to plunder further. Therefore, you must all guard the gates carefully and not make any mistakes." Having said this, he sighed and said, "At this critical juncture, if something else happens, the punishment will be doubled, and no one, from top to bottom, will fare well." The supervisor was startled and asked, "May I ask, Your Honor, how many bandits are there?"

"Initially there were only a few dozen people, but later the number increased to over a hundred, maybe even two hundred," Tang Li said.

Guan Gou was somewhat puzzled and said, "The incident happened at Lü Sichang, how come they can't even count the number of heads?"

"The bandits split into several groups, each with dozens of men, so it's possible that there are two hundred of them in total," Tang Li said.

He wasn't really sure either, because he'd only heard it from others. But judging from common sense, if there were only a few dozen thieves, they wouldn't be so arrogant. It wasn't just a matter of fighting ability, but also their morale.

After all, killing an official is tantamount to rebellion, and doing such a thing requires immense courage and a resolute attitude from the leader. To put it bluntly, it's not about whether you have the ability to do it—in fact, there are quite a few who have the ability to kill officials—but whether you dare to.

A few dozen people daring to act so recklessly would make them quite infamous in Henan and the Huai River region.

Last year, Guo Huonichi, a salt merchant from Yidu, crossed Hebei from Shandong, stormed into Shanxi, and then fought his way back to Shandong, defeating government troops and killing their commanders. He had only a few hundred men with him. This man's reputation, while not as great as Guo Huonichi's, is not far off.

Huh? Tang Li thought for a moment. Didn't this Wu Dalang claim to be from Yidu? Could he be a member of Guo Huo's Red Guards? Otherwise, how could he be so powerful? Thinking of this, Tang Li had no intention of arguing with Guan Gou and the others any longer. He prepared to write a letter at Baiju Field and send it to the Yangzhou Transport Office to report his thoughts.

He did not believe this was a baseless conjecture.

Guo Huo, originally a salt merchant in Yidu, later became involved in the smuggling of salt. He used small favors to bribe salt merchants in Yidu Road, gradually gathering a group of followers. When he rebelled, he ran rampant in the area, and for two months no one could subdue him.

This man went through a period of internal strife but failed to grow stronger, so he returned to Yidu. His morale was low, and he was eventually defeated by the government army.

Guo Huoni has not been caught to this day, as if he had never existed. He suddenly disappeared without a trace—not that he died, but that he vanished.

Yes, he's just gone. There's no sign of him alive or dead. Can you arbitrarily conclude that he's dead? No.

Is it possible that this Wu Dalang was one of the followers who rebelled with Guo Huonichi? It's very possible.

Tang Li was overjoyed and immediately rushed to the Baijuchang government office to prepare to write a letter.

Guan Gou watched his departing figure, feeling rather bewildered. "I didn't even have a chance to curry favor, and you've already run off. This is ridiculous..." Turning back dejectedly, Guan Gou glanced at everyone and said, "Did you all hear that? If you did, keep it to yourselves. Absolutely do not spread it. Anyone who makes a fuss will be punished."

After saying that, he turned and headed towards the yamen, still wanting to curry favor with Judge Tang.

Qiu Yi went ashore and walked past each of the five boats, first inspecting the equipment of the ten patrolmen, then arrogantly said, "Let me make this clear: do not spread the word about Lü Si's thieving ways, or don't blame me for being ruthless. Do you understand?"

"I heard you."

"understood."

"it is good."

The salt farmers operating the fishing boats responded in a jumbled mess, their faces showing both fear and a hint of glee.

Even corrupt officials know fear!

Goodness, so many officials and soldiers died in one salt field, it's truly gratifying!

Why don't you come to Baijuchang, you hero? I'll definitely lead the way and kill the salt policeman Qiu Yi first.

This man wasn't even an official; he only had ten men under his command, yet he was the most ruthless in oppressing everyone.

He would deduct a portion of the wages paid to the salt-making villagers each month.

Regular salt costs fifty coins per pound, and surplus salt costs sixty coins per pound. That's already as low as it can get, yet you still want to cut prices. Are you even human?

These villagers who temporarily helped transport the salt convoy finally earned some extra money, but as long as Qiu Yi was in charge of escorting the boats, he would inevitably embezzle a considerable portion of it. If you smuggled some salt outside the convoy to sell, whether or not you were discovered, you would have to pay him tribute, otherwise he would frame you and make you suffer.

As the saying goes, it's easier to see the King of Hell than to deal with his underlings. Qiu Yi is the most vicious underling, condemned by everyone, yet still alive and kicking.

"Let's get going, don't delay any longer." Seeing that everyone's attitude was quite respectful, Qiu Yi waved his hand with satisfaction and jumped onto the lead boat.

Zhang Jiusi, a resident of the pavilion, was second in line. He glared at Qiu Yi with hatred before quickly looking away and lowering his head to start rowing.

The third brother, Jiu Liu, stood at the stern of the boat, seemingly wanting to say something but hesitating.

Jiu Si seemed to sense his younger brother's gaze. Seeing that the lead boat had already sailed some distance, he turned to the side and whispered, "Jiu Liu, calm down." Jiu Liu nodded slightly, then couldn't help but say, "When are we going to find Brother Wang? Let him lead us on a heist. I've never even heard of this Wu Dalang before, yet he's accomplished such a great feat. I'm so envious."

After a moment of silence, Jiu Si turned his head and said while rowing the boat, "Brother Wang won't be going to Changzhou until the end of the month, and he won't be going to Jiangyin until the beginning of July. Just wait patiently." "Brother, if Brother Wang isn't going, can't we go by ourselves?" Jiu Liu said, "Didn't you take people to Taicang to sell salt a few times before? Brother Wang doesn't dare to go to Taicang, but you dare to go, and everyone will respect you."

Zhang Jiusi smiled and said, "Those times were really when I had no other choice and urgently needed money. Besides, Brother Wang wasn't too happy that I went to Taicang to sell salt on my own."

"Sigh." Zhang Jiuliu sighed and didn't say anything more.

But for some reason, after hearing about Wu Dalang's story, a flame surged in my chest, as if it were about to burst forth and burn all the filth and depravity of the world to ashes.

Before today, he had only vaguely had this idea, but Lüsichang was too close to them, as if it were happening right before their eyes. Someone had actually been so bold as to kill off the corrupt officials of Lüsichang and plunder the government salt.

The government troops were so useless. They were fierce and menacing when they bullied the salt farmers and villagers, but when they encountered a real strongman, they were all slaughtered.

He felt encouraged.

If Lüsi field is like this, why can't Baiju field be?

Perhaps the salt field patrolmen weren't so scary; they all had two shoulders and one head, and a wooden stick was enough to kill them.

Zhang Jiusi's heart was not entirely at peace either.

People's thoughts always change step by step; no one intends to rebel from the beginning.

Zhang Jiusi believed he had a certain prestige and good reputation among the salt farmers. Having started boating at the age of ten, he could summon a large number of boats. However, he could not overcome his fear of the government and the salt police.

In previous years, he sold smuggled salt in Gaoyou and Taizhou, but the area was dominated by local tyrants and bullies.

Someone changes their mind at the last minute and asks you to lower the price;

Some people, after receiving the salt, immediately summoned a large group of servants, armed with knives and bows, implying that they would not pay and that the servants were welcome to attack their compound if they dared. Others threatened to report the matter to the authorities and refuse to pay a single penny.

Zhang Jiusi tolerated it all at the time, even paying out of his own pocket to help his brothers. In the end, after settling the accounts, he didn't make much money, so he turned to selling salt in distant places. To be honest, the wealthy households in Taicang were much more particular; they truly operated on a cash-on-delivery basis.

He tolerated the extortion, threats, and even physical abuse from salt police officer Qiu Yi.

They were certain you wouldn't dare resist, because killing government officials and soldiers was tantamount to rebellion, and your whole family would be implicated. Zhang Jiu Si indeed dared not resist, but that didn't mean he wasn't filled with anger.

Each time Qiu Yi extorted money from him, his anger accumulated a little more.

Every time Qiu Yi beat or scolded him, the ropes binding him loosened a little more.

Having heard about Wu Dalang's story today, the official authority that had been binding Zhang Jiu Si seemed to loosen considerably.

It turned out that the officers and soldiers were not as formidable as he had imagined, and the officials were surprisingly nervous in the face of such a situation.

Haha!

A knife cuts to the body will draw blood; so did he, and so did the soldiers.

The boat moved slowly across the river, just like usual, yet something seemed different.

On the second day of the fifth lunar month, while the salt fields under the jurisdiction of the Lianghuai Transport Office were on high alert, Shao Shuyi and his gang had already purchased more than 13,000 catties of smuggled salt near the coast of Huai'an and began their return journey, heading towards the mouth of the Yangtze River.

On the return journey, they did nothing more. They even avoided the coastline, heading a little further out to sea before turning northwest, passing Chongming Island, and arriving at Matuosha late at night on the sixth day of the fifth lunar month.

After sending people ashore to investigate, the tense unloading process began.