Hearing this, Yang Huairen immediately understood what was going on, and he was angry for a while, and he raised his hand and slammed his fist on the table.

"It's too much, it's just lawless!"

Before Brother Tianba could react, Xiao Qi also figured it out instantly, he looked incredulous, and said quietly, "Could it be...... Killing good and risking merit? ”

Yang Huairen nodded, "Everything is obvious." After Zhao Xianqiu got the news that I went to Jiangnan, he thought that he must be fully prepared to welcome me.

This preparation, in addition to being prepared in Yangzhou City on the surface, will definitely try his best to cover up those unsightly things.

I used to think that Zhao Xianqiu's big deal was to accept bribes and solicit bribes, relying on him to be the head of the Caoyun Yamen, and to accept the peace money of those Jiangnan businessmen who were counting on Caoyun to make a fortune.

Now that I think about it, I feel that he accepted bribes, not only did he only accept money from big businessmen such as Huang Million and Bai Yinhai, but all the merchants in Jiangnan, as long as they could use the canal, he had to collect a lot of money. ”

Speaking of this, Xiao Qi was puzzled, "This is too exaggerated, right?" If that's the case, shouldn't there be people in front of his house who line up in front of his house every day to give him gifts?

Judging from the news sent back by our people, where Zhao Xianqiu lives, there are not many people who come to the door at all, and there are many businessmen who line up in front of the Caoyun Yamen every day to apply for official certificates, but he can't collect money openly in the yamen, right? ”

Yang Huairen shook his head, "That's not going to happen, Zhao Xianqiu is good at calculation, the new is cautious, he naturally won't leave any handle for others, and the way he collects money is very special."

Do you still remember the gang of water bandits we exterminated in Suzhou? As long as there are merchant ships passing through the canal in Badger Island, the water bandits in Badger Island will collect tolls from them.

Those who send money to the bandits will naturally pass through their merchant ships, and if they don't send money, the bandits will get in the way, or rob the merchant ships or beat the crew, or even kill people!

But the water bandits in Badger Island have limited ability after all, so they bully and bully those flat-bottomed small merchant ships, government ships and other large cargo ships, and they still dare not move.

But Zhao Xianqiu is different, he has 3,000 Cao troops under his command, and these Cao troops are equipped with strong bows and crossbows, and their weapons and equipment are no worse than the forbidden army, and they are even worse, not to mention merchant ships, even the dragon ships I am on, they can still rob! ”

Xiao Qi was surprised, "You mean ......"

Yang Huairen replied categorically, "Yes, that's what I mean, Zhao Xianqiu and his three thousand Cao troops are the biggest water bandits on the Grand Canal!"

Zhao Xianqiu has been operating in Jiangnan for many years, and when he first came, he probably wanted to be like Tong Guan, and he didn't dare to go too far, but just received some benefits from some close businessmen.

But as time passed, he built up a larger network of connections in the Jiangnan area, and his power grew, even surpassing that of the local government.

And his appetite is getting bigger and bigger as his power grows, just accepting some peace money, he is no longer satisfied, he began to build his own strength, and the Cao army, which originally belonged to the Caoyun Yamen, became the object of his wooing.

He spent a lot of money to build a big mansion outside the city of Yangzhou, and bought back dozens of Oiran from all over the south of the Yangtze River, which was used to win over the real power officials from all over the south of the Yangtze River.

People have desires, and those who become officials have stronger desires. Zhao Xianqiu used money or women to win over local officials, or, through the desires of these officials, he grabbed some of their handles.

Then he used this to achieve the goal of controlling them, and after that, no matter what Zhao Xianqiu did, these people did not dare to stand up and testify against him, so they could only rely on him, be his umbrella, and turn a blind eye to what he had done.

In Cao Jun, he constantly arranged people he trusted, such as Zhao Bin, a turtle grandson who was willing to admit a thief as his father, and then drove away those who didn't stop talking.

Whether he buys it with money, or uses any other method to collect his son, it won't take long at all, and the Cao army will be full of people who completely obey his command.

Then, Zhao Xianqiu sent his Cao army to find the most suitable place - Huangtoubo, and set up a secret stronghold here, which was actually a den of the Cao army's bandits.

Huangtoubo is located at the junction of the two states, there is no store in front of the village, just look at the geographical location, it is a good place to hide water bandits.

Moreover, the Huangtou Bo place is remote, which is just used to hide the toll he collects. Seven or eight years ago, the Cao army chose a village of Boli, deep in Huangtoubo, to drive the people away and occupy the flat area.

In order not to be too eye-catching, he did not harm the fishermen in the two villages of Huangtou Boli at that time, and reached an agreement with them to let the fishermen of Botou Village not leave the village at night.

What do they do at night? Quite simply, do exactly the same thing as a bandit and rob the passing ships on the canal!

Cao Jun is an officer and soldier when he puts on a military uniform, and he is a water bandit when he changes into a bandit's clothes! Anyone who crosses this section of the canal is given a very large toll.

Like the routine of the gang of water bandits in Suzhou, those who gave money were safe and sound, and those who did not give money hijacked ships and killed people.

The water bandits in Badger Island are no match for the weapons and equipment of the Cao army in any case, and the boats running on the canal, no matter how big and strong you are, and how many escorts there are with the boats, are powerless in front of the strong bows and crossbows of the Cao army.

So all the boats had to pay this toll to the bandits! Do the math, Zhao Xianqiu collected the safety money from the businessmen, and asked Cao Jun to pretend to be a water bandit to charge an extra toll, what kind of insatiable greed is this? !

The businessmen will settle accounts, whether it is to give Zhao Xianqiu peace money or to the water bandits tolls, as long as their profits are high enough, they will not cause trouble, let alone report to the official or anything, maybe they also know it in their hearts, but no one dares to say it.

And giant businessmen like Huang Million and Bai Yinhai, there are too many ships in the two families, and it is impossible to send one ship at a time, so it is too troublesome, so it is natural to send a huge amount of money to Zhao Xianqiu regularly through other means, so that Zhao Xianqiu can ensure the interests and safety of their trading.

Therefore, judging from the news reported back by our people, the ships of Huang Million and Bai Yinhai are obviously the largest in number and the largest amount of goods transported, but the two families do have the least guards on the ship.

In other words, they understood that as long as they gave Zhao Xianqiu enough silver, their family's merchant ship would never have problems on the canal! ”