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Who is Shang Junchang, and Li Jing would have such a big reaction when he heard this name?

Li Jing asked Cang Cao to participate in military affairs Han Zhongwu: "Do you know who this Shang Junchang is?" Unexpectedly, Han Zhongwu didn't hesitate at all, and immediately replied: "This person is a salt merchant in Puzhou, a bold person, who often goes south and north, walks various states, and is a big businessman. ”

Li Jing was just asking casually, but he didn't expect Han Zhongwu to really hear of Shang Junchang, and he also said that he was a bold salt merchant. This surprised Li Jing, which was different from his perception of Shang Junchang. Shang Junchang was very famous in the history of the late Tang Dynasty and left a very important mark. But that was by no means because he was a bold salt merchant, but because he was the number two person under Xianzhi, the great anti-thief king in the late Tang Dynasty, one of the ten commanders.

History, at the end of Xiantong, still hungry, stealing Henan. In the first year of Qianfu, the famous thief King Xianzhi was in chaos.

The first year of this Qianfu, that is, the fifteenth year of Xiantong, is exactly this year. At present, the year name is still the name of Yizong, and it will not be changed until October. Therefore, this year is not only the 15th year of Xiantong, but also the first year of Qianfu. Pu Ming thief Wang Xianzhi is in chaos, which is what Wang Xianzhi gathered to rebel this year.

What kind of character is Wang Xianzhi? Here it is said that he is a famous thief, Pu is Puzhou, and a famous thief is a famous thief. Based on the memory in Li Jing's mind, he knew that Wang Xianzhi was indeed a man of the hour, and Puzhou was between Qingzhou and Luoyang, that is, not far from Wagang, where the storm arose at the end of the Sui Dynasty. Like Wagang Ju Rebellion, Wang Xianzhi rebelled. It wasn't hasty. They were prepared. Or maybe they already have the capital to rebel.

In the Romance of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, before Shan Xinyi, the five tiger generals of Wagang, joined Wagang, he was a famous underworld brother in Henan, the second brother of the red-haired Lingguan Shan of Erxian Village, known as the leader of the heroes of the five roads of the green forest in the nine provinces, and was the chief scoop leader Lin Scoop. There are also villages and mountains below, all of which are under his jurisdiction.

More than 200 years have passed, and there is now a famous underworld brother in this land, that is, Wang Xianzhi. More coincidentally. The tenth generation of descendants of Shan Xiongxin, Shan Xing, Shan Wang, Shan Mao, and Shan Sheng. The four later participated in the Huangchao Uprising, and were known as the "Four Heroes of the Yellow Army" because of their bravery. Wang Xianzhi, like Shan Xiongxin, is also a wealthy man on the surface. The Wang family has been selling salt for generations, and when Wang Xianzhi arrived, he was already a salt seller in Puzhou, and the Huang family, another salt seller in Caozhou, was considered an underworld friend. Wang Xianzhi is ostensibly selling official salt and is a salt merchant, but in fact, he is doing a private salt business. Play with fire. Wealth and danger are sought.

As the central government of the Tang Dynasty became more and more difficult, the imperial court used salt tea more and more as a means of collecting money. Tea and salt monopoly. Taxes are incomparably heavy. More than 100 dollars of salt are used, and the people can't afford to eat salt. Because the higher the price of salt, the greater the profit from selling illicit salt. Salt is just boiling the sea for salt, and the cost of salt is only a few pennies, but it is sold for more than 100 yuan, dozens or even a hundred times the profit, such a profit is enough to make those brave people take risks for it.

Many salt merchants who originally sold official salt began to join the ranks of selling smuggled salt, and because the imperial court investigated and punished smuggled salt, those who sold more than one stone of smuggled salt were to be executed. As a result, in order to evade disposal, these smugglers often begin to arm themselves and engage in armed trafficking. At its peak, an entire organized trafficking group was established. Wang Xianzhi is the largest smuggler of salt in Puzhou, and there are ten armed salt trafficking gangs under his command, and these ten leaders are all brothers under Wang Xianzhi, and the underworld is known as the ten commanders.

Ticket Shuai, that is, the leader of the fierce plagiarism, can also be called Wang Xianzhi, the hall master and incense master of the armed salt trafficking gang. In the late Tang Dynasty, the smuggling of salt was much more culpable than in the late Sui Dynasty. At the end of the Sui Dynasty, Cheng bit the gold and sold the smuggled salt directly to the yamen to sell, shouting that he was selling smuggled salt, but the result was just a beating, and then he was put in prison to eat prison food. But in the late Tang Dynasty, it was different, if you catch or sell smuggled salt, you will be directly exiled for thousands of miles to fill the army, and if you sell smuggled salt, you will be directly executed. This punishment scale, in the late Tang Dynasty, selling smuggled salt is completely equivalent to the armed drug trafficking of Colombia's big drug lords, which is a desperate business.

Who is Shang Junchang? That was Wang Xianzhi's first vote leader, the first master of Zhongxiang Hall. Right-hand man, henchman. After Wang Xianzhi's uprising, Shang Junchang has always been the second person under Wang Xianzhi, the second leader. He also has a younger brother named Shang Rang, who is also a Xiangzhu-level figure, and after the defeat of Wang Xianzhi, the most popular queen, he took refuge in Huang Chao, the current leader of the Caozhou Salt Gang, and became the second leader of Huang Chao.

It can be said that Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao are the most influential figures in the late Tang Dynasty, but the elder brother Shang Jun is the second leader of these two influential figures, and it is conceivable that they are not idle. Soon, Shang Junchang was about to rebel with Wang Xianzhi, but at this time, he suddenly came to Shamen Town, and asked to see Li Jing, which made Li Jing have to be surprised.

However, Han Zhongwu saw that Li Jing was a little confused, and said directly: "Shang Junchang is a famous salt merchant in Puzhou, and he must have known the new salt on our Nantang Island, which is white in color, large and dry. I guess he wanted to come to us to buy salt. ”

Li Jing was surprised: "We are an official soldier, he is a salt merchant, but now he comes to us to buy salt instead of from the salt envoy, then this is buying illegal salt, isn't he afraid that we will take him down and send him to the official?" ”

Han Zhongwu smiled: "Speaking of which, our salt drying now is actually in violation of the imperial court's control over salt." We dry salt privately, and we do not give the salt we produce to the salt transporters, and we do not pay taxes, which is actually no different from those salt traders who sell salt privately. Since this Shang Junchang came, he must have thought the same way. "This Jinshi from a merchant family is now Li Jing's brother-in-law, and he doesn't have so many scruples when he speaks, "I think I can meet this Shang Junchang, they are the biggest salt sellers in Henan, our salt is so good, even if there is more, they can eat it." If you sell the salt, that's a lot of money. Otherwise, although there are many soldiers and civilians on our island, salt cannot be eaten, so we can't really take it all and present it to the emperor. ”

The salt is sold in the sun, and Li Jing has already planned it. However, if he wants to sell it to Shang Junchang, Li Jing has no decision, and this Shang Junchang is an anti-thief leader who is about to rebel. Do business with them now, will this implicate you at that time?

"How many people did Shang Junchang bring?" Li Jing asked.

"He brought a dozen or so men. They all seem to be tough people. I guess they are all salt gang thugs. ”

Li Jing hesitated. He really wanted to take down Shang Junchang now, but in what name did he say that he was a smuggler of salt? Then this reason is also far-fetched, Shamen Town is not a salt transportation envoy yamen, where is it in charge of these things. But do you want him to say that Shang Junchang is about to rebel and will be the number two person in the anti-thief? Who believes this?

After pondering for a long time, Li Jing decided to give up this business and do business with the thief. It's still a private salt business, this one is too dangerous. But this man had a foresight, "Bring them here." ”

Soon Shang Junchang was brought in, although Shang Junchang was wearing a silk satin, but as soon as they met, his tall and burly body revealed a reckless and fierce atmosphere. Less than forty years old, seven feet tall, with a tiger's back and a bear's waist, a big broad face, and a full beard. At first sight of Li Jing. Immediately, he bowed very politely and bowed, and spoke. It was like a lion's roar and said loudly: "In Xiapuzhou, the salt merchant Shang Jun has seen Yanei!" ”

Li Jing looked at this man who was like a tiger and a wolf, and it was hard to imagine that such a person would dare to raise the banner of rebellion with Wang Xianzhi in a short time. Isn't it very profitable to be a salt merchant, or do they already feel that they have accumulated enough strength to gamble?

Li Jing remembered last year's great famine, Puzhou and Caozhou under the Taiping Festival to the west of Ziqing Town were the most serious famine, and even triggered dozens of large and small cases of displaced people gathering to loot and lose the countryside. Liu Shouqian's home was looted by the homeless, and according to Liu Shouqian, although most of the rioters were hungry, it was the mountain bandits and salt sellers who guided and organized them. Although the government pacified the eventually, these things were covered up and did not attract enough attention.

Perhaps, behind last year's turmoil, there was already the possibility of Wang Xianzhi, Shang Junrang and others manipulating and tempting.

"What has Wang Xianzhi been busy with lately?" Li Jing asked suddenly.

Shang Junrang was slightly taken aback, he didn't expect him to suddenly ask about Wang Xianzhi, and he was speechless at the moment.

Li Jing asked again: "I heard that Wang Xianzhi, you and all the ticket commanders are building blades day and night, recruiting troops and horses, collecting displaced people, and having the intention of gathering people to rebel, yes or not?" ”

These words were shouted with a sense of authority, and Shang Jun let the color change after hearing it, and his right hand immediately habitually took out his weapon. But after touching it a few times, it was empty, and then he remembered that under the stone carved green wolf outside the hall, the long knife he was carrying was detained by the guard.

Li Jing sat in the hall and watched coldly as Shang Junchang was disfigured by his words, and couldn't help but be sure in his heart, it seemed that Wang Xianzhi was indeed as he expected, and he had already rebelled. Shi Zai Wang Xianzhi didn't officially start the army until the end of the year, but he had already cheated out just now, and Wang Xianzhi was already preparing in secret. Otherwise, how could he have joined forces, there were thousands of people.

This Shang Jun can't stay for a long time, let alone do business with them.

"Come on, take this traitor down and send him to the Dengzhou Assassin's Mansion immediately." Li Jing did not have real evidence of Wang Xianzhi and others' rebellion, but he felt that it was still necessary to remind Song Wei that the Tianping Festival was close to the Pinglu Army, and Wang Xianzhi of Puzhou was rebellious, and the first thing to bear the brunt of it was Ziqing Town, which was close to them. Send people over, for it is their business to believe or not to believe.

Li Jing originally wanted to kill Shang Junrang with one sword, but after thinking about it, he still had to keep a live one for Song Wei so that he could interrogate him personally.

Looking at Shang Junchang's boat that was tied up and escorted to Dengzhou, Li Jing couldn't help but sigh in his heart, this time, maybe there will be one less person in the history of the late Tang Dynasty. He is dead now, but he is just a nameless smuggler of salt, and compared to the identity of the number one general under Wang Xianzhi, who stirred up the world's rebellion, it is far behind.

He even couldn't control his thoughts, if he asked Li Wei to lead a team of people to infiltrate Puzhou and Caozhou and kill Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao, how would history go? Will the thirty years of turmoil that the late Tang Dynasty is about to open will disappear?

The silence was a little distracted, and the footsteps of a patrol soldier woke Li Jing, he shook his head, and secretly sighed to himself What was wrong? Even if he killed Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao, how much effect would it have? Although history is full of accidents, it is also full of inevitability. With the current situation in Datang, as long as this natural disaster continues, the famine continues, and the people have no food to eat, and there are just one or two ambitious people who provoke it, this great turmoil will still be avoidable.

Now that this turmoil is inevitable, the town of Salmen must speed up its preparations. In the past, Li Jing always felt that everything in the world was peaceful now, and he always felt a little prosperous and prosperous. But when he saw Shang Junchang with his own eyes, he suddenly realized that Dengzhou, where he is now located, was a really wealthy place in the late Tang Dynasty, and other places did not have such a good life. And the disaster continues, a new tide of displaced people is about to begin, Wang Xianzhi together, and the era of the late Tang Dynasty when one cannibalism is about to begin.

Returning to the town general's mansion, Li Jing immediately summoned the soldiers of the town general's mansion, Cao Shen, Zhang Hong, Cangcao and Han Zhongwu, and Li Chun, who was recorded and served in the military, in addition to the soldiers Cao Zuo Cui Zhiyuan, Cangcao Zuo Feng Guoyong, and Zhang Chengye, the supervisor of the army, and other five staff heads and supervisors in the town general's mansion. In addition, the soldiers and recorders of the two towns and forts below also came to attend, and more than a dozen staff members and civil officials gathered together, which was the first meeting without the participation of other military generals.

"Han Cangcao, how much grain do we have in reserve?"

In troubled times, food is the root of life. Li Jing has been constantly increasing his food reserves, but there will never be more food.

"At present, we have a total of 370,000 stone of grain in storage, including rice, wheat, corn, sorghum, soybeans and other grain categories. A large part of this grain is obtained from the suppression of bandits and thieves over the years, a large part of it is that we have been continuously purchasing, and a large part of it is half of the money of our current liquor factory that is used to trade grain income. ”

370,000 stone of grain, according to the standard of three stone of grain per person a year, enough for 120,000 people to use a year. If we take into account the presence of women, children, and the elderly, and lower the standard to an average of two stone per person, or even one and a half stone, then it is barely enough to feed the people on the island for two years.

"It's not enough." Li Jing frowned, "We must continue to buy grain, we must increase our efforts, how much money do we have now, and we must use more than half of the money to buy grain." In addition, all the liquor in the future was used to exchange for grain. (To be continued.) For mobile phone users, please go to read. )