Across the Water Margin: Officials of Ximen

After Zhang Heng counted his belongings, he left the main hall and went to rest in the side room, thinking that after he slept, he would go to Jiangzhou to find his brother Zhang Shun tomorrow, and then go to the gambling house in the city to have a good time.How did Zhang Heng know that his brother Zhang Shun was going down the river at this time, heading straight for Xiaogushan.

……

The sky gradually brightened, and the fog on the river cleared, revealing the small lonely mountain in the river.A boat put away its sails and slowly approached Xiaogushan.

At this time Zhang Heng also woke up and was about to leave for Jiangzhou.On the mountain, he saw a passenger ship approaching Xiaogushan, and he couldn't help being very surprised.

Every time my brother Zhang Shun came back, he always drove a flat boat and a fast boat. He had never used this kind of passenger boat for ferrying people.This boat came in a strange way, who is it?

Zhang Heng returned to Huiji Temple, took out a machete, and quietly walked down the mountain, wanting to see what happened.

Could it be that it is really blessed by the gods, and there are licensed people who don't know the details who come here to visit the mountains and rivers, but give me money to Grandpa Zhang?

Chapter 229 First Visit to the Inaction Army

In Huiji Temple, the yellow-bearded and red-haired "Chuanhuoer" Zhang Heng was lying in a pool of blood, with a pair of red triangular eyes looking at the sky unwillingly.In the yard not far from him, there was still a dead body lying, it was Zhang Shun, "The White Tiao in the Waves".

After Ximenqing and others used tricks to tease Li Kui and Zhang Shun into a fire in Jiangzhou, they used Zhang Shun's death to find out from the fishermen that Zhang Heng and Zhang Shun brothers lived on Xiaogu Mountain, and they rushed to Xiaogu Mountain in the lower reaches of Jiangzhou overnight by boat. Mountain.

After arriving at Xiaogu Mountain in the early morning, Jiao Ting and Shi Yong used Zhang Shun's body and his confidantes to lure Zhang Heng, the "boat fire boy", and carried Zhang Shun to Huiji Temple with him.

Ximen Qing and the others took great pains to send Zhang Shun back to Xiaogushan. Naturally, they didn't show kindness to the villain, but took the opportunity to kill Zhang Heng and Zhang Shun's lair.

As soon as they entered Huiji Temple, Jiao Ting and Shi Yong immediately attacked Zhang Heng. "Boat Huoer" Zhang Heng, like his brothers, spends most of his time on the water, how can he be the opponent of Jiao Ting and Shi Yong at this time?

In a panic, Zhang Heng only resisted a few moves before he was knocked down by Jiao Ting. Shi Yong made a few more cuts, which gave Zhang Heng a heartbroken blow.

Brothers Zhang Heng and Zhang Shun, who have roamed the Xunyang River for many years, finally got their due retribution.

Zhang Shun's confidant was so frightened that he wanted to run away, but was killed by Lu Xiaoyi who was following behind.

The villains were all put to death, and Ximen Qing also brought people up to Xiaogu Mountain, asking them to search around for the belongings hidden by the Zhang brothers.

At this time, the sun was shining brightly in the temple, and Ximen Qing had nothing to do, so he also burned three sticks of incense to the statue, asking the gods to bless him for his trip to Jiangzhou, so that he can wipe out all the gangsters and bullies in Jiangzhou.

"Brother, I have been searching for a long time, but I only found these hundred taels of gold. When I came here, I heard from Zhang Shun's subordinates that the two brothers were fond of gambling all their lives, and most of the money they collected was thrown in Jiangzhou City. in various gambling rooms." Shi Yong came to Ximen Qing to report.

"These two men and women killed so many people on the river, yet they only saved more than a hundred taels of gold!" Lu Xiaoyi also walked back dissatisfied.

After a while, Jiao Ting also came back with his people, and they had nothing else to gain from this small lonely mountain.

Seeing these gains, Ximen Qing felt helpless.He knew that Zhang Heng and Zhang Shun liked to gamble, but he didn't expect that the Zhang Brothers, known as one of the three tyrants of Jieyang, would gamble so thoroughly, leaving only such a small fortune.

Hey, it's better than nothing, the gold is still enough for the brothers to spend in Jiangzhou for a while.In the future, the idea of ​​getting rich can only be put on the heads of the Mu brothers, Li Jun, and Li Li.

Ximen Qing and others threw the bodies of Zhang Heng and Zhang Shun from the cliff into the Xunyang River.These two thieves have harmed many people on the river, and the retribution is not good, and it is their turn to feed the fish and shrimp.

After packing up and returning to the boat, Ximenqing gave an order, and the boat sailed towards the Wuwei Army on the north bank of the river.

The Wuwei Army is located in the lower reaches of Xiaogu Mountain and is affiliated to Huainan West Road. Mi Fu, one of the four major families of "Su, Huang, Mi, and Cai" in the Northern Song Dynasty, once served as the military commander here.The people in Wuwei were grateful for Mi Fu's benevolent government, and after his death, they rebuilt the mansion he used to live in into Mi Gong Temple to commemorate him.

The Wuwei Army was called Ruxu in the Three Kingdoms period, and Ruxukou was not far from the north of the city.At the end of the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Wei and Sun Wu fought several times in Ruxukou.When Cao Cao confronted Sun Quan at this place, he said "Being a child should be like Sun Zhongmou".Cao Cao's words were recorded in the history books, making this place famous.

Ximen Qing brought his brothers to Wuwei Army this time, but he didn't come to visit the mountains and rivers and pay tribute to the ancients.But to save lives.

Historically, Huang Wenbing, who discovered Song Jiang's anti-poetry in Jiangzhou City, lived here.After Song Jiang was rescued by Liangshan heroes from robbing the execution ground in Jiangzhou, in order to avenge Huang Wenbing, he led his people to make a fuss and wiped out Huang Wenbing's family of forty or fifty people.

In order to prevent history from repeating itself, Ximenqing had to arrange someone here to protect Huang Wenbing's family, and he was going to stab the heroes led by Song Jiang a few times here.

Therefore, when Ximenqing and his party went south, before they entered Jiangzhou, he arranged for Hong Zhenhong to lead his troops into the Wuwei Army, familiarize themselves with everything here, and prepare for the future ambush of Song Jiang and the others.

Head Hong, who has been leading people lurking in the Wuwei Army to detect the familiar terrain, got the news from Lu Xiaoyi yesterday, and waited on the riverside pier early in the morning, waiting for the arrival of Ximen Qing and others.

After Ximen Qing and his party disembarked and met Hong Zhen at the pier, Hong Zhen took them into the city and settled them in a hotel not far from Huang Wenbing's home at the north gate.

Ximen Qing and others lived in the Wuwei Army for three days, and under the leadership of Hong Zhen, they went around the city and outside the city. They also quietly remembered how Huang Wenbing and his family's tailor "Bibbon" Hou Jiansheng were born. appearance.

"The Armed Ape" Hou Jian was also one of Liangshan's heroes. He was nicknamed "The Armed Armed Ape" because he was black, thin and light.Hou Jian's ancestral home is Hongdu, that is, Hongzhou on Jiangnan West Road, which is located in the south of Jiangzhou.Hou Jian was originally a tailor, and he also loved to dance with guns and clubs. He once worshiped Xue Yong, a fellow Liangshan hero, as a teacher.

When Song Jiang attacked the Wuwei Army, Hou Jian was working at Huang Wenbing's house, so he and Xue Yong killed Huang Wenbing's family.After going to Liangshan, he was in charge of making military uniforms such as Qipao and jacket.

Hou Jian is undoubtedly an ungrateful person.Huang Wenbing did not owe him the slightest thing for inviting him to work at home. It can even be said that he was given a meal, and he should have some kindness towards him.But Hou Jian betrayed his employer without hesitation in order to seek refuge with Song Jiang, the big brother of the underworld, and told Song Jiang and others all the details of Huang Wenbing's family.Moreover, this guy also acted bravely as an internal response together with Xue Yong, helping the Liangshan bandits kill his employer's family.

I don't know if the "Bibbon" Hou Jian felt guilty when the old and young people in Huang Wenbing's family who had been with Hou Jian were slaughtered by Liangshan heroes?

Hou Jian, because of his meritorious service in betraying his employer this time, made Song Jiang happy. After going to Liangshan, his ranking among the [-] generals was even higher than that of his master "sick man" Xue Yong.

Whoever, like Huang Wenbing, recruits someone like Hou Jian who has a rebellious back of the head, will really be unlucky for eight lifetimes.

For Hou Jian, who is a traitor and seeks glory, Ximen Qing has only one word in his heart: kill!But now, in order not to startle the snake, Ximen Qing decided to let Hou Jian die for a few days.When Hou Jian lures the bandits from Liangshan, he will execute the Fa on the spot.

After the Wuwei Army looked at the terrain, Ximenqing still left Hong Zhen in the Wuwei Army, waiting for his order.Ximen Qing himself took Jiao Ting, Jiang Zhong and others to the upper reaches of Jiangzhou.In a few days, Ximen Qing was going to watch Song Jiang's performance.

In order to ensure the effect of the performance, Ximen Qing had to silently stand by Song Jiang's side to add some fire to him.

Chapter 2 Thirty

Ximen Qing, Jiang Zhong, Jiao Ting and others left the Wuwei Army and walked upstream along the river bank.Although this trip was going back to Jiangzhou City, Ximenqing and the others had to go to one place first on the way, and that was Jieyang Town.

In Songjiang's Jiangzhou scum gang, the two brothers "Unblocked" Mu Hong and "Little Blocked" Mu Chun lived in Mu's Village in the south of Jieyang Town.

Ximen Qing took his brothers to Jieyang Town, of course, to check the terrain and use this place as the second battlefield in the future.

Ximenqing remembered that in history, after Song Jiang was rescued from Jiangzhou by Chao Gai, Li Jun, and Mu Hong, he settled down in this Mujiazhuang to rest, and made a plan to attack the Wuwei Army and the Jiangzhou gang to go to Liangshan together.Li Jun, Zhang Heng and others all concentrated their belongings in Jieyang Town, and set off from here to go north to Liangshan after defeating the Wuwei Army.

Brothers Zhang Heng and Zhang Shun are poor ghosts, they spend as much as they have, and have not accumulated much wealth.Li Jun, Mu Hong and others are different.

Li Jun, the "Dragon of the River", is engaged in various businesses in the Xunyang River and Jieyang Ridge.He brought his two younger brothers, Tong Wei and Tong Meng, to smuggle salt on the river, and arranged for a younger brother, Li Li, to "urge the judge" to open a black shop on Jieyangling to kill, rob and sell human flesh.

Although he is only known as the tyrant of Jieyang Ridge, but he eats all water and land, and has the highest prestige in this area. The other two tyrants in Jieyang Town, Mu Hong and Mu Chun brothers, and Xunyangjiang Zhang Heng and Zhang Shun brothers all give him face.

In ancient times, because the salt trade was monopolized by the government, the profit from selling illegal salt was astonishing, which could reach several times to dozens of times.

Because the sale of illegal salt seriously affected the salt tax revenue of the imperial court, the punishment for selling illegal salt in all dynasties was very heavy.

In the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms before the Song Dynasty, people who sold more than a catty of illegal salt would be killed.In the Song Dynasty, although it was slightly relaxed, it was only relaxed to the point of beheading a few catties.

However, where is there a salt dealer who only sells a few catties of private salt?

Therefore, those who dare to engage in the business of selling private salt are all desperadoes who are not afraid of beheading.

Among the desperadoes who smuggled salt in the past dynasties, there are also celebrities.

Cheng Yaojin, a general of the Tang Dynasty, peddled salt and went to Wagang Mountain to rebel. Later, he became Li Shimin's important general and the founding general of the Tang Dynasty.

At the end of the Tang Dynasty, Wang Xianzhi rebelled with Huang Chao, a literati who failed in the imperial examination, after smuggling salt, which dealt a heavy blow to the rule of the imperial court and led to the decline of the Tang Dynasty.

At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Zhang Shicheng was also a salt smuggler. He rose up against the rule of the Yuan Dynasty and ruled the south of the Yangtze River separately. In his heyday, he supported hundreds of thousands of soldiers and established the Great Zhou regime.