Chapter 23 My Responsibility

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  At this time, the sun had gradually risen, and pedestrians began to appear on this road. However, these pedestrians saw from a distance that there was a chicken bus and people sitting here, and they would rather turn their heads and run quickly than walk over. The reputation of smuggling private salt has never been much better than that of bandits and robbers.

  "Let's hurry up and get going!"

  Li Meng shouted, and everyone stood up. However, their expressions and attitudes were somewhat different from before. If one had to carefully distinguish, they seemed to have added a lot of determination.

  The bloodstains on the bamboo pole had been wiped clean, but a faint purple color could still be seen, apparently the blood had seeped in. Nobody seemed to care, and it was still stuck on the unicycle. A group of people set off quietly towards Fengmang Town, everyone's footsteps quickened and became more forceful.

  After leaving the small path, the nearby salt fields will not be banned from any private salt, this is also their tacit understanding with the salt merchants in Fengmeng Town, of course, the fact is that they dare not offend these big salt tycoons.

  As expected by Li Meng, Hou Shan was seen looking around at the crossroads from a distance, as if waiting for something. When he saw them appear in his line of sight, even though they were still far away, Hou Shan's whole body trembled and he turned to run towards the town. This only confirmed Li Meng's suspicions, who shouted loudly:

  "You think you can run far? Just honestly stay there!!"

  The words were shouted without any sense, the pedestrians on the road couldn't understand what was being said, but Hou Shan understood it clearly. He ran out a few steps and then stopped, kneeling down with a thud, waiting for Li Meng and others to arrive.

  Li Meng walked up to him, and Hou Shan didn't dare say a word, only continuously kowtowing. The ground was also somewhat rocky, and soon his forehead was bleeding. Li Meng smiled slightly, and opened his mouth to say:

  "Don't say anything else, just take them and sell the salt first, I'll wait for you here!"

  Hou Shan raised his head in disbelief, looking at Li Meng's smiling face, and had no idea what attitude Li Meng was taking. He could only stand up tremblingly, took a glance at several rickety carts, but suddenly saw that under the grass bag of one cart were pressed several waist knives and iron rulers. His body swayed, almost falling directly to the ground, which made Chen Liu Zi quite impatient, shouting loudly before leading a group of people to sell salt.

  Weighing the private salt, inspecting the goods and paying didn't take too much time. Li Meng's companion quickly finished and came back. Li Meng smiled and took out a string of money, handed it to the pale-faced Hou Shan, and said with a smile:

  "Is it still warm from those people?"

  Hou Shan was shocked by Li Meng's words and his body could no longer support itself, his waist and legs went soft and he directly knelt on the ground. Li Meng took over the silver for buying salt that Zhao Neng handed over, took out two silver coins from it and said to Zhao Neng:

  "Brother Zhao, take the brothers to find a tavern to drink, I have some words to say here."

  In this small town, one or two silver coins can really get a good meal and wine. Zhao Neng took the silver coins and invited his gradually recovering companions to go to the tavern together. As he watched his companions walk away, Li Meng lowered his head and said to Hou Shan, who was paralyzed on the ground:

  "Those salty dogs are forcing you, and you're also helpless. I don't blame you. From now on, this middleman's money won't be lacking for you either. But what about the thing I asked you to investigate yesterday? Have you investigated it?"

  As soon as the words were spoken, Hou Shan stared at Li Meng in disbelief. Suddenly, he flipped over and kowtowed to Li Meng several times, causing the newly healed wound on his head to crack open again. He raised his eyes and said hoarsely:

  "Mr. Li, you've treated me so well, I don't know where to put my face, I dare not take your money again, but I have a request, I hope you'll agree!"

  Li Mengna asked back in a sulky tone:

  "What's wrong?"

  "I'm all alone, just seeking a warm meal outside, with no one to rely on. I beg of you, sir, to take me in and give me some food, so that I can have the opportunity to serve you like an ox or a horse!"

  Li Meng's body hair stood on end after hearing this, but he could guess Hou Shan's feelings. He had told Yan Ding about his salt smuggling activities, and surely Hou Shan could also guess the fate of those Yan Ding people. It was truly terrifying, and the only way to protect himself that he could think of was to join Li Meng; otherwise, who knew when he would be beheaded by these reckless salt smugglers?

  Li Meng came from the information explosion era to the Ming Dynasty, and naturally knew how important it was for a private salt smuggler like himself to have smooth communication. This Hou Shan had a clever tongue and was also a master of interpersonal relationships; except that he was a bit timid, he was indeed the kind of person Li needed.

  "First tell me the news you asked about yesterday, then we can talk about other things..."

  People in Fengmeng Town all have a mindset of "it's none of my business", let alone Li Meng and his subordinates who have an aura that commands respect. No one knows what Li Meng and Hou Shan discussed while sitting by the road, but everyone saw that Hou Shan, the middleman from Fengmeng Town, bowed his head several times before leaving with Li Meng, without knowing what they had discussed or what had happened.

  After two days of transportation, the salt goods stored in Li Meng and Zhao Nai's homes were basically all cleared out. Moreover, it was discovered half a month ago that the amount of salt goods received was getting smaller and smaller. Relying solely on the production capacity of those people around Li Meng who boiled sea salt, it would probably take several months to accumulate twenty dan.

  The reason for the shortage of salt goods is also simple. After Mu Xun's death, the big and small salt merchants and salt workers all started to move, forcibly collecting salt goods in various villages or setting up checkpoints to catch them. There were also some daring households who went to Mang Town to sell salt on their own. These people are all lawless elements, and apart from buying and selling private salt, they will not stay still.

  Originally, the Ling Shan Wei Suo and coastal villages were poor due to lack of good farmland. They relied on boiling seawater for salt to make ends meet. Now, they are being exploited by these big and small lawless gangs who seize their salt goods, making life even more difficult. Moreover, those who sell private salt are not kind-hearted people, they engage in many other unlawful activities besides selling private salt, causing the poor common people to suffer even more.

  Yan Zheng Xun Jian Mou Yan Wang died at the hands of Li Meng, and at this time, the salt workers were out of control and in a state of chaos, with law and order collapsing everywhere. Li Meng felt that he also had some responsibility for this situation.

  Li Meng has always been a responsible person, from his student days to the army and then to the transportation company. This time, Li Meng also told himself that he must take responsibility and resolve this issue, calm down the chaos.