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It didn't take a few days to complete all the arrangements, and the county government unexpectedly cooperated. Seeing this, Cheng Xi left Sun Erlang to coordinate, and took Tian Yu back to the camp first.

Li Niu had been waiting for several days. Seeing him finally return, he immediately stepped forward and asked, "Boss, was your trip smooth?"

Cheng Xi nodded. "County Magistrate Cao has already agreed to help us negotiate with the garrison. Recently, we need to clean up the wealthy families and measure the land. We'll take some land first and stabilize the grain supply."

Li Niu was so stunned he couldn't close his mouth. This was even possible?! Weren't they supposed to be discussing the salt fields? Why did they deal with the county magistrate right away? Even a jerk like that was willing to help out. Was he under a spell?!

However, the next moment, Li Niu felt happy. If it was true as the gang leader said, this would be great news!

They have to compete with the wealthy for land, which is a bit risky, but if the county magistrate stands on their side, wouldn't it be easy to reduce the power of the wealthy?

Damn it, back then that bastard surnamed Wan colluded with a county magistrate and almost took his life. Now that the Red Flag Gang is colluding with the county magistrate, shouldn’t it be easy to deal with them?

Li Niu burst into laughter at the thought: "The gang leader is amazing! Now I feel relieved. But have you decided which family to deal with first?"

Cheng Xi glanced at him and asked, "Why, do you want to deal with the Wan family first?"

If it were before, Li Niu would have nodded repeatedly, but this time he was more cautious and said quickly: "Although the surnamed Wan has a grudge against me, but for such an important matter, I have to listen to the arrangements of the gang leader!"

These words sounded so righteous that Tian Yu couldn't help but look at him.

Now Tian Yu also knows the hatred between Li Niu and the Wan family. Anyone who is inexplicably imprisoned or almost loses his life will be retaliated.

However, it is a bit surprising that he could still say such words even though they are such mortal enemies.

Thinking about his own experience, Tian Yu's face darkened slightly, but he pursed his lips and did not speak.

Unexpectedly, Cheng Xi said, "Wan Quan has done a lot of harm to the people and is also somewhat involved with the county magistrate. He can indeed be used as a sacrifice. However, this matter should be handed over to Erlang and Manager Wang. Your current priority is the salt fields."

Hearing this, Li Niu felt both happy and regretful, but he patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, boss. These days, the brothers have been investigating the illegal salt fields near the salt field. It won't take a few days to figure it out."

This is also the most critical use of the camp on the shore. It can lend rice on credit, purchase seafood, and sell goods at a reasonable price. With this set of things, countless villages will be grateful to the Red Flag Gang, and it will be easy to find out some information.

It would not be wrong to use it on private salt fields now.

Cheng Xi said, "News will come from the county soon. I will stay in the camp for the time being. If the salt dealers make any moves, we can first capture their salt fields."

The opponent’s main target is still Luoling Island, but they have a base, and so do the salt dealers.

The information provided by Lu Jian, combined with the information collected by the main camp and supplemented by the county government, should be able to clarify the current situation of the private salt fields, making it easier to deal with them.

Li Niu nodded repeatedly, rubbing his hands, eager to try.

The fact that the gang leader stayed in the main camp meant that this was also the main battlefield! He had been hunkered down in the main camp for so long, and now he could finally join the gang leader in a big fight. How could he not be excited?

Oh, by the way, the things that were decided before must be arranged as soon as possible!

As a result, Cheng Xi returned to the tent and was about to rest when someone came to his door.

Li Niu said with a shameless face, "Boss, you came to the camp this time without any servants. I have a few smart girls over there, how about picking one or two and sending them over?"

Cheng Xi didn't expect that Li Niu would come to her alone for this. She stared at the guy for a moment and said with a smile, "You can send it to me if you want, but you have to keep your mouth shut."

Huh? Li Niu was a bit bewildered. Even if he didn't choose beauty, he should have chosen intelligence, right? Why did he choose someone who kept a tight lip? Could it be that the gang leader had too many private matters around him and didn't want someone who could gossip?

Cheng Xi didn't let him guess and said directly: "I am a woman. If I don't keep my mouth shut and leak the news, there will be chaos."

Li Niu's mouth dropped open so wide that his eyes almost popped out of his head: "Female, female, female... How is this possible!"

"Why not? Didn't Li Lai tell you that I was disguised as a maid in Pinfang Pavilion?" Cheng Xi asked back.

Li Lai did say this, but he thought it was just to be safe, a man dressed as a woman! He was so moved at the time that he strictly ordered Li Lai not to say anything nonsense.

The gang leader risked his reputation to save him, so how could he let people talk nonsense? In the end, it wasn't a man dressed as a woman, but a woman dressed as a man?

No, the gang leader is really good at fighting, he has seen it with his own eyes! What kind of woman can be so powerful...

Ah, wait! Li Niu suddenly realized: "Sun Er, Lin Meng and the others all know?!"

Wasn't it Sun Erlang who followed the gang leader to the county to rescue people? Most of the gang leader's personal soldiers were from Linjia Village. Lin Meng's sister even became his personal maid. They must have known about this! And then there's the new leader, Yan and Mr. Tian. One joined the gang for no apparent reason, and the other was rescued by his own hands. I'm afraid they knew the gang leader before.

Could it be that he was the last one to know?

Cheng Xi raised an eyebrow: "If you knew it before, could you keep it secret?"

Li Niu opened his mouth, but really couldn't answer.

If he had known about this at the beginning, he would probably think that a woman could not do anything, not to mention whether she would obey orders or not, he might even have second thoughts. In any case, he would not be able to be as calm as Lin Meng and Sun Erlang.

Cheng Xi didn't wait for his answer and asked again: "Will you tell anyone?"

Looking at those sharp eyes, Li Niu shuddered and immediately said, "Absolutely not!"

After presiding over the camp for such a long time, he has been transformed.

It is so difficult to manage just taking over a built camp, let alone building a large shipping gang from scratch.

After going through all these things, he had to accept it! The gang leader was his savior, so he had to be crazy to talk nonsense.

Besides, how could a woman be so powerful? What was her origin? She could even sway people like Yan Yuan and Tian Yu, so how could her origin be simple? Regardless of why she came to the seaside and why she founded a boat gang, now that she had caught up, she couldn't make any more mistakes!

Seeing Li Niu almost swearing, Cheng Xi smiled: "Then do you still want to send me a maid?"

Li Niu laughed dryly twice: "They are all clumsy girls. I am afraid of delaying things. I will look for them later..."

Are you kidding? The person Lin Meng sent was his own sister, and she was such a dumb person that nothing could be done even with three sticks.

He doesn't have a daughter of marriageable age, so how can he guarantee that the person he sends will be safe? It's not easy to gain the trust of the gang leader, so it's better not to get involved.

Cheng Xi didn't say anything more to him, just waved and let him go.

At this point, several big bosses knew that she was a woman, and no matter what happened in the future, it would not be the worst possible situation.

Today, the salt fields are still the most important.

…

Dongmen Salt Field is one of the three largest salt fields in the South China Sea, adjacent to Dongning County. In the early years, tens of thousands of salt farmers boiled the sea here. The mudflats stretched endlessly, and there were stoves everywhere, as well as dikes and garrisons.

However, now, the garrison is still there, but the dike is in name only. Except for the largest flat mudflat, the remaining dozen or so small salt fields have owners.

However, some of them were properties owned by big salt merchants, while others worked for high-ranking officials.

Among all the private salt fields, the Ling family's salt fields cover the largest area. There are more than a thousand salt farmers alone, and seven or eight large ships shuttle between the sea and the river. They are indeed very wealthy.

Such a big salt merchant suddenly summoned the heads of many salt fields. Who would dare not go?

"I've invited you all here today for an important matter." Ling Yue, the head of the Ling family, was not shy and went straight to the point. "Do you know about the Red Flag Bandits who recently settled in Dongning?"

Upon hearing this, there was a great buzz in the room. Someone said, "Manager Ling, who doesn't know about this? He even took over Luoling Island. He's a very wealthy man."

"That's right! I heard they have 20 to 30 ships! They even raided the surrounding area recently. Wow, that's impressive!"

"The people at the guard post didn't care, so why are you so worried?"

"How could such a large group of ships dare to show up when General Qiu was here?"

"Heh, you're talking as if you dare to show up in front of General Qiu..."

Ling Yue coughed quickly at the commotion caused by just one sentence. "Everyone, be quiet and listen to me!"

After all, he was a local tyrant. Everyone really gave him face and quieted down. Then they saw Ling Yue chuckle: "Such a gang has ships and soldiers. If they have evil intentions and come to attack us, wouldn't that be a bad thing?"

Huh? How did this get to this point?

Someone muttered, "Manager Ling, are you overthinking it? We have people behind us, and we have the garrison to keep us in check. Can we just fight whenever we want?"

Before anyone else could interrupt, Ling Yue immediately said, "So what if there are guard posts? What gang wouldn't covet the contraband salt? How can I allow someone to sleep soundly beside my bed?"

This made a group of people nod their heads repeatedly. If a big gang appeared in a place, they would devour the place and would not stop until all the edible things nearby were eaten up.

There are only a few boats in these small salt fields. Wouldn’t it be death if they were hit?

Some who were about to pass through the waters of Luoling Island hurriedly echoed, "Manager Ling, what you said makes sense! But how many ships do we have? How can we defeat those evil bandits?"

Ling Yue chuckled, "It's definitely not enough for one family alone, but joining forces is a different story. This time I've even asked the Qian family for help. If we work together, what can a newly established gang do to us?"

There was another buzz below. The Qian family was also quite powerful. Although they did not own a salt field, they had close relations with the garrison and directly transported goods from the salt field. They were also a powerful group with both ships and people.

Isn't this a joint attack by the two great men? It's not impossible for them to take advantage of it...

As soon as he figured it out, someone started shouting. Looking at the excited group of salt merchants, big and small, Ling Yue nodded in satisfaction.

It was true that the Lu family had instigated this matter, but being at the East Gate, he couldn't just sit there and watch Hai Lu being blocked by a group of strangers.

I haven't come to say hello to them for such a long time. Who knows what the Red Flag Gang is thinking? Since someone is willing to pay, I'll just do it reluctantly.