"This group of gangsters appeared a year ago. They are not many in number, only about ten or twenty people."

Although Dr. Xie had been bribed by Zhou Yang a long time ago, he was only a small doctor and the information he could obtain was limited.

"These people are elusive, and few people have seen their true colors. They have never been seen killing people or robbing goods, and their ships are rarely seen in Hong Lake."

Lu Sheige was a little confused: "You don't kill people, don't cheat, and rarely appear in Honghu Lake. How did you become a water bandit?"

"Actually, we only found out about the water bandits when the Nanyang County Government posted a bandit suppression notice recently. We don't know the details. We only heard that there were water bandits, but we didn't hear about the heavy traffic of merchant ships in this area of ​​Hong Lake.

Some people's goods were robbed, and I haven't heard of any merchant ships being injured."

Dr. Xie Xu had just visited Zhang Tianxing. Seeing that his health had improved, he was relieved and his tone became much lighter.

"Some people say that there may not be any water bandits, but at most they are a bunch of poor fishermen..."

Speaking of this, Doctor Xie suddenly remembered Lu Xiangge's original identity, and couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. He said, "Maybe the county government made it up in order to grab the credit. When the time comes, they will just find some homeless people to pretend to be, and they will arrest them."

If you become a gangster, isn't that a credit?"

"That's just what you think."

Lu Xiangge looked at the wine in the tea cup, his eyes flashed, "Even if you are arresting homeless people for impersonation, you have to be justified. So why did Zhou Yang ask you to keep an eye on the accidental river workers? Could it be that the county government can still use these batches of

A river worker pretending to be a gangster?"

Lu Sheige looked at the stunned Doctor Xie, and it took him a long time to realize what he had said.

Most of the fees charged are around a few taels, and if the same merchant ship and the same cargo owner passes by here two or three times within a month, half of the fee can be reduced by presenting the original payment voucher.

Since Zhou Yang let her get involved, he must have a purpose.

It's just that she doesn't know Zhou Yang's purpose yet, so she can only take one step at a time to see what Zhou Yang means.

This signature is just cut from ordinary bamboo. If someone pretends to be one, he only needs to cut a stick himself and paint it with red and green paint, and he will probably have to pay less than half of the shipping fee.

After meeting Sihai, Lu Sheige's guess was confirmed.

"Princess."

Doctor Xie cautiously took half a step back and said softly, "The cause of this matter has not been found out, and ordinary people dare not speculate. It is just that Sihai is responsible for General Zhou's investigation. Otherwise, the princess will ask Sihai to ask."

Part of it is included in the national finance, and part of it is used to repair bridges and pave roads to maintain the smooth flow and safety of roads.

They do not kill people or disturb people. Fishermen fishing around Hong Lake have encountered them several times. Not only do they not intercept fishing boats, they also deliberately avoid the areas where fishermen fish.

This group of people charge fees on Honghu Lake, which is a business without capital.

I don’t know who came up with this method. Although it’s not too troublesome, there are still disadvantages.

Lu Sheige still couldn't figure it out. He could do it himself and didn't need to borrow her help.

The shipping fee is determined based on the value of the goods transported on the ship.

In other words, the number of lines of red paint represents the number of boat crossings in that month, and the number of lines of green paint represents the number of months.

This, this is too vicious!

However, the highest fee they charge does not exceed twenty taels.

This bamboo stick was chosen from the bamboo forest under Qingshan Academy in Nanyang County. Although they are all bamboo, they are only painted with ordinary red and green paint, but the bamboo joints on the back of the bamboo are different.

Later Sihai pointed out that the bamboo sticks were actually different.

Sihai came very quickly, as if he had been waiting for Lu Xiangge to summon him near Xie's pharmacy.

Singer Lu He flicked his finger on the teacup filled with apricot flower wine and chuckled: "Then let's call Sihai."

This credit is just dispensable to her. She, Lu Sheige, is just a princess. As long as she lives her own life and doesn't want to try to usurp the throne and become a female emperor, I believe her second brother, the emperor, will still feel at ease with her.

Sihai also managed to get two of the vouchers, which are like the bamboo sticks used by porters to carry goods. One is a bamboo stick from the first month, with one end painted with red paint and the other with a green paint. The other is February bamboo stick.

Sign, one end is painted with a red paint, and the other end is painted with two green paints.

"The world is in Nanyang County?"

Since Zhou Yang has prepared everything for her, if she doesn't follow his wishes, wouldn't it be a bit of a betrayal of others' good intentions?

If it is the first time you pass through Honghu Lake in the first month of the first lunar month and pay the boat fare, there will only be one red paint and one green paint on the sign.

As long as their psychological limits are not exceeded, most people will not be stupid and fight with them head-on.

The purpose of these people's presence in Hong Lake is very simple, which is to set up barriers to block ships in Hong Lake to collect some shipping fees.

But, why did Zhou Yang do this?

They did not kill people or intercept the goods, but only charged a certain fee according to the value of the goods. For the safety of the goods and the smooth flow of the waterways, these merchants would not refuse to pay this fee.

Water bandits are not made up by the Nanyang County government. There is indeed such a group of people on Honghu Lake. However, these people cannot be called water bandits.

When February passes, you exchange the sign from last month, and it will have two green paints and one red paint.

Maybe for a large ship of the same tonnage, some only charge one or two taels of silver, while others charge more than a dozen taels.

It's like a toll station. The bamboo stick is the toll voucher. The red and green paint is only for the boat dealers to see, but the person who stops the boat to charge is actually looking at the bamboo knots on the bamboo stick.

Lu Xiuge listened for half a day and came to a rough conclusion in his mind.

"Yes, Sihai arrived in Nanyang County yesterday. He should not have left Nanyang yet. If the princess wants to ask Sihai something that she doesn't understand, I will go find someone to call Sihai right now."

These people charge a lot of money in Honghu, not to mention a year, but just one month should be quite expensive.

Is this really the case?

As soon as he finished speaking, there was silence in the hut, and even the sound of the boy in the pharmacy making medicine and walking in the yard seemed to have disappeared.

In the first month, after the second time, the sign will be replaced with one green paint and two red paint.

Different years have different bamboo joints. The bamboo sticks in the first month are annual bamboos, and the bamboo sticks in February are biennial bamboos.

If you are not an experienced person, just holding a bamboo stick and not looking at the number of red and green paints, you will have no idea how many months it is.

However, the toll stations she knew were all set up on highways, and the fees collected were for civilian use.

You can settle down safely by paying some silver taels, and any shipping dealer with any sense will not refuse.

Who are this group of people?

You say he is nice, but he stops passing ships to collect fees.

You say he is not good, but he does not kill people or intercept goods, nor does he disturb nearby residents and fishermen.

Nanyang County Government, why didn't they send troops to exterminate them, but prepared to use river workers as their replacements?

Could it be that this gangster is colluding with the local government?
Chapter completed!