After Jiang Zhen sent someone to investigate, he learned that this group was the fugitive salt workers along with their families, so there were a lot of women and children.

Such a group of people obviously pose no threat to them.

After confirming that the group was harmless, Jiang Zhen was relieved and even sent someone over to talk to these people. He wanted to meet that group of people and, of course, try to get as much information as possible.

Before Zhu Erlin understood Jiang Zhen and others’ situation, the emissary sent by Jiang Zhen came.

“Talk?” Zhu Erlin was stunned, but he agreed,

If those people were official soldiers, after seeing them they would probably attack them without saying a word; since they did not fight with them, they were probably from the salt worker households or other people gathered together.

Of course, Zhu Erlin was also on guard and added, “You can go to my place to talk, but not with so many people.”

The person who went to negotiate with Zhu Erlin was Jiang Ming, so after checking Zhu Erlin’s situation, he agreed to Zhu Erlin’s request. “No problem. Our boss will come over to talk to you later.”

Zhu Erlin was relieved to get Jiang Ming’s quick agreement.

When Jiang Zhen went to Zhu Erlin’s place, he only brought twenty or so people with him, but these twenty or so people were all good men he had brought with him. If he really encountered any danger, he was confident that he could escape.

Soon after, Jiang Zhen met Zhu Erlin and his group.

There were a large number of people, most of whom were dressed in rags and carried pots and pans on their backs, just like those under his hands who fled, but some people . . . 

Jiang Zhen’s gaze fell on Zhu Erlin, the boss of this group. Looking at the faces and hands of these people, they were all born in poverty, but their clothes were really good. Those clothes . . . were probably stripped from the people of Hongjiang Salt Farm.

There was no doubt that this group of people had killed the people of Hongjiang Salt Farm.

Jiang Zhen looked at them thoughtfully and made a bold guess about the identity of this band. Zhu Erlin looked at Jiang Zhen and others and also felt that something was strange. His eyebrows immediately wrinkled. “You are not from salt households?” The men in salt households boiled salt every day, so they had some similar characteristics, such as rough palms, but these people were not like this.

Jiang Zhen nodded. “We are really not salt households—”

“Jiang Zhen! What are you doing here!” a voice suddenly rang out, interrupting Jiang Zhen’s words.

Jiang Zhen turned his head and saw Zhou Maohe, who had, since then, grown a beard and was on the verge of becoming a wild man. He was staring at Jiang Zhen in surprise. “How did you appear here? What do you want?”

“You know the imperial envoy?” Seeing this, Zhu Erlin immediately looked warily at Jiang Zhen.

Jiang Zhen confirmed his suspicion. These people in front of him should be those who seized the Hongjiang Salt Farm.

He never thought he would meet these people here . . .

“I know this imperial envoy, but you can rest assured that I mean you no harm.” Jiang Zhen turned to Zhu Erlin.

“You say no malicious intent?” one of the men beside Zhu Erlin yelled in dissatisfaction, and someone else quickly grabbed Zhou Maohe. 

While holding him, he asked Jiang Zhen: “Who are you? Are you from the government?” 

As soon as the word “government” came out, people on Zhu Erlin’s side erupted into chaos; some of them had so much hatred in their eyes that they even started trembling.

“Be quiet!” Zhu Erlin shouted, then put the knife on Zhou Maohe’s neck and said to Jiang Zhen and the others, “Put down your weapons! Or I will kill him!”

They had been chased by those soldiers for a long time and been in fights several times, but at the moment they were all like frightened birds, fearing that Jiang Zhen and the others would come.

Seeing this, Jiang Zhen graciously threw away the wooden stick in his hand and said, “You can go to my side and have a look. I have  saved a lot of salt households. I am not here to arrest you. As for this imperial envoy . . .”

Jiang Zhen looked at Zhou Maohe and said, “Lord Zhou, in addition to helping people deliver goods, our Jinzhen Escort Agency will also take the job of protecting others or looking for people and things. This time it was Master Zheng who spent a lot of money to ask me to come here to get you out of here.”

This was an excuse that Jiang Zhen had prepared for himself a long time ago.

If he could conceal his identity, he would conceal his identity, but if he couldn’t  . . . He came here this time to save the imperial envoy! His reason was perfectly upright.

As for why he dragged a group of people, it was just because they looked so pitiful.

These salt workers were forced to rebel, which could not be called ferocious. When they saw that Jiang Zhen was being honest, they no longer did anything to Jiang Zhen and the others. They only surrendered to Jiang Zhen’s group while sending their own people to check who was  following them.

When they confirmed with people who followed Jiang Zhen and learned from them that Jiang Zhen saved them and killed some people in the Hongjiang Salt Farm, they were no longer on guard against Jiang Zhen.

On the contrary, Zhou Maohe frowned at Jiang Zhen, full of dissatisfaction. “You killed someone? You killed someone? How can you kill someone?”

Jiang Zhen: “. . .”  Do you want me to wait to be killed? This Zhou Maohe’s heart was really too easily changed.

“Don’t worry about him.” Zhu Erlin waved to Jiang Zhen and asked someone to take Zhou Maohe away. After Zhou Maohe was taken away, he said, “Your escort agency can protect people if you pay money? What if I give you money? Can you protect some people for me?” 

Jiang Zhen was stunned when he heard his words, but then he felt that Zhu Erlin was a man of ability.

No matter if it was in the history of Daqi or in the previous world he lived in, peasant uprisings were never successful.

The ancient peasants did not have the means to learn and gain knowledge; they only knew a few words and had not learned how to manage the people under them, their views were also quite narrow . . . Although there will be an uprising because they couldn’t stand oppression, it was impossible for the uprising to succeed.

It was absolutely a fluke that Zhu Erlin was able to occupy Hongjiang Salt Farm. If he were also arrogant and self-congratulatory, the only way to go would be destroyed by the government and the army. Fortunately, his head was still clear and he did not take credit for himself and realized his own shortcomings.

Zhu Erlin had indeed realized his shortcomings.

He was from a salt household, growing up he had never left the area of influence of the Hongjiang Salt Farm. When he helped his father manage people, it was still only the salt household that lived with them, a total of few people.

But this time, thousands were following him!

If it hadn’t been for that imperial envoy, he  wouldn’t even be able to figure out how much food these people had to eat every day!

Also . . . Zhu Erlin clearly realized that it was really too difficult to travel with a group of old people and weak children.

Edited by: Faro

Proofreader: Xiao Hua

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