It is entirely feasible for Zhao An to participate in the illicit salt trade. The Green Gang was the largest logistics and transport conglomerate in the Qing Dynasty, and it maintained an internal paramilitary structure. Compared to the small, ragtag bands of outlaws who typically peddled salt, the Green Gang possessed an overwhelming advantage in both organization and force.
During the reign of Yongzheng, Li Wei famously utilized the Green Gang to strike at illicit salt smugglers in the Huai River region with remarkable success, to the point where the smugglers and the Green Gang became sworn enemies. However, decades have passed since then, and time is the greatest diluter of hatred. Zhao An suspected that the Green Gang and the salt smugglers had long since ceased to interfere with each other, or perhaps had even colluded, as the Green Gang’s logistics network served as a natural "protective umbrella" for the smugglers.
One side had the goods, the other had the boats—there was money to be made by all. In any case, Zhao An refused to believe that the Green Gang wasn't involved in salt smuggling. Therefore, as long as he could handle a few salt-boilers and exert some influence in official circles, it shouldn't be difficult to earn hundreds or thousands of taels a year—or even more—by establishing a small-scale production and distribution channel under the cover of the Green Gang.
Chapter 64