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Zhang Zhiqing arranged a large number of men to search for evidence of Tang Tong's rebellion. However, because Tang Tong had financial relations with royal relatives such as the Tian Wan family, Zhang Zhiqing did not dare to act rashly. He only sent people to carry out the operation secretly. Tang Tong's soldiers were almost all abroad, and the entire sea was almost controlled by Tang Tong. Therefore, Zhang Zhiqing and his men had no way of knowing what Tang Tong was doing overseas.
Zhang Zhiqing also tried to attack those sea merchants, but these sea merchants all relied on Tang Tong for their livelihood, so how could they work for the Jinyiwei? Zhang Zhiqing also asked Zheng Zhilong for help. Zheng Zhilong was very tempted to bring down Tang Tong, but after much deliberation, Zheng Zhilong gave up the idea.
Others may not know how powerful Tang Tong is, but Zheng Zhilong is very clear about it. Unless he can kill Tang Tong on land, after Tang Tong goes to sea, the first person he will want to eliminate is his Zheng family in revenge. Now the Zheng family has made some money from Westerners with Tang Tong, and Zheng Zhilong does not want to take this risk.
Unable to find anyone to help, Zhang Zhiqing had no way of knowing what Tang Tong had done overseas. The only thing Zhang Zhiqing knew was that General Tang had enormous industries in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. However, in Zhang Zhiqing's opinion, this was not enough to bring down General Tang, who held a large number of troops.
Not to mention that Zhang Zhiqing had no choice but to hand over the intelligence he could collect to Wang Chengen, but Tang Tong asked his subordinate Zhang Xinhua to do something that soon caused Hu Mengfei and the Huizhou salt merchants, Gao Yingxiang and others to suffer. The first person to compromise with Tang Tong was Gao Yingxiang. The Tang family's merchant ship escort team not only cut off the flow of materials in all areas occupied by Gao Yingxiang, but also attacked Gao Yingxiang's scattered teams from time to time. With the help of a large number of undercover personnel in Gao Yingxiang's team, Gao Yingxiang's die-hard supporters suffered heavy losses, forcing Gao Yingxiang to shrink his team.
After Gao Yingxiang compromised with Tang Tong, the salt merchants in Huizhou did not bow to Tang Tong. They were still hoping that Wang Chengen could do something for them, but Tang Tong did not care about it. When Tang Tong's power reached this level, the seemingly powerful salt merchants could not really be his opponents.
What Tang Tong is concerned about now is another thing, that is food. Food is the foundation of a country. The reason why Gao Yingxiang and his men rebelled is because they had no food. After Gao Yingxiang compromised with Tang Tong, the Tang family caravan agreed to deliver some food to Gao Yingxiang and his men. But at this time, Tang Tong discovered that the price of food was skyrocketing, and the price changed almost every hour.
The Tang Tong caravan had not been involved in the grain industry before. Most of the grain sent overseas was procured from Korea, a small part was purchased from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and another part was procured from Southeast Asia. Now that Tang Tong's men have established a foothold in Southeast Asia, a large amount of land has been reclaimed, which basically meets the needs of Tang Tong's men. However, with the arrival of a large number of immigrants in Southeast Asia in the future, there will be a large surplus of grain there.
These surplus grains will surely be sold to the territory of the Ming Dynasty. In a few years, Tang Tong believes that the Tang family caravan will become the largest grain merchant in the Ming Dynasty. This is because no matter how big the land is, it is not as large as the land under Tang Tong's control. Not to mention the future Southeast Asia and Australia, the immigration activities to Taiwan and Hainan alone have reclaimed a lot of farmland.
Today's Taiwan and Hainan are places that Tang Tong and the Zheng family cooperated to reclaim. Every day, ships send thousands of people who can't survive to these two islands. Some of these people will stay in these two places, and some will recuperate here for a period of time and then immigrate to Southeast Asia.
Although Tang Tong did not have any concerns about the country and the people, he felt bad when he saw the soaring food prices and many people were going to starve to death. However, his ability was not very great at the moment. He could only help a small number of people, but not so many people in the world. It was impossible to increase the intensity of immigration. There was not enough money to buy production materials. If the production materials could not keep up, these immigrants would not be able to cultivate the land after they arrived, which would be even more troublesome in the future.
To be honest, although the Ming Dynasty has suffered from natural disasters for so many years, the local grain merchants in the Ming Dynasty still have a large amount of grain stored in their hands. If these grains could be released, the Ming Dynasty would not have experienced such great turmoil. Of course, this idea was only what Tang Tong thought in his mind. Why should he let the local grain merchants take out their things?
Tang Tong, apart from his powerful fists, did not have much political talent or business ability. When he could no longer solve the problem with force, he would leave the annoying matter of food to his subordinates, while he himself would leisurely stroll around the streets with a group of women in his family.
"Uncle, look, there are a few monkeys performing tricks over there." Yuan'er sat on Tang Tong's shoulders and could see farther than others. She could see the monkeys performing in the distance at a glance.
Sitting on Tang Tong's shoulders was the beautiful and lovely Yuan'er, holding the equally beautiful and lovely Xiangjun in one hand. Behind Xiangjun followed Dong Xiaowan and Kou Qimen. These three little girls were now Yuan'er's playmates, and their treatment was not much different from Yuan'er's.
Tang Tong doted on Yuan'er very much. After hearing what she said, he took her in that direction. A dozen beggars saw that Tang Tong and her group were dressed in gorgeous clothes but had no family members following them, so they bravely stepped forward to beg.
In fact, Tang Tong and his group were not without guards, but they were followed by martial arts masters and ninja masters. In order not to affect Tang Tong's family's fun, these people were scattered around and monitored the suspicious people on the street.
In Changzhou, there are very few refugees now. They either work in Tang Tong's factory or join the immigration team. Beggars like this are mostly newcomers, but there are also some who specialize in begging.
Tang Tong, the great benefactor, was well-known in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. However, he would not reward these beggars. He always believed that it was better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish. If these people were truly refugees with nothing to eat, he would have let them work in his own factory or join the immigrant group. When he saw these people blocking the way and his men came over to drive them away, Tang Tong waved his hand and asked, "Are you refugees who have recently come from other places?"
"Yes, Master Tang." A beggar answered quickly, then realized that he had let the cat out of the bag, so he covered his mouth and shrank behind the crowd.
Tang Tong's appearance was quite distinctive. Although he rarely walked the streets, at least half the people in Changzhou knew him. Tang Tong didn't get angry when the man let his mouth off. He said, "You have hands and feet, why don't you find a job? It's easy to find a job in Changzhou, even if you want to farm. If you want to, you can go to the overseas colonization company run by the Tang family. As long as you're willing to cultivate it yourself, we can give you as much land as you want."
Although it is very miserable for these people to leave their homes and immigrate overseas, Tang Tong believes that in a few decades, these people will become farmers of large farms and lands one by one, because this kind of immigration is not the selling of piglets in the Qing Dynasty, but a colonial activity with the purpose of aggression and expansion. Those who go out earlier will definitely have a great advantage.
"Master Tang, I know that you are a kind-hearted person, but you don't know that we are not those refugees. We are from the Cao Gang. Once we are members of the Cao Gang, we will be ghosts of the Cao Gang even after we die. Once you join the Cao Gang, you are not allowed to quit. But the canal business has been sluggish recently, and many people have come out to find a way to make a living. However, the rules of the gang do not allow you to work for others." After Tang Tong asked the question, the previous man saw that everyone was looking at him, so he bravely spoke up.
With the rise of the Tang family caravan, the Tang family not only controlled the sea, but also actually controlled most of the rivers in the Ming Dynasty with its powerful fleet and military force. In the face of such a powerful force as the Tang family caravan, the Cao Gang was powerless to fight back. In addition, the recent large-scale hoarding of grain by grain merchants has greatly reduced the amount of grain shipped from the south to the north, causing a large number of Cao Gang members to lose their jobs. Although the Cao Gang is a super gang, it is powerless in the face of this situation.
The current leader of the Cao Gang is called Chen Yiran. He is a man of both martial arts and ruthlessness, and has the appearance of a powerful leader. However, despite being such a powerful figure, the real power of the Cao Gang is in the hands of another family. The most powerful of these families is the Huang family, a wealthy family that has been engaged in the grain and oil business for generations.
Speaking of the Huang family, they are very powerful in both money and influence. Even the local county magistrate dare not touch the Huang family's tiger whiskers lightly. One-eighth of the grain and oil business in the south is controlled by the Huang family. When it comes to the grain and oil business, no family can compare to the Huang family. It was the Huang family that took the lead in stockpiling grain recently.
The lives of the Cao Gang disciples depended on the Huang Family to a great extent. Therefore, although the Huang Family did not nominally manage the Cao Gang, they held the power of life and death over the Cao Gang firmly in their hands. Tang Tong was unaware of these situations now. When he heard that person talking about the rules of the Cao Gang, although they were unreasonable, it was impossible for him to intervene for such a small matter. In the underworld gangs, there were many unreasonable things, and he could not control them all. He asked someone to give these beggars some money and then left with the girls.
Tang Tong took the girls to watch the excitement on the street, and did not notice that under the eaves of the street, there was a person looking at Tang Tong's background in deep thought. This person was Huang Feng, the third young master of the Huang family.
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