"The Jiangnan gentry are quite terrifying, but they are not without flaws..."
Zhang Mingtu didn't dare to say that he knew the whole Jiangnan area very well, but he knew this little piece of land in Jianyi very well.
The Wang and Li families have been intermarried for many years and their blood is intertwined, but this is not the reason why they are of the same body and substance. What really makes them join forces is interest.
One family was responsible for reselling grain in the granary by taking advantage of the connections with the county magistrate, Han Qiong.
Another company used the canal to transport grain and sell it to various places.
The key to gaining their trust lies in reselling weapons in the armory.
They secretly communicated with the outside world and sold corresponding weapons and armor. Such things could have a ripple effect on the entire body and could even lead to the extinction of the entire clan.
Only then are the intertwined interests truly connected.
Jiangnan is known as the land of fish and rice. Normally, there is no shortage of food and other things, but food cannot be sold at a high price here.
But things often don't go according to common sense. There are many waterways in the south of the Yangtze River, and the canal transportation is well developed, but there are also many floods.
Once a flood occurs, there is a high possibility that all the grain produced that year will be lost, and people will starve to death everywhere. Grain merchants from all over the country can take the opportunity to raise prices.
The large-scale sale of grain certainly does not make much money for ordinary farmers or fishermen who work hard in the fields.
But in the past, those who had good business and were wealthy at home would of course be willing to pay extremely high prices to buy food when faced with the dilemma of starvation.
Moreover, the most ordinary farmers and fishermen are not without any surplus wealth. They can sell their own and ancestral lands.
When the flood hit, the ancestral land had no food and no food, so of course it was sold at a low price.
If you lose all your ancestral property, you can only sell yourself.
Those who can survive the flood are either physically strong or have a special skill. Landlords are very willing to accept such tenants or farmhands.
Fishermen and farmers everywhere know that selling themselves to their masters is like drinking poison to quench thirst, but one will die immediately, and the other will die in the future, so they have no choice.
However, reselling grain from the national treasury is not a completely dead end.
After all, Jiangnan is a land of fish and rice. When the grain harvest is good, local gentry join forces to suppress grain prices, and the grain purchased at low prices can be put into the national treasury.
After a while, the family property will naturally become abundant.
Zhang Mingtu's investigation report was written in great detail, listing all the corresponding methods and strategies.
But even if we know the methods of these wealthy merchants and gentry, there is nothing we can do. They use grand schemes.
Make a fortune from the national crisis.
For the wealthy gentry of Jianyi, whether it is a natural disaster or a good harvest, it is a grand carnival for them.
The situation has deteriorated to this point, and it is far from a one-day effort.
When Zhang Mingtu recalled the investigation report, he couldn't help but think of "Let the Bullets Fly".
"We still need to take a long-term view. Their power is too great. We must learn to divide and disintegrate them, identify their internal contradictions, and use them to confront them."
Zhang Mingtu thought silently.
The imperial court had thought about resolving the issue of Jiangnan.
However, most of the land and property belonged to the wealthy and powerful. Tenants and farmhands occupied 99% of the land and property in the entire Jiangnan area. Only one in a hundred people actually owned the land and property.
Even if someone took the initiative to seek justice for this group of people in court, the bullied waiter would only say that he was blind and bumped into the fist of the martial arts examiner, thus dirtying his fist.
After all, the county magistrate has to act in accordance with the rules and laws. You can vent his anger for a while, but the waiters, tenants, farmhands and even more people still have to rely on others. Once you vent your anger, you will never have the chance to breathe out through your nose again.
Those who are silent don’t really want to be silent. They are not ignorant, but powerless.
The more a bull trapped in a swamp struggles, the deeper it sinks and the faster it dies.
The gentry are not invincible. If there is a detailed investigation report, such as the Jianyi investigation report written by Zhang Mingtu in the future with blood and family hatred.
As long as there is solid evidence submitted, no one can confront a behemoth like the imperial court head-on, and all the evil spirits will disappear under the sun.
But who dares to submit this report?
Zhang Mingtu had suffered a loss once and was a little hesitant to submit it.
Submitting anonymously will have no effect and will attract the attention of these families in advance.
It will only be useful if submitted through official channels, but official channels often expose one's identity.
"Eh, that's not right..."
Zhang Mingtu suddenly realized that he had fallen into a misconception.
At the beginning, he was a civilian who submitted reports in public. Of course, no one knew about it, and the news was directly suppressed by those with ulterior motives.
Later, he became a Jinyiwei. He was also very stubborn. He directly submitted an investigation report in his own identity, which led to the destruction of his family. However, all this could have been avoided.
"I know how the Jinyiwei convey information, I know how to submit reports, and I also know the corresponding code..."
"For me now, I can completely conceal my identity and submit this report..."
The more Zhang Mingtu thought about it, the more he felt that something was right.
He had once served as the chief flag of the Jinyiwei of Longxing Prefecture, and had considerable knowledge of Longxing Prefecture and even the Jianyi and various districts and counties under it.
He knew the Jinyiwei in each region very well, even the secret guards. After all, he was the face of the court specially used to compete with the gentry in Longxing Prefecture.
Moreover, he spent ten years proving his ability and hatred for the Jiangnan gentry.
It can be said that as long as Zhang Mingtu is alive, he will have great opportunities in the future. Training and promotion for him are already underway in all aspects. Unfortunately, the gentry in Longxing Prefecture are moving faster.
When sensing a crisis, he killed without hesitation.
"Let me think about it. The Jinyiwei in Jianyi, Yuanzhou, and Jiujiang under Longxing Prefecture all have relevant figures. But even if I can put the investigation report on their desks, they may not dare to hand it in..."
God knows how deep the connections are in various places of this family that sells food and weapons.
The Jinyiwei were not good-for-nothings. Although many of them had become useless after their hereditary succession, there were still many who were truly talented.
But it is precisely because they are talented and can understand this report that they realize how great the crisis and risks it contains.
Zhang Mingtu wanted to ask someone else to submit the report for him, but after thinking it over he gave up.
The Jinyiwei would not upload such an unknown report randomly, and they would have to find someone else.
Zhang Mingtu pondered for a while and thought of another person.
Ruihai!
The most famous honest official in the court was also the one that everyone disliked and was often criticized. He was known as the most stubborn person.
"If I remember correctly, he is now in Jiangnan."
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