Chapter 438 Old Friend
Zhao Yi said indifferently: "Don't bother with it."
On his way to Yongqing County, he sent Jiang Chao to Yongqing County to find out the situation.
In order to prevent mobs from entering the city and causing trouble, Feng Zhihuan set up a checkpoint at the city gate, not allowing civilians to enter the city, and only allowing people with status and position to enter the city.
Finally, due to the shortage of supplies, merchants were allowed to enter the city.
Zhao Yi knew that the Emperor of Northern Qi was wary of him.
He had quelled the rebellion, so how could he be allowed to return to the capital unscathed and become an obstacle to the wise king?
If he fails to pacify the rebellion, he may die here at worst, or suffer the same fate as the King of Qi at the very least.
Feng Zhihuan had committed many crimes. When he understood the attitude of the Northern Qi emperor towards him, he would definitely not let him enter the city. He might even interfere and arrange for people to disguise themselves as mobs to attack him.
Finally, he used the accusation that the mob was plotting to murder the prince to suppress the mob with violence. Even though the means were cruel and bloody, no one dared to say anything.
Although we cannot assume people's hearts with the greatest malice, judging from what Feng Zhihuan did in Yongqing County, we cannot think of him as being too kind.
A strong dragon cannot suppress a local snake. In order to prevent trouble before it happens, Zhao Yi left the team, disguised himself as a merchant, and arrived in Yongqing County first.
"Your Highness, if you disguise yourself as a merchant, you can keep a low profile and they won't target you." Jiang Mu said this, a little puzzled: "You are living in the Plum Garden again. Isn't that clearly telling Feng Zhihuan that there is something wrong with your identity?"
Zhao Yi asked, "What's wrong with my identity?"
Jiang Mu: "Anyone who sees it can tell it's not simple."
"What we want is not simple." Zhao Yi said in a gentle voice: "Yongqing County is short of supplies, and Feng Zhihuan is not a good official. If I were an ordinary merchant and brought a large amount of grain, what would they do?"
Jiang Mu suddenly realized: "Will they take the food away?"
Zhao Yi nodded slightly. "Now I am a merchant, but I live in the Plum Garden. They must have a rough idea of who the owner of the Plum Garden is. The more elusive my identity is, the less likely they are to act rashly."
He held a letter in his hand and said in an ambiguous tone, "Our top priority now is to sell the grain. Even if they send someone to follow us, they won't notice anything."
Jiang Mu looked surprised: "Are you really planning to sell the grain?"
He originally thought that his master disguised himself as a grain merchant in order to conceal his identity.
After all, Yongqing County was short of food, and the soldiers guarding the city gate would let them in for the sake of food.
Who knew the master had other plans?
Zhao Yi did have other plans. According to the information obtained by Jiang Chao, the people of Yongqing County had abandoned their arable land, and most of the labor was used in mining, while the rest were planting mulberry trees and raising silkworms.
The government set a certain production target for the people each year. If they failed to meet the target, they would pay the money they earned from growing mulberry trees and raising silkworms to fill the gap.
The people have been exploited by the government for a long time, and they have been unable to get enough food, and they have accumulated deep resentment.
In order to mine silver, the government forced the village head to move the ancestral graves, which led to conflicts with the people and the killing of the people. This became the fuse.
If we want to quell the rebellion, we must first address the livelihood of the people, freeing them from exploitation and allowing them to resume farming. However, resuming farming cannot solve the immediate problem, so we must find another way.
"I have other plans." Zhao Yi ordered: "Go prepare the carriage, I will leave the house."
As he had just arrived, he didn't know much about the affairs of Yongqing County. He planned to take a walk and understand the situation so that he could prepare for the next step.
"Yes." Jiang Mu immediately went to harness the carriage.
Zhao Yi got in a carriage and told the driver, "Go to the rice market."
The driver responded and drove towards the rice market.
Zhao Yi lifted the car curtain. The street was very deserted and there were few pedestrians.
As the carriage approached the rice market, more and more people came, and many people were queuing up to buy rice.
There were many elderly people next to them, holding a broken rough bowl in their hands, begging from the rice shop or from the people who came to buy rice.
Zhao Yi frowned slightly and was about to lower the curtain and get off the carriage.
Suddenly, he saw a figure coming out of the alley and was stunned.
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