After the shopkeeper explained it this way, Kangxi finally understood why things were the way they were.
Yes, the local herbal medicine merchants haven't lost out. The price they pay for herbs from the merchants hasn't changed much compared to when they bought them directly from the farmers. The merchants who come to buy herbs haven't lost out either, as the prices haven't increased much since. All things considered, it's the farmers who have suffered the most losses.
Other related medicinal herb merchants didn't suffer any losses whatsoever.
Qiao County has many medicinal herb farmers, and most of the land is used to grow medicinal herbs. These herbs are eventually purchased by pharmacies and sent to pharmacies all over the country. Pharmacies in the capital also come to buy herbs from this area.
This shows how many medicinal herbs are cultivated in Qiao County.
If what the shopkeeper said is true, then this herbal medicine business must be making a considerable profit, given the sheer size of the business.
Emperor Kangxi took the incident in Qiao County very seriously, as medicinal herbs were related to the livelihood of the people. If things continued to develop this way, it was uncertain whether the farmers in Qiao County would continue to grow medicinal herbs, which was not something Emperor Kangxi wanted to see.
After asking the shopkeeper a few more questions, Kangxi left with Youqing.
On the way back to the inn, Youqing said, "The innkeeper doesn't seem to be lying. It's more likely to be true. This business is obviously using the backing of the government to make money."
Having been in business for many years, You Qing knew the ins and outs better than anyone. To be honest, the practices of this business were not particularly clever.
Judging from Youqing's perspective, even if they hadn't gone to Qiao County and didn't know about this matter, this business would not have survived for long.
The merchant's actions went too far. Ordinary herb farmers had no way to resist or seek justice, but they would try to avoid harm and know that growing herbs was not profitable. They would definitely switch to growing grain crops, and at that time, the merchant would inevitably collapse.
Along the way, in Kangxi's view, local officials all had some problems. Kangxi usually focused on the big issues and let the small ones go, but he was really angry about the business in Qiao County. If such a business could be established, there must be a lot of people involved.
What are you planning to do?
Youqing asked this question.
"Wait for news and see what's going on."
That night, the secret guards uncovered quite a bit of information.
Seeing the case file was shocking, yet not at all surprising.
The founder of the business was named Dong Shanyin. He was the nephew of the magistrate of Qiao County, so the Dong family was quite powerful.
Dong Shanyin's uncle was named Dong Zhichao. He was quite promising at a young age. He passed the imperial examination in his early twenties and became a second-class Jinshi. Although his ranking was not good, it was not low either. Someone took a liking to him and arranged for him to marry into the family.
However, Dong Zhichao's abilities were truly mediocre. After getting married, he was unable to stay in the family business and was assigned to a local post. Initially, he was assigned to a relatively remote area, and it was only through his wife's family connections that he was able to come to Qiao County.
If he had been more ambitious, and with the help of his wife's family, he wouldn't have remained a county magistrate in Qiao County for so long. But the fact is, he lacked ambition and just stayed there, just getting by.
His wife is the youngest daughter of Shen Daming, the current prefect of Huizhou Prefecture. She has connections in the government. Shen Daming is also a man of some influence. He is the son of a secretary in the Ministry of Revenue in the capital. He is quite successful to become a prefect. He has some status in his family and connections in the capital.
Dong Zhichao was a complacent person, but the rest of the Dong family were not! Dong Zhichao was a model of a noble son from a peasant family. Although this "nobility" might not be considered a status in the eyes of some people, he became an official and naturally had to help his family more.
Then they brought their parents, younger brother, nephews and nieces over. At first, the Dong family was naturally happy, but as time went on, they realized that as relatives of the county magistrate, their lives were only slightly better than ordinary families. They had no worries about food and drink and had some spare money, but they couldn't afford to indulge in anything luxurious.
So, someone gave Dong Zhichao's nephew an idea, which led to the establishment of the current business.
Dong Shanyin's actions caused such a commotion that Dong Zhichao, as his uncle, was naturally aware of it. Seeing the money his nephew received each month, which was far more comfortable than his own life as a county magistrate, he turned a blind eye and did not stop him.
As for the prefectural city, the Shen family is also protecting him! Otherwise, Dong Shanyin wouldn't have succeeded.
The matter is simple, but it is indeed very difficult for the medicinal herb farmers in Qiao County.
With limited manpower on Kangxi's side, and the Dong and Shen families practically wielding absolute power in Huizhou Prefecture, punishing them couldn't be done in a simple and brutal manner.
Emperor Kangxi issued a secret edict to Anqing Prefecture, ordering the direct transfer of personnel from Anqing to take down the prefect of Huizhou Prefecture first. After that, dealing with the Dong family would be much easier.
Kangxi issued the secret decree that very night, but even with the fastest horse, it would still take some time to travel back and forth, and Kangxi needed to stay in Qiao County for a while longer.
During those extra few days of their stay, Kangxi's secret guards uncovered more information.
For example, Dong Shanyin was actually Dong Zhichao's biological son.
This is truly astonishing.
When Dong Zhichao passed the imperial examination, he was only in his early twenties. He was considered a promising young man who was also a good student.
Even in the capital, someone his age would have been married, but at the time he claimed to the public that he had never been married.
In reality, he had a wife and children. However, he married her when he was still a scholar, and she died in childbirth after he became a successful candidate in the imperial examinations.
The secret investigation into this difficult birth was not simple either. It contained the work of Dong Zhichao's own mother, who supposedly believed that a woman from a humble family was not good enough for her scholar son.
Dong Zhichao's mother liked her grandson quite a bit, but in order for Dong Zhichao to find a better marriage in the future, the child was raised by the second wife, who is now Dong Shanyin.
If Emperor Kangxi hadn't already sent people to Anqing Prefecture to transfer manpower, this matter could have been used to his advantage. This incident alone would have been enough to turn the Shen and Dong families into enemies. Even if they couldn't separate their interests, adding a little fuel to the fire would have been enough to cause their collapse.
However, both Kangxi and Youqing wanted to see it burn.
Sure enough, the day after Kangxi found out, he arranged for the "fire" to be extinguished.
"Madam, I just heard something, but I don't know if it's true?"
Upon hearing this, Madam Shen, the wife of Dong, said, "Tell me about it."
"I overheard a maidservant serving the old lady say that the eldest son of the second branch of the family is the master's son."
Madam Shen frowned: "Who said that?"
"Wang Pozi, who served the old lady."
Granny Wang and Madam Shen knew that the man was an old woman who followed Madam Dong.
"Why would she bring this up out of the blue?" Madam Shen naturally didn't believe the words of an old woman.
“Last night, I saw Granny Wang burning paper money suspiciously. I heard her muttering about the eldest son of the second branch of the family and the late Madam. I listened to a few more words and was shocked. I felt that this matter was of great importance, so I thought I had to tell you.”
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