In the next few days, Tang Xiaobei took Yuan Caiwei to travel around the mountains and rivers.
But in private, Zhongming's team worked hard to investigate grain merchants in Baling County.
Unfortunately, after several days of investigation, there was still no big result.
The two lake plains in the south of the Yangtze River, also known as the Yunmeng Plain, Yunmengze, etc., are formed by the impact of mud and sand brought by the Yangtze River and its tributaries.
The land is fertile, the climate is suitable, there are many rivers and lakes, and the irrigation and drainage are very convenient. It is also one of the important granaries in China.
But it is precisely because of this that land annexation is very serious in the Two Lakes Plain.
The gap between the rich and the poor is extremely serious.
The prosperity and prosperity of Jiangnan has nothing to do with ordinary people.
The landlord's family is full of fish and meat every day, and there are many slaves.
Poor people can only eat braised vegetables and barely fill their stomachs.
When you encounter a year that has poor harvest, you can’t even eat coarse braised wild vegetables.
There is plenty of water in the south of the Yangtze River, and the people can no longer survive, so they can only become water bandits.
In the Dongting Lake area, the number of water bandits is no less than that in Sichuan and Shu.
In fact, when Dakang was founded, many people were assigned to land, but in hundreds of years, they would always encounter several disasters.
In the feudal era, the grain output was not high. In the disaster year, many people only had their food eaten in spring.
The old grain has been eaten and the new grain has not yet matured. This period of time it has been "never accepting the green and yellow".
The people can only borrow food from the rich gentry and wealthy families to survive the difficult times.
However, to borrow food from the gentry and the tyrants, a series of conditions were required.
When borrowing grain, use a small dou to serve, and when returning grain, use a large dou to serve. These are all basic operations, called "big dou in and small dou out".
What's even worse is that the interest rate for borrowing grain is very high.
It is so high that modern people cannot imagine.
In spring, I borrowed a few life-saving food from the rich family. When it was harvested, I might return all the food for the whole family to the rich family, and the account could not be settled.
Because I pressed my handprint when borrowing grain, I couldn’t win a lawsuit, so I could only sell my children or use my only land to pay off my debts.
This is just one of the most common means for the wealthy clan to annex the land. In order to get the land away from the people, the wealthy clan can use any means.
Many wealthy families have raised a large number of slaves and thugs. Their job is to think about how to cheat the people and take action.
After hundreds of years, the land has slowly been concentrated in the hands of a few people.
The rich family became big landlords.
Dakang's industry was backward and had pitifully few job opportunities. The people who lost their land could only become exploited tenants and help the landlords cultivate the land that originally belonged to them.
I have worked hard for a year, but by the end of the year I still have to endure the freezing and starvation.
It is not that the land does not produce grain, nor that the people are lazy, but that the food they grow is mostly taken away by landlords and local governments under various names.
These grain merchants were white gloves of the wealthy landlords, responsible for sending the grain plundered by the landlords and gentry from the people to the north and exchanged them for silver and other resources.
Behind each grain merchant is a local wealthy family.
"These wealthy and prominent families usually talk about benevolence, righteousness and morality, but in fact they are more despicable than the other one!"
In the pavilion by the river, Tang Xiaobei put down the information in his hand and asked, "Has the news from the capital been spread?"
Although Jiangnan is prosperous, it is not as important as the capital.
Jiangnan knows not many people like Shuiyu.
The reason why Tang Xiaobei had to wait for a few days was that the news of the Beijing Water Jade Auction came.
In this way, the value of water jade can be hyped up in exchange for more food.
"Yesterday, two caravans came back from the capital. The secret line heard them discussing Shuiyu at the warehouse. It seemed that they also heard the auction house. However, the distance was far away at that time, and the secret line could not be heard clearly and could not be confirmed. I did not report to you."
Yuan Caiwei replied.
"Counting the time, the news is almost time to come. Let Zhongming's team start to act."
Tang Xiaobei thought for a while and said, "Also, the investigation should not be over. I still feel that the people are slandering me. Someone is making trouble behind the scenes."
"Yes!" Yuan Caiwei agreed and turned around and left.
Tang Xiaobei picked up the booklet on the table and continued to frown and watch, not noticed at all. On the river surface dozens of meters away, a young man was staring at her slowly on the docking boat, his eyes full of
It's unbelievable.
"Young Master, the boat has arrived on the shore!" the old housekeeper reminded.
The young man withdrew his gaze and limped out of the boat.
If Tang Xiaobei saw him, he would definitely recognize him.
This person is her and Jin Feng's old acquaintance - Zhou Wenyuan of the Zhou family.
When the young master Wenyuan went to Guangyuan to sell soap, he had greed and kidnapped Tang Xiaobei and was chased by Jin Feng for hundreds of miles.
Although he escaped later, he was shot in the leg and did not deal with it in time, and he became a cripple for the rest of his life.
The Zhou family was also blackmailed by political enemies because he killed the soldiers guarding the siege and paid a great price to settle it.
The head of the Zhou family was furious and drove Zhou Wenyuan and his family to Jiangnan.
In name, he came to Jiangnan for the head of the family to take charge, and represented many affairs in Jiangnan prefectures, giving greater rights.
But anyone with a discerning eye knows that this is the rise and fall of the open and secret. Leaving the capital, the center of the right, Zhou Wenyuan's family will only decline more and more.
Just like the Guangyuan Zhou family, it became one of many other branches and was gradually forgotten by the family.
For this reason, the marriage that the family told him was ruined.
Being dismissed by the woman is a very shame for Dakang men.
Before Zhou Wenyuan left the capital, he had become a laughing stock among the young masters in the capital.
I thought I could live a good life when I arrived in Jiangnan, but who knew that the shop of the Jinchuan Chamber of Commerce also opened in Jiangnan.
The Zhou family and the Qing family had already agreed on the conditions. Zhou Wenyuan did not dare to make it difficult for the Jinchuan Chamber of Commerce in the capital, but when he arrived in Jiangnan, he had no scruples.
The land of Sichuan and Sichuan was hit by disaster. The owner of the Jinchuan Chamber of Commerce was Jin Feng, and the rumors that Jin Feng was about to make disasters were spread by Zhou Wenyuan.
But he didn't expect that Tang Xiaobei would come to Baling County.
Before Zhou Wenyuan got on the carriage, he looked back at Tang Xiaobei, and a trace of sinisterness flashed in his eyes.
【The author has something to say】
Starting from Chapter 415, the plot about Zuo Feifei has been modified. If you are interested, you can refresh and read it again. This mistake was because Beichuan's rhythm was not well controlled. Sorry again