Before the establishment of the Great Zhou Dynasty, that is, more than ten or twenty years ago, there were many rebels in the previous dynasty, and there were also some rebels who proclaimed themselves emperors.
Before the late Emperor established the Great Zhou Dynasty, he led his brothers and sons to destroy many rebels from the previous dynasty and civilian rebels. By the time Emperor Wu of Zhou ascended the throne, the rebels and civilian rebels from the previous dynasty had almost been eliminated.
Han Zhong escaped the fate of being annihilated because he ran to Shu. As for Dong Jin, he is like a rat in the gutter, hiding in the "gutter" that no one can see.
For more than ten years, Emperor Wu of Zhou had been looking for Dong Jin and his accomplices, but he had never found them.
It stands to reason that a group of people like Dong Jin would be easy to find, but they couldn't be found. Emperor Wu of Zhou speculated that someone was deliberately protecting them so that they could not be found.
Although the Great Zhou Dynasty had been established for more than ten years and had basically recovered the territories that had been fragmented during the previous dynasty, the imperial court's intimidation did not completely reach all states.
Yangzhou has been the most fertile area in Jiangnan since ancient times. Here, there are many wealthy businessmen and centuries-old families, as well as literati and students.
Although these dignitaries submitted to the Zhou Dynasty, they did not truly surrender to the Zhou Dynasty. Yangzhou was far away from the capital, Tiangao Emperor, and these people colluded with each other, working together to conceal certain things from the imperial court, and even resisted the imperial court.
It is normal for these people to deliberately conceal Dong Jin's traces from the court, or to deliberately favor Dong Jin. Or they cooperated with Dong Jin to fight against the imperial court.
Emperor Wu of Zhou had long known what the situation was like in Yangzhou, but because Yangzhou was too far away from the capital, and the wealthy families in Yangzhou were no worse than those in the capital, it was not easy to move them. Furthermore, pulling one hair affects the whole body.
If you want to deal with these "local snakes" in Yangzhou, you have to be patient and give them a fatal blow. Emperor Wu of Zhou never thought that he could wipe out the wealthy businessmen and wealthy families in Yangzhou with one move. This was unrealistic.
These wealthy merchants and aristocratic families have existed for hundreds of years, and their power is very huge. Although they were exploited by the previous Xia Ling Emperor, the emaciated camels were bigger than horses, so it was impossible to destroy them with one blow.
At the end of last year, Emperor Wu of Zhou received a secret letter and learned that Dong Jin was in Yangzhou and was hidden by the wealthy families in Yangzhou. He began to plan and arrange everything, and deliberately sent Xie Shi to Yangzhou to quell the chaos.
He had already guessed that Xie Shi's trip to Yangzhou to quell the rebellion would not go smoothly, and those wealthy businessmen and powerful families would secretly hinder Xie Shi's efforts to quell the rebellion.
Xie Shi's trip to Yangzhou to quell the chaos was just a cover to test the wealthy businessmen and wealthy families in Yangzhou. Of course, it was still a fishhook to lure Dong Jin out.
As long as Dong Jin is brought out, the court can use him as an excuse to clean up the "local snakes" in Yangzhou. Although it can't give the local snakes a fatal blow, it can hit them hard enough to make them dare not go against the imperial court again and obediently submit to the imperial court.
The most important reason is that the imperial court must completely capture Yangzhou. In this way, Yangzhou's grain, salt, and iron ore can be completely controlled by the imperial court.
At present, these things in Yangzhou are controlled by wealthy businessmen and powerful families. They deliberately concealed the truth from the court and only used a little bit at a time to perfunctory the court.
After Yangzhou is completely captured, Emperor Wu of Zhou will send officials from the capital to manage Yangzhou. Nowadays, the officials in Yangzhou are basically the children of aristocratic families, which means that the entire officialdom in Yangzhou is controlled by aristocratic families.
The situation in Yangzhou is very complicated. If you don't plan and arrange it carefully, you won't be able to deal with these wealthy businessmen and powerful families.
For the late emperor and Emperor Wu of Zhou who were born as farmers, what they hated most was the powerful family. Since ancient times, aristocratic families have dominated officialdom and their power is strong. They had to cooperate with these powerful families, and they had to pretend to be snakes with them.
Before his death, the late emperor repeatedly told Emperor Wu of Zhou that he wanted to combat the arrogance of wealthy families. He could no longer let wealthy families control the fate of the Zhou Dynasty, and had to allow children from poor families to enter the officialdom.
In order to allow children from poor families to enter the officialdom and break the monopoly of officialdom by wealthy families, the late emperor asked the Li family to establish the Imperial Academy.
Taixue is open to students from all over the world. Regardless of their origin, as long as they are talented, they can enter Taixue to study. If you perform well in Taixue, you can enter the officialdom.
Taixue has been established for more than ten years, and currently it has imported some children from poor families to the imperial court. Although the power of these children from poor families was still unable to fight against the famous families, the late emperor and Emperor Wu of Zhou believed that in the future, when the children from poor families grew stronger, they would be able to resist the famous families.
Zhao Yao didn't understand the extremely complicated situation in Yangzhou. He only noticed that there was something strange about the rebellion in Yangzhou from the fact that Xie Shi went to Yangzhou to quell the rebellion but failed. If my grandfather's family hadn't been in Yangzhou, he wouldn't have invited Qian and Laixi to Yangzhou to learn about the situation.
Laiqian and Laixi went to Yangzhou for a while and heard a lot from their friends. They also heard a lot of things with their own ears, but they are animals after all. No matter how smart they are, they are not as smart as humans and cannot understand. The meaning behind what they see or hear.
After hearing what Lai Qian and Lai Xi said, Zhao Yao felt a storm in his heart. He did not expect that the situation in Yangzhou was so dangerous.
[By the way, Yaoyao, that Han Zhong exchanged salt for Yangzhou grain seeds. ] Laixi almost forgot about this matter.
"Exchanging salt for grain seeds?" Zhao Yao asked in shock, "Isn't there salt in Yangzhou? Why exchange salt with Shu?" As far as he knew, Yangzhou had the most salt in the entire Jiangnan region. It seems that Yangzhou salt is sold in many places. There are even shops in the capital specifically selling Yangzhou salt, and the business is very good. The salt his second uncle’s family eats is Yangzhou salt. The salt used in the palace was also the finest salt paid tribute by Yangzhou.
The capital also has its own salt, but the salt from the north seems not as tasty as the salt from Yangzhou. He has never eaten salt from the capital, but he heard from Tongxi that the salt from the capital is a bit bitter.
The salt paid tribute by Yangzhou was naturally for the consumption of the masters in the palace, and eunuchs and maids were not eligible to eat it. Tongxi, the salt they eat is salt produced in the capital.
Laixi said: [I don’t know about that. 】
Zhao Yao frowned and said to himself: "Is the salt in Shu better than the salt in Yangzhou? Or do they want more salt to do something?"
By the way, what can salt do?
No, what big thing can salt do?
He felt that those wealthy businessmen and famous families in Yangzhou were definitely doing something big for their salt business. Ask the second uncle to write a letter to the grandfather and ask the grandfather and the others to investigate this matter secretly.
Liang Zhaoyi saw that Zhao Yao was not coming to the dining hall for a meal, so she had to come out to call him.
"Yao Yao, it's time for lunch."
"Oh, here we come." Zhao Yao touched Lai Qian and Lai Xi's little heads and said with a smile, "You can tell me again after I finish lunch."
【good. 】
Zhao Yao walked up to Liang Zhaoyi and said to her in a serious tone: "Mother, the situation in Yangzhou is more serious and more dangerous than we imagined."
When Liang Zhaoyi heard this, her heart suddenly sank, and she immediately said, "Let's talk after lunch."
When the fifth princess saw Zhao Yao, she asked him strangely why he didn't have lunch in Lanyuan Pavilion.
The fifth princess was very unhappy about Zhao Yao having lunch at Lanyuan Pavilion every day some time ago.
Zhao Yao had something on his mind and ignored the fifth princess's ridicule.
Seeing that Zhao Yao did not quarrel with her, the fifth princess was surprised, and then asked with concern: "Tenth brother, what's wrong with you? Were you scolded or beaten by your husband?"
After hearing this, Zhao Yao rolled his eyes at the fifth princess indecently, "Fifth sister, are you expecting me to be beaten or scolded by my husband?"
"Who told you not to study hard?" The fifth princess laughed at Zhao Yao unceremoniously, "Without fourth brother and eighth brother to protect you, you would definitely be scolded and slapped on the palm by your husband every day."
"I disappoint you. Fourth brother and eighth brother are not here, and I have not been beaten or scolded by my husband."
The fifth princess wanted to say something more, but the poppy glared at her, and she did not dare to say anything more.
Mei Yu and Pan Cairen were a little curious about Lanyuan Pavilion and kept asking Zhao Yao about Lanyuan Pavilion during the meal.
Zhao Yao told them some interesting things in Lanyuan Pavilion. Of course, including his stealing of orchids.
"By the way, concubine, ask the kitchen to make me steamed buns stuffed with orchids tonight."
Hearing this, Liang Zhaoyi shook her head helplessly: "You..."
"Tenth brother, He Xiang must hate you to death."
"I didn't steal He Xiang's precious orchids." Zhao Yao said confidently, "I took ordinary orchids. He Xiang shouldn't hate me."
"Eat fried orchids and use orchids as stuffing for steamed buns. Brother Shi, you are definitely the best in the world."
Zhao Yao said with a smile: "Thank you for the compliment."
The fifth princess curled her lips and said, "I didn't praise you."
"Fifth sister, it seems that you didn't eat orchids with me." Zhao Yao said angrily, "If you have the ability, don't eat orchids next."
Fifth Princess: "..." Actually, orchids are quite delicious.
Seeing that the fifth princess was silent, Zhao Yao gave her a look of contempt.
The fifth princess was so angry that she was about to say something to Zhao Yao when Poppy warned her: "Eat well and don't talk."
After lunch, Poppy and Pan Cairen returned to their palace.
Liang Zhaoyi and Zhao Yao went to the study room.
Laiqian and Laixi continued to talk about what they knew.
After listening to this, Liang Zhaoyi and Zhao Yao had very solemn expressions.
Zhao Yao told Liang Zhaoyi in detail what they had told him before.
After hearing this, Liang Zhaoyi frowned and said with a serious expression, "I didn't expect people from Yangzhou to collude with Dong Jin and Han Zhong."
"Mother and concubine, does the emperor know these things, so he deliberately sent the Xie family to Yangzhou to quell the rebellion?" Xie Shi went to Yangzhou to rebel for more than half a year, and there was no progress. However, the emperor was not angry, nor did he send Xie Shi to Yangzhou to rebel. He was called back, and no one else was sent to quell the rebellion in Yangzhou. This was too strange, unless his father knew about the situation in Yangzhou and deliberately sent Xie Shi to quell the rebellion in Yangzhou.
"You should know." Liang Zhaoyi said with emotion, "No wonder the rebellion in Yangzhou has not been put down for a long time."
Zhao Yao suddenly thought of something, his face changed drastically, and he lowered his voice and said: "Mother, concubine, the people in Yangzhou don't want to rebel, do they?" They are engaged in salt and iron ore to make weapons. This is definitely a rebellion. Otherwise, what are they doing?
Liang Zhaoyi also thought of this and said with a very serious look: "It's very possible." Otherwise, these things cannot be explained.
Zhao Yao gasped; "This... is too scary."
"Since your father knows the situation in Yangzhou, he will not allow such a thing to happen." Liang Zhaoyi was full of confidence in Emperor Zhou Wu, "The affairs in Yangzhou should be under the control of your father."
"That's good, but grandpa and the others are still in danger, so we still have to remind grandpa to be careful."
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(End of chapter)
