Su Yaoguang and his entourage arrived unexpectedly, and they left neatly. After Xu He was forced by several big men to board his boat with knives, the boat went down the river and disappeared between the sky and the water.
After Xu He helped several people untie the ropes tied to their bodies, Ding Ze said with shame: "Brother, you are right, you must not talk nonsense when you are trying to make a living on the water!"
Before the waiter could say anything, the old boatman said, "Sir, why do you have a feud with the Su family?"
Xu He turned around and asked, "Do you know the origin of this group of people?"
The old boatman nodded and said: "Yangzi Jiangsu family, who doesn't know the people on the river?"
After some introduction by the old boatman, Xu He finally figured out what role the Su family played.
It turns out that during the Wei Dynasty, taxes from the south of the Yangtze River were transported by water to the riverside, and water ships from various places needed to unload grain and reload it for transfer to Huai'an, Xuzhou and other places.
When the People's Republic of China was founded, the transshipment work was handled by the Caojunmen. Later, the state felt that the Caojun was corrupt and illegal, so it contracted the transshipment work to large local households and allocated river crossing money to these people every year.
These large households contracted the work of the imperial court and recruited Caoding on both sides of the Yangtze River.
Because they are local big business, and their subordinates are all strong and tough Caoding, they are very powerful in the local area, even Cao Jiangdu Censor and Jianghuai General Soldier have to be wary.
However, there was also competition among them. There was a quota for the food and physical goods that the court needed to cross the river every year.
These families naturally have competition.
The Su family was originally just an inconspicuous family among these large families, but more than a year ago, the Su family took over most of the transshipment errands through unknown means. As a result, it gradually grew in size in the Jingkou area, and all ships coming and going recognized the Su family. Under the banner of the Su family, local people who live near the river gradually worship the Su family's wharf.
The Su family even took advantage of this east wind and established a good relationship with the Censorship Office of Caojiangdu. Their influence extends from the upper reaches of Jiujiang to the mouth of Songjiang, almost all within their family's sphere of influence. It can be said that they are the giant on the water in the Yangtze River section. .
After Xu He listened, he heard several key points from the old boatman's words.
First of all, the rise of the Su family is inseparable from the Caoyun Yamen. More than a year ago, it was when Ma Liangbi just took up the post of Cao Governor. The Su family did not rise sooner or later, but it happened that Ma Liangbi took up the post of Cao Governor. After that, he almost monopolized the money across the river, which shows that there is definitely Ma Liangbi's support behind him.
It seems that Ma Liangbi has a Luo Jiao background, which is unmistakable.
Secondly, from Jiujiang to the outlet, this is the Yangtze River section of the Yangtze River.
This section of the Yangtze River is very dangerous. In order to control the Yangtze River, the Wei Dynasty set up a very strict river defense system.
The most familiar one is the censor of Jiangdu. Others include the internal and external garrison of Nanjing (under the jurisdiction of the Fifth Army Governor's Office), governors Yingtian and Su Song, the chief military officer of Jianghuai, the deputy chief of Jiangnan, and even the minister of the Ministry of War in Nanjing can also be in charge of Jiang Defense. .
Along the coast there are military camps, military guards, and local people.
Even fearing that Jiang Fang would be controlled by people with ulterior motives, in the 21st year of the Zheng Dynasty, the imperial court dispatched 2,000 people from Yangzhou, Huai'an, Jiujiang, Anqing and other guard stations to Zhenjiang for preparation in two shifts in spring and autumn, and they were under the personal supervision of the Minister of War of Nanjing .
It can be said that the Jiang defense in the Wei Dynasty was really strict to the extreme.
Recalling what the old boatman said, the Su family was able to run rampant in the Yangtze River. Not only did they have the support of the water transportation yamen, but they also estimated that almost all of the large and small yamen in Jiangfang had access to their joints.
It's scary to think about it. Jiangfang, which the imperial court spent a lot of money to build, was finally infiltrated by the cult organization Qingchamen. What's even more terrifying is that this cult organization is not rootless, and their purpose is not just to make money.
The dark figure behind them is named Zhu.
No one knows better than Xu He how Lao Zhu's family was born.
Maybe people of this era mention the old Zhu family just like people of another era mentioned Zhang Shicheng. It is just a stepping stone on the road to success. After being crushed, can they still come back from the ashes?
But if we follow what the uncle said, Zhu Jianshen and Zhu Houzhao both appeared.
According to calculations, didn't Zhu Houcong happen to catch up with him this year?
Emperor Shizong Jiajing in another time and space?
This person is not comparable to the previous Zhu family members. He practices Taoism deep in the palace, but he plays with such smart people as Xia Yan, Yan Song, Gao Gong, and Xu Jie.
He did not go to court but kept the government firmly in his own hands.
Although he became more and more obsessed with Taoism in his later years and lived in Xiyuan to practice Xuan Xuan for twenty years, he can still be regarded as an accomplished emperor.
If Zhu Houcong is really behind the people of the Su family in this time and space, then Xu He estimates that the White Lotus Sect, the Master of Wenxiang Hall, the Qingcha Sect, and even the Water Transport Yamen Ma Liangbi he has come into contact with are actually just this. People don't know how much power has been accumulated in the darkness under the minutiae of the big net.
Thinking of this, Xu He couldn't help but shudder, and his heart became more and more frightened.
"Sir, why are these people arresting you?" the waiter asked curiously.
Xu He shook his head and said, "Nothing, I just asked a few questions."
The waiter saw that he had a worried look on his face, so he didn't ask any more questions, helped the old boatman clean up, and then drove the boat towards the north bank again.
And in a deep house compound not far from the Yamen of Caojiangdu in Jingkou.
Fang Zhifu, who had just been crowned, was locked in a room and had not eaten a grain of rice for a day.
With a "squeak" sound, the door was opened from the outside.
A man in his fifties came to Magistrate Fang.
Just when Magistrate Fang was stunned, the man bowed deeply and said, "Master Fang, I have made you suffer!"
The prefect Fang frowned upon seeing this and said, "Who are you? Why did you kidnap me here?"
The man smiled slightly and said: "It doesn't matter who I am. What matters is that a good official like Mr. Fang who makes decisions for the people is forced to leave by those wealthy gentry. It is such a pity!"
Magistrate Fang snorted coldly: "It's a pity, how do you know? I'd love it!"
The man didn't mind when he saw this: "Let's not talk about these unpleasant things. Mr. Fang still remembers that when you first took office, you saved a scholar from the Shen family?"
After Fang Zhifu frowned and thought for a while, he shook his head and said, "I don't remember!"
The man didn't care and said: "The wish to return failed, and the years flew by in vain. The sails were rained for three days, and the huts were in several villages. The mountain air was far away from the sea, and the sound of the river was close to the door. I had no chance to fly across, and I looked eastward to lose my soul. This song You still remember the poem, right?"
Upon hearing this, the prefect suddenly looked at the visitor in surprise and said, "How do you know this poem..."
It turned out that this poem was written by a judge he met in Guazhoudu when he took office. The two had a good conversation. Later it was learned that this man was from Huating, Songjiang. He failed the examination in Beijing and returned to his hometown.
The two met in Guazhoudu and sang poems to each other, which was quite happy.
Before leaving, the man saw that the river was still windy and rainy, so he wrote this poem.
Later, when the magistrate took office, he met with the Shen family and discovered that the Juren he met in Guazhoudu was arrested by the Shen family and forced him to sell his family's ancestral land to the Shen family.
When the magistrate saw that Juren, he had been beaten to death.
When he saw this, he came forward to plead for mercy. The Shen family was originally unwilling, but finally agreed to let him go because he was the new Songjiang magistrate. However, the field must be "sold" to the Shen family.
When the magistrate saw this, he had no choice but to persuade the person to stay in Qingshan.
In the end, under the influence of the prefect, Juren sold more than 700 acres of good paddy fields to the Shen family for 200 taels, and then the family left Songjiang Prefecture and disappeared without a trace.
Magistrate Fang has always regretted this incident in his heart, but in order to save people at that time, he had no choice but to submit to the Shen family.
Unexpectedly, someone actually mentioned that person today.
"You, do you know Xu Jie?"
