Based on Zhang Ren's information, there are now two suspicions about the person who may have given him the poison. First, Liu Yaojie was very dissatisfied with Zhang Ren and asked someone to plant poison for Zhang Ren. Second, someone among the chieftains in western Guangxi took action and planted poison for Zhang Ren.
But Gao Jingshi felt that Liu Yao, the dignified governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, should not use such insidious means to deal with Zhang Ren. This was not just a matter of identity. The key was that even if he and Zhang Ren had a dispute over the issue of establishing a county in Bazhai, It was just "differences in work opinions", far from the level of life and death, so he was not so determined to take Zhang Ren's life.
Moreover, as the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Liu Yaojie didn't know how bad it was to kill a governor of Guangxi by poisoning him. He was not afraid of how serious the impact would be on him if the matter was exposed. It would not be enough to be dismissed from office. Maybe one life will pay for one life, and it will be infamy for thousands of years.
From this point of view, the ones who took action were most likely the chieftains from Zuo and Youjiang in western Guangxi.
Does Guixi Tusi have enough reason to bewitch Zhang Ren?
Gao pragmatism thinks there should be, because the Bazhai area is located on the central axis of Guangxi. When this area was originally controlled by the Yao people who were unwilling to go down the mountain to integrate, it actually formed a buffer zone between the chieftain forces and the imperial forces. The middle is These Yao people were under the direct control of the imperial court in the west and the child chieftains in the east.
This is a relatively balanced state, and the toasts in western Guangxi may be satisfied with this balance.
But after Bazhai was attacked and destroyed by the imperial court, this balance might be broken at any time, because the initiative was completely in the hands of the imperial court.
If the imperial court sets up chieftain management in the Bazhai area, it will naturally be the best situation for the western Guangxi chieftains. This means that the Bazhai area originally controlled by the Yao people was conquered by the imperial court with great efforts, but it changed hands to their advantage. , it’s like people are sitting at home, happy coming from heaven.
But if the imperial court established the Bazhai area as a county under direct jurisdiction and sent officials to manage it from then on, it would not be a good thing for them. This means that the imperial court has formed a further advantage over the chieftains in Guangxi. In the past two hundred years, the imperial court not only used barbarians to fight barbarians. In fact, before Wang Shouren came to Guangxi fifty or sixty years ago, the court had always tried every means to find opportunities to remove the chieftains.
Moreover, it is not difficult for the court to find reasons, such as why a certain chieftain's inheritance is illegal, why some chieftains ignore the court's laws and use weapons, etc., etc., after all, this is the court, and it is not easy to find trouble out of temper.
Although the chieftains at that time were also domineering, they still had a great respect for the imperial court. After all, if they were not careful, they would be attacked by imperial soldiers. Although the imperial court's conquests were not always successful and thorough, even if they were not successful or thorough, a certain chieftain would definitely suffer a lot of losses, and his status among the chieftains would be greatly reduced. .
There are several big chieftain families in western Guangxi. Of course, the Cen and Huang families are the two pillars of the chieftains in Guangxi, but the Zhao and Li families are also close behind. Others include Wei, Luo, He, Feng, etc., with great strength. Not too weak either. What's more, the four major families, Cen, Huang, Zhao, and Li, all have branches. The entanglement of their forces is simply a mess to outsiders. Without in-depth understanding, it is impossible to tell whether they are enemies or friends.
Some chieftains are not from the same family, but they are as close as one. Some chieftains are obviously from the same clan, but they are like enemies.
Therefore, in the final analysis, the status of chieftains depends on their strength in addition to their rank. If the loss of strength is too great, the chieftain will also be bullied by the chieftain.
As for the court's attitude towards native officials fighting each other, usually you finish fighting first and then I'll talk.
This idea is easy to understand. Let you consume each other's strength, and I will ultimately cover up, so as not to make one party too strong. Therefore, the court often likes to help the weak against the strong.
The child chieftains have been Chinese for a long time. Although there is no hope of passing the imperial examination, it does not mean that they are stupid. They also understand the methods of the court, so the scheming ones among them usually do not use troops at will, but use various other means to achieve their goals.
Only the reckless people among them will cause chaos. For example, the Cen Meng Rebellion decades ago started with a mess between the chieftains, and then the imperial court also sent a large army to conquer them. After the change, they were still unable to settle down. In the end, even Wang Shouren came and came up with a measure to downgrade Tianzhou Prefecture to Tianzhou and divide part of the original Tianzhou Prefecture to other chieftains.
Although the situation in the Bazhai area now is not exactly the same as that then, the chieftains feel that this is a good opportunity. All the major chieftain families are eyeing this area of two to three hundred miles and want to compete.
Under such circumstances, the chieftains in western Guangxi naturally hated Zhang Ren, the governor who insisted on reforming his native land and returning home. It would not be unusual if some of them were bold enough to want to kill Zhang Ren. .
Gao pragmatic wanted to understand the reason, and told Zhang Ren this analysis to see what he thought.
But Zhang Ren raised a question, saying, "Although there is an alliance and a struggle between the Tongren Tusi and the Yao people, they can be said to be half enemies and half friends, but if it is as Zhizhi said, the Tongren are eyeing the Yao people. In the Bazhai area, why would the Yao people help them?"
It's a question, but it's not unanswerable.
Gao pragmatically said, "Is this possible? For example, the Yao people may feel that instead of letting the imperial court get the Bazhai area, it would be better to let the children get it. For example, a certain chieftain secretly promised the Yao people that even if they get the Bazhai area, they will give it to them." The Yao people set aside a piece of land for them to recuperate. The Yao people of Bazhai suffered heavy losses this time, and it was impossible to save the entire Bazhai area. So it would be better to carve out a piece of land under the cover of the Tongren Chieftain than the imperial court. Let this place be restored to its original state."
After hearing this, Zhang Ren couldn't help but sigh, "It seems that the influence of the reform of native land and returning to local people has indeed been great on children and even Yao people."
Seeing his hesitation, Gao pragmatic knew that he might have some regrets, so he quickly interrupted, "I don't know what Futai thinks. If the imperial court is willing to set up native officials in the Bazhai area, which family is most likely to get the chieftain in the Bazhai area?"
Zhang Ren thought for a while and said, "In terms of geographical advantages, it is most likely that the Zhao family is located in Sien Mansion and is close to the Bazhai. However, the Cen and Huang families are the most powerful and powerful, so they are also likely to fight, and There are not many opportunities.”
When he said this, Gao Pragmatic inevitably frowned, because if there was only one family that was very likely, then this family was the most likely to be the murderer of Zhang Ren. But if there are three families, Cao, Liu and Sun, coming to fight for Jingzhou, it will be difficult to identify the real suspect.
Gao pragmatic thought for a while and asked, "Are those toasts still in Guilin?"
Zhang Ren shook his head and said, "They have gone back a long time ago. These chieftains don't like to stay in Guilin and be restrained."
Thinking about it pragmatically, these chieftains have always taken life and death from the local people under their rule, and they are much freer than the emperors of our Ming Dynasty. They don't stay on their own land and be happy gods, but run away Come to Guilin and abide by the laws. Are you having trouble with your brain? If not for the governor's summons, it might be profitable. If it were me, I wouldn't come.
It's just that they are gone, and it will be troublesome to continue tracing. Moreover, Gao Pragmatic didn't know anything about the methods of cultivating voodoo, and he didn't know where to start checking it.
After much deliberation, Gao Pragmatic felt that he might have to take some risks.
Then he slowly said, "Futai, in this case, I may need to visit Bazhai in person."
Zhang Ren opened his eyes that were sunken deeply in his eye sockets and said, "It's very dangerous to try to lure a snake out of its hole."
