Chapter 47 Attack
He Xi has not done anything in Hangzhou during this period of time. At least remember clearly the data on Zhejiang’s food saving. Therefore, he only visited a few villages privately and checked some charity warehouses. There is an estimate in my heart.
Zhejiang's money and grain mainly come from two places, one is northern Zhejiang and the other is western Zhejiang.
The reason for this is due to geographical and political factors.
Let’s talk about geographical factors first. Although in terms of administrative division, northern Zhejiang and southern Zhili are separated. But geographically, these places all belong to the Taihu Plain. The wealth in Zhejiang is unparalleled in the world, and a large part of Zhejiang's money and food comes from this generation.
Secondly, it is western Zhejiang.
As mentioned earlier, after Zhu Yuanzhang crossed the river, he first settled on Jinling, and then launched the Eastern Expedition to secure Jinling.
The harvest of this Eastern Expedition was Zhenjiang, western Zhejiang and other places. Therefore, western Zhejiang has been operating for a long time, and it has been in the hands of Ming Dynasty longer than other places in Zhejiang. Therefore, although western Zhejiang is not as rich as northern Zhejiang, it is still considered rich.
As for southern Zhejiang, especially the southwest, Chuzhou is not only geographically located in the mountains, but is also at war. Zhejiang also needs to import money and grain. It's a loser. As for the southeastern coastal area of Zhejiang, it is more similar to Fujian geographically. It was not a wealthy place in ancient times.
If Guo Huan wants to do anything, he must do something about this.
Now in Jiaxing Mansion, He Xi has verified his judgment. A hole has been poked in the illusion. And He Xi needs more truth.
But He Xi didn't know it when he crossed the canal and went to Huzhou. Seems to be following in his footsteps. A group of big men came to Liujia Village.
A big man held Uncle Liu in front of one or two hundred people in the village. Said: "Is this what you said to that person?"
Uncle Liu trembled and said, "Just these few words."
The big man said with a ferocious face: "These few words are enough." Then he pulled out a short knife from his waist and stabbed it into Uncle Liu's chest. Immediately blood spurted out, as if the blood had blocked the trachea, and Uncle Liu could not speak a word. Only a gurgling sound came from his throat. Then he was pushed to the ground by the big man.
The big man said: "What should be said and what should not be said, this is the end. Do you understand?"
The people in Liujia Village were all the juniors of Uncle Liu. Seeing this situation, they all gritted their teeth but did not dare to raise their heads. There was a deathly silence.
In fact, these big men may not want to kill all these people. But there were too many people. Killing a few people was okay, but wiping out a whole village was a big deal. After all, this was a water town in the south of the Yangtze River only a few hundred miles away from Nanjing, rather than a remote place far away from the imperial court.
The message cannot be blocked.
And they have a more important task, which is to capture He Xi.
These big men followed the traces left by He Xi and soon left Jiaxing for Huzhou.
Just after these big men left, a salesman came to Liujiacun carrying various goods to sell. The seller brought a windmill, a rattle, needle and thread, salt, some scissors, etc. The shouting voice also has a local accent. Not like a foreigner.
This kind of salesman is common in the countryside of Jiangnan. Before industrial civilization, it was very common.
I am also very familiar with the local people, and they don’t come often. Many of them come only once every ten and a half months, and they also buy things in the county and township for the people. Although such a big thing happened in the village, life still has to be passable.
Apart from anything else, there are a lot of things that need to be purchased for Uncle Liu's funeral. There are not enough manpower in the village.
Moreover, many things cannot be hidden from the villagers in the village.
The situation was quickly figured out. Soon I made an excuse to go to another village.
As soon as he left the village, he was brought to Mao Xiang within a moment. In just a few words, Mao Xiang understood what was going on. Mao Xiang pondered for a moment, feeling a little embarrassed. He doesn't have enough people. If it weren't for the entire Zhejiang Jinyiwei system, we couldn't trust it. Mao Xiang didn't know he was here in person.
Even so, he could mobilize only a few hundred people. He has urgently transferred a group of Jinyi guards from Suzhou. It will be safe then.
"However, the top priority is to find He Xi immediately." Mao Xiang had a headache when he thought of He Xi. He originally thought that even if He Xi visited privately, he would bring his bodyguards with him. With Luan Yi guarding a hundred households and not having thousands of people, He Xi's life could not be taken. Who would have known that He Xi would actually leave a large group of people behind.
This put Mao Xiang in a difficult position. He Xi was the person Zhu Yuanzhang named for protection. Something really happened.
Mao Xiang couldn't explain.
He, the dignified commander of the Jinyi Guards, could only follow He Xi as a bodyguard.
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A lone lamp floating on the river.
At this moment, He Xi did not live on the shore, but on a boat in the river.
He Xi didn't know that there were two groups of people following him, and thought that he had done a perfect job. He selected several villages in Huzhou and inquired about it. He found that the situation here was the same as that in Jiaxing, but the specific taxes in each place were also different. The most you can collect is five buckets per mu.
More than ten times the tax stipulated by the imperial court.
This also gave He Xi a guess.
In the case of Guo Huan, Guo Huan was certainly the main messenger. He is the leader among them, but the officials at all levels involved below may not have told the truth to Guo Huan. It is because they all do their own things that this uneven situation occurs.
It makes sense when you think about it.
Is it possible for Guo Huan to deceive his subordinates and expect his subordinates to treat him without reservation?
However, after He Xi discovered that almost all charity warehouses in various places had been emptied, he also noticed another place. That's grain trading. It is true that in ancient times, food was almost as hard currency as money, but food is not money after all. The conditions for grain storage are not low, and the soil is not as good as ten-year-old grain.
Therefore, if Guo Huan embezzled grain, he would naturally have to sell the grain.
It is to be shipped.
He Xi still doesn't know how much food Guo Huan embezzled. But it is estimated that it is at least more than one million stones. This is not a small amount. There must be traces of these grain shipments.
Suzhou is the largest city in the south of the Yangtze River, and Huzhou is separated by a lake from Suzhou, so water transportation is convenient. It is very likely that these grains were transferred from Huzhou to Suzhou for sale.
However, grain trading is not that easy to check. At least it's not as obvious as a tax change. This will take more time. Moreover, He Xi did not trust the local government at all. He was almost certain that the Zhejiang case involved almost all officials in Zhejiang.
It's even slower to avoid the government's sight.
The reason why He Xi didn't stay at the inn was also for this reason.
Although it was already night, He Xi still wanted to find anomalies in the complicated data. He Xi rubbed his eyes and said to himself: "No, it would take a long time for me to check alone. The difference is too big now."
"Do you want to continue investigating?"
He Xi wanted to find out something fishy about the grain trade, but the efficiency of one person was too slow. He Xi couldn't help but wonder, should Guo Huan be captured and investigated again now?
While He Xi was thinking, he heard a sharp whistle. There was a crackling sound. A hail of arrows shot in from the window. This group of people obviously wanted to put He Xi to death and shoot toward the light.
He Xi reacted quickly and immediately hid under the table, but before he could do it, a sharp arrow hit He Xi in the chest.
He Xi felt as if he was being hit with a long stick. For a moment, his eyesight turned black and countless stars appeared in his eyes. Can't breathe. Hide under the table. It took a while to calm down. Coughed twice violently. Touch towards the chest. I only touched a breast mirror that looked like a bronze mirror. There is a noticeable dent in it.
This is nothing else, just a pair of soft armor close to the body.
This is made by the skilled craftsmen of the Ordnance Bureau, and it cannot even be said to be iron armor. The body is more made of copper wire, gold and silver wire, woven together, and inlaid with some armor pieces. Such as a breast goggle.
It is difficult for ordinary bows and arrows to penetrate.
But the fact that the bow and arrow cannot penetrate does not mean that the power of the bow and arrow can be dissipated.
He Xi only felt his heart beating wildly. He didn't know whether it was because of the arrow in his chest or because he never expected that he would actually encounter an assassin.
Subconsciously, he always felt that under Zhu Yuanzhang's power, the officials below did not dare to make such a big fuss. But now, He Xi understands that there are crazy people in any era.
In fact, He Xi's knowledge is still too shallow. He may have never heard that after liberation, people sent by the central government were burned to death in any place. What's more, in this era, the Jiangnan area is relatively peaceful. In fact, in the frontier areas, outside the county seat, it is a lawless place. What is Wangfa? They have no idea.
He Xi had never encountered such a situation before and hid under the table. Listen to the sound of "seize. seize, seize." outside.
He Xi thought that he might die here. Suddenly I felt my breathing was tense and my heartbeat was racing. Countless reluctances welled up in my heart. When I think about it, I will probably die here. He Xicai discovered that there were too many things that he had not done.
"God gave me such a good opportunity to come to this era, but I died in such a coward. I really can't accept it." He Xi secretly said: "No, I can't just let him go."
He Xi gritted her teeth, raised her head, and prepared to use all her courage to break out.
Suddenly a bright light shone in front of He Xi's eyes, and then it burst into flames. He Xi's face looked extremely pale under the firelight.
This is "rocket."
He Xi's heart suddenly fell into the bottomless abyss. The boat was in the river, surrounded by water. If the ship caught fire, he would have nowhere to hide.
There was a sad smile on He Xi's lips, and she thought to herself: "Many things are only regrettable when they are irreversible. I didn't expect that I was born in the 21st century, but I will die in this era. If I tell anyone, I will regret it. No one believed it."
In He Xi's sight, the fire was getting bigger and bigger.
